Buffy The Vampire Slayer Video Showcase

The first season exemplifies the "high school as hell" concept. Buffy Summers has just moved to Sunnydale and hopes to escape her Slayer duties. Her plans are complicated by Rupert Giles, her new Watcher, who reminds her of the inescapable presence of evil. Sunnydale High is built atop a Hellmouth, a portal to demon dimensions that attracts supernatural phenomena to the area. Buffy meets two schoolmates who will help fight evil through the series, but they must first prevent an ancient and especially threatening vampire from opening the Hellmouth and unleashing Hell on Earth.

The emotional stakes are raised in the second season. New vampires, Spike and a weakened Drusilla, come to town along with the new Slayer, who was activated as a result of Buffy's brief death in the first season finale. Xander becomes involved with Cordelia, while Willow becomes involved with a young werewolf named Oz, which makes her more confident. Buffy consummates her relationship with her vampire lover Angel, and consequentially, she unwittingly removes his cursed soul as a result. He once more becomes a sadistic killer seeking to destroy the world. Buffy is forced to kill him, and leaves Sunnydale, emotionally shattered.

After attempting to start a new life in Los Angeles, Buffy returns to town in the third season. Angel is resurrected, but leaves Sunnydale (at the end of the season) so Buffy will have a normal life. She is soon confronted with an unstable Slayer, and an often affable but definitely evil mayor's plans for Graduation Day.

The fourth season sees Buffy and Willow enroll at UC Sunnydale while Xander joins the workforce and begins dating Anya, a former vengeance demon. Spike returns as a series regular and receives a chip in his head which prevents him from harming humans. Oz leaves town and Willow falls in love with another witch, while Buffy begins dating a student, who is a member of The Initiative, a top-secret military installation based beneath the UC Sunnydale campus. It appears to be a well-meaning anti-demon operation, but its creation, a secret project, goes horribly wrong. The season also marked the first year in which Joss Whedon oversaw other TV series.

During the fifth season, an exiled Hell-God searches for a "key" that will allow her to return to her home dimension. The "key" has been turned into human form as Buffy's younger sister Dawn. The Hell-God eventually discovers the truth and kidnaps Dawn; Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn and the world. During the season, Xander and Anya become engaged, and Spike realizes he's in love with Buffy.

Buffy's friends resurrect her through a powerful spell in the sixth season. Buffy returns from Heaven deeply depressed and finds a job at a fast food restaurant while conducting a secret, mutually abusive affair with Spike that later leads to him seeking a soul to be worthy of her love. Her friends are unaware of her inner turmoils as they face their own troubles: Xander leaves Anya at the altar, and Willow becomes addicted to magic. When Willow's girlfriend is killed by a deranged murderer, Willow descends into darkness and begins a rampage that nearly causes the end of the world.

The instability caused by Buffy's revival enables the First Evil to amass an army of powerful vampires against humankind during the seventh season, in the process trying to kill every currently-unactivated Potential Slayer. Willow invokes a spell that activates all the "Potentials" in the world. After an epic battle, an amulet worn by Spike channels energy through battlefield, killing all of the enemies and incinerating Spike. As the Scoobies flee Sunnydale, the town collapses into a crater, its Hellmouth destroyed.

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Buffy was born to Hank and Joyce Summers on January 19, 1981, and spends her childhood in Los Angeles, California. As a child, Buffy was close friends with her cousin Celia, and enjoyed playing superhero with her; Buffy pretended to be Power Girl, a prophetic choice of alter ego. She looked on helplessly as Celia was murdered by a demon that preyed on sick children and was visible only to those who were ill, an experience which instilled a fear of hospitals in Buffy. She also took figure skating lessons, idolized Olympic ice skater Dorothy Hamill and attended ice shows with her father. Before moving to Sunnydale, she was a popular student at Hemery High School in Los Angeles where she was a cheerleader and was elected Prom Princess and Fiesta Queen.

In the Season Six episode "Normal Again", it is revealed that, shortly after her expulsion, Buffy confided in her parents about what really had happened and her destiny as the Slayer. Worried that she was losing her mind, Buffy's parents sent her to a mental institution. While there, Buffy realized that attempts to persuade others of the existence of demonic forces would be futile. She kept quiet and was released after a couple of weeks. Buffy and her parents never spoke of it again. Soon afterward Joyce and Hank, who had been experiencing marital troubles for years, divorced, and Buffy moved with her mother to 1630 Revello Drive in Sunnydale, a small town in California.

Sunnydale High
In Season One of the series, Buffy begins to accept the responsibilities and dangers of her calling as Slayer. Hoping to be a regular student, Buffy enrolls in the local high school and meets her future best friends, Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg, as well as her new Watcher, Rupert Giles, together forming the "core four" of the Scooby Gang. She also meets Cordelia Chase, a snobbish cheerleader, and Angel, a vampire with a soul. Buffy is quickly forced back into the role of Slayer as she and her new friends battle vampires, monsters, and demons. She grows closer to Giles, who eventually becomes her father figure. The first season centers on Buffy's battle with a thousand-year-old vampire leader known as The Master and his followers from the Order of Aurelius. On learning that the infallible Pergamum Codex prophesies her death at the hands of The Master, Buffy contemplates leaving town, but accepts her fate after Willow discovers bodies of her friends slaughtered inside the school. She is overpowered by The Master, who feeds from her and leaves her to drown in a pool of water. Xander is able to resuscitate her and she then defeats The Master. Her death, though brief, activates a new Slayer, Kendra.

Buffy and AngelIn the show's second season, Buffy continues to come to terms with her destiny as the Slayer with the help of her friends. Buffy finds forbidden love with Angel and clashes with Spike and Drusilla, the new vampires in town. In the episode "Surprise", Buffy loses her virginity to Angel, unknowingly lifting the curse - his human soul - placed on him a century earlier by a Kalderash clan. Without his soul, Angel reverts to his evil persona. He becomes obsessed with destroying Buffy's life, his pathological abuse taking heavy toll on Buffy and her friends. As Angelus plans to destroy the world, Buffy is forced to reveal her identity as the Slayer to her mother, who demands that Buffy stay home and discuss matters with her, telling her not to come back if she leaves now. As Buffy fights with Angelus, trying to prevent him from opening a vortex to a hell dimension, Willow works a spell to re-ensoul him. The spell is successful, but it is too late, and Buffy reluctantly stabs Angel with a sword, sending him to a hell dimension. Traumatized by these events, Buffy leaves Sunnydale.

