Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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Buffy Summers was just a normal teenager. She lived in California, enjoyed cheerleading, shopping at the mall and hanging out with her friends. That changed the day that her Watcher arrived and told her that she was The Slayer, the one girl in all the world who could kill the vampires, demons and other creatures that go bump in the night. Initially a 1992 film starring Kristy Swanson, Buffy's story entered the pop culture lexicon in 1997 television series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

High School Is Hell

Many high school students probably consider their school a hell mouth or something close to it. When Buffy relocated to Sunnydale, California with her recently divorced mother she found that her high school really was hell. Sunnydale High was situated directly over a Hell Mouth, a portal into the demon dimension. As a result, her school and her home town were irresistible destinations for vampires, demons, and other foul denizens of evil. In Sunnydale anything could happen, and usually did.

From Cheerleader to Slayer Heroine

Fortunately, Buffy wasn't just any high school girl. She was that once in a generation pick to be the Chosen One, the Slayer. Lightning reflexes and superhero strength gave her parity with the vampires she met in combat. The training, mentoring and moral support from her Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) the high school librarian, gave her a decided advantage.

And unlike her lone-wolf predecessors, Buffy also had the advantage of loyal friends, including:

Xander Harris
Willow Rosenberg
Cordelia Chase
Oz
Angel

Show History

Premiering in 1997 on the WB network, Buffy The Vampire Slayer ran for five seasons on WB and for two seasons on UPN. The series followed Buffy through her high school and college careers until the series finale in 2003.

Welcome to Sunnydale

The series first season was an abbreviated one featuring 13 episodes beginning with Buffy's move to Sunnydale in Welcome to the Hellmouth. Buffy discovered new enemies and allies alike including The Master, the first season's big bad. The Master was trapped in a portal, like a cork in the bottle, of the Hell mouth. To escape, he had to drain the blood of the Slayer. His minions hunted Buffy, often involving her friends. Buffy also struggled with the realization that the young man she was interested in was actually centuries older than she and a vampire, to boot. During the first season finale, Buffy confronted the Master and lost her initial skirmish. He drained her to the point of death and left her face down in a puddle of water. Angel and Xander found Buffy, and Xander was able to revive her with CPR. Together the three went in search of the Master and he finally fell to the Slayer.

The Rise of Angelus

The second season found Buffy back at Sunnydale after a vacation with her dad. The season's emotional stakes were raised with the arrival of vampires Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau). Spike was in town to find a cure for his weakened mate. The pair also had a bloody history with Angel, who turned a maddened Drusilla after murdering her entire family during his run as Angelus. Drusilla later turned Spike to be a companion. The complications piled on when Buffy and Angel consummated their relationship and freed the vampire from his curse. As Angelus, Angel had butchered a young gypsy girl and her clan cursed Angelus with the soul of the man he had been before, tempering the beast.

The curse would remain until Angel achieved a moment of true happiness. Buffy was devastated by the rise of Angelus who made it his mission in life to torture the Slayer that he loved. In subsequent episodes, Buffy fought to protect her friends, mourned the death of a teacher and slayer Kendra (who was activated during Buffy's first season death) and got kicked out of her home during a battle of wills with her mother who learned the secret that Buffy was the Slayer.

The second season ended with Buffy fighting Angelus to prevent the destruction of the world, in the last sparing seconds, Willow was able to restore Angel's soul, but Buffy was forced to drive a sword through him and cast him into the hell mouth he'd opened to save the world. An emotionally exhausted and worn Buffy abandoned Sunnydale at the end of the second season.

Graduation Day

The third season began with Buffy trying to start a new life far from Sunnydale. After realizing that she was needed, Buffy returned home to a chilly reception. She found new challenges in the face of Angel's resurrection, an unstable Slayer named Faith (Eliza Dushku), a power hungry Mayor Wilkins and a new Watcher after Giles was fired. Buffy made hard choices this season, including embracing her destiny as a Slayer, choosing to work with her Watcher and turning away from the love of her life because being together would destroy him. The series finale included the Mayor ascending into a demon snake. Buffy had to blow up the school and Angel, left for his own spin-off series.

The College Years

Whedon's challenge beginning with the fourth season was taking a coming of age drama and graduating it to a more adult oriented series. Buffy enrolled in a local college along with Willow, while Giles opened a magic store and Xander skipped college altogether having neither the money nor the grades to get in. The complexities of adult life provided Buffy and her friends with their greatest challenges.

