Willow Rosenberg (born in 1981 in Sunnydale, California) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the cult television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was portrayed by Alyson Hannigan, who also played the character in three episodes of the show's spin-off, Angel.

Willow is the show's only major character known to be Jewish, and later was one of the most prominent lesbian characters in American television. Much as Buffy Summers established an archetype of contemporary female action heroes, characters similar to Willow appear frequently since Buffy the Vampire Slayer in many other teen-oriented dramas — noteworthy examples include Chloe Sullivan in Smallville and Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie in Veronica Mars.

CHARACTER HISTORY
Willow Rosenberg was born to Sheila and Ira Rosenberg. Her middle name is given as "Danielle" in an early draft of the script for the episode "Bad Girls": "If my parents hadn't settled on 'Danielle,' Danger would be my middle name." This line was not included in the broadcast episode. Her supercilious and distant mother, a psychologist, appeared in the Season Three episode "Gingerbread." Under the influence of a demon, Sheila tries to burn her daughter at the stake for being a witch, and though she loses much of her memory of the incident, Willow does not. Willow may have inherited from her mother a strong sense of outrage against political injustice, especially that committed against Native Americans, q.v., "Pangs". In the episode "The Killer in Me" Kennedy and Willow talk about how their parents reacted to their being gay, Willow mentioned to Kennedy that her mother thought it was a political statement but later she realized that Willow was serious about being lesbian and was less enthusiastic about it. Her father, never seen, is hinted to be equally uninvolved. In Season Two, Willow reveals that she has a fear of frogs, a fact she exploits to help Buffy escape in "Killed by Death".

SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL
In the first few seasons, Willow is a shy, naïve nerd with a light, risqué sense of humor. A member of the Math, Science, and Computer clubs, she is the person to go to for tutoring help. Willow is ridiculed by her more popular classmates, including cheerleaders Cordelia Chase and Harmony Kendall. She has a hopeless crush on her lifelong friend Xander Harris, who ignores her to pursue his equally hopeless crush on Buffy Summers. Willow soon becomes Buffy's best friend, and upon learning that she is actually the Slayer, dedicates herself to aiding her friend in the battle against evil.

Although at first, Willow was mostly useful to the Scooby Gang through her computing and hacking skills, in Season Two she begins to develop an interest in spells and witchcraft. She also becomes more assertive, leading the Scoobies in Buffy's absence in episode such as "Halloween" and "The Dark Age." After discovering Xander kissing Cordelia, a heartbroken Willow decides to move on, starting a romantic relationship with Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne, a guitarist in the local band Dingoes Ate My Baby. She continues to date him after the revelation that he is a werewolf.

When Jenny Calendar, a computer science teacher and technopagan who Willow admired, is murdered by Buffy's vampire boyfriend Angelus in "Passion", Willow agrees to teach her classes for the rest of the year. During this time, she goes through her former favorite teacher's belongings and dabbles in magic, performing the Ritual of Restoration to re-ensoul Angel.

In Season Three, Willow continues to blossom through witchcraft and her relationship with Oz. Joining a coven with fellow magic-users Amy Madison and Michael Czajak, Willow becomes the victim of witch-hunt led by the parents of Sunnydale ("Gingerbread"). While being held hostage by Spike, Willow and Xander share a kiss and are discovered by Oz and Cordelia. Although Cordelia breaks up with Xander for good, Oz and Willow manage to work things out eventually. Tired of being "old reliable", Willow aids former vengeance demon Anya Jenkins in a spell, unwittingly releasing her own vampire counterpart from an alternate universe ("Doppelgängland"). Despite being accepted by several colleges, including Harvard, Yale, and Oxford, Willow decides to attend UC Sunnydale so that she can continue fighting the "good fight" with Buffy.