In Season Three, Buffy must reconnect to her calling, her friends, and her family after her abrupt departure at the end of Season Two. Returning to Sunnydale after several months in Los Angeles, she begins to repair relationships with those closest to her as she tries to come to terms with Angel's death and her role in it. However, Angel returns mysteriously and Buffy is still drawn to him. Meanwhile, she must also try to help rebellious new Slayer Faith, who becomes increasingly destructive and disloyal as she indulges her dark side. The writers stated that they created Faith as a way of exploring Buffy's dark side without ruining her character; Faith shows what Buffy could have been without friends or family. Alienated from "the Scoobies", Faith finds a friend in the avuncular yet sinister Mayor of Sunnydale, who is preparing to become a pure-blood demon on Sunnydale High's Graduation Day. When Buffy learns that Angel, who is on the verge of death after being poisoned by Faith, must drink the blood of a Slayer in order to survive, Buffy attempts to sacrifice Faith to save him. Their battle leaves Faith in a coma, and Buffy ultimately saves Angel with her own blood. Thanks to Slayers' rapid healing, Buffy recovers from the loss of blood in time to lead her classmates in a climactic battle against the transformed Mayor and his minions, culminating in an explosion that destroys the Mayor as well as Sunnydale High. As the smoke clears, Angel leaves for Los Angeles so that Buffy can try to have a more normal life without him.

College
In Season Four, Buffy must balance her Slayer duties with her new life as a college student at UC Sunnydale. Her adjustment to college life is complicated by mystical threats (including, among other things, a demonic roommate, campus werewolves, enchanted beer), the return of Spike (now unable to harm humans), and a disastrous one-night stand with Parker Abrams, a campus player. Buffy also experiences some disconnection from her friends, who all seem to be moving in different directions. She attracts the sincere attention of Riley Finn, who is a member of the Initiative, a U.S. government task force created to research mystical and demonic creatures, led by Buffy's psychology professor, Maggie Walsh. Buffy briefly joins forces with Riley's team. However, Riley and Buffy become disillusioned with the Initiative after Professor Walsh betrays Buffy, and they discover that she is the creator of the cyber-demonoid Adam, the prototype of a race of super-warriors, from the fruits of the Initiative's demon research. Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles literally unite to defeat Adam in the penultimate episode of season four "Primeval", by invoking the power of the First Slayer.

Resurrection
In Season Six, Buffy must deal with depression and loss. She is resurrected by Willow, Xander, Tara and Anya who believe that she may have been in hell due to the mystical circumstances of her death. Buffy's transition back to her life is difficult; she experiences the pain of having been ripped from heaven, as well as the added responsibilities of raising Dawn and paying bills. Buffy is also forced to deal with the villainous Trio, whose comically nerdy crimes grow darker as the season progresses. Taking a mundane and degrading job slinging burgers at the Doublemeat Palace, she falls into a deep depression and begins a violent sexual relationship with Spike which leaves neither of them satisfied. Buffy later admits to Spike that she is just using him, and breaks things off. Spike later corners her in her bathroom and tries to rape her; Buffy fights him off, and Spike, horrified by his actions, leaves Sunnydale in search of his soul ("Seeing Red"). When Warren Mears kills Willow's girlfriend Tara Maclay, Willow becomes psychotic with dark magics, exacting revenge against Warren and planning to destroy the world. After Xander comes through for Willow in the end, Buffy promises to change her self-destructive behavior in order to be there for her sister.

In the seventh season, Buffy develops a new perspective on her destiny, power, and womanhood, when she is confronted with the threat of the First Evil. The Bringers, agents of the First, are tracking down and killing potential Slayers all over the world in an attempt to wipe out the Slayer line. Buffy's home quickly becomes filled with teenage Potentials, who come to Sunnydale for protection. Buffy is the natural leader for the girls, who initially look up to her with respect. She works to train the Potentials into an army to stand against the First; however, her methods, tactics, and decisions soon begin to alienate the terrified girls. The Potentials continue to lose faith in Buffy's leadership as the dangers around them increase, leading to a mutiny; the Scooby Gang all choose a reformed Faith as their new leader, and Dawn asks Buffy to leave the house ("Empty Places"). Only Spike remains loyal to Buffy, and Buffy spends two nights of emotional closeness with him before the final battle against the armies of the First. Buffy eventually wins back the Scoobies' trust and informs them of her plan to share her power with every Potential in the world. In the show's final episode "Chosen", a huge battle is waged between an army of Slayers and the Turok-Han vampires; Spike sacrifices himself to close the Hellmouth, and the Scoobies escape as Sunnydale crumbles into a huge crater.

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Rupert Giles (most frequently called Giles) was born circa 1955 in England. His family has worked within the Council of Watchers for at least three generations; both his father and grandmother, Edna Giles, were also Watchers. As a child, Giles dreamed of being either "a fighter pilot or possibly a greengrocer", but he soon learned that being a Watcher is a calling, much as being a Slayer is, and Rupert's father explained his destiny to him when he was ten-years-old.

Although the Scooby Gang later joked that he wore tweed diapers as a child, Giles was in fact a rebellious youth, rejecting his responsibility as a Watcher and dropping out of Oxford University, where he was studying history, when he was twenty-one. During this time, Giles claimed to be a founding member of Pink Floyd in order to impress girls, and may have delved into criminal activity.

He began to explore dark magics and befriended a group of young people who delved into the dark arts for fun or money: Ethan Rayne, Philip Henry, Dierdre Page, Thomas Sutcliff, and Randall. Giles gained the nickname "Ripper" during this time. Together, the group summoned a particularly grotesque demon called Eyghon, who would eventually murder Randall. Following Randall's death, Ethan and the others failed to exorcise Eyghon, and Giles accepted his destiny of becoming a Watcher. Before becoming a fully-fledged Watcher, he also worked as "the curator of a British museum, maybe the British Museum" as Willow says.

Powers & abilities
Giles has immense knowledge of demonology and Slayer combat (including at least a theoretical knowledge of jujutsu and aikido, but excelling at the art of fencing), mainly due to his training as a Watcher. His youthful interest in witchcraft and sorcery has endured into his adult life, though his natural aptitude for it is only moderate (much less than that of Willow Rosenberg or Amy Madison). Giles is proficient in several languages, including Latin, ancient Greek, German (although his grasp of it is comparatively weak, as seen in the episode "Gingerbread"), Sumerian (see the episode "Primeval"), Japanese (cf. "Checkpoint"), and possibly Gaelic (cf. "Fear, Itself"), but weak in Mandarin and Cantonese (cf. "First Date").

Giles has moderate skill in hand-to-hand combat, as well as various melee weapons. While his demeanor is typically mild and polite, Giles is not above using raw violence to solve a problem, such as physically threatening Principal Snyder into readmitting Buffy to school after her expulsion, pummeling Angelus senseless with a baseball bat and then attempting to set him on fire upon discovering that he had killed Jenny Calendar, and suffocating Ben, Glory's human host, with his bare hands. Typically however, Giles' calm demeanor and professionalism offer him a detached state of authority even in the face of fearsome monsters, as demonstrated during his confrontation with a violent demon in "The Long Way Home".

