Ethan Rayne

Ethan Rayne is a male television character who features in Buffy-Angel.

Biography

Ethan Rayne

In the early 1970s, Ethan met and became friends with Rupert Giles, then known as "Ripper." Giles had dropped out of Oxford University and traveled to London to seek out the worst crowd that would have him. Associating with the dregs of the supernatural subculture that exist in the Buffyverse, he was in a phase later described by Xander Harris as an "electric Kool-Aid funky Satan groove."

The group practiced small magics for pleasure and gain, until Ethan and Ripper discovered something bigger: the demon known as Eyghon, or the Sleepwalker. Tattooing themselves with the Mark of Eyghon, they would take turns falling asleep, and the rest of the group would summon the demon into the sleeper. According to Giles, it was an extraordinary high, a euphoric feeling of power, but was also incredibly risky. When Eyghon took control of Randall, one of their group, the others tried to exorcise the demon, resulting in Randall's death. Giles was changed by the event, leaving London and returning to the Watchers' Council. Ethan, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction, delving deeper into the black arts. When Ethan asked, years later, why they had stopped being friends Giles replied, "When you started to worship chaos." There are also hints that Ethan and Giles may have been lovers. Ethan seems motivated by revenge for something that happened between him and Giles.

Afterwards, he was seemingly the benevolent owner of a costume shop in Sunnydale. His worship of chaos served as a convenient plot excuse for random supernatural occurrences. Becoming a magical subcontractor and making deals with demons, vampires, and humans alike in his varied jobs, Ethan gained a reputation for getting the job done. He has performed magic without apparent financial reward, but simply for the amusement of chaos. Ethan curses his costumes in the name of the Roman god Janus, so that the wearer becomes whatever they are dressed as. For example, once the spell is cast, Xander Harris becomes a soldier, Buffy Summers becomes an 18th-century noblewoman, and Willow Rosenberg becomes an actual ghost. Upon discovering that Ethan is responsible, Giles describes the spell as "sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent", and proceeds to beat Ethan until he reveals how to break the spell.

Ethan comes looking for Giles in the Sunnydale High School library. He has been having dreams of Eyghon, and the fate of the others who wear "the Mark." Ethan knows that somehow the demon has returned again and is roaming free upon the world. The Mark of Eyghon on the original group members acts as a beacon for the demon to locate them, kill them, and possess each corpse in turn to hunt his next victim with. Ethan plans to 'hide behind the Slayer', exploiting her desire to protect Giles and thus protect Ethan in the process. Knocking Buffy unconscious, he waits for her to wake up before tattooing the Mark of Eyghon on the back of her neck and removing his own Mark with acid. The substitution works, and the demon loses interest in him, instead going after Buffy. But Giles arrives, and then her friends, who stop Eyghon from killing both of them.

The vampire Mr. Trick who was in the employ of Mayor Richard Wilkins called on Ethan's services when he needs Sunnydale's adult population distracted during a tribute ceremony for the demon Lurconis. Ethan curses candy bars that are distributed to adults through Sunnydale High School students. The curse on the chocolate makes adults act as if they are teenagers, leaving many areas of the city unprotected, including the hospital where the tribute of small babies needs to be taken from. Buffy and Giles uncover the plot, and stop Mr. Trick and Ethan (who claims ignorance of the nature of the tribute), but they both escape. He later returned to Sunnydale where he was discovered lurking in a crypt by Giles, he talks him out of a promised beating, and instead, they go for a drink together. Ethan warns Giles that the Initiative is throwing the worlds out of balance, which goes "way beyond chaos", into "one hell of a fight." Giles doesn't seem to take the warning seriously, instead being somewhat envious of the Initiative. After spending the night reminiscing and drinking with Ethan, Giles wakes the next morning in the form of a Fyarl demon. After being forced to reverse the spell, Ethan is arrested by the Initiative, who apparently place him in military custody pending determination of his status, before sending him to a rehabilitation facility in Nevada. Afterwards, despite not trusting Ethan, Giles had Buffy to be cautious with the Initiative, eventually leading the Scooby Gang to discover its corruption and dangerous plans.

Overview

Personality and attributes

He came to be faithful follower of the entity called Chaos and referred to himself as the deity's degenerate son. (Episode: Halloween)

Rayne came to be a magical subcontractor performing odd jobs for demons and humans alike. (Episode: Band Candy) He admitted that one of his faults was that he stayed behind to gloat at his enemies which he said often got him into trouble. Ethan had said that he should learn to leave the moment he had completed his job.

(Episode: A New Man)

He had been an old friend of Rupert Giles who he called by his old nickname of Ripper. (Episode: Halloween)

Powers and abilities

Ethan Rayne was a human who came to be a warlock after learning to use magic in his youth. His years of experience in the world of the supernatural made him a skilled sorcerer and chaos magician, adept at performing curses and transmogrification. He also had great knowledge of demonology and black magic as well as possessing fluency in Latin. The Mark of Eyghon granted him a psychic link of sorts to the demon, and gave him visions when the demon was in close proximity. He also claims to have "missed [his] calling as an artist" after tattooing Buffy with the Mark of Eyghon. (Episode: The Dark Age)

However, his fighting skills are mediocre, as Giles repeatedly beats him up with little-to-no effort; whenever Giles does this, Ethan doesn't even try to fight back.

Notes

• Ethan Rayne was created by Joss Whedon and Carl Ellsworth where he was portrayed by actor Robin Sachs in the Buffy-Angel universe.

Appearances

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

External Links

• Buffy Wiki Entry

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