When Joss Whedon was first imagining the concept that would eventually grow into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he was sparked by one simple, classic, horror movie image. Picture this, a young, helpless, beautiful blonde walks alone into a dark place. Suddenly an unspeakable evil leaps out behind her and . . . but Whedon did not want her to die. That had been done before. Instead of letting the girl die, instead of seeing her destroyed, he wondered what would happen if the girl turned and became the destroyer. Thus, Buffy was born. Exit the victim. Enter the hero.

Buffy is a self perpetuating text. She weaves her own mythological mix of popular culture and Scooby legend. She casts a spell on her audience and draws them in. As the lead character grows and changes, the show grows and changes. Every episode, every watcher, every plot twist, every writer, every character, every actor has a thorough effect on the direction of the show. Indeed the show seems to be bred by its own intertextuality. It is "textually promiscuous," sharing textual relations with many different cultural and pop-cultural artifacts which always leave something behind when they connect. The show is also internally promiscuous, borrowing from the life of the show to perpetuate itself.

Through the run of the series, Buffy begins to claim her femininity, her sexuality, her power, and her slayer heritage. The Buffy who emerges from the series is stronger and wiser than she was at the beginning of the show. Far from being an instant change, the process is slow and traceable through the events of the seven seasons. Because of these changes, Buffy is better prepared to be the strong, independent warrior she needs to be in order to save her sister, her friends, her world, and even her television series.