Xander As Trickster: An Accidental Essay
Nov. 22nd, 2020 06:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamer/just ran into a Xander-went-as-Gabriel (SPN) YAHF
...wait, huh, that actually makes a lot of sense. Starting all the way back from that fateful Halloween episode. length warning. lack of links warning, for those of you who care about such things (I definitely couldn't submit this essay in an academic setting)-either because I couldn't vet the links for accuracy or because some of this stuff I read a little while ago when I was trying to research for fic and can't find where I'd read it. i do have a couple links, but i'd honestly need a lot more.
as this is about tricksters, content warning for the 'breaking of taboo'. i handled this as briefly and skim-capable as possible, but I'd rather warn.
Ethan himself, particularly in that episode, is a kind of trickster figure, what with the chaos and all. Janus, too, is posed as a kind of trickster figure god, at least in Buffy, and that kind of makes sense.
It might be something fanfic writers are picking up on subconsciously (at the very least, I didn't make this connection consciously before), but I'd argue that part of the reason Xander's chosen as the central figure for YAHF is actually a canon thing: he's the only one who's depicted as having lingering effects from the spell. Within the episode, I vaguely remember Buffy talking about potential lingering effects from her own transformation (using French she'd learned to cheat her way out of a language class), but it's not referenced after that point. Xander's 'soldier boy' skills are referenced both when he manages to get in and out of an army base with the rocket launcher and when he serves as a commander of sorts for the 'troops' taking on the Mayor. (There's also something foreshadowingy about that entire moment, where they actually inform everyone about the dangers and arm them. Yeah, I'm talking the empowering of the Potentials. But that's a side lit analysis and I'm getting off topic.) Arguably, it also might be part of why he latches on to Riley so much. Part of him might still think of himself as a soldier, only now, he's got a buddy who gets it, the mundane situation of serving in the army. Anyway, that's more speculation.
Back to Janus. Beginnings and endings, duality, transitions, two-faced. Now let's look at tricksters. Tricksters usually have shapeshifting or changing powers. They're smart, though not necessarily academically so, and play tricks and defy rules. They can be considered to both defy existing order and uphold it. They're playful, jokey, outrageous. They boast. Cunning and foolish. They might not conform to the traditional gender norms. Tricksters are catalysts for action, for change. They can make other people uncomfortable with their goofing off.
They take part in 'rebellious deconstruction'. They're a paradox, Schrodinger's hero and villain. They break taboo. They can be problematic as well as inclusionary, sometimes in the exact same sentence. They're the one who jokes, as well as being the butt of the joke. Like Constantine (another trickster type figure), they kind of ride the synchronicity wave, being exactly where they need to be, exactly where the story needs them to be, at exactly the right time. Having misfortune befall them, but not the wrong sort of misfortune, the misfortune that would end their part in the story. Tricksters are the underdogs, with less strength than their enemies, so often they have to use their wits to get out of situations. And their speed. They're selfish and selfless at turns (sometimes they act only for their own game, sometimes they're giving humanity fire).
Remind you of anyone you know?
Now, in most cases, it's not a physical change for Xander, but he's been possessed. A lot. The hyena, which is interesting for several reasons. Animals are pretty common trickster figures. You've probably heard of Coyote or Br'er Rabbit, but, uh, it's probably relevant to the point I'm trying to make that hyenas are pretty common trickster figures themselves. There are all sorts of boundary-breaking things, including association with witches, shapeshifting, the ability to mimic human speech, the fact that women are the ones in charge (well, in some species, anyway), the fact that female hyenas, uh, look similar to male hyenas... (Interestingly, I've also read that the hyena trickster's antics usually lead them to be the 'victim' of the story, which also makes it an interesting choice.) Also random aside: Xander clearly is associated with a witch... (now I want a hyena!Xan as Willow's familiar AU...) From what I've seen, hyena tricksters are either: goofballs that bring misfortune on themselves, or totally evil (while real hyenas might kill but are far more scavengers, a trickster hyena chowing down on pig or principal is not quite out of the question). And Xander clearly did have some darkness drawn out of him in that episode.
