History Awesome / BuffyTheVampireSlayer

* After Angelus has dissed him for the thousandth time (and having sex with Drusilla) while he's been crippled, Spike waits for Angelus to leave, stands up out of his wheelchair and kicks it aside. He follows that by promising to bide his time and wait for the right moment to royally fuck Angelus up. Makes good on it in the season finale when he beats Angelus with a tire iron. It's a bad idea to piss Spike off, even if you're the season's BigBad.

* When one of The Knights of Byzantium stabs through the roof of the RV, Spike catches the blade with his ''bare hands''.

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E0Nightmares Nightmares]]" (1x10)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath]] Killed By Death]]" (2x18)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E19IOnlyHaveEyesForYou I Only Have Eyes For You]]" (2x19)

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlaerS2E22BecomingPart2 Becoming Part 2]]" (2x22)]

* Though "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E7FoolForLove Fool For Love]]" is a good latter-day attempt, Spike gets his in the final scene where, after a {{montage|Out}} of every other character's brooding {{Wangst}}, you see him in his car streaking off into the desert sun to find Drusilla, rocking out to Music/SidVicious' version of "My Way".

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E19Consequences Consequences]]" (3x19)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E1TheFreshman The Freshman]]" (4x01)

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E8SomethingBlue Something Blue]]" (4x08)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E15ThisYearsGirl This Year's Girl]]" [[4x15)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E18Intervention Intervention" (5x18)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E20Spiral Spiral]]"]] (5x20)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E21WeightOfTheWorld Weight of the World]]"]] (5x21)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E3LifeSerial Life Serial]]" (6x03)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E14OlderAndFarAway Older and Far Away]]" (6x14)

* Dawn hreatening Spike:

[["[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E9NeverLeaveMe Never Leave Me]]" (7x09)]]

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E11Showtime Showtime]]" (7x11)
* After three epiodes of being unable to harm the Turok-Han, Buffy devises a plan to lure it away from the house and into a construction site. After a long, brutal fight, she finally puts an end to the Ubervamp by ''decapitating it with barbed wire''.

* A huge moment of awesome for Willow, which gets glossed over in the episode itself: Xander is upset after Buffy gently turned him down, and asks Willow to the prom instead. The guy that she's head over heels for just asked her out, so obviously she's going to accept, right? WRONG. Willow gently but firmly tells him that she will not be the back-up option, and that while she'd love to go out with Xander, she will do it when he's interested in ''her,'' not just as a replacement for Buffy. That took as much guts as just about anything on this page.

[[AC:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath}} Killed By Death]]" (2x18)]]
* The confrontation between Xander and Angelus

* "There's scarier things than you, [[BadassBoast and I'm one of them.]]" Spoken by Buffy ''as a vampire''. To a creature with a club arm that had already beaten her down and forced her to ''run'' instead of continuing to fight.
** Plus a meta one, as the vampire fangs used in the first couple years were notoriously hard to talk with and left almost everyone with a noticeable lisp, but even at such a young age Creator/SarahMichelleGellar was articulate enough to be able to sound totally normal.

* Dawn howing some pretty quick thinking when she finds the Queller demon attacking Joyce. She grabs a coatrack and uses it to push the demon off her mother. Then, once it's out of the room, she rushes around to close all the doors and keep it out. Before closing the last door she makes sure to scream loudly and clearly enough for Buffy to come and help them.

[[AC"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E4OutOfMyMind Out of My Mind]]" (5x04)]]

* Willow and Tara teleport Glory out of the hospital and ''into the Earth's atmosphere''. And it worked, despite giving Willow a nosebleed.

* Buffy's first Awesome moment in the series was her staking of Luke, the Vessel and she picks ''such'' an excellently bitchy way to do it. She shatters a window, [[SchmuckBait making Luke think the sunshine is getting in]], but he stops cowering and starts looking confused when he sees a streetlight. Then Buffy sneaks up and stakes him.

'''Buffy'''
* Buffy's first Awesome moment in the series was her staking of Luke, the Vessel in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E2TheHarvest The Harvest]]" and she picks ''such'' an excellently bitchy way to do it. She shatters a window, [[SchmuckBait making Luke think the sunshine is getting in]], but he stops cowering and starts looking confused when he sees a streetlight. Then Buffy sneaks up and stakes him.
-->'''Buffy:''' [[BondOneLiner It's in about nine hours,]] [[WhatAnIdiot moron.]]
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E3TheWitch The Witch]]": Punching out Amy's abusive mother and deflecting her curse back at her. If nothing else, this is awesome owing as to how satisfying it was.
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E12ProphecyGirl Prophecy Girl]]":
** Just come back to life and hunting down the Master, Buffy's PowerWalk set to the theme song definitely counts too.
** "You have fruit punch mouth."

'''Willow'''
* The earliest awesome Willow moment was in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E2TheHarvest The Harvest]]" when she got Cordelia, who was talking shit about Buffy, to destroy the program she made for computer class by telling her to press "Deliver" (DEL).
* Willow has had a [[ChildhoodFriendRomance huge crush]] on Xander since they were kids. In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E6ThePack}} The Pack]]", Xander has been possessed by a hyena spirit, turning him into a predatory bully. Xander has been captured and locked up, and lays on the charm trying to get Willow to let him out. As soon as she comes within reach, he lunges at her and she deftly dodges out of the way, now [[SecretTestOfCharacter knowing for certain]] she can't trust him (for the duration of his possession).
* A huge moment of awesome for her, which gets glossed over in the episode itself: in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E12ProphecyGirl Prophecy Girl]]", Xander is upset after Buffy gently turned him down, and asks Willow to the prom instead. The guy that she's head over heels for just asked her out, so obviously she's going to accept, right? WRONG. Willow gently but firmly tells him that she will not be the back-up option, and that while she'd love to go out with Xander, she will do it when he's interested in ''her,'' not just as a replacement for Buffy. That took as much guts as just about anything on this page.

'''Xander'''
* [[TalkToTheFist Punching out]] the MonsterClown in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E10Nightmares}} Nightmares]]". And let's not forget the taunting afterwards!

** A minor one, but acknowledged, from the same episode. When [[spoiler: the child-beating coach]] tries to make his getaway in the end, Xander is the one to take him down.
* Saving Buffy's life in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E12ProphecyGirl}} Prophecy Girl]]", and forcing Angel, who'd already given up, to get back on his feet and do likewise. An especially noteworthy moment of awesome because Xander, after being rejected for a date by Buffy, did ''not'' handle it well, alienating both Buffy and Willow in the process. But as soon as he finds out Buffy's in mortal danger, he immediately drops the petulant sulking, [[TookALevelInBadass takes a few levels in badass]], finds Angel and calls his ass out, threatening his life in the process (a threat that, it should be pointed out, Angel takes completely seriously), and they go storm the Master's lair together. Xander's behavior sometimes divides fans, but if ever there was an episode that shows his beginnings as TheHeart[=/=]BadassNormal of the team, this is it.
* A very small one in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E6ThePack}} The Pack]]" (doused with a bit of SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming|Moments}}), where he, immediately upon waking from his hyena trance, sees Willow in danger and tackles the zookeeper to save her. [[UndyingLoyalty All without a moment's hesitation]].

