Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics

The Physics of the Buffyverse

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The Industrial Physicist Magazine

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The Newbie’s Guide to the Buffyverse

Buffy: “I think I speak for everyone here when I say… huh?”
“Out of Mind, Out of Sight,” Buffy, Season 1

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Season 1 (B-1): Buffy comes to Sunnydale as a high school sophomore, and falls in love with Angel, a vampire with a soul. She also takes on the Master, an ancient vampire who is trapped between dimensions until he can open the Hellmouth. It is written in a book of prophecy that the Master will kill her and rise to the surface. Fortunately, she flunks the written, and gets off on a technicality: she drowns, but is revived and kills the Master instead.

Season 2 (B-2): Buffy’s junior year of high school. Along with the odd Monster of the Week, she takes on the vampire Spike, his sire and paramour, Drusilla, and Angel’s evil alter-ego, Angelus (Spike’s former mentor, Drusilla’s sire), who wants to suck the entire earth into hell. Buffy foils that plan and sends Angel/Angelus to hell instead.

Season 3 (B-3): Buffy’s senior year of high school. This time her arch-enemy is Sunnydale’s Mayor Wilkins, who is planning his own Ascension into pure demon form. Angel returns from hell and resumes his relationship with Buffy, but realizes they can’t have a future together. After the climactic final battle – in which Buffy blows up the high school on graduation day, along with the mayor-turned-demon -- Angel leaves to start his own series.

Season 4 (B-4): Buffy goes to college and discovers a secret government military operation called The Initiative that also fights demons. But there is a darker master plan: the Initiative’s scientists create a monster named Adam – equal parts human, demon and electronic components – who rebels against his programming and seeks to build an army of creatures like himself. Buffy defeats Adam by ripping out his uranium power core.

Season 5 (B-5): Buffy mysteriously acquires a younger sister (Dawn), drops out of college, and loses her mother, Joyce, to cancer. She also takes on an exiled hell god named Glory who is searching for a mysterious Key, which turns out to be Dawn. Buffy wins the final confrontation, but must give her own life to save her sister, not to mention the world. Buffy dies. Again.

Season 6 (B-6): Buffy lives. Again. The Scoobies bring Buffy back from the grave, thanks to a loophole in the taboo against resurrection spells. They spend the rest of the season battling a group of former high school nerds gone bad called The Trio, as well as their own personal demons. Willow gives in to the dark side of her magic and tries to destroy the world before finally coming to her senses.

Season 7 (B-7): Sunnydale High School re-opens and Buffy gets a job as a guidance counselor there. But things are far from quiet. The First exploits the mystical imbalance brought about by Buffy’s second resurrection, and tries to wipe out the entire Slayer line. Buffy creates an army of Slayers and smacks down The First and its minions. Buffy doesn’t die, but a newly ensouled Spike does, although his essence is trapped in a mystical amulet. The town of Sunnydale is destroyed, and the Hellmouth closed forever
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Angel

Season 1 (A-1): Fresh from his breakup with Buffy, Angel arrives in Los Angeles and sets up his own private investigation business, assisted by Cordelia and Wesley. He soon finds himself at odds with the devil’s law firm, Wolfram and Hart, and discovers an ancient prophecy about his role in the upcoming Apocalypse. Events unfold concurrently with Buffy, Season 4.

Season 2 (A-2): Angel discovers that Wolfram and Hart has brought back his former sire and paramour, Darla, as a human. Darla is re-sired as a vampire by Drusilla. Angel declares war on the law firm in revenge, and has a one-night-stand with Darla. Gunn becomes a full-fledged member of Team Angel. The team visits Lorne’s home dimension of Pylea, where they overthrow the ruling priesthood and rescue a physics student named Fred. Events unfold concurrently with Buffy, Season 5.

