Sunnydale before Buffy's arrival

[eunsoma]

Did Buffy's arrival spark some sort of Hellmouth activation??

The reason I'm wondering is based on Xander's comment in S1E6 - 'The Pack':
"Before [Buffy] came here our lives didn't need that much saving, did they? Weren't things a lot simpler..."

And also, the fact that Giles tells Buffy to "Dig a bit in the history of this place. You'll find a, a steady stream of fairly odd occurrences." (in S1E1 - 'Welcome to the Hellmouth')
You'd assume that if the Hellmouth were active like in the time Buffy lived in Sunnydale, Giles wouldn't have to 'dig' so much as read the current papers etc. Wouldn't you think that there'd be a lot of unexplained neck trauma and strange deaths occuring all the time?

Finally, we see in S3E9 - 'The Wish', what Sunnydale would have been like had Buffy never arrived. This leads me to wonder, why was it not already like this before she arrived? Unless the previous Slayer also lived in Sunnydale to keep all of the hellmouth happenings at bay??? (I don't know anything about the slayer before Buffy so I wouldn't know).
Or maybe the vampires only took control of the town once the Master had risen?

Still though, I don't think that Sunnydale would have appeared to be the safe and happy place it was intoduced to the viewers as in the first episode, had there been so much demonic activity and nobody to keep it all under control.

 

[Tueuse de Vampires]

I personally think that there are certain peak times of supernatural occurences in Sunnydale. We know there was already some stuff going on in the past (like the Master...and also the amount of churches spread over Sunnydale), and as I understood it from Buffy methology there's always something going on everywhere (just look at LA, where there's no Hellmouth, or Faith's stories from (?)Missouri before she came to Sunnydale).
The way I understood it the Hellmouth 'sensed' the Master's soon coming arisal and only then (which happened to 'coincide' with Buffy's arrival) really began cooking (although I assume it had at least some influence before, still letting more supernatural stuff happen in Sunnydale than what should be expected in such a small town), which then attracted all the vampires and made them extra jumpy. So then until Buffy defeated the Master the Hellmouth kept simmering, and then, as the very Big Bad was gone, stopped. Of course we know that supernatural activiy did not go down after that, but if you think about it, it still makes sense. First of all, Sunnydale got the reputation. Even with the Hellmuth not being superactive, it's still the Hellmouth, loads of vampires, and a history that probably sounded like Christmas for vamps. Then there was Buffy, who, I assume, was a bit of a demon magnet - everyone would like the reputation óf having taken out a slayer!

This would also explain why there was even weirder stuff going on in s1 (when the Hellmouth was supposedly very active) than in any other season. Leaving s7 out (because there it was the whole crazy thing again), in seasons 2-6 you had demons, witches, vampires but nothing really weird happening just out of nowhere. In contrast to that, in s1 we had a girl going invisible from the mystical Hellmouth energy, all the Nightmares that got real etc., so all stuff caused directly by the Hellmouth.

 

[eunsoma]

I had never before thought about any of what you said Cangel, but now I have to say I agree 🙂 Your ideas would also support the reason that straight after the Master died and Buffy went to LA on holidays (in between seasons 1 and 2 remember she went and stayed with her dad) the hellmouth seemed to die down a little, so to speak, because I can remember Xander and Willow saying how it'd been a really quiet summer in terms of demons, and I think they even said they hadn't seen a vamp since the night the Master was killed.
Nice connection between S1 'wierd stuff' and S7 'wierd stuff' too...

 

[Buffyverse Fan]

The "more active" thing is definitely possible.

We should also keep in mind that it should have gotten progressively worse since the Mayor's ascension was getting closer, and that was the whole reason he founded Sunnydale to begin with.

In some cases it was thing that the Scoobies did, Spike & Dru only set up camp there to kill Buffy, if Buffy wasn't there, after Dru was cured they just would have left. Glory being there was Buffy's doing, because Glory was hunting the Key who happened to be Buffy's sister. The Trio was Buffy's fault since their reason for being was to mess with her. Dark Willow was Buffy's fault since Buffy introduced her to the occult. The First was Buffy's fault since her second resurrection was what brought about its execution of its plans. While those things were indirectly Buffy's doing, the bulk of them wouldn't have come to pass if she weren't there. The only parts that were mostly independent of Buffy were Adam & the Mayor.