COLLEGE
In Season Four, Willow suffers heartbreak and comes to terms with her own sexuality. Moving across town to UC Sunnydale, Willow and Buffy become roommates at Room 214 in Stevenson Hall. When Oz leaves town after cheating on Willow with another werewolf in the episode "Wild at Heart", a devastated Willow casts a spell to have her will done, accidentally endangering her friends' lives in the process ("Something Blue"). She joins the campus Wicca group, a disappointing experience but for the presence of serious witch Tara Maclay. After discovering each other's magic, they become friends, lovers, and later soulmates, sharing one of the few lesbian relationships portrayed on American television. In "New Moon Rising", Oz returns after gaining control over his wolf-side, with hopes of continuing his relationship with Willow. After some serious consideration, and coming out to Buffy, Willow chooses Tara over Oz.

Season Five sees Willow's power increase at a dramatic rate. Her relationship with Tara is strengthened when she discovers how she rose above her family's abusive lies. However, in the episode "Tough Love", they argue when Tara voices her concerns at how powerful Willow has become over the past few months. Shortly afterwards, Tara is "brain-sucked" by the hell-goddess Glory, left in an insane, babbling state. Ignoring Buffy's warnings, Willow arms herself for a fight and attacks Glory with knives and dark magic; managing to weaken her significantly before Buffy comes to the rescue. When Buffy later goes into a catatonic state, Willow magically enters her mind and frees her, assuring her that they will find a way to defeat Glory. In the final fight against Glory, Willow manages to slow her down by restoring Tara's mind; reuniting with her lover. However, Buffy is forced to sacrifice herself to save the life of her sister, Dawn.

DARK WILLOW
In the sixth season, Willow suffers an unbearable loss and faces her own dark side. Her magical skills first peak in the Season Six premiere "Bargaining," when she leads Tara, Xander, and Anya in resurrecting Buffy. Afterwards, Willow becomes addicted to using magic, and her disregard for the consequences of her actions eventually drives Tara away and lands Dawn in the hospital ("Wrecked"). With Tara's departure and Dawn's injury, Willow is forced to face her problem and stops using magic. When Tara is murdered by Warren Mears, however, a grief-stricken Willow unleashes the dark energies once more, and her vengeance reaches a climax when she uses magic to flay Warren alive in the episode "Villains". Willow absorbs volumes of magic as she pursues Jonathan Levinson and Andrew Wells, Warren's accomplices, turning against her friends in the process. Her attempt to trigger the apocalypse is thwarted by Xander who refuses to leave her out of love, regardless of what she has done or is doing. This eventually causes Willow to break down over her actions (partially because she has absorbed power from Giles that put her back in touch with her true emotions and feelings).

Willow's dark turn is explicitly compared by a character in the show to X-Men's "Dark Phoenix Saga," of which Joss Whedon is a huge fan.

"Are you kidding? She's like Dark Phoenix up there! And you expect us just to outrun her?" Andrew, "Two to Go"

In Season Seven, Willow is forced to deal with her magical nature and her place in the universe after some with time in England with Giles. She slowly regains control of her powers and begins a relationship with Potential Slayer Kennedy. After their first kiss, Willow finds herself transforming into Warren, the result of a hex placed on her by a vengeful Amy. Kennedy saves her by helping her come to terms with Tara's death and move on ("The Killer in Me"). In "Orpheus", an important crossover with the Buffy spin-off series Angel, Willow battles the being later known as Jasmine, and restores Angel's soul for the second time. In the Buffy series finale, "Chosen", Willow is able to overcome her dark side and use her powers for good again; changing the rules for the entire Slayer line.

"In every generation, one Slayer is born...because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman [points to Willow] is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power...should be our power." Buffy, "Chosen"

POST SUNNYDALE
Following "Chosen", the fifth season of Angel continues the Buffyverse, mentioning Willow spending some time with Kennedy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as well as visiting the Himalayas and astrally projecting to another plane ("Shells").