Season 3 (A-3): Angel’s past actions comes back to haunt him. Darla shows up pregnant with Angel’s son, but must stake herself in order for Connor to be born. Connor is kidnapped by an old enemy and grows up in the Quor-Toth dimension. He returns a few months later as a rebellious 18-year-old intent on killing his father. Fred and Lorne throw in their lot with Team Angel. Connor imprisons Angel in a coffin at the bottom of the ocean. Cordelia is elevated to a Higher Being. Events unfold concurrently with Buffy, Season 6.

Season 4 (A-4): Angel is rescued from his watery prison and Cordelia returns from her stint as a Higher Being with a bad case of amnesia. Cordelia has a one-night stand with Connor and gives birth to Jasmine, a Higher Being with a Messiah complex who brings peace on earth – at the price of free will. Team Angel defeats Jasmine, but ends world peace. Wolfram and Hart offers them the run of the LA branch as a reward. Angel accepts in exchange for a better alternate reality for a suicidal Connor. Events unfold concurrently with Buffy, Season 7.

Season 5 (A-5): Team Angel settles into their new roles at Wolfram and Hart. An incorporeal Spike appears, and eventually becomes corporeal again. Fred is killed when the Old One, Illyria, takes over her body. Angel discovers that the Apocalypse is already well underway. He strikes at the Senior Partners by taking out the Circle of the Black Thorn, their earthly representatives. Wesley is killed and Gunn is mortally wounded in the process. Spike, Illyria, Angel, and a fading Gunn face off against the amassed hordes of hell. Their fates remain uncertain. This is the post-Buffy period.

Glossary

Acathla. Ancient demon who once tried to suck the entire world into hell, only to be turned to stone when a knight pierced his heart with a sword. Angelus awakens Acathla, but Buffy averts the pending apocalypse by plunging a sword through his heart, thereby turning Acathla back into stone.

Adam. Frankenstein-like monster built from electronic components, human and demon body parts by a secret government military organization called the Initiative. Designed to head a race of super-warriors, but has a design flaw and rebels. Kills his own creator, Maggie Walsh, and terrorizes Sunnydale until Buffy defeats him.

Alternate reality. Alternative history, usually the result of a spell. Changes the progression of a sequence of events (usually for the worse) via the creation of a separate parallel universe.

Amy. Student at Sunnydale High School who is also a practicing witch. Turns herself into a rat to escape being burned at the stake by a vengeful mob. It takes Willow the next three years to figure out how to turn her back.

Andrew. One-third of the Trio. Not so much evil as weak-willed and easily led: when he gets near evil, he picks up its scent. The First tricks him into killing Jonathan. Ultimately he reforms and fights with the Scoobies in the final battle against The First. He survives, and works with Giles to train the new army of Slayers.

Angel: The original vampire with a soul, thanks to a Romanian gypsy curse. Sired by Darla, he earns notoriety as one of the most vicious vampires in existence until the curse – then he starts rescuing puppies instead of nailing them to peoples’ doors. Turns into his former evil self, Angelus, if he experiences a moment of “perfect happiness.” To atone for his past misdeeds, he helps the helpless and is a champion for good in the pending Apocalypse – when he’s not evil. Fathers Connor with Darla, even though vampires aren’t supposed to be able to breed. Agrees to take over the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram and Hart in exchange for a better life for his troubled son, leading to a showdown with the Senior Partners.

Angelus. Angel’s former, soul-less vampire self, known as one of the most vicious vampires ever created.

Anya: a.k.a. Anyanka. Thousand-year-old former vengeance demon (now human), who spent a millennium smiting men on behalf of wronged women until her power center was destroyed. Engaged to Xander until he jilts her at the altar. Killed by Bringers in the final battle against The First.

Apocalypse. The end of the world. Evil things are always trying to make one happen, only to be foiled by the forces of good. Can be strangely localized in the Buffyverse.

Ascension. When a human transforms into pure demon.

Beast, The. Hulking red demon with cloven hooves and horns that bursts up through the pavement behind Caritas and brings about a rain of fire. Kills the members of the Ra-Tet and performs a ritual to blot out the sun. Not a free agent; the Beast is following the orders of Jasmine. Killed on a whim by Angelus, which brings back the sun.

