74 Facts About Willow Rosenberg

1.

Willow Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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2.

Willow Rosenberg was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan.

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3.

The series begins as Buffy, Willow Rosenberg, and their friend Xander are in 10th grade and Willow Rosenberg is a shy, nerdy girl with little confidence.

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4.

Willow Rosenberg has inherent magical abilities and begins to study witchcraft; as the series progresses, Willow becomes more sure of herself and her magical powers become significant.

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5.

Willow Rosenberg's character stood out as a positive portrayal of a Jewish woman and at the height of her popularity, she fell in love with another woman, a witch named Tara Maclay.

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6.

Willow Rosenberg is featured in an animated series and video game, both of which use Hannigan's voice, and the comics Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eleven and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Twelve which use Hannigan's likeness and continues Willow's storyline following the television series.

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7.

Willow Rosenberg began to develop for television the concept of a fashion-conscious girl named Buffy, who is imbued with superhuman abilities and attends a high school situated on a portal to hell.

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8.

Willow Rosenberg's character demanded that she be shy and unsure of herself, and the casting department encountered some difficulty finding actors who could portray this effectively and still be likable.

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9.

Willow Rosenberg was chosen for being able to spin the character's lines with a self-effacing optimism.

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10.

Willow Rosenberg definitely has a loopiness I found creeping into the way Willow talked, which was great.

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11.

Willow Rosenberg is presented as a bookish nerd with considerable computer skills, dowdily dressed and easily intimidated by more popular girls in school.

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12.

Willow Rosenberg grows faint at the sight of monsters, but quickly forms a friendship with Buffy and is revealed to have grown up with Xander.

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13.

However, Willow Rosenberg establishes herself as integral to the group's effectiveness, often willing to break rules by hacking into highly secure computer systems.

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14.

Willow Rosenberg was noted to be the spirit of the Scooby Gang, and Hannigan attributed Willow Rosenberg's popularity with viewers to being an underdog who develops confidence and is accepted by Buffy, a strong, popular person in school.

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15.

Willow Rosenberg really is what a lot of high-schoolers are like, with that awkwardness and shyness, and all those adolescent feelings.

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16.

Willow Rosenberg is able to perform a complicated spell to restore the soul of Angel, a vampire who is Calendar's murderer and Buffy's boyfriend.

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17.

Willow Rosenberg chooses to attend college with Buffy in Sunnydale although she is accepted to prestigious schools elsewhere.

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18.

Willow Rosenberg becomes much more confident in college, finally finding a place that respects her intellect, while Buffy has difficulty in classes and Xander does not attend school.

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19.

Willow Rosenberg becomes depressed and explores magic more deeply, often with powerful but inconsistent results.

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20.

Willow Rosenberg joins the campus Wicca group, meeting Tara Maclay, for whom she immediately feels a strong attraction.

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21.

The series' use of magic, as noted by religion professor Gregory Stevenson, neither promotes nor denigrates Wiccan ideals and Willow Rosenberg rejects Wiccan colleagues for not practicing the magic she favors.

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22.

Willow Rosenberg reveals that the spells she casts are physically demanding, giving her headaches and nosebleeds.

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23.

The final episode of the fifth season sees Willow Rosenberg restoring Tara's sanity and crucially weakening Glory in the process.

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24.

Willow Rosenberg is successful, but Buffy keeps it secret that she believes she was in heaven.

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25.

Willow Rosenberg's powers grow stronger; she uses telepathy which her friends find intrusive, and she begins to cast spells to manipulate Tara.

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26.

Willow Rosenberg goes for months without any magic, helping Buffy track three geeks called The Trio who grandiosely aspire to be supervillains.

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27.

Willow Rosenberg solves this problem by killing her 'dealer' from earlier in the season and draining him of his magic.

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28.

Willow Rosenberg tries to ease the pain by destroying the world, finally stopped by Xander's passionate confession of platonic familial love for her.

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29.

Willow Rosenberg fears returning to Sunnydale and what she is capable of doing if she loses control again, a fear that dogs her the whole season.

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30.

Willow Rosenberg continues to face her grief over Tara's death and, reluctantly, becomes involved with one of the Potentials, Kennedy.

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31.

Willow Rosenberg is able to escape with Buffy, Xander, Giles, and Kennedy as Sunnydale is destroyed.

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32.

Willow Rosenberg's cover art is done by Jo Chen, and Georges Jeanty and Karl Moline produce character artwork and provide alternative covers.

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33.

Willow Rosenberg appears to Buffy and Xander, who are in charge of thousands of Slayers, a year after the destruction of Sunnydale.

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34.

Willow Rosenberg reveals a host of new abilities including being able to fly and absorbing others' magic to deconstruct it.

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35.

Willow Rosenberg is still involved with Kennedy through Season Eight, but becomes intimate with Aluwyn while they are together.

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36.

Willow Rosenberg continues to deal with grief from Tara's death, and struggles with the dark forces of magic that put her in opposition to Buffy.

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37.

