Amy Madison is a fictional character on the American television series ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

,'' portrayed by

Elizabeth Anne Allen Elizabeth Anne Allen is an American former actress. Allen is best known for her recurring role as the witch Amy Madison on the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. Early life Allen lived on her own since she was sixteen years old. A ...

; the character is a

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

, and is portrayed by unnamed

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

s for parts of three seasons, having transformed herself but inadvertently losing the human intelligence needed to cast a spell to revert herself. The characterhuman and ratappears in every season of ''Buffy'' except the fifth. Although initially a seemingly good-natured individual, Amy gradually begins misusing her

magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

, eventually becoming an enemy to

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

(

Alyson Hannigan Allison Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974), known professionally as Alyson Hannigan, is an American actress and television presenter. She began her film career with supporting roles in the comedy films '' Impure Thoughts'' (1986) and '' My Step ...

) and her friends. In the series' comic book continuation, the character is a villain.

Appearances

Television

Amy is a classmate of

Buffy Summers Buffy Anne Summers is the title character of the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' before going on to appear in The WB/ UPN 1997–2003 television series and subsequent 1998� ...

at Sunnydale High School. In

junior high Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

, she would often go over to Willow's house to escape her mother's abuse. The character first appears in the first season episode "

Witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

", when she and Buffy both try out for the

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

squad. At first, Amy performs poorly in the tryouts, but a series of strange injuries to other contestants move her up in the standings. Amy's mother Catherine, a very powerful witch, has switched bodies with Amy because she wants to relive her youth. Buffy and the Scooby Gang succeed in restoring Amy to her own body and (unknown to them) trapping her mother in the cheerleading trophy she won while a cheerleader for Sunnydale High. Afterward, Amy talks to Buffy and mentions that she is now living with her father and

step-mother A stepmother, stepmum or stepmom is a female non-biological parent married to one's preexisting parent. Children from her spouse's previous unions are known as her stepchildren. A stepmother-in-law is a stepmother of one's spouse. Culture Step ...

, and that she is much happier. The character appears as a Sunnydale student in other episodes. In the second season episode "

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered "Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)" is a show tune and popular song from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical '' Pal Joey''. It is part of the Great American Songbook. The song was introduced by Vivienne Segal on December 25, 1940, in the Broa ...

Xander Harris Alexander Lavelle Harris is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). He was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the television series by Nicholas Brend ...

discovers that Amy inherited her mother's power. Xander

blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

s Amy into helping him perform a love spell on

Cordelia Chase Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''; she also appeared on ''Buffy's'' spin-off series, ''Angel''. Portrayed by Charisma Carpenter, the character appears as a series ...

, however, the spell goes awry and causes the entire female population of

Sunnydale Sunnydale is the fictional setting for the American television drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). The series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic California, Californian city, as well as a narr ...

, except Cordelia, to become infatuated with Xander. Under the influence of her own spell, a jealous Amy invokes the goddess

Hecate Hecate ( ; ) is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, or snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. She is variously associat ...

and temporarily turns Buffy into a

. Eventually,

Rupert Giles Rupert Giles () is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The character is portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. He serves as Buffy Summers' mentor and surrogate father figure. The cha ...

forces Amy to undo both spells. In season 3, the character has joined a coven with Willow (now a practicing witch) and warlock Michael Czajak. In the episode "

Gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger root, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly ...

", the parents of Sunnydale (under the influence of the demonic Hans and Greta) become paranoid about the supernatural's influence on their children, and prepare to burn Amy, Buffy, and Willow at the stake. To escape her bonds, Amy turns herself into a rat, but is then unable to remove her own spell. Willow captures Rat-Amy and keeps her in a cage. Willow makes several unsuccessful attempts to return Amy to human form over the next two seasons. In the season 4 episode " Something Blue", Willow accidentally turns Amy back into a human, but Willow does not notice, and accidentally changes the character back into a rat.

Doug Petrie Douglas Petrie is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known as a writer, director, and co-executive producer on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. He co-wrote the screenplays for the ''Fantastic Four'' film and '' Harriet the Spy ...

, a writer on the show, describes this series of events as "as cruel and funny as anything could be". By the sixth season, Willow has become an extremely powerful witch and permanently "de-rats" Amy. The two become friends again, though Amy now seems to be drastically different. The character had been involved with the warlock

Rack Rack or racks may refer to: Storage, support and transportation * Amp rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Autorack or auto carrier, for transporting vehicles in freight trains * Baker's rack, for bread and other bake ...

before becoming a rat. Amy gets Willow involved, leading her to become addicted to black magic. Later, when Willow decides to give up magic, Amy casts a spell on her, causing her to magically manipulate everything she touches for a while; Willow complains that Amy's actions are encumbering her attempts to quit magic. As a result, Willow cuts Amy out of her life entirely. Amy's final appearance in the television series occurs in the season 7 episode "

The Killer in Me ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

said, "I think after all the things that she went through, there were a lot of reasons why she was so angry." Having physically transformed into

Warren Mears Warren Mears is a fictional character that is portrayed by Adam Busch in the American television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The character also appears in canonical comic book series continuation of that series. He is the main antagonist ...

