The Initiative is a
US Military group that captures and kills
hostiles, or in other words
vampires,
demons and other
evil creatures in
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Riley,
buffy's boyfriend is a
leader of this group, and is also the
teacher aide to
buffy's psychology teacher,
Professor Walsh.
Professor Walsh also happens to be the leader of The Initiative.
The Initiative has a high level of
weaponry and attempts to make
hostiles harmless. In the case of
spike,
buffy's former enemy, he was captured and
operated on. This operation inserted a chip into his head so that whenever he attempts to
attack a
human he receives a huge amount of
pain. However, in the episode
doomed, he realised that he could hurt
demons thus ceased attempts at
suicide, ie staking himself.
The Slayer and The Initiative now work
hand in hand to prevent the frequent attempts at ending the world, by the forces of
chaos.