Richard Wilkins
Mayor Richard Wilkins (? - 1999) was the founder and leader of the city of Sunnydale, California, in the year 1899. In his original identity of Richard Wilkins, the sorcerer generally referred to simply as the Mayor constructed the city on a Hellmouth. Using spells to extend his lifespan, Sunnydale was built for the explicit purpose, 100 years in the making, of bringing about the Mayor's Ascension to the form of a pure demon. He married a woman named Edna Mae in 1903, and lived with her until she died of old age. Over the years, he took on the identity of his son, Richard Wilkins II, and his own grandson, Richard Wilkins III, remaining the Mayor for all those years.
By the 1990s, the Mayor was a rather quirky individual, germophobic and focused on family values, despite his intention of sacrificing the entire city in his Ascension. He had woven operatives throughout the entire government of the city, from the police department to the school system, including Principal Snyder of Sunnydale High School. In 1999, his plans finally began to come together. He began employing lackeys to distract or destroy Buffy Summers, who he saw as the greatest threat to his plans. Among these were Ethan Rayne and the vampire Mister Trick.
He performed a ritual to become invulnerable in the 100 days leading his Ascension, and soon after, was able to recruit the rogue Slayer Faith to his side. He soon came to see Faith as a surrogate daughter, and she saw him as a father figure. He performed several further rituals over the next 100 days, and continued to disrupt Buffy's life. Finally, the eve of the Ascension came, but Faith was severely injured and rendered comatose after battle with Buffy. The Mayor, heartbroken, was furious with Buffy.
On the next day, an eclipse signalled the time of the Mayor's Ascension during his speech to Sunnydale High's graduating class of 1999. He transformed into a huge, 60-foot serpentine pure demon, but he was no longer invulnerable. One of his first actions was to eat Principal Snyder, despite his lackey's loyalty. Buffy, her allies, and the entire graduating class (which Buffy had informed of the impending crisis) battled the Mayor, and his vampire minions (free to fight during the day due to the eclipse). Now that he was a demon, the Mayor was no longer invulnerable, and Buffy used his grief over Faith's coma to lure him into a trap. Having filled the school with explosives, the Slayer led the Mayor to be stuck in the library entrance, and dove out when the school exploded, killing the Mayor.
The Mayor left a legacy, however, for Faith- a magical device that enabled her to exchange bodies with Buffy. Whether the Mayor has left any other such legacies is unknown.
