Because you don't know the real truth. That the world is older than you know. That contrary to popular belief, it did not begin as a paradise. That demons walked the Earth and ruled it for countless generations.
Until the Slayer emerged.
That for thousands upon thousands of generation, a young girl is chosen by Fate and is gifted with supernatural strength and skill to fight demons and to kill them. That she protects the world against the forces of darkness until she dies ... and then another is called upon to serve. And so on and so on. She is the Slayer.
That countless generations of young girls have sacrificed their innocence and their lives for the rest of us in the shadows. Unacknowledged and unknown. Now in the 20th century, the latest Chosen One is ... Buffy. And evil had better beware.
It was a television adaptation of the 1992 feature film, Buffy the Vampire Slayer but unlike its moderately successful inspiration, BtVS became a huge cult hit and was highly acclaimed series that won several Emmy, Golden Satellite, Hugo, Saturn, and Television Critics Association Awards during its run and was praised for its feminist themes. It also had it's own spin-off series, Angelwhich focused on the Vampire With A Soul, Angel as the titular character and series protagonist.
It's enduring popularity resulted in a series of ongoing comics that continue the saga of Buffy Summers and her friends and their continuing adventures and trials. There has been several attempts for several spin-off television series over the years and a revival Buffy film was proposed but remains in development limbo at present.
The titular character of the series. Once a shallow cheerleader, she was chosen by Fate to be the latest in a long lineage of Slayers who battle evil and gifted with supernaturally enhanced strength and combat prowess. Despite her desperate wish to live a normal life; Buffy has frequently been pulled into battles against various demons and vampires to protect her family, friends, the innocent, and sometimes not-so-innocent. Traditionally, there have only been one Slayer at any given time, with a new one being called upon the death of the current Slayer; Buffy has defied normal expectations by returning from the death twice and resulting in more than one Slayer being active at a time.
Buffy's Watcher, Giles is a member of an ancient fraternal order known as the Watchers' Council who were created centuries ago to help guide the Slayers. A scholar who researches demons and their weaknesses, Giles is also a dabbler in magics that he uses to support Buffy in her battles against evil. He becomes increasingly fond of his charge and acts as a surrogate father figure to her and her associates. He was portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head.
An incredibly popular supporting character, there were plans for Head to become the lead in his own spin-off series following the end of BtVS TV series but legal dispute over the character rights prevented this from occurring.
Buffy's first and best friend in Sunnydale along with Xander Harris. Originally a shy but very intelligent computer nerd picked on by Cordelia Chase; Willow was forced to grow stronger due to the various challenges and threats faced as she stood alongside her friend Buffy, becoming a powerful technopagan and witch and falling in love with fellow witch, Tara Maclay. She was portrayed by Alyson Hannigan.
Growing up in Sunnydale alongside his best friends, Jesse McNally and Willow Rosenberg; the trio were inseparable outcasts and loners throughout high school and ignorant of the supernatural threats lurking in the shadows until they encountered Buffy Summers.
An ordinary mortal and human, Xander was an irresponsible slacker who dedicated himself in the battle against evil when Jesse was turned into a vampire and he was forced to kill the souless demon inhabiting the dead body of his former best friend. Armed only with his sarcastic wit, Xander loyally fought alongside Buffy and the others despite often needing to be rescued by his more powerful friends. He was portrayed by Nicholas Brendon.
The Vampire with a Soul. He was once one of the most vicious and sadistic vampires to ever walk the Earth until he was cursed by gypsies to bear his human conscience once more over a hundred years ago. Encountering and hopelessly falling in love with Buffy, he pledged to help her but their doomed and tragic romantic relationship eventually fell apart.
He was portrayed by David Boreanaz who would go on to become the main protagonist in the Angel spin-off TV series, continuing his lonely struggle for redemption in the city of Angels.
Once a powerful mystical energy force known as the Key, a monastic order mystically remade it and used its power to remake reality by inserting the Key as the annoying little sister to Buffy Summers. They did so in order to protect the Key from falling into the hands of a powerful Demon Goddess Glorificus who would have destroyed the world with the Key in her possession. She was portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg.
The shallow, vain, and completely tactless head cheerleader and undisputed Queen of Sunnydale High. Often dragged against her will, kicking and shrieking into the battle against the supernatural; she became a reluctant ally to Buffy and her group mostly out of her own self-centered desire to survive and to protect shopping malls from various apocalypses. She would go on to become a major supporting character in the Angel spin-off TV series where she would become a much kinder and self-sacrificing persona. She was portrayed by Charisma Carpenter.
A former 1,102 year old Vengeance Demon who was inadvertently stripped of her powers thanks to Rupert Giles. Anya is now forced to learn how to be a normal human ... and a teenager. Her vast supernatural experience makes her a valuable source of knowledge for Buffy to tap when she isn't being annoyingly whiny about her newfound mortality and morality. Anya frequently has an on-and-off again romantic relationship with Xander Harris. She was portrayed by Emma Caulfield.
An evil vampire and former associate to Angel before they went their separate ways after Angel regained his soul. Notorious as "William the Bloody", he is responsible for the death of two Slayers during his career. An arrogant vampire who originally hoped to kill Buffy and make his reputation as a trifecta killer of Slayers; he instead became a reluctant ally to her when their purposes aligned only to fall in love with her and fights along Buffy and her friends to prove himself worthy of her love.
He was portrayed by James Marsters who later went on to guest star in the spin-off Angel TV series.
A wild child and borderline criminal before inheriting the mantle of the Slayer after one of Buffy's temporary deaths and resurrections; Faith indulges her violent and sociopathic tendencies before becoming corrupted by her power. She ultimately became a murderer and a criminal, allying with several dark enemies against Buffy and Angel before she finally redeemed herself.
A secondary character in the BtVS series and supporting character in the Angel spin-off TV series. She was portrayed by Eliza Dushku.
A member of the same Wicca Group of witches that Willow becomes involved with. Originally friends, their relationship deepened into a full romantic relationship but grew strained with Willow's growing addiction to magic. She was portrayed by Amber Benson.
For more Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters click on the link below:
The freshly divorced Joyce Summers has moved to the small town of Sunnydale in the hopes of reconnecting with her troubled teenage daughter Buffy. Once a popular cheerleader in her high school, Buffy has become a moody and troubled teen with her parents' martial troubles to the point where she was kicked out of school for burning down the school gym and concoting a fantasy that she was some sort of "supernatural warrior blessed with powers to battle vampires".
Sunnydale is a new fresh start for them. But what Joyce does not realize is that her daughter not delusional at all but the newest Slayer and that Sunnydale is far from a normal small town. It is in fact, built on a Hellmouth―a convergence point to the infernal realms and a supernatural haven for demons of all sorts ... in particular vampires. Against her will, Buffy finds herself drawn back into the world of the supernatural to defend herself and her newfound friends, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris against the forces of darkness lurking in the shadows of Sunnydale. She finds allies in the form of Rupert Giles, a member of the fraternal order known as the Watchers who assist the Slayers behind the scenes and the dark and mysterious handsome stranger known Angel who hides a startling secret of his own...
