Buffy Summers is the main protagonist in the classic TV series ‘Buffy, the Vampire Slayer’. In other words, she’s the Slayer – Chosen One. She’s not a regular human. She’s tactically intelligent, physically strong, and far more resilient than any ordinary person.
In terms of cultural impact, Buffy is often seen as one of the first powerful female characters on television: independent, witty, and unapologetically badass. She became a symbol of female empowerment long before that was common in mainstream media. The show also served as an inspiration for other TV series about vampires. In addition, fans love her, and rightfully so – she’s iconic, complex, and a genuine trendsetter in pop culture.
So what problems do I have with her? How good a character is she? You can also check out my top 10 best characters in the Buffyverse to see where I ranked Buffy.
And another question I also ask myself – do I like her character?
But let’s start with the issues first.
1. Her superiority and savior complex
Maybe not in an obvious way and you can argue with me on this. Nevertheless, she has a bit of a superiority and savior complex, even if it doesn’t come out of arrogance, but a sense of duty and maybe a lack of emotional intelligence.
While she does a wonderful and selfless job saving people and the world from evil forces, I often feel that she believes she’s better than everyone else simply because she’s special. It’s also what Faith used to tell her. She constantly reminds people that she’s the Slayer, insists on fighting demons on her own, refuses help when others try to support her, and keeps pointing out that nobody could really help her because only she’s the Slayer, and therefore the capable one. She truly believes she’s the only one who can save the world.
And I get that sometimes she’s just trying to keep her friends safe by not involving them. But at that point, her friends have already been involved the moment they found out who she was, they became part of the fight. Refusing their help to save a world they all live in? That, to me, shows poor judgment and a clear savior complex.
2. Wallowing in self-pity
I might seem too harsh on her, because she’s the slayer bla la bla (yeah, I know she’s the slayer, Buffy keeps reminding us all the time, as if being the slayer gives her a free pass to complain all the time and to tell people off). She complains a lot in the first seasons about wanting to be normal, without all the responsibility, without the weight of saving the world on her shoulders. But when she finally gets a chance at a bit of normality (when Riley comes into the picture) she doesn’t seem satisfied with it. Because once again, she throws her Slayer status in his face and keeps reminding him of her duties and the hard life she has.
3. Her relationship with Riley
Where do I start? Their relationship had so much potential. The plot of him being her teacher, she, the student, set the stage for great chemistry. And they had great chemistry in the beginning. But I feel that everything was lost when Riley found out she’s the slayer. Why? Maybe because Buffy started flaunting her slayer status, trying to keep him away from fighting monsters and patrolling because, once again, she was the only one who can fight evil forces.
Throughout their relationship, it became obvious that he loved her more than she loved him. I do believe that he gave her everything, but she didn’t reciprocate. Maybe because of what she went through with Angel, she raised protective walls around her heart and refused to let anyone get too close. Nevertheless, it was obvious that she kept him at a distance. She didn’t communicate with him properly, kept her feelings hidden, and often shut him out when he tried to get close. When Riley sensed something was wrong, she’d deflect or change the subject instead of letting him in. She’d smile, say she was okay, and carry on as if nothing was wrong, even when it was clear that something was bothering her.
She also didn’t show a lot of affection towards him. He wasn’t her priority. If we compare to how she was with Angel: always attentive towards him, trying to protect him by lying to her friends about him being alive, the physical closeness she offered him…the differences are striking in my opinion.
I do believe that she cared about Riley. But she didn’t love him enough. Not in a romantic way and not in the way he wanted, needed, and deserved. In their last episode together, Riley tried to explain that to her and I got it. I was on his side, because what he was telling her was what I felt watching their relationship from outside. He told her that she didn’t make him feel needed and that is true. She never needed his help, never asked for it. More than once, she tried to keep him out of the fight just because she was the Slayer. She didn’t even call him when her mother fell ill and had to go to the hospital. He had to find out from Spike. Yet Buffy disappointed me again by not being able to see his point of view. She insisted that she gave him everything and, if I recall, accused him of not understanding her. Again with the slayer complex. I liked his answer when he told her that he didn’t feel that she gave him her all. I agree. Either she was lying to herself, or she didn’t have the emotional capacity to understand the situation.
I don’t want to imply that Riley was perfect and didn’t make mistakes though. He had flaws too. I think he indeed couldn’t deal properly with the fact that Buffy was stronger than him. I think he was also a bit jealous of her strength. I think her relationship with Angel made him a bit insecure too. But to me these things were understandable and stayed within normal limits. He’s human after all. And he did try to deal with these issues. It’s Buffy who indirectly, through the impact he had on him, didn’t let him evolve.
So to me, the only conclusion to this relationship was to end. I was glad that Buffy arrived just a few minutes late and didn’t catch him before boarding the helicopter. Even though the moment was a bit sad, it was for the better.
4. She can be hypocritical, mean, and condescending
In season 4, Spike has a chip implanted in his brain by the Initiative, which prevents him from physically hurting humans. This leads to him helping the gang from time to time, sometimes in exchange for money, other times without any interest. It is in season 5 when he realizes that he has feelings for Buffy.
Here’s what my problem with Buffy is. Yes, Spike was a vampire and he had done a lot of awful things, but he had sincere moments when he showed goodness and what was Buffy’s reaction to them? She was disgusted, insulted him, and made it clear that he was beneath her. And I get that he was a bad vampire and all that jazz, but she seemed to be repaying his good deeds with disgust and insults. Let’s break it down:
Pre-romance Spike: He genuinely tried to help the Scoobies at times, protecting Dawn, fighting demons, giving them intel. Even when his motives weren’t pure, he chose to side with them more often than not. Yet Buffy still treated him like a pest or a necessary evil. That mix of disgust and superiority discouraged his better impulses, which I feel goes against her role as a slayer and the quality of her character.
Angel vs. Spike: This is where Buffy’s hypocrisy really shows. She forgave Angel for crimes far worse than anything Spike did pre-soul (Angelus tortured Giles, murdered Jenny Calendar, etc.), but she excused it because of the soul issue and her feelings for him. With Spike, she couldn’t imagine that goodness might exist without that supernatural “seal of approval.”
Buffy’s inner struggle: Her moral framework was very black-and-white: “soul = good, no soul = evil.” Spike forced her to face the idea that morality and love could exist in shades of gray, and that terrified her. Her condescension was partly a defense mechanism. She didn’t want to believe a soulless vampire could be capable of love or moral choice, because that would complicate her entire worldview.
I also want to debunk the fan theory that Spike only fell in love with Buffy because of the chip. I don’t agree with that, because the chip only prevented him from hurting humans physically; it didn’t give him his soul back. In the beginning, after having the chip implanted, he still wanted to kill her and harm people. And honestly, I’ve never felt that Spike was that bad of a vampire, even before the chip. Out of the group of four (him, Angelus, Druscilla, and Darla), Spike was the least vicious.
To conclude my point, I want to add that despite having these issues with Buffy Summers’ character, I do believe that she’s a good person with many positive traits: her courage, her sense of responsibility, her love for her family and friends, her sense of humor, her intelligence. Over time, she matures from a distracted teenager to a responsible leader, and even if it takes a while, she eventually acknowledges some of the mistakes she’s made, like the ones I pointed out above. So yes, I do like her character at times, but there are also many moments when she genuinely annoys me, but I think this makes her feel more real, not just a fictional TV character.
