The Story

When on a school trip to the zoo Xander tries to help a boy being bullied when he is possessed by a Hyena along with the bullies that were taunting the boy. Xander then starts hanging out with these nasty bullies terrorising other kids aound the school. When Buffy tells Giles of her worries about Xander Giles just passes it off as puberty but Buffy and Willow are certain that this is not Xander doing these things that something has happened to him and when she finds him eating the school mascot (a pig) she is certain and attempts to contain him. However whilst she is fighting Xander the other possessed kids decide to eat Principle Flutie. The gang finally figure out whats going on and Giles goes to the zoo keeper for help reversing it only to find out that it was the zoo keeper who set up the ritual in the first place and that he infact wanted the power of the Hyenas for himself, he knocks Giles out and grabs Willow at knife point and took the power of the Hyenea from Xander and the bullies into himself but just as the ritual is finished Buffy coming in kicks him and he falls into the Hyenea cage and gets eaten.

The Nastys

The Zoo Keeper


The zoo keeper was trying to take the power and the spirit of a Hyena but fails as he does not realise that the ritual requires an act of a preditory nature. When some Sunnydale high students (including Xander) went into the quarentined cave, they were taken over by the spirits brecause they were bullying another student, which is classed as a preditory act. The zoo keeper pretends to help Giles and the students reverse the possesion, but when Giles realises the truth the zoo keeper knocks him out and puts a knife to Willows neck. The ritual works and he himself now has the spirit of the hyena, but only for a few minutes as Buffy kicks him he falls into the hyena cage and is eaten.

The Funnies

(Xander at the zoo)


Xander: "We just saw the zebras mating! Thank you, very exciting..."

Willow: I"t was like the Heimlich, with stripes!"




(Buffy trying to tell Giles theres something wrong with Xander)


Giles: "Xander's taken to teasing the less fortunate?"

Buffy: "Uh-huh."

Giles: "And, there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor?"

Buffy: "Yes."

Giles: "And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles."

Buffy: "It's bad, isn't it."

Giles: "It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Of course, you'll have to kill him."




(Willow about Xander when he was possessed by a hyena)


Willow: "Why couldn't Xander be possessed by a puppy or some ducks"




(After Xander and Buffy fought)


Willow: "Oh, my God, Xander! What happened?"

Buffy: "I hit him."

Willow: "With what?"

Buffy: "A desk."




(Giles after Xander had lied about not remember eating a live pig)


Giles: "I've been reading up on my, uh, animal possession, and I cannot find anything anywhere about memory loss afterwards."

Xander: "Did you tell them that?"

Giles: "Your secret dies with me."

Xander: "Shoot me, stuff me, mount me."

The Tear-Jerkers

None as yet

The Magic

The Animal Possession Ritual, which involves painting a symbol on the floor and a preditory act

The Cast

Buffy - Sarah Micheele Gellar

Willow - Alyson Hannigan

Xander - Nicholas Brendon

Giles - Anthony Stewart Head

Principle Flutie - Ken Lerner

Kyle - Eion Bailey

Rhoda - Micheal McRaine

Tor - Brian Gross

Heidi - Jennifer Sky

Lance - Jeff Maynard

Dr Wierick - James Stephens

The Creators

Writers - Matt Kiene

Joe Reinkemeyer

Director - Bruce Seth Green

The Reviews

If you would like to place your review of this episode on this page please leave a message.