In the Season Eight story "The Long Way Home" Willow battles a rogue Amy and an army of living dead in defense of Buffy and her Slayers. During the battle, Amy tries to infect Willow with dark magic, but Willow manages to overcome it. Willow tells Buffy that she and Kennedy are taking things slowly after Kennedy suffered a month-long mystical death. Kidnapped by Amy and a skinless Warren, Willow takes mental refuge in a plane of elemental beings while Warren lobotomizes her. When Buffy releases her, Willow has already fully healed. As for questions about the psychological consequences of the revelation that Tara's (accidental) killer is still alive (albeit mutilated), these remain to be answered.

In Season One, Willow's major "powers" were her intelligence and computer skills, as well as marked snarkiness. She aids Giles as he researches information to aid Buffy in overcoming various challenges. Willow also aids in the preparation of magical materials, making her first potion to detect a witch in the episode "Witch" and performing the ritual to revoke Angelus' invitation to Buffy's house in "Passion", but did not seriously begin practicing magic until the death of Jenny Calendar, one of her teachers. She was asked to take over teaching the class because of her high intelligence and came upon a spell to curse a vampire with a soul. Willow's initial interest in Wicca lies more in the spell-casting portion rather than the faith itself; she sees magic as a way of hacking the universe, and an extension of her computer skills. This is probably because of her relationship with Jenny, who was connected to an online pagan network.

Willow's first major spell involved re-cursing Angel with a soul in the Season Two finale, a feat she repeated in the Angel episode "Orpheus." She learns to levitate a pencil early in the show's third season and her powers continue to develop until, at the end of Season Four, she is casting powerful spells independently and with the help of Tara Maclay. Season Five finds her surpassing Tara, a more experienced witch, in skill and being able to draw enough power to fend off the hell-god Glory.

In Season Six, Willow demonstrates the ability to bring Buffy back to life, leaving her drained but regaining her magic in a few hours. Her friend Amy Madison introduces her to a warlock, Rack, who gives her the ability to go longer and do more spells, which leads Willow further down the path to the dark side of magic. Eventually, after Tara dies, magic consumes Willow and she nearly destroys the world. It is at this time that Anya assumes Willow is now the most powerful Wicca in the Western Hemisphere. Willow is capable of imbuing herself with super strength rivaling Buffy's, flying, absorbing life from others, teleportation, being impervious from physical damages curing them instantly at will, unleashing powerful energy blasts, and exerting a high level of telekinesis and telepathic mind control.

Season Seven sees her willingness to use magic greatly diminished after the events of the Season Six finale. Willow spends time at a coven in England with Giles where she develops a better understanding of magic, balance, etc. At this point, she is so powerful her very feelings and thoughts can affect the world. Amy comments that other practitioners would have to work twice as hard to gain half of Willow's power. Despite this, Willow is largely prevented from accessing more than slight magic by The First Evil, who attempts to corrupt her at each spell. Examples of the controlled usage of her power are her use of telekinesis to practice self-restraint, conjuring force fields, extensive telepathic conversations, opening a portal, and exerting hypnotic control. Willow also comments that she now absorbs power from the things around her, one time unwillingly draining some of Kennedy's life-force. At the end of Season Seven, Willow casts a spell that imbues all Potential Slayers on Earth with Slayer powers (formerly reserved for only one girl in every generation), temporarily turning Willow's eyes and hair crystal white in the process. Kennedy remarked on it by calling her "a goddess."

Season Eight shows Willow's powers have greatly expanded since the television series. She can now fly by force of will and has regained control of her powers, although her roots continue to go dark whenever she taps into more power, this doesn't faze her. She is able to project vast amounts of energy from her fingertips and cast aside powerful spells. She is able to heal herself rapidly from extreme injuries, at least including partial lobotomy. She is also able to heal injuries in others. Amy characterizes her as a "big all-powerful earth-mother witch goddess".

