Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

“The first lesson a watcher learns is to separate truth from illusion. Because in the world of magics, it’s the hardest thing to do.”

Played by Alexis Denisof

First Appearance: Bad Girls

Wesley Wyndam‑Pryce arrived in Sunnydale as a by‑the‑book Watcher assigned to Buffy Summers and Faith Lehane, utterly unprepared for the chaos of the Hellmouth. He faced Buffy’s refusal to follow protocol, Giles’s open contempt, Faith’s descent into violence, and an impending apocalypse. During the Mayor’s Ascension, Wesley abandoned the Council’s rigid rules to help the Slayers, but was knocked unconscious in the battle. Fired and directionless, he drifted to Los Angeles as a self‑styled “rogue demon hunter,” where he crossed paths with Angel and Cordelia and found the purpose he had always lacked.

Wesley joined Angel Investigations and grew from an awkward academic into a capable, battle‑hardened leader. He fell in love with Fred Burkle, but their relationship was complicated by his betrayal of Angel: kidnapping baby Connor in a misguided attempt to protect him from prophecy. Wesley was nearly killed for his actions and ostracised by his friends. Over time, he clawed his way back into the team, and when Angel took over Wolfram & Hart, Wesley became head of research. Fred finally returned his feelings — only to die in his arms as Illyria consumed her body. Wesley devoted himself to guiding Illyria through her new existence, even as grief hollowed him out.

In the final battle against the Circle of the Black Thorn, Wesley confronted the warlock Cyvus Vail and was fatally wounded. As he lay dying, Illyria took Fred’s form to comfort him, granting him a final moment of peace. But Wesley’s story did not end with death. Bound by Wolfram & Hart’s Standard Perpetuity Clause, he returned as an incorporeal liaison to the Senior Partners during the Fall of Los Angeles, trapped in the appearance of the Watcher he once was. He tended to Angel, who had been rendered human and gravely injured, helping him maintain the illusion of vampirism and heal enough to fight again.

Cut off from the Powers That Be, Wesley watched helplessly as Gunn — now a vampire — destroyed the Wolfram & Hart building, severing his connection to the city. He persuaded the bodiless voices of the White Room to send him back, reappearing during Angel’s battle with the Demon Lords. Illyria, seeing him for the first time since the Fall, instinctively shifted into Fred’s form, revealing how deeply Wesley’s memory still shaped her fractured identity. Wesley remained a quiet, guiding presence, even as the world around them descended into chaos.

When Gunn mortally wounded Angel, the Senior Partners sent Wesley to deliver a message: the visions guiding Gunn came from them, not the Powers, and Angel still had a path to the Shanshu Prophecy if he survived to become a vampire again. Wesley transferred a vision of a post‑apocalyptic Angel fulfilling the prophecy, setting the stage for Angel’s final gambit. After Connor’s death, Wesley realised the Senior Partners could not allow Angel to die permanently. Angel’s sacrifice forced them to reverse time to the moment before the Fall — but because Wesley had died before that point, he would not return.

Accepting his fate, Wesley chose not to rejoin the restored world. With Fred gone and his purpose fulfilled, he asked Spike to look after Illyria and walked away into nothingness. In the new timeline, Angel honoured both Fred and Wesley by naming the Burkle‑Wyndam‑Pryce Wing of the Los Angeles Public Library after them — a quiet memorial to a man who began as a comic foil and became one of the Buffyverse’s most tragic, steadfast champions.

APPEARANCES

Buffy SEASON 3