Ethan Rayne was an old childhood friend of Giles' (whom Ethan called 'Ripper'). As a young man, Giles fell in with a group of dabblers in magic, of which Ethan was one. Their favorite use of their magical skills was to raise the demon Eyghon, and allow the demon to temporarily posses one of them, inducing a feeling of extreme ecstasy in the one possessed. However, on one occasion they lost control of Eyghon, resulting in the death of one of their group. Giles, consumed with guilt over the death of his friend, abandoned magic. Ethan, on the other hand, embraced it fully, and became a worshipper of chaos. Ethan is not a resident of Sunnydale, but turns up every so often to stir things up. Amazingly selfish, when Eyghon returned, killing all of his old friends except for Giles, Ethan attempted to trick Eyghon into killing Buffy instead of him. Ethan also has a sadistic streak in him, shown by the various magical tricks he's subjected Sunnydale to. He will always flee rather than face conflict, perhaps unsurprising given that he is a hopeless fighter. His magic is extremely powerful, and he has on a couple of occasions bent the whole of Sunnydale to his will, mainly for his own personal amusement. His tricks usually backfire, thanks to Giles and Buffy. His last stunt, turning Giles into a demon, resulted in the Initiative taking him away to a secret prison facility, much to Giles' amusement. Ethan's current location and condition are unknown.

Robin Sachs, 73, was born in 1951 in the UK. He has appeared numerous times on British TV, most notably in Upstairs, Downstairs, and on USA TV, including BtVS and Babylon 5. He has also appeared in a number of films, including The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Galaxy Quest. - Image at left courtesy of The Official Robin Sachs Fansite.