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Willow Rosenberg was born to Sheila and Ira Rosenberg. Her middle name is given as "Danielle" in an early draft of the script for the episode "Bad Girls": "If my parents hadn't settled on 'Danielle,' Danger would be my middle name." This line was not included in the broadcast episode. Her supercilious and distant mother, a psychologist, appeared in the Season Three episode "Gingerbread." Under the influence of a demon, Sheila tries to burn her daughter at the stake for being a witch, and though she loses much of her memory of the incident, Willow does not. Willow may have inherited from her mother a strong sense of outrage against political injustice, especially that committed against Native Americans, q.v., "Pangs". In the episode "The Killer in Me" Kennedy and Willow talk about how their parents reacted to their being gay, Willow mentioned to Kennedy that her mother thought it was a political statement but later she realized that Willow was serious about being lesbian and was less enthusiastic about it. Her father, never seen, is hinted to be equally uninvolved. In Season Two, Willow reveals that she has a fear of frogs, a fact she exploits to help Buffy escape in "Killed by Death".

Powers and abilities
In Season One, Willow's major "powers" were her intelligence and computer skills, as well as marked snarkiness. She aids Giles as he researches information to aid Buffy in overcoming various challenges. Willow also aids in the preparation of magical materials, making her first potion to detect a witch in the episode "Witch" and performing the ritual to revoke Angelus' invitation to Buffy's house in "Passion", but did not seriously begin practicing magic until the death of Jenny Calendar, one of her teachers. She was asked to take over teaching the class because of her high intelligence and came upon a spell to curse a vampire with a soul. Willow's initial interest in Wicca lies more in the spell-casting portion rather than the faith itself; she sees magic as a way of hacking the universe, and an extension of her computer skills. This is probably because of her relationship with Jenny, who was connected to an online pagan network.

Willow's first major spell involved re-cursing Angel with a soul in the Season Two finale, a feat she repeated in the Angel episode "Orpheus." She learns to levitate a pencil early in the show's third season and her powers continue to develop until, at the end of Season Four, she is casting powerful spells independently and with the help of Tara Maclay. Season Five finds her surpassing Tara, a more experienced witch, in skill and being able to draw enough power to fend off the hell-god Glory.

In Season Six, Willow demonstrates the ability to bring Buffy back to life, leaving her drained but regaining her magic in a few hours. Her friend Amy Madison introduces her to a warlock, Rack, who gives her the ability to go longer and do more spells, which leads Willow further down the path to the dark side of magic. Eventually, after Tara dies, magic consumes Willow and she nearly destroys the world. It is at this time that Anya assumes Willow is now the most powerful Wicca in the Western Hemisphere. Willow is capable of imbuing herself with super strength rivaling Buffy's, flying, absorbing life from others, teleportation, being impervious from physical damages curing them instantly at will, unleashing powerful energy blasts, and exerting a high level of telekinesis and telepathic mind control.

Willow, during her spell to imbue all Potentials with the Slayer's power.Season Seven sees her willingness to use magic greatly diminished after the events of the Season Six finale. Willow spends time at a coven in England with Giles where she develops a better understanding of magic, balance, etc. At this point, she is so powerful her very feelings and thoughts can affect the world. Amy comments that other practitioners "work twice as hard to be half as good" as Willow. Despite this, Willow is largely prevented from accessing more than slight magic by The First Evil, who attempts to corrupt her at each spell. Examples of the controlled usage of her power are her use of telekinesis to practice self-restraint, conjuring force fields, extensive telepathic conversations, opening a portal, and exerting hypnotic control. Willow also comments that she now absorbs power from the things around her, one time unwillingly draining some of Kennedy's life-force. At the end of Season Seven, Willow casts a spell that imbues all Potential Slayers on Earth with Slayer powers (formerly reserved for only one girl in every generation), temporarily turning Willow's eyes and hair crystal white in the process. Kennedy remarked on it by calling her "a goddess."

Season Eight shows Willow's powers have greatly expanded since the television series. She can now fly by force of will and has regained control of her powers, although her roots continue to go dark whenever she taps into more power, this doesn't faze her. She is able to project vast amounts of energy from her fingertips and cast aside powerful spells. She is able to heal herself rapidly from extreme injuries, at least including partial lobotomy. She is also able to heal injuries in others. Amy characterizes her as a "big all-powerful earth-mother witch goddess".

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Alexander Lavelle Harris was born to Anthony and Jessica Harris in Sunnydale, California. According to Xander, his dad once tried to sell him to some Armenians. Tony is a self-pitying drunk who first appeared in a nightmare sequence in Season Four's "Restless"; he tore out his son's heart. Jessica is a fragile mess without a stove; her culinary repertoire includes a "famous phone call to the Chinese place." She's known to neglect her son and appear cheerful in front of strangers as an attempt to cover the true nature of her miserable life. Xander's uncle, Rory, is an alcoholic taxidermist. Every Christmas, Xander sleeps outside to avoid his family's drunken arguments. Neither parent is happy with their marriage, but they have stayed together for decades. When he was thirteen, Xander attended Willow's bat mitzvah, where his parents drank to excess. Throughout the series, Xander's family was said to be unreliable and even abusive, and the main source of his insecurities. They finally appeared at Xander and Anya's aborted wedding in Season Six's "Hell's Bells."

Xander briefly dated his best friend Willow Rosenberg, but they broke up over a stolen Barbie when they were five. At his sixth birthday party, which Willow attended, his parents hired a clown who chased him, resulting in his coulrophobia; a fear of clowns. He overcame this phobia in Season One's "Nightmares." When he did not get a toy fire truck for his seventh birthday, the house next door caught fire. Xander saw real fire trucks then and believes he had Willow to thank. Xander and Willow developed a mutual hatred of their snobby classmate Cordelia Chase, which led them to form the "We Hate Cordelia Chase" club, of which Xander was the treasurer.

Powers and abilities
Xander represents the importance of everyday humans in the struggle against evil since he has proven that even an "average" person can make a difference and save the world. He possesses no special powers or abilities, but he gains much experience from battling by Buffy's side. As Buffy explains to the Watchers' Council, Xander has clocked more field time than all of the Watchers combined (cf. "Checkpoint"). His powers of persuasion and empathy are often his most useful assets. For example, Xander saves the world from Willow using only his words in the episode "Grave." He also recognizes that Buffy and Riley are "imploding" and forces Buffy to face the role that she played in the failed relationship (cf. "Into the Woods").