'''Angel'''
* Saving Buffy from a TriggerHappy Darla in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E7Angel}} Angel]]". How hard has he fallen for Buffy? He staked his own sire.
-->'''Darla:''' [[FamousLastWords ...Angel?]]

'''Giles'''
* Showing his PapaWolf colors in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E3TheWitch}} The Witch]]" when [[spoiler:Amy!Catherine]] tries to stall him after he comes to her house with a sick Buffy in tow, looking for a way to break the Bloodstone Vengeance spell.
-->'''Giles:''' This girl is very sick! Now you will shut up and listen to me! Your daughter has access to powerful magics, and your cheerleading obsession--\\
'''[[spoiler:Amy!Catherine]]:''' I don't care about cheerleading! It's not my fault she's doing stuff.\\
'''Giles:''' As her mother, you should assume some responsibility for her actions.
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E12ProphecyGirl Prophecy Girl]]" Giles makes a last ditch effort to protect Buffy, and gears up to battle the Master ''himself.'' He never gets the chance thanks to Buffy, but that's pretty badass for a stuffy librarian.

'''Cordelia'''
* Cordelia driving to the library in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E12ProphecyGirl Prophecy Girl]]".

'''Other'''
* The Master kills Buffy in "Prophecy Girl". Even if she came BackFromTheDead it's an impressive accomplishment.
* Darla pulling the guns on Buffy in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E7Angel}} Angel]]". With just that trick she put herself in a situation of ''complete'' advantage on the one person supposed to be able to slay vampires with impunity and that had recently offed one much stronger than herself, and the only reason Buffy survived was that Angel staked Darla before she could kill her.
* The very first scene is one for the show as a whole. Jock and CatholicSchoolGirl go around at night, the jock lures the girl in an isolated location, [[WhamShot and then the girl reveals herself as a vampire and kills him]]. Nowadays this is almost expected, but at the time it was shocking (and it may be the very reason it's now so expected: [[FollowTheLeader everyone wanted to imitate this]]).

'''Buffy'''
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E12BadEggs}} Bad Eggs]]", vampire Lyle Gorch has made a point of saying "This ain't/isn't over" to Buffy every time he retreats. Then at the end, a goo-covered Buffy crawls out of the Mother Bezoar she has just hacked to death with a pickaxe..

* Buffy confronting Jenny in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E14Innocence}} Innocence]]". Having just recovered from her HeroicBSOD, Buffy walks into school, goes straight to Jenny's classroom, grabs Jenny by the neck and slams her down onto her desk ''in front of Giles and the entire class''.
** On the DVDCommentary, Joss's comment for this scene is "I love how violent this is."
**

** A little later, there's the spectacular, vicious, emotional battle between Angelus and Buffy that sees Buffy finally holding a stake over Angelus, frozen in hesitation, unable to kill him, and [[TemptingFate as he gloats]]...

* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E20GoFish}} Go Fish]]", Buffy is getting wooed by a guy in his car. As she gets bored and tries to get out of the conversation politely, [[DateRapeAverted he gets more "direct" and aggressive in his approach and locks the car's doors when she tries to leave]]. What would be a scary situation if she was a normal girl is already hilarious for a Buffy viewer.

* Buffy vs Angelus in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E22BecomingPart2}} Becoming, Part 2]]"

'''Willow'''
* When a vamp grabs Cordelia in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E3SchoolHard}} School Hard]]", Willow without missing a beat whirls away, grabs a stone bust and brains the vampire. She's come a long way from the hesitant girl of Season 1.
* Willow in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E8TheDarkAge}} The Dark Age]]":
--> '''Willow:''' And if you aren't with me a hundred and ten percent, then [[PrecisionFStrike get the hell out of my library]]!
* [[BewareTheNiceONes Angry!Willow]] is ''always'' awesome. When she screams "'''HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!'''", ''everyone'' cowers before her, including [[BadassNormal Giles]] and Angel.
** Speaking of Giles and Angel, it was awesome to see Willow be more assertive towards Giles and Angel when they were being hard on Buffy in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E5Reptile Boy}} Reptile Boy]]".
--->"Well... Well, why do you think she went to that party? Because you gave her the brush-off! And you never let her do anything except work and patrol! And I know she's the Chosen One, but you're killing her with the pressure! I mean, she's sixteen going on forty! And ''you!'' I mean, you're gonna live forever! You don't have time for a cup of coffee?!"

'''Xander'''
* His "WhatTheHellHero" to Buffy in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E1WhenSheWasBad When She Was Bad]]", ending with "If they hurt Willow, I will kill you." Here, [[TookALevelInBadass Xander's balls dropped about a foot, and tripled in size]].
* The entire episode of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E6Halloween}} Halloween]]". When Buffy is turned into a helpless 18th-century woman and Willow becomes a ghost, he becomes a badass M16-wielding, fatigues-wearing soldier. In the course of about twenty minutes he gets to kick monster ass, rock-and-roll with an M16, beat up a jock-turned-pirate who constantly picks on him, impress the resident hot airhead cheerleader, and even stand up to Spike.
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E9WhatsMyLinePart1}} What's My Line, Part 1]]". Xander ''epically'' pwns [[AlphaBitch Cordelia.]]
-->'''Cordelia:''' What am I, mass transportation?\\
'''Xander:''' That's what a lot of the guys say, but it's just locker-room talk.
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath}} Killed By Death]]":
-->'''Angelus''': If I decide to walk into Buffy's room, do you think for one microsecond that you could stop me? \\
'''Xander''': Maybe not. Maybe that security guard couldn't either. Or those cops... or the orderlies... But ''I'm'' kinda curious to find out. You game? \\
'''Angelus''': Buffy's White Knight. You still love her. It must just eat you up that I got there first. \\
'''Xander''': You're gonna die. And I'm gonna be there. \\
'''Angelus''': Tell her I stopped by. \\
''(And then Angelus, the vampire who slaughtered nuns for fun, took on Holtz, and God knows who else, WALKED AWAY!)''

'''Angel'''

'''Giles'''
* The first time Ethan shows up in "Halloween", we haven't really seen much evidence of Giles' FormerTeenRebel self. So when he shows up in Ethan's shop and proceeds to absolutely kick his ass-- in a state of TranquilFury no less-- it is both unexpected and ''amazing''.
* While wrestling a vampire, Giles gets a crossbow bolt to the back. His reaction? He rips it out and stabs the vampire in the heart with it.
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E17Passion}} Passion]]": Some cheered when Giles went after Angelus and company singlehandedly. ''With a flaming baseball bat.'' Remember that at this point, the BigBad is a two hundred-year-old vampire who was the scourge of Europe, famed for his exceptional cruelty. And considering that Giles has no superpowers, spends his days in a library and has pretty much been the Useless Mentor up until his girlfriend dies, that's saying a lot about his badass level. The Badass Scale officially exploded at this point, even if Angelus recovers a minute later.
** Another awesome thing about the scene is how Spike restrains Drusilla from rushing to Angelus' aid, and just sits there with a little smirk on his face watching the flaming baseball bat hit Angelus in the head over and over.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E19IOnlyHaveEyesForYou}} I Only Have Eyes For You]]", Giles rescues Willow from being sucked into a portal in the floor.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E22BecomingPart2}} Becoming, Part 2]]", after Angelus has been torturing him for information on how to waken Acanthla, Giles appears to be about to crack...and then comes out with this line:
---> '''Giles:''' In order...to be worthy...you must perform the ritual...in a tutu.
** Then he glares Angelus down. And calls him a pillock.
* Give Tony Head his props; when he has to whip out a range of emotions and characteristics in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E8TheDarkAge}} The Dark Age]]"... he's amazing.