Frankenstein Initiative

The fourth season introduced Buffy to a new love interest named Riley Finn who turned out to be a soldier working for The Initiative, a top secret military installation located beneath the university's campus. Spike returned to Sunnydale permanently, first as an Initiative prisoner and then later working with Buffy and her friends. Willow moved on from high school love Oz to Tara, a witch she encountered in one of the series most frightening episodes: Hush. Buffy's relationship with Riley strained her friendships as she became involved and then later hunted by the Initiative. The season finale dealt with the fallout of the Adam, a demon/human/computer hybrid Frankenstein project of the Initiative escaped and had to be hunted down.

Game Changer

Season five was a pivotal, game changing season for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The first addition was a sudden younger sister named Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) who had not existed before. Dawn was created from the essence of Buffy's blood as a human hiding place for a mysterious "Key" that could open Hell dimensions. Dawn's creators implanted memories of Dawn into all who knew her including Buffy's mother. Throughout the season, Buffy faced off challenges that threaten Dawn particularly a hellish god like being named Glory. Riley left Buffy when she wouldn't choose him and Spike continued to stay in town, determined to protect Buffy and those she loved. The series tackled Buffy's greatest weakness when her mother was felled by a brain aneurysm and Buffy found her body. The episode, titled The Body, was completely devoid of a musical soundtrack and the empty silences were made all the more poignant. Angel returned briefly for Joyce's funeral. When Glory kidnaps Dawn and opens the portal, Buffy sacrificed herself to save her sister and close the portal again. Buffy's death devastated all who loved her, including Spike.

Sympathy for the Devil

The series sixth season was also its darkest. The season also marked the series first year on the UPN after leaving the WB Network. Willow, Tara, Anya and Xander work together to resurrect Buffy from the dead with a powerful spell. Buffy awoke in her own coffin, trapped beneath the earth and was forced to dig her way out. She awoke to a demon gang terrorizing the town and eventually made her way back to the others where she saved their lives. Despite everyone's joy at having Buffy back, Buffy wasn't herself. Her friends resented her ungrateful attitude, certain they'd saved her. Spike noticed and looked after her and the two enjoyed several passionate love/hate interludes.

During the season's musical episode, Buffy revealed that she had actually been in heaven when her friends ripped her back into life. Determined to make Buffy learn to live again, Giles stepped away so she would be forced to stand on her own. In the meanwhile, three former school mates were making problems for Buffy and her friends. When Buffy continued to thwart their plans, Warren tried to kill her. He shot Buffy and killed Tara. Willow was able to bring Buffy back from the brink, but the loss of Tara pushed Willow over the edge. She allowed her magic to consume her and hunted down those who killed Tara, skinning Warren alive. Giles and Buffy worked to stop her, but it was Xander who brought Willow back from madness and saved the world. In the meanwhile, Spike traveled halfway around the world to complete several trials and earn his soul back. He wanted a soul to be worthy of Buffy.

It's the End of the World…

The seventh and final season of Buffy found the Slayer coping with a being known as the First Evil. Buffy's deaths and resurrection created an instability in the laws of magic binding the Slayer abilities. As the First Evil hunted down and killed inactive, potential slayers, Buffy learned that the first Slayer was actually created by binding a demon to a young girl, and it is from demons that Slayers take their abilities. The Watcher's Council also found itself under attack and was destroyed, forcing Giles to escape with a handful of girls and bring them to Sunnydale. A reformed Faith returned to Sunnydale to help Buffy and protected the potential Slayers. Willow attempted a spell that would activate all the potential Slayers. During the finale, Angel returns with an amulet that would help destroy the vampires and could only be used by an ensouled vampire. Spike elected to take the risk, willing to die for Buffy. The final battle came at great cost to the lives of Anya, Spike and some of the potential Slayers. As the Hellmouth was destroyed once and for all, Sunnydale collapsed into the crater. Buffy and her companions left the devastated area to rebuild, train and continue the legacy of the Slayer.

The series continued in novels based on the show, including anthologies called Tales of the Slayer and a comic book that picked up where season seven left off.

Joss Whedon, Creator

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's concept was that 'high school is hell', and show creator Joss Whedon took normal teenage trauma and put a supernatural twist to it. Many teenagers resent it when their divorced mom starts dating again, but in Buffy's case, mom's new love interest turned out to be a human-appearing and malfunctioning robot. Whedon's work on Buffy created a pop cultural trope that influenced literature and television for years to come, including a burgeoning genre known as urban fantasy. In addition to Buffy, Whedon created Angel, Firefly and the Dollhouse. Buffy set a new trend for sassy yet vulnerable heroines who can totally kick butt.