Oz | |
---|---|
Portrayed By | Seth Green |
Gender | Male |
Species | Werewolf |
Date of Birth | August 29, 1980 |
Age | 21 |
Zodiac Sign | Virgo |
Aliases | Just Oz |
Place of Birth | Sunnydale, CA, USA |
Current Location | Los Angeles, CA, USA |
Occupation | Musician |
Known Relatives | |
Significant Other | None |
Special Powers | Controlled Lycanthropy |
First Appearance | Inca Mummy Girl |
A werewolf of few words, Oz is a quiet, introspective sort. A transplant from Sunnydale by way of all over the place, he's still soul searching to reconcile those dual parts of his nature, man and wolf.
Table of Contents
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History
The Gist
Daniel "Oz" Osbourne grew up in Sunnydale, California. He had a fairly unremarkable life up until he met a certain redhead named Willow. After that, in short succession, he learned that vampires are real, became a werewolf, and fell in love. Thankfully, his unflappable nature meant he took most of this pretty well in stride. He started helping out occasionally with Buffy and the gang, stealing weapons from the army, you know, typical teen hijinx. After Buffy ran away that fateful summer, he teamed up with Willow and Xander to help keep the vampire population in Sunnydale under control.
After repeating his senior year and managing not to get killed again, even when the mayor turned into a giant snake at graduation (it's a Sunnydale thing), he went off to UC Sunnydale with Willow. They were happy for awhile, but he was still struggling with the beast within - literally. There was a woman named Veruca who tried to show him what it truly meant to be a werewolf, but since that apparently involved destroying his relationship with Willow and then trying to kill her, wolf-Oz wound up killing Veruca first instead. After that, he took off, knowing he had to get some control of the animal. His travels took him to Tibet where he arduous task of learning to maintain that control. Once he was no longer at the mercy of the phases of the moon, he rushed back to Sunnydale to tell Willow. Where he found out she'd kind of moved on. This caused him to kind of lose it and go wolf in the middle of the day. The initiative stopped him from killing Tara, but locked him away for some fun experimental torture. The gang managed to bust him out and he was faced with the fact he would have to leave again. The moon might not bring it out in him, but Willow could awaken the wolf. Plus there was that military organization out after him. So he took to the road, severing all ties to that Scooby gang life. He's been travelling ever since, living out of his band, playing the occasional gig. Now he's found his way to LA.
The Whole, Long Story
Timeline
- January 10, 2002 The Most Swankified Place in Town: Just another Saturday night at the Silver and Gold. Emeline, Leo, and Oz briefly discuss music, Leo and Oz make a bit of a connection. Grant and Cordelia start to make a connection, but Gwen's inadvertent intervention reveals Grant's employer to Cordelia, who quickly flees.
- January 12, 2002 Damn Good Pie: Junayd comes to the Moon Pie seeking advice. Oz comes to the Moon Pie seeking food. Hannah happens to deliver both.
- January 21, 2002 Bad Dogs: All the world is in bloom on this bright, cold full moon as we're mauling civilians in the park.
Quotes
Show
- "Hey, did everybody see that guy just turn to dust?"
- "So, do you guys steal weapons from the Army a lot?"
- "Sometimes when I'm sitting in class - you know, I'm not thinking about class, 'cause that would never happen - I think about kissing you, and it's like everything stops. It's like, it's like freeze frame. Willow-kissage."
- "A werewolf in love."
- "It looks dead. It smells dead. Yet, it's moving around. That's interesting."
- "Well, a gathering is Brie, mellow song stylings. Shindig: dip, less mellow song stylings, perhaps a large amount of malt beverage. And hootenanny: choc full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny."
- "Well, other bands know more than three chords. Your professional bands can play up to six, sometimes seven completely different chords."
- "On the plus side, you killed the bench, which was looking shifty."
Game
Trivia
- Guitar: Though you wouldn't know it to hear him talk about his guitar playing, Oz is actually a decent musician. He's played since he was young and was in a band pretty much all through high school. He still keeps in practice by picking up the occasional gig doing backing guitar.
- Van: Oz has an old, black van. He's decked out the back for sleeping, and other than his guitar, it's pretty much the one thing that's never let him down.
Powers
Controlled Lycanthropy
Oz is a werewolf, but he's a special case. After many months of study and soul-searching in Tibet, he's now able to control himself, and can keep from shifting when the full moon is out. This requires careful and constant study and mediation, as well as the necessary charms and herbs to be used. It isn't easy, but to Oz, it is well worth being able to keep that animal side of him in check.
As long as he keeps up with his regimen, he will not shift during the full moon. However, this has a trade off, as any period of heightened emotion or intense pain can trigger a shift, regardless of moon phase or even time of day. In a way, it has made him even more dangerous, since he can no longer predict when he will shift and lock himself away until it's over.
Perhaps because he's sublimated the wolf and still actively fights against it, he's as of yet unable to remember much from his time spent as one. He can by now retain a few memories, but they're fuzzy. He's still working on that part of him that doesn't /want/ to remember, which serves as a mental block.
Wolf Form
When in wolf form, Oz is like any other werewolf save for the fact that he's not tied to the phases of the moon. He is larger, faster, and stronger, capable of easily killing a human by mauling, and in no control of his animal instincts. His senses are acutely heightened: he can track by smell, see and hear more clearly. He has sharp teeth and claws, and if they don't manage to finish a person off, a bitten victim has the distinct pleasure of becoming a werewolf themselves.
It also takes a lot more to hurt him, and silver is the only sure-fire way to put him down and keep him down. As a more temporary solution, tranquillizers will knock him out like any wild animal.
Human Form
While in human form, Oz still retains heightened senses. He can identify people by scent, even enough to track those he knows. He can sense other werewolves and supernatural beings, though he doesn't instinctively know /what/ the being is, just that they don't smell human. Has has to learn the scents of different species through exposure and experience. He can also detect the baser emotions in other people, especially fear. Though he's usually too nice to mention it in passing.
The wolf within is also always a part of him, something he's still working on coming to terms with in order to keep it in check. Though he hides it well, animal instincts run in him more deeply than in your average guy.