Despite how it started, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has more than earned its reputation as one of the most dramatic and emotionally devastating genre TV shows of all time. Although it began as a blend of B-movie and teen drama tropes, Buffy grew into a highly complex, multifaceted universe that frequently swapped its initial campy tone for bouts of profound tragedy.
There are countless tragic moments across Buffy‘s seven seasons, with every member of the Scooby Gang facing some awful gut-punch at one time or another, but there are certain characters on the show who suffer more than the rest, whether that’s due to an upsetting backstory, a shocking setback, or a heartbreaking death. Life in Sunnydale is always rife with pain, but these Buffy characters took the tragedy to a whole other level.
8
April’s Only Purpose Was to Love a Man Who No Longer Wanted Her
In Buffy Season 5, Episode 15, “I Was Made to Love You,” Buffy encounters an unusually strong girl named April who seems to be on a one-woman hunt for her missing boyfriend, Warren Mears. The Scoobies discover that April is actually Warren’s robot, whom he designed to be the perfect girlfriend. Sadly, Warren completely abandoned her when he entered into a relationship with another woman, Katrina, making April the first victim of Warren’s misogyny.
The role of April was originally written for Britney Spears, but she ultimately had to withdraw from the part due to scheduling conflicts.
Although ostensibly the “villain” of the episode, it’s impossible to blame April for her obsessive pursuit of the slimy and selfish Warren, as she is simply acting on the reductive programming he gave her. Her perky, innocent demeanor lends her a childlike quality which only emphasizes the tragedy of how negligently Warren has “raised” her. April’s final moments, in which Buffy comforts the robot as she finally shuts down, her purpose unfulfilled, are incredibly heartbreaking, as Buffy fans realize she never had the chance to be her own person.
7
Joyce Summers Met a Tragic, Sudden End
At first glance, Joyce’s placement so low on this ranking may seem an egregious oversight. After all, “The Body” is one of Buffy‘s most heartbreaking episodes. Still, while Joyce’s tragic demise is undoubtedly a shocking moment, some bittersweet positives alleviate the tragedy, as great as it may be. After April’s storyline, “I Was Made to Love You” embarks on another sad plotline, as the episode ends with Buffy returning home to find her mother dead on the couch, having suffered a brain aneurysm.
The cruelty of Joyce losing her life in such a sudden, ordinary way is what makes it so powerful, but she was allowed a full life, which many of Sunnydale’s most tragic characters don’t receive. Joyce was blessed to have been around to raise Buffy into the extraordinary person that she is, and her life became even richer once her personal history was changed and she became a mother to Dawn, as well. Though the Summers family’s time together was all too brief, Joyce’s tragedy lies less in the life she lived and more in the circumstances it forced Buffy to endure.
6
Cassie Newton Saw Her Own Death Coming and Could Do Nothing to Stop it
Knowing the future isn’t always a blessing, and Cassandra “Cassie” Newton found that out in the most devastating way possible in Season 7, Episode 4, “Help.” Having taken on the job of student counselor at her old high school, Buffy is alarmed to discover that one of the students, Cassie, is psychic and has foreseen her own death in a week’s time. The Scooby Gang seems to avert Cassie’s fate when they rescue her from being sacrificed by a cabal of demon-worshipping kids, only for her to die during their escape due to an undiagnosed congenital heart defect.
As a metaphor for teenage suicide, a lesser, more “Very Special Episode” rendering of Cassie’s story would’ve seen her avoid her demise and earn a new lease on life. Instead, in true Buffy style, she — and the audience — is teased with a happy ending before it is brutally ripped away. Throughout the episode, Cassie is exceedingly well-fleshed out; she’s a thoughtful, creative, poetic young woman, which only makes the commentary on the tragedy of a young life ending before its time all the more crushing.
5
Katrina Silber Suffered a Dehumanizing End That Nobody Deserves
Warren’s human girlfriend, Katrina, was one of Buffy’s deepest explorations of misogyny. In Season 6, Episode 13, “Dead Things,” fans learn that Katrina dumped Warren in disgust after she found out about April’s existence, and he proceeds to get his revenge on her in the most appalling way possible. Using his latest invention — a cerebral dampener — on her, Warren mind-controls Katrina into acting as a slave for him and his friends, stripping away her agency and reducing her to an object.
