Group Hugs Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Initiative

The history of this organization indicates that they were formed in the aftermath of World War II with the mission to study demons and find a way for them to be put to use in the military. Led by Professor Maggie Walsh, the group first appears in the fourth episode of season four ("Fear, Itself" - 1999). The group is a significant part of the storyline in this season. They are involved in the creation of a super being named Adam, they install a chip into Spike's head that prevents him from attacking humans and they, eventually, recruit Buffy into their fold.

Buffy becomes romantically involved with Riley, one of the Initiative members, and this is also a major plotline this season. Toward the end of that year, the Army deems the operation a failure and close it down. However, it continues its quest (internationally) to hunt down demons. The old facility in Sunnydale will be visited by Buffy three years later, as she searches for a means to remove the chip from Spike's head.

Answer: Shadowmen

The Primordium Age is a period in history when the Old Ones ruled the Earth, though they would eventually be pushed aside with the arrival of humans. The Primordium Age was also the time that the Shadowmen emerged. This was a group of three powerful (though unknown) wizards who set about chaining a young woman, named Sineya, in a cave where they infused her with the heart, soul and spirit of a demon. In doing so, they made Sineya the first Slayer, which was miraculous, but, it also meant that they'd taken away her humanity.

They imbued the Slayer with superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, agility, and healing and put her on the road to destroying the Old Ones. Beyond that, they commissioned her to protect the world from the threat of vampires. We are introduced to the Shadowmen in the fifteenth episode of season seven ("Get it Done", 2003) when Buffy travels to their realm via a shadowcaster. They endeavour to perform the same ritual on her as they did with Sineya but Buffy rejects that advance, determining that all she requires from them is knowledge

Answer: Beta Delta Gamma

This group surfaced for a single episode, "Bad Beer" (S4 E5, 1999). Buffy had just had her heart broken, dumped by Parker after a one-night stand. She enters a bar and spies the scoundrel plying his wily ways on another unsuspecting female, in the corner. She turns to leave but is enticed by four men from the above sorority to join them for a beer.

What they do not know is that their beer has been laced by a charmed chemical that pushes Buffy and her newfound buddies back toward their primordial roots... in other words, it's turning them into cave-people. Xander saves the day and, after some terrorizing of Sunnydale, Buffy and the boys return to normal.

The university, along with the rest of Sunnydale, is destroyed in season seven (2003) as a result of the "Battle of the Hellmouth".

Answer: Mothers Opposed to the Occult (MOO)

Joyce Summers, Buffy's mother, is haunted by her discovery of two children's bodies in the park ("Gingerbread", S3 E11, 1999). Determining that there was sorcery involved she organizes the action group MOO, of whom Willow's mother, Sheila, becomes a member.

Initially their mission is to push the school to remove certain "offensive" books from the school's library and they campaign vigorously. However, they soon fall under the spell of a demon, that was disguised as the two dead children, and their actions soon escalate into a Salem style witch hunt.

The group threatened the lives of Buffy, Willow and Amy Madison (burning at the stake), until the demon was exposed and killed. The group soon disbanded.

Answer: Devon Coven

Members of the Devon Coven are never seen, though Ms Harkness is mentioned by Giles, yet they play a significant role in both the climax to season six (2002) and the run through season seven (2003).

In season six they sense a surge in Willow's accumulation of dark magic and predict trouble. They infuse Giles with their store of white magic and set him loose to duel with Dark Willow. The whole plan, however, is a ruse. Knowing that Willow would be too strong for the inexperienced (in magic) Giles, they are actually hoping that he's defeated, and that Willow would not be able to resist stealing his power. Whilst the white magic does increase Willow's power, it also touches her humanity, and this allows Xander to reach her and pull her away from her destructive course.

In the final season the coven assist Willow in her recovery, while instructing her in the arts of magic and meditation. Later they will also assist Giles in locating the Potential Slayers before the First, the big evil in the final series, can destroy them.

