The 100 Grooviest LGBT Characters on Television

From:  Deep Dish

78

Tara Maclay 

(Amber Benson)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 

(1999-02)

Tara Maclay is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed by Amber Benson from the fourth to the sixth season until the character's death. Tara is a shy young woman with magical talents who falls in love with Willow Rosenberg, one of the core characters. Together, they help Buffy Summers, who has been given superhuman powers to defeat evil forces in the fictional town of Sunnydale.

Willow was a popular character when Tara was introduced, and the onset of their relationship was met with some resistance from fans. Tara grows from a reserved girl who is unsure of herself to being the moral center of Buffy's circle of friends, named the Scooby Gang. She is the most virtuous character in the series. Her relationship with Willow is consistently positive, and the first depiction of a lesbian couple on U.S. television. Tara is killed by a stray gunshot toward the end of the sixth season, causing Willow to go on a rampage. Series writers and producers received angry protests from some fans when Tara was killed, including accusations of homophobia. Whedon upheld that it was the necessary course to take to propel Willow's story arc further; both the show's producers and Amber Benson deny that any malicious intent was the cause. Tara was included in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Lesbian and Bisexual Characters, ranking at No. 15.