In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, the cup of powerful beings and characters runneth over. Though most people may suspect Buffy is the most powerful character -- she is the series’ namesake after all -- those who have watched Buffy and its spinoff, Angel, know just how many beings wield greater power than the Slayer. The First Evil and the Senior Partners are arguably the most powerful of characters, yet their power stems more from the idea of them. This is particularly true of the First who really is just a concept. Yet, as Buffy’s seventh season showed us, a concept can be just as powerful as any physical force. That said, the First and the Wolf, Ram, and Hart don’t make this list since they are never really seen.
From Sunnydale to Los Angeles and Quor’toth to ancient Earth, characters of all species and abilities have exemplified powers that sometimes even the Watchers Council couldn’t conceive of. While some OP characters like the hell god Glorificus or Illyria the Destroyer suddenly appeared and were ready to conquer, other characters had a longer magical evolutionary journey, the most notable two being Willow and Cordelia. Both started out as teens at Sunnydale High School and eventually became more powerful than anyone would have guessed. In fact, they are arguably two of the most powerful beings we’ve encountered. The Buffy universe is also teeming with other powerful characters that many may have forgotten, so to jog your memory and give you some perspective, here is the ranking of the 30 most powerful Buffy characters ever.
30 RUPERT GILES
Not only is Rupert Giles perhaps one of the greatest Watchers to ever walk the halls of the Council’s headquarters, but he is probably one of the most powerful also. Though he is “just” human, Giles has more than proved his mettle.
He has seemingly endless knowledge of the occult, a talent for magic, and, with a little help from the coven, he even managed to momentarily trip up Dark Willow. He has proven time again he can hold his own no matter what the Hellmouth throws at him. Suffice it to say, there is nothing mere about this mortal.
29 DOYLE
Few characters broke our hearts as early on in their Buffy universe debut as Doyle. Before he passed, this human-Brachen demon hybrid was a powerful asset to Angel’s new team in L.A. Gifted with visions from the Powers That Be, Doyle not only helped the helpless, he was the key to Angel’s journey towards redemption.
His ability was so important in fight against evil that he passed it on to Cordelia in his final moments, so she could keep Angel on his path. Beyond precognition, Doyle, in his demon form, also had superhuman strength, heightened smell, and stamina.
28 LORNE
The Host, also known as Lorne (or, as Harmony affectionately called him, Lorney Toons), is a Deathwok demon with a voice smooth as silk and a slew of powerful skills. Want to know your future? Just hum, whistle, or sing a few bars and he can read your aura, see your future, feel your feelings, and gauge if you’re lying.
He can also survive having his limbs, including his head, severed from his body as we learned in “Through the Looking Glass.” He was one powerful addition to team Angel until he left after losing Fred.
27 SPIKE
William the Bloody was, for a long time, one of the deadliest vampires in history. While he can’t compete with Angel or Drusilla, he has given them both a run for their money. He has also ended an impressive number of Slayers for one vampire: two.
To top it all off, he is gifted with the ability to write truly horrible poetry, a talent that, when thrown in his face by Cecily, led him down that fateful ally where Drusilla sired him. Spike has since survived the Initiative and, with a help from an amulet, the final battle in Sunnydale.
26 DRUSILLA
Don’t let Drusilla’s gentle appearance and crazy ramblings fool you; she is a one of the most powerful vampires this side of the Hellmouth. Even before Angelus took her and turned her into a vampire, Dru was a woman gifted with “the sight.”
Flash forward a few hundred years later and she is an insane psychic whose lack of morality is only rivaled by her sire’s. During Buffy’s second season, Drusilla walked right up to Buffy’s Slayer successor, Kendra, hypnotized her (because she can also do that) and then ended her. Even Buffy couldn’t take her down.