But that's not the only occasion on which there's a transformation sequence threatened. There's the soldier boy. There's the threat of changing into the aquatic monster when he went undercover on the swim team. There's others I'm probably not remembering off the top of my head. And that change was exactly what they needed. They needed someone who could steal the rocket launcher, who could use a military plan/weapons against the Mayor.
Xander's generally smart. Generally. He shows better social understanding, if not compliance (I'm thinking moments like his comment about 'little league coaches' where he's the only one who can conceive of authority figures misusing their authority). Xander's the one who looked at prophecy and went "hell nah". He tends to be creative (because he has to be, without powers). And as much as they focus on trickster figures as 'truth tellers' (and Whedon certainly fixated on Xander as a 'truth teller'), they are also liars. Which happens. The One Who Sees could be a reference to the 'truth teller' aspect.
As for the rest, well. Xander grew up in toxic masculinity, and most of his problematic comments are along those lines. At the same time, he has some lines he won't cross, things he knows are wrong no matter how much society tells him it's fine. Sometimes he's respecting women's agency, sometimes he's second guessing them (though as the seasons go on, as he grows up, he gets better about doing the first than the second). In a meta way, a guy's greatest strength being the 'comfortador', the heart rather than the warrior, is kind of revolutionary (unfortunately), but also a lot about his personality sends the message that certain behavior is okay. (That's maybe a point against the trickster reading--tricksters in their stories usually get some sort of callout on their behavior, unless, in Xander's case, it's a textual thing of 'the next demon to try to eat you is because of that remark you made last week'. I say usually, because in some stories tricksters walk away with no consequences, just having burned down everything around them.)
Also, when writers hadn't decided whether Xander or Willow was going to be 'the gay one' (I have a whole other rant about the fact that BISEXUALITY EXISTS, THE KINSEY SCALE EXISTS, THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS, SEXUALITY'S SO MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN WE SEE but that's both in tone with and outside this essay), he was being written as 'possibly not straight', see idle thought #198. So, not stereotypical in terms of gender or sexuality (you can't fully walk that back, writers, it's already out of the closet, pun intended).
I probably don't have to address the playful or jokey things. Xander makes everything a joke. Even when it's serious. Especially when it's serious. We don't really get a lot on him playing practical jokes, but he's the type where that wouldn't be out of character. Xander also boasts and shows off when he's got something to show off (that car he never actually ended up showing off). He definitely plays the fool on occasion.
It's pretty clear that Xander doesn't fit the traditional masculine roles. Even when he wants to. Especially when he wants to. He's so much better at using his words as weapons than actual weapons. If he actually accepted his role as support, as the spotter, he'd be much happier. (That, and he'd have to be able to tell what he believes from truth.) The 'catalyst for action' bit is a big reason why I'm drawing a connection to Janus-as-trickster. For good or bad, Xander's also a catalyst for action (the fandom-hated "kick his ass", for example, or saving Buffy's life and defying prophecy, as the damsel in distress).
Xander's trying to break free of becoming his father (as much as I dislike Hell's Bells, that's a pretty clear theme of the episode), but in some ways fails to break free (but from the very struggle invites a 'is this a good thing' discussion).
As for whether he's a hero or villain, uh...just ask reddit, or the buffy boards, or...and you'll usually get both answers from the same text, just because the act of viewing the character locks one in (quantum physics is actually very trickster-ish, too).
