Anya Jenkins

Anya - also known by her demonic name Anyanka, Patron Saint of Scorned Women - was a vengeance demon who specialized in avenging broken-hearted lovers - women in particular. After coming to Sunnydale, she was defeated by the Scooby Gang and turned mortal as a result. Her struggles to adjust to the human world were at times hilarious, and at other times quite poignant - ultimately, she grew to care for the humans she'd come to know enough to sacrifice her life for them.

Anya was brought back to life by D'Hoffryn, the most powerful of the vengeance demons - who returned her to her demonic form in hopes of scorning her for how hard she'd worked to fit in as a human. Instead, however, this only strengthened Anya's resolve to use her abilities for a better cause. She is currently working hard to prove D'Hoffryn wrong and become something of a 'hero'.

Canon History
Anya's original name was Aud - and she was born in ninth century Sweden, making her home in a tiny, quiet village. Most of the village's residents enjoyed peace, quite, and routine, and despised disruption in any form...so Aud, with her unbecoming tendency to blatantly speak her mind and defy the village's customs, was far from popular with the townspeople. Her father eventually managed to marry her off regardless, however, to a large, blundering man named Olaf. Olaf was far from the sharpest tool in the shed, but Aud grew to adore him none the less - mostly because he was more or less the only person in the village willing to put up with her.

After several years, Aud was devastated to discover that Olaf had been cheating on her with a local barmaiden, and humiliated to realize that the entire town had known about the scandal before she did. As revenge, Aud delved into witchcraft, and used a spell to transform Olaf into a troll so that the townspeople would be terrified and isolate him as well, so that no woman would ever want to touch him again.

Her act of vengeance attracted the attention of an ancient demonic entity by the name of D'Hoffryn. D'Hoffryn traveled the human realm in search of humans who showed 'promise', who were particularly vindictive and creative in their methods of vengeance. He would then offer these humans immortal life and great power if they agreed to become 'vengeance demons', demons who granted wishes to mortals seeking revenge against those who wronged them. He made such an offer to Aud - and, believing she had nothing left for her in her old life, she accepted.

And so she became a new entity, taking on a new name in order to leave her human life behind completely. She became known as Anyanka, patron saint of scorned women, and quickly earned a fearsome reputation as one of the most ruthless, merciless vengeance demons in existence. For a thousand years, Anyanka took pleasure in traveling the world and wreaking havoc wherever she went. Wherever she sensed pain and heartbreak, she would sweep in an manipulate the broken individual in question, slyly provoking their anger and will to seek revenge. Eventually, Anyanka would trick her victims into wishing something horrible on whoever had hurt them...and if these wishes weren't chaotic enough for her satisfaction, she would twist them into something even more awful. Anyanka was the very embodiment of "be careful what you wish for". With every wish she granted, and every act of vengeance she committed, she lost more and more of her humanity. In time, Anyanka grew to thoroughly enjoy the turmoil she created, which ranged from turning boys into slugs to literally starting wars (just ask, and she'll enthusiastically tell you about her part in beginning the Russian Revolution). Though in her own eyes her work was some twisted form of dealing out justice, Anyanka soon became consumed by her demonic identity. She grew powerful, terrible, feared.

...Then, just like that, it ended. In the year of 1997, Anyanka's thirst for vengeance brought her to the little town of Sunnydale, California. Her chosen client: a high school student by the name of Cordelia Chase, who was distraught after discovering her boyfriend had cheated on her. Anyanka tricked Cordelia into making a wish that the demon would use to create a horrific alternate universe--some of her most devastating work yet. Unfortunately for Anyanka, Cordelia happened to be associated with Buffy Summers, the infamous vampire slayer. Any creatures of the night who tried messing around in Sunnydale had Buffy to deal with, as Anyanka would soon discover. To break out of the alternate dimension and undo Anyanka's magic, Buffy and her friends destroyed the demon's power source: her jade necklace.