 

[eunsoma]

yerr but I'm referring more to just the run of the mill nasties that we saw along the way, such as vampires, demons, ghosts and zombies... Heck even fishmonsters lol...

 

[UlaGan]

yerr but I'm referring more to just the run of the mill nasties that we saw along the way, such as vampires, demons, ghosts and zombies... Heck even fishmonsters lol...

Well, all that you mentioned could have been occuring like 70ty or more years before Buffy's arrival - there was huge earthquake in 1930s that "swallowed" the Master, binding him or his powers so vamps went really quiet for loooong time. Buffy's arrival happened to be 'destined" - there was a profecy of Master revival - just recall S1 E1.
So, I think Sunnydale could have been 'buffy-times-like' up till the last huge 'quake. Since then people were 'disappearing' just like in any 'normal' small town - 1~2 in two weeks - no big deal!

 

[Uncle Rory]

The Harvest could only happen at a particular time so although the creepy crawly bumpy faced crowd was attracted to Sunnydale, they could only get SO out of control since the Master, sitting directly on top of the Hellmouth wasn't going to let just any Demon start anything.

Also, Xander's comments may or may not have been informed opinions. If Xander had known anything about Vampires before Buffy's arrival he would most likely have been dead.

So when they mentioned that the Master was stuck in the Hellmouth like a cork in a bottle they were really saying a lot.

Neat thread. Never gave it a lot of thought.

Uncle Rory

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

The Harvest could only happen at a particular time so although the creepy crawly bumpy faced crowd was attracted to Sunnydale, they could only get SO out of control since the Master, sitting directly on top of the Hellmouth wasn't going to let just any Demon start anything.

Also, Xander's comments may or may not have been informed opinions. If Xander had known anything about Vampires before Buffy's arrival he would most likely have been dead.

So when they mentioned that the Master was stuck in the Hellmouth like a cork in a bottle they were really saying a lot.

Neat thread. Never gave it a lot of thought.

Uncle Rory

Yup, pretty much what I was about to say. They made a fairly big thing about the Master being "stuck". He kept the Hellmouth closed - and more important, un-openable. This stopped the rapid convergance of big-bads trying to open it that we saw in Buffy's time, and seemed to keep the general levels of mystical activity down. It was only when the Master started trying to break out that things got nasty.

Remember, Buffy was sent to respond to the Hellmouth's activation, not the other way around. That's why Giles was there waiting for her, rather than going to find her like Merrick did. Mix all that in with some patented Sunnydale cover-up and denial and Xander's reaction is pretty understandable.

 

[InsaneMystic]

Nice theory, but I'm afraid "The Prom" pretty much nixes it. Doesn't Jonathan say in his Class Protector speech something about their class having the lowest death rate in a SD high grad year for decades? Buffy seemed to have kept the Hellmouth activities LOWER than average.

I guess in WttH Xander was still suffering from Sunnydalia. You know, that affliction that keeps you living in violent denial 99% of the time.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

Nice theory, but I'm afraid "The Prom" pretty much nixes it. Doesn't Jonathan say in his Class Protector speech something about their class having the lowest death rate in a SD high grad year for decades? Buffy seemed to have kept the Hellmouth activities LOWER than average.

I guess in WttH Xander was still suffering from Sunnydalia. You know, that affliction that keeps you living in violent denial 99% of the time.

But, a Slayer reduced low rate could still be lower than the regular background rate before the Hellmouth was Draino-d. There was more activity but less deaths. Plus, with more activity, the incidents would have been more recognisably supernatural, straining people's denial muscles more than usual.

 

[InsaneMystic]

But, a Slayer reduced low rate could still be lower than the regular background rate before the Hellmouth was Draino-d. There was more activity but less deaths. Plus, with more activity, the incidents would have been more recognisably supernatural, straining people's denial muscles more than usual.

meh... I guess that part about the normal vs. increased death rate makes sense, but it still doesn't explain Xander's feeling of safety. I mean, even the death toll WITH Buffy was worrying enough, and a higher one than that? How oblivious do they want us to think the Xan-man is?