While possessed by a demonic "hyena" spirit in the Season One episode "The Pack," Xander exhibits enhanced strength equal, if not superior, to a Slayer, and heightened senses, as well as a taste for fresh, raw meat, and a lack of social inhibitions.

Xander is briefly transformed into a soldier on Halloween, and thereby acquires military training and weapons knowledge. His abilities fade, but do not disappear completely, over the next few years, allowing him to use such information as military codes and training, allowing him to organize a defense against Mayor Wilkins after he has transformed into Olvikan and acquire a rocket launcher to stop the indestructible demon known as the Judge.

Xander was once hit by a bolt from the Ferula Gemina which split his personality into two different beings (cf. "The Replacement"), resulting in one Xander who was laid-back and confident, easily getting a promotion and a large apartment, and another Xander who was highly insecure and paranoid, believing that the other him was a demon who was hypnotizing his friends.

Xander is something of an expert on pop culture; he can be seen reading an X-Men comic in the episode "Tough Love" and references both Human Torch and Sergeant Fury. In the episode "Seeing Red", Xander displays the ability to read Klingon. In Season Seven, he often demonstrates pop culture knowledge rivaling that of Andrew Wells.

Xander becomes a skilled carpenter by the end of the series, gaining practical job experience from repairing damage caused by various combats involving the Scooby Gang and as a foreman of a construction crew. He was first promoted to this position in the Season Five episode "The Replacement." Spike at one point referred to Xander mockingly as 'a glorified bricklayer.'

In Season Seven, both Xander and the evil priest Caleb make reference to Xander being "the one that sees everything" in that he sees his friends' flaws and strengths more clearly than anyone else, simply because no one is looking at him, even going so far as Dawn saying that this perhaps is his superpower. This human (non supernatural) strength - his insight, empathy, and understanding - is what prompts Caleb to take Xander's eye, also knowing it would anger Buffy.

In Season Eight, his military knowledge gives him the leadership of a government-described "army" of Slayers, witches and seers, viewed as an international "terrorist" organization based in a Scottish citadel. The organization which he heads alongside Buffy carries high-tech and magical weaponry. Xander oversees orchestrates the efforts of Willow, Dawn, Buffy and his Slayers through cameras and earpieces.

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In the episode "Band Candy" we learn that Joyce was rebellious as a teenager, and tended to follow the "cool" crowd. In Los Angeles, as Joyce experiences marital discord with her husband, Hank, their daughter, Buffy, informs them that she has been chosen as the Slayer, and that her destiny is to fight demons. Joyce and Hank, concerned about their daughter's mental health, place Buffy in a psych ward. Buffy is soon released, and the matter is never revisited. Joyce's marital problems, however, continue, and Buffy later notes that she believes that her father was unfaithful. Buffy begins to get into more trouble, culminating in an event where Buffy burns down the Hemery High School gymnasium. Buffy is expelled from school, and Joyce moves with her to Sunnydale for a fresh start after she and Hank divorce.

Early in the first season of Buffy, Joyce was portrayed as a stereotypical "Californian" mother; distant and reliant on "pop-psychology" techniques in raising her daughter but well-meaning. As the series wore on and she became more of a central character, however, Joyce became more competent and sympathetic, as exemplified when she attacked Spike with an axe in order to protect her daughter. She is typically portrayed - particularly after she discovers Buffy's true identity - as a warm, loving mother with a deep reserve of inner strength and a highly cynical and sarcastic streak (clearly inherited by her daughter).

Joyce often banters with Buffy and even held her own with Faith when the rogue Slayer held her hostage, sneering "Are you planning on slitting my throat anytime soon?" in the middle of Faith's monologue. She is a fan of the soap opera Passions, which she watches with Spike, the movie Thelma and Louise, art (particularly African), and is a competent seamstress.

Joyce hates potlucks (which she gives as a reason for not wanting a wake) and Jell-O (which, she confesses while in hospital, "creeps her out").

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The arrival of Dawn Summers is foreshadowed in cryptic dream sequences in both the Season Three finale "Graduation Day, Part Two" and the Season Four episode "This Year's Girl," in which a still-comatose Faith says, while making a bed with Buffy in Dawn's future bedroom, "Little sis coming, I know." Buffy replies, "So much to do before she gets here." In the Season Four finale, "Restless," Tara warns Buffy to "be back before dawn."

In 2000, Czech monks of the Order of Dagon have possession of The Key, a mystical ball of living energy that can open a portal to all dimensions. Once opened, the portal would create chaos on Earth as hell dimensions flood into this world until the energy is used up and the portal is closed again. The monks want to put this dangerous power to good use, but forces of darkness track them down. In an act of desperation, three surviving monks use powerful magic and part of Buffy to forge The Key into human form as a fourteen-year-old girl, and send it to the Slayer as a sister to protect from Glory, a hell-god bent on returning to the hell dimension from which she had been exiled for being too vicious.

Powers and abilities
Dawn is a human being who, as the mentally unstable can see, is really a green ball of energy. With the right ritual, her blood opens a dimensional portal to all universes, bringing chaos and destruction to Earth within minutes. It's never made entirely clear if Dawn is actually human or still the transfigured key. As of Season six Dawn believed she didn't open anything anymore.

Dawn's experience in battling vampires and demons has made her a more capable fighter and spellcaster with the ability to cast spells from memory. She can also read a variety of languages ranging from Turkish to Latin. Dawn has grown to rarely flinch when in danger, and her loyalty to her sister and friends is absolute.

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Although Angel already sees Buffy while she is still in L.A., he does not introduce himself to her until after her move to Sunnydale, and after her first day at Sunnydale High. The two fall in love, but Buffy does not realize Angel is a vampire until several weeks later in the episode "Angel". Though they try to deny their feelings, they cannot resist the passion growing between them. When they finally consummate their relationship in "Surprise", Angel experiences one moment of pure happiness, which breaks the Gypsy curse and he loses his soul. Without the compassion and conscience instilled by his human soul, Angel instantly reverts to his former evil self, Angelus, in the following episode.

Angelus becomes the "Big Bad" of Buffy's second season.Angelus allies himself once again with Spike and Drusilla, who have recently settled in Sunnydale. Resenting the humiliation he felt because Buffy had made Angel feel like a human being, Angelus takes immense pleasure in tormenting the Slayer and her friends. First, he helps Spike and Dru deploy a powerful demon known as the Judge. After Buffy destroys the Judge, Angelus embarks on a guerilla campaign, lurking in the shadows, preying on Buffy's classmates, sending her gruesome messages, even drawing pictures of her and her mother as they sleep and leaving them in her bedroom.

