Heae, hear! I believe you have hit the nail on the head as to why the characters resonate with so many; all of the characters are complex. There are no cardboard "fillers" in the Buffyverse, and the blurred lines between hero and villain are what make the characters memorable. I have come to think that the character that best exemplifies the complexity of the 'verse is Wesley. Who would have thought upon viewing his character as comic relief in S3 Buffy that his character would go through so many permutations? Lesser shows could very well have had him playing the "comic relief" for six seasons, and he may have still been 'funny', but he certainly would not have been interesting.

BTW, hope you don't mind that I recced your discussion to the su_herald?