| Riley Finn | |
|---|---|
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer character | |
 Marc Blucas as Riley Finn. | |
| First appearance | "The Freshman" (1999) |
| Last appearance | Ordinary People (2017) |
| Created by | Joss Whedon |
| Portrayed by | Marc Blucas |
| In-universe information | |
| Affiliation | The Initiative Scooby Gang Twilight Group US Army |
| Classification | Human |
| Notable powers | Military training grants him knowledge of strategy, combat techniques, tracking, and handling of weapons. |
Riley Finn is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Portrayed by Marc Blucas, Riley was introduced in the 1999 season four premiere episode, "The Freshman", and Blucas was part of the series credited cast for the second part of season four and the first part of season five. Most notably, Riley is one of three long-term romantic interests for series' heroine Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar).
Whedon intended Riley to be the antithesis of Buffy's boyfriend of the past three seasons, Angel (David Boreanaz), who now headed his own spin-off show. In stark contrast to broody, often pensive Angel, Riley is optimistic, trustworthy and reliable, and in theory presents Buffy with her first opportunity for a "normal" romantic relationship. However, Riley also leads a double life: he is both teaching assistant at UC Sunnydale and a member of The Initiative, a government-sponsored special operations team which both researches and combats the demons which roam Sunnydale. This allows him to interact with Buffy both in her civilian life and assist her with her duties as a Slayer; while Buffy has supernatural powers associated with her role, Riley must rely instead on his extensive military training.
In the show's fifth season, writers experimented with making Riley a more complex character, and so depicted Riley beginning to "fray around the edges". This storyline culminated in Riley being written out of the series in 2000. In 2002, Blucas returned for a final televised appearance in the show's sixth season, where he is seen to have moved on from Buffy and married. Subsequently, the character appears in Expanded Universe material such as the canonical comic book continuation to the series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight (2007–11). In Season Eight, the precise nature of Riley's role in the storyline is unclear for much of the story; writer Jane Espenson, however, wrote a Riley one-shot comic book focusing on Riley and his wife.