Alexander LaVelle Harris was born and raised in Sunnydale, and has been friends with Willow since childhood (they used to sleep over at each other's houses regularly). Jesse was Xander's other best friend, until he was turned into a vampire and inadvertently staked by Xander. As with most of the characters, little is known about Xander's family, except that his mom can't cook, there could be alcoholism in the family (he sleeps outside on Christmas Eve to avoid his family's drunken fights), and Cordelia has implied that his father is unemployed. Despite his problems (or perhaps because of them), Xander consistently maintains his sense of humor, making wise-crack after wise-crack (much in the vein of Chandler on Friends). Xander was not an exceptional student, but he's always been ready and willing to help Buffy in her endeavors. His track record in the romance department has been less than optimal — he was turned down by Buffy, fell for a praying mantis and an Incan mummy girl, had a one night stand with bad-girl Faith (only to be kicked out afterwards and assaulted by her shortly after), and went to the prom with an ex-demon (Anya). When he settled into something vaguely resembling a relationship with Cordelia, he messed that up by kissing Willow ... and getting caught. Xander did manage to graduate high school (despite some fan speculation that he might not), although didn't go to college with the gang, instead successfully working in construction, where he is now making pretty good money. He and Anya became a couple after high school, and eventually got engaged in Season 5. Unfortunately, Xander wasn't ready to get married, due in large part to a fear of becoming like his dad, and he called it off on the day of the wedding, breaking Anya's heart. After Tara's death, Willow went berserk, and now endowed with immense magical powers, attempted to destroy the world. Although Buffy was no match for her, Xander managed to get through to Willow by reminding her of their close friendship over the years. Xander thus saved the world.
    (The Watcher's Guide was used as a reference for seasons one and two.)

Nicholas Brendon, 53, attended College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California (he is a California native), where he played baseball. His original goal in life was to play professional baseball, but he had to give up that goal when he broke his arm in a manner which diminished his baseball performance. He decided to give acting a try (though he first had to work on eliminating his stutter) — his first job was a Clearasil commercial. But he wasn't getting a lot of work, so he got a behind the scenes job as a production assistant on Dave's World. This led to an audition for the same series, which he nailed, and soon after his luck got a bit better, culminating in his landing the role of Xander on BtVS. Nicholas enjoys baseball, basketball, and camping, and lives with his identical twin brother, Kelly (who is often mistaken for Nick by fans, and who doubled for Nick in episode 5.03, "The Replacement"). He's friends with fellow Jason Behr (Roswell) and Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek), and says that even if he could, he wouldn't change the character of Xander.

Nick has been a regular since the beginning, appearing in every episode except for "Conversations with Dead People."