Trio (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

The Trio
First appearance	"Flooded" (assembled)
Last appearance	"Seeing Red" (as a trio)
Statistics
Name	The Trio
Purpose	To take over Sunnydale and get lots of chicks
Membership	Warren Mears Jonathan Levinson Andrew Wells

The Trio is the name of three fictional characters in the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who serve as the villains of the season. They continually strive to neutralize Buffy, the Slayer, and thus the primary obstacle to their ultimate goal of taking over Sunnydale. Though initially comic relief and little more than a nuisance to the Scooby Gang, they take a darker turn by the episode "Dead Things". Most of their schemes combine science and mysticism, and they are able to avoid detection by the Scoobies (who merely assume their conducts to be the doings of demons) until halfway through the season.

The Trio was formed by Warren Mears, technology expert; Andrew Wells, summoner of demons; and Jonathan Levinson, caster of spells. Jonathan was a long time recurring character, having first appeared in season 2, and was a friendly acquaintance of the Scooby Gang, and Warren had appeared twice in season 5. While Andrew had never been seen on the show before, his brother was in "The Prom" episode, and Andrew often speaks of the time he summoned flying demon monkeys to the school production of Romeo and Juliet, which Buffy and the Scoobies have no recollection of.

The three of them begin season 6 as good friends. Tired of being pushed around, they resolve to combine their expertise and "take over Sunnydale" as equal partners. As the stakes rise, the power shifts and Warren gradually dominates the group. Though Jonathan and Andrew lack the malice and hatred of true villains, Warren eventually reveals his true colors as a violent misogynist capable of murder. The Trio is continually thwarted by Buffy, and none of their actions make any name for themselves in Sunnydale's mystical underground, as revealed in "Villains". The group is ultimately disbanded when, after a face-off with Buffy, Warren flees and leaves Andrew and Jonathan to take the fall with the police.

Members

• Warren Mears first appeared in season 5 when he made two gynoid robots (one for himself and one for Spike). He makes all of the mad science devices used by the Trio. He has the strongest will of the three and quickly assumes the leadership position, until he accidentally kills his ex-girlfriend and leads The Trio down a dark path. Warren is established early on as the one most willing to take real risks and do real harm to the Sunnydale citizens.
• Jonathan Levinson is a sorcerer of considerable skill and ingenuity but only moderate power. Most reluctant member of the group, he consistently prefers the least violent solutions to their problems, especially having a soft spot for Buffy, who had saved his life on several occasions. Warren and Andrew eventually conspire against Jonathan and attempt to leave him to take the entire blame of their last heist, but Andrew fails to get away in time.
• Andrew Wells is an expert summoner of demons. Andrew has the weakest will of the group and easily allows Warren to manipulate him against Jonathan, though Warren ultimately sacrifices Andrew for his own escape.

Group biography

The Trio first appear in "Flooded", where they hire a demon to rob a bank and attack Buffy. In "Life Serial" they compete with each other to disorient Buffy by magical and technological means. In "Smashed" they steal a large diamond from a museum, immobilizing the sole guard with a "freeze ray".

Also in "Smashed", Spike (who met Warren in "I Was Made to Love You") turns to the Trio to learn what has gone wrong with his inhibitor chip, forcing them to comply by threatening to break their Boba Fett action figure.

In "Gone", Warren incorporates the diamond into his invisibility ray. Jonathan and Andrew, quarreling over who will get to use the ray first, accidentally cause it to overload and turn Buffy invisible. They arrange to meet Buffy and restore her, but Warren secretly sets the device to kill her instead. A scuffle allows Willow to grab the ray, change the setting, and restore Buffy and the Trio to visibility, revealing their identities to the gang.

Warren increasingly treats the others as his lackeys, reserving to himself the use of whatever devices they make or steal. In "Dead Things" Warren hypnotizes his former girlfriend Katrina to be his sex slave, and kills her when she shakes off his control; the Trio then use time-distorting demons to convince Buffy that she killed Katrina. Though the plan nearly succeeds, Buffy immediately realizes the truth when she hears the police identify Katrina's body.

In "Normal Again", Andrew summons a demon which injects Buffy with a psychoactive poison, almost convincing her that her life as a Slayer is imaginary and she can cure herself by killing her friends. It is subsequently discovered in "Entropy" that the Trio has planted numerous spy cameras and bugs in the Bronze, the Magic Box, and the Summers household, through which both the Trio and the Scoobies discover Spike and Anya's affair and, by extension, Buffy and Spike's secret relationship.

In "Seeing Red", Warren invades the lair of the Nezzla demons to steal the Orbs of Nezzla'Khan, mystical artifacts that grant the bearer superhuman strength and physical invulnerability, with which they plan to commit a massive amount of bank robberies, starting with an armored car at an amusement park. When Buffy arrives to thwart them, the mystically-enhanced Warren easily outmatches her until Jonathan, fed up with Warren's lack of conscience and domineering attitude, surreptitiously tells Buffy how to defeat Warren. Just as Warren, ecstatic that he has defeated the Slayer when numerous demons and vampires have failed, has Buffy at his mercy, Buffy steals the belt pouch containing the orbs and destroys them before kicking Warren across the parking lot. As a furious Buffy advances, an outraged and humiliated Warren vows to take Buffy down before escaping with a jet pack, leaving Andrew and Jonathan to take the fall with the police, leaving the Trio officially disbanded.

In "Villains", Warren ultimately gets his comeuppance when Willow, now a dark magician, kills him by flaying and incinerating him as part of her vengeance for the death of Tara.

In "Storyteller", Andrew reveals that he killed Jonathan as a sacrifice for The First Evil, making him the only one left from the disbanded Trio.

For the rest of the series, Andrew redeems himself as a sidekick of Buffy, after which he appears in two episodes of Angel.