10 Most Hated Buffy The Vampire Slayer Characters

Riley is yet another character who comes into the show at the start of Season 4. He meets Buffy at the college library after she accidentally drops a pile of books on his head. Though he introduces himself as a teaching assistant alongside Professor Walsh, this is merely a cover story for his real mission.

As a key member of the Initiative, Riley regularly ventures into the night and tackles demons in order to help with the Initiative’s experiments. Though his double life as both an agent and a post-graduate student is pretty interesting, his personality isn’t.

There just isn’t anything distinctive about Riley’s dialogue or his relationship with Buffy. Once she learns his secret, their romance doesn’t hold much intrigue. And given that Buffy’s other lovers happen to be Angel and Spike, Riley pales by comparison.

Whilst he probably gets a bit more hate than he deserves given he’s a good person for the most part, no one was particularly sad to see Riley leave midway through Season 5.