Tara Maclay (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Tara Maclay was a fictional character on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was portrayed by actress Amber Benson. She was best known for being a witch and for being the significant other/girlfriend of Buffy's best gal pal Willow Rosenberg. She was generally implied to be gay and her hair was dark blonde -- or if you prefer -- blondish.

Tara came from a very conservative family which encouraged her to believe that she was part-demon. She had a sister who looked like Amy Adams.

She met Willow in college and helped her fend off an attack by the mysterious supernatural entities known as the Gentlemen. Later on, she became an official member of the Scooby Gang and helped Buffy defeat some serious adversaries. Unfortunately, she temporarily lost her mind when her brain was sucked dry by the god Glory. Eventually she got it back but she continued to have a troubled relationship with Willow due to Willow's overuse of black magic. Tara eventually broke up with Willow after one of Willow's spells backfired in a bad way. They eventually got back together again but not for long.

When Buffy died, Tara and Willow moved into Buffy's house in order to help take care of Buffy's sister Dawn. Dawn often treated Tara like a surrogate mother/aunt/sister and it was often implied that Dawn got along with Tara far better than she did with the other surviving female members of the Scooby Gang.

Unfortunately, Tara was killed when a bullet meant for Buffy Summers accidentally hit Tara. Willow mourned her deeply and eventually took on the man who had fired the bullet -- Warren Mears. Unfortunately, her was the start of the Dark Willow period in which Willow became more and more obsessed with lashing out at the world in retaliation for Tara's . Eventually Willow got better but she still mourned Tara -- so much so that she experienced major problems when she got involved with a new girlfriend. But that is a story for a different chapter.

Tara was quiet and shy. She was very understanding. It was she who consoled Buffy when Buffy came back from the grave and worried that she "came back wrong." She was as much a kindred spirit to Willow Rosenberg as Willow's former boyfriend Oz and Willow's best friend Xander -- perhaps even more so. And she was way more popular with fans than Willow's subsequent girlfriend Kennedy.