Answer: The Guardians

We are advised that the Guardians were around at the time of the Shadowmen and the Old Ones. Through their combination of powers, they forged a mystical scythe that they gave to the first Slayer in her fight against the Old Ones. They would then hide that weapon in a rock for the time a future Slayer may need to resurrect it.

The Last Guardian, who has survived millennia, appears to Buffy in the episode "End of Days" (S7 E21, 2003) where she advises the Slayer that if she uses the scythe wisely, she may well repel the rising darkness. She no sooner finishes that statement when Caleb (one of the bad guys in this season) appears and breaks her neck, signaling the end of the Guardians.

Answer: Order of Aurelius

Aurelius was a 12th century vampire that founded the order and prophesized that his followers would bring the Anointed One to the Master. The opening season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) is built around the Order seeking to free the Master from his mystical prison. In the final episode, "Prophecy Girl" (1997), Buffy confronts the Master in his prison and is killed. The Master feasts on her blood and this provides him with the strength to break out of his confinement. Buffy is revived and kills the Master, however, unlike other vampires who fall to dust when killed off, the Masters bones remain. These are buried on consecrated ground by Giles.

At the start of season two (September 1997), the Order recovers the bones and endeavours to perform a ritual to resurrect their leader.'

Answer: Brotherhood of the Seven

The seven refers to seven demons. They have taken human form so that they can live in our world unnoticed. The issue they have is that they must harvest a human heart and brain every seven years to maintain this form. They seem to have few qualms about that. We don't get to see the seven, we only encounter one, during "The Puppet Show" (S1 E9, 1997), by the name of Marc.

The reason there's only one is that the group ran into a demon hunter named Sid during the 1930s. Instead of killing Sid, they cursed him by placing his soul into the body of a ventriloquist's dummy. However, Sid did have an "out clause"... the curse would be lifted if the seven were to die. Over the years he's hunted down and killed six of them. Now there's only one to go.

Marc has the form of a Sunnydale student. He's disposed of one student and secured their heart. Now, all he needs is a brain and he's got his sights on Rupert Giles. Sid, who initially figured Buffy was the demon after identifying her super strength, manages to team up with the Slayer to kill the demon just before Giles manages to lose his head. Sadly, this also means the end for Sid. The curse may have been lifted, but his body had long gone to dust.

Answer: Daughters of Gaia

The first time that the Daughters of Gaia appear is in the episode "Wild at Heart" (S4 E6, 1999). Willow attends their meeting in the hope of expanding her knowledge of magic and, hopefully, trying out some spells. However, while the group indulged in chants and blessings, calling themselves witches, apart from Willow and (we find out later) Tara Maclay, none of them have any power whatsoever. In fact, they're more interested in arranging a bake sale.

They would surface again in "The Killer in Me" (S7 E13, 2003) and, by this stage, have progressed to performing some minor spells. And yes, they still have a bake sale... every second Tuesday of the month.

Answer: Knights of Byzantium

To understand the motives of the Knights, you need to know a little about Glorificus or Glory. Glory appears in season five (2000-01) and is a somewhat deranged, egotistical goddess, who has been banished to Earth from a hell dimension. She desperately wants to get back to this dimension but, to do that, she needs the Key.

The Knights of Byzantium are aware that if Glory were to find the Key and use it, she would bring down all of the dimensions to all of the worlds, effectively creating hell on Earth. They know that they cannot defeat her, so their mission becomes one to destroy the Key. In this, they are devout and truly believe that they are doing the work of God.

In the year 2000, the Knights have traced the Key (and Glory) to Sunnydale. Here's the catch... the Key is a human, and that human happens to be Buffy's sister, Dawn. So, while Buffy is fighting her most formidable foe in Glory, to this point, she is also trying to keep these pesky Knights from killing her little sister. Eventually, Glory destroys all the Knights and is, in turn, defeated by Buffy.

Answer: The Trio

The Trio is made up of Warren Mears, Jonathan Levinson, and Andrew Wells. What started out as a group of friends playing "Dungeons and Dragons" grew into an idea to become supervillains. Initially, they were seeking to be the dominant crime figures in Sunnydale, however, after being constantly thwarted by Buffy, they made the Slayer their main mission.

