Question Making Dawn more likable

[Primal Slayer]

I know that Dawn annoys a lot of buffy fans and she really annoyed me during Season5 and most of Season6. But if you could go back in time at the start of Season6, how would you have dealt with Dawn and her storylines?

I think after everything she had gone through in season5 losing both her mother and sister, it should have made her more serious and mature.

 

[Wishing Oceans]

I... Think... That she should've... Died... In Real Me...


😛 😛 😛

Meh, I didn't- and don't- like the idea of Buffy having a sister. One of my favorite things about Btvs was how it portrayed a beautiful lesson: 'Family' isn't just blood relations. 🙂 Buffy had a big family: Giles, Joyce, Xander, Willow... Adding Dawn was unnecessary.

On the other hand, we might have liked her more if she jumped in the place of Buffy. But then we would have to deal with everyone mourning, so.. 😉 And then she wouldn't even have to be in Season 6! 😀

 

[dan k]

I think we saw a more consistant mature side to Dawn in season 7. You could argue it should have happened earlier. The first real signs of Dawn taking on more responsibility however did come in season 6 when she fought alongside Buffy in "Grave". She showed immense bravery and it showed how she had grown from her experiences. The old Dawn would have screamed and just shouted for Buffy, that didn't happen though. Instead she was strong and wise enough to just get on with it, something we hadn't seen from Dawn before.

 

[caitaintdead]

I would have liked to have seen Dawn act like her age, not like a 12 year old. I understand that they wrote the part for a 12 year old and then at the last minute rewrote for an older character, but they should have made it a more realistic portrayal. I mean the scoobies were only 15/16 in Season 1 and they certainly weren't acting the way Dawn did. Can you imagine comparing Dawn to someone like Cordelia? It's stupid.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

Can you imagine comparing Dawn to someone like Cordelia? It's stupid.

To be fair, I don't think you can compare anyone to Cordelia. 😛

I get your point, but I don't feel Dawn was unduly immature. It was more that the Scoobies were overly matured. They were really portrayed as being anywhere between 18-20 from the start, to be honest. They didn't feel like young teenagers to me. They didn't drink, but they were out at a club most nights, and their high school life seemed very advanced. Also, Dawn was babied by Joyce, whereas Buffy was very much left to work things out for herself.

I really didn't have a problem with Dawn. I liked her, though not particularly strongly.

 

[msfantastico87]

Ok I know I've stated that I hate Dawn with a passion, in her defense, I only hated her at the beginning. I don't think It would have changed much. I mean yeah, the fact that both her mother and sister died should have made her character develop differently,but we pretty much had the same Dawn.

BUT!!!

I really like how in s6 she wanted to be included in the scoobies and try to kind of fit in ya know? At the end of s6 we see her and Buffy working in unison to fight off those tree/earth looking demons and she says something like

"What? You didn't notice me watching you?" or something like that.

Then it hits Buffy that she doesn't want to lose her sister...then in season 7 she starts to mature and in s8 you can see her maturing a bit more(granted the awkward situations she always seems to get herself into)

anyways, that's my thought.

 

[Mozzymandias]

Mostly I think Dawn was never written to be liked, in the beginning anyway, I always saw her written to be the annoying little sister and for us as fans to not like her so much. The writers had to find a good ground where she wasn't overly annoying but we got the message that she was bratty and the kid sister who is immature, which maybe they didn't do so well because many many people do not like the character.

On the subject of her immaturity I thought that they did most of the overly immature moments for a harsh offset to the life Buffy had led to make clear that Dawn was still a child, almost a kind of 'this could have been what you had/be' y'know without being called

Like stated previously, we see her begin to grow in maturity and find her own 'self' towards the end of S6 and throughout S7 where she does become less bratty and essentially 'more likeable'

I imagine her becoming more mature and adult will have been continued in the comics, but I haven't, and probably won't, read them so wouldn't find out.

 

[VisionGirl]

Meh, I didn't- and don't- like the idea of Buffy having a sister. One of my favorite things about Btvs was how it portrayed a beautiful lesson: 'Family' isn't just blood relations. 🙂 Buffy had a big family: Giles, Joyce, Xander, Willow... Adding Dawn was unnecessary.

For me, I do like that she had actual blood family. It was one of the things different about her. Remember that Spike said "A slayer with family and friends. That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure." It made her more motivated, gave her strength. Yes, her friends could've done that. But her sister was the one thing in the world that she loved more than anything. "Summers' blood". It was important to her. Although Dawn can be annoying, I definitely liked the storyline.

 

[Tome]

Dawn is a sometimes interesting, sometimes boring character. At least for me 😛 (I don't wanna hurt anyone feelings!) I liked the whole relationship with Spike, it made me appreciate them BOTH more. Also she had a couple great scenes with Buffy, that we couldn't have had if Buff had no 'blood' sister. Like the end scene of 'Forever' or in 'The Body'. But she was also lacking a personal goal I thought... Kinda like Riley. She did feel more into the 'Scooby groove' than Riley, but she never really brought anything that unique to the team. Except complaining about them not worrying enough about her(yea ok your sister gave up her life for you... can't ask for much more).

This is part of why I wouldn't mind her dying in s8.

 

[VisionGirl]

But she was also lacking a personal goal I thought... Kinda like Riley. She did feel more into the 'Scooby groove' than Riley, but she never really brought anything that unique to the team. Except complaining about them not worrying enough about her(yea ok your sister gave up her life for you... can't ask for much more).

See, I thought this was starting to happen for her in season 7, and I liked that. But they've done nothing with that in season 8. The most exciting things for her is turning into a giant, centaur, and doll (all the result of...you guessed it, sex!) & falling in love with Xander. But beyond that, no character growth.

 

[TaylorSwift]

It's interesting how Dawn's presence put Buffy in difficult positions: sharing her mom's attention, having to protect her all the time. Ok, none of these things are fun but we saw other shades of Buffy's character and that's what I liked. I find challenging that when Joyce dies Buffy is sort of a mother for Dawn (I can't help thinking Giles as the father) and Buffy has to face all her mom's death consequences aggravated by her sister. Again, not always fun and somewhat unfair to Buffy but I liked to see her in that role..Joss challenges his characters so that's ultimately what I like about Dawn..the changes she brought and how characters reacted to them. The bad part is the obvious part: she was basically insufferable and whiny all the time, immature and never got much development after season 5. This part is quite obvious and been discussed a lot so I won't go on.

 

[Ripper666]

I would stopp making her crying all the time. Instead that she would get anger and try to work against the Gang to get attention. In the end The Gang had to fight her like Willow once. Unfortunately that happened in season 6 with Willow I know. MAybe they could create at team!