What moment defines Buffy as "The Slayer"?

There are so many, so I am just picking a couple at random.

Buffy giving her name in Anne, showing that even though she sometimes hides from it, she is Buffy and Buffy is the slayer. She is not just a girl who happens to have super powers.

Buffy speaking to Sineya in Restless, telling her that she is a different kind of slayer and that she is a complete person.

Buffy fighting the Übervamp in Showtime. She is not only a fighter, but an inspiration for others.
 
Buffy continues to complain about being the slayer until "Helpless". Once she gets a taste of not being able to do anything more than an ordinary girl, she accepts her status as the slayer and never complains about it again. When the guy accosts Cordelia and Buffy intervenes and gets swatted away into a wall where she collapses and Cordelia has to save her. Once she is through the cruciamentum, she never wants to lose her powers again.
 
I'd go for Prophecy Girl too, as the first episode that tries to define who/what and how powerful a Slayer is . . . when she's marching to the school with Xander and Angel, she's wearing her torn prom dress and the show theme is playing . . .

Xander: So, how do you know where the Master's going?

Buffy: I know.

A vampire tries to block their way into the school.

Buffy: Oh, look, a bad guy.

She punches him on her way by, and he falls flat on his back.

It's perfect and you know Buffy will survive and win 😀
 
W
WillowFromBuffy
"Oh, look, a bad guy," is the best line ever.
Becoming part 2, when she runs a sword through Angel. She knows, he is ensouled again, she truly loves him, but the only way to save the world is killing him. It broke her heart, it left her devastated, she left her home and her friends for months after it happened, but she still found the strength in her to do it.

flow
 
I feel like Anne is the perfect slayer moment, not just when she announces her name but when she takes on an army and beats Hell herself. However this was her REDEFINING herself, while Prophecy Girl, making the decision to face inevitable death, was the first time she did it.
 
Becoming pt 2, just like others have mentioned. When Angelus asks her what's left? And she says "Me." That's when I knew she had the strength to do what needed to be done. But, the big defining slaying moment of this is when she puts a sword through the love of her life's heart while re-ensouled. That was powerful.

But, since this one hasn't been mentioned, The Gift: when Buffy sacrifices herself to save the world and to allow her sister to live. She didn't die in battle or by accident, she chose death to save everyone around her. That was selfless.
 
For me it's the Gift like @BuffyBot22 said. This is the moment she accept that death is her gift to humanity and that a slayer duty is to die for the cause. Yes, she has the same sacrifice in prophecy girl but I still feel that in the Gift it is more powerful because she is more aware of what death and her duty really means.
 
Gift is a great episode, but I am glad it was not the end. Buffy became the girl who lived. She rose from the dead and shared her power with the world, thus forever breaking the power of the Watcher's Council. They were already dead, but still... The new slayers can stand above their graves and gloat.
 
NeonSlayer
NeonSlayer
Thank you! It makes me so grr when I read posts saying she should've stayed dead.
Becoming Part 2 where she kills Angel. The Slayer has to save the world and Buffy did that despite how painful it was for her.
 
I'm thinking Prophecy Girl too.
That's when she first truly shows that she will do whatever necessary to save the day. Even sacrificing herself.

/SK
 
I agree with everyone who said Prophecy Girl and Becoming but strongly disagree about The Gift. First, I think she was already defined as a slayer long before that. Second, I am of the opinion that this sacrifice was not a real sacrifice to her. Everything from that season (and especially the last 3 episodes) showed she was kind of welcoming that death. 3rd, even if it is a sacrifice, she already made the same one in Prophecy Girl.

If anything, I find that the endings in Grave and Chosen define (or redefine?) her as a slayer a lot more than The Gift. She became the slayer who wanted to share her power.

And this comes from someone who adores Buffy’s arc in season 5. It’s my favorite season for her.
 
W
WillowFromBuffy
Amen!
This - confirmation she's re-defined what it means to be a Slayer - and to be a woman (that being a women doesn't involve abjecting the mother or having a mortal wound).

ShortLikelyBrownbutterfly-max-1mb.gif
 
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers
Please remember to give credit to gif authors
For me always...... Also when she isn't in " killing mode" ..... Because she isn't afraid to tell what she thinks especially to " powerful and institutional people" ..... She is a
nonconformist and we ,in our days, will define she as idealist and apparently helpless.... Our generation woul be grateful and proud to have a leader like Buffy: unpredictable, sweet and at the same time tough for a right cause! 😉🙂
We need a lot of "Buffys"..... Ahaha.....😛
 
Prophecy Girl or The Gift - both illustrate her strength , dedication and sacrifice equally for me...
 
Back
Top Bottom