| The Mayor | |
|---|---|
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer character | |
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| First appearance | "Homecoming" (1998) |
| Last appearance | "Touched" (2003) Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Twelve: Finale (2018) |
| Created by | Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt |
| Portrayed by | Harry Groener |
| In-universe information | |
| Classification | Mayor of Sunnydale |
| Notable powers | Sorcery, immortality; superhuman attributes in demon form |
Richard Wilkins III (commonly referred to as The Mayor) is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). Portrayed by Harry Groener, he is the mayor of Sunnydale, a fictional town rife with vampires and demons in which the main character, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) lives. The premise of the series is that Buffy is a Slayer, a young girl endowed with superhuman powers to fight evil, which she accomplishes with the help of a small group of friends and family, called the Scooby Gang. During the show's second season, it becomes apparent that local authorities are aware of the endemic evil in the town, and either ignore it or are complicit in making it worse. The third season reveals that the Mayor is behind this conspiracy to hide and worsen Sunnydale's supernatural phenomena, as part of his century-long plot to take over the world, making him the season's primary villain, or Big Bad. His genial demeanor, promotion of family values, casual phobia of germs, and dislike of swearing belie his evil nature. The series regularly employs monsters and elements of horror to symbolize real problems,[1] and the abuse of power in relation to the forces of darkness is a repeated theme throughout the series, as well as in its spin-off Angel.[2]
This season also marks Buffy's and her friends' last year in high school, and introduces a long-running character named Faith (Eliza Dushku), who is also a Slayer. After many months of fighting alongside Buffy and being under the authority of Buffy's Watcher, Giles, Faith becomes estranged from Buffy and aligns herself with the Mayor, who both employs her as an assassin and becomes a father figure to her while preparing to become a powerful demon that will destroy the town.