Glory

Lore & Background

Glorificus (also known as "Glory") is a god from a hell dimension ruled by three hell gods. Fearful that Glorificus would seize total control of the dimension for herself, the two other gods aligned and banished her into the earthly dimension, where her essence is imprisoned in a human child named Ben, portrayed by Charlie Weber. Glory's strength is greater than that of any Slayer, vampire, or antagonist previously shown as a season villain of Buffy, but her powers are weak when compared to those she had in her home dimension. Dark magicks prevent humans in the Buffy universe from learning that Glory and Ben are the same; even if she transforms right in front of someone, they have no memory of the incident. The spell does not affect supernatural characters like vampires and demons. This flaw becomes a recurring joke in the penultimate episode of season 5, where Spike finds himself repeatedly having to explain that Ben and Glory are the same person, only for people to either misunderstand him or forget about it instantly. As Ben and Glory's personalities begin to merge more, the magic weakens until, in the finale, the whole gang sees through it. This human form is Glory's only weakness; if the human vessel containing her is killed, then Glory perishes with him.

In Their Own Story

Glory's goal through her time onscreen is to find the Key, a "mystical energy nexus," which is the only way for her to return to her original dimension. Using the Key will break down the barriers between all dimensions, causing all worlds to bleed into each other and allowing "Hell to reign on Earth." The Key was safeguarded by an ancient group of monks known as The Order of Dagon. When they discovered that "The Beast" (Glory) was searching for the Key, they chose to hide it by transforming the Key into a human girl. They placed her under the protection of the Slayer Buffy, altering the memories of the Slayer and anyone connected to her into believing the girl was Buffy's younger sister Dawn. Glory eventually destroys the Order of Dagon and interrogates the last monk until he reveals to Glory (under torture) that the Key has been transformed, but not what the Key has become. After being rescued by Buffy, the monk reveals to Buffy that Dawn is the Key, something she already suspected. Glory is also opposed by a military order known as the "Knights of Byzantium," composed of knights and clerics, who appear in episode 12 of season 5. They swear to prevent Glory from using the Key, and they attempt to kill Dawn before she can be found by Glory. In the 20th episode of the season, "Spiral," a large group of knights besieges Buffy and Dawn, but Glory arrives and slaughters nearly all of them, taking the Key with her. This episode marks the last appearance of the Knights of Byzantium.

Reader's Guide

Glory enters early on in season 5, but the Scooby Gang knows very little about her, only discovering her name from one of Glory's minions. Glory's god-like status, extreme power level, origins, and the Key's true nature and history are not known until later episodes. Glory comes to Sunnydale looking for "The Key," which will allow her to return to her own dimension. She begins the quest to locate the Key, aided by a race of pale, black-eyed demons who are loyal to her almost to a fault, though she does not care for them and viciously abuses them. Glory quickly establishes herself as one of Buffy's most dangerous and determined enemies. At one point, she confronts Buffy in her own home, openly threatening to kill Buffy's friends and family and force Buffy to watch her do so. Glory is a god in a human body; the human mind can not control such power, which gradually turns Glory insane. To maintain her sanity and power, Glory feeds off humans' mental energies through a process that Buffy and her friends refer to as "brain-sucking." She inserts her fingers into the victim's head, absorbing the energies that bind the victim's mind. The humans that she "devours" in this way become incoherent and mentally unstable and can also see Dawn in her true form. One of her unfortunate victims is Willow's girlfriend, Tara, who later inadvertently betrays Dawn to Glory. The Scoobies try to run, but Glory still manages to kidnap Dawn shortly afterward. The Key can only be used at a certain time, and as that time draws near, the power that separates Glory from Ben dissolves. Both characters still inhabit Ben's body separately, but their memories and personalities begin to blur together. After recovering from a mental breakdown caused by Glory's kidnapping of Dawn, Buffy decides to attack Glory with everything she has: Willow's magic spell to restore Tara's sanity, at the same time weakening Glory's mind; the Dagon Sphere (a weapon created by the monks that cause physical pain to Glory); Buffy's robot double (the "Buffybot"); Olaf, The Troll God's Hammer (with which Buffy can beat Glory in battle and severely weaken her albeit temporarily, due to the hammer being a weapon of the gods); and eventually a wrecking ball, commandeered by Xander. Glory is left defeated and significantly weakened, losing her hold on this reality and returning to the form and mind of Ben. Buffy then tells Ben to tell Glory to leave Sunnydale and never return. As Buffy walks off, Giles knows that Glory will eventually regain her power and return to get her revenge on Buffy unless Ben is killed, so he smothers Ben to death with his bare hands, ensuring that Glory can never return. After Glory's defeat, her final appearance in the series is at the end of the episode "Lessons," as an avatar of the First Evil along with most of the other major villains from the series.

Did You Know?

• Glory was originally named Cherry by writer Jane Espenson.
• Glory appears first in episode 5 of season 5 and makes appearances in 12 other episodes that season, plus a brief appearance in the first episode of season 7.
• Glory's strength is greater than that of any Slayer, vampire, or antagonist previously shown as a season villain of Buffy.
• The spell preventing humans from remembering that Glory and Ben are the same does not affect supernatural characters like vampires and demons.
• Glory feeds off humans' mental energies by inserting her fingers into the victim's head, a process called 'brain-sucking'.