Severin

Severin, known among demons as the Siphon, was a vampire hunter in San Francisco with the power to drain the energy of mystical beings. According to Eldre Koh, the coming of the Siphon had long been feared among demons.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

Early life

Severin was a young man living in San Francisco and involved with Clare, who wanted both of them to become vampires, though he apparently was not so sure about it. After searching for months for a vampire that would turn them, Clare ran into Alessandra, a high school acquaintance who had "made the leap" and agreed to sire Clare.^{[citation needed]}

However, due to the destruction of the Seed of Wonder, Clare didn't rise as a common vampire, but as a feral, mindless one, and attempted to kill Severin. As he tried to protect himself, Severin's power activated, killing Clare in the process.^{[citation needed]}

Against Buffy

Using his powers to kill and torture vampires, Severin searched for Alessandra, only to be recruited by rogue Slayer Simone Doffler. Simone planned on having Severin de-power Buffy Summers, the one responsible for the destruction of the Seed, so she would be able to kill Buffy.^{[citation needed]}

Severin saved Buffy from a vampire in order to earn her trust and lured her to an empty warehouse supposedly filled with vampires, all of which had been drained already. Severin then turned on Buffy and tried to drain her powers, while an anonymous caller informed the San Francisco Police — who believed Buffy to be responsible for Severin's killings — of Buffy's whereabouts.^{[citation needed]}

The two fought as Buffy tried to make him run out of power, only to discover that Severin kept the warehouse's basement filled with "living" vampires to recharge himself. After draining all the vampires, Severin began to feed on Buffy. Spike and Eldre Koh intervened, but were quickly put down by Severin, who then tried to drain Spike as well.^{[citation needed]}

As he fed on Buffy and Spike, Severin was shot three times by Detective Robert Dowling. With the real culprit uncovered, Buffy was cleared of all charges. ^{[citation needed]}

Severin was taken to a hospital, where he was approached by Simone. Severin asked her to let him drain some of her power to heal from his wounds, but she refused, since she required her full power to face Buffy.^{[citation needed]}

Teaming with Simone

Later, in Los Angeles, powerful demons such as Illyria and D'Hoffryn formed the Magic Council to deal with Severin. Buffy, Illyria, and Eldre Koh found Severin's new lair. When they converged on three different sides, Severin pulled a surprise attack on all three of them with the body of a demon. He outmatched the three of them and claimed the only reason he was saving his power was so he could save the girl he killed. The three were teleported from the building. It became apparent he wanted Illyria especially. Shortly afterwards, he attacked the mystical council and drained Illyria's powers, obtaining the power of time travel in the process.^{[citation needed]}

Afterwards he met up with Simone and they began working together again. They met up with Xander. They realized his feelings for the dying Dawn Summers and said that they weren't so different, that they both lost someone to Buffy's influence. With his new time-traveling powers, Severin declared that, with Xander's help, they would prevent the whole Twilight crisis, including Dawn's illness and the existence of zompires. Xander, reluctant at first, agreed. Simone beat Xander up to make it look like he rejected the offer when his friends asked him about it. However, Severin was unaware that his attempts to stop Twilight would cause an instability that would destroy reality.^{[citation needed]}

Death

The two made their way to the Deeper Well around the same time that Buffy, Willow, and Xander did, with Severin hoping to absorb the residual magic there to gain enough power to create a temporal fold that would revert Twilight. However, Severin's body soon proved unable to contain all of that power, and he was unable to revert time. Illyria, however, managed to convince him to help Buffy by accelerating the maturation process of the new Seed of Wonder that was spawned from Willow's magic, thus saving the world and healing Dawn.^{[citation needed]}

Illyria remained by his side while Buffy and the others battled the then-vampiric Simone and the Old One Maloker. Severin ultimately succeeded in aging the Seed to completion and restored magic to Earth, but the resulting magical blast completely vaporized both Severin and Illyria, with Buffy vowing to Willow that Severin's sacrifice would not be in vain.^[1]

Powers and abilities

“They all fear the arrival of the Siphon. A being who rips mystical energy from all he touches. All who possess supernatural power. Vampire, demon... even Slayer.”

―Eldre Koh^[src]

Severin's ability allowed him to drain the energy of mystical beings, such as Slayers or vampires, which enhanced his physical abilities greatly. After a massive feeding, he was able to emit concussive energy blasts and possessed enough strength to overpower both Buffy and Spike. The process also increased his healing ability, enabling him to simply shrug off a stake to the heart.^{[citation needed]}

In the case of vampires, Severin removed the demon spirits within, leaving fresh corpses with no apparent cause of death.^{[citation needed]}

After draining Illyria's powers, he gained her power over time and space.^{[citation needed]}

Victims

• Clare^{[citation needed]}
• Cynthia Daniels^{[citation needed]}
• John Doe^{[citation needed]}

Behind the scenes

• Severin's appearance was partly modeled on James McAvoy as young Charles Xavier in the film X-Men: First Class.^[2]

Gallery

Cover artworks featuring Severin.

Appearances

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8
The Long Way Home, Part 1 Absent	The Long Way Home, Part 2 Absent	The Long Way Home, Part 3 Absent	The Long Way Home, Part 4 Absent	The Chain Absent	No Future for You, Part 1 Absent	No Future for You, Part 2 Absent	No Future for You, Part 3 Absent	No Future for You, Part 4 Absent	Anywhere but Here Absent
A Beautiful Sunset Absent	Wolves at the Gate, Part 1 Absent	Wolves at the Gate, Part 2 Absent	Wolves at the Gate, Part 3 Absent	Wolves at the Gate, Part 4 Absent	Time of Your Life, Part 1 Absent	Time of Your Life, Part 2 Absent	Time of Your Life, Part 3 Absent	Time of Your Life, Part 4 Absent	After These Messages... We'll Be Right Back! Absent
Harmonic Divergence Absent	Swell Absent	Predators and Prey Absent	Safe Absent	Living Doll Absent	Retreat, Part 1 Absent	Retreat, Part 2 Absent	Retreat, Part 3 Absent	Retreat, Part 4 Absent	Retreat, Part 5 Absent
Turbulence Absent	Twilight, Part 1 Absent	Twilight, Part 2 Absent	Twilight, Part 3 Absent	Twilight, Part 4 Absent	Last Gleaming, Part 1 Absent	Last Gleaming, Part 2 Absent	Last Gleaming, Part 3 Absent	Last Gleaming, Part 4 Absent	Last Gleaming, Part 5 Appears
"HARM" Absent	"Harmony Bites" Absent	"Vampy Cat Play Friend" Absent	"Always Darkest" Absent	"Harmony Comes to the Nation" Absent		Willow: Goddesses and Monsters Absent		Riley: Commitment Through Distance, Virtue Through Sin Absent

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9
"Magical Mystery Tour, Featuring the Beetles" Absent	Freefall, Part 1 Absent	Freefall, Part 2 Appears	Freefall, Part 3 Appears	Freefall, Part 4 Appears	Slayer, Interrupted Absent	On Your Own, Part 1 Absent	On Your Own, Part 2 Absent	Apart (of Me), Part 1 Absent	Apart (of Me), Part 2 Mention	Apart (of Me), Part 3 Absent
"In Space No One Can Hear You Slay" Absent	Guarded, Part 1 Mention	Guarded, Part 2 Absent	Guarded, Part 3 Absent	Billy the Vampire Slayer, Part 1 Absent	Billy the Vampire Slayer, Part 2 Absent	Wonderland, Part 1 Absent	Wonderland, Part 2 Absent	Wonderland, Part 3 Absent	Wonderland, Part 4 Absent	Wonderland, Part 5 Absent
Welcome to the Team, Part 1 Absent	Welcome to the Team, Part 2 Appears	Welcome to the Team, Part 3 Appears	Welcome to the Team, Part 4 Appears	The Watcher Appears	The Core, Part 1 Appears	The Core, Part 2 Appears	The Core, Part 3 Appears	The Core, Part 4 Appears	The Core, Part 5 Appears	Love vs. Life Absent

References

1. ↑ The Core, Part Five
2. ↑ Georges Jeanty, "I think he's modeled after prof. X from X-men first class." Twitter, August 18, 2011.