25 ANGEL (ANGELUS)
Few vampires have gotten as much attention as Angel and his soulless other half, Angelus. Before a gypsy curse returned gave him a soul, Angelus was the most unforgiving and evil vampire in recorded history. The evil inside him was so great that it caught the attention of powerful individuals like First Evil (more a force than being), the Master, and Jasmine.
Darla, Spike, and Dru were inspired by Angelus’ power, but could never compete with it. Even when ensouled, Angel is a powerful demon hunter with advanced combat skills, a photographic memory, and a knack for sorcery and sleuthing.
24 THE MASTER
Heinrich Joseph Nest, also known as the Master and King of Vampires, gained a large vampire following as the oldest vampire on record. Also, they really feared him. He led the vampire cult the Order of Aurelius and almost opened the Hellmouth in 1937.
Upon reawakening in 1997, the Master used his powers of hypnosis to subdue Buffy, drink her blood, and leave her for her demise. He even did it again in the Wishverse! Buffy was hardly the first Slayer he’d defeated over his long tenure, but, despite all his power and new-found freedom, she would be the last.
23 CONNOR
The prophetic child of Angel and Darla, Connor gets the benefits of being a vampire like superhuman strength and speed. Since he is half human, he also has none of the weaknesses that vampires have. Being raised by Holtz in the hell dimension of Quor’toth, Connor became an advanced tracker and killer.
He has proven to be stronger than most vampires and demons and he even took down Jasmine, the Power That Was who took over L.A. He is essentially unstoppable, with only Angel and Faith being the only two who have ever beaten him.
22 ETHAN RAYNE
Ethan Rayne, Giles old frenemy from back across the pond, proved to be quite the underestimated trickster while in Sunnydale. As a wizard and worshiper of chaos, Rayne has gained years of experience in performing spells and curses which have had some powerful, long lasting consequences.
In fact, to this day Xander retains the military knowledge he obtained from Rayne’s spell that turned the Scoobies into their Halloween costumes (Xander was a soldier). He also shared a psychic link to the demon Eyghon, is skilled in transmogrification, and is an expert in demonology and the black arts.
21 TARA MACLAY
When Willow and Tara were together, their magic was seemingly unstoppable. It’s easy to forget how powerful Tara was all on her own, especially when Willow was right there going bonkers with magic. Though she may downplay her powers, there is no denying her strength.
First, she was a natural-born witch. Her mom was also a witch and Tara has an inherent connection to the mystic arts that even Willow can’t claim. She was an accomplished spell-caster with knowledge of rituals, rites, and incantations that even Giles didn’t know. Tara also had levitation and telekinetic abilities.
20 THE GENTLEMEN
They sweep into town during the middle of the night, steal the voices of the entire population with easy, and then leisurely float around neighborhoods with their minions cutting out people’s hearts. The Gentlemen are a much more powerful group than most people realize. Look how long it took before someone was able to destroy them.
They are immune to the effects of weapons, including swords, and even electricity. Also, stealing people’s voices doesn’t just keep the Gentlemen safe from the sound of a human voice, it also keeps their victims from screaming for help or casting incantations.
19 AMY MADISON
When Amy first appeared in season one, we thought she would be a white hat witch for sure (once we found out it was her mom who was evil, that is). As the series when on, Amy returned on a few occasions and each time she was more and more powerful, eventually turning evil in season seven.
Rivaled only by Willow, Amy has mastered the supernatural powers of telekinesis, teleportation, transmogrification, and demon summoning. She can also cast some pretty powerful hexes as she demonstrated when she made Willow look like Warren in “The Killer In Me.”
18 HALFREK
Anyanka’s longtime friend and fellow Vengeance demon Halfrek, has demonstrated her powerful skills on more than one occasion. Hallie’s schtick was seeking justice for neglected children, which we gather she was quite good at. Upon coaxing Dawn into admitting she felt neglected and making a wish, Hallie trapped everyone in the Summers’ home on Buffy’s birthday.