, whom she tortured and

flayed Flaying is a method of slow and painful torture and/or execution in which skin is removed from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact. Scope A dead animal may be flayed when preparing it to be used a ...

in a rage over the murder of her girlfriend

Tara Maclay Tara Maclay is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed by Amber Benson. Tara is a shy young woman with magical talents ...

, Willow seeks help from the UC Sunnydale Wicca Group and discovers that Amy is a member. Amy explains that she had hit "rock bottom", and was doing better now. However, Amy is responsible for transforming Willow, apparently out of jealousy and spite. Allen says she would have liked to explore Amy's struggle to overcome her anger, so that she could "get a grip and come back to the fold with her friends."

Literature

Amy makes minor appearances in several ambiguously canon novels set before the season 3 finale, most notable '' The Gatekeeper (novel series)'', where she helps defend Sunnydale from a horde of magical threats while Buffy and her friends are busy elsewhere. In the first issue of the Season Eight comic book story " The Long Way Home," Amy works together with the US Army to locate and attack Buffy. Later, in " Time of Your Life," Amy and Warren are shown working under direct orders from

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

. Together they construct a missile covered in mystical runes and candles and use it to destroy a Scottish citadel, killing seven of the many Slayers residing there. When Twilight betrays Amy and Warren, she attempts to switch sides and forms a truce with Buffy in "

." In the final arc, " Last Gleaming," Amy and Warren have fled far from the final battle scene. At its conclusion, after Buffy destroys an ancient relic and effectively brings about the end of magic on Earth, the spell keeping Warren alive breaks, and Amy watches as he suddenly turns into a pile of blood and bones. Amy also appears in the second volume of ''Angel & Faith'', tying into ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten'' is the sequel to the '' Season Nine'' comic book series, a canonical continuation of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The series is published by Dark Horse Comics and ran from March 2014 ...

'', in issue four. In the story, magic was recently restored to the world at the conclusion of ''Buffy Season Nine'', while London in ''Angel & Faith'' was the site of a failed attempt by Whistler to restore magic which resulted in the mass mutation of locals in one borough, creating the ghetto known as 'Magic Town.'

Powers and abilities

In the television series, Amy possesses formidable witchcraft abilities that she has inherited from her maternal lineage, and these powers undergo significant augmentation over the course of the series. Initially, Amy's magical prowess surpasses that of Willow, as demonstrated when she casts a rat-transformation spell that initially stumps Willow's attempts at reversal. However, in season 7, Amy concedes that Willow has eclipsed her in magical proficiency. In the comic book, ''Season Eight'', she is significantly stronger.

Romantic interests

- After a spell Amy casts which was supposed to make

Cordelia Cordelia is a feminine given name. It was borne by the tragic heroine of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' (1606), a character based on the legendary queen Cordelia. The name is of uncertain origin. It is popularly associated with Latin '' cor'' (gen ...

love Xander goes wrong, she, along with every other woman in

, falls in love with Xander ("

"). This attraction ends after

gets Amy to reverse the spell. * Larry Blaisdell - Amy stated that she thought Larry was considering asking her to the prom, apparently unaware he was

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and the fact that the graduation of her class occurred three years before, when Larry died. *

- Amy's skinless boyfriend in ''Season Eight''. It is revealed in "The Long Way Home" that the two had been in a relationship since "

Villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

"; after Warren was flayed alive by Willow, Amy saved his life. Amy refers to Warren as "sweetie", while he claims that "her magic is my skin."

Appearances

Amy has appeared in 32 canonical Buffyverse episodes and comics. ; ''

'' : Amy appeared as a guest in eight episodes: *Season 1 (1997) - "

" *Season 2 (1998) - "

" *Season 3 (1999) - "

" *Season 4 (1999) - " Something Blue" *Season 6 (2001–02) - " Smashed"; " Wrecked"; "

Doublemeat Palace The sixth season of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' premiered on October 2, 2001, with a two-hour premiere on UPN and concluded its 22-episode season with a two-hour finale on May 21, 2002. It maintained its previous timeslot ...

" *Season 7 (2003) - "

" ;'' Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classics'' *"Bad Blood, Part Three: A Boy Named Sue" ;''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight'' is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2011. It serves as a canonical continuation of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', and follows the events of that show's ...

'' *" The Long Way Home, Parts 1-4" *" Time of Your Life, Part 1 & 4" *" Retreat, Part 2, 3 & 5" *" Twilight, Part 1-4" *" Last Gleaming, Part 1, 3 & 4" ;''

'' *"Where the River Meets the Sea, Part 1 & 4" *"Lost and Found, Part 1-5"

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madison, Amy Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters Buffyverse characters who use magic Fictional characters who use magic Comics characters who use magic Female characters in comics Female supervillains Television characters introduced in 1997 Fictional characters from the 20th century Fictional characters who can teleport Fictional mice and rats Fictional private military members Fictional shapeshifters Fictional telekinetics Television supervillains American female characters in television Fictional adolescents sv:Buffy och vampyrerna#Amy Madison