'''Spike'''
* Spike fails his first job for the Anointed One. So Spike starts to grovel at his feet, then decides "screw this" and ''straight up [[EvilerThanThou kills the Anointed One.]]'' And then becomes the BigBad himself for the first half of the season.
* Spike gets one at the end of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E19IOnlyHaveEyesForYou I Only Have Eyes For You]]", after Angelus has dissed him for the thousandth time (and having sex with Drusilla) while he's been crippled, Spike waits for Angelus to leave, stands up out of his wheelchair and kicks it aside. He follows that by promising to bide his time and wait for the right moment to royally fuck Angelus up. Makes good on it in the season finale when he beats Angelus with a tire iron. It's a bad idea to piss Spike off, even if you're the season's BigBad.

'''Oz'''

'''Cordelia'''
* Calling Buffy out on her alienting behaviour in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E1WhenSheWasBad When She Was Bad]]":
-->'''Cordelia''': Buffy. You're really campaigning for bitch-of-the-year, aren't you?
-->'''Buffy''': As defending champion, you nervous?
-->'''Cordelia''': I can hold my own. You know, we've never really been close, which is nice, 'cause I don't really like you that much, but...you have on occasion saved the world and stuff, so I'm gonna... do you a favor.
-->'''Buffy''': And this great favor is...
-->'''Cordelia''': I'm gonna give you some advice. Get over it.
-->'''Buffy''': Excuse me? Cordelia: Whatever is causing the Creator/JoanCollins 'tude, deal with it. Embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet, whatever, but get over it. 'Cause pretty soon you're not even gonna have the loser friends you've got now.
-->'''Buffy''': I think it's about time you start minding your own business.
-->'''Cordelia''': It's long past.
* Snapping at Harmony in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E16BewitchedBotheredAndBewildered}} Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered]]":
--> '''CORDELIA''': Harmony, shut up. Do you know what you are, Harmony? You're a sheep. \\
'''HARMONY''': I'm not a sheep. \\
'''CORDELIA''': [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech You're a sheep. All you ever do is what everyone else does just so you can say you did it first. And here I am, scrambling for your approval, when I'm]] ''[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech way]]'' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech cooler than you are cause I'm]] ''[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech not]]'' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech a sheep.]] I do what I wanna do, and I wear what I wanna wear. And you know what? I'll date whoever the ''hell'' I wanna date. ....No matter how lame he is.

'''Other'''
* Drusilla picking up and carrying Spike at the end of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E10WhatsMyLinePart2}} What's My Line, Part 2]]".
* Drusilla taking out Kendra The Vampire Slayer with a swipe of her fingernail in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E21BecomingPart1}} Becoming, Part 1]]".
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E3SchoolHard School Hard]]". [[MamaBear Joyce Summers]]. Fire axe.
-->"You get the hell away from my daughter."
** Which gets reference in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E22BecomingPart2}} Becoming, Part 2]]".
--->'''Joyce''': Have we met? \\
'''Spike''': Er... You hit me with an axe one time. Remember, er, "get the hell away from my daughter"? \\
'''Joyce''': Oh. So, do you live here in town?
* Angelus cements his status as BigBad by murdering Jenny Calendar in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E17Passion Passion]]". It's one for Whedon and the show for having the balls to kill off an established and well-liked character in so brutal a fashion. The first real character death in the series and it still packs a punch.

'''Buffy'''
* A subtle one in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E1Anne Anne]]". You wouldn't think that getting a job as a waitress and living in a crappy apartment would qualify but when you realize that the average teenage runaway is sleeping on the street or in an abandoned building and is likely to be addicted to something and turning tricks to get by, it is.
** Buffy is asked "who are you?" and instead of answering "no one" like everyone else she does a TitleDrop and says "I'm Buffy, the vampire slayer. And you are?" before kicking some ass.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E3FaithHopeAndTrick}} Faith, Hope, and Trick]]", Buffy and Joyce have a meeting with Snyder about her being let back into Sunnydale High as a student. Do they have to do it? Yes. Do they have to like him? Absolutely not. Is it wise to antagonize someone who obviously wants her expelled and/or jailed? Maybe not. Is it fun seeing both the Summers women express their absolute disdain to the little troll's face, completely unconcerned with how he'll take it? Absolutely.

* Buffy [[BullyHunter scares off a group of bullies]] in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E11Gingerbread}} Gingerbread]]" with what can be interpreted as a SlasherSmile.
* Killing the vamp from "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E12Helpless}} Helpless]]" by switching his water with holy water. Made more impressive by how smart and creative it is since she is completely powerless against an insanely psychotic vampire who already has her mother locked up. Said vampire had also killed two people who worked for The Council prior.
* In "Doppelgangland", there's a moment that establishes Buffy as the perfect {{Foil}} to Faith. She's about to stake Vampire!Willow and Willow calls out "Buffy, no!" just as Buffy had when Faith was about to stake the Deputy Mayor. Buffy is able to stop as soon as Willow calls out, showing her perfect reflexes.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E18Earshot}} Earshot]]", Buffy, seeing Jonathan putting together a rifle, and thinking he's about to open fire on students, scales the whole damn building with her Slayer strength.

* Buffy gets a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, as well as a CMOF and CMOH, in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E20TheProm}} The Prom]]". Hurting from Angel breaking up with her, she is disinterested in a student, Tucker, training hellhounds to attack the prom, until the Scoobies begin getting scared and upset about their night being ruined, driving Buffy to action.

** Later, after finding Tucker, we get this exchange.

** She then proceeds to take out three hellhounds single-handedly. She ''deserved'' that Class Protector trophy.
** Tucker hits her with a vase. She {{no sell}}s it and disarms him with no difficulty.