She essentially has the same skills that Anya and other Vengeance demons have, though she didn’t use them to the same extent that Anya did during her glory days. Though she was “immortal,” she didn’t survive D’Hoffryn disintegrating her in a fiery blaze.
17 ANYANKA (ANYA)
Anyanka was one of the most famous demons in her line of work, at least until she became mortal. As the Patron Saint Of The Women Scorned for over 1,000 years, Anya used the power of the wish to exact vengeance on men with horrifying results.
Her powers included sorcery and witchcraft, superhuman strength, and, as Buffy learned after ramming a sword through her, she was essentially immortal. Anya could also teleport, appear human, detect souls, and psychically connect with wronged women. It appears that, as a demon, the only thing that could destroy Anya was her boss, D’Hoffryn.
16 THE TUROK-HAN
Just when you thought things in Buffy’s seventh season couldn’t get any worse, the Turok-han appeared. There is a reason these guys are referred to as übervamps as we saw when the first one Buffy met almost ended her -- these guys even scare other vampires. This ancient race of beings is essentially the equivalent of vampire Neanderthals.
They share the same weaknesses as a normal vamp, but they are extremely difficult to stake. They can also enter anyone’s home uninvited and are unphased by crosses and holy water. One übervamp was even able to easily break through Willow’s mystical forcefield.
15 THE JUDGE
The Judge is another character who wasn’t around long but was incredibly powerful. This ancient demon had the power to literally burn the humanity out of his victims, which he accomplished with nifty late '90s special effects.
Legend holds a 14th Century army failed to destroy him and that no weapon forged could kill him. They incapacitated him by dismemberment and then hid his limbs around the world. Fast forward 600 years and Spike and Drusilla reassembled him again. The nearly invincible demon started incinerating people, but Buffy took him down with a rocket launcher.
14 FAITH LEHANE
Despite sometimes lacking a morals, Faith was the most efficient Slayer we saw besides Buffy. In fact, Faith’s issues and bouts of homicidal craziness actually made her a more powerful Slayer than most people realize -- she just wasn’t safe for innocent people to be around.
Coming complete with the full Slayer package, she has the strength, the speed, the healing, and even prophetic dreams. She even bounced back from her pre-graduation coma pretty quickly. As she demonstrated on Wesley during her first appearance on Angel, she also picked up some interrogation skills. Thankfully, she also turned over a new leaf.
13 BUFFY SUMMERS
Buffy is far from one of the most powerful beings in her world. On her own, she is a run-of-the-mill Slayer. She even perished after just 12 episodes. If not for her friends, it would’ve been a short series -- they are her power.
The reason she is so good at her job, able to keep returning from the grave, and save the planet over and over is her friends. Even when offered more power by the Shadow Men she declined. She knows she’s got a good thing going, and if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
12 SINEYA (THE FIRST SLAYER)
For a Slayer who hasn’t been alive for thousands of years, Sineya has proven to be a powerful character in the present. Originally chosen by the Shadow Men to be imbued with the Shadow demon’s power, she became the first Slayer. Post-mortem, she appeared after Buffy and the gang called on her spirit for the Enjoining spell to defeat Adam.
Offended, Sineya stalked and destroyed the Scooby Gang in their dreams until Buffy stopped her. She has since served as Buffy’s spirit guide. She can astral project, shares a psychic link with all Slayers, and is a pretty accurate precog.
11 MARCUS HAMILTON
Despite arriving during the eleventh hour of Angel’s final season, Marcus Hamilton made a powerful impression. He replaced Eve as the Senior Partners’ liaison to Angel and was himself the Partners’ child. With their blood flowing through his veins, Hamilton had superhuman strength that surpassed that of vampires, demons, and even Slayers.
This really hit home for fans after he nearly destroyed Illyria. Not only was Hamilton incredibly resilient as we saw during his brawl with Angel in “Not Fade Away,” but he was allegedly immortal. Angel seemed to prove that idea wrong and the Partners were none too pleased.