***This is the paragraph for the content warning stuff, because some stuff is definitely covered here with taboo. Xander and cornering Buffy in the Hyena. Xander as possible victim in The Zeppo and definite victim in Consequences. Xander as instigator and victim both in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. Xander as victim in Teacher's Pet. (Because, due to ignorance, male as victim is thought of transgressive. Because either way, ignoring consent and bodily autonomy is breaking taboo in all the wrong ways. Breaking all the rules isn't always a good thing; sometimes those rules are there for a reason.) Xander's abusive family, especially with the Cult of Family. There's a fixation on portraying abuse as either stereotypical 'this person is clearly evil and this is a shorthand to show that just like kicking dogs' instead of the messy reality of sometimes people try their best and it's not enough, you still horribly hurt/mess up your kids (*coughJohnWinchestercough*) or they've got an addiction and need help before they can even dream of helping others (see also: that oxygen mask announcement in airplanes as a metaphor, one possible reading for Xander's parent as alcoholics). (Xander's family will always be a missed writing opportunity, but what we did get, the vague, chilling, blink-and-you-miss-it references we did get, were certainly transgressive, breaking the taboo of showing families as perfect or villainous because otherwise people could see their own families in that, they could think 'possibly not perfect' and connect it to the concept of Family.) And then there's theft (definitely), as well as several of the other deadly sins (wrath and envy, anyone?), violence, vigilanteism.***
Xander does try to be open-minded, but it can't be argued that sometimes he fails at this. (The exact percentage is probably an objective vs subjective thing, but it's clear that the writers at least believed he was the supportive one, the 'heart of the group'. The extent which this is 'writing fail' is up for debate. I'd personally argue that none of them were really supportive enough and they all need therapy, but that's beside the point of this rapidly growing essay.)
I've already covered that Xander's the one who jokes, but he's also pretty clearly the cosmic butt monkey (that's actually stated). Some of the jokes were probably a coping mechanism. But when someone had to be a demon magnet, the damsel in distress, Xander could be used in that capacity. He had a lot of bad things happen to him, some of them played off as a joke when they shouldn't have been. (It'd be completely in character for Xander to shrug it off casually with a quip, but either way, especially with the stuff I talk about above in the taboo paragraph, it's important that the NARRATIVE not shrug it off. Which, the narrative shrugged it off for virtually all the characters and it was a complete mess. Consequences matter, and aside from a select few plotlines they were swept under the rug.)
In a meta capacity, he was whatever the plot demanded he be, wherever he needed to be. Comic Relief? He was there. Guy Who Points Out Uncomfortable Truths? He was there. Complete Ass? You got it.
Xander was definitely portrayed as the underdog compared to his bullies (the inclusion of bullies is a particularly good way to depict an underdog). His confrontation with Angelus is a particularly good one, where Angelus sees him as nothing, beneath him, and all Xander's armed with is his wits and his determination, but like a true underdog is positioned perfectly to yap like a true small dog and hang on with all the strength in the tiny terrier jaws. As Xander admits himself, he's the one who laughs in the face of danger and then runs away. (Sometimes. When it's not more important to stand tall and not be the good one that doesn't say anything or walks away. See also: Gabriel.)
Depending on the writer (and fan), Xander is the most selfish or selfless, to which I say, ¿Por qué no los dos? Sometimes he thinks only about his own quest for vengeance (you cannot convince me his vampire-hatred is not an unending unspoken-of thing), sometimes he thinks only about how things are going to affect him, sometimes he's thinking of his own romance (and an obsession with romance is a common trickster-trope), and sometimes he's ready to give up his life to try to stop a bomb, or escorting out the civilians without an eye for thanks, or asking himself 'what would Buffy do?'
Trickster figures are often caught up in something bigger than they are, and any roles they play (defying prophecy) are unintentional. And against this backdrop, Xander's the guy without the powers, the guy whose only protection is his wit and legs. In this reading, any inconsistencies are due to the trickster thing, not because there are a ton of writers trying to match up different perceptions of the same guy in their writing of the character.
Oh, also, it's not just Ethan and Janus. Xander's got a clearer textual connection to a trickster figure--Anya. Trickster figures are also commonly (like Gabriel in SPN) the punishers, the ones that meet transgressions with retribution, and having a punishment that is far too strong to fit the crime is pretty common. I've got another Idle Thought about her later. Now, do I think that this was all on purpose? Definitely not all of it. Because Whedon said he's feminist, and might have even believed it, but obviously there are problems with that assertion. And also because TV involves a lot of writers and unless there's a pretty strict character bible (inconsistencies in writing characters kind of points to 'there wasn't one' or 'it was often ignored').
Do I think it's really cool to look at? ...Obviously. Hence the accidental writing of a long essay. (Also this might explain a few things about why I love writing the guy. Because 'trickster' is one of my favorite Jungian archetypes, along with 'shadow'.)
