Slayers' Life Span

[white avenger]

Since no Slayers in history have ever died what would be considered a "natural" death, is there not a possibility that, due to their increased healing abilities, they could potentially have much greater life spans than normal humans? Given the fact that, as of the end of Season 7, the world is relatively overrun with Slayers now, the odds that someone, whether Buffy, Faith, or some other unnamed Slayer, might live to find out has greatly increased.

I know that, as as the original story went, by Frey's time, all Slayers were dead before she was called, but that was due to the apocalypse that Buffy prevented in Season 8, as affirmed by Joss. With that event changed, nothing after that would remain the same.

 

[EVIL UU]

I don't think that this question can be answered without knowing what exactly causes the ageing of a human body, what exactly does the activation do with a human body and how exactly does the slayer's positively ridiculous healing abilities work. So far Buffy's body has been ageing fairly normally. On the other hand, slayers are supernatural creatures so infinite life span is not off the table.

 

[Blaze]

That is very interesting. Considering that a slayer is basically formed with a power installed in a normal human being, or some time of "demonic presence" installed in them, I would assume that they would have a regular life span because the human body would eventually give out. It's not like a vampire where the body is just a vessel type thing (the body really is dead, so it has no importance with their life span), the slayer is part of the human and vice versa. Buffy has been ageing normally, which pretty much means that since the body is still alive, it would die of natural cause similarly to a regular person.

Now the only difference is that I'm guessing the slayer would be "healthier" because she can heal so fast. So we wouldn't witness a slayer dying prematurely of a heart attack, or some kind of illness. So a slayer would at the very least live to the superior age for a normal super healthy human.

Again, that's just a theory, it is very possible that through magick they extend the life span of a human being, but to be I think the human part would give out first and essentially the slayer would eventually die like any human. Now if the slayer was purely demonic, it would be an entirely different story.

 

[white avenger]

Buffy has been ageing normally, which pretty much means that since the body is still alive, it would die of natural cause similarly to a regular person.

Again, that's just a theory, it is very possible that through magick they extend the life span of a human being, but to be I think the human part would give out first and essentially the slayer would eventually die like any human. Now if the slayer was purely demonic, it would be an entirely different story.

Buffy has, supposedly, been physically maturing into a fully developed adult, which isn't exactly what I meant by aging. What I mean is the physical deterioration of the body due to cumulative injuries, various diseases, and parts just in general wearing out. Most of that, the Slayer's accelerated healing process, if it remained active, should be at least slowed down, if not stopped altogether. The one time that we saw her sick with something as mundane as the flu, her recovery rate was much faster than normal, so it would be fair to speculate that her immune system is as efficient at combating disease as her body is at healing cuts and bruises.

I don't think that it would be probable that, barring some massive trauma like a bullet or being drained by a vampire, a Slayer might have a life span as much as twice that of a normal person, or even more, and even without the things normally associated with aging, like arthritis, the weakening of sight and hearing, and muscle deterioration.

 

[Xin Rong]

That is very interesting. Considering that a slayer is basically formed with a power installed in a normal human being, or some time of "demonic presence" installed in them, I would assume that they would have a regular life span because the human body would eventually give out. It's not like a vampire where the body is just a vessel type thing (the body really is dead, so it has no importance with their life span), the slayer is part of the human and vice versa. Buffy has been ageing normally, which pretty much means that since the body is still alive, it would die of natural cause similarly to a regular person.

Now the only difference is that I'm guessing the slayer would be "healthier" because she can heal so fast. So we wouldn't witness a slayer dying prematurely of a heart attack, or some kind of illness. So a slayer would at the very least live to the superior age for a normal super healthy human.

Again, that's just a theory, it is very possible that through magick they extend the life span of a human being, but to be I think the human part would give out first and essentially the slayer would eventually die like any human. Now if the slayer was purely demonic, it would be an entirely different story.

I think a Slayer would almost definitely have a longer life span, in a similar way to Wolverine does or the healers from Heroes, but not to as great an extent, if they heal faster then in theory they should age slower... or maybe the strain that being essentially 'part demon', at least in essence, puts on the body may actually cause the opposite effect... obviously this is all speculation until we come to the end of buffy season 153 🙂

 

[neodragon]

Here's a thought; it could be exactly the opposite.

What if a slayer's enhanced strength and abilities which go beyond the limits of a normal human body causes them to deteriorate faster. For obvious reasons, slayers didn't need to be "designed" to last long. They might die naturally at 40, kind of a mystical equivalent to the price that Initiative soldiers like Riley paid for their scientifically enhanced strength.