Whichever way you choose to spin it, the 90s were a fantastic time for television - and
the cream of the crop, for horror fans in particular - was Joss Whedon’s weird and
wonderful world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - because, well - we don’t like to talk
about the 1992 movie.
Thankfully for us though, Whedon took his initial fictional spark, and went on to create
7 seasons of some of the darkest and most macabre content on television.
For fans of Sunnydale, there is a colossal amount of mythology to dive through, but some
of the series best big bad monsters - are the horrific hosts of demons that Buffy and
the Scooby Gang had to battle.
So, let’s take a look shall we?
Hello horror fans and welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube, Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch and go fuck yourself San Diego - as
today, we head on down to Sunnydale, California - and take a look at the Top 5 Scariest Buffyverse
Demons.
Roll the clip.
Oh man - that intro gets me pumped every time.
Just makes me want to go out and slay some zompires.
The thing is though, on a brief note - Buffy was great, because it taught us all that it
was okay to be a little bit weird - and usually, those same weird kids were actually too busy
battling the forces of evil to care about who wore what at high school.
It’s an important life lesson, really.
Kicking off at Number 5 - The Queller Demon
First appearing in season 5 episode 9, Listening to Fear - the Queller Demon was summoned by
the unfortunate Ben Wilkinson, who himself was the possessed mortal prison of the hell-goddess
Glorificus.
Yeah.
One thing that you’ll sense a continued theme of - there is a hell of a lot of possession
covered throughout Buffy.
In the literal sense.
The demonic manifestation of Glory was actually in the process of trying to maintain her own
sanity and power by feeding off the mental energies of humans in a process known as brain
sucking.
Nice - and she needed someway to get rid of these suspicious human husks.
Well, in fact - the Queller Demon summoned to Sunnydale via meteorite was actually one
of many in a demonic extraterrestrial species that specialised in feasting off of the insane.
These demons were historically summoned to areas of hysteria, particularly in Europe
during the middle ages - and would choke their victims with a gooey, alkaloid substance while
feasting off of their mental distress.
I don’t know about you, but the majority of Listening to Fear is scenes of the Queller
demon crawling across the ceiling with it’s freaky, tapeworm like mouth - and I’m kind
of glad to see the end of it, to be honest.
Swinging in at Number 4 - Eyghon
Everyone loves Rupert Giles, right?
He’s a warlock, he’s fluent in Sumerian and Ancient Greek - he’s English.
Wait a minute…
Nah, just kidding - but while also being one of the most endearing characters in the entire
series, we also learned that in the Season 2 episode, The Dark Age - that Giles was also
ancestrally possessed by a demon known as Eyghon the Sleepwalker - an ancient force
of incredible power, that him and his buddies used to summon for a few cheap laughs way
back in the seventies.
Yeah, Buffy was great, right?
Well - turns out that the joke quickly wasn’t funny any more, and Eyghon had actually taken
permanent possession of one of Giles’ pals - Randall - killing the guy in the process.
What they failed to realise though, is that demons have a harsh habit of holding a grudge,
and Eyghon swore to enact revenge on the fledgling warlocks for messing with him.
Flash forward several decades, and Eyghon has actually managed to track the last remaining
member down, Rupert Giles, after killing all of his friends in the process.
The rest of the season follows with Giles being hunted by the demon wearing his dead
friends skin suits - and to be honest, it’s pretty harrowing stuff.
Next up at Number 3 - Gnarl
Uhhhhhh - I hate this guy, and watching that clip - you can see exactly why, right?
Well, thankfully for us - Gnarl only managed to make one on-screen appearance during the
seven seasons - in the 7th season episode, Same Time Same Place - and to be honest, that’s
one time too many.
While also being a throw back to Gollum - Gnarl was a demon that dwelled underneath Sunnydale,
feasting on the skin of unwitting graffiti-tagging teenagers.
He’s a parasitic creature, with long - paralyzing-poison secreting fingernails - that he jabs his victims
with, while slowly stripping off their skin, until he fully consumes them.
Not cool, dude.
What made Gnarl even worse though, was his sadistic-childlike persona - who would often
speak in nursery rhyming couplets - referring to his victims as lovely, sealed gifts that
he couldn’t wait to unwrap.
Nah, I’m not having it man.
Gnarl was messed up - and thankfully, Buffy killed him by gouging his eyes out.
Good job Slayer.
Coming in at Number 2 - Der Kindestod
Perhaps one of the most nightmare inducing creatures in the whole of the Slayer series,
is this demonically twisted version of Freddy Krueger.
Der Kindestod.
Yeah, as if Freddy can get any scarier.
Der Kindestod, which in German literally translates to - the child death - was a demon who was
invisible to everyone, except those that were feverishly ill.
Particularly though, children.
Making his first and - thankfully - only appearance in the season two episode, Killed by Death,
this guy would sneak into hospitals at night to murder sick kids and suck the life out
of them.
What made this episode so much more terrifying though, is that Der Kindestods particular
technique meant that when his victims bodies were found, it looked as though they’d been
killed by their illness - and thus no one was ever held accountable.
As if that’s not horrific enough - this guy also wore a trilby.
Come on dude.
Well, his reign was short lived though - when he decided to pick on Celia, the wrong eight-year-old
cousin of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - who later remembered him from her childhood after contracting
a severe case of the flu and being rushed to hospital.
Buffy purposefully made herself ill so that Der Kindestod would be lured to her - and
then she broke his neck in front of a ward full of sick children.
Damn straight.
And finally - at our Number 1 spot - The Gentlemen
And I want absolutely nothing to do with these guys.
I hate them.
And I hate their stupid little song.
By far - the most horrific, nightmare inducing creations that the Buffyverse have ever spat
forward - and the main reason being, well, I don’t really know why.
The Gentlemen play on a strange, inexplicable fear - that they’re just not right.
They shouldn’t be.
They’re not MEANT to be.
Even as far as how they move, isn’t right.
Forget walking, these guys float.
Forget talking, these guys pull a creepy smile and politely nod at each other.
And we haven’t even started on their origin story - The Gentlemen were said to have originated
from fairytales, who roamed from town to town - seeking out the seven human hearts that
they required to stay alive.
They would steal their victims voices so that they couldn’t scream while they extracted
their beating hearts with scalpels.
Legit - their first appearance, in the season 4 episode, Hush - is perhaps one of the best
Buffy episodes ever - it’s just a straight up horror show, with a creative, innovative
twist on fear.
But seriously, forget the Gentlemen.
They’re too much man.
I hate them.
Well - thankfully folks, that’s all we’ve got time for in today’s video - why don’t
you let us know your thoughts about the Buffyverse in the comment section down below.
Before we depart, let’s read out some of your more creative comments from over the
past few days.
Scooter The Mighty Minion - which is a fantastic name may I add Scooter, says - Thank you for
what you guys do.
I love the humor that softens the mind maddening horror that you warn us of.
I always look forward to every new video.
Aww - Scooter!
You’re gonna make me tear up buddy.
That’s one hell of an accolade, and I think I may even add that to my horror resume.
Well on that wholesome note, cheers for sticking around all the way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video, make sure to hit that thumbs up button - as well as
that subscribe bell and I’ll be seeing you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your horror host Jack Finch - you’ve been watching Top 5
Scary Videos - and until next time, you take it easy.