Ben. Resident doctor at the Sunnydale hospital. Shares his body with Glory, an exiled hell god, which means he frequently blacks out and wakes up in a dress. Killing Ben is the only way to kill Glory, so he meets with a tragic end.

Bethany Chalk. Young telekinetic woman with major daddy issues and a tendency to hurt others when under emotional distress – which is often.

Bringers. A.k.a. harbingers. Murderous agents of The First. They are mute, with slashed crosses where their eyes should be, and dress in long brown monk’s robes. On orders from The First, they begin systematically killing Potentials all over the world as part of a master plan to wipe out the Slayer line.

Bronze, The. Local Sunnydale hangout for teens, young adults, and the odd vampire. Features live music. Serves coffee, alcohol, and a deep-fried onion blossom much beloved by Spike.

Buffy Summers. The Slayer, a.k.a., the Chosen One. Last guardian of the Hellmouth, daughter to Joyce and sister to Dawn. Moves to Sunnydale at 15, where she joins forces with Giles and makes friends with Xander and Willow. Also falls in love with Angel, the original vampire with a soul – the ultimate doomed relationship. Subsequently dates Riley and a semi-reformed Spike. Capricorn on the cusp of Aquarius. Can’t seem to get a good night’s death: her friends keep bringing her back.

Buffybot. A robot version of Buffy. Originally built by Warren as a sexbot for Spike, the robot is reprogrammed to pass for Buffy during the latter’s three-month absence due to death by mystical energy. Pulled to pieces by a demonic motorcycle gang.

Buffyverse. The fictional world of the Buffy and Angel series.

Caleb. An agent of The First. Former preacher turned misogynistic serial killer, fixated on punishing nubile young girls. “Merging” periodically with The First makes him preternaturally strong. Buffy splits him in two with a mystical scythe in their final confrontation.

Caritas. A demon karaoke bar, operated by Lorne. A safe haven for demons; no violence can take place within its walls.

Circle of the Black Thorn. Top-secret evil cabal made up of the earthly representatives of the Senior Partners.

Conduit, The. Mouthpiece for the Senior Partners at Wolfram and Hart, housed in the White Room, an inter-dimensional space. Takes many different forms, most commonly a little girl and a sleek snow leopard.

Connor. Angel and Darla’s half-human, half-demon son. Kidnapped as an infant and grows up in the hellish Quor-Toth dimension. Punches a hole through the fabric of space-time to return to Los Angeles as a rebellious teenager, intent on killing his father; eventually grudgingly joins the team. Knocks up Cordelia in an Oedipal plot twist in Season 4 of Angel. Goes on a psychotic rampage after killing Jasmine for the greater good, until Angel makes a deal with the devil’s law firm to have him transported to a happier alternate reality.

Cordelia Chase. Former spoiled high school princess in Sunnydale who sees her popularity wane when she starts dating Xander. After graduation, she moves to Los Angeles to become an actress, where she joins forces with Angel. Receives painful visions from the Powers That Be that enable her to alert Angel when someone needs help. After a brief stint as a Higher Being, she returns to Los Angeles with amnesia, has a one-night stand with Connor, and winds up pregnant. Under the control of the unborn Jasmine, Cordelia masterminds a plan for world domination under the guise of peace. Slips into a coma after giving birth to Jasmine and eventually dies.

Count Kurskov. Russian wizard who heads the Blinnikov World Ballet Corps. He pulls the entire company out of time when the prima ballerina he loves betrays him. Angel figures out how to undo the spell.

Crimslor demon. Giant spider that rips out the hearts of its victims.

Darla. Female vampire who sired Angelus/Angel. In life, a prostitute dying of syphilis, sired by the Master on her deathbed in the 17^th century. Angel stakes her in Season 1 of Buffy, but Wolfram and Hart bring her back as a human by mystical means in the finale to Season 1 of Angel. She is sired as a vampire all over again by Drusilla. An ill-advised one-night stand with Angel leaves her pregnant with Connor. Stakes herself when she goes into labor so that Connor can be born.

