( Though he still spars with Buffy, provided he has no real intent on harming her ) His inability to bite is comically compared to impotence, much to Spike's constant humiliation ; in " Doomed ", he attempts to commit suicide by staking himself at Xander's house, but is stopped by Willow and Xander.

Xander is based in part on Whedon himself, particularly in his high school years ; as such, he is often the most geeky as well as witty and verbose of Buffy < nowiki >'</ nowiki > s characters.

In this episode, Xander uncovers that he has the power within himself to be the adult, suave and confident man whom he had spent the episode envying.

Xander finds himself drawn to Yorgi's apparent girlfriend Yelena ( Asia Argento ), and he negotiates a political asylum deal with Gibbons to secure a new life for her in America.

Xander then finds himself in an ice cream truck with Anya ; Willow and Tara ( wearing skimpy clothing and heavy make-up ) are in the back, and invite him to join them.

Xander next finds himself in a reenactment of the Apocalypse Now scene between a captive Captain Benjamin Willard and Colonel Walter Kurtz, with Principal Snyder as Kurtz.

* The scene in which Giles, Buffy, Xander, and Willow are together in the hallway before they eventually split off into their separate parties mirrors a scene in " The Harvest ", in which Buffy, Xander, and Willow ignore Giles completely and walk off talking to each other leaving Giles to remark to himself, " the earth is doomed.

* This is also the first time that Xander performs a spell by himself, showing how easy it is.

* Scarface – Xander also attempts to quote Scarface during his pep talk, but he stops himself before finishing the quote.

Motivated by the fear of turning into an abusive drunk like his father, Xander refuses to allow himself the opportunity to marry Anya and ever hurt her in that way.

Meanwhile, Xander checks into a motel by himself.

Buffy and Xander maneuver through the basement and find Spike seemingly talking to himself.

Xander starts to yell that everyone needs to get out, but is then attacked himself by Caleb.

They eventually begin to get along, and their actions become so similar to each other that the Giles says that Xander is a " bad influence " on himself.

While the Scooby gang slaughters demons in an underground nest, Xander manages to get himself hurt.

After a discussion with Oz about what makes someone cool, Xander gets himself a car that he believes will give him something unique.

The fight is inconclusive, but Xander is able to position himself between Jack and the exit door such that he can delay Jack's exit enough so that Jack has no hope of escaping before the bomb explodes.

After a few seconds of talk, Xander decides to keep his harrowing night to himself aware that his friends will never believe such a story no matter how he tells it.

* Xander calls Riley and Sam " Nick and Nora Fury ", a double reference to both Marvel Comics character Nick Fury ( whom Xander references himself in Season Eight ) and husband-and-wife detectives Nick and Nora Charles from the 1930s / 40s film series The Thin Man.

Willow and Xander walk in on Spike trying to kill himself by falling on a stake.

She points out that Xander himself treats Anya as a mere convenience, but Xander pursues his point, telling her that her relationship with Riley is the kind that comes around once in a lifetime, and that she has to decide if she's really willing to lose him for good.

He ducks into the locker room, and a creature emerges which Cordelia believes to be Xander.

However it emerges that she may have told him the truth about the relationship but not the whole truth as while he was aware that Angel lost his soul, Xander accidentally tells Riley that having sex with Buffy was the trigger that set Angelus free.

In the beginning, Buffy often had to protect her friends from monsters, but over the course of the series most of them gained superpowers and fighting skills of their own, with Xander the only notable member with no mystical abilities or connection to the supernatural, though he does acquire extensive military knowledge thanks to a spell.

Unsatisfied, she attempts to kill the other two members of the Trio and unsuccessful at this, tries to destroy the world, only to be stopped by Xander.

She does not acknowledge her grief, and only Xander can force her to face it when he tells her that he loves her no matter what or who she is, and if she is determined to end the world she must start by killing him.

Now with human feelings, she yearns to attend the school prom in spite of her abhorrence of all men ; ironically, her only hope for a date is the last man she was sent to punish, Xander.

Season seven episode " Conversations with Dead People " is the only Buffy episode in which Xander does not appear.

To end her pain, she attempts to end the world and only Xander can make her face her grief.

He is also notable in that he is the only boyfriend of Buffy who was accepted by and developed a friendship with Xander Harris, who usually displayed jealousy of the males in her life.

Adam possesses a strong capacity for strategy, as well as physical strength that is far superior to Buffy's, and only through a spell cast by Willow, Xander and Giles was she able to defeat him.

Xander blockades the door, only to find Buffy, wearing only a trench-coat ( theoretically ), willing to give him more than a heart attack.

Xander and Cordelia flee to Buffy's house, only to find Joyce pawing over him.

Oz declines to kiss Willow at her request, given that it's obvious she only wants to kiss to make Xander jealous.

Xander, driving, faces the other way ; neither of them speak and only the sound of the car can be heard.

* Xander fears that noone cares about him anymore and his friends are uninterested in what he has to say due to him being the only one from the gang who doesn't attend college.

* Cordelia intimates to Xander that the only way he'll ever go to college is to deliver a pizza, foreshadowing his choice not to enroll in college in Season Four.

Xander goes undercover on the Sunnydale swim team after two members are seemingly eaten, leaving only their skins.

Dawn resents Buffy because Buffy was off secretly having sex with Spike during the crisis, so Dawn is only talking to Xander.

Anya explains to Xander that he saw only lies in those visions, but Xander isn't exactly relieved.

* This is the only episode of the entire series in which Nicholas Brendon ( Xander Harris ) does not appear.

* Also in the commentary, it is revealed that one possible outcome in this episode would have been the death of Xander ( at Caleb's hands ) only to return as a voice for the First.

Xander tries to reason with Faith, only to have her try to kill him.

She and Xander go on about how thorough the operation is, only to discover that Giles never knew about the Initiative or that Riley and Professor Walsh are behind it.