10 Most Badass Buffy The Vampire Slayer Baddies

Though ostensibly Buffy exists in the horror genre, at its heart Buffy was always at least as much a teen comedy/drama as a provider of hard scares. For all his love of humour and pathos, however, Whedon was equally capable of creating objects of real terror, and perhaps his most frightful invention were The Gentlemen.

Appearing just once in fan favourite season four episode Hush, The Gentlemen are a collective of slender, besuited ghouls who glide through Sunnydale on the search for hearts to harvest. Portrayed by, among others, future Guillermo Del Toro collaborator Doug Jones, their every move is unnerving; resplendent in their undead evening wear, they hover a few inches from the ground, arch their fingers in a manner befitting any great villain, and applaud one another’s acts of beastliness.

Making them scarier still is the episode’s cunning conceit – when The Gentlemen come into town they leave everyone speechless, literally. After stealing the people of Sunnydale’s voices (housing them in a fancy box – a touch of class), they are free to roam the streets, safe in the knowledge that their surprisingly developed fighting skills (plus psychic powers) keep them in good stead.

That is, however, until Buffy manages to regain the power of speech – or, more specifically, screaming really loud. Once exposed to their regrettable weakness, The Gentlemen are fairly easily dispatched – but we can forgive them that, because they provide us with one of the finest episodes, as well as the most iconic foes.