Dawn Summers. Buffy’s kid sister. Formerly a big green ball of mystical energy known as the Key before an order of monks made her human to keep her hidden from Glory. A bit of a klutz and a kleptomaniac, with a tendency to skip out on classes.

D’Hoffryn: Leader of all the vengeance demons. Superficially charming, but capable of great cruelty. His motto is, “Never go for the kill when you can go for the pain.”

Dimension. An entirely separate world that exists in its own bubble of space-time. Can be accessed through mystical portals.

Drokken. A vicious beast from Pylea that feeds on human (and demon) flesh.

Drusilla. Female vampire sired by Angelus on the day she took her vows to enter a convent. Quite mad, with the gift of the Sight. Sired Spike in Victorian England as her companion in crime. Returns briefly to Los Angeles to re-sire her own grandmother, Darla, at the request of Wolfram and Hart.

Dusted. What vampires become when you stake them.

Espresso Pump. Local coffee shop in Sunnydale.

Ethan Rayne. Former crony of Giles who now worships Chaos and spreads disruption and mischief whenever he can – often in very ingenious ways.

Eve. Immortal being created by the Senior Partners solely to serve as a liaison to Angel when he takes over Wolfram and Hart’s LA branch. Replaced by Hamilton when she falls in love with Lindsey, thereby forfeiting her immortality.

Faith: The Slayer who replaces Kendra when the latter is killed by Drusilla. Cocky, street-wise, and promiscuous, with thinly veiled intimacy issues. Relieves Xander of his virginity before accidentally killing a human, setting her down the path of evil. Aligns with the evil Mayor Wilkins on Buffy before repenting and seeking redemption on Angel. Joins Buffy in the final battle against The First.

First, The. The First Evil. There’s evil, and then there’s the reason evil exists. Powerful being, but non-corporeal, so must act through agents like Caleb and the Bringers. A master of psychological manipulation, it can take the form of anyone who has died. Can’t be killed, since evil has always been, but the Scoobies do manage to smack down The First by closing off Sunnydale’s Hellmouth forever.

Fred. A.k.a. Winifred Burkle. Shy, former physics student (female) whom Angel rescues from Pylea. Dates Gunn and Wesley, in succession, and heads the science lab at Wolfram and Hart when Angel takes over the firm. Killed when the ancient demon Illyria takes over her body.

Fyarl demon. Very large, strong breed of demon, not very bright, but useful for hard labor, and in combat. They shoot mucous out from their nostrils onto attackers, which then hardens. Ethan Rayne turns Giles into one as a vicious prank.

Gachnar. Celtic fear demon accidentally summoned by frat boys at UC-Sunnydale. Capable of making people’s fears manifest by warping reality. Not very imposing in person, since he stands a mere six inches tall.

Gene. A.k.a. “Time Boy.” Brilliant physicist at a fictional university in Los Angeles, obsessed with stopping time.

Gentlemen, The. Ghoulish fairy tale monsters who come to a town and steal all the voices. That way nobody can scream when they cut out seven hearts to rejuvenate themselves. Very sensitive to sonic vibrations; they can only be killed by a high-pitched scream.

Giles. Rupert Giles. Librarian at Sunnydale High School and Buffy’s oh-so-British Watcher. A much-needed father-figure to the Scoobies. Rebelled against his destiny as a young man in London, where he was known as “Ripper,” played in a psychedelic rock band, and dabbled in the black arts. Fired from the Watchers’ Council in Season 3 of Buffy and spends Season 4 watching “Passions” with Spike and playing the odd gig in the Espresso Pump. Finds a new career direction as owner of the Magic Box in Season 5. Goes back to England in Seasons 6 and 7, but returns to Sunnydale for the final battle against The First.

Glamour. A magical disguise or means of concealment.

Glarghk Ghul Kashma’nik demon. Breed of demon with a spike embedded in its arm as a weapon. The spike injects a hallucinogenic toxin into the victim, causing a break with reality.