He proceeds to murder Jenny Calendar, which serves him in two ways; First, he eliminates an enemy (Jenny was born Janna of the Kalderash clan) and destroys her work just as she manages to successfully decipher the lost Gypsy curse which could be used to restore Angel's soul. Second, Angelus uses Jenny's death to viciously torment Rupert Giles, Jenny's paramour and the person on whom Buffy depends most. After this, Angelus widens his focus and begins a scheme to awaken the demon Acathla and bring about the end of the world. Buffy is determined to stop him despite their history, and is able to overcome him in combat. Just as she prepares for the finishing blow however, Willow Rosenberg is able to restore Angel's soul. Since Acathla can only be stopped by the blood of the individual who activated him, Buffy is forced to sacrifice Angel to save the world. Impaled on the Slayer's enchanted sword, Angel is sucked into Acathla's vortex which suddenly snaps closed.

Less than a year later (by Sunnydale time), Angel unexpectedly returns in "Faith, Hope & Trick from Acathla's hell. Time moves differently in hell-dimensions, so Angel experienced a hundred years of torment before being released, reappearing in his mansion in a feral state. Buffy aids him in secret, fostering his rehabilitation. Once he regains his senses, Angel begins to suspect that his return from Hell was not accidental, and that he must serve some unknown, but evil, purpose. Eventually he begins to experience what he believes to be hallucinations, but he is actually being haunted by the First Evil. The First, able to adopt the appearances of Angelus' victims, drives Angel ever closer to the brink of madness and tries to tempt him to lose his soul and kill Buffy. Instead, Angel decides to commit suicide, but finds the sun clouded by snow, a rare occurrence in Sunnydale. After these events, Angel and Buffy try to resume their relationship, but Angel quickly discovers that he cannot possibly give Buffy a remotely normal human life. These thoughts are echoed by Buffy's mother Joyce Summers and Sunnydale's mayor, Richard Wilkins (the season's 'Big Bad'), and Angel decides to leave Sunnydale, doing so at the end of the season three finale, "Graduation Day, Part Two".

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Rich and beautiful, Cordelia led her clique at Sunnydale High and enjoyed ridiculing those she saw as inferior. She first appears in "Welcome to the Hellmouth," sharing a textbook with Buffy Summers on her first day at the school and showing her to the library. Cordelia soon reveals herself to be a mean, popular cheerleader as she mocks Willow Rosenberg ("Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears!"), much to Buffy's annoyance. That night, Buffy mistakes her for a vampire and almost impales her with a stake. Cordelia turns on Buffy and makes sure Buffy becomes a social outcast at the school.

Cordelia keeps finding herself in life-threatening situations in the first season, but often comes out untouched - she is almost killed by The Master's vessel, blinded by witchcraft, and targeted by a psychotic girl she helped snub into invisibility. Cordelia is elected May Queen in her sophomore year.

Cordelia grows to accept the existence of dark forces in Sunnydale and becomes a full-fledged member of the Scooby Gang. A corresponding fall in her social status reaches a low with her publicized romance with Xander Harris. Though she won't admit it, she begins to have feelings for him. She has pictures of Xander in her locker to which he says "I didn't think I was locker material." She answers with "I look really good in those photos." Their relationship ends during their Senior year when she finds him kissing Willow.

Cordelia struggles to revive her popularity when her father's "little mistake on his taxes...for the last twelve years" costs her family everything, including their house and her car, cell phone, and wardrobe. She takes a job at an expensive local boutique, April Fools, to pay for a prom dress on layaway. Cordelia does not earn enough in time, but Xander finds out and pays it off for her. Her brief, mutual infatuation with Wesley Wyndam-Pryce ends with two bad kisses before graduation. Cordelia finds herself helping the Scoobies one last time during the Mayor's ascension with the aide of the rest of the Class of '99. She courageously slays a vamp and helps the other students during the war. Afterwards, she is seen walking off with Buffy, Willow, Oz and Xander and, more importantly, off to her future in Los Angeles.

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A taciturn, guitar-playing teen, and eventually Willow's boyfriend, Oz first appears in the episode "Inca Mummy Girl," becoming a recurring character throughout the second and third seasons. In the fourth season, he leaves Sunnydale, heading off on his own to seek control over his werewolf side. He is last seen in Willow's dream in the episode "Restless." He is last mentioned in the season 7 episode "Potential".

His most outstanding trait is his detached, ironic approach to life, masking a deeply philosophical interior. He is also the lead guitarist for the band Dingoes Ate My Baby, which performs frequently at The Bronze. A high school senior, one year above Willow and the rest of the group, he "tests well" but his only real ambition lies in his music.

He notices Willow in spite of - or perhaps because of - her eskimo costume at a dance at The Bronze, and seems to be interested in her at first sight. It would take several episodes for the two to actually meet in person. They go into, according to Willow, "some sort of holding pattern, except without the holding or... anything else", even though they had several dates, on one of which he witnesses a vampire being dusted by Buffy for the first time, and thus becoming a member of the Scooby Gang. He is not shocked to learn that vampires exist and merely remarks that it explains a lot. He and Willow eventually share their first kiss and become a couple at the end of the season two episode "Phases".

Oz playing at the BronzeThe episode Phases was also the episode where he finds that he has become a werewolf, turning into a monster on the three nights around a full moon, having been bitten on his finger by his pre-adolescent cousin Jordy. (Interestingly, when Oz calls Jordy's mother, his Aunt Maureen, to ask if Jordy is a werewolf, Maureen is apparently unfazed by the question and readily confirms Jordy's condition, indicating that Oz is not the only exceptionally laid-back member of his family.) On his third night as a wolf, Oz is nearly killed by werewolf hunter Gib Cain for his pelt, but saved by Buffy Summers and the Scooby Gang, with whose help he quickly finds a way to minimize the danger posed by the wolf: he locks himself into a cage for the appropriate nights, watched over by the Scoobies in shifts.

Even though he is intelligent (so much so that he, along with Willow, was tracked for a time by "the world's leading software concern") he does not manage to graduate that year, due to several incompletes and failing to attend summer school. He repeats his senior year, now being in the same year as the rest of the gang, and graduates simultaneously with them. During this year, his relationship with Willow goes through rough water as he and Cordelia catch Xander and Willow kissing. They break up, but get back together again after Oz confesses he misses her ("Amends"). In the episode "Graduation Day, Part One", Oz and Willow have sex before the impending confrontation with the evil Mayor Wilkins, concerned that they might die in battle. Willow loses her virginity as a result, but Oz was not a virgin.

