Tips on writing Buffy so that she's a believable and in character.

    Writing Buffy will depend a lot on what season you're writing in. As the seasons went by, she lost aspects and parts of her "girliness" and developed into the strong, fighting woman we saw in the latter seasons. She is complex and complicated, will try to logic herself out of jumping into something too quickly, and is completely screwed up when it comes to the dating department.

    1. She has been hurt...that shaped her look on relationships.

        When Buffy was young, before she moved to Sunnydale, her parents got divorced and her father left them and for a while, Buffy thought it might have been her fault (Nightmares). Later, at age 17, Buffy's first love went horribly wrong and since then, she has never been able to fully move on. She slept with Angel for the first time and he lost his soul and she ended up sending him to hell WITH his soul. Then, Parker slept with her and dumped her the next day. After that came Riley, the man she thought would give her that "normal life" that Angel wanted her to have. However, he wanted to be the normal guy that could protect his girlfriend, not the guy who had to sit around and watch his girlfriend do all the fighting.

        Because Hank, Angel, and Riley all wound up leaving her, this has made a huge impact on her love life. Buffy is not going to simply jump back into a relationship, especially with Spike, since she is afraid of being hurt again and that Spike will leave town.

    2. Slayer Lingo

        Buffy is known for changing words around, such as adding "age" or "y" to the end of verbs and nouns, calling demons wrong names (Al Frankin instead of Acathla), and making witty, light comebacks during slaying and patrolling. If you're writing Buffy in a fight scene, keep all of that in mind. However, when things call for a serious tone, Buffy knows that, and can easily switch over to being the series Slayer. Watch how she talks on the show and use that as your guide.

    3. Buffy worries about being judged

        In season 6, Buffy hides her relationship with Spike from her friends, knowing that they will disapprove. Xander has never liked Buffy's boyfriends, especially the undead ones, Giles wouldn't tolerate it because of how he has been taught and his beliefs, and everyone would be worried since it's SPIKE -- the vampire who did try to kill them several years ago. Therefore, Buffy would rather hide in shame than come clean. Again, this is all because of her past relationships that ended so badly.

    4. Darker Tones

        In season 6, Buffy reached an all-time low after being brought back from Heaven and having to life once again. She isn't *evil* dark, but she is in a dark place. She isn't happy having to adjust to life and it shows throughout the season. If you are writing in season 6, make it angsty! Make it dark and make her unhappy! Most people don't like reading/writing the darker Buffy because no one wants to see the heroine that dark, but it happened and as a writer, you can't ignore that it happened. For more info on writing Buffy in season 6, read Writing Buffy in Season 6 by the Staff @ Blood and Honey

    5. Slow and Steady

        In season 7, Buffy has reached a more normal feeling in life. She's adjusted to life and is glad to be back in it. Then, when Spike shows up again, she has to deal with remembering what they did to each other last year and face the fact that he is changing into a better man. Throughout season 7, Buffy defends Spike and begins to see him change. She eventually believes that he is a good man and is not what he used to be like. It is a slow progress, but works for her character and is realistic. Seeing Spike change into a better man makes Buffy realize that it's now a real possibility to love this man. 

    6. In the End

        Buffy is ultimately alone. No one can realize what it's like to be a Slayer, even with friends and a family. No one has gone through everything she has, and yet she can somehow cope with everything and keep on fighting. This theme that the Slayer is ultimately alone and the Slayer must depend on herself to get things done, is shown throughout the show, at the end of season 2, towards the end of season 7, and during season 4 when she herself pulls away from her friends. Buffy is strong with her friends helping, but she is also strong and an amazing woman when she's alone.

Did I miss anything? Want me to add something? Let me know!

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