Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Ranking The Main Characters From Weakest To Strongest

Though Watcher, librarian and father figure Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) doesn't possess the physical strength of Riley, he has much more going for him that makes him a stronger character.

For starters, he is actually a good fighter, able to hold his own when he has to (though he tends to end up unconscious when violence does present itself), but it's from his use of magic and his extensive knowledge of the supernatural world that makes him a stronger figure than the rest of the show's powerless humans.

Thanks to a sketchy past, he's proved more than once to be a brutal fighter, and is mentally strong enough to do the things that Buffy knows she can't - like kill Ben (Charlie Weber) in Season 5. His strongest moment comes in season six, when he returns after a long absence with some nifty new powers - powers which give him the chance to hold off a raging Dark Willow.

This may have been a one-time deal, but it proves that Giles knows how to control great power if he has to.