Willow's appearance changes drastically over the course of the show to reflect her growing level of confidence and power. In her initial appearances, she dressed like a little girl and her mother still picked out her clothes for her. Cordelia comments on this in "Welcome to the Hellmouth", cruelly stating, "Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears!" After Buffy encourages Willow to "seize the day", her dress sense begins to reflect the growing confidence that her friendship with the Slayer grants her. In reality, this is due to the WB requesting that Willow dress more "hip" like Buffy. In his DVD commentary for "Welcome to the Hellmouth", Joss Whedon explained, "The incredibly nerdy clothes that she's wearing, you'll see her wearing for exactly one episode, because [the network] kept sending us memos 'You must make her more hip. You must make her more cool. You must make her more... like Buffy' which confused me because, you know, I wanted to do an ensemble show and ensemble means that people are different. Besides, I think that outfit's really cute."

By Season Three, Willow has blossomed through her relationship with Oz, and her appearance reflects this. She cuts her hair shoulder-length (although it takes her mother several months to notice this - "Gingerbread") and develops a penchant for fluffy sweaters and peculiar hats. One of her memorable outfits in Season Three is her pink sweater from "Doppelgängland". Feeling undervalued by her friends, Willow threatens to change her look, shortly before the arrival of the alternate universe Vamp Willow, dressed in her iconic leather outfit. Upon seeing Vamp Willow, Percy asks her if she is "trick-or-treating", while Buffy describes her as a dominatrix. Upon seeing her human alter-ego's pink sweater, Vamp Willow teases her by saying, "Well, look at me. I'm all fuzzy." When she later wakes up dressed in said sweater, Vamp Willow says "Oh, this is like a nightmare." In Season Four's "The Initiative", Spikes admits that he finds Willow's "fuzzy pink number with the lilac underneath" to be arousing.

By college, Willow cuts her hair even shorter, and begins to wear long skirts and high shoes, which make her appear significantly taller and more confident than in her shy, wallflower years in high school. However, in "Restless", it is revealed through a dream that Willow feels she is only hiding her true geeky nature, with Buffy and Riley describing her normal clothes as a "costume." She finds herself back in a high school classroom, where Buffy rips off her "costume", leaving her dressed in her "softer side of Sears" outfit from "Welcome to the Hellmouth", shortly before being attacked by the Primitive. In "The Body", Willow focuses her grief over the death of Buffy's mother Joyce Summers on what clothes to wear while visiting Buffy at the hospital. She describes her clothes as having "stupid things on them" and asks why she can't dress "like a grown-up." Joss Whedon stated that this was based on his own irrational obsession over what tie to wear to a funeral.

When Willow is consumed by black magic in the closing episodes of Season Six, she inadvertently takes on a goth look. Dark Willow, as Andrew Wells refers to her in "Storyteller", can be identified by her black hair, black eyes, and numerous veins over her face. Xander described Dark Willow's appearance as the "makeover of the damned", but later assured her that he loved "scary, veiny Willow" just as much as "crayon breaky Willow." Willow's hair and eyes revert to their natural colour following Xander's heroic speech in "Grave", but she sometimes resumes this appearance when her powers are pushed to their limits, such as battling the Crimslaw demon in "Selfless", or Amy in "The Long Way Home."

In Season Seven, Willow's hair has grown slightly longer and she dresses more maturely. While performing the spell to activate the potential Slayers in "Chosen", her hair briefly turns white, contrasting the benevolent intent behind this spell against the black magic performed by Dark Willow.

Willow is portrayed on the show as a Wicca. For example, in the Season Three episode "Doppelgängland," Anya tells her: "I heard you were a pretty powerful Wicca, so..." Willow replies: "You heard right, mister!" However, some critics have pointed out that the depiction of Wicca on the show is inaccurate. In the book Seven Seasons of Buffy, author Christie Golden describes Willow as a "Hollywood witch" and points out that even the phrase "a Wicca" makes no sense, stating: "One who follows the faith of Wicca is a Wiccan." The term is, however, closer to the root word (wicce).

Willow also refers to herself on a number of occasions as Jewish and appears to come from a religious family, noting in the Season Two episode "Passion" that she has to go to Xander's house just to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas every year. Xander again says it in the Season Five episode, "The Replacement." Willow says her egg is Jewish in the Season Two episode "Bad Eggs". In the Seventh season episode "Help", Willow places stones on Tara's headstone, a Jewish tradition to honor the dead.

Although Willow had previously been established as a "straight girl", enjoying a long-term relationship with Oz, there are hints of her being at least bisexual in the episode "Doppelgängland" when she meets her vampire alter ego.

Willow: "That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil and... skanky. [aside to Buffy, worried] And I think I'm kinda gay." Buffy: [reassuringly] "Willow, just remember that a vampire's personality has nothing to do with the person that it was." Angel: [without thinking] "Well, actually... [gets a look from Buffy] That's a good point."

In Season Four, following Oz's departure, Willow secretly performs spells with fellow Wicca Tara, but there are hints that they are more than just friends. The first confirmation that their relationship is romantic in nature comes in the episode "Who Are You?." Since coming out in Season Four, Willow became one of the most prominent lesbian characters in pop culture, having enjoyed the longest-running lesbian relationship on network television, lasting approximately two and a half seasons. Willow and Tara earned a dedicated fan base of gay and bisexual viewers who were inspired by the characters, with Alyson Hannigan and Amber Benson becoming gay icons.

However, broadcasting constraints from the WB meant that, unlike the heterosexual characters, Willow and Tara were not allowed to be shown in any sexual scenes. The couple did not have their first onscreen kiss until the Season Five episode, "The Body", almost a year after their relationship began. This changed significantly when Buffy switched networks to the more lenient UPN, with Willow and Tara shown kissing, sharing a bed, and even having metaphorical oral sex ("Once More, With Feeling"). The character of Willow continued to break new ground when, in the Season Seven episode "Touched", she was seen having sex with her new girlfriend Kennedy, in the first lesbian sex scene on network television. It is worth noting that this relationship is the only one involving one of the "core four" (Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles), to survive the series; all previous relationships having come to a tragic end one way or the other.

While identifying as lesbian, there are indications that Willow has a bisexual side to her. Willow's alter ego in "Doppelgangland" displayed overt bisexuality, with Willow forming strong heterosexual relationships across the first three seasons of Buffy. Later in the series, Willow's relationship with dealer Rack would take sexual overtones, and commenting upon Dracula's sexiness in "Buffy vs. Dracula". However, Willow does make her preferences clear. In "Him", as one of the many women under RJ Brooks' love spell, she seeks to transform him into a woman. Discussing the conquests of best friend Xander in "The Long Way Home, Part Three", Willow notes that even she "went in for smoochies" before reiterating "and I don't truck with the stubbly crowd."

A new species of sea slug found on the West Coast, Alderia willowi, was named after this character in a tongue-in-cheek tribute due to Alderia willowi's rare reproductive dimorphism and Willow's own unique sexuality shifts during various seasons and episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Xander Harris — Willow "dated" Xander when they were five, until he stole her Barbie. She continued a hopeless, unrequited crush on her lifelong friend into high school. Her moment of tenderness with Xander in the Season Two opener ended when Buffy popped up. The two began a brief affair in Season Three's "Homecoming," when they were each involved with someone else. Willow's bisexual vampire alter-ego also had a long-lasting relationship with her universe's Xander after each of them were turned. In Season Eight, Willow reminisces upon having found Xander very attractive during her teen years. Ultimately even though the two of them are not in love per see, they do have a great deal of love for each other, this is fact saves the world in the Season 6 episode "Grave" where Xander pointed this out repeatedly and stopped Willow from ending the world.

Thomas — Encouraged by Buffy to "seize the day", Willow built up the courage to talk to this boy and go for ice cream. However, when he turned out to be a vampire and tried to kill her, Buffy had to save her and Willow was forced to accept the existence of demons. Thomas was the first vampire ever to be dusted on Buffy ("Welcome to the Hellmouth").

"Malcolm Black"/Moloch — Willow unwittingly awakens this ancient demon by scanning him into the Internet. He claims to be in love with her, starting an online relationship with her under the identity of Malcolm Black. However, when Willow rejects Malcolm after discovering he is actually a murderous, demonic robot, he tries to kill her and Buffy is forced to slay him.

Daniel 'Oz' Osborne — Willow dates this guitar playing-werewolf for almost two years, losing her virginity in the process. However, their relationship ends when Oz kills a female werewolf with whom he had sex while in wolf form. When he returns to Sunnydale months later hoping for a reconciliation, Willow has begun her relationship with Tara. However, her feelings for Oz remained strong, and she told him, "I feel like some part of me will always be waiting for you."

Willow Rosenberg — Willow's bisexual vampire alter ego expresses an attraction for her ("Doppelgängland") in the first hint that Willow's sexual orientation may be something other than heterosexual. Willow finds this somewhat disturbing, asking, "Would that mean we have to snuggle?"

Tara Maclay — Willow's first lesbian relationship initially started as a friendship but quickly developed into something more. Willow met Tara in a Wicca group during college, and began a relationship which became sexual ("The I in Team"). They were portrayed as each others' "soulmates" throughout the series. Tara briefly left Willow during Season Six because of her inappropriate use of magic, but they were soon back together ("Entropy") just in time for Tara's shocking death ("Seeing Red").

Rupert Giles — When Willow saw him sing at the Espresso Pump, her reaction was to say, "Now I remember why I used to have such a crush on him." There was a hint in the high-school seasons, where you could see pictures of Giles in Willow's locker, but it never went anywhere. Normally, they share a "little sister-big brother" relationship (more than the "daughter-father" one that both Buffy and Anya have with Giles), very affectionate, mutually respectful, but often conflictual.

Dracula — Willow describes the infamous vampire as "sexy", to Tara's surprise and mild jealousy.

RJ Brooks — Under a love spell along with Buffy, Dawn, and Anya, Willow became obsessed with this male high school student, despite his "physical presence." When Anya pointed out that "his physical presence has a penis", Willow insisted that she could "work around it", summoning the goddess Hecate to transform him into a woman. Xander and Spike intervened before she succeeded, and the love spell was soon lifted.

Kennedy — Willow continued her recovery from Tara's death as she embarked on a relationship with this Potential Slayer. When mentioned the in Angel episode "Damage", they were living together in South America. They decided to take things slowly following Kennedy's month-long mystical death.

Winifred Burkle — Though not technically a romantic relationship, Willow took Fred's excitement at seeing her, and her eagerness to spend time with her as an attraction. Willow told Fred she was seeing someone ("Orpheus").

ENEMIES

Rack - Rack is a dark warlock who became Willow's metaphorical black magic "drug dealer" after being introduced by Amy. Rack's business relationship with Willow took frequent sexual, perhaps abusive overtones in his referring to her "taste" as being "like strawberries", and the euphoria she attained in her transfer of power. Eventually, after her transformation into Dark Willow, Willow murders Rack and steals his life force.

Amy Madison — Amy and Willow were friends from junior high through high school, with Willow keeping her as a pet after she transformed herself into a rat. The two become closer during Willow's magic-junkie period in Season Six, but their friendship ends abruptly, however, and Amy later seeks retribution. Starting a romantic relationship with Willow's enemy Warren Mears, who she keeps alive mystically after Dark Willow skinned him alive, Amy puts a hex on Willow and later tries to assassinate Buffy on behalf of the American military. Willow intervenes and engages Amy in an airborne battle.

Warren Mears — Warren incurs Willow's wrath when he accidentally shoots Tara while aiming for Buffy. Consumed by grief and black magic, Dark Willow tracks him down; torturing and eventually flaying him alive ("Villains"). However, unbeknownst to Willow, Warren is resurrected by Amy Madison, and plots revenge on the woman who killed him.

OTHER

Anya Jenkins - Their love-hate feeling to each other is a common comic relief throughout the show, having its apex in episode "Triangle", from 5th season. Though being loyal allies, saving each other's life many times, they share always a love-hate, not truly friendly, relationship. In real life, instead, Alyson Hannigan and Emma Caulfield are very good friends.