Giles is a Watcher: a person whose destiny is to train and guide the slayer toward her destiny. When Giles first found out about this he decided to go evil and he turned into a bad British boy who played with all the dark magicks. When he got out of his bad-boy phase he ended up moving to Sunnydale, California and becoming a school librarian at the local high school where he meets up with Buffy.

At first, they clash because since Giles has decided to do what he should he is a little uptight and Buffy is quite the opposite. Soon they become very close and he becomes not just a good watcher and a good friend to her but also like the father figure she doesn’t have. This, in time, is a sort of downfall. When the watchers’ council tells Giles he must lock Buffy and her mother in with a vampire and no protection as Buffy’s “right of passage” he disobeys orders and is kicked out of the watchers’ council. He continues watcher-like duties until a new watcher is sent. After time everyone tires of the council and Buffy tells them they are not welcome in Sunnydale and they scooby gang is on their own in the fight against demons.

When Buffy starts college and Giles has no job (since the school is in pieces) Giles turns from his more anal-retentive self to a relaxed Giles that, despite it’s shock to Buffy and clan, has him having fun. There are no more big developments in Giles’ life since he became comfortable with his non-watcher status. All is right with his world for now.