Why Aren't Slayers Stronger?

[Nikkolas]

As Spike tells Buffy a vampire has the advantage of always being armed with a weapon - his fangs. This is especially significant because of another advantage they have. Vamps are only killable in a few specific ways and if a Slayer wants to kill them she absolutely needs a weapon. She might be able to kill humans with bare fists but not the undead.

BUT WHY? BtVS Season 4 had a lot of flaws but I liked Adam. In fact, one of the most memorable moments of the season for me was when Adam first began recruiting. He approached a few random vampires and one of them tried to tell Adam to get lost. Adam promptly seized the offending vampire and tore his head off. No fancy tricks, no weapons, just raw strength.

So why aren't Buffy and the others this powerful? Why are they so desperately dependent on weapons? It's a huge, and stupid, weakness that severely hinders them.

 

[sisterofmercy]

Because Buffy is human and has only the essence of a demon maybe?

 

[NY State of Mind]

Maybe if they gave the slayer too much demon she'll become evil/posessed or

maybe they wanted to be able to stop her if anything since they wanted control over their slayers

 

[Icarium]

Because the villains weren't all that powerful in the early seasons either. If Buffy had started out as strong as say Adam, there would have been nothing exciting about her battles until, well, Adam.

Why are they so desperately dependent on weapons?

Because humans generally are. A better question would be why so few villains used weapons against Buffy.

Of course, it makes no sense whatsoever that one Slayer could contain all the vamps and demons but this would make very little sense even if she were as strong as Adam as she can't be everywhere, so...

 

[Chosen Enemy]

They always say how Buffy got stronger and stronger. But umm.... how? She's still her. Better fighting skills doesn't count as strength. Then how could Buffy be stronger in later seasons?

 

[Skytteflickan88]

All good points. I'm betting either the shadowmen didn't want the slayers toonstrong or they couldn't make them stronger, for whatever reason. Either answer would also workd for the question; why only one in each generation?

Maybe the shadowmen could, but didn't want to, because while making a slayer stronger, you'd have to make her more demonic, like in the ep get it done. Perhaps adding more of the demon would make the slayer evil. We already know that the slayers have a huntinh instinct, so too much of that would cause slayers to hunt anything, including humans.

 

[Willow My Love]

They always say how Buffy got stronger and stronger. But umm.... how? She's still her. Better fighting skills doesn't count as strength. Then how could Buffy be stronger in later seasons?

Just like regular humans train harder and harder and get in better shape and become stronger, so did Buffy. We saw her training a LOT harder in the later seasons. That's my theory on how she becomes stronger.

I think they're as strong as they are because it gives them an advantage without taking away their humanity. There's still a very human element to Buffy. She can be hurt, she can be killed, she still has to be careful. It stops her from being arrogant. There's always someone stronger. Had she been as strong as Adam, someone could have come along who was stronger than her and easily killed her. I can see someone like Buffy getting very arrogant with too much strength.

 

[VisionGirl]

All good points. I'm betting either the shadowmen didn't want the slayers toonstrong or they couldn't make them stronger, for whatever reason. Either answer would also workd for the question; why only one in each generation?

Maybe the shadowmen could, but didn't want to, because while making a slayer stronger, you'd have to make her more demonic, like in the ep get it done. Perhaps adding more of the demon would make the slayer evil. We already know that the slayers have a huntinh instinct, so too much of that would cause slayers to hunt anything, including humans.

Yes, the Shadowmen offered to give Buffy exactly that in season 7, and she turned it down. Because she was afraid of what it would do to her.

 

[white avenger]

They always say how Buffy got stronger and stronger. But umm.... how? She's still her. Better fighting skills doesn't count as strength. Then how could Buffy be stronger in later seasons?

Actually, in the martial arts, which is somewhat comparable to the techniques that Buffy uses, the term "stronger fighter" doesn't necessarily refer to just physical strength. Take this as an extreme example:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBRJ2qCx5VM"]Bruce Lee fight Kareem Abdul Jabbar - YouTube[/ame]

Bruce Lee quite obviously isn't any match for Jabbar in physical strength, but his stronger fighting skill lets him prevail. A strong fighter has to combine physical strength, agility, speed, endurance, and above all else, experience. No matter how physically strong the Shadowmen made the original Slayer and all of her descendants, they couldn't possibly make her stronger than anything that she would ever face, Some things are just going to be stronger. Remember Luke, from "Welcome To The Hellmouth," and what he told Buffy? "You're strong. I'm stronger." And yet, Buffy was able to beat him, not through brute strength, but through superior intelligence and strategy, the same way that she eventually beat Glory, the first Ubervamp, and Caleb, to name just a few. Ultimately, the stronger fighter isn't the one who can lift the heaviest weight. It's the one who can nullify their opponent's strengths, exploit their weaknesses, and strike with as much precision as power. Whenever I hear Buffy referred to as being stronger than any particular demon or vampire, that's how I equate the term "stronger."

 

[Dagenspear]

Just like regular humans train harder and harder and get in better shape and become stronger, so did Buffy. We saw her training a LOT harder in the later seasons. That's my theory on how she becomes stronger.

I think they're as strong as they are because it gives them an advantage without taking away their humanity. There's still a very human element to Buffy. She can be hurt, she can be killed, she still has to be careful. It stops her from being arrogant. There's always someone stronger. Had she been as strong as Adam, someone could have come along who was stronger than her and easily killed her. I can see someone like Buffy getting very arrogant with too much strength.

Buffy was kinda arrogant anyway though.

 

[Willow My Love]

Buffy was kinda arrogant anyway though.

But she was still human and still knew she could be hurt, and killed. She was careful in fights, but didn't underestimate herself either. I think that's why she was just as powerful as she was, and not more. So she wouldn't think she was invincible.

 

[dexeded]

They always say how Buffy got stronger and stronger. But umm.... how? She's still her. Better fighting skills doesn't count as strength. Then how could Buffy be stronger in later seasons?

Why couldn't she get stronger? People get more muscles and physical strength if they train, which Buffy did focus on in S5.

 

[david4wt]

IMO I think that the Shadow Men didn't make more slayers in each generation because they made the first one to protect themselves and their little community, non the whole world. And besides, it was hard for them and the council to manage and control one slayer, let alone an army...they were just weak men that depended on one girl after all, so the real power's in the slayer.