On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cordelia “Cordy” Chase is the queen bee of Sunnydale High School. Living on top of a Hellmouth in a town filled with threats both human and supernatural thrusts Cordelia into close proximity to Buffy and her pals, the Scoobies. Soon Cordelia finds herself fighting side by side with the Slayer and her besties.
Cordelia blames the Slayer for all of the bad things that happen in her hometown and to her. Not the closest under the best of circumstances, and far from mortal enemies under the worst, the Scoobies and Cordelia have a rocky relationship. Here are the five worst things the Scooby Gang did to Cordelia and the five worst things she did to them.
The Gang: Slut-Shaming
Prone to picking on anyone who crosses her path, Cordelia can intimidate anyone except Buffy and her friends. While Cordelia possesses some unflattering qualities, Xander’s insults of choice have to do with Cordelia’s supposed promiscuity. He throws around words like “hooker” and “trashy” when referring to Cordelia’s appearance.
When Cordelia and Buffy face off for the title of homecoming queen, Buffy calls Cordelia a “vapid whore.” Dishing it out should mean slut-shaming is never the way to go, especially when Willow and Buffy are both sexually active with their boyfriends while Cordelia apparently remains fairly chaste.
Cordelia: Constantly Slings Insults
Cordelia has a talent for correctly identifying people’s insecurities, and she has no problem exploiting them just for the heck of it. She constantly points out that Xander is a loser: the most useless member of Buffy’s entourage. She insults Willow’s and Buffy’s physical appearances on multiple occasions. Cordelia is not impressed by Buffy’s supernatural powers or her efforts to save the world, often referring to the Slayer as a freak.
Even during her tenure as a member of the inner circle, Cordelia’s brutal honesty is constantly on display. Her inability to filter what comes out of her mouth becomes a joke on season 3’s “Earshot” when it’s revealed Cordelia always says exactly what she’s thinking.
The Gang: Uses Her As Bait
With Buffy MIA at the start of season 3, it’s up to her friends to slay in her absence. Xander decides the best way to draw out the vampires is to use Cordelia as bait on “Anne.” He only puts Cordy in harm’s way because the twosome doesn’t exactly have a cuddly reunion after spending the summer apart. In reality, these two can’t wait to see each other– they’re both too stubborn to admit it, but they have serious communication issues.
This is Xander’s way of both getting a little payback after being slighted. Granted, Cordelia’s kind of a sucker for going along, but Xander’s intentions are super shady.
Cordelia: Wishes Buffy Never Came To Sunnydale
After dating Xander, Cordy loses the loyalty of her minions, and other boys also aren’t lining up to date her. Enter Anyanka, the Patron Saint of Scorned Women, who arrives to exact revenge on Xander. But in Cordelia’s mind, it’s Buffy who is the source of her angst.
Cordelia wishes Buffy never came to Sunnydale, and the result is a bizarro world. Cordelia doesn’t know she’s going to turn the town into a place overrun by vamps, but initially, she’s very psyched to discover she’s inhabiting a Buffy-free zone. She’s more upset by the revelation that Xander and Willow are vampires and lovers in this alternate dimension than the news they died. If not for Giles, it’s also the place where Buffy, Angel, Willow, and Cordelia herself would cease to exist.
The Gang: Xander Casts A Love Spell
Cordy is determined to keep her lip-locking with Xander on the down-low, but word gets out, and Cordelia finds her popularity in peril. She dumps Xander, and he decides to embrace the dark arts to get her back. He recruits teen witch Amy to cast a love spell on season 2’s “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.” The purpose? To get Cordelia to fall in love with him so he can turn the tables.
The spell works on every other woman in town except for Cordelia who finds herself in mortal danger fighting off Xander’s many admirers. It’s hard not to feel bad for a confounded Cordelia who can’t win seem to win no matter what she does. Xander and Cordy prove time and again that the one thing they have in common is their ability to bring out the worst in each other.
Cordelia: Forces Buffy To Attend A Frat Party
When Buffy catches the eye of a handsome and charismatic fraternity boy, it’s up to Cordelia to convince the Slayer to attend a party on campus on season 2’s “Reptile Boy.” While Cordelia is obsessed with upward social mobility, she misses a few red flags that maybe these big men on campus aren’t all they appear to be. They sacrifice women to a demon in return for personal gain.
It’s up to Buffy to slay the demon and save the day, and she does so with no thanks from Cordelia who conveniently blames Buffy for landing them in another life or death predicament.
The Gang: Xander Cheats On Her With Willow
Childhood besties Xander and Willow discover they’re attracted to one another during season 3. The timing couldn’t be worse since Xander is dating Cordelia, and Willow’s found her perfect match in werewolf-guitarist-brainiac Oz. When Spike holds the two hostages on season 3’s “Lovers Walk,” the threat of impending death gets their hormones racing, leading to a poorly-timed makeout sesh that ends with Cordy and Oz catching them in the act.
Xander makes cracks about Cordelia being easy, and he ends up stepping out on her. Plus, who decides to use their downtime as hostages as an excuse to get to first base and start rounding to second?
Cordelia: Breaks Up With Xander On Valentine’s Day
Cordelia may be at the top of the Sunnydale’s social hierarchy, but with great power comes great responsibility. This means she can’t openly date Xander Harris. After sneaking around and engaging in countless covert makeout sessions, the couple comes out of the closet. Cordelia’s feelings of shame are exploited by her “friends” who attempt to banish Cordy into social obscurity, forcing her to dump Xander.
It’s lame that someone like Harmony can manipulate Cordelia into doing something she so obviously doesn’t want to do. Even for Cordelia, kicking a guy to the curb on Valentine’s Day is straight-up cold-hearted.
The Gang: Leaves Cordy In A Closet
Spike rolls into Sunnydale and decides to take on Buffy during Parent-Teacher Night on season 2’s “School Hard.” Once again, Cordy finds herself in mortal danger and is forced to hide in a closet with Willow.
Buffy prevails, those in charge concoct another cover-up story and all is good again. Well, good for everyone except Cordelia, who is left behind in a closet. This act of forgetfulness is also a crime against Willow who is forced to listen to a repentant Cordy praying for her survival, promising to never be mean again unless someone deserves it. Some beauty queens never learn.
Cordelia: Wages A Merciless Campaign For Homecoming Queen
When Cordelia rubs Buffy’s lack of popularity in the Slayer’s face, she awakens the former prom princess within on season 3’s “Homecoming.” Cordelia never hesitates to diminish Buffy’s role as the Slayer. To Cordy, Buffy lacks the prowess to excel at the things that matter. Their competition for homecoming queen isolates Buffy from her friends who are all recruited by Cordelia to do her bidding.
Slaying is dangerous work, but it’s nothing compared to the cutthroat antics of Cordelia who does everything she can to sabotage Buffy’s campaign proving to be Buffy’s biggest non-demon foe.
