Birthday Boy: Joss Whedon

Mad genius Joss Whedon, aka creator of my favorite show of all time, celebrates his 47th birthday today and while he was unable to pursue his dream of making a Wonder Woman film, he is quite busy writing and directing the much-anticipated film The Avengers. His long-completed horror film The Cabin in the Woods is also finally set to release this Halloween. He also received the Vanguard Award from the Producers Guild of America last year.

In honor of Joss, I decided last night to come up with a list of my top ten favorite characters from his various shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) aka the Whedonverse*. Apart from my top pick, I found it nearly impossible to choose amongst the wonderful characters he has created throughout the years. I was debating listing 47 characters for his age, but a) that's just silly and b) that probably wouldn't have it that much easier.

*Yes, I know he's done more. There's Dr. Horrible, his other films, and his comic-book stuff, but as this is already a difficult task, I've decided to limit myself accordingly.

So presented with very little commentary, my Top Ten Whedonverse Characters:


1. Willow Rosenberg - As I've said before, she's my favorite and will always be my favorite.
2. Faith Lehane - Part of it is Eliza Dushku inherent hotness, but how can you not love someone whose motto is "Want. Take. Have."?
3. Dr. Simon Tam - While River is the heart of the show, Simon is her keeper his relationship with her is just touching.
4. Cordelia Chase - Apart from Willow, her character growth/arc is one of the best.
5. Daniel "Oz" Osborne - A werewolf in love, do I REALLY need to say more? Because he didn't.
6. Buffy Summers - Too low? Perhaps, but I'm usually not drawn to the MAIN CHARACTER. Still, she's an automatic part of this list.
7. Winifred "Fred" Burkle/Illyria - Cheating since this is two characters? Probably, but tough since I love them both.
8. Anya Jenkins/Anyanka - Sigh. I was devastated by her death and her arc really.
9. Victor/Anthony - Enver Gjokaj was like a chameleon making this character oh so fun to watch.
10. Kaylee Frye - She has great taste in ships and men. Need I say more?

Ugh. That was really hard. Remind me to never ever do that again. Though as soon as I started writing this list, another list came to my head: Top 10 Dead Whedonverse Characters. That should be loads of fun. Maybe next year.