Willow Rosenberg is malleable, in continuous transition more so than any other Buffy character.

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38.

Willow Rosenberg is consistently labeled as dependable and reliable by the other characters and thus to the audience, making her appear to be stable.

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39.

Willow Rosenberg is unsure of who she is; despite all the tasks she takes on and excels at, for much of the series she has no identity.

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40.

Willow Rosenberg is attacked and strangled by the First Slayer as the class ignores her cries for help.

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41.

Willow Rosenberg is often shown making choices that allow her to acquire power or knowledge and avoid emotional conflict.

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42.

The story arc of Willow Rosenberg's growing dependence on magic was noted by Marti Noxon as the representation of "adult crossroads" and Willow Rosenberg's inability and unwillingness to be accountable for her own life.

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43.

Willow Rosenberg is addicted to the surging hope that this deed or the next or the next will finally assuage her inner pain.

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44.

Vamp Willow Rosenberg appears in the third season episodes "The Wish" and "Doppelgangland".

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45.

Willow Rosenberg is capricious and aggressive, the opposite of Willow's usual nature; her bad behavior so exaggerated that it does not instill fear into the viewer like other female vampires in the series, but indicates more about Willow's personality.

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46.

Many Buffy fans saw this as a funny Easter egg when Willow Rosenberg revealed herself to actually be lesbian in later seasons.

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47.

Dark Willow Rosenberg proved to be exceptionally more powerful than Buffy.

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48.

Dark Willow Rosenberg is preternaturally focused on revenge, relentless and unstoppable.

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49.

Willow Rosenberg forcefully takes advantage of any opportunity to further her goals.

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50.

Willow Rosenberg saves Buffy by removing the bullet from her chest, but later commandeers a tractor trailer, making it slam into Xander's car while he and Buffy are inside protecting Jonathan and Andrew, the other two members of the Trio.

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51.

Willow Rosenberg is cruelly honest to Dawn and Buffy, and overpowers everyone with whom she comes in contact.

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52.

Willow Rosenberg lets everyone walk all over her and gets cranky at her friends for no reason.

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53.

Willow Rosenberg is no longer able to abstain from magic as it is such an integral part of her that doing so will kill her.

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54.

Willow Rosenberg takes on the leadership role when Buffy is unavailable, and her growing powers sometimes make her resent being positioned as Buffy's sidekick.

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55.

Willow Rosenberg is part of a powerful quartet: she represents the spirit, Giles intelligence, Xander heart, and Buffy strength of the Scoobies.

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56.

Oz is bitten by a werewolf, and just as Willow Rosenberg begins to confront him about why he does not spend time with her, he transforms and attacks her.

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57.

Willow Rosenberg admits an animal attraction to Veruca, which he does not share with Willow.

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58.

Willow Rosenberg sleeps with Veruca and leaves shortly after to explore the werewolf part of himself.

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59.

When Willow Rosenberg discloses to Buffy what she feels for Tara, she indicates that she has fallen in love with Tara, not that she is a lesbian, and avoids categorizing herself.

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60.

Willow Rosenberg's progression has been noted to be unique in television.

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61.

Some fans loyal to Willow Rosenberg reacted angrily as she chose to be with Tara when Oz made himself available, and they lashed out at Tara and Amber Benson on the fansite message boards.

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62.

Willow Rosenberg is displayed as "cuddly" in earlier seasons, often dressing in pink fuzzy sweaters resulting in an innocent tomboyishness.

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63.

Willow Rosenberg becomes more feminine in her relationship with Tara, who is already feminine; no issues with gender are present in their union.

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64.

Willow Rosenberg is more demonstrative in the beginning of her relationship with Tara.

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65.

Willow Rosenberg finds in Tara a place where she can be the focus of Tara's attention, not having to appease or sacrifice as she has in the past.

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66.

Willow Rosenberg becomes completely devoted to and enamored of Tara, and then manipulates her to avoid conflict when Tara does not conform to what she wants.

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67.

Willow Rosenberg is younger, outspoken, and aggressively pursues Willow, who hesitates to become involved again.

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68.

The spell is broken when Willow Rosenberg acknowledges her guilt and Kennedy kisses her again.

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69.

In Season Eight, Kennedy and Willow Rosenberg are still romantically involved, but separated during Willow Rosenberg's self-exploration.

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70.

Unlike her relationship with Tara, Willow Rosenberg is able to hold a separate identity while with Kennedy.

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71.

When she realizes her powers have gone at the end of Season Eight Willow Rosenberg ends her relationship with Kennedy, saying that there is someone else Willow Rosenberg is in love with, who she will never see again.

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72.

Willow Rosenberg is undoubtedly the most complexly represented girl in love and lust with other girls to be developed within a mainstream network television series.

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73.

The time and space given to Willow Rosenberg to go from being a shy scared girl into a confident woman who falls in love with another woman is, as of 2007, unique in television; it does not occur in one flash or single moment.

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74.

Willow Rosenberg was ranked No 12 in their Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters.

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