Glory (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

History

Glorificus (also known as "Glory") is a god from a hell dimension in which she ruled alongside two other deities. Her power and dominion were vast and continued to grow stronger and stronger, as did her lust for misery and destruction, and she quickly became the most powerful of the three hell gods. Afraid and fearful that Glorificus would grow too powerful and seize total control of the dimension for herself, the other two allied together and went to war against her. The hell gods barely defeated her, but despite their victory, she was too powerful to destroy, so they banished her into the earthly dimension, where her essence would be imprisoned in a human child named Ben, created solely to "contain" her until he eventually died as a mortal, sealing her.

Glory was too powerful to be completely contained within the human vessel and when Ben reached his 20s, Glory began to gain control over Ben for short periods of time, taking the form of a vain, self-centered human female possessing superhuman strength, speed and invulnerability. Glory's strength was greater than that of any Slayer, vampire or demon on Earth, although her powers were greatly diminished compared with those she had in her true form. Dark magicks prevent humans from learning that Glory and Ben are one and the same; even when she transforms right in front of someone, they instantly forget what they saw. The spell does not affect supernatural creatures like vampires and demons. This becomes a recurring joke in the penultimate episode of Season Five, where Spike finds himself repeatedly having to explain that Ben and Glory are the same person, only for people to either to misunderstand him or to instantly forget. As Ben and Glory's personalities begin to merge more and more (see below), the magic weakens until, in the finale, the whole gang is able to see through it. This human form is Glory's only weakness; if the human vessel containing her is killed, then Glory perishes with him.

Glory's goal is to find the Key, a "mystical energy nexus" which is the only way for her to return to her original dimension. Unfortunately, using the Key will break down the barriers between all dimensions, causing all worlds to bleed into each other and allowing "Hell to reign on Earth". The Key was safe, guarded by an ancient group of monks known as The Order of Dagon. When they discovered "The Beast" (Glory) was searching for the Key they chose to hide it. Using ancient magic they transformed the Key into a human girl and placed her under the protection of the Slayer Buffy, altering the memories of the Slayer and anyone connected to her into believing the girl was Buffy's younger sister Dawn. The Order of Dagon were eventually destroyed by Glory. The last monk of the order was taken prisoner and interrogated by Glory, and later rescued by Buffy. Before the monk died from his wounds he revealed to Glory (under torture) that the Key had been transformed, but not what the Key had become. The monk, after being rescued by Buffy, revealed to Buffy that Dawn was the Key, something she already suspected.

Glory was also opposed by a military order known as the "Knights of Byzantium", composed of knights and clerics. They swore to prevent Glory from using the Key, and they attempted to kill Dawn before Glory could find her. In the episode "Spiral", a large group of knights besiege Buffy and Dawn, but Glory arrives and slaughters nearly all of them, taking the Key with her.

The Key

The Key is an ancient power, an ancient green mystical energy that according to Glory "is almost as old as she is". The Key needs to draw on powers from the dimension it's in before being used, which is why it can only be used at a certain time and certain place. Who or what created the Key or how is unknown, even its true purpose is never fully revealed. The Key seems to work by destroying the barriers that separate one dimension from another. The longer the Key is in use, the more the walls of reality begin to break down. When the Key is activated, a small portal opens and begins to grow, in which demons, creatures and entire dimensions begin immediately bleeding through.

Buffy's first confrontation with Glory came shortly after discovering there was something not right about Dawn. Buffy tried to go up against Glory and failed miserably. Glory beat Buffy severely, destroying an entire building in the process. The only thing Buffy did manage to do was escape during a temper tantrum by Glory which caused the building to collapse, escaping with the last surviving monk who quickly revealed to her the truth about Dawn being the Key and Buffy as her protector.

Sunnydale

Although Glory enters early on in Season 5, the Scooby Gang knows very little about her, only discovering her name from one of Glory's minions. Glory's god-like status, her extreme power level, her origins, the Key's true nature and history are not known until later episodes. Glory comes to Sunnydale looking for "The Key", which will allow her to return to her own dimension. The Key would cause damage to all dimensions, including the dimension Buffy and her friends inhabit, though Glory seems to be unaware or unconcerned of this fact. Glory is not aware of what form the Key has taken, though she knows that Buffy, the Slayer, protects it. For her part, Buffy is not initially aware of the Key's nature either. It is eventually revealed that Buffy's "new sister", Dawn, is the Key, in human form.

She begins the quest to locate the Key, aided by a race of pale, black-eyed demons who are loyal to her almost to a fault, though she does not care for them and viciously abuses them, both verbally and physically, for even the slightest failures. Glory quickly establishes herself as one of Buffy's most dangerous and determined enemies. At one point, she confronts Buffy in her own home, openly threatening to kill Buffy's friends and family and force Buffy herself to watch her do so.

