Alexander LaVelle Harris was born and raised in Sunnydale, and has been friends with Willow since childhood (they used to sleep over at each other's houses regularly). Jesse was Xander's other best friend, until he was turned into a vampire and inadvertently staked by Xander. As with most of the characters, little is known about Xander's family, except that his mom can't cook, there could be alcoholism in the family (he sleeps outside on Christmas Eve to avoid his family's drunken fights), and Cordelia has implied that his father is unemployed. Despite his problems (or perhaps because of them), Xander consistently maintains his sense of humor, making wise-crack after wise-crack (much in the vein of Chandler on "Friends"). Xander was not an exceptional student, but he's always been ready and willing to help Buffy in her endeavors. His track record in the romance department has been less than optimal � he was turned down by Buffy, fell for a praying mantis and an Incan mummy girl, had a one night stand with bad-girl Faith (only to be kicked out afterwards and assaulted by her shortly after), and went to the prom with an ex-demon. When he finally settled into something vaguely resembling a relationship with Cordelia, he messed that up by kissing Willow ... and getting caught. Things are finally looking up, as he recently got engaged to girlfriend Anya. Xander did manage to graduate high school (despite some fan speculation that he might not), although he's not going to college with the gang, instead successfully working in construction and spending plenty of time with fiancee Anya.