Character Name: Buffy Summers Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Canon or Original Character: Canon Point taken from: End of season 7 Age: 24 Species/Race: Human, Slayer Occupation prior to arriving: Slayer Personality: Before becoming the Slayer, Buffy's personality was that of a superficial blonde valley girl; she herself claimed that even Cordelia "looked like a classical philosopher next to me".[50] Initially snobby towards people of a lower social class such as Pike,[29] the isolation she experienced from her popular friends at Hemery High gave her new-found empathy towards outcasts like Willow and Xander.[31]Nevertheless, Buffy was something of a rebel who did not conform to traditional Slayer conventions; Rupert Gilesonce admitted that "some flexibility is required" when it came to being Buffy's Watcher.[39] Buffy also tended to venture out of the Slayer's typically supernatural jurisdiction, often fighting crazed robots and even human criminals. Buffy is unique as a Slayer in that she refuses to give up her "normal" life for her destiny and works with a group of close friends who know her identity. The spirit of the First Slayer once insisted to Buffy that theSlayer must work alone, a belief which Buffy promptly rejected.[66] Buffy's individualistic and rebellious tendencies cultimated into developing an extreme distaste of being manipulated and "losing control"[136], particularly when it revolved around her life. This was made most apparent in her initial request to have the monks erase her false memories of Dawn,[5] her forced destiny as The Slayer, her brief loss of her abilities through Giles' betrayal[137], her rejection of Twilight,[138], anger over Angel's decision to keep his presence hidden while in Sunnydale,[139] as well as deciding to turn himself into a vampire again without her knowledge.[140] Kendra, who had been trained as a Slayer from early childhood, told Buffy that a Slayer did not have the luxury of emotions. Buffy responded that her emotions gave her power and she considered them "total assets".[39] Spike once stated that Buffy's improvisational fighting style was much like that of Nikki Wood, the second Slayer he killed.[141] Additionally, one of Buffy's most notable qualities was her frequent sarcasm and ironic sense of humor. She often cracked jokes and puns about her opponents, especially in the midst of battle. Buffy apparently took much enjoyment out of taunting them, usually getting very annoyed her enemies didn't respond. Angel had once stated that Buffy always deployed light-hearted humor to cover up how she truly felt or to avoid uncomfortable situations, similar to Xander. [142] Buffy had a tendency to be overconfident when she faced her enemies, but this probably came from her Slayer strength. Buffy was also very stubborn, hard-headed and a natural leader, making her at times overly demanding and bossy.[143] She was extremely determined and fiercely independent by nature, detesting giving up or losing battles of any kind, be it supernatural or personal issues. This would be especially apparent in her humiliation of running away from Glory while trying to protect Dawn.[3] Buffy has been accused of being violent following her calling as a Slayer. Buffy denied that she was but when questioning Xander of this, he said "The important thing is, you believe that." [144] Faith had also once harshly mentioned to her that Buffy was "all about control."[145]She was also somewhat short-tempered in nature, as it never took very much to irritate her. Buffy once described herself as " I am capable of awesome. I'm usually super reliable and conscientious and according to popular report, a little tightly wound." [114] Throughout most of her career as the Slayer, Buffy functioned as a reluctant hero. She constantly wished for nothing more than a normal life, an attitude that was particularly prevalent during her high school years. However, as time moved on, Buffy slowly became more accepting of her Slayer duties, particularly after Kendra helped her to understand that being the Slayer was part of who she was and not simply a burden forced upon her shoulders against her will. After her meeting with the First Slayer and battle with Dracula, Buffy finally came to terms with her role as the Slayer. Despite her ever-present reluctance to be the Slayer even in her later years, Buffy has been depicted as having a incredibly strong sense of responsibility with the people she saved and the world as well. This was shown in her disagreements over Faith's impulsive and careless attitude and her self-righteous stance on many other things. When it to came to her duties or what she felt was important, Buffy would always focus all her energy on it, fearing letting anyone down. Because of this, she could be seen as a very serious and resolved person when it came to slaying or other matters, unlike her more easygoing, less serious counterpart Faith. Buffy was also an expert in battle strategies and tactical plans, being very much a leader type. This skill earned her great respect from others and many successes, becoming the self-proclaimed leader of the Scooby Gang for many years. Buffy was also very down-to-earth and a definite realist, being one of the first to recognize disadvantages and weigh them appropriately. Because of her powerful feelings of responsibility for those around her, it was easy for Buffy to blame herself harshly for failures or misfortunes for those she cared for. After her mother's death, Buffy's determination to succede was becoming more frayed. The constant setbacks and tragedies in her life was causing her to lose faith in herself, not going unnoticed by Giles and Xander. [3]Dawn's capture by Glory shattered her resolve entirely, falling into a catatonic state that she was only able to pull out of because of Willow. Buffy's waning faith even reached the point that she had, just for a moment, wanted Glory to win and Dawn to die so the pressure and responsibility would be over, a thought that intensely disturbed her[22] Buffy's personality and character developed a much darker and self-destructive persona after being brought back from Heaven. She had hated living and the harshness of everything her life had, even attempting to commit suicide at one point until stopped by Spike.[146] Due to her depression and self-loathing, she had sought out a violent sexual relationship with Spike, later admitting that she didn't love him and was just using him to feel something.