Due to Glory being a god in a human body, the human mind can not control such power and this gradually turns Glory insane. In order to maintain her sanity and power, Glory feeds off the mental energies of humans by a process that Buffy and her friends refer to as "brain-sucking". She inserts her fingers into the victim's head, absorbing the energies that bind the victim's mind. The humans that she "devours" in this way become incoherent and mentally unstable; those affected are also able to see Dawn in her true form. Glory's arrival in Sunnydale is followed by an inexplicable increase in the number of mental patients. One of her unfortunate victims is Willow's girlfriend, Tara, who later inadvertently betrays Dawn to Glory. The Scoobies try to run, but Glory still manages to kidnap Dawn shortly afterward.

The Key can only be used at a certain time, and as that time draws near, the power that separates Glory from Ben dissolves. They still inhabit Ben's body separately, but their memories and personalities begin to blur together.

After recovering from a mental breakdown caused by Glory's kidnapping of Dawn, Buffy decides to attack Glory with everything she has: Willow's magic spell to restore Tara's sanity stolen by Glory, at the same time weakening Glory's mind; the Dagon Sphere (a weapon created by the monks that causes physical pain to Glory); Buffy's robot double (the "Buffybot") originally Spike's sex toy; Olaf, The Troll God's Hammer (with which Buffy is able beat Glory in battle and severely weaken her albeit temporarily, due to the hammer being a weapon of the gods); and eventually a wrecking ball, commandeered by Xander. Meanwhile, Spike, Giles, and Anya attack her minions. The final spell that opens the rift between dimensions had already been started by one of Glory's disciples - Doc - by cutting Dawn with a knife and making her bleed (the act of which opens a portal to the other dimensions). After killing Doc, Buffy realizes that because the monks created Dawn from her essence, they share the same blood which means not only Dawn's blood but her own can close the portal, but it would also require her to die (her blood must stop flowing for the gateway to close). After saying goodbye to her sister, Buffy jumps into the portal that is opening, instantly dying and closing the gateway.

Glory is left defeated and significantly weakened, losing her hold on this reality and returning to the form and mind of Ben. Giles knows that Glory will eventually regain her power and return to get her revenge on Buffy unless Ben is killed, so he smothers Ben to death with his bare hands. As Ben dies, so does Glory.

Glory is also referred to as "Glorificus" by her minions and in most textual references, and occasionally as "The Beast" by the monks who created Dawn (although she has nothing to do with The Beast who appeared in Angel, the spin-off series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

After Glory's defeat, her final appearance in the series is at the end of the episode "Lessons", as an avatar of the First Evil along with most of the other major villains from the series.

Name

"That Which Cannot Be Named" came into existence before written word, and therefore (as its title implies) has no name. When the hell-god came to this dimension, she was dubbed "Glorificus" or sometimes "Glorifius," names which she shortened to "Glory." She was also known as "the Glorious One" (among many other amusing, groveling titles such as "Her Splendiferousness," "Her Sparkling Luminescence" and "Oh Sweaty-Naughty-Feelings-Causing One") by her demon minions, and as "the Beast" or "the Abomination" by the human priesthood and the Knights of Byzantium. The Scooby Gang and Ben often refer to her by the insulting name of "Hell-Bitch."

According to Jane Espenson, Glory was originally named Cherry.

Powers and abilities

In Season 5, Episode 13, "Blood Ties," the gang begins discussing the Watcher Council's research on Glory. Buffy asks whether or not Glory, as a god, can summon elements like lightning. Giles responds, "Normally, yes, but since she is in human form, her powers are severely limited." During season five the following were demonstrated:

The extent of Glory's true powers as a hell-god were never revealed or used, though according to Gregor in "Spiral", they were beyond what even her compatriot hell-gods could conceive. She later secures Ben's aid in recapturing Dawn by promising him immortality.

Personality

Clare Kramer says Glory's strength was her lack of self-doubt: "She was completely secure in herself, focused on what she wanted and dedicated to her cause." Her strength was also her downfall; Kramer notes that Glory was unable "to look at more than just herself."

According to Doug Petrie, "Joss very much wanted someone who was like the Joker to Batman. Someone who was just dynamic, charismatic and psychotic and we have all that. And Glory looks a lot better in a hot little red dress than the Joker ever did! We've got it all in Glory."

Servants

Art links

The picture in the living room of Glory's mansion is a copy of Tamara de Lempicka's Irene and her sisters a.k.a. Four nudes. The Polish art déco/futurist artist is renowned for being strongly feminist and openly bisexual/lesbian.

In Buffy & Angel: Official Yearbook 2006, Glory was voted number one by fans as "Best Buffyverse Villain", followed by Angelus and the Mayor respectively.

Canonical appearances

Glory appeared in 13 canonical episodes:

Merchandise

The character's popularity prompted Diamond Select Toys to release two unique Glory action figures in 2006 and 2007: one figure is modeled on the character wearing her trademark red dress, and the other features the character dressed in black, as seen in "The Gift". The latter action figure was released as part of a set, with the other figure being Dawn from the same episode.

A maquette of Glory was released as part of Electric Tiki's "Tooned-Up Television" line.