After graduation, he attends the university of UC Sunnydale, together with Buffy and Willow, and is seen taking 'Introduction to Psychology' by Professor Walsh along with them. Unlike the other two, he does not have a dorm room, but stays in a house off campus along with the rest of the band. Because the cage he used to lock himself up on the nights around the full moon was destroyed (along with the rest of the library and Sunnydale High) during the fight against the mayor, he now locks himself up into a cage in a crypt at a local cemetery.

While appearing to the outside world as to have come to terms with his lycanthropy rather easily, evidence arises that he indeed does hold great fear of his werewolf side ("Fear, Itself"), and especially hurting others with it. Moreover, gradually, the wolf personality seems to contaminate Oz's human side, and although in love with Willow, he is irresistibly drawn to another werewolf, Veruca, a fellow student at UC Sunnydale, who, unlike Oz, considers the wolf to be her true self. After spending a night in the cage with Veruca, and killing her at the following sunset to protect Willow, Oz resolves to leave Sunnydale so as not to endanger his friends further.

Some months later, Oz returns to Sunnydale, believing that his lycanthropy is now under control through techniques learned in Tibet. Although the moon no longer affects him, he can still transform into the werewolf when faced with strong emotion, such as anger, fear, or pain, as he discovers when he finds that Tara Maclay has replaced him in Willow's affections, and when The Initiative seizes him for its experiments. This transformation can occur during the day.

After that discovery, Oz leaves Sunnydale for good (reflecting Seth Green's decision to move on and pursue his film career). He is last seen in Willow's dream in the episode "Restless," as she meets him in college. Oz is not seen again for the remainder of the series' run. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Powers and abilities
Oz is a werewolf, meaning that he has the potential to transform into a berserk, lupine creature with enhanced strength, speed, and sense of smell. From "Phases" to "Wild at Heart", he, like most werewolves, must change into animal form on the night of a full moon, the night preceding it, and the night following it. After "Wild at Heart," Oz acquires some level of control over his form by traveling around the world and learning about herbs, meditative techniques, and other forms of little-known treatment for his little-known condition. He prefers to stay human, and only changes under great emotional stress (compare to The Incredible Hulk). He might very well now even be more dangerous as a result, as he can no longer predict when he will change, and those around him are at immediate risk if he changes without notice.

Oz also has a highly enhanced sense of smell when in human form. During the episode "Lovers Walk", he is able to smell Willow from great distance although she "doesn't even wear perfume." Oz can also tell that she is scared from this scent, mimicking the ability apocryphally attributed to many animals, especially canines.

He also demonstrates that werewolves can exert influence on their actions in bestial form. When Oz transforms for his battle with Veruca, he instantly attacks her until she's dead, completely ignoring Willow until killing Veruca.

Oz is also a skilled musician, specializing in electric guitar.

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Anya was born as Aud in the year 860 in Sjornjost, Sweden, a small Scandinavian village. Aud grew up raising rabbits and became an outsider in her community, who dismissed her as "odd", because of her strange mannerisms and out-of-the-ordinary ideas (such as breeding rabbits as gifts). In 880, at the age of 20, she fell in love with the boorish Olaf, a Viking warrior who enjoyed hunting trolls and drinking at the bar. One night, Olaf drunkenly slept with a barmaid named Rannveig, and a furious Aud turned him into a troll. Olaf was forced to flee from fellow villagers, who did not believe his story. Aud's act of vengeance attracted the demon D'Hoffryn, who offered to transform her into an immortal vengeance demon for scorned women. D'Hoffryn renamed her Anyanka and gave her a silver necklace with the power to grant wishes. Anyanka's interpretation of the wish expressed was often rather loose and considerably more destructive than the wisher intended.

Around 1199, Anyanka went to the Koskov valleys above the Urals to curse an unfaithful man. She witnessed a sorcerer's Ascension into pure demon form. The death and carnage - only a few people survived - shocked even her. Around 1580, Anyanka met Dracula, and she was in Salem, Massachusetts, during the witch trials in 1692.

In the 19th century, Anyanka became a close friend and fierce competitor of the vengeance demon known as Halfrek. They spent time together during the Crimean War. Anyanka impressed "Hallie" with a granted wish in Saint Petersburg, Russia, that sparked a revolution in 1905. In 1914, Anyanka traveled to Chicago, Illinois to exact vengeance on a man named Stewart Burns, making him a grotesque creature and sending him to a hell dimension to be tortured for all eternity. This came back to haunt her on her wedding day.

Anyanka arrives at Sunnydale High in 1998 (in the episode "The Wish") as a student named Anya Emerson[1]. Anya seeks to wreak vengeance on Xander Harris for cheating on Cordelia Chase with his best friend Willow Rosenberg - a fateful decision for her and Xander. After some difficulty, she tricks Cordelia into wishing that "Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale". In the grim alternate reality that results, The Master has risen and set up shop in The Bronze. Rupert Giles manages to discover Anya's power center, however, and breaks the necklace, undoing Cordelia's wish and making Anya mortal again.

Caulfield said, "As far as I know, I don't think Joss Whedon ever intended to have Anya around for more than one episode." However, Anya returns in the episode "Doppelgängland"," duping Willow into assisting in a failed magical attempt to recover her power center. Now with human feelings, she yearns to attend the school prom in spite of her abhorrence of all men; her only hope for a date is the last man she was sent to punish. Caulfield says, "[Whedon] found this great way to have her interact with the storylines that had developed throughout the entire [third] season."[2]

Anya develops feelings for Xander and asks him out again just before graduation. Her romantic plans are foiled when he tells her of the Mayor's plan for another Ascension - at the graduation ceremony. Anya decides to flee Sunnydale and invites Xander to join her. He refuses, citing his "friends on the line." She leaves without him.

Powers and abilities
Anyanka possessed the ability to grant wishes of vengeance and had a frightening demonic form in which her face appeared to be skinless with exposed veins. She was much stronger than some demons and vampires (knocking Spike across the room while lying down in "Beneath You") in addition to holding her own against Buffy in "Selfless", and could teleport, use telekinesis and heal quickly. Anyanka also had a psychic sense of a woman's desire for vengeance and could tell if a vampire has a soul. Anya could also manipulate some energies to invisibly knock over an opponent.

With over a thousand years of experience as a former vengeance demon, Anya's knowledge of demonology was immense. Although Anya's native language is Swedish, she spoke fluent, if sometimes stilted, English as well as some French and Latin.

Thanks to her countless years of experience, Anya also exhibits some basic knowledge of magic. She is seen numerous times commenting on Willow's spellcasting and interest in magic with a reasonable degree of insight, and has occasionally participated in the casting of spells herself (cf. "Doppelgängland"). When she was a human, Anya's experience and practice of combat from her times as a demon allowed her to be an effective fighter, as seen in the series finale.