Glory: Exiled brain-sucking hell god. Shares a body with the human Ben, but can only manifest when she’s built up enough energy to overcome Ben and take over their shared body. She is searching for the Key, which will open the gates to all dimensions and enable her to go back to her home hell dimension. Dawn turns out to be the Key.

Gnarl. Skin-eating demon fond of referring to himself in the third person. Equipped with sharp talons that secrete a toxin that paralyzes his victims; they remain frozen and conscious while he skins them alive. Killed by Buffy when she pokes out his eyes.

Gunn. Charles Gunn. Former street kid who leads a gang of freelance vampire fighters to protect his neighborhood. His sister is killed by vampires. Joins forces with Angel. Falls in love with Fred, but they break up when he kills someone on her behalf. Becomes a hotshot lawyer with implanted knowledge when the team takes over Wolfram and Hart. Mortally wounded in the final battle against the Senior Partners.

Gwen Raiden. Basically a human lightning rod. Incapable of physical human contact; she electrocutes anyone she touches. Makes a very lucrative living as a high-priced burglar of rare mystical artifacts.

Halfrek. Vengeance demon specializing in avenging wronged children. Friend to Anya. D’Hoffryn takes her life in exchange for restoring the lives of massacred frat boys and releasing Anya from the vengeance fold.

Hamilton. Replaces Eve as liaison to the Senior Partners. Killed by Angel in the final showdown with the Senior Partners.

Hellmouth. A portal to Hell, located under the library of the old Sunnydale High School. Makes the entire town a convergence center for mystical energy. Closed off forever in the series finale of Buffy, but there are rumors of another Hellmouth in Cleveland.

Higher Being. A being that exists outside the usual space-time dimension of the Buffyverse. Omniscient, but unable to interfere, for the most part, with the events taking place therein. Cordelia is utterly bored during her brief stint as one.

Home Office. The central office of Wolfram and Hart.

Hot spot. A focal point for particularly strong mystical or psychic energy.

Illyria. One of the Old Ones, whose essence was buried in a mystical sarcophagus for several millennia. Fred is infected by Illyria’s essence and dies. Illyria takes over her body and lives again; Fred’s soul is destroyed in the transformation. Preternaturally strong and capable of warping time. Ultimately joins forces with Angel in the final battle against the Senior Partners – her foes from ancient times.

Initiative, The. Secret government military operation intent on keeping the demon population under control. Captures and experiments on various demon races, and has a sinister master plan for domination known only to a chosen few. Responsible for implanting a chip in Spike’s head to keep him from killing humans. Funding terminated after most of its operatives are killed in the battle against Adam and his demon horde.

Jasmine. Mystical love child of Connor and Cordelia. Actually a Higher Being from another dimension, who masterminded her own birth into a human body to “save” the human race. Everyone who sees her falls victim to a sort of mass hypnosis and worships her. She brings peace on earth – at the price of free will. Angel reveals her true nature, and Connor ultimately slays her.

Jenny Calendar. Computer science teacher at Sunnydale High School; a self-described “techno-pagan” with Romanian gypsy blood. Romantically involved with Giles until she is killed by Angelus.

Jhiera. Former princess of Oden-Tao, a dimensional world where females are effectively “castrated” and kept enslaved to the males of the species. Jhiera escapes to Los Angeles and helps other females from her world to do likewise.

Jonathan. Originally a minor recurring character, he is a likeable nebbish who becomes one-third of the Trio. The evil doesn’t quite take; at heart, he’s a decent guy. Skips out with Andrew to Mexico after Warren is killed by Willow. Returns to Sunnydale to warn Buffy of yet another impending apocalypse, only to be betrayed and killed by Andrew before he can do so.

Joyce Summers. Buffy’s mom. Divorced, runs an art gallery, and once dated a homicidal robot. Eventually succumbs to a brain tumor.

Kendra. Second Slayer who is activated when Buffy is clinically dead for a minute, and subsequently revived, after a drowning incident. Killed by Drusilla.