...wait, huh, that actually makes a lot of sense. Starting all the way back from that fateful Halloween episode. length warning. lack of links warning, for those of you who care about such things (I definitely couldn't submit this essay in an academic setting)-either because I couldn't vet the links for accuracy or because some of this stuff I read a little while ago when I was trying to research for fic and can't find where I'd read it. i do have a couple links, but i'd honestly need a lot more.
as this is about tricksters, content warning for the 'breaking of taboo'. i handled this as briefly and skim-capable as possible, but I'd rather warn.
Ethan himself, particularly in that episode, is a kind of trickster figure, what with the chaos and all. Janus, too, is posed as a kind of trickster figure god, at least in Buffy, and that kind of makes sense.
It might be something fanfic writers are picking up on subconsciously (at the very least, I didn't make this connection consciously before), but I'd argue that part of the reason Xander's chosen as the central figure for YAHF is actually a canon thing: he's the only one who's depicted as having lingering effects from the spell. Within the episode, I vaguely remember Buffy talking about potential lingering effects from her own transformation (using French she'd learned to cheat her way out of a language class), but it's not referenced after that point. Xander's 'soldier boy' skills are referenced both when he manages to get in and out of an army base with the rocket launcher and when he serves as a commander of sorts for the 'troops' taking on the Mayor. (There's also something foreshadowingy about that entire moment, where they actually inform everyone about the dangers and arm them. Yeah, I'm talking the empowering of the Potentials. But that's a side lit analysis and I'm getting off topic.) Arguably, it also might be part of why he latches on to Riley so much. Part of him might still think of himself as a soldier, only now, he's got a buddy who gets it, the mundane situation of serving in the army. Anyway, that's more speculation.
Back to Janus. Beginnings and endings, duality, transitions, two-faced. Now let's look at tricksters. Tricksters usually have shapeshifting or changing powers. They're smart, though not necessarily academically so, and play tricks and defy rules. They can be considered to both defy existing order and uphold it. They're playful, jokey, outrageous. They boast. Cunning and foolish. They might not conform to the traditional gender norms. Tricksters are catalysts for action, for change. They can make other people uncomfortable with their goofing off.
They take part in 'rebellious deconstruction'. They're a paradox, Schrodinger's hero and villain. They break taboo. They can be problematic as well as inclusionary, sometimes in the exact same sentence. They're the one who jokes, as well as being the butt of the joke. Like Constantine (another trickster type figure), they kind of ride the synchronicity wave, being exactly where they need to be, exactly where the story needs them to be, at exactly the right time. Having misfortune befall them, but not the wrong sort of misfortune, the misfortune that would end their part in the story. Tricksters are the underdogs, with less strength than their enemies, so often they have to use their wits to get out of situations. And their speed. They're selfish and selfless at turns (sometimes they act only for their own game, sometimes they're giving humanity fire).
Remind you of anyone you know?
Now, in most cases, it's not a physical change for Xander, but he's been possessed. A lot. The hyena, which is interesting for several reasons. Animals are pretty common trickster figures. You've probably heard of Coyote or Br'er Rabbit, but, uh, it's probably relevant to the point I'm trying to make that hyenas are pretty common trickster figures themselves. There are all sorts of boundary-breaking things, including association with witches, shapeshifting, the ability to mimic human speech, the fact that women are the ones in charge (well, in some species, anyway), the fact that female hyenas, uh, look similar to male hyenas... (Interestingly, I've also read that the hyena trickster's antics usually lead them to be the 'victim' of the story, which also makes it an interesting choice.) Also random aside: Xander clearly is associated with a witch... (now I want a hyena!Xan as Willow's familiar AU...) From what I've seen, hyena tricksters are either: goofballs that bring misfortune on themselves, or totally evil (while real hyenas might kill but are far more scavengers, a trickster hyena chowing down on pig or principal is not quite out of the question). And Xander clearly did have some darkness drawn out of him in that episode.
