<P> For the season five episode "The Replacement", where a demon splits Xander into two people along the lines of his immature and his more adult characteristics, Donovan is cast to play the "other" Xander in scenes where both appear onscreen together . Both actors found playing the character together to be a fun experience . </P> <P> One academic analysis of the series finds that Xander has much in common with the Harry Potter character Ron Weasley . The writer cites his proximity to the main character, his comparative working class status to best friend Willow (as with Weasley and Hermione), his status as an object of mockery in school . For both Xander and Ron, their comparative lack of special gifts "accentuates the loyalty and bravery...(each) offers as a friend" given that the characters often place themselves in mortal danger . Cordelia's statement to Xander in the Zeppo, which compares him to Superman character Jimmy Olsen, is noted as another example qualifying Xander's everyman status . </P> <P> Though Xander is often "the heart" of the Scooby Gang, in "The Zeppo" he is excluded from their battle against a hydra - like demon . Through the use of jump cuts between melodramatic scenes with Buffy, and for instance, informant Willy the Barkeeper (Saverio Guerra) to Xander and a gang of zombies in a drunken car journey, Xander is used as a vehicle to point out the ways in which Buffy ordinarily avoids being "over the top" by integrating Xander (as the show's source of humour) into the main narrative rather than separating the two . His loss of his virginity to Faith, for example, is musically cued as an anti-romantic parallel to the swelling, symphonic romance scene that Xander oversees between Buffy and Angel; on his departure from the carnal bed, the music is re-cued . The episode depicts Xander single - handedly saving the school, and potentially the world (given the Hellmouth beneath it) from an explosion in simultaneity against glimpses of the other Scoobies' struggles with the hydra demon . As the episode draws to a climax, the two settings begin to erode into one, as the demon breaks through walls in the basement and enters into the episode's Xander scenes . Stevenson notes that it is fitting for the character to have his most heroic moment in the school basement, given that in season four he will be reduced to living in his parents'; Xander's fears in "Restless" explore his feeling of being "trapped" in that basement . Wilcox argues that the basement is a representation of the subconscious, and that young carefree zombie Jack O'Toole (Channon Roe) represents Xander's id, his inner desires . The episode brings to light how the basis for heroism rests in the subconscious, and also how as the two battles increasingly merge, his friends cannot hope to save the world and save others unless Xander's battle with the Self is also won . In his confrontation with Jack, just as in his confrontation with Dark Willow in season six's "Grave", Xander saves the world through his words . As the "warrior of words", Wilcox feels that this makes Xander the character who most clearly represents series creator Joss Whedon . </P> <P> Throughout the series, Xander's family are seen to be highly dysfunctional and composed of alcoholics . Xander relates in "Amends" that he sleeps outside at Christmas to avoid the family quarrels . This leads him to seek a surrogate family in his friendships with Buffy, Willow and Giles . Xander lacks Giles's and Willow's academic intelligence, and Buffy's physical prowess . Cordelia is initially ashamed to be Xander's girlfriend . Throughout the series, Xander struggles to contribute meaningfully to the group dynamic . His dissatisfaction reaches a nadir in season four: Xander's physical dislocation from his college friends leads to a profound sense of being useless . In "Restless", his menial jobs and degrading habitat rise to the surface of his dream narrative . Before falling asleep, he begins to watch Apocalypse Now with Willow, Buffy and Giles, who comments, "Oh, I'm beginning to understand this now . It's all about the journey, isn't it ." Xander's dream, in turn, is one of intense self - exploration . In his dream, Xander goes to use the bathroom, and is emasculated and infantilized by Buffy asking him if he needs any help: this scene shows Xander's "sense of insecurity and powerlessness". Nevertheless, he becomes lost and finds himself in his parents' basement . From there, he finds himself in his ice cream truck, where Anya asks if he knows what he is doing, underlining the aimlessness of his journey; he is in the basement once again . When suddenly he is in the army and Principal Snyder (as a character in Apocalypse Now) asks where he comes from, he says, "The basement, mostly ." He fears that his military interrogator is correct in saying that he is "the whipping boy" and "set on a sacrificial stone". (This position of being less "chosen" for social inclusion and great things than his peers makes him uniquely able to comfort Dawn in season seven's "Potential".) </P>

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