In the world of the show, Giles is a Watcher, a fancy name for Buffy’s assigned guardian, the person meant to educate and train her in all the ways of being a Slayer. A prim, tweed-wearing librarian, the character leans into all of Head’s inherent Britishness: A dry comment, a pointed eyeroll. Giles initially seems to be something of a relic, the onscreen stand-in for an inflexible, frequently archaic system that refuses to see the girls they train as anything more than a duty to be managed or a weapon to be forged. But that was never who Giles was, because Head’s emotionally complex performance always centered the character’s most human traits. A mentor who sees Buffy as a person, not merely as a Slayer, he comes to love her for all the things that make her herself, not the supernatural abilities that make her exceptional.
Yes, Giles is a capable mentor, a walking library of vampire fun facts and deep-cut supernatural lore who helps Buffy and her friends solve a myriad of dangerous problems. But unlike many classic authority figures in the genre space, he isn’t overly stoic, rigid, or removed. For all his magic and historical knowledge, Giles doesn’t always have all the answers, and must find his own way to navigate love, loss, and failure in much the same way Buffy and her friends do. (Just with less homework and/or extracurricular activities.)
Humanized by his ex-rebel with a dark magic past and vulnerable in a way that few men on TV during this time period were allowed to be, Giles frequently second-guesses himself, acts selfishly, and makes mistakes, sometimes all within the same episode. Yet he is also Buffy’s staunchest supporter and advocate, not only prepared to die for her (season 1’s “Prophecy Girl”), but kill for her if need be (season 5’s “The Gift”). And Head makes it all look effortless, deftly shifting between genuine sincerity, fierce protectiveness, and the biting humor that gave him many of the show’s most memorable one-liners.
Buffy’s actual dad, Hank Summers, only appears a handful of times on the show — and one of those episodes takes place in an alternate reality and therefore doesn’t really count — so it makes sense that Giles eventually becomes a sort of surrogate stand-in, both a father figure and a trusted confidante who pushes the Slayer to become her best self without asking her to sacrifice the spirit that makes her so special. It’s evident from very early on that Buffy is the most important person in Giles’ life, and their relationship ultimately forms the emotional heart of the show. Say what you want about the (still ongoing!) debate about who Buffy should have ended up with romantically — Team Angel, for the record, but it really doesn’t matter — her most important relationship was always the one she shared with her Watcher, and the warm, lived-in chemistry between Head and Gellar carried over into every interaction between the pair, whether it was Giles making a fool of himself for Buffy’s benefit or refusing to judge her for making the same kind of reckless teenage choices he once did.
In many ways, Anthony Head didn’t just play a father figure to Buffy Summers on TV; he filled a similar role in the hearts of many of the impressionable young nerds watching along at home during Buffy’s heyday. Don’t we all still wish we had a Giles in our own lives — fiercely protective, patient, endlessly loving and loyal, most especially if and when we probably don’t deserve it? We have the actor who brought him to life to thank for that, and the performance helped teach us how to stand against the forces of darkness in the first place.
