Halfrek
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 Kali Rocha as Halfrek |
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Halfrek or Hallie is a recurring fictional character on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She appears as a vengeance demon in seasons 6 and 7, and is implied to have previously appeared as Cecily in season 5.
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[edit] Halfrek
Halfrek is a long-time associate and sometime friend of Anya, who knew her from her days as a vengeance demon. The two had worked together in the past, notably during the Russian Revolution. However, Halfrek's raison d'etre differed from Anya's. Whereas Anya was an avenger of scorned women, Halfrek's "thing" (as Anya put it) is to perform vengeance for children who have been wronged by their parents or guardians. Even after Anya ceases to be a vengeance demon, she continues her friendship with Halfrek (even calling her "Hallie" as a nickname).
In her second appearance in season 6, Halfrek poses as a guidance counselor and coaxes Dawn into making a wish. Feeling that no one wants to spend time with her, Dawn wishes that people would never leave; Halfrek therefore cast a spell that prevents anyone from leaving the Summers residence. The crisis ends when Halfrek herself is caught in the spell and has to break it. Halfrek also appears as a bridesmaid at the failed wedding of Anya and Xander. Early in season 7, Halfrek attempts to coax Anya back into vengeance, but Anya has spent too long as a mortal; while she was initially successful in her return to demonhood, she subsequently regrets the deaths she has caused. Anya thus asks D'Hoffryn (the head of the Vengeance Demons) to restore the lives of a group of men slaughtered as a result of one of her wishes; D'Hoffryn agrees, but destroys Halfrek's body and soul before Anya's eyes in order to accomplish what she has requested.
[edit] Cecily
Kali Rocha, the actress who plays Halfrek, also earlier played another character, during the season 5 episode "Fool For Love." In that episode, she plays Cecily, the upper middle class object of the then-human William's affections in Victorian England circa 1880. Cecily spurns William's advances, saying he is "beneath her", and upsetting him greatly. This sets in motion the events that lead William to accept comfort from Drusilla, and become a vampire. (Cecily's surname is the subject of some dispute in Buffy fandom - it was implied to be Underwood in the episode "Lies My Parents Told Me", but stated to be Addams in the tie-in novel These Our Actors and the script of "Fool for Love").
[edit] Identity
In the season 6 episode "Older and Far Away", Halfrek recognizes Spike and calls him by his human name, William. Spike also recognizes Halfrek, but when asked to explain this they both sheepishly deny being acquainted. This implies that Halfrek had previously been Cecily. However, Halfrek once told Anya that she witnessed the Crimean War (circa 1853). The timing of this event would indicate that Halfrek existed as a demon at least three decades prior to the adoption of youthful human form in Cecily. Joss Whedon and Kali Rocha have both made statements that Halfrek and Cecily were indeed the same entity.
Halfrek later appeared in Spike: Old Times, which established that she was 'on a job' at the time that William fell for Cecily. The night William became a vampire, she caused the deaths of the rude party-goers who had laughed at William's poetry.
Continuity-wise, the comic story takes place in Buffy Season 6, and assumes that an unsouled Spike briefly left Sunnydale and visited LA.
[edit] Buffyverse appearances
In order of Buffyverse chronology. Canon appears in bold.
[edit] History
- Flashbacks in Fool for Love
- Flashbacks in Spark and Burn
- Flashbacks in These Our Actors
- Flashbacks in Selfless