But that's not the only occasion on which there's a transformation sequence threatened. There's the soldier boy. There's the threat of changing into the aquatic monster when he went undercover on the swim team. There's others I'm probably not remembering off the top of my head. And that change was exactly what they needed. They needed someone who could steal the rocket launcher, who could use a military plan/weapons against the Mayor.
Xander's generally smart. Generally. He shows better social understanding, if not compliance (I'm thinking moments like his comment about 'little league coaches' where he's the only one who can conceive of authority figures misusing their authority). Xander's the one who looked at prophecy and went "hell nah". He tends to be creative (because he has to be, without powers). And as much as they focus on trickster figures as 'truth tellers' (and Whedon certainly fixated on Xander as a 'truth teller'), they are also liars. Which happens. The One Who Sees could be a reference to the 'truth teller' aspect.
As for the rest, well. Xander grew up in toxic masculinity, and most of his problematic comments are along those lines. At the same time, he has some lines he won't cross, things he knows are wrong no matter how much society tells him it's fine. Sometimes he's respecting women's agency, sometimes he's second guessing them (though as the seasons go on, as he grows up, he gets better about doing the first than the second). In a meta way, a guy's greatest strength being the 'comfortador', the heart rather than the warrior, is kind of revolutionary (unfortunately), but also a lot about his personality sends the message that certain behavior is okay. (That's maybe a point against the trickster reading--tricksters in their stories usually get some sort of callout on their behavior, unless, in Xander's case, it's a textual thing of 'the next demon to try to eat you is because of that remark you made last week'. I say usually, because in some stories tricksters walk away with no consequences, just having burned down everything around them.)
Also, when writers hadn't decided whether Xander or Willow was going to be 'the gay one' (I have a whole other rant about the fact that BISEXUALITY EXISTS, THE KINSEY SCALE EXISTS, THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS, SEXUALITY'S SO MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN WE SEE but that's both in tone with and outside this essay), he was being written as 'possibly not straight', see idle thought #198. So, not stereotypical in terms of gender or sexuality (you can't fully walk that back, writers, it's already out of the closet, pun intended).
I probably don't have to address the playful or jokey things. Xander makes everything a joke. Even when it's serious. Especially when it's serious. We don't really get a lot on him playing practical jokes, but he's the type where that wouldn't be out of character. Xander also boasts and shows off when he's got something to show off (that car he never actually ended up showing off). He definitely plays the fool on occasion.
It's pretty clear that Xander doesn't fit the traditional masculine roles. Even when he wants to. Especially when he wants to. He's so much better at using his words as weapons than actual weapons. If he actually accepted his role as support, as the spotter, he'd be much happier. (That, and he'd have to be able to tell what he believes from truth.) The 'catalyst for action' bit is a big reason why I'm drawing a connection to Janus-as-trickster. For good or bad, Xander's also a catalyst for action (the fandom-hated "kick his ass", for example, or saving Buffy's life and defying prophecy, as the damsel in distress).
Xander's trying to break free of becoming his father (as much as I dislike Hell's Bells, that's a pretty clear theme of the episode), but in some ways fails to break free (but from the very struggle invites a 'is this a good thing' discussion).
As for whether he's a hero or villain, uh...just ask reddit, or the buffy boards, or...and you'll usually get both answers from the same text, just because the act of viewing the character locks one in (quantum physics is actually very trickster-ish, too).
