Somebody has to ask. (Actually, somebody probably has, but I'm ignoring that for now.)

What is Joss's problem with fathers? The one and only positive father figure in the entire Buffy universe is Giles, and he has no children. Technically speaking, of course. I mean, for all practical purposes the guy is a father of at least six(All teenagers, too. What kind of hell is that?). So where are their real fathers? Well, there's the problem.

Let's start with: Buffy Summers. Where is her father? The guy has popped up in what? Two episodes(Nightmares and When She Was Bad)? Even then he seems like he doesn't have the first clue about being a parent. And every other time they mention Buffy's dad on the show, it seems to be because he's pointedly not being around when he should be(Helpless). So here's this girl, who, from a purely objective angle, is seriously disturbed(burning down the gym at Hemery, being blamed for every unsolved murder in Sunnydale). So what does dear old Pop do? Sit down and talk to her? Spend quality time showing her that she doesn't need to misbehave to get attention? No, of course not! Hank argues with her mother over whose fault the kid is (Becoming, Part 1), ditches his one and only daughter on her 18th birthday(Helpless, again), and generally just isn't around. So first dad: Abandonment.

Numero Dos: Willow Rosenberg. Lovely girl, bright, friendly, helpful, sweet. Basically and all-around perfect child. Except for the staying out all night in morgues and cemeteries and occasionally hacking into government computers. Now admittedly, we haven't seen much of Willow's folks, but what we have seen is rather indicitive of complete oblivion to what their daughter is up to(Though not on Joyce-scales, I'll admit.). Also, the very fact that Sheila and Ira Rosenberg rarely appear shows us that Willow is on her own more often than not. When's the last time she had to bop out of a research session at the Library to attend the Synagogue? Where's the Jewish upbringing? Now I'm not Jewish, but I do know people who practice the faith, and it's a little more involved than just saying 'Yeah, we're Jewish'. Especially considering that they've made a point of Willow's Jewishness on the show(Amends). To make a long rant short(too late), Willow's parents just aren't there for their daughter. Second dad: Neglect.

And the party of the third part: Xander Lavelle Harris. Again, not much is seen...well, actually, nothing is seen of Xander's father. He's been mentioned as being a drinker(Amends) and unemployed(I'm not sure, but I think it was The Wish). Beyond that, we can only draw the same conclusions as from Willow's sperm-and-ovum-donors. We see little of them and Xander never mentions needing to make excuses when he's out at all hours and comes home bloody, so they must not be paying attention. Father three: Neglect.

Fourth in the line-up is: Cordelia Chase. Another only child(I might need to rant about that, too), Cordelia apparently got everything she ever wanted from her loving, rich Daddy. A hot little car with vanity plates(Prophecy Girl, for one), designer clothes... But spoiling a child does not a good parent make, my friends. What Cordy's father did for her was make her dependant on the luxuries that surrounded her during her formative years and then ungracefully rip the security blanket out from under her just before she would have gone to college and had a chance at making herself self-sufficient. That is, Mr. Chase lost all his money when it came to light that he hadn't paid his taxes...ever(The Prom). So here's Cordelia, struggling to make her way in the world, and she's so out in the cold that she ends up working for Angel in LA while trying to make it big in the entertainment industry(City of). And where did her parents get to in the meantime? Daddy Four bats a high fly: Disinheritance(effectively).

And at five we have: Angel/Angelus. Well, we've only seen Angel's dad once, and he wasn't so bad, except for being a bit of a pompous ass. Of course, he did make Angel feel like a total loser(Which he was.) and drive him into the arms of Darla(Welcome to the Hellmouth-Angel, Becoming, Part 1, The Prodigal...), but you can hardly blame the guy. I mean, Angel was sort of a drunken womanizer. Point is, he did hit Angel(The Prodigal again), and he was, in some ways, responsible for all of Angel's problems later. The Five-spot goes to: Emotional Abuse.

On our six is: Kate Lockley. Yes, I know she's a minor character, and I know that everybody hates the woman, but she does have a evil father...or rather, she had an evil father(The Prodigal). Unfeeling, distant, critical, this old geezer seemed to be doing everything in his power to make Kate a basket-case. And it worked, in a way. Not that it matters. The point is, he was yet another bad Dad. Did-you-know-that-the-Latin-for-six-is-sex gets a: Emotional Abuse.

In Seventh Heaven(please, no Camdens!) is: Wesley Wyndham Price. Yeah, he's a pansy, but he has a damn good excuse. Daddy locked him up under the stairs as punishment(I've Got You Under My Skin)...that can't be healthy. He also implies that his father may have hurt him in other ways(Also I've Got You Under My Skin). The only question I gotta ask is: How come everybody else turns their bad childhood experiences into fuel for bad-ass attitudes, and Wesley turns into a total wimp? The seventh deadly parenting sin is: Abuse

On the eight ball is: Rupert Giles. I know, he should be way higher than Kate and Wesley, but I'm putting him last for a reason. See, Giles had his own bad parent: his(apparently) domineering father. Forced too early to train as a Watcher(or something), little Rupert rebelled rather spectacularly and became everybody's favorite Mr. Hyde, the Ripper(Halloween, The Dark Age, Band Candy). So it's a bit of a surprise later when Giles becomes a surrogate father to not only Buffy, but also Willow and Xander(And most everybody else on the show, too, sadly enough.). And he's been a great Patriarch to the clan. Always there for the kids(Sometimes in strange ways or on the late side, but definately there.), wise and guiding(He reads Latin.), protective(Though not always successfully, as in Prophecy Girl, when Buffy conks him on the head...)... In short, he's the perfect father for this little band of misfits who save the world on alternate Tuesdays. Giles' father gets a: Neglect, Giles gets a Supportive.