Why I love Faith Lehane
I've given it some thought, because being so enthralled with a character for six years is rather astounding. So here it is, as I see it.
There is the surface level stuff, of course. Obviously Eliza Dushku is very attractive, and exactly my "preference" looks-wise as far as females go- brunette, long hair, exotic features, curvy. She was at her peak playing Faith in my opinion. So Faith herself, with her looks and her charismatic gestures and sexy clothing (until season 7/4 of Angel) attracts attention even before you know who she is as a character Faith is fun. She always has innuendo and has a blunt way of pointing out what other people won't say that keeps things interesting. She's funny and unpredictable, the sort of person that would lighten up the room and liven up a party even if she drove you crazy doing it.
She's also considerably smarter than she is often given credit for or even she herself believes, someone who is more resourceful and insightful than most realize. It was she who realized in two minutes of being with Tara in season four what Buffy hadn't in months- that she and Willow were gay. She is a good leader and strategist when she wants to be in season 4 of Angel and season 7 of Buffy as well as the comics, and ends up being inspirational and good with other Slayers in the comics and season 7. Those are not the traits of someone who is stupid, even if she isn't "book smart."
She was a great villain as well not just because she could kick ass and behave with viciousness and brutality, but because even as she did so, it was clear that her actions came out of a place of deep pain. It was always obvious no matter what Faith was doing that she was badly hurting how badly she needed and wanted love and to be loved, even if she shoved everyone away in the process. The way she responded to Mrs. Post, her lack of hostility towards Giles, the Mayor, and later in the comics, her father all indicate that this was no sociopathic kid beyond being reached. She badly needed and wanted a role model, and if anyone had extended any effort it would have been easier for everyone. No matter how badly she behaved the vulnerability and loneliness of Faith was always so obvious that it honestly puzzles me that some fans just write her off as selfish and evil
But what I love most about Faith is how she changes over time and what a good example of a survivor she is. I mean, think about her background. Between the canon Angel and Faith comics and the small bits of info you get from the show (the Go Ask Malice book is officially NOT canon, not that I ever thought it was, after the comics contradicted it), we know that Faith was raised in poverty in Boston, that her mother and father were both alcoholics who were neglectful and emotionally abusive at best, her father was involved in the Irish Mob, physically abusive in the case of her mother at least most likely, and that her mother died while Faith was still a teenager. Faith then watched her Watcher get brutally murdered, trekked across the country alone while still traumatized, was homeless- living in a crappy motel with no paying job is HOMELESS- at either sixteen or seventeen years old- and no one seemed to worry about her whatsoever. She had a view of boys that seemed to indicate that no one had ever been good to her or kind to her, and then people seriously wonder why a kid like that would go down a bad road?
compared to most of the other Scoobies, her life was much rougher, and yet even when she hits rock bottom and makes terrible decisions, she still manages to pull herself up and become a better, stronger, more mature person for it, one who is actually a leader and sets out to help other Slayers who are just like her. (in the comics). She takes responsibility for it, pays her debt to society, and pushes hard to be the person she thinks she should be, never letting someone make excuses for her, even when others have committed as bad or worse crimes (hello Angel, Willow, Anya, Spike!) and never been ostracized or judged for it nearly as much.
No, Faith takes what she has done and becomes a fiercely loyal person who struggles to continue to stay on the right track. She has one of the fullest character arcs and she was only in a total of 26 episodes between both Faith and Angel. And yet she's not perfect. She's a realistic woman in the process of growing and finding herself. She's strong more than the physical comic book way because she's taken a past of bad decisions and pain and used it to propel herself forward. She still has insecurity and lack of confidence, she still makes bad decisions, but she doesn't stop trying. She's a survivor because she let herself be helped but then continued to move forward on her own two feet. She's a leader every bit as much as Buffy is and maybe even a tiny bit more because she started out with so much less than Buffy and so far behind her in every way.
So that is why I love Faith. I see pieces of myself and pieces of who I'd like to be in her, and I see her as a role model for other girls and women who struggle with anything remotely similar to her own problems.