***This is the paragraph for the content warning stuff, because some stuff is definitely covered here with taboo. Xander and cornering Buffy in the Hyena. Xander as possible victim in The Zeppo and definite victim in Consequences. Xander as instigator and victim both in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. Xander as victim in Teacher's Pet. (Because, due to ignorance, male as victim is thought of transgressive. Because either way, ignoring consent and bodily autonomy is breaking taboo in all the wrong ways. Breaking all the rules isn't always a good thing; sometimes those rules are there for a reason.) Xander's abusive family, especially with the Cult of Family. There's a fixation on portraying abuse as either stereotypical 'this person is clearly evil and this is a shorthand to show that just like kicking dogs' instead of the messy reality of sometimes people try their best and it's not enough, you still horribly hurt/mess up your kids (*coughJohnWinchestercough*) or they've got an addiction and need help before they can even dream of helping others (see also: that oxygen mask announcement in airplanes as a metaphor, one possible reading for Xander's parent as alcoholics). (Xander's family will always be a missed writing opportunity, but what we did get, the vague, chilling, blink-and-you-miss-it references we did get, were certainly transgressive, breaking the taboo of showing families as perfect or villainous because otherwise people could see their own families in that, they could think 'possibly not perfect' and connect it to the concept of Family.) And then there's theft (definitely), as well as several of the other deadly sins (wrath and envy, anyone?), violence, vigilanteism.***
Xander does try to be open-minded, but it can't be argued that sometimes he fails at this. (The exact percentage is probably an objective vs subjective thing, but it's clear that the writers at least believed he was the supportive one, the 'heart of the group'. The extent which this is 'writing fail' is up for debate. I'd personally argue that none of them were really supportive enough and they all need therapy, but that's beside the point of this rapidly growing essay.)
I've already covered that Xander's the one who jokes, but he's also pretty clearly the cosmic butt monkey (that's actually stated). Some of the jokes were probably a coping mechanism. But when someone had to be a demon magnet, the damsel in distress, Xander could be used in that capacity. He had a lot of bad things happen to him, some of them played off as a joke when they shouldn't have been. (It'd be completely in character for Xander to shrug it off casually with a quip, but either way, especially with the stuff I talk about above in the taboo paragraph, it's important that the NARRATIVE not shrug it off. Which, the narrative shrugged it off for virtually all the characters and it was a complete mess. Consequences matter, and aside from a select few plotlines they were swept under the rug.)
In a meta capacity, he was whatever the plot demanded he be, wherever he needed to be. Comic Relief? He was there. Guy Who Points Out Uncomfortable Truths? He was there. Complete Ass? You got it.
Xander was definitely portrayed as the underdog compared to his bullies (the inclusion of bullies is a particularly good way to depict an underdog). His confrontation with Angelus is a particularly good one, where Angelus sees him as nothing, beneath him, and all Xander's armed with is his wits and his determination, but like a true underdog is positioned perfectly to yap like a true small dog and hang on with all the strength in the tiny terrier jaws. As Xander admits himself, he's the one who laughs in the face of danger and then runs away. (Sometimes. When it's not more important to stand tall and not be the good one that doesn't say anything or walks away. See also: Gabriel.)
Depending on the writer (and fan), Xander is the most selfish or selfless, to which I say, ¿Por qué no los dos? Sometimes he thinks only about his own quest for vengeance (you cannot convince me his vampire-hatred is not an unending unspoken-of thing), sometimes he thinks only about how things are going to affect him, sometimes he's thinking of his own romance (and an obsession with romance is a common trickster-trope), and sometimes he's ready to give up his life to try to stop a bomb, or escorting out the civilians without an eye for thanks, or asking himself 'what would Buffy do?'
Trickster figures are often caught up in something bigger than they are, and any roles they play (defying prophecy) are unintentional. And against this backdrop, Xander's the guy without the powers, the guy whose only protection is his wit and legs. In this reading, any inconsistencies are due to the trickster thing, not because there are a ton of writers trying to match up different perceptions of the same guy in their writing of the character.
Oh, also, it's not just Ethan and Janus. Xander's got a clearer textual connection to a trickster figure--Anya. Trickster figures are also commonly (like Gabriel in SPN) the punishers, the ones that meet transgressions with retribution, and having a punishment that is far too strong to fit the crime is pretty common. I've got another Idle Thought about her later. Now, do I think that this was all on purpose? Definitely not all of it. Because Whedon said he's feminist, and might have even believed it, but obviously there are problems with that assertion. And also because TV involves a lot of writers and unless there's a pretty strict character bible (inconsistencies in writing characters kind of points to 'there wasn't one' or 'it was often ignored').
Do I think it's really cool to look at? ...Obviously. Hence the accidental writing of a long essay. (Also this might explain a few things about why I love writing the guy. Because 'trickster' is one of my favorite Jungian archetypes, along with 'shadow'.)
