Willow Rosenberg

Willow Danielle Rosenberg is a central character featured in the WB Network/United Paramount Network television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was played by actress Alyson Hannigan. The character has also been presented as a supporting character in several Buffy the Vampire Slayer video games, comic books and novels. Hannigan was unavailable to reprise the role for the 2003 video game Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds and was replaced with noted voice actress Kari Wahlgren.

Overview
Willow is introduced as an exceptionally smart, yet introverted teenager who attends Sunnydale High School. Known for her quirky, nervous behavior, she is close friends with fellow student Xander Harris whom she has known since they were eight-years-old. Willow becomes the close friend and confidante of Buffy Summers and quickly discovers that Buffy is the Slayer - a Chosen One, selected to battle the forces of evil.

In addition to being an exceptional student and computer whiz, Willow also discovers an innate mystical ability. She begins learning witchcraft, a skill that greatly aids Buffy and the others in their struggle against various vampires and demons. During her senior year at Sunnydale High, Willow begins dating a soft-spoken musician named Daniel "Oz" Osbourne. The two grow quite close and even the revelation that Oz is a werewolf does little to unnerve her. Willow and Oz eventually part company and Willow begins experimenting with homosexuality. She begins dating a girl named Tara Maclay, all the while improving upon her skills as a magic-user. As Willow and Tara's relationship deepens, she finds herself growing more dependent on using magic and it becomes an addiction. Ultimately, Buffy and the others are forced to hold an intervention for her.

Willow's life and personality goes through a radical change when a former classmate named Warren Mears accidentally shoots and kills Tara. Willow's reaction to her murder is traumatic and she embraces black magic, ultimately taking her revenge against Mears by skinning him alive. Through it all however, Willow regains her humanity, owing largely to her friendship with Xander Harris.

Willow's magic plays a major role against combating the First Evil when she conducts a ritual to awaken all the Slayers across the world. Though she and the others are successful in defeating this primordial force, it is not without cost. Several of their friends are killed and the entire town of Sunnydale is destroyed.

Following this, Willow leaves the United States for Europe and helps her friends in a global network dedicated towards fighting the forces of evil.

Notes & Trivia

 * Willow appeared in 144 out of 145 aired episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.


 * Willow is the only cast member from the series revealed to be Jewish.


 * The character was slated to appear in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer animated series voiced by Hannigan, but the program never went beyond the initial development stage.


 * Willow appeared in three episodes of the Buffy spin-off series Angel. She appeared in "Disharmony", "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb" and "Orpheus".