Buffy Summers (Vampire Slayer)

Buffy Summers was born in 1981 to Hank and Joyce Summers. Relatively little is known about her childhood, except that she would pretend to be a superhero. It also seems she was very close to her cousin Celia, who later died in hospital. The death of Celia is the principle reason she now hates hospitals.

Buffy started attending Hemery High School, in Los Angeles, in the fall of 1995. She was elected the equivalent of the May Queen in 1996, and it was about this time that she learned from her Watcher, Merrick, that she was the Chosen One, the Slayer of vampires. During the beginning of her Slayerhood, Merrick was killed and she burned down the school gymnasium. These events are immortalised in the underrated film starring Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland and Luke Perry.

Following her initial escapades as a Slayer, Buffy's parents - who were already having marital problems - finalized their divorce. Her mother gained custody of Buffy the same year, and the two of them moved to a house in Sunnydale, California, where Buffy enrolled as a sophomore at Sunnydale High School.

Following a period of reluctance, stemming from a desperate desire to lead a normal life, Buffy once again took up her Slayer duties, this time under the guidance of Rupert Giles, her new Watcher. From there, her Slaying went from strength to strength. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for her lovelife. Her only successful relationship to date has been with Angel, and even this ended badly.

So there you have it; Buffy Summers, your average, everyday schoolgirl with lots of friends - NOT. In fact, Buffy is anything but average or everyday. For one thing she is a Vampire Slayer, and in case there is anyone who still doesn't know what that means (what corner of the planet have you been hiding in) to each generation is born a Slayer, a girl who is destined to destroy vampires and fight evil. What's more, Buffy has only 4 close friends; 5 if you include her Watcher, Rupert Giles. In addition to this, her boyfriend is a vampire. This latter fact would be bad at the best of times, but it is doubly bad for a Vampire Slayer.

There is something about Buffy - perhaps her stubbornness or her need to do things her own way - that makes her different. Not in the sense that she's a Vampire Slayer, but because she's different from all of her predeccesors. "In what way?" I hear you ask. Well for a start, it's a written rule that only the Watcher and the Slayer are allowed to know about the Slayer's fight against evil, and as anyone familiar with the series knows, Buffy's friends - Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Oz, are all in on the secret. Mind you, it doesn't really matter about Oz, because he's irrevocably linked to the supernatural himself, spending three days out of every month as a werewolf.

Buffy was sent to Sunnydale, California to fight the forces of darkness and try to rid it of vampires and demons. This is far from easy, since Sunnydale just happens to be the hellmouth. Three vampires in particular cause Buffy more than their fair share of grief - Spike, Drusilla, and Angel - or Angelus as he was formerly known. Of these three, it is Buffy's relationship with Angel that is the most complicated. Angel used to be bad, until he had a curse placed on him that returned his soul to him. Then he met Buffy and the two of them fell in love. This was all well and good until they consummated their relationship on Buffy's 17th birthday. This had the effect of lifting the curse and turning Angel back to his old self. So it was that fate came between the two lovers.

If Buffy has any arch enemies, they are Spike and Dru, the vampire couple who just won't go down. Spike has a nasty history of killing Slayers, and Dru is stark raving mad. In a way you have to pity Dru, as the reason she is crazy is that Angel in his former evil days killed everyone close to her, and made her into a vampire. Powerful adversaries, but let's face it, no match for Buffy and the gang.

Click here to read an interview with Sarah Michelle Gellar (star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or check out the pictures and music below.