BSV Forum - Writing - Canon

Fang Gang/Scourge of Europe

Aug 30 2007 10:45 pm   #1goldenusagi

Were either of the terms Fang Gang or Scourge of Europe used in the series?

Aug 30 2007 11:04 pm   #2Scarlet Ibis

Scourge of Europe, yes. I'm fairly certain it was used in the eppy "Hell Bound," when they were researching the word "reaper," and an entry for Angelus came up... 

Fang Gang?  Quite possibly on Ats, though I don't know that verse in all of its seasons like the back of my hand as I do Buffy.

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."
https://www.facebook.com/FangirlNovel
Aug 31 2007 12:44 am   #3maryperk

I went to the Buffy Dialogue Database website where I searched both Scourge/Scourge of Europe and Fang Gang.

Now the word Scourge is used 9 different times in the two series, but not with the words 'of Europe'.    Pavayne calls Spike, a scourge and destroyer and Nostroyev(one of the vamps in the sub) calls himself the the scourge of Siberia.  So, maybe, Scourge of Europe is fanwank based on that?

Buffy used the words Fang Gang in Season 1 of ATS, episode Angel, but I don't think she was referring to the Scourge of Europe, or A.I.  I think someone just liked the sound of it and started using it to mean those.

But, I could be totally wrong.

Aug 31 2007 02:16 am   #4slaymesoftly

I'm surprised that nothing showed up on the Buffy dialogue data bank about the Scourge of Europe. I was pretty sure that was a canon thing from very early on in the series.  I believe it referred to Angelus and Darla, though. Not necessarily the "Fanged Four".  The epi of Angel where one of the vamps on the sub referred to himself as the Scourge of Siberia occurred too late in the series to be responsible for all the mentions of Scourge of Europe that appear in fics that were written long before that episode ever aired. Fanged Four is definitely fanon - no so sure about Fang Gang, but I would suspect it was just used to refer to a group of vamps because some writer liked the word play. It sounds like something Buffy or one of the Scoobies would say.

I could be wrong about the SoE thing, though. It's possible that I just read it for the first time so long ago that I think I heard it on show. LOL

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.
Aug 31 2007 03:10 am   #5Eowyn315

Dammit, this is gonna bug me now. I could've sworn Scourge of Europe was used on the show (although I would've said it referred to either Spike or Angelus and Darla, but not all four). But yeah, lots of scourgy references, none of them "of Europe." *pouts*

Fang Gang was used in BtVS season 1, not AtS, in the episode "Angel," and Buffy was using it to refer to the vampires that had been chasing her and Angel. The closest to canon you get on that one is when Gunn refers to Angel and Spike as "the fang boys" in NFA.

Writing should feel easy, like a monkey driving a speed boat.
Aug 31 2007 04:30 am   #6Scarlet Ibis

I know I've heard "scourge" somewhere in canon in relation to Darla, Angelus, Drusilla and William the Bloody, even if it wasn't about all four of them.  Scourge of the Underworld and Scourge of Mankind is mentioned at the database, but I know they're missing it.  How, you say? Well, there were a few of the nicknames that were missing.  For instance, "Angel's Avengers" was the nickname given to himself and the others in Angel's crew, when he lamented about the god awful group name of "Scoobies."  If I had the time, and all five seasons of Angel instead of just two, I'd actually go check :P

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."
https://www.facebook.com/FangirlNovel
Aug 31 2007 05:59 am   #7Eowyn315

Scarlet - you could look at the transcripts online. I started doing that, went through the early BtVS eps, when Angel and Spike were each introduced and the gang researched them, doing a "find" search on each page for "scourge" and didn't come up with anything. I don't know the AtS episodes well enough to not have to go through every one, though.

Writing should feel easy, like a monkey driving a speed boat.
Aug 31 2007 10:15 am   #8Diabola

Not sure about "Fang Gang", but I found this: Unclear canon: The origin of Angelus’s "Scourge of Europe" nickname. (Watcher’s Guide, vol 1) here. If that name was mentioned in the additional material, it would explain why it is also known in non-english speaking fandom - since that part wouldn't make much sense if it was a quote from the show. MAybe if someone has this "Watcher's Guide" thingy, they can check.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits." - Albert Einstein
Aug 31 2007 04:23 pm   #9cereza

Oh, damn it! I was pretty sure that it was one of the names given to Angel Investigation group and I think I might have used it in this meaning in my fic... I didn't check it because I really thought it meant that. Strange thing, this head of mine...

"People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. (...) They find it easier to live."
~ Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish
Sep 01 2007 12:11 am   #10Spikez_tart

Here's the scourging and/or Europe references.  (Also one from Buffy, who admits to being a little scourgy herself.)  All from Buffy, except the last.

Angel

GILES: Angelus leaves Ireland, uh, wreaks havoc in, in Europe for, uh, several decades

What's My Line, Part 1

WILLOW: 'Cause you're the scourge of the underworld?
BUFFY: I haven't been that scourgey lately.

Lies My Parents Told Me

WILLIAM: We'll ravage this city together, my pet. Lay waste to all of Europe.

Seeing Red

XANDER: I'm not saying I didn't made mistakes. But last time I checked, slaughtering half of Europe wasn't one of 'em.

Hellbound

PAVAYNE: William the Bloody. Scourge and destroyer.

========================================

Angel's Avengers was coined by Spike at the meeting where he brings a briefcase with nothing but a can of beer in it:

SPIKE: My first official parley as a very loosely affiliated member of the... what are we? Tell me we're not Scoobies.
ANGEL: We don't have a...
SPIKE: A name? Well, that's probably for the best. You'd want to be Angel's Avengers or something.
ANGEL: (dismissively) Angel's Avengers, that's... (reconsiders)

If we want her to be exactly she'll never be exactly I know the only really real Buffy is really Buffy and she's gone' who?
Sep 01 2007 01:28 am   #11JoJoBird

I was sure the ATS gang was known as the fang gang aswell... was this not a mag/paper  dreamup? or eve joss gang referal?

Sep 02 2007 05:15 pm   #12cereza

I had this feeling that it was Gunn's idea to call them that (I mean, the Fang Gang)... 'cause it's just a Gunn thing to say :)

"People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. (...) They find it easier to live."
~ Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish
Sep 03 2007 02:18 am   #13JoJoBird

When i google i keep finding Fang Gang references to the dvds like say on amazon and all sorts

seems everyone likes to call them the fang gang

Sep 03 2007 03:44 am   #14Spikez_tart

Okay this is weird.  In Christopher Golden's BTVS "The Monster Book" page 99, he refers to the Master as "the scourge of Europe."  Quotes in original.  He doesn't say where he got that.  Hm. 

If we want her to be exactly she'll never be exactly I know the only really real Buffy is really Buffy and she's gone' who?
Sep 05 2007 05:44 am   #15Caro Mio

Scourge of Europe is such an old fandom term, it had to come from somewhere...

What If I'm Not the Slayer? now updated with chapters 22 and 23.

 Closed