Glory (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Glorificus (also known as "Glory") is a tyrant who revels in the suffering of others. Her reign of terror seems unstoppable, and her ambition is unquenchable. She quickly becomes the most powerful of the three hell gods. Fearful that Glorificus would seize total control of the dimension for herself, the two other gods align and go to war against her. The hell gods barely defeat her, and, despite their victory, she is too powerful to destroy. They banished her into the earthly dimension, where her essence is imprisoned in a human child named Ben, portrayed by Charlie Weber. Created solely to "contain" her, upon his death in the TV show, Glory would be permanently sealed away.

However, Glory is too powerful for Ben to resist, and he finds himself succumbing to her demands. This character possesses superhuman strength, speed, and invulnerability. Glory's strength is greater than that of any Slayer, vampire, or demon on Earth. But her powers are weak when compared to those she had had in her true form. 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 Five, 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 (see below), 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 the series, Glory's goal 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. Using ancient magic, they transform 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. The last monk of the order is taken prisoner and interrogated by Glory, but later rescued by Buffy in Episode 5 of Season 5. Before the monk dies from his wounds, 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.

The Key is an ancient power, described as "an ancient green mystical energy" that, according to Glory, "is almost as old as she is." The Key needs to draw on powers from the dimension it's in before being used, which is why it can only be used at a certain time and a certain place. Who or what created the Key or how is unknown; even its true purpose is never fully revealed. The Key seems to work by destroying the barriers that separate one dimension from another. The longer the Key is in use, the more the walls of reality begin to break down. When the Key is activated in the last episode of Season 5, a small portal opens and begins to grow, in which demons, creatures, and entire dimensions begin to immediately bleed through.

Buffy's first confrontation with Glory comes shortly after she discovers there is something not right about Dawn. Glory beats Buffy severely, destroying an entire building in the process. Buffy manages to escape during a temper tantrum by Glory, which caused the building to collapse. She escapes with the last surviving monk who quickly reveals the truth about Dawn being the Key and Buffy her protector.

Although Glory enters early on in season 5, 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 (Buffy and her friends) 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"), originally Spike's sex toy; 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. Doc starts to open the dimensions between the worlds by cutting Dawn with a knife and making her bleed.

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.

Glory appeared in 13 canonical episodes:

• Season 5: "No Place Like Home" (first appearance); "Family"; "Shadow"; "Checkpoint"; "Blood Ties"; "I Was Made to Love You"; "Forever"; "Intervention"; "Tough Love"; "Spiral; "The Weight of the World"; "The Gift" (killed)
• Season 7: "Lessons" (as an incarnation of The First Evil)