Kennedy. A Potential who takes refuge with Buffy to escape the murderous Bringers. Becomes Willow’s new girlfriend (after Tara’s death). Activated as a Slayer along with all the other Potentials in the final battle against The First.

Key, The. A ball of mystical green energy that for centuries had no form, until a group of monks molded it human and sent it to Buffy as her kid sister, Dawn. It is the link between all the dimensions; it opens the gates that keep them separate, allowing them to bleed into each other until the universe tumbles completely into chaos and disorder.

Knights of Byzantium, The. Ancient order of warriors dedicated to finding the Key and destroying it.

Lilah Morgan. Ambitious, high-powered lawyer with Wolfram and Hart, who nevertheless falls in love with Wesley even as she schemes against Angel. Killed by Cordelia while the latter is under Jasmine’s influence.

Lindsey McDonald. Morally ambiguous lawyer with Wolfram and Hart. Unlike his cohorts, there are limits to what he’s willing to do, although he essentially works on behalf of evil. Leaves the firm after Darla, whom he loved, is re-sired as a vampire. Reappears in Season 5 to take revenge on both Angel and the Senior Partners. Allies with Angel in the final battle, but Angel deems him too dangerous and untrustworthy to live. Betrayed and shot by a reluctant Lorne.

Lorne. A.k.a., The Host, or Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok clan. Horned, green-skinned demon, nonviolent, loves music of any kind. Originally from Pylea. Owns Caritas, a demon karaoke bar/safe house in Los Angeles. When people sing, they bare their souls and he can read their destinies. Heads Wolfram and Hart’s entertainment division when Angel takes over the firm. His irrepressible bonhomie is ultimately crushed by Fred’s death. He reluctantly agrees to take out Lindsey, but leaves Team Angel and Los Angeles for good afterwards.

Maggie Walsh. Buffy’s college psychology professor and head of an underground laboratory operated by a secret government military operation known as the Initiative. Creator of Adam, a monstrous hybrid prototype solider, who kills her.

Magic Box, The. Store specializing in magical books, talismans and spell ingredients. Owned and operated in partnership by Giles and Anya; serves as a kind of headquarters for the Scoobies. Prior owners have a history of being murdered by demons.

Marcy Ross. Sunnydale High School student who becomes invisible after months of people failing to notice her existence. Recruited by the CIA as a government special operative and assassin.

Master, The. Ancient vampire who tries to open the Hellmouth, but an earthquake interrupts the ritual and he is trapped between dimensions. Buffy kills him when he finally escapes -- although in an alternate reality, he opens up a factory to mass-produce fresh human blood and kills her instead.

Mayor Richard Wilkins. Erstwhile mayor of Sunnydale who sold his soul in exchange for immortality. Evil, but likeable, with acute germ phobia and a strong dislike of profanity – even when ordering his minions to stage a massacre. Father-figure to Faith. Turned into a giant snake demon on graduation day and was killed by Buffy.

Miss Kitty Fantastico. Willow and Tara’s kitten. Apparently killed by Dawn in a tragic household crossbow incident.

Oden-Tao. Another dimension where males rule and women are subjugated as slaves.

Old Ones. Very ancient demons, predating the age of man.

Oracle, The. Brother/sister entity that exists in a dimension outside human time. In service to the Powers That Be.

Oz. A.k.a., Daniel Osborne. Willow’s high school boyfriend, known for his laconic speech patterns. Turns into a werewolf after being bitten by his infected toddler nephew, and must thereafter lock himself in a cage every full moon. Breaks up with Willow when he realizes he can no longer control the beast within him.

Portal. A doorway to another dimension.

Potential. A young girl with the potential to become a Slayer, lacking the Chosen One’s full power, but nonetheless endowed with natural abilities that make her special. A Potential is only activated as a Slayer when the current Slayer dies.

Powers That Be, The. Mystical, otherworldly beings aligned with the side of good. Source of Cordelia’s painful (and usually vague) visions. Like their evil opposite, the Senior Partners, they are never seen.

Pylea. Home dimension of Lorne, where humans are kept as slaves. Controlled by an evil ruling priesthood with ties to Wolfram and Hart. Has two suns. There is no concept of music in Pylea, although there is some very bad folk-dancing.

Queller demon. A.k.a., a killer snot monster from outer space. Arrives in Sunnydale via meteor. The Queller demon suffocates mental patients by spitting a sticky, odiferous substance onto their faces, which hardens and blocks the air passages.

Quor-Toth. Hellish dimension where Connor grows up after being kidnapped as an infant.

Ra-Tet, The. A group of mystical beings, each representing a stage of the Egyptian sun god Ra’s journey across the sky. They are killed by the Beast, who uses the talismans they possess to blot out the sun.

Riley Finn. TA in Maggie Walsh’s introductory psychology class at UC-Sunnydale, who becomes Buffy’s All-American college boyfriend. Member of the Initiative, although he is unaware of its evil master plan. Leaves Sunnydale when he and Buffy break up to become a demon fighter in Central America for the military.

Roger Wyndham-Price. Wesley’s disapproving father, formerly a member of the Watchers’ Council. Memorably impersonated by a cyborg Ninja assassin.

Scoobies, The. Nickname for Buffy’s gang of sidekicks: Xander, Willow, and Giles primarily, but also Cordelia (before she joins forces with Angel in Los Angeles), Dawn, Oz, Anya, Tara, and eventually a reformed (and reluctant) Spike. Pop culture reference to the classic cartoon series, “Scooby Doo,” where four teens solve mysteries and foil criminal masterminds.

Seidel. Oliver Seidel, physics professor and former mentor to Fred. He turns out to be the one responsible for sending her to Pylea. Killed by Gunn and sucked into one of his own portals.

Senior Partners, The. Very powerful demonic heads of Wolfram and Hart, never seen, but greatly feared by good and evil beings alike.

Shadow Men. Creators of the very first Slayer. They evolved into the Watchers’ Council.

She-Mantis. Giant demon insect that appears to be a sexy substitute teacher, thanks to a convenient glamour. Preys on young male virgins, and exhibits many of the same characteristics as a real-life praying mantis.

Sire. As a verb, it means to turn a human into a vampire. As a noun, a vampire’s maker. E.g., Darla sired Angelus, Angelus sired Drusilla, and Drusilla is Spike’s sire.

Slayer, The. “Into every generation a Slayer is born, one girl with the strength and skill to fight the vampires.” First Slayer created when primitive Shadow Men chain a young girl to a rock and allow the pure spirit of a demon to ravage her. That power is passed down through each successive generation: when one Slayer dies, another Potential is activated. Slayers have sharply abbreviated life spans and rarely reach the age of 20 before being killed in battle. Unlike Buffy, they stay dead.

Soul. What most vampires lack. Appears to be synonymous with a moral conscience.

Spike. A.k.a. William the Bloody. Former vampire crony of the evil Angelus, fond of torturing his victims with railroad spikes. Killed two Slayers and thousands of others before the Initiative put a behavior modification chip in his head. Eventually wins back his soul, but swears he’s nothing like Angel. Was involved with Drusilla for over a century before she left him and he fell in love with Buffy. Saves the world and burns up into ash during the final battle against The First, but his essence is trapped in a mystical amulet. This enables him to be brought back to Unlife in Season 5 of Angel.

Sunnydale. Fictional California town with such a high mortality rate, it needs 12 cemeteries. Home to the Hellmouth, which might explain why the property values have never kept pace with the rest of the market. Utterly destroyed in the final battle against The First.

Tara Maclay. Girlfriend of Willow. They meet through UC-Sunnydale’s Wicca group. Also a Wiccan, although not as powerful as Willow. Killed by a stray bullet when Warren shoots Buffy.

Ted. Too-perfect computer salesman who dates Buffy’s mother, Joyce. Turns out to be a homicidal robot.

Temporal fold. Folding back the fabric of spacetime to get back to a point in the past. The Buffyverse’s nod to time travel.

Tento di Cruciamentum. A particularly cruel rite of passage for every Slayer who manages to reach her 18^th birthday. Her Watcher is forced to drain the Slayer of her mystical powers by administering a potent drug, and then send her to face off against a powerful vampire using only her wits.

Thaumogenesis. When performing a magic spell creates a disembodied being: it is the price exacted for the desired outcome, to ensure that balance is maintained in the Buffyverse.

Trio, The. Three former high school geeks – Warren, Jonathan and Andrew – who band together over a game of Dungeons & Dragons and vow to take over Sunnydale. They consider themselves crime lords, but only Warren is truly evil.

Turok-han. A.k.a. an uber-Vamp. An ancient race of pure vampire, much harder to kill, and a whole lot uglier. They are the vampires that other vamps fear.

Uber-Vamp. Nickname for a Turok-han.

Vampire. Soul-less bloodsucker. Clinically dead, with no pulse or body temperature, but can otherwise pass for human. Its face distorts and changes when it’s ready to feed – or when it gets angry or worked up in a fight.

Vengeance demon. A class of demons that serve as patron saints to the downtrodden, betrayed, and abused. D’Hoffryn is their leader; Anya (as Anyanka) and Halfrek are both vengeance demons. They grant wishes of revenge to victims who summon them. But those wishes are often quite different – and much more horrific – than the victims ever intended. The epitome of “Be careful what you wish for.”

Warren Meers. Leader of the Trio, and the only member who is truly evil. Misogynistic science geek who builds robots – including the Buffybot. Murders his ex-girlfriend, shoots Buffy when she foils his master plan, and mistakenly kills Tara instead. Flayed alive by Willow in revenge.

Watcher. Supervisor of the Slayer. Trains her in demon lore and combat skills. Most Slayer/Watcher relationships end badly, with the Slayer being killed in battle.

Watchers’ Council. Group of stuffy British guys hidebound by rules and tradition. The overseers of the Slayer line, dedicated to fighting the forces of evil since the days of the Shadow Men. Blown to smithereens when Caleb plants a bomb in the basement of their London headquarters.

Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. Former Watcher to Faith turned rogue demon hunter. Initially a nerdy butt of jokes, he toughens into an excellent warrior when he joins Team Angel. Hopelessly in love with Fred, he is heartbroken when she is killed by Illyria. Killed in the final battle between Angel and the Senior Partners.

White Room. Secret, separate inter-dimensional space within Wolfram and Hart that houses the Conduit. Can only be accessed by a special button on the elevator that remains hidden from all but a select few.

Willow Rosenberg. Former high school science geek turned Mega-Wiccan, and a founding member of the Scoobies. Only living person able to re-ensoul Angel when he turns into Angelus, and powerful enough to bring Buffy back from the dead. Dates Oz, a musician and werewolf, before she gets in touch with her inner lesbian as a college freshman. Turns to the dark side when her lover, Tara, is killed, and flays Warren (the murderer) alive in revenge. Nearly destroys the world before reverting back to the side of good, thanks to Xander’s unconditional love and fond kindergarten memories of a broken yellow crayon. A stint at witches’ rehab in England stabilizes her enough to re-join the Scoobies in the final battle against The First.

Wolfram and Hart. The devil’s law firm, where evil runs rampant and underlings run in fear. Woe betide the employee who makes a grave mistake; “termination” is interpreted quite literally by the Senior Partners. Angel takes over the firm’s Los Angeles branch in exchange for a better life for his son.

Xander. Alexander Harris. The “heart” of the Scoobies, a likeable Everyman with no particular powers, but loyal and good with a hammer. Went from high school loser to successful contractor in a few short years. Engaged to Anya until he gets cold feet on their wedding day. Loses an eye in a confrontation with Caleb.

Zombie. Reanimated corpse. Unlike vampires, zombies are not sentient. Nor do they compulsively eat the flesh or brains of the living – except when ordered to do so by their zombie masters.