The group appeared in the fourth episode of season six ("Flooded - 2001) portraying Warren, a techno-buff, as their self-styled leader. Jonathon is a minor adept at sorcery and Andrew is able to summon demons. They started out perpetrating some minor crimes but things soon turned dark when Warren kills his ex-girlfriend. Significantly, he would cause the death of Willow's lover, Tara Maclay, which leads to him being flayed alive by the former. Andrew, eventually, kills Jonathon but winds up becoming a member of Buffy's "Scooby" gang.

Answer: Delta Zeta Kappa

The fraternity is situated at Crestwood College and has been formed by a set of extremely wealthy students. The source of their great wealth is a demon that lives beneath the campus, named Machiba, granting them this boon in exchange for the sacrifices.

Buffy and Cordelia run into them while attending a frat party during the episode "Reptile Boy" (S2 E5, 1997) and the boys make the mistake of trying to feed the pair to the monster. As she does, Buffy breaks free at the last second and destroys the monster. Subsequently, all the members of Delta Zeta are then arrested and receive multiple life sentences. In addition, the businesses that were founded by their families and those of former members suddenly begin to experience reversals of fortune.

Answer: Kalderash

In 1898 Angel is gifted a young Kalderash girl by Darla, whom he feeds on. The girl is the daughter of an elder of the Kalderash clan. As revenge the clan uses the Ritual of Restoration to curse Angel with a soul so that he can suffer the pain of all his foul deeds.

Jump forward to 1997 and the Kalderash send Jenny Calendar to Sunnydale where, for all intents and purposes, she is the school's computer teacher. In truth, the clan have installed her there to ensure that Angel is continuing to suffer. Whilst Jenny made her first appearance in season one (E8, "I Robot, You Jane", 1997), it is in season two (E13, "Surprise", 1998) that we learn of her Kalderash ancestry and her mission. The issue that the Kalderash have is that Angel's pain is lessening due to his growing relationship with Buffy. Jenny is instructed by a Kalderash woman, Enyos, to tear them apart. Jenny fails, Angel and Buffy consummate their relationship, Angel has his moment of pure bliss and turns evil. He turns on both Enyos and Jenny and kills them.

Answer: The Gentlemen

In the, appropriately titled, episode "Hush" (S4 E10, 1999) the Gentlemen appear in Sunnydale and steal the voices of all the town folk. Not content with the voices, they then set off to steal seven human hearts. Why they need seven hearts is not known, nor is it explained beyond "to survive". That said, there were only six Gentlemen, so seven hearts is still a puzzle.

The Gentlemen are demons and they are recorded in a book entitled "Fairy Tales". They are well dressed, a bit like esteemed butlers, and they're well mannered. They never speak but they do smile a lot, showcasing their set of steel teeth in the process. They don't walk but glide along, about one foot above the ground.

Initially we are told that they steal the voices so that their victims cannot scream when they carve their hearts out, however, the real reason is revealed later... they can only be killed by the sound of a human scream.

Answer: Watcher's Council

Quentin Travers, a senior Watcher and the last director of the Watcher's Council best summed the organization when he said "The Council fights evil. The Slayer is the instrument with which we fight. The Council remains. The Slayers... change. It's been that way from the beginning."

We first hear of the Council in "Welcome to the Hellmouth" (S1 E1, 1997) and, whilst they are not often seen in the series, they are constantly mentioned. What we do know about them is that they were descended from the creators of the first Slayer, the Shadowmen. Their headquarters were in England, but these were destroyed, along with most of their members, by Caleb in season seven (2003), with Rupert Giles remaining as their last man standing.

They have, at times, not allowed ethics to get in their way and this was borne out by the rather unsavoury tactics of their Special Operations Team. Despite being Buffy's watchers, they did not always hold the well-being of the Slayer as their primary objective. A good example of this was the application of the Tento di Cruciamentum, a rite of passage where the Slayer is administered a drug that negates their powers and is then placed in front of a vicious vampire and forced to survive by her wits ("Helpless" S3 E12, 1999).