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Faith is the third Slayer to appear on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, following Kendra Young. Faith became a Slayer when Kendra died at the hands of Drusilla in "Becoming, Part One", the penultimate episode of the second season. Most often described as "a rogue Slayer," she fulfilled the archetype of a nemesis in the classical sense, serving as the dark mirror to Buffy: similar but opposite to the hero. Series writer/producer Marti Noxon described Faith in terms of "the road not taken," a vision of what Buffy might have become if her life's circumstances were different.

Faith was introduced in the third season of Buffy, and played a major role in that season's overarching plot. She returned for shorter story arcs on Buffy and Angel, and played a moderate role in the story arc of Buffy's seventh season. Like many characters in the Buffy gallery, she was one of substantial moral ambiguity, taking on roles ranging from violent sociopath to self-sacrificing champion.

Little is known about Faith's earlier life. Her dialect and early exposition suggests she grew up in the notably rough neighborhoods of South Boston. Her father is never mentioned, but Faith makes several references to her mother's alcoholism and possible allusions to childhood abuse (in the episode "Faith, Hope & Trick", she says "My dead mother hits harder than that!" whilst fighting a vampire).

Faith was traumatized by the murder of her Watcher at the hands of Kakistos, a powerful, ancient vampire. Early on, she harbored strong feelings of envy towards Buffy ("Enemies") for having a loving relationship with her mother and friends, the same one she had always wanted. Jealousy later changed into self-hatred as Faith realized the power and accountability she has over her own life. By Season Seven, self-hatred had faded into self-acceptance, and she had learned to accept the consequences of her past actions.

Faith often suggests that killing gives her a drug-like euphoria, and even suffers from addictive withdrawal symptoms when she is not able to inflict pain. In the Angel episode "Sanctuary," quitting violence is equated with quitting alcohol (Faith: "I gotta be the only Slayer in history to be sponsored by a vampire"). She is seen smoking in Buffy's seventh season.

Faith also displays signs of promiscuity and an inability to share trust and intimacy with a man, describing herself as "a loser magnet" who attracts kleptomaniacs and "slackers." She was later responsible for Xander losing his virginity, and sleeps with Buffy's boyfriend Riley, after switching bodies with Buffy herself.

It is unknown when Faith was contacted and began training with her Watcher, though she appears to have been recruited as a teenager like Buffy (rather than as a child, which is considered ideal for a Slayer). The novel Go Ask Malice covers Faith's pre-Slayer life and her calling.

Powers and abilities
Faith is a Slayer, and thus has the usual powers of such, including a healing factor and superhuman strength, speed, durability and reflexes.

Although she never explicitly displayed the power of prophetic dreams as displayed by Buffy on many occasions, Faith does appear to have some level of supernatural access to her subconscious. In the third season finale "Graduation Day, Part Two", Buffy experiences a dream in which Faith appears to her, making a cryptic reference to the arrival of Dawn and Buffy's impending death in the finale of Season Five, "The Gift", as well as making several other cryptic references relevant to both Buffy and herself.

Later, in the episode "This Year's Girl" we witness several portions of Faith's dreams in which she converses with Mayor Wilkins and overcomes a dream version of Buffy to awaken from her coma.

In the fourth season of Angel she displayed this power with the "mystical mind walk" in which she experienced trials throughout Angel's life while in a coma.

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Spike's story before he appears in Sunnydale unfolds in flashbacks scattered among numerous episodes of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. They are not presented in chronological order. The first flashback occurs in Buffy Season Five's "Fool for Love", and reveals that William was in fact an ineffectual gentleman who lived in London, England with his mother Anne. Anne would often sing the folksong "Early One Morning" to her son when he was a baby, right up until the time he was turned into a vampire. William's surname is given as "Pratt" in the non-canon comic Old Times; however, Joss Whedon has not confirmed this, lending question to its canonicity.

William, before becoming a vampireIn 1880, William was a struggling poet, often mocked by his peers who called him "William the Bloody" behind his back because his poetry was so "bloody awful." The true origins of this nickname were not revealed until three years after it was first mentioned in Season Two, when it was believed to have purely violent connotations. William showed a strong capacity for loyalty and devoted love, which followed him after his siring. After his romantic overtures were rejected by the aristocratic Cecily, a despondent William, while wandering the streets, bumped into Drusilla. She then bit him and transformed him into a vampire. (This seems to contradict a scene in "School Hard", when Spike calls Angel his 'sire', though it can be speculated that Spike was using the term in a metaphorical rather than literal sense). Whereas new vampires in the Buffyverse often delight in killing their families once they become evil, William was a notable exception. Having always been very close to his mother, he turned her into a vampire to prevent her from dying from tuberculosis. Unfortunately, his mother, as a vampire, taunted William and insinuated that William had always had a sexual fascination with her. He was forced to stake her because he could not bear to see his mother in such a twisted form. He would later write a poem about this traumatic experience entitled "The Wanton Folly of Me Mum," which was mentioned but not recited in the Angel finale "Not Fade Away".

Spike kills his first Slayer after staking his mother, William began a new life with Drusilla, to whom he was utterly devoted. Euphoric with his newfound vampiric abilities he became a rebel, adopting a working class North London accent and embracing impulsiveness and violence. He adopted the nom de guerre "Spike" based on his habit of torturing people with railroad spikes, perhaps as a result of the insult one of his acquaintances used about his poetry: "I'd rather have a railroad spike through my head than listen to that awful stuff" (from Fool for Love). In the company of Drusilla, Angelus (later known as Angel) and Darla, Spike terrorized Europe and Asia for almost two decades. He had a strained relationship with Drusilla's sire Angelus; who continued a sexual relationship with her despite Spike's strong disapproval. Although Angelus did enjoy the company of another male vampire in their travels, he found Spike's eagerness for battle to be an unnecessary risk. Angelus regarded killing as an art, not a sport, and killed for the sheer act of evil; Spike did it for amusement and the rush.

In 1894, Spike and Angelus developed a rivalry with the enigmatic Immortal; who later had Spike sent to prison for tax evasion. In 1900, Spike killed a Slayer in China during the Boxer Rebellion, and in 1943, he was captured by Nazis for experimentation and taken aboard a submarine, where he was briefly reunited with Angel(us). By the 1950s, Spike had reunited with Drusilla and they traveled to Italy. At some point, Spike also became rivals with famous vampire Dracula. The source of the rivalry remains unknown, but apparently includes the fact that Dracula owes Spike "eleven pounds". Spike attended Woodstock, and later fought and killed the Slayer Nikki Wood aboard a subway train in New York City, 1977, taking from her the leather duster he wore throughout his appearances on Buffy and Angel (it is destroyed in an explosion in season 5 of Angel).

