(Buffy) Concerning Buffy, the Vampire Slayer

[Psychotic Dreamer]

I actually like Dawn, which makes me probably the only person I know.
PS

I agree Dawn is a great character. She is very real and especially in the way she deals with the situations. Granted I tend to like the characters that are not overly popular due to them being what they are supposed to be. On Farscape one of my favorite characters is Rigel. He is hated by many of the fans of the show, but he is supposed to be hated and thats why I like him... because he is so untrustworthy and just almost evil.

Anyway I got rambling a bit. I like Dawn because she reacts to these situations they way a teenage girl would. Or so says my sister, who just happens to be a teenage girl.

 

[Ashtal]

I'm pretty sure that the Buffy of the (horriblehorriblehorrible) film did, in fact, possess the natural talent of a Slayer. While her Watcher trained her, she did possess Slayer-skills. I believe there's a scene where he throws a knife at her to convince her, and she catches it without even thinking.

Trust me ... while she has the mentality of an ordinary girl (and that's thanks to great writing), she has the physical powers of the Slayer which has progressed from raw talent to capable super-hero levels as the seasons of the show aired.

 

[Lizard]

Please understand that I have seen very few episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I am clueless, as it were, concerning what Season it is, or how many episodes have occurred, or how the storyline has progressed.

From the first episode of the first season (you can seasons 1 and 2 on DVD now, and I strongly recommend them!) Buffy had innate superhuman strength, agility, and stamina which were then honed by continual training in armed and unarmed combat. Her mental abilities were considerably more normal, which is why Giles and Willow were/are such valuable allies. The best example of a 'trained human' in the show would be Riley, who was a professional soldier specifically trained to battle undead -- in one-on-one combat, Buffy can and did kick his ass. She is, objectively, superhuman.

This doesn't reduce her heroism one bit -- she often fights foes who are many times more powerful than she is. Nor does it counter the fact that she goes out, night after night, to risk her life to protect people who will never know she's saving them. She doesn't like the burden of being the Slayer, but she accepts it, despite the fact she is denied both a normal and (probably) lengthy life. (The BTVS RPG states she has survived longer than any other Slayer.)

 

[Severion]

(The BTVS RPG states she has survived longer than any other Slayer.)

Don't know about the RPG and yes the show supports it but there is one thing that frequently gets forgotten... She is no longer the chosen one, there's supposed to be one slayer, thats Faith. IMHO Buffy has moved beyond being merely the slayer, (i read a bit of Moorcock) she could be seen as an aspect of the Eternal Champion. Consider it food for thought.

 

[Tsyr]

Don't know about the RPG and yes the show supports it but there is one thing that frequently gets forgotten... She is no longer the chosen one, there's supposed to be one slayer, thats Faith.

No, it's sort of a cosmic blunder... or, perhaps as some theories go, the Powers that Be decided that two were needed. But it's said fairly clearly in the episode where that wierd slayer... can't remember her name... Kendra? Something was introduced... There are now two slayers, two chosen ones. Hence why, for all of their meddling and the fact that she later renounced them, the Council still supported buffy as a Slayer (And, in fact, as _THE_ slayer after Faith's betrayal).

Yes, there is a slayer after Buffy while buffy is still alive. But, when she returned, so did her status as Chosen. For example, they put her through the Test when she turned 18 - and injected her with a syrum that robbed her of her powers. And as a note, she did pass that test... with flying colours, despite the problems with it. Also, even after Faith was in the picture (Remember, Faith isn't the first "other" slayer), Buffy was able to cure Angel of the poison Faith used on him... which was, if you will remember, a magical poison for which the cure was for a vampire to drain the blood of a Slayer. Buffy's blood still worked for that.

 

[Tsyr]

I think it's three times so far. When she fought the Master, he left her face-down in a puddle of water where she flatlined but was revived by Xander. Then she died "for real" in order to close the dimensional rift that had been opened by Chiung, sorry, that odd demon doctor - but she got better. I also *think* she flatlined on the operating table after Warren shot her, but was healed by Darth Willow.

Add one other to that. She died in the alternate Timeline in the episode "The Wish"... the Master broke her neck. GRANTED, of course, that's not "our" Buffy, but it is a case of Buffy-Death (TM).

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

My pardons.
I did not realize most fans of Buffy eschewed the original film, and that it is not considered Canon.

If Buffy had supernatural strength, agility, endurance, and capacity for punishment (physical harm to her) from the beginning, that does make a difference.

Thanks for jogging my memory - I do remember Buffy catching that knife, in the film.
Not your typical person who can do that!
I have heard that trained martial artists can catch a knife hurled at high speed at them (and I suspect more than a few martial artists are seriously injured trying that feat.)
Obviously, Buffy was special from the start, be it in the film or episode one of Season one.

I am becoming more and more curious - you folks are sucking me into the Buffy universe, as it were.
I'll check out the websites, and see what information I can dig up here.

It's still great, though, when a girl - powers or no powers - walks INTO the abandoned warehouse to fight the monsters therein.
After 70 years of girls screaming and running, being saved by men, being stalked, being killed ... the change is nice.

As for Buffy's allies, this is the third case of Buffy having a good head on those shoulders of hers.
Of course, allies are a liability as well as an asset, if they cannot stand at your side in toe to toe combat (and many of Buffy's allies cannot do so), but Buffy seems to have a knack for keeping her allies protected, while gaining crucial information and support from them.
Not to say her allies are not attacked or hurt, but Buffy does seem to have a way of minimalizing this.
Chalk another point of intelligence up for Buffy on that matter.

Am I wrong, or is Spike a vampire?
And if he is a vampire, isn't he ... neutral???
For I do not see Buffy killing him, as she kills the other vampires.
And I don't see Spike trying to kill Buffy.

Where exactly does Spike stand in all this?

Am I right, that the vampires and their allies have taken over the local government, including the police?

 

[ToddSchumacher]

Trying to stay away from big spoilers here.

Spike is a vampire, he was supposed to be a two bit villian that died after a couple of episodes, in season two. He was so popular though, they kept him alive, and extended his story through the rest of season 2. He had one episode in season three, and became a regular cast member in season four and remained around since then. His character is one of the most changed and interesting of the cast. The fact that they keep him around (aside from that incredible power: script immunity) Is the fact that he's pretty much a neutered dog now, and can be very helpful at times.

One of my favorite Spike quotes, in season four, after being held by the scoobies and seeing how they operate "This is the crack squad that foiled my every plan? I'm so shamed." -or something to that effect

 

[Tsyr]

Spike has... reasons... for not being overtly hostile towards most people recently. Spike is, on the other hand, perfectly capable of acts of pure evil.

Or was.

I think my favorite spike quote so far goes something like...

(other vampire makes referance to being at the Crucifixion)

Spike: Oh give me a break. You were at the Crucifixion? If ever vampire who said he was at the Crucifixion was actualy there, the place would have been like woodstock. I was actualy at woodstock, you know. That was some wild gig. I fed off a flower person... and spent the next 6 hours watching my hand move.

 

[Klaus]

SPIKE SPOILERS-----












Spike was a lame poet in Victorian England by the name of William the Bloody (because he was bloody terrible with his poetry), who was turned into a vampire by nutcase Drusilla (who was turned into a vamp by Angelus/Angel, who in turn was embraced by Darla 150 years earlier in Ireland). The tortured poet became an uncontrollable killer, utterly disrespectful of the vampiric traditions of caution against humans (even Angelus, the most terrible vampire that ever existed, and a rebel, abided by those rules). Spike was able to kill not one, but TWO slayers (one in China, during the Boxers' Revolution, and one in 1970s New York. That's where he got his signature leather coat.

Spike and Drusilla, the psycothic lovers, were described as the Sid & Nancy of vampiredom (Sid as in Sid Vicious, of Sex Pistols fame). The couple wrecked havok in Sunnydale time and again, but got separated after Dru put the moves on a demon in Mexico. Spike returned to Sunnydale, gave Angel some trouble over in LA, then got captured by the government and became a guinea pig for their neutering experiment. He now experiences mighty migraines if he tries to cause harm to humans. After that he tried to remain a villain, but eventually found out he was in love with Buffy.

It took him two seasons to prove his love (by suffering extreme punishment by the hand of Glory, the hell-goddess, while refusing to tell her that Dawn was The Key), and even so it took the musical episode to make Buffy act upon those feelings. Too bad that after they got their act together he turned into a jerk...

So Spike, IMHO, started as Chaotic Evil, turned Neutral Evil after being separated from Angelus and Darla (he had to be the Man of the House), then was forced to become Neutral by the chip (which prevented him from causing harm). If he ever becomes Good remains to be seen.