29 Years Ago, ‘Buffy’s Wisest Character Got a Shocking Backstory that Redefined the Entire Series
In “Halloween”, an episode of *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* that aired on 27 October 1997, a curse turns Sunnydale residents into the characters represented by their costumes. With Buffy transformed into a frightened noblewoman, Willow and Giles take the lead, and Giles confronts the villain Ethan Rayne, revealing a hidden, more dangerous side to the librarian.
Ethan calls Giles “Ripper”, a nickname that points to his youthful involvement with dark magic and complicates his role as the Scooby Gang’s steady adult. The episode drew almost six million viewers, about a million more than the previous instalment, and helped establish patterns for the series. Later episodes expanded on Giles’s past, while plans for a separate series about “Ripper” were discussed but never realised.
In short
- A Halloween curse leaves Buffy helpless and pushes Willow and Giles to act.
- Ethan Rayne’s arrival reveals Giles’s hidden past as “Ripper”.
- The episode drew almost six million viewers and shaped the series.
Explained simply
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a television series about teenager Buffy Summers, who is chosen to fight vampires and other supernatural threats in the Californian town of Sunnydale. Her friends Willow and Xander help her, while school librarian Rupert Giles acts as her mentor and supplies knowledge about the dangers they face.
Giles is usually presented as a careful, dependable adult, so hints that he has a more troubled past add another layer to his character. Ethan Rayne, an old acquaintance who practises magic, connects Giles to that earlier life. The contrast between Giles’s role as mentor and his history with dark magic became a thread the series could explore in later stories.