Powers and abilities
Spike has the standard powers and vulnerabilities of a Buffyverse vampire and is highly skilled and adaptable in both armed and unarmed combat. For example, he is able to briefly overcome Illyria during a testing of her abilities when she is at the height of her powers. Illyria criticizes his (and others') ability to adapt, calling it "compromise." He is able to withstand excessive amounts of pain for extended periods of time, particularly when properly motivated, as seen in the episodes "Intervention" and "Showtime." While not as skilled or as cruel as Angelus, Spike also proves himself to be effective at torture, noting that he had gained "screams, various fluids, and a name" from Doctor Sparrow.

Spike often displays insight and skills in perception and observation, especially with regard to relationships and personalities. This ability allows him to wield powerful psychological weapons as easily and effectively as physical ones. For example, when he wants to create disharmony among the Scoobies, Spike divides-and-conquers with the "Yoko Factor," exploiting tensions that exist under the surface to alienate Buffy and her friends against each other. He explains to Buffy that he was able to defeat two Slayers because he sensed and exploited their secret desires to be free of their burden. Spike's skills of analysis allowed him to see through Tara's abusive and controlling family, forced Buffy and Angel to admit that they were more than "just friends" and identify when and why some relationships, such as that between Buffy and Riley, are not meant to last. Although capable of developing sound battle strategies, Spike (particularly in the days before receiving his chip and being ensouled) often loses patience with anything more complicated than outright attack, as mentioned in the episode "In the Dark".

" Spike: I had a plan.
Angel: You, a plan?
Spike: Yeah, a good plan. Smart. Carefully laid out. But I got bored. "

He is also impatient to fight the Slayer upon his initial arrival in Sunnydale; the attack is supposed to coincide with the Night of St. Vigeous (when a vampire's natural abilities are enhanced), but he "couldn't wait" to go after the Slayer and attacks the night before. However, Spike did exercise patience throughout the latter half of Buffy Season Two; feigning weakness and enduring tortuous weeks watching Angelus sexually pursue Dru as he waits for the right time to strike.

Spike's "vampire constitution" provides him with an extremely high tolerance for alcohol (which he regularly consumes in copious quantities). He is also seen picking locks; driving a car, a motorcycle, and a motor home; using video game systems and a computer; treating injuries; pick-pocketing; and playing poker and pool. Spike is also seen speaking Latin, Luganda (a language of Uganda, where he meets the demon shaman), and the language of Fyarl Demons. It is implied that he has some minimal familiarity with Italian (he can at least say "ciao" and "strada").

When Spike was transformed into a ghost-like intangible state following the destruction of Sunnydale and the Hellmouth and his subsequent materialization at Wolfram & Hart, he was capable of walking through solid objects. He was initially unable to make contact with objects around him until he learned how to focus his abilities through desire, allowing him to make brief contact with people and things if he concentrated enough. However, this ability was relatively useless in a fight, as he was unable to pick up a wooden bar to hit an attacking demon in "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco", and required a few moments to properly punch a cyborg in "Lineage".

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Tara is introduced in the Season Four episode "Hush." A member of UC Sunnydale's Wicca group, she meets Willow Rosenberg, herself a practicing witch. In many ways, the painfully shy and quiet Tara is reminiscent of Willow of seasons past. As Willow's romantic relationship with Oz caused her to bloom, it is through Tara that Willow becomes a powerful young woman, and through Willow that Tara's confidence grows. As the season progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that the pair are destined for a romantic liaison. Willow realizes that Tara is the person she loves, choosing Tara over her ex-boyfriend Oz. The two thus became one of the few lesbian couples on television and the first-ever prime-time lesbian couple which included a starring character. Magic came to serve as a metaphor for lesbianism and love.

Not much is known about Tara's past. Her family life was clearly traumatic, and she had not had many friends before meeting Willow. In the episode "The Body," Tara tells Buffy that she lost her mother when she was 17, at which point she went through a brief rebellious period. In the episode "Family," it is revealed that her father had told her at a young age that she was partially of demon descent on her mother's side, who, just like Tara, had magic powers. After she finds out this was merely a lie designed to keep control over her, Tara's ties with her family seem entirely severed, leaving Willow and the Scooby Gang her only remaining loved ones, her new family. In the episode "Tough Love," Willow points out that Tara has been out longer than Willow has, perhaps implying that Willow is not Tara's first girlfriend. It is also inferred through a comment her brother made that her family may have been abusive.

Although Tara is a recurring character rather than a regular, through her relationship with Willow, she plays an important role in the story on several occasions, such as at the end of the fifth season, when the evil hell-god Glory sucks her mind out, leaving her in a babbling, childlike state until Willow cures her, or in Season 6, when Willow's magic addiction (by this time, magic had become a metaphor for drug use) causes Tara to leave her, although they reconcile some episodes later.

By the beginning of the sixth season, Tara and Willow have been surrogate parent figures to Dawn Summers since Buffy's death at the end of Season Five, and Tara remains devoted to Dawn even after she leaves the Summers house following her breakup with Willow. Inasmuch as Dawn was unaware of the plan by Willow and the others to resurrect Buffy, it would seem she expected to remain in Willow and Tara's guardianship until she turned 18, and her overjoyed reaction to their reconciliation in "Seeing Red" reflects her love for them. Tara is also supportive and understanding of Willow's efforts to deal with the pressure of Scooby Gang leadership, reminding her that their bedroom is "the room where you don't have to be brave." In season six we see Tara as a much more confident human being with great magical skills and knowledge.

Tara is killed, randomly, by a stray bullet aimed at Buffy by Warren, in the episode "Seeing Red." As a result, Willow is propelled into a destructive fury, and soon attempts to destroy the world.

Powers and abilities
Tara was a skilled spell caster and was shown to perform a wide range of spells during her time on the show. Tara also demonstrated telekinesis, which, when she is in physical contact with Willow, is stronger than it would otherwise be (i.e. she and Willow pool their power by concentrating on moving the same object). An unusual ability she displayed is the ability to magically know something is wrong with someone and to sense the use of mental powers, which she did by "reading" a person's aura (such as when Buffy was possessed by Faith). This ability was one of very few that Willow Rosenberg did not have during the show. In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG this ability is known as "The Sight". Tara had a good knowledge of Latin and grew up riding horses. She rarely used the Internet because the preponderance of bad spelling depressed her.

In an essay published in Salon, Stephanie Zacharek argued that "gentle and sensible" Tara - more than any other character on Buffy - quietly and sympathetically stood for the right of all people to choose their own path and make their own mistakes. Zacherek writes, "Her soft, pearlescent voice and shy, doelike eyes didn't contrast with her resolve; they were a huge part of it."

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