Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the most popular television series of all time. It is impossible to watch any supernatural show nowadays without feeling the influence of Joss Whedon’s mega-hit. Even a revival series is potentially in the works. The show helped make vampires cool and scary (at least until the Twilight craze kicked in).
But beyond just vampires, the show featured all kinds of creative, crazy, extra-creepy villains, ranging from ancient beasts to primitive blood-suckers to every type of demon you could imagine. We’re ranking some of the freakiest, creepiest, creatures to ever cross our screens during the long seven-season run of Buffy.
Wig Lady
Doublemeat Palace is a popular episode largely because of how ridiculous it is. The plot features Buffy getting a job at a fast-food restaurant and as luck would have it, there’s something pretty sinister going on behind the doors of the Doublemeat Palace. The “wig lady” is a demon that pretends to be an old lady.
She frequents the Doublemeat Palace, but not to eat their food, she instead enjoys feasting on the customers. If you take her wig off, you’ll find a hideously creepy snake-like extremity protruding from her head. The wig lady intends to eat Buffy but luckily Willow gets there in time to save the day.
She-Mantis
Talk about not wanting to become this teacher’s pet. Xander learned that lesson the hard way when he got close to his teacher, Natalie French. In her human appearance, she was quite beautiful, the perfect way to trap unsuspecting men in her lair. The She-Mantis is an early arrival on Buffy; she shows up only four episodes into the first season and invites Xander to her home to work on their science project.
But then she transforms into hideous mantis and tries to force him to mate with her. Um, ew. Not only that, but she’s prone to devouring her victim’s heads afterward, just like a real mantis. All of this is made even more disturbing by the fact we get a final shot at some eggs that were left undestroyed by the episode’s end…
Kakistos
This villain is slightly different than some of the others on this list because he actually isn’t there to attack Buffy, but Faith. Even Faith, who is super powerful and more intense than Buffy is (in terms of attitude, at least) is afraid of him. He looks like he crawled out of Hell with his cloven hooves and scarred eyes, no one can blame her.
He’s an ancient vampire too, far from your average graveyard cronies. Not only that, but he doesn’t travel alone which makes him an even nastier opponent. Plus, due to his age and power, traditional stakes don’t work on him. You need a large one to get the job done.
Queller Demon
Imagine trying to sleep and then suddenly you look up and there is a horrific demon hanging out on the ceiling that can drip mucus down on to your face and strangle you to death with it. It’s a pretty disgusting and nightmarish thought to have, isn’t it? That’s exactly what the Queller demon was capable of.
These demons were summoned to Sunnydale to take care of mental patients created by Glory. They come from meteors in space so they’re not easy to kill and are definitely extraterrestrial in origin. Of course, Buffy is able to kill the one in Sunnydale after it tries to attack Joyce but it isn’t an easy fight.
Sweet
Just look at this dude. He could give Marvel’s Red Skull and Star War’s Darth Maul a run for their money in terms of the freakiest red-headed villain. This is the demon who gave us the awesome musical episode that spawned a million copycats, so it’s hard to hate him too much. But still, he is undeniably creepy looking.
He is a powerful demon who could make people burst into song at a moment’s notice. Some of his victims would even combust because of the strength of his abilities. Despite looking weird, Sweet was more of a smooth-talker than most of the villains Buffy dealt with. He even had a sense of humor.
Turok-Han
The Turok-Han are a type of vampire with extra creep sprinkled on top. We don’t actually see these guys pop up until the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it becomes apparent why that is the case. These primitive beings are super creepy and they contain all the same abilities as vampires do except to a hyper-enhanced degree.
That means they’re basically super-charged vampires, and also way uglier on top of all that. They are somewhat similar in appearance to the vampire leader, The Master. They can only communicate in an animal language and they are able to make their own language. It gets even freakier because the Turok-Han can only be summoned through blood rituals on the Hellmouth seal.
Ted Buchanan
Not much could be worse than your mom accidentally starting to date a murderous cyborg/robot but that is exactly what happens when John Ritter guest stars in the second season of Buffy and plays the insidious character of Ted Buchanan. Poor Joyce doesn’t know what she’s getting into when she goes on a date with the seemingly charming Ted.
Ted is actually a duplicate of the original creator, also named Ted. He created a robot version of himself after his wife had left him. Then the robot kidnapped Ted’s wife until she died. It’s a tragic story. And one that Joyce probably would have been fated to reenact had Buffy not stepped in.
Eyghon the Sleepwalker
In the episode “The Dark Age,” the gang must deal with Eyghon the Sleepwalker, an ancient demon. The being is in Sunnydale to try and hunt down Giles because he was once affiliated with a group who tattooed themselves with Eyghon’s mark, which is the only way to summon him.
He would be able to possess the sleeping person that bore his marks. Of course, as all demon possession stories go, the group eventually lost control and Eyghon got loose and swore to kill them all one by one. Fast forward to the future and the demon tries to come after Giles! He appears again later in the Buffy comics.
Der Kindestod
This creature had to be placed high up on the list because he gave people in real life nightmares, not unlike how he preyed on children in the show. But seriously, the monster design for this demon is absolutely horrific. The creepy slasher smile, the long feelers that come out of his eyes and attach themselves to children, and that is only scratching the surface!
Der Kindestod is a demon that not only preys on children but specifically targets sick children. He sucks the life out of them. Its eyes literally left its skull and extended towards its victims. The eyeballs themselves transformed into fanged mouths to absorb the child’s life force. Ugh, freaky.
The Gentlemen
It would be impossible to make a list about the creepiest characters on Buffy and not include the iconic Gentlemen. These are characters who could easily give Slenderman a run for his money. They also helped give us one of the best episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to date and earned the show an Emmy nomination. So what are these hideous bald creatures?
They’re demons who roam from town to town, harvesting human hearts to stay alive. They never speak, which is why the episode they’re featured in only has a limited amount of dialogue, it’s called “Hush,” for a reason. But they’re always grinning with shiny teeth. You wouldn’t want to run into these guys in the dark, or anywhere, for that matter.
