- “I am my thoughts. If they exist in her, Buffy contains everything that is me and she becomes me. I cease to exist. Hm.”
- ―Oz[src]
Telepathy was the ability to transmit information from one individual's mind to another's without the aid of physical communication (noise or movement). While some beings could read minds,[1][2][3] the ability could also include projecting speech and memory to someone else's mind.[4][5][6][7]
Reading
A common form of telepathic communication was mind reading. Hearing others' thoughts often resulted in discovering their secrets.[1][2][3]
A specific demon species did not have mouths and only communicated telepathically. They could inadvertently inflict the ability to read minds to another being if their blood touched their skin. However, the inability to shut it out would become overwhelming and force a human to live in isolation if they were not cured.[1]
Wolfram & Hart used mind readers to perform random inspection sessions on their employees to identify possible betrayals[2] and test their honesty.[3]
The non-reflective nature of vampires rendered them largely immune to such probing,[1] though powerful telepaths such as Splenden beasts were able to do so. In addition to hearing thoughts, Splender beasts could perform "brain checks,"[7] a psychic reading in which they perused someone's mind and browsed through their memories.[7][8] However, when Betta George performed a psychic reading on Drusilla, the vampire's charged psyche made him fall unconscious.[8]
Projection
Another form of telepathic communication involved projecting one's own thoughts to another person's mind. Willow mastered this skill to talk to fellow Scoobies, and they could communicate back by speaking normally even from distance[4] or having private conversations by thinking responses.[5]
Willow used this ability against Glory by communicating to Spike and signalling when he could ascend up the tower.[4] After Buffy's death, Willow telepathically informed her fellow Scoobies about the locations of vampires at the cemetery while she watched over the land by a crypt.[9] When she became corrupted with dark magic, she used it to inform her friends about her plan to destroy the world.[10] In the following year, Buffy reached out Willow telepathically, who then included with Xander in their telepathic conversation.[5]
In 2003, while possessing Cordelia, Jasmine communicated with Angelus telepathically, repeatedly attempting to convince him to serve her. Although Jasmine managed to infiltrate the vampire's consciousness regularly, she was unable to hold Angelus within her sway.[11] Jasmine was even less successful when she used this ability against Willow, who repelled Jasmine with a spell, in which Willow shut down the infiltration and even injured the infiltrator.[6]
When browsing Spike's mind, the Splender beast Betta George surfaced a memory that showed Spike someone he had met before but forgot.[7] Betta George also captured Spike's and Wesley's memories of Fred and showed them to Illyria, incapacitating the Old One.[12]
Appearances
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 3 | |||||||||||
| "Anne" Absent |
"Dead Man's Party" Absent |
"Faith, Hope & Trick" Absent |
"Beauty and the Beasts" Absent |
"Homecoming" Absent |
"Band Candy" Absent |
"Revelations" Absent |
"Lovers Walk" Absent |
"The Wish" Absent |
"Amends" Absent |
"Gingerbread" Absent | |
| "Helpless" Absent |
"The Zeppo" Absent |
"Bad Girls" Absent |
"Consequences" Absent |
"Doppelgängland" Absent |
"Enemies" Absent |
"Earshot" Appears |
"Choices" Absent |
"The Prom" Absent |
"Graduation Day, Part One" Absent |
"Graduation Day, Part Two" Absent | |
| Angel: Season 1 | |||||||||||
| "City Of" Absent |
"Lonely Heart" Absent |
"In the Dark" Absent |
"I Fall to Pieces" Absent |
"Rm w/a Vu" Absent |
"Sense & Sensitivity" Absent |
"The Bachelor Party" Absent |
"I Will Remember You" Absent |
"Hero" Absent |
"Parting Gifts" Mention |
"Somnambulist" Absent | |
| "Expecting" Absent |
"She" Absent |
"I've Got You Under My Skin" Absent |
"The Prodigal" Absent |
"The Ring" Absent |
"Eternity" Absent |
"Five by Five" Absent |
"Sanctuary" Absent |
"War Zone" Absent |
"Blind Date" Appears |
"To Shanshu in L.A." Absent | |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5 | |||||||||||
| "Buffy vs. Dracula" Absent |
"Real Me" Absent |
"The Replacement" Absent |
"Out of My Mind" Absent |
"No Place Like Home" Absent |
"Family" Absent |
"Fool for Love" Absent |
"Shadow" Absent |
"Listening to Fear" Absent |
"Into the Woods" Absent |
"Triangle" Absent | |
| "Checkpoint" Absent |
"Blood Ties" Absent |
"Crush" Absent |
"I Was Made to Love You" Absent |
"The Body" Absent |
"Forever" Absent |
"Intervention" Absent |
"Tough Love" Absent |
"Spiral" Absent |
"The Weight of the World" Absent |
"The Gift" Appears | |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 6 | |||||||||||
| "Bargaining, Part One" Appears |
"Bargaining, Part Two" Absent |
"After Life" Absent |
"Flooded" Absent |
"Life Serial" Absent |
"All the Way" Absent |
"Once More, with Feeling" Absent |
"Tabula Rasa" Absent |
"Smashed" Absent |
"Wrecked" Absent |
"Gone" Absent | |
| "Doublemeat Palace" Absent |
"Dead Things" Absent |
"Older and Far Away" Absent |
"As You Were" Absent |
"Hell's Bells" Absent |
"Normal Again" Absent |
"Entropy" Absent |
"Seeing Red" Absent |
"Villains" Absent |
"Two to Go" Absent |
"Grave" Appears | |
| Angel: Season 3 | |||||||||||
| "Heartthrob" Absent |
"That Vision- Thing" Absent |
"That Old Gang of Mine" Absent |
"Carpe Noctem" Absent |
"Fredless" Absent |
"Billy" Absent |
"Offspring" Absent |
"Quickening" Appears |
"Lullaby" Absent |
"Dad" Absent |
"Birthday" Absent | |
| "Provider" Absent |
"Waiting in the Wings" Absent |
"Couplet" Absent |
"Loyalty" Absent |
"Sleep Tight" Absent |
"Forgiving" Absent |
"Double or Nothing" Absent |
"The Price" Absent |
"A New World" Absent |
"Benediction" Absent |
"Tomorrow" Absent | |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 7 | |||||||||||
| "Lessons" Absent |
"Beneath You" Absent |
"Same Time, Same Place" Absent |
"Help" Absent |
"Selfless" Absent |
"Him" Absent |
"Conversations with Dead People" Absent |
"Sleeper" Absent |
"Never Leave Me" Absent |
"Bring on the Night" Absent |
"Showtime" Appears | |
| "Potential" Absent |
"The Killer in Me" Absent |
"First Date" Absent |
"Get It Done" Absent |
"Storyteller" Absent |
"Lies My Parents Told Me" Absent |
"Dirty Girls" Absent |
"Empty Places" Absent |
"Touched" Absent |
"End of Days" Absent |
"Chosen" Absent | |
| Angel: Season 4 | |||||||||||
| "Deep Down" Absent |
"Ground State" Absent |
"The House Always Wins" Absent |
"Slouching Toward Bethlehem" Absent |
"Supersymmetry" Absent |
"Spin the Bottle" Absent |
"Apocalypse, Nowish" Absent |
"Habeas Corpses" Absent |
"Long Day's Journey" Absent |
"Awakening" Absent |
"Soulless" Absent | |
| "Calvary" Absent |
"Salvage" Absent |
"Release" Appears |
"Orpheus" Appears |
"Players" Absent |
"Inside Out" Absent |
"Shiny Happy People" Absent |
"The Magic Bullet" Absent |
"Sacrifice" Absent |
"Peace Out" Absent |
"Home" Absent | |
| Spike | |||||||||||
| Asylum, Part 1 Absent |
Asylum, Part 2 Appears |
Asylum, Part 3 Appears |
Asylum, Part 4 Appears |
Asylum, Part 5 Absent |
Spike: After the Fall, Part 1 Absent |
Spike: After the Fall, Part 2 Absent |
Spike: After the Fall, Part 3 Absent |
Spike: After the Fall, Part 4 Absent | |||
| Alone Together Now Appears |
What Happens in Vegas, Slays in Vegas Appears |
Everybody Loves Spike Appears |
You Haven't Changed a Bit Absent |
Bedknobs and Boomsticks Appears |
Something Borrowed Appears |
Give and Take Appears |
Stranger Things Appears |
Spike: Into the Light Absent | |||
| Angel: After the Fall | |||||||||||
| After the Fall, Part 1 Appears |
After the Fall, Part 2 Appears |
After the Fall, Part 3 Absent |
After the Fall, Part 4 Absent |
After the Fall, Part 5 Absent |
After the Fall, Part 6 Appears |
After the Fall, Part 7 Appears |
After the Fall, Part 8 Appears |
After the Fall, Part 9 Absent | |||
| After the Fall, Part 10 Appears |
After the Fall, Part 11 Appears |
After the Fall, Part 12 Absent |
After the Fall, Part 13 Absent |
After the Fall, Part 14 Appears |
After the Fall, Part 15 Appears |
After the Fall, Part 16 Absent |
After the Fall, Part 17 Appears |
Epilogue Appears | |||