The Watchers have been around since the dawn of man. But unlike the Watchers, there hasn't always been a council of watchers. The first watchers were three powerful Swahili Shamen. They took a girl, chained her to the earth and filled her with a demon's essence. They eventually died and their descendants would become the future Watchers Council, located in London. The Councils job is to locate as many future slayers as possible, assign them an active watcher and start training them. Unlike slayers, watchers are weak and whiney. The only thing they are good for is book work. Some watchers fight alongside their charge in her nightly battle. Some male watchers fall in love with their slayers, which is strictly forbidden, no exceptions.
When a slayer dies, their watcher returns to England to serve in a non-active compacity, or they are assigned another slayer. The Slayer and her watcher are not the only target for the demons, the Council Headquarters is also a target. Two occasions have arised when the demons attack this sacred institution, the first by Spike and Drusilla and Skrymir in 1940, and the second in 2002 by the First Evil and it's allies. This attack would prove most effective. The entire board of directors were killed in an explosion and the active watchers were individually hunted and killed by followers of the First.
The only watchers in existence today are Rupert Giles and Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, who both work in non-offical compacity.