Somehow, that is still not the worst of it. When Katrina finally breaks free of his control and admonishes Warren and his friends for their actions, Warren kills her and uses her body as part of a plot to frame Buffy for murder. Fans see enough of Katrina to know that she was a sharp, strong-willed person, which makes her desperate fight against Warren before her tragic end all the more upsetting. Even worse, Warren’s horrible mistreatment of women did not end there.
4
Dawn Summers Suffers So Much Personal Trauma at a Very Young Age
On the face of it, Buffy’s little sister Dawn would seem to be one of the Scoobies who, broadly speaking, has the cushier time of it across the series. After all, she makes it through Buffy the Vampire Slayer without even having died once. However, Dawn’s tragedy is related to her origins, rather than the end of her story. Every teenager struggles with issues of identity and finding out who they really are. In Dawn’s case, she found out that every facet of her existence was a lie.
Though imprinted with a life full of memories, Dawn was really a mystical key rendered into human form and placed under Buffy’s care to protect her from the hell goddess Glory. It’s hard to fathom just how traumatic such a revelation would be, especially someone who is mentally 14 years old and actually only a few months old. Add in the loss of her mother and Buffy sacrificing herself to save her life, and Dawn has every right to experience the emotional outbursts and abundance of angst that makes her such a controversial character in the series.
3
Anya Jenkins Showed Real Courage and Was Punished for it
In terms of total lifespan, Anya Jenkins lasted longer than most, living 1000 years between her origins and her death helping save the world in modern-day Sunnydale. However, it’s the quality of her life rather than the quantity of it that makes Anya’s tale so tragic, as she was routinely subjected to existential tragedy. Her Viking husband Olaf’s act of adultery led Anya to spend centuries as a vengeful demon, and even when it seemed she had found real love at last, after becoming human again and arranging to marry Xander, Anya was jilted at the altar and betrayed once more.
Even after all that, Anya still managed to hold onto the good in herself and fought in the final battle against the First, only to perish in a swift and unworthy death. For someone obsessed with capitalism and material gains, Anya put a lot of good out into the world and yet received no remuneration in return. It’s cruelly ironic that she dies almost immediately after finding the sense of belonging and purpose she spent over 1000 years searching for.
2
Buffy Summers’ Life Is a Saga of Losses and Setbacks
Throughout Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it often falls on the Chosen Ones to bear the brunt of the responsibility and the pain in order to protect everyone else, and that’s certainly true of Buffy Summers. Over the course of the show’s seven seasons, Buffy has her heart broken, her soul crushed, and her life ended multiple times.
From Angel turning evil, The Master killing her on prom night, and her friends accidentally pulling her out of Heaven, Buffy has trauma heaped upon trauma across her career as the Slayer. Sadly, much of the sparkle and inner light she possessed as a teen are snuffed out by the time she has to serve as a de-facto military general in Season 7’s fight against the First. When friends, family members and lovers all abandon or let her down, Buffy has to learn the hard lesson that she can only count on herself. At least she isn’t the only Slayer anymore, but that doesn’t wipe away a whole adolescence and young adulthood full of anguish.
1
Tara Maclay Was Mistreated Far Too Much in Her Far Too Short Life
Many Buffy characters, due to how well-rounded they are, have flaws, but that’s not true of Tara Maclay. As one of Buffy’s best female characters, Tara is wise, kind, and deeply empathetic. Her pioneering romance with Willow continues to mean so much to generations of fans, and her shy, sensitive personality makes her a relatable icon for any viewers who have perhaps struggled with self-esteem and self-confidence in their own lives.
That is what makes Tara’s ultimate fate perhaps the most notorious Buffy death of them all. In Season 6, she dies when Warren shoots her through the heart with a stray bullet, cementing his status as one of Sunnydale’s most awful residents. Tara’s sudden, unexpected death is only made worse by the fact she died in Willow’s arms, all too soon after a reconciliation following months of romantic upheaval. She lost her loving mother when she was young, suffered emotional abuse from her bigoted family, and had her mental energy absorbed by Glory. Tara, maybe more than any other Buffy character, certainly deserved better.
- Release Date
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1997 – 2003
- Network
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The WB
- Showrunner
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Joss Whedon
- Directors
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Joss Whedon
- Writers
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Joss Whedon
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Sarah Michelle Gellar
Buffy Summers
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Nicholas Brendon
Alexander Harris