Rupert "Ripper" Giles (played by Anthony Stewart Head) is Buffy's Watcher. He was an Englishman. He was Buffy's second Watcher. Her first watcher was killed in the movie version of the story but this fact is not talked about in the series. Unlike most slayers, it was not known that Buffy was a potential slayer at an early age. When she was chosen, the Watcher's council sent a watcher to help her. When he died, the Council sent Giles to Sunnydale to become her watcher. In the past, Giles used magic and had a lot of knowledge about demons and vampires.