 

[eunsoma]

the theories you guys are suggesting are all really neat, i hadn't given much thought to the master being stuck actually blocking the hellmouth, but now i think about it i can recall something being said about it... Well yer, makes sense 🙂

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

meh... I guess that part about the normal vs. increased death rate makes sense, but it still doesn't explain Xander's feeling of safety. I mean, even the death toll WITH Buffy was worrying enough, and a higher one than that? How oblivious do they want us to think the Xan-man is?

He is pretty oblivious! The thing is though, pre-Buffy he had no real reason to attribute the high death rate to anything supernatural. You'd be amazed how quickly people would get used to a background rate like that and not question it - especially if they've lived there their whole lives. It would just be normal. Unless the person was actually faced with a vampire/demon/etc their lives wouldn't need "saving". If they were...well, they generally didn't live to tell the tale. I think Xander was talking in a very personal sense, i.e., neither his nor Willow's life had needed saving. Now that they were fighting evil every Tuesday night, they did.

 

[itsxpaperdoll]

He is pretty oblivious! The thing is though, pre-Buffy he had no real reason to attribute the high death rate to anything supernatural. You'd be amazed how quickly people would get used to a background rate like that and not question it - especially if they've lived there their whole lives. It would just be normal. Unless the person was actually faced with a vampire/demon/etc their lives wouldn't need "saving". If they were...well, they generally didn't live to tell the tale. I think Xander was talking in a very personal sense, i.e., neither his nor Willow's life had needed saving. Now that they were fighting evil every Tuesday night, they did.

That was more or less exactly what I was going to say.

Vamps and other freaky, well, freaks running rampage in Sunnydale after Buffy's arrival I would attribute to the increased Hellmouth activity, which they either knew or just felt.
Before Buffy's arrival, most of them would have already been around, but less overtly so, like vampires generally are (I assume, since in Fool for Love (?) we saw Angel being all annoyed with Spike for making too much of a scene).
And about people feeling safe even though obviously loads of people dissapeared, dyed with mysterious neck trauma etc etc, I think Lindsey was spot on. If you're used to a high death rate, you don't really notice it and there's definitely no reason to think it's something supernatural. And we mustn't forget that the Mayor has been around for quite some time and he (thus) has experience with covering things up.

 

[Big Damn Hero]

I can't remember what the episode is called, but when Spike etc go to the high school on parents evening & snyder gets trapped in the room with Joyce etc? And he talks to the police at the end about "say it was a gang on PCP" etc. & then you find out he's one of the mayor's henchmen. So that shows pretty strong evidence for cover ups by the authorities (i.e. Cause of death being anything apart from two tiny holes on the neck & being drained of all blood 😛).

 

[Bob]

Since it was always a hell mouth i guess it was always dangerous, but it got alot worse then Buffy was then told she was a slayer and was trained!...
she was already there, just didnt know she was a Vampire Slayer!

 

[sibby]

There was probebly an advert in the paper "Slayer coming to town! Demons at the ready" XD

 

[itsxpaperdoll]

itsxpaperdoll agrees: It was Halloween ^^

Silly me, it was School Hard, not Halloween. I was reading two threads at the same time, and then mistakes can occur 😉

Anyway, I don't think Buffy arriving in town has had much to do with it. Because, after all, Buffy came to town because the First was trying to open the Hellmouth, and not the other way round

 

[grrarg]

I personally think that there are certain peak times of supernatural occurences in Sunnydale. We know there was already some stuff going on in the past (like the Master...and also the amount of churches spread over Sunnydale), and as I understood it from Buffy methology there's always something going on everywhere (just look at LA, where there's no Hellmouth, or Faith's stories from (?)Missouri before she came to Sunnydale)...

My hometown is almost exactly the same size as Sunnydale and has the most churches per capita in the country. Reeeeeeally makes me think. 🙂

 

[BillyidolwannaB]

It wasn't Buffys arrival that triggered it, it was something like the hellmouth had been gathering energy and had reached high levels of energy(what the master was waiting on). All the same stuff would have happened with or without buffy being there. As giles says in wtthm, ''theres a reason why your here and theres a reason why its now'' sunnydale would have been much quieter pre season 1(maybe)