[147] However, after the death of Tara and Willow's subsequent dark magic-fuelled rampage, Buffy snapped out of her depression and realized that life was worth living, returning to her old self (more or less). While Buffy acknowledged that humans can be just as bad as demons, if not even worse, she largely refused to kill humans under any circumstances, insisting that the Slayer did not have a license to kill, which occasionally put her into conflict with her less-merciful teammates. She held great disgust and hatred of collateral damage as she had always tried to save as many people as she could by any means necessary even if a solution to save the world was killing someone innocent (a striking difference from her ex-boyfriend Angel, who had employed "ends justified the means" tactics in the past). For example, she spared Ben's life after Glorywas defeated despite full knowledge that Glory would eventually resurface and come after her again, which resulted in Giles doing so instead, and flat-out refused to even consider killing Dawn to stop Glory's plans [76]. Additionally, she refused to kill Warren Mears despite his vicious crimes, including Tara's murder, preferring to let him face human justice, whereas Xander and Dawn were so disgusted and furious with him that they openly supported Willow's intent to kill until after she actually did it and then targeted Andrew and Jonathan, who had nothing to do with Tara's death.[84]. However, throughout her focus of the "Slayer mission", she stated matter-of-factly that if she had to, she would be able to kill a human to save the world [148]; indeed, Buffy had made exceptions to her "kill no humans" rule on multiple occasions: she was perfectly willing to kill Faith to save Angel's life [54], killed several members of the Knights of Byzantium to protect Dawn,[3] and bisected Caleb with the Scythe [96]. Nonetheless, she made it a rule in the Slayer Organization to "go for the wound" with their human enemies [102]. Additionally, Buffy fully understood that not all demons were evil and was in fact good friends with several demons, such as Clem, and held a code of honor even with longtime enemies, refusing to kill Spike when he was rendered helpless by the Initiative's Behavior-Modification Circuitry despite their long history of animosity before and after that point, while also being disgusted with Riley when he expressed prejudice against Willow for dating Oz, a werewolf. Despite this, Buffy was perfectly willing and able to kill demons when they committed bad deeds; when Anya, having become a vengeance demon again, killed several fraternity boys in accordance with a wish, Buffy decided right then and there that she had to kill Anya rather than talk her down like they did with Willow, justifying it by stating that Willow was a human and Anya was a demon, and reminding Xander that she killed Angel because it was necessary, stating that as the Slayer, she is the law and her judgement on demons were absolute[149]. Though she was normally quite aware socially, Buffy had proven to have a few lapses in judgment that cost her and others as well. Her destructive relationship with Spike, for example, was attributed to her own feelings of vulnerability, self-loathing, and unworthiness after the death of her mother as well as her abrupt descent fromheaven. Despite her powerful sense of responsibility, when in a state of depression or ill humor, she had been shown to procrastinate and put off or otherwise ignore things she should be dealing with. This was most prominently seen in her exile out of Heaven, ignoring her role as guardian of Dawn and forcing Giles to both take care of her[150] and pay the bills she couldn't afford.[151] Another example was when she had smashed theSeed of Wonder and remained indifferent over Willow's pleas of returning magic, hardly thinking of the consequences of the action because she did what she had to do; in this case, she was finally forced to face the negative consequences of the Seed's destruction when she discovered that without magic, Dawn was fading away[152]. Buffy also appeared to have an inferiority and superiority complex,[153] as she felt like she was worse than everyone or that there was something wrong with her, and that even though her friends and former boyfriends think the opposite, their opinions didn't mean anything. She could also be surprisingly rather negative and give in to fits of pessimistic tendencies, suffering from occasional abandonment issues[106] since almost all her friends and boyfriends had left her at some point. She suffered from constant loneliness, especially since she felt the burden of being the Slayer was something no one could understand or share with her.[95] Buffy had once admitted that she cut people out, of both her problems and personal feelings for years, coming to the conclusion that she was closed off from everyone else. [154] Fearing her attachment to reality was disconnecting, Buffy wondered if being the Slayer would eventually overcome her so much, she'd be too hardened to be able to love anymore.[75] However, Buffy's increasingly closed off demeanor over the years was a combination of the harsh lifestyle of a slayer and her chronic habit to be strong for everyone else despite her own problems.[155][156] This was often misinterpreted by many as insensitivity and detachment, even from her closest friends. When her intelligence or abilities have been put into question, as when she was under investigation by theWatchers' Council,[4] Buffy responded poorly to authority and was mostly unable to complete any of the tasks given. She would almost appear as the "dumb blonde" stereotype, but in her confrontation with the Council, when things were on her terms, Buffy appeared to have a relatively advanced sense of awareness that wasn't accessed through many traditional methods. However, Willow did admit that Buffy wasn't always very smart("You know Buffy. Sweet girl, not very bright.")[96] The strength in her personality sometimes made it hard for her to relinquish control. One of Buffy's most defining personality traits was her tendency to keep things secret from the rest of theScooby Gang, which came back to haunt her more than once. Such secrets included Angel's resurrection [47], Dawn's identity as The Key,[157] her relationship with Spike,[158] and her sighting of Spike in the basement of the new Sunnydale High.[159] Buffy has also been shown to have a usually forgiving nature, the only exception possibly being Faith to an extent. Buffy had a tendency to mangle the names of vampires, demon species and mystical terminology, much to Giles' constant irritation. For example, "Astral Body" became "Asteroid Body",[13] "Tirer La Couverture" became "Rolling Food Stuff",[5] Bezoar" became "Bozo",[160] "Morgala" became ""Morgan Freeman",[161] "Kakistos" became "Kissing Toast", "Taquitos", and "Khaki Trousers",[48] "Acathla" became "Alfalfa" and "Al Franken",[28]"Beljoxa's Eye" became "Botox's Eye",[91] and "Turok-Han" became "Chaka Khan".[162] Even some normal words she has been shown to mispronounce, such as "Haperdashery" became "Haerbradasgrening", "Habbledaspery", and "Have-a-dash-of-tea." [163]