What happens to a Slayer after 7 years?

[Khaych]

This has always been the line of speculation that interested me most.

I think i heard someone mention once that Slayers have an average lifespan of +/- 2 years. It seems to fit fairly well when considering Kendra and although Faith has lasted longer she hasn't been putting herself in harms way as duty requires.

But Buffy has gone 7 now? I'm not sure if that is a record in the Buffyverse, but it very well may be. It has come to the point where the first Slayer herself has influenced Buffy directly - which seems pretty unusual in the grand scheme of things, although you can attribute that to the joining spell in S4 ep21.

But the question is: What happens to a slayer who survives 7 years?

Well we can assume that the chances of survival go up. But it seems like this has been counter-balanced by the difficulty of her challenges rising as well. Almost like the fates know that in that age a strong slayer will come, and be ready to handle greater challenges than any slayer before her.

Look at many of the baddies Buffy has met with of late. Glory had contempt for a slayer as an opponent. She stressed her belief of how mundane and common a slayer was - and didn't take the threat very seriously. The Demon from OMWF was intrigued at the chance to face a slayer. Also in the past, we have seen stronger Vampires who welcomed the chance to test their mettle vs a slayer. But not anymore. When's the last time we saw a Vampire say 'Ooo a Slayer - this will be fun'. No, usually they cringe at the thought of facing Buffy. I get the feeling that if Buffy was to face The Master now, she would leave behind a dust cloud in short order.

So what happens to a slayer over time? They obviously get more competant through practice, but is it just that? Lately we've seen Buffy:
Punch through Cinderblocks.
Lift Vampires off their feet at arms length.
Kick doors across the room.
probably a lot of other things i cant think of.

It seems to me that she is stronger than she was originally. We can also reflect on how epic her battles with Spike were originally, but now when she fights Spike it seems a surety she will win. She is so confident she is stronger than he, her speech patterns tend to resemble that of an older brother's: 'Dont make me hurt you'. Angel has also mentioned that she is stronger than he. Lately when facing what would have been serious threats in the first seasons, she instead seems almost on the virge of yawning and falling asleep.

So is she getting stronger/faster? Is it related to her time as a slayer (much like how a vampire grows stronger through the years)? Or is it related in some way to dieing? And if Slayers get stronger as time grows on, do they pass a threshhold where they are growing too strong to be beaten easily? Could major beings be attracted to her (to destroy her) simply because they know they have to eliminate her before it is too late?

It is given that a large part of her survival is due to her 'scooby support' but the bottom line is that in season 1 when some monster shouted 'Slayer!' they seemed to mean 'I hate you and want to kill you' But now when they shout "Slayer!" they seem to mean "Oh crap it's Buffy, i gotta run and hide somewhere"

 

[captain oxide]

although, over those seven years, she has died twice.

also, i only read half of that. sorry.

 

[Angelique]

As Spike said in S2: A slayer with family & friends. Maybe the short life span is also the reason why the council never had to pay a slayer because they never lived long enough in order to have to support themselves or even a family.

Evil has grown with the slayer in the last few seasons. As you mentioned, Glory, who could not care less about the slayer or Willow, who could not be stopped by force but only through humanity, something the slayer lacks quite a bit. There is still room for growth for Buffy, particularly on the interpersonal side of things as well as on the science part.

Her "kick-Q" has fully developed, now it is time for her "EQ".

 

[Allycat]

Well sure she grows stronger when time passes. When she became slayer she gained a special ability, it was never said that if she trained she couldn't become better then she allready was.
About the Slayer-with-expiration-date that looks pretty silly to me! And indeed her EQ has to grow, she is really the least nice person on the whole show, I would even rather date Dawn than Buffy (and if you know my opinion on Dawn, you know this is mayor). However I don't think something mayor wants to destroy her now, because it is scared of the Buffster. That's because in S5 she was no match for Glory, it was mostly thanks to Will, Xander and the Dagon's Sphere. If we go even deeper. She didn't destroy Adam by her self either. Neither did she kill of the Mayor. And in S6 she was no match for Will. So if this Big Bad thing is scared he/she should be scared of Willow instead!

 

[stormwolfe]

The only reason this slayer has survived what she has is because of her friends. In both cases of her death she would still be dead if it weren't for her freinds, and it has been thier support and help that has helped her through many an other situatin during the shows time. Without her freinds she is strong, but she is dead. with them...well she seems pretty much invinsible.

 

[somekrazydude]

wow...that was a long post. more like an essay really. 🙂 it made for an interesting read though.

 

[Diminished_9th]

Very astute observations. I heard once (I think it was a commentary on one of the DVDs) that one of the main themes is that, in the end, Buffy is always alone. (Actually, now that I think about it, it might have been a post I read.) My reaction to that was, "What?? No, Buffy may *feel* alone at times, but she has an incredible aupport group that has never left her side." One of the things I love about this show is while Buffy is the hero, all of the characters have done their fair share of savage. Even Xander, the supposed zeppo, is personally responsible for world savage in more than one occasion.

As for the Baddies being afraid of Willow instead of Buffy, it's not an either/or thing. The scooby gang is a unit, and like a previous post said, they're nearly invinsible. This comes out pretty clearly in "Checkpoint", a fine episode. Willow couldn't take Buffy's place, that's why she brought her back. But Buffy strength does, in part come from her friends.

As for her physical strength, they do play around with it. I've read complaints about the Buffy/Spike scene in "Seeing Red" that say Buffy could have easily clocked him, so there was never any real threat there. So I don't know if Buffy has truly gotten stronger over the years, or if the writers just aren't always consistent with her capabilities. I guess I take this with a grain of salt....allow it to be as the script requires. *shrug*

This is a tagent, but the story that interests me the most is the fight between good and evil. A lot of people say the show would be no good without SMG, but I disagree. I think as long as it has believable characters dealing with their own struggles while trying to save the world, the show works. Admittedly, though, this isn't the story Joss set out to tell. He set out to tell the story of the human condition (ie. PAIN) and used monsters and vampires as the backdrop. Ahh well....we all see through different colored glasses.

Oh, one more thing....what's EQ?

 

[Buffy Anne]

I think it's "Emotional Quotient", like the emotional version of IQ.

 

[truemidge]

Of course, you can't really compare either "Sweets" from OMWF or Glory to any of the other Big Bads that Buffy has faced - Glory was an ANCIENT god, for crying out loud - of course she would scoff at the idea of a mere mortal slayer. And "Sweets," well, he referred several times to how timeless he was, how he was there when a lot of important evils went down. There was a lot more to that character than most people realize.

Buffy has gotten stronger - with age she has developed a greater insight of who she is and how she fits in the universe, and in the last seasons, she seems to have devoted herself to training more than she ever had before. I do think that is more symbolic of how she has grown as a character - we see her performing great feats of strength and dexterity, and there is more fear in the demon's eyes when faced with that. But how much more confidence does she possess than in the early days - how much has she gone through, seen and had to accomplish? That kind of constant testing of one's own strength, physical and otherwise, must be an incredibly empowering thing.

As to the argument of Buffy being on her own, she IS - as much as the Scoobies do to aid her, as much as they are her support, she is the slayer, the one to have to be accountable at the end of the day. The Scoobies as a whole have taken more responsiblilities as they've grown in power and character, and they are often instrumental to the success of any given mission, but Buffy is alone in a way that few of them understand. I think in saying that the slayer stands alone, we are simplifying the way she must feel, every day, to have to make the hard decisions that the rest of them are unable to make - to play the role of "bad cop," as is her duty. It would be hard for anyone to understand, but what choice does she have?

Midge,
The Godess, Herself