'''Willow'''
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland}} Doppelgangland]]", she enters an entire bar full of vampires dressed as her ruthless vampire alternate universe self and attempts to bluff the entire group into believing she's an evil, murdering vampire; successfully, until Anya intervenes.
** Vamp Willow getting the vamps who attacked her to work for her.
--->'''Vamp!Willow:''' (after beating down the two vampires and putting one in an armlock) You made me cranky.\\
'''Minion Vamp:''' There must be a mistake. We were sent after a human!\\
'''Vamp!Willow:''' Who do you work for?\\
'''Minion Vamp:''' I'm not tellin' you a thing!\\
'''Vamp!Willow:''' ''[snaps one of his fingers]'' Who do you work for?\\
'''Minion Vamp:''' Aggh! Wilkins! The Mayor!\\
'''Vamp!Willow:''' ''[breaks another finger]'' Who do you work for?\\
'''Minion Vamp:''' ...You.
** Snyder forces Willow to tutor Percy. He goes after her when she's at the Bronze rather than doing all the work for him. Slight problem is this is Vamp!Willow.
--->"Bored now." She flips him onto a pool table then leans in to his neck. "I'm having a terrible night. Wanna make it better?"
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E19Choices}} Choices]]":
** Willow's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Faith:
-->'''Faith:''' Give me the speech again, please. "Faith, we're still your friends. We can help you. It's not too late." \\
'''Willow:''' It's way too late. You know, it didn't have to be this way. But you made your choice. I know you had a tough life. I know that some people think you had a lot of bad breaks. Well, boo hoo! Poor you! You know, you had a lot more in your life than some people. I mean, you had friends in your life like Buffy. Now you have no one. You were a slayer and now you're nothing. You're just a big, selfish, worthless waste.
** And note that Willow says that when she's all alone in the center of the Mayor's minion-filled stronghold, before she has any useful combat magic, and while facing the knife-wielding evil superpowered Faith.
** Of course, why is Willow in a position to say that to Faith? Because she got captured. But then she kills the vampire guarding her and has an opportunity to escape. So what does she do? She ''doesn't escape'', she finds the Mayor's office and studies the Books of Ascension, tearing out and hiding the most informative pages for Giles to study.
*** She knew full well her friends would rescue her and decided to be proactive with pep; she took advantage of the situation and used her abilities to the utmost. Shit damn but that's awesome.
*** Not only does she kill the vampire guarding her, she does it by levitating a pencil behind him and driving it through his heart when he's got her backed up against the wall and is about to drink her blood.
** The above speech from is Willow's ''second''-best speech from the episode. Here's the best one, from where Willow reveals to Buffy that she's chosen to go to college at UC Sunnydale.
--->'''Buffy:''' I can't believe it! Are you serious? Ah, wait, what am I saying? You can't.\\
'''Willow:''' What do you mean, I can't?\\
'''Buffy:''' I won't let you.\\
'''Willow:''' Of the two people here, which is the boss of me?\\
'''Buffy:''' There are better schools.\\
'''Willow:''' Sunnydale's not bad. And I can design my own curriculum.\\
'''Buffy:''' Okay, well, there are safer schools. There are safer ''prisons''. I can't let you stay because of me.\\
'''Willow:''' Actually, this isn't about you. Although I'm fond, don't get me wrong. The other night, you know, being captured and all, facing off with Faith. Things just, kind of, got clear. I mean, you've been fighting evil here for three years, and I've helped some, and now we're supposed to decide what we want to do with our lives. And I just realized that that's what I want to do. Fight evil, help people. I mean, I think it's worth doing. And I don't think you do it because you have to. It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in.

'''Xander'''
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E13TheZeppo}} The Zeppo]]" Xander finally stands up to a bullying zombie who's trying to blow up the school, forcing him to either disarm the bomb or get blown up.
-->'''Zombie Jack:''' I'm not afraid to die. I'm already dead.\\
'''Xander:''' Yeah, but this is different. Bein' blowed up isn't walking around and drinkin' with your buddies dead. It's little bits being swept up by a janitor dead, and I don't think you're ready for that.\\
'''Zombie Jack''' Are you?\\
'''Xander:''' ...''I like the quiet''.
** And it ''works.'' Zombie!Jack disarms the bomb, and Xander tells him in no uncertain terms that he doesn't want to see him on campus ever again. The episode was Xander's [[ADayInTheLimelight Day In The Limelight]] as it is, but you wanna talk about BadassNormal, this is it.
** To make it even better, none of the other Scoobies, who had spent that night preventing the Apocalypse while sending Xander to get them doughnuts, are ever made aware that Xander singlehandedly saved the world that night as well since Xander decides to take the high road and not brag to any of them. Nicholas Brendon cried upon reading the script for the first time.
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2 Graduation Day Part 2]]", Xander's the key guy, because he's the one who can bring the entire school together to fight the Mayor's doomy legion of dooming. He's got an in with the jocks (Larry, the swim team), the popular crowd (the Cordettes), and all the outcasts, because of all his tireless legwork for Buffy. And liplocking with Cordy.

'''Angel'''
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E4BeautyAndTheBeasts Beauty and The Beasts]]": Hyde-Pete attacks Buffy after killing his girlfriend. Angel bursts in, still feral after his time in a hell dimension, and after a short, brutal fight, uses the chains still attached to his wrists to snap Pete's neck.
* Angel saving Giles and Wesley from Balthazar in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E14BadGirls}} Bad Girls]]".
-->'''Balthazar''': The man who has my amulet! What is his name?!\\
'''Angel''': [[BigDamnHeroes His name is Angel.]]
* Angel cracking Faith's head with a shovel as she was trying to rape and kill Xander in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E15Consequences}} Consequences]]".
* When Angel reveals that he's been pretending to have lost his soul in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E17Enemies Enemies]]":
--> '''Faith:''' What can I say? I'm the world's best actor.\\
'''Angel:''' [[WhamLine Second best.]]
** Cue OhCrap look on Faith's face.
* From "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E18Earshot}} Earshot]]" (Buffy's been infected by a demon, and the heart of a second demon of the same species contains the cure)
--> '''Giles:''' How do we get the heart of the second demon?\\
''[Cut to Angel unleashing a furious attack on the second demon. NoHoldsBarredBeatdown ensues.]''

'''Giles'''
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E2DeadMansParty Dead Man's Party]]", Giles threatens Principal Snyder to let Buffy back in school. [[TranquilFury He's wearing Ripper's little smile, the one that says, "Please give me an excuse to hurt you, you tiny slug of a man."]]
-->'''Snyder:''' I'm not convinced.\\
'''Giles:''' ''[slams Snyder against a cupboard, a serene smile on his face]'' Would you like me to convince you?
** Making this even better is Snyder's previous scene showed he more or less gets sexually aroused at hurting Buffy, [[TooDumbToLive and basically confesses this to Giles.]] Then ignores the threat of having the state Supreme Court brought in.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E3FaithHopeAndTrick}} Faith, Hope, and Trick]]", four words; "[[PullTheThread There is no spell.]]"
* Not so much awesome as just plain fun: in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E6Band Candy}} Band Candy]]" all the adults have been drugged to act like teenagers, and a cop has a Rupert "Ripper" Giles at gunpoint. Giles walks forward and ''[[UseYourHead nuts]]'' him.
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E9TheWish The Wish]]", Giles destroys Anyanka's power center almost entirely on faith that the other world "will be better. [[CrapsackWorld It has to be.]]"
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E18Earshot Earshot]]", Giles calls Wesley a berk. A what? It's rhyming slang, it's a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome because Giles was GettingCrapPastTheRadar to call Wes a cunt. [[note]]Well, technically, anyway. 'Berk' is rather inoffensive, along the lines of 'prat' or 'twit'... but still. Go Giles.[[/note]]
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E21GraduationDayPart1 Graduation Day Part 1]]". There's [[BigBad Mayor Wilkens]], right, who's invincible, on the verge of ascending into a [[ScaledUp giant snake]], and he's come to threaten the Scoobies in the library. When he menaces that he's going to kill Buffy, Giles stabs him through the chest with a saber. Being invincible and all, it only offends The Mayor that Giles would use violence, but it still shows him as a badass PapaWolf.
** And no, this time it wasn't his Ripper persona briefly re-emerging. That was Mr. Giles, the Watcher-who-just-got-fired-from-the-Council-because-of-his-paternal-love-and-protectiveness-of-his-Slayer. If you're going to poke that bear you'd ''better'' have some invincibility mojo going on.
** Prior to that, while he's fencing with Wesley, he manages to parry his blows ''without even looking at him''.

'''Spike'''
* Though "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E7FoolForLove}} Fool For Love]]" is a good latter-day attempt, Spike gets his in the final scene of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E8LoversWalk}} Lovers Walk]]" where, after a {{montage|Out}} of every other character's brooding {{Wangst}}, you see him in his car streaking off into the desert sun to find Drusilla, rocking out to Music/SidVicious' version of "My Way".
** Spike's deconstruction of Angel and Buffy's relationship needs to be quoted:
---> '''Spike''': You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love 'til it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other 'til it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood -- blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.

'''Anya'''

'''Oz'''
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E4BeautyAndTheBeasts Beauty and The Beasts]]": Jealous boyfriend Pete confronts Oz, who's locked in the book cage, about Debbie. Oz tries to warn Pete away by saying that something is about to happen that Pete "probably won't believe", then Pete morphs into Hyde-Pete and lays a smackdown on Oz for several minutes. At one point, Oz manages to put a bit of space between them, and he looks out the window to see the sun dip below the horizon. Cue SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: "Time's up. Rules change." Were-Oz proceeds to unleash a full-fledged [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown wolf-fu style asskicking]] that only ends, fortunately for Pete, when Oz gets distracted and tries to attack Willow and Faith.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E19Choices}} Choices]]", when Willow gets taken by Faith, Buffy wants to trade the Box of Gavrok for her best friend. Wesley refuses to let her do this because it's exchanging thousands of lives for one person, and everyone present - Wesley, Buffy, Giles, Xander, even Angel - begin shouting their opinions, standing around arguing. Oz, after wordlessly staring at Wesley through his speech, calmly stands up, walks over the vase he and Xander prepared for the Box-destroying ritual, grabs the pedestal, and sends the entire thing flying into the wall, smashing it to pieces. It's quickly decided afterwards to trade the Box for Willow.

'''Cordelia'''
* Cordelia facing down Lyle Gorch in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E5Homecoming}} Homecoming]]", where she delivers an absolutely unforgettable (and incredibly ballsy) monologue.
--> '''Cordelia''': (You're going to) Rip out my innards, play with my eyeballs, boil my brain and eat it for brunch? Listen up, needle-brain. Buffy and I have taken out four of your cronies, not to mention your girlfriend. \\
'''Lyle''': Wife! \\
'''Cordelia''' Whatever. The point is, I haven't even broken a sweat. See, in the end, Buffy's just the runner-up. ''I'm'' the Queen. You get me mad, (gets in his face and glares at him) what do you think I'm gonna do to you? \\
'''Lyle''': Later.
** Keep in mind that Lyle thought Cordelia was a slayer in this scene, and she was playing to that misconception. In other words, bluffing her ass off - which, in some people's opinions, makes it even ''more'' awesome.
** As proved in ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Cordy's acting chops come through when it really, really matters.
* In "Graduation Day: Part 2", Cordelia gets to dust her first vampire (at least on screen). Not just a good final moment of awesome before she departs the show for ''Series/{{Angel}},'' but also a nice bookend to the character who was held captive by vampires in the first episode and could only scream and cry.

'''Wesley'''
* Even the arrogant young Watcher gets an awesome moment in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2 Graduation Day Part 2]]" when he returns to the group of his own volition and expresses his willingness to do whatever is needed to help stop the Mayor. Keep in mind that, with Buffy having turned her back on the Council, Wesley was under no obligation to stay and could have easily gone back to England before the battle ever started. Literally no one in the Scooby Gang (besides Cordelia) even ''liked'' him, and none of them would have cared if he left. He stays to help purely because it's the right thing to do. This is also something of an EstablishingCharacterMoment, as it sets the stage for his transition into a much less cowardly, more heroic character when he goes over to ''{{Series/Angel}}''.

'''Faith'''
* Killing the vampire who killed her Watcher with a really large stake in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E3FaithHopeAndTrick}} Faith, Hope, and Trick]]".
** Stake nothing. She rams a support beam sized '''2x4''' through his chest, right after he [[TemptingFate taunted Buffy]] about 'needing a bigger stake.'
* Having learnt that Scott has dumped Buffy in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E5Homecoming Homecoming]]", Faith goes in to bat for her, grossing out his current girl with claims of having several [=STDs=]. Buffy's other friends...do sweet jack all.
* Taking out Mr. Trick and four other vamps while Buffy is incapacitated in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E15Consequences}} Consequences]]".
* Credit where credit is due Faith does not go down easily [[spoiler: in her final fight with Buffy]] in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E21GraduationDayPart1 Graduation Day Part 1]]". Despite having Faith cornered in her own apartment, having an entire seasons worth of reasons to want to see Faith dead and needing to [[spoiler: drain her blood in order to save Angel's life]] Faith still manages to give [[spoiler: Buffy]] one of her most intense and difficult fights in the entire series. And at the end [[spoiler: when Faith gets gutted by Buffy by her own knife and is close to dying]] Faith more or less [[DefiantToTheEnd gives her a defiant screw you]] [[spoiler: and purposely jumps off the top of her apartment building into a moving truck in order to prevent Buffy from getting her blood]].

'''Other'''
* In the slaver demon's pocket dimension in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E1Anne Anne]]". When Buffy is incapacitated, all the other humans are about to either give up or die, and she's just been [[KickTheDog emotionally beaten back into submission]], [[BewareTheNiceOnes Lily]] [[TheDogBitesBack kills the slaver demon]] [[UnderestimatingBadassery by shoving him off the ledge from behind]] [[ShutUpHannibal in the middle of his monologue]].
** Leading to a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} when the camera zooms in on [[OhCrap Lily's face]] when she realizes what she just did.
* The Mayor was back to back awesome, even if not a badass as we'd call it now. His crowning moment, however, was probably killing [[spoiler: the definition of AssholeVictim, Pricipal Snyder]].
** Shrugging off being stabbed in the back by Giles. He had invincibility, but still. It takes balls for a man to stay completely calm, if offended.
* Jonathan staying to fight the zombies in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E2DeadMansParty Dead Man's Party]]". That took a lot of cojones from someone like him.
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2 Graduation Day Part 2]]", where the entire graduating class pulls out weapons and does a human wave attack on the Big Bad.

'''Buffy'''
* How about the season 4 opener "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E1TheFreshman The Freshman]]"? Buffy punches the vampire that earlier kicked her ass across the room with her broken arm, before turning around to casually chat to her friends, throwing a stake over her shoulder and straight into its heart - all because Sunday (the vampire) had broken her 'Class Protector' trophy.

* Knocking out Parker with a piece of wood at the end of "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E5BeerBad Beer Bad]]".
* From "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E7TheInitiative The Initiative]]": telling off Professor Walsh for her harsh attitude to towards Willow, who is still reeling from her breakup with Oz.

* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E13TheIInTeam The I In Team]]": Buffy taking out two powerful demons barehanded after Professor Walsh sends her into a trap. Followed by this equally awesome BadassBoast on her body camera, said on monitors in the Initiative HQ just as Walsh finished telling Riley about Buffy's "death":
-->'''Buffy:''' That simple little recon you sent me on...wasn't a recon. Turns out it was me trapped in the sewers with a faulty weapon and two of your pet demons. If you think that's enough to kill me, you really don't know what a Slayer is. Trust me when I say you're gonna find out.
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E21Primeval Primeval]]":
** Taking point to lead the Scoobies through the demon-Initiative war. She goes postal on the demons, and not one of her friends is hurt. This is before the [[FusionDance Enjoining]]... at last you understand why she's the Slayer.
** Buffy blocking Adam's bullets after the Scoobies possess her. You can just taste his fear when he says "Interesting". Before turning Adam's rocket projectile into birds using the power of all the Scoobies.
** The whole scene is pretty awesome. Enjoined Buffy lands three rapid-fire punches on Adam's face, and then some rapid-fire levitating kicks, before [[AndShowItToYou punching a hole in his chest to take out his power source]]
--> '''Adam''': How can you ...\\
'''Enjoined Buffy''': You could never hope to grasp the source of our power.\\
[''Beats Adam up, punches through his chest and takes out his nuclear battery''] \\
'''Enjoined Buffy''': But yours is right here. \\
[''Holds the nuclear battery in front of him and magically disintegrates it'']
* "I walk. I talk. I shop. I sneeze. I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back. There's trees in the desert since you moved out, and I don't sleep on a bed of bones. Now give me back my friends!"

'''Willow'''
* When Parker breaks up with Buffy after a one night stand, Willow goes to tear him a new one in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E5BeerBad Beer Bad]]". He starts putting the moves on her, and she plays along a bit, before rocking him by seeing through his act.
* This bit from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E7TheInitiative The Initiative]]" was on Funny Moment, but it's worth repeating here.

'''Xander'''
* That speech he gave to Buffy after she briefly lost her self-esteem in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E1TheFreshman The Freshmen]]":
-->Buffy, I've gone through some fairly dark times in my life, faced some scary things, among them the kitchen at the fabulous Ladies Night club. Let me tell you something, when it's dark and I'm all alone and I'm scared or freaked out or whatever, I always think, "What would Buffy do?" You're my hero.
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E21Primeval Primeval]]":
** Xander's off-hand comment about combining Giles' brains and Willow's magic with Buffy was what inspired Giles to do just that. Also, the fact that Xander was the heart of the spell.
** The shot is brief, but during the fight scene in the Initiative’s HQ, Xander, armed with nothing but a rifle he’s never used before, is very clearly doing his best to shield Willow and Giles from the demons surrounding them. Giles ends up not needing the help, but he manages to shoot back a demon that gets too close to Willow.

'''Angel'''


'''Giles'''
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E4FearItself}} Fear Itself]]": The frat house sealed Buffy and friends inside and their worst fears are coming true ([[RecycledScript again]])? All the doors and windows have vanished? Frat house, meet Giles. [[ChainsawGood With a chainsaw.]]
--> '''Giles:''' We'll need to make a door \\
'''Anya:''' You can do that? \\
'''Giles:''' ''(pulls a chainsaw out of his bag)'' I can.
* Though it's terribly {{anvilicious}}, his rage against the old fundamentalist in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E18WhereTheWildThingsAre}} Where The Wild Things Are]]" is still rather magnificent. [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped And needed.]]
* Giles' "Exposition Song" in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E22Restless Restless]]", aided by ASH having a really good singing voice.
-->''"...and try not to bleed on my couch/I just had it steam-cleeeeeaned..."''

'''Spike'''
* Spike's escape from [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E7TheInitiative the Initiative]] was pretty freaking cool.
* "I'm back! And I'm a bloody ANIMAL!" Bonus points for wearing a tacky Hawaiian shirt and still sounding awesome.
* When Faith wakes up from her coma in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E15ThisYearsGirl This Year's Girl]]", the group goes searching for her. Giles and Xander run into Spike, and describe the situation, and Faith. Spikes response "Tell you what I'll do then. I'll head out, find this girl... tell her exactly where all of you are and watch as she kills you." Xander and Giles look at each other in confusion. Spike continues, "[[CharacterCheck Can any one of your damn little Scooby club at least try to remember that I HATE YOU all?]]" When Xander tries to retort that Spike doesn't even know what Faith looks like, Spike calmly recites Xander's physical description: "Dark hair, this tall, name of Faith, ''criminally'' insane. Like this girl already," as he walks off. Xander and Giles are left behind, utterly dumbstruck, until all Xander can say is "We're dumb."

'''Anya'''
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E18WhereTheWildThingsAre}} Where The Wild Things Are]]" was probably the worst episode of the season, but Anya was well and truly awesome and we saw what she would do when Xander was in danger. She charged up the stairs telling the screeching poltergeists who want to kill her to, "Shut up, repressed crybabies!" They responded by making a vine [don't ask] go straight through the palm of her hand, so she pulled it out ''without even a second of hesitation'', and continued fighting her way up to bathroom to stop them drowning her boyfriend.

'''Oz'''

'''Riley'''
* Riley [[ShutUpHannibal arresting Ethan Rayne]] in the middle of his BreakingSpeech in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E12ANewMan A New Man]].
* Punching Parker in the face when the latter starts making unpleasant remarks about Buffy.
* It takes a special kind of soldier to rip out a programming chip embedded in his own chest, and Riley shows off his steel-plated testicles by ''using broken glass to do it.''
* Riley decking that smug son of a bitch Colonel [=MacNamara=]:
-->'''[=MacNamara=]:''' You're a dead man, Finn!\\
'''Riley:''' No, sir. ''(knocks the colonel out with one fist to the jaw)'' [[IronicEcho I'm an anarchist.]]

'''[[spoiler:Faith]]'''
* Confronting Buffy on campus in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E15ThisYearsGirl}} This Year's Girl]]".
** [[spoiler: Faith has another badass fight with Buffy (which at one point involves her swinging a glass door into Buffy's face) [[HandicappedBadass while only having just left the hospital from her coma]]. However what makes this fight truly impressive is the fact that at the end Faith uses a machine the Mayor left her in order to [[BodySwap switch bodies with Buffy and then knock her old body out]]. So apparently Faith intentionally let Buffy beat the shit out of her so that she could switch bodies with her, knock her old weakened body out, leave Buffy in Faith's body to the Watchers and escape. Damn.]]
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E16WhoAreYou Who Are You?]]" Her [[spoiler: in Buffy's body]] telling a bunch of vamps holding a congregation hostage that what they're doing is wrong... and meaning it.


'''Other'''
* Harmony driving away Spike in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E8Pangs Pangs]]".

'''Buffy'''
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E12Checkpoint}} Checkpoint]]", where after a full episode of being made to feel inferior by the ZenSurvivor Watcher's Council, the ditziest BigBad ever to appear on the show, and a crazy KnightTemplar army of {{WellIntentionedExtremist}}s, Buffy gives a perfectly calm, almost deadpan set of demands to the council's lead DeadpanSnarker, punctuated by a thrown broadsword. The scene in all its awesomeness:

* The fact that Buffy went toe to toe with [[PhysicalGod Glory]] as often as she did. She may have gotten her ass kicked nearly every time but she was facing off against a ''living god'' with just her Slayer powers. Of course that made it beyond amazing when she finally wiped the floor with Glory in the final.
** And since we're on the subject, a moment from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E20Spiral Spiral]]":
--->'''Glory''': Any last words?\\

** In their final showdown, Buffy repeatedly wails on Glory with Olaf's hammer. After spending nearly the whole season barely being able to harm her and resorting to running away, this was immensely satisfying.
* Fighting off the Knights of Byzantium on top of a moving RV. A strong contender for the best action sequence in the whole series.
* Buffy [[FoeTossingCharge nonchalantly pushing Doc off Glory's tower]] in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift}} The Gift]]". Doc was in mid-sentence. It was like a non-verbal "Whatever."
** Let's not forget Buffy sacrificing herself. Like the tombstone said: She saved the world. A lot.
* From "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E10IntoTheWoods Into the Woods]]", Buffy wiping out the vampire brothel gang, six to one odds, [[CurbStompBattle in fourteen seconds.]] Probably just as well she didn't take up Riley's invitation to work out her anger on him.
* When we see just how protective Buffy is on a smaller scale, whether it be with Dawn as mentioned or earlier in the season Tara. This is a pissed off young lady, remember from reading above, who has fought ''gods.'' What do you think she'll do to protect a DomesticAbuse victim? There's a reason these are listed on Heartwarming Moments.

'''Willow'''
* The show gets a meta-example in that any other show would have made a big stunt out of Willow and Tara's first kiss, if they let it in at all. "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E16TheBody The Body]]" got put in in a completely natural way, and not sexualized.
* From "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E19ToughLove Tough Love]]": "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I. Owe. You. Pain.]]"
** Even people who hate Dark Willow love this line.
** This line is actually made even better because it's not Dark Willow, but just an EXTREMELY tweaked-off normal, sweet, happy, gentle Willow.
** As is this one:
---> '''Glory''': What's this, bag of tricks?\\
'''Willow''': [[FlechetteStorm Bag of knives.]]
** The moment is especially awesome as it's the first time anybody has hurt Glory, at all. If Willow hadn't burned through her power so quickly, who knows what she could have done?
** Buffy's pretty good at punching out vampires, demons and the BigBad. Willow [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punches out]] ''gods.''
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E21WeightOfTheWorld}} Weight of the World]]". With Dawn kidnapped by Glory, Buffy catatonic, and Tara having lost her mind, Willow's finally had enough when Xander and Spike start fighting. After forcing them apart with magic, she takes charge, berating them. The entire time her voice is nearly deadpan, but containing a fury that leaves even Anya and Spike afraid to piss her off.

* Willow got a Crowning Moment in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift}} The Gift]]", when Glory, noticing Tara (who had been driven insane by her) wandering around amongst her minions and contemptuously asking her "What are you doing here?", Willow calmly walks up beside her and replies in a tone somehow both deadpan and with barely suppressed rage "She's with me", before grabbing Glory's head and sucking away all of the energy keeping her mentally composed and redirecting it to Tara, thus simultaneously and instantly healing her lover and blasting a ''hellgod'' across a construction yard, significantly weakened.

'''Xander'''

* The whole gang had an Awesome moment in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E6Family}} Family]]", but Xander's contribution is a particular favorite of mine;
-->'''Donny [=MacClay=]:''' Tara, if you don't get in that car, I swear by God I will beat you down.\\
'''Xander:''' And I swear by your full and manly beard, you're gonna break something trying.
** What sells it is Anya's "That's my boy" expression.

'''Angel'''

'''Giles'''
* When Spike arrives at the Magic Box and tries to paint himself in a positive light to the Scoobies, Giles shoves the vampire against a shelf and tells him, calmly but firmly, to stay away from Buffy in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E15IWasMadeToLoveYou}} I Was Made To Love You]]".
-->'''Giles''': We are not your friends, Spike, and we are not your way to Buffy. There is no way to Buffy. (''picks up Spike's blanket and gives it to him'') Now clear of here. And Spike? This thing? '''Get over it'''.\\
'''Spike''': (''cheekily'') I have no idea what you mean.\\
'''Giles''': Yes, you do. Move the hell on.
** Spike then opens his mouth to reply, but Giles just '''glares''' at him, [[DeathGlare the expression on his face]] clearly saying "Say one word, and I will ''annihilate'' you."
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E19ToughLove}} Tough Love]]" has one of Giles' best SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. After finding one of Glory's minions spying on them, Giles tells Anya and Willow to get twine to tie him up, and proceeds to engage in off screen violence. The minion quickly decides singing like a canary to be the wiser of the two options. Best part? When asked what happened, Giles/Ripper cooly responds with, "He changed his mind."
** Immediately preceding making him talk, Giles reveals that he's known the whole time that the minion was spying on them, keeping up a conversation with Willow and making her feel better about herself after a fight with Tara, then wrenches open and slams the door so hard he knocks the minion unconscious.
* Personally I'd consider Giles' crowning moment to be when he killed Ben/Glory. That was so ridiculously badass.
** It may be a bit morbid, but what Giles says to Ben at the end of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift}} The Gift]]" (just before his ShootTheDog moment) sticks out in this editor's mind for sheer badass content.]

