Summary:
There’s lots of agreement on this question, with examples ranging from Buffy and Xander to Faith and Cordelia. Read to the end if you want to hear from lone dissenter, who said standing up for your beliefs was almost never represented on the series.
Technically, this is falling down for your beliefs.[screencap credit: buffyworld.com]
Your Comments:
This may have been Willow's biggest accomplishment.
All the characters stand up for their beliefs. Sometimes very strongly. Buffy is of course very clear at times. Faith is entirely devout to some sort of moral position during most of her arc. Perhaps Giles and Willow's repeated clashes over magic were the most interesting, where the characters truly stood up and diverged, even violently, when it came to beliefs.
This is a given.
If there was anything that BTVS teaches, it would be this.
One of Buffy's strongest themes is about being brave and fighting for yourself
In my opinion, this is one of the biggest lessons Joss tries to get across on the show. Buffy really loves her friends and family; they are the most important thing in her life. So when one of them is in danger, she always helps them...not always thinking of the consequences. But I think someone like Xander is more courageous than someone with powers, like Buffy and Willow, because he has no powers and could be harmed more easily. He stands up for what he belives in in spite of the consequences that can come upon him.
Even when characters were wrong, we were able to understand why they thought what they thought, and that's because, almost to a man, they stood up for that which they believed. Many even made the ultimate sacrifice, and all of our heroes certainly would have. Anya's journey was entirely about discovering her belief system, which she ultimately did, stood up for it, and was able to die a hero because of it.
I don't have to comment really.
Buffy does what is right, even when it kills her - twice.
No matter how powerful (Buffy, Willow) or "powerless" (Xander, Joyce), every character had a moment where their actions saved the day.
This is a biggie.
I think this is very important, particularly for Buffy.
This is one of the central themes of the series - after all the series is about the hero's journey. Examples include Buffy killing Angel at the end of season 2 because even though she REALLY doesn't want to do it, she knows it's the right thing to do. At the end of season 5 Buffy can't accept that an innocent like Dawn should die, so kills herself instead to save the world. Perhaps a less 'heavy' example is Cordelia at the end of Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered standing up to Harmony and the other 'popular' girls and defending Xander.
Buffy did this in practically every episode, though not as often in Season 6. Even Willow & Xander learned the importance of standing up for themselves in Doppelgangland & The Zeppo, respectively.
This was done well in many different context - starting with like I want to say Gingerbread
To quote: "I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. And you are?"
Again, for me one of the things the main character Buffy is about. She stands up for everyone when needed.
Except when deluded, under a spell or drunk - see Williow and Dawn or A Hell God.
"I'm facing my fear, I'm facing my fear...hear that, fear? I'm facing you"
Buffy is all about heroism, and the show repeatedly explores what it means to be courageous.
I think the value to be courageous was more standing up for your friends and family than beliefs. Eps like Spiral, The Gift, Superstar, and especially Family show how it's standing up for your friends, and by them, that guides actions.
I think this was always the case. Buffy stuck by what she believed no matter who it was. Many examples...Buffy defending herself and Giles to the Watchers Council, Buffy not letting Willow kill Andrew and Jonathon, and my favorite...Buffy defending Spike to Giles in the last season!
Every episode and extra special important at every single season finale.
You might be scratching your head with my answer here.....if you left it at courageous, my answer would have be a definite 5. Since you clarified it as meaning to stand up for your beliefs, I have to say 1. I would not define patrolling every night to put down the vampire threat, or researching to avert an apocalypse, as standing up for your beliefs. I'd define it as doing the right thing, and as saving the world, and as being courageous, brave, good, etc. But standing up for your beliefs would be more like participating in public debate to argue the rightness of the Slayer's mission, or like handing out flyers to try to convince everyone what goes bump in the night and enlist their help to fight.
Buffy: "Dawn, listen to me. Listen: I love you. I will always love you. This is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles I... tell Giles I figured it out, and I'm o.k. Give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live... for me."
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