Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Relive the moments that made you cry, nail-bite and throw things at the TV for seven seasons-and get ready for Dark Horse’s Season 8!

Joss Whedon’s television masterpiece “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” debuted on the WB (now CW) on March 10, 1997, and like a pair of vampire teeth sunk deep into our necks, it’s kept its grip on fans ever since.

For seven seasons, fans followed the story of slayer Buffy Summers and her high school gang consisting of her watcher Rupert Giles, witchy Willow Rosenberg and the comedic Xander Harris. Today, the saga continues as Dark Horse releases the in-continuity Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 into the comic book world, with Whedon penning the first issues. In anticipation of revisiting the Buffy-verse, we’ve compiled a list of the most gut-wrenching moments in Buffy history.

10. Buffy and the gang take the fight into the Hellmouth
“Chosen,” Season Seven, Episode 144
We waited seven long years to journey into the Hellmouth, and in the last-ever “Buffy” episode we finally got our chance! “I’m going down into the Hellmouth and I’m finishing this once and for all!” Buffy exclaimed right before the battle. And so the Buffy gang, along with a battalion of acne-faced potential slayers, dove straight into the belly of hell for a take-no-prisoners fight to the death!

9. Buffy dies saving Dawn
“The Gift,” Season Five, Episode 100
Although death wasn’t the greatest obstacle in the Buffy-verse, when Buffy sacrificed herself to save Dawn, fans were left grieving for the first half of summer 2001. That Buffy was going to bite the big one was no surprise: In Season Three’s “Graduation Day Part 2,” rogue vampire slayer Faith cryptically tells Buffy, “Miles to go, little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0.” Little Miss Muffet is a reference to Dawn, the number 730 signifies 730 days between the dream and Buffy’s death, and “Miles to go” is a line taken from Robert Frost’s poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, which centers around death.

What made Buffy’s death so heartbreaking was that Dawn was created from the part of Buffy that wasn’t the slayer. So essentially, Buffy died saving her innocence. As Buffy put it, “She’s me. The monks made her out of me. I hold her...and I feel closer to her than...It’s not just the memories they built. It’s physical. Dawn is a part of me. The only part that...”

8. Faith kisses Buffy on the forehead
“Enemies,” Season Three, Episode 51
The best moment in Buffy and Faith history is when the two slayers are fighting to the death in Season Three’s “Enemies” and end their scuff with knives at each other’s throat. Faith then kisses Buffy on the forehead and runs off. Up to this point, Buffy and Faith were frenemies, but now there was no more pretending. They hated each other. Faith was ready to embrace the killer in her, and Buffy began to accept her role as the sole slayer.

7. Dark Willow skins Warren
“Villains,” Season Six, Episode 120
When Warren kills Willow’s lover, Tara, all hell breaks loose. Willow, consumed with the darkest magics known to man, hunts Warren down and skins him alive. WOW! We knew Warren was capable of doing something beyond evil, but we never knew Willow was capable of it. The episode redefined our perception of Willow, and made us question what else she was capable of doing.

6. Drusilla hypnotizes Giles
“Becoming Part 2,” Season Two, Episode 34
No question about it: Drusilla has concocted some twisted schemes. Among her worst was brainwashing Giles into believing she was the dead Jenny Calendar in order to extract information on how to awaken the demon Acathla. Giles begging the supposed Jenny to stop Angelus from awakening Acathla left us crying our eyes out.

5. Buffy and Angel finally do it
“Surprise,” Season Two, Episode 26
Nothing is hotter than when a show’s two leading stars get it on! But in a midseason twist, it’s revealed that if Angel experiences one moment of true happiness, he will lose his soul and revert back to his vampire ego Angelus. And that’s exactly what happened. It’s often said that a guy becomes a different person after sex, but in Buffy’s case it wasn’t just metaphorical.

4. Angelus kills Jenny Calendar
“Passion,” Season Two, Episode 29 No one in Buffy’s life is safe when Angelus lurks in the dark. As seen in Season Two, when Jenny Calendar finds the curse to reinstate Angel’s lost soul, Angelus shows up to snap her neck. Jenny’s death was the series’ first major casualty, and sent the message to viewers that nobody was safe. On the plus side, Jenny’s death would eventually inspire Willow to explore witchcraft and become the Northern Hemisphere’s most powerful witch.

3. The Master ascends because of Buffy
“Prophecy Girl,” Season One, Episode 13
The Master rising from the depths of hell was foretold in ancient scriptures way before Buffy became the guardian of the Hellmouth. However, in an eerie twist, it was Buffy’s decision to confront him in his prison that allowed him to feed on her and receive the strength he needed to break free.

2. Joyce Summers dies
“The Body,” Season Five, Episode 94
Joss Whedon cuts deep into the hearts of the characters in this episode. Nothing struck Buffy and fans harder than seeing Buffy’s mom, Joyce Summers, die of a brain aneurysm after her recovery from surgery. For years she was Buffy’s support pillar and represented everything Buffy was fighting for-family and unconditional love. Unlike many other deaths in the Buffy-verse, this was real. Buffy finding her mom dead stands as the scariest moment on the show, and served as a harsh reminder of just how much mortality stinks. Moments after the episode ended, we were on the phone calling our moms.

1. Buffy kills Angel after he is re-souled
“Becoming Part 2,” Season Two, Episode 34
Quite possibly Buffy’s defining moment. Buffy killing Angel demonstrated that a slayer’s duties transcend the love of a man, and that she must do anything to ensure the world’s safety.