rupert.giles
Rupert Giles was born in England into a family of Watchers (those who train and guide Slayers)
both his father and grandmother were Watchers. The young Giles was disappointed to find out that
he was destined to be a Watcher; he had wanted to be a fighter pilot or a grocer. He attended
Oxford University, but attempted to reject his destiny and instead rebelled and dabbled in the
occult with his friends (who called him "Ripper"), at one point summoning the demon
Eyghon to Earth. Giles eventually straightened out and gave in to his destiny, working as a
museum curator in England until the Watcher's Council assigned him to Buffy in Sunnydale.
Giles, while also working as the Sunnydale High librarian, developed a close father-daughter-
like relationship with Buffy, despite the fact that she is an untraditional, somewhat
incorrigible Slayer.
Giles doesn't seem to have many friends, though he dated computer
science teacher Jenny Calendar (until she was killed by Angelus), had a one night stand
with Joyce while both were under the influence of poisoned candy (rendering them like teenagers),
and a few passing liaisons with a British woman named Olivia.
Giles is well-read and
intelligent, can play the guitar, fence, and read five languages and, if necessary,
he can hold his own in a fight. Giles has always been straight-laced and tereotypically
British, but he has loosened up a bit since he was fired from his post as Watcher
(after interfering with the Council's rite of passage test for Buffy). After the gang
graduated from high school, Giles was unemployed for a while, except for guitar performances
at the Espresso Pump, but he eventually took over a magic shop, The Magic Box, after the
previous owner was killed by Harmony's vampire gang, and turned it into a successful business.
Buffy also managed to bully the Watcher's Council into rehiring him as her official watcher,
complete with retroactive pay.
After having a disagreement with Buffy over her priorities and Spike, it took a while to rebuild
the relationship between watcher and slayer but in the end, they were together again. Giles
was responsible for the death of the human carrier of the god Glory and possibly saved the world
more than once. He also stepped in when Willow was bad and proved to be strong in the Magics.
He also shared one passionate kiss with Anya while under a memory spell.