'''Spike'''
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E7FoolForLove}} Fool For Love]]" is Spike's Crowning Moment. An entire episode of Spike taunting and jeering as he explains his history, and tells Buffy in extensive detail how he brutally killed two of her predecessors.
-->'''Spike''': The first was all business but the second, she had a touch of your style. She was cunning, resourceful... oh, did I mention? Hot. I could have danced all night with that one. \\
'''Buffy''': You think we're dancing? \\
'''Spike''': That's all we've ever done. And the thing about the dance is, you never get to stop. Every day you wake up, it's the same bloody question that haunts you: is today the day I die? Death is on your heels, baby, and sooner or later it's gonna catch you. And part of you wants it. Not only to stop the fear and uncertainty, but because you're just a little bit in love with it. Death is your art. You make it with your hands, day after day. That final gasp. That look of peace. Part of you is desperate to know: What's it like? Where does it lead you? And now you see, that's the secret. Not the punch you didn't throw or the kicks you didn't land. Every Slayer... has a death wish. Even you. The only reason you've lasted as long as you have is you've got ties to the world... your mum, your brat kid sister, the Scoobies. They all tie you here, but you're just putting off the inevitable. Sooner or later, you're gonna want it. And the second- the ''second''- that happens...you know I'll be there. I'll slip in... have myself a real good day.
** [[spoiler:He didn't have a good day. He promised Buffy and himself that he would enjoy her dying, and it destroyed him.]] Creator/JossWhedon, you bastard.
* Spike had more than his fair share, but that's what happens when you're the BadassLongcoat.
--> '''Buffy''': What are you doing here? [Spike begins to answer] Five words or less. \\
'''Spike''': [Pauses, then, counting on his fingers] Out... for... a... walk. [Pauses again] ...Bitch.
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E18Intervention}} Intervention]]". Spike gets tortured by a [[PhysicalGod hellgod]] that no one has been able to beat, and the only thing he has to do to save himself pain is tell Glory where the Key is. ''And he doesn't do it.'' Because he couldn't hurt the real Buffy by betraying Dawn.
** Not to mention he escapes ''by himself''. When the Scoobies show he just has to figure out how he's getting out the elevator, past the henchmen and to his crypt, in broad daylight. Notably the scooby gang showed up to ''kill him before he could talk''.
** There's also his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Glory.
--> '''Spike:''' Guess what, bitch? I'm not telling you jack. You're never gonna get your sodding key, 'cause you might be strong, but in our world, you're an idiot.\\
'''Glory:''' I am a god.\\
'''Spike:''' The god of what, bad home perms?\\
'''Glory:''' Shut up! I command you, shut up!\\
'''Spike:''' Yeah, okay, sorry, but I just had no idea that gods were such prancing lightweights. Mark my words, the Slayer is going to kick your skanky, lopsided ass back to whatever place would take a cheap, whorish, fashion victim ex-god like you.
* Spike's contribution to protecting Tara from her family in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E6Family}} Family]]" was awesome in its fast-thinking and unorthodox creativity. When Tara's father contemptiously calls her something akin to a demon-spawn, Spike walks up to Tara and ''punches her in the nose''. How can punching a girl be a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome? Because it triggers Spike's shock-chip, proving that Tara is actually human. Which means that Spike not only promptly worked out how his curse could for once prove useful but also volunteered to suffer another fit of head-splitting pain just to help a human.
* When one of The Knights of Byzantium stabs through the roof of the RV the Scoobies are escaping in, Spike catches the blade with his ''bare hands''.

'''Tara'''
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E19ToughLove Tough Love]]", Glory appears at the park, and grabs her hand, probably breaking it - at any rate you can see that Tara's in serious pain - but Glory threatens the people around them if Tara draws attention, so she keeps quiet. Then Glory demands to know where Dawn is, threatening Tara with terrifyingly described insanity if she doesn't tell...and again, she keeps quiet, apparently because she'd take anything rather than let someone else be hurt.
** Made even better as Tara had previously stated that she considered this a FateWorseThanDeath.


'''Anya'''
* Anya's soliloquy in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E16TheBody}} The Body]]":
--> '''Anya:''' But I don't understand, I don't understand how this all happens, how we go through this. I mean I knew her, and now she's...there's just a body, and I don't understand how come she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore. It's stupid! It's mortal and it's ''stupid!'' And Xander's crying and not talking, and I was having fruit punch and I was thinking that well, Joyce will never have fruit punch, ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn, or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me ''why''.
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift}} The Gift]]", Anya tries to keep everyone going with forced optimism and keeps trying to get the group to think of ideas. Spike and Giles are annoyed by her and rudely tell her to think of something herself. Without missing a beat, she comes up with the Dagon Sphere and Olaf's Hammer, two artifacts that made a huge difference in the fight with Glory.

'''Dawn'''
* Showing some pretty quick thinking in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E9ListeningToFear}} Listening To Fear]]" when she finds the Queller demon attacking Joyce. She grabs a coatrack and uses it to push the demon off her mother. Then, once it's out of the room, she rushes around to close all the doors and keep it out. Before closing the last door she makes sure to scream loudly and clearly enough for Buffy to come and help them.
* Aborting the resurrection spell in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E17Forever}} Forever]]", pulling Buffy from the brink of accepting a zombified Joyce as her mother.

'''Riley'''
* Taking down a vamp nest by himself using a grenade in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E7FoolForLove Fool For Love]]".
** Not to mention first staking the vampire who nearly killed Buffy with the stake he'd earlier taken from Buffy.

'''Other'''
* The Scoobies facing down Tara's family in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E6Family}} Family]]".
** Except for Spike, who makes a point, as everyone else is doing their "You'll hafta go through ME first" routine, of saying "You won't hafta go through me, I don't really care". (And then Xander emphasizes: "You'll have to go through all of us... [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg except Spike]].")
*** Though Spike ''did'' do his bit when he strikes Tara, proving that she's entirely human due to him feeling pain via the chip in his brain (not a pleasant thing). He didn't ''have'' to do it, the family was already on the debate's losing end... One can't help but feel that despite still being (mostly) evil, his not caring was [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial coming to be a state of denial by this point]] (well, that or simple spite for [[BigScrewedUpFamily the sort]] [[StrawMisogynist of people]] the [=McClays=] seem to be. Either way, it's a pretty cool moment.)
** Should be noted this is taking place at the end of an episode in which Tara is painfully aware that she doesn't quite 'fit in' with the group.
--> '''Tara's Father''': We are her blood kin! Who the hell are you?\\
'''Buffy''': We're ''family''.
* I'm not sure this was intentional, but I and my inner feminist found Harmony's speech to Spike in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E14Crush}} Crush]]", coupled with her shooting him with a crossbow, pure, utter, awesome.
-->What about me, Spike? You forget about me ''again''? The ''actual'' girlfriend? I gave you the best ... bunch of months of my life! I thought I could change you, Spike. I thought maybe if I gave and I gave and gave, maybe you'd come around. Maybe be a little nicer. Stop treating me like your dog. But now I see it's you. You're the dog. Who needs to be put down.
* The scientist pretending to remove Spike's chip by first distracting Harmony in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E4OutOfMyMind Out of My Mind]]".

'''Buffy'''
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E1BargainingPart1 Bargaining Part 1]]", the leader of the demon bikers rips off a vampire's head with his bare hands. In part two, he throws a punch...and Buffy catches it in her palm and thrashes him effortlessly. Looks like dying made her stronger. Again.
* Killing the monster in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E17NormalAgain}} Normal Again]]" by punching through its chest.
* In one corner we have Buffy, the slayer, the embodiment of female empowerment. In the other, Warren, the ultimate misogynist who's made himself invincible. The winner?
-->'''Warren:''' Say goodnight, bitch!\\
''Buffy destroys his magic orbs before he's PunchedAcrossTheRoom.''\\
'''Buffy:''' [[IronicEcho Goodnight, bitch!]]
** It should be noted that these two magic orbs in a pocket at his girdle have been what made Warren invincible, and Jonathan moments before had faked an attack on Buffy, whispering to her to destroy these orbs, probably because he didn't wanted Buffy to die. So yeah, while a cool dialogue, Buffy definitely had some help here.
* Buffy dispatching Sweet's minions choreographically while singing "Something To Sing About" in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling "Once More With Feeling"]].

'''Willow'''
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E20Villains Villains]]", Willow summoned this otherworldly being to try to resurrect Tara but he gave a huff about how she died by human means. Willow screamed at the thing and you can tell that she hurt it.
** To clarify, that was Osiris, Egyptian god of the dead. Once again, Willow attