Name: Daniel “Oz” Green
Age: 19
DOB: April 9th, 1980
Origin:
Daniel Green was born in Oakland, California to Lonny Green and Judy Osborne Green. When he was only two, his parents moved to the small town of Sunnydale. Oz’s childhood wasn’t too notable. An only child, he soon showed he had the same odd trait of the rest of his family: an amazingly laid-back attitude toward life with a quiet but introspective outlook. He kept to himself not really connecting to other children his age and was often considered something of an oddball by the rest of his peers.
In high school, Oz, though intelligent, didn’t take too well to studies. Many teachers believed he wasn’t even paying attention to their lectures when in truth his deep thoughts could sometimes put philosophy majors to shame. In truth, Oz was less comfortable at school, preferring instead his major love, music. An avid guitar player since childhood, in junior year, Oz hooked up with some other local musicians to form a band called Dingoes Ate My Baby, which became a fixture at the Bronze.
It was going into senior year at Sunnydale High that it began to sink in to Oz that weird things were happening often in this town. The Bronze had seen its share of strange attacks and the observant Oz saw how students suddenly disappeared without warning and yet no one seemed upset about it. However, Oz soon had something else catching his attention.
While on a school field trip to the museum, Oz caught sight of a redheaded student nearby. Despite the fact that she wasn’t that glamorous (particularly since she was dressed like an Eskimo), Oz felt something for this woman that he had never felt before (“Inca Mummy Girl.”) A few weeks later, on Halloween, he caught that same girl now dressed in a rather revealing rock outfit and had to mutter “Who IS that girl?” (“Halloween”).
“That girl” was Willow Rosenburg and Oz found himself growing more and more attracted to her when they had classes together. Far more observant than some might believe, Oz could see that Willow had a major crush on her best friend, Xander Harris, who was unaware of it. The two eventually got together at a job fair, where Willow found herself surprisingly taken by the guitarist with the odd hair and a surprising view on animal crackers (it seemed that all the monkeys were French). This increased when Oz saved Willow from an attack by a group of assassins who were going after Buffy. He said that being shot was odd, and painful (“What’s My Line?”). While she still had feelings for Xander, Willow began to find herself growing more and more attracted to Oz.
Willow invited Oz to attend a surprise party for Buffy’s 17th birthday. It turned out to be an even bigger surprise when Oz saw Buffy fight and stake a vampire, then surprised everyone by accepting the idea of supernatural creatures with a shrug (“Surprise”). When Angel became the evil Angelus and began working to send the demonic Judge to attack Sunnydale, Oz officially joined the team known as “the Slayerettes” by providing them with transportation, via his beat-up but workable van, to a military base. While Xander and Cordelia went to steal a rocket launcher to use on the Judge, Willow and Oz talked a bit more. Willow was a bit stunned when Oz related that for the last several weeks, all he could think about in class was kissing her. She immediately offered to do it now but Oz showed his surprising insight by telling Willow he knew she had seen Xander and Cordelia kissing, and just wanted to even the score. He revealed to Willow that in his dreams she was the one kissing him and let Willow know that he wanted to wait to make it more special (“Innocence”).
It was a few weeks later that Oz’s life took a unique turn. While visiting some relatives, he was bitten on the finger by his little cousin, Jordy. What Jordy’s parents, and Oz’s, failed to tell him was that Jordy was a werewolf. So, on the next full moon, Oz turned into a werewolf himself, waking up naked the next day in a park, a bit perplexed by these events. He did feel some fear due to his inability to control himself in wolf form and tried to put some distance between himself and Willow. Willow was put out by this, fearing she may have done something to make Oz angry and tracked him down to confront him. With day fading, Oz tried to get her to leave but Willow was resolute and thus witnessed Oz’s transformation into wolf form and barely got away. She told Buffy and Xander about her discovery as the trio quickly worked to save Oz from a hunter wanting a werewolf skin. The next day, Oz offered to break up with Willow rather than risk hurting her, but Willow surprised him by telling him she was willing to give it a chance and then kissed him for the first time. Her reaction to him being a werewolf was to state the three days of the month, she wasn’t much fun to be around either (“Phases”).
Oz was now with the group full-time, Xander (who had finally figured out Willow’s crush on him) a little wary of the guy dating his best friend. Before they could deal with that, the lives of the Slayerettes were changed when a demon hunter named Steven St Wolf came to town. He revealed to the group that he was Immortal, as was Buffy, a fact that even Oz had a hard time accepting. With the rest of the Slayerettes, Oz aided St. Wolf and a contingent of fighters in killing a major pack of vampires and driving Angel, Drusilla, and Spike out of Sunnydale. (Hellmouth: New Beginnings)
Steve quickly began to train the group in fighting, some members of the team getting along better than others. It was in the midst of this training, in February of 1998, that Cordelia Chase surprised the group by becoming an Amazon. The Greek Goddess Artemis arrived to bestow the same gift on Jenny Calendar, Amy Madison and Willow. (How Cordelia Got her Amazon Groove) That night, Oz told Willow he loved her but was a little unsure if she returned the favor fully, given her past with Xander. Willow reassured him that her feelings for Xander were as a good friend but Oz was the one she loved and proved it by making love with him for the first time.
The next day, Oz and Willow met with Xander and Cordelia, who had dropped by for help. A crazed intruder had attacked Buffy and her mother, Joyce, at their home, stabbing Buffy with a machete. Buffy and Steve were forced to tell the truth about Buffy being an Immortal Slayer and needed the quartet to grab a vampire as proof. (First Date Blues) The shared experience of having Amazon girlfriends allowed Xander and Oz to bond a bit, Xander realizing how much Oz cared for Willow and happy to see his best friend with someone with such feelings (First Date Blues, Dating Sunnydale Style).
For the next several months, the Sunnydale group continued their efforts on patrol and occasionally going around the world to battle evil. Oz had to put up with the added twist of having to spend three nights out of the month locked up in a cage. In March, he got an unexpected gift from Steve: A Spirit Guardian who could transform herself from a cat into a saber-toothed tiger, who Oz ironically named Harriet (A Kitty’s Tale). When Willow showed a darker side when tracking a serial killer murdering Jewish girls, Oz understood fully how Willow was capable of letting her “wolf” out. (Midnight Visitations) During a massive Section Seven assault on a vampire cult in Los Angeles, Oz was introduced to Nightwolf, a shaman who had the ability to shapeshift at will into a wolf form. The Shaman began to help Oz try to control the wolf aspect of himself, which Oz was grateful for (Calling Out the Clan).
However, one thing Oz was secretly having difficulties with was his relationship with Willow. While he loved her and knew she loved him, Oz was feeling that Willow was starting to act a bit condescending and overprotective due to her Amazon status. He wasn’t alone in this regard: Xander, Rupert Giles, Fox Mulder and Jarod Russell were all feeling the same. The five were at the Sunnydale library in August when they were approached by a faery named Robin Goodfellow who offered to give them all an empowerment that would them on the same physical level as the Amazons. The five accepted, Robin taking them on a worldwide tour that led to Stonehenge where he cast his spell (Slayer Run: Lybian Assault). When Oz awoke he, like the rest of the men, was startled to realize he now possessed incredible reflexes and fighting skills. He received another surprise when, upon Robin’s urging, he discovered he could now shift himself into wolf form, completely in control and aware of what was going on. (Robin quickly let Oz know that the full moon conditions still applied) With the rest of the men, Oz went to the headquarters of the Watcher’s Council in England, trashing a special forces team and letting the Watchers know they had best watch themselves when dealing with Sunnydale (Council at War).
The men returned to Sunnydale, surprising the Amazons with a sparring session, Willow taken aback at how athletic Oz now was. Robin’s merriment over the moment was spoiled when Oberon, Lord of the Faery Kingdom, informed Goodfellow that he was to now live as a human in Sunnydale and keep an eye on his new charges. Later that night, Oz showed Willow just how fired up he could now become and it was in the afterglow that he matter of factly told her that he had failed his senior year at Sunnydale High and would be repeating it that fall. Willow was taken aback, not only by Oz repeating a year but that he hadn’t told her this before. But Oz telling her he was looking forward to graduating together did make her feel a lot better.
It was shortly after that when Oz was needed to help Willow out of blows both mental and physical: First, her spell to prevent an incoming rocket resulted in the deaths of three Section One operatives and Oz had to help Willow get over her guilt, letting her know that it was not wholly her fault. When a depowered Willow was wounded in an attack by Watcher-hired mercenaries, Oz, for the first time, welcomed the savage side within him and had to be held back to prevent him from killing the mercs in wolf form. He and Willow talked as she recovered, Willow struck by how scared Oz felt, not just over the possibility of losing her but also of losing control of his wolf side. That Willow was still willing to stick with him helped Oz bounce back and reassume his laid-back exterior. (War of the Sections)
Another short but interesting time was during the gathering for a battle in Endworld, when Oz met the one man who might be able to out Zen him, Kwai Chang Caine. They stared at each other before exchanging respectful words and separated. Oz told his confused Wicca that he and the Shao Lin had talked about life in general (Scooby Snacks: Life).
The beginning of the school year brought a new student to Sunnydale High, Shaw Hunter. Something about this girl seemed off to Oz, his senses telling him she wasn’t quite the same as other people. Shaw herself confirmed this as she revealed to the group her half-elven nature and soon jointed the team. (Born to Raise Hellmouth) In December, Willow and Shaw were watching Oz playing at the Bronze when Shaw got an emergency call from Steve telling her to come to Buffy’s house. The trio did and were taken aback when the group immediately aimed weapons at Willow, Shaw, and himself, Buffy claiming that a vampire Willow had killed her earlier that evening. Robin managed to get through to Buffy, pointing out that this Willow had walked in without an invitation. It turned out the vampire Willow Buffy had met was from another reality where Buffy didn’t go to Sunnydale. The group soon met another inhabitant of that reality, a still souled Angel, who told them that in this other world, Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, allowing vampires to take over. Oz was as stunned as Willow and Xander to hear that in this reality, Willow and Xander were vampire lovers while Oz’s counterpart was aiding in the fight against them.
That reality’s Buffy soon ran into the gang and a trap was set for the vampires, Oz feeling a tad weird in wolf form chasing a vampire version of his girlfriend. They managed to capture the vampires, with the witches casting a spell that returned their souls to them. Steve decided (over Robin’s very loud objections) to go with the quartet to this alternate reality and aid in freeing Sunnydale from vampire control.
Oz wasn’t too surprised to see that his double wasn’t all that different (although the sight of two people with such laid-back attitudes was weird for everyone else) Realizing this Oz was human, Oz warned his double about Jordy, Wish Oz grateful for the advice. However, Oz got as close to shock as he possibly could when he discovered that his counterpart was in a relationship with that world’s version of football player Larry Blaisdell; he actually raised his right eyebrow a full sixteenth of an inch. He and the rest of the Section team fought against the Master and his vampire hordes, eventually triumphing and returning to their reality where Oz shared with Larry what had happened and the two spent a while getting over the idea of them as a couple (Be Careful What You Wish For).
When the Silerwor unleashed his second wave of attacks against the Slayerettes, Larry was captured and tortured for information. Acting on their own initiative, Oz and Shaw went in under disguises to find Larry and keep him safe in preparation for the team’s counterattack. While Shaw got shot by the Silerwor’s lieutenant, Oz tore into the rest of his bodyguards, showing just what a laconic werewolf could do to vampire lackeys (The Scooby Gang Strikes Back). Unlike Shaw, Oz was completely laid back when Steve tried to chew his backside (a hard chore for someone as laid back as Oz).
Life passed as uneventfully in Sunnydale as possible. Which meant there were some unique events. On Valentine’s Day, a protection spell gone awry caused every man in Sunnydale to fall in love with Joyce Summers. Oz showed up at the Summers home and started putting the moves on the Slayer’s mother who (simply by the fact that Oz was showing emotion) knew something was wrong. When Kendra asked Oz to leave, he turned into wolf form and tried to attack them. Joyce and Kendra took off into the woods where Shaw managed to subdue Oz with a sleep spell. But he would come back to try and hunt Joyce more and would come to blows with an enspelled Xander for her. The witches managed to solve this problem by casting a spell that made Willow and Cordelia both look like Joyce to lead the boys away for “fun.” By the next morning, the spell had faded and although he managed to process it well, Oz still had some trouble with the idea of him sleeping with Buffy’s mother. (Another Tuesday Night In Sunnydale)
Currently,
Oz is preparing for his overdue graduation and then going into college. While he
knows the possibility for Dingoes to reach stardom is minimal, he still plays
for the band. He also is dealing with further control over his wolf form and
being there for Willow as best he can. Oz is excited to see what the future
holds for him…Even if he gives no sign of it.
Race: Human/Werewolf.
Description: Five foot five with a thin and wry build and small stature, Oz ‘s most defining feature is his hair, which seems to shift color every week. Willow has diligently searched their apartment but has yet to find any coloring dye and wonders how Oz does it. His clothing tends to range toward the typical slacker outfit: Jeans (sometimes torn), t-shirts with a variety of band names on them, bowling shirts, and perhaps a loose jacket now and then. However, he has surprised Willow by looking quite handsome if he dresses up. The most important facet of Oz, of course, is his lack of expression. He barely smiles or frowns and is often silent when others speak. However, his piercing blue eyes show the intelligence he possesses and his powers of observation are keener than one might guess. A true sign of how serious a situation may be is when Oz visibly reacts, which often startles his fellow teammates.
In wolf form, Oz is roughly six feet from head to tail with dark brown fur covering his entire body, sharp fangs and claws and yellow eyes.
Abilities (Uncommon): As a werewolf, Oz turns into a wolf being every three nights of a full moon. While in this form, the animal side takes over completely and is completely wild. Often, Oz has no memory of what he did in wolf form (and thus takes care to lock himself in a cage every time) Robin’s empowerment has given him enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, endurance and inherent fighting ability on a par with an Amazon. In addition, aside from the full moon period, Oz can change into a wolf form at will and be totally aware and in control of his actions. An additional spell by Robin manages to let Oz’s clothes change with him so he doesn’t have to worry about being naked when returning to human form. One thing that has also been shown is that even when in human form, some of Oz’s senses (particularly his senses of smell and hearing) are above the human norm. Having drank from the Holy Grail, Oz can no longer be possessed by a demon and his life expectancy has been increased by several centuries.
Abilities (Learned): Although he failed his first senior year, Oz still has a surprising intellect and a good skill for observation. He has dedicated himself more to his studies with Steve’s encouragement and has done well with his grades in his senior year. He has also been trained in the use of small arms weapons and a variety of hand-to-hand weapons as well. Oz is also skilled with computers, being almost as good as Willow. However, there is one task that Oz is still striving to achieve: The mastery of the chord E-flat, diminished ninth.
Current Status (include here if the person is Immortal or not): Citizen of the United States with no criminal record. Living in Sunnydale with Willow, a senior at Sunnydale High School and lead guitarist for Dingoes Ate My Baby. Although Robin’s empowerment has helped, Oz is still trying to gain further control of his wolf side as the idea of hurting someone during a full moon giving him true fear. Oz is not an Immortal, but after drinking from the Holy Grail in February 1999, Oz’s life expectancy is around four hundred years.
Proficient Weapons: Oz hasn’t shown much affinity for most of the Section weapons, although he is skilled with some sniper rifles and personal handguns. He is trained in the use of guns and of course is good with a stake or a crossbow. However, since Robin’s empowerment, Oz’s most potent weapon is himself. Even a centuries-old vampire would be hard-pressed to stop a fighting mad werewolf and the ability to shift back and forth between these forms throws his opponents off-balance, giving Oz an advantage he can press.
Current Beliefs: Oz has never said what faith, if any, his family practices. Although appearing (as Xander once put it) “laconic to the point of being catatonic,” Oz is quite dedicated to the fight against evil and protecting innocents. He doesn’t talk about his home life much but Willow has reported to the others that Oz takes after his parents (which they all find a slightly disturbing thought). He gets along okay with the other members of the band but makes it clear that if need be, his time with the Scoobies takes precedence. After a lifetime of mainly keeping to himself, he’s learned to open up to others and has been rewarded by friendship. Although cool to each other at first, he and Xander are now good friends, as is Larry. Oz finds Shaw a good confidante at times as she understands his wilder side more than others. Although he doesn’t express it much, he’s truly grateful to Robin for allowing him some control over his wolf side and enjoys hanging out with him. He respects the “elders” of the group (Steve, Jenny, Giles, Joyce) and of all them, sees the true strength and kind nature of Faith under her tough girl exterior. Of course, the most important person in Oz’s life is Willow, as he loves the Wiccan with all his heart and she is one of the few people who has seen the emotion Oz is capable of showing. That she’s accepted his animalistic nature and has helped him deal with it just makes Oz more grateful he saw that girl in the strange Eskimo outfit.
What is the most important thing you can say about this character?
I believe the opinions of most Buffy fans of Oz are slightly skewered by the way he left the series. That he cheated on Willow, and then had her choose Tara over him, left Oz leaving under a somewhat dark cloud. So it’s sometimes easy for fans to forget just how intriguing a character he was on the show. While we knew next to nothing about his past or his home life or really anything beyond school and the gang, his laid-back nature with insight and dry humor mixed with his obvious love for Willow, got him attention. The werewolf thing was just the icing on the cake.
Oz hasn’t changed too much in the Wandererverse. He still has that quiet, introspective streak and dry observations on life. However, there are some minor shifts. He’s a bit more outgoing, his relationship with Willow progressing much faster than it did on the show and his connections to the rest of the gang increased as well. Also, his ability to control his wolf better allows him to be more assertive and self-confident and even a bit lighter than on the series. However, for the most part, Oz is still Oz, the most calm and collected of the Sunnydale group…Something that this group has a great need for.
Favorite Quote: “Huh.” (His entire reaction upon discovering he’s a werewolf, “Phases.”)
Nicknames: Ozzy (he refuses to acknowledge it as he doesn’t put himself on Osbourne’s level), Wolf-Boy, Fangface (from Faith), and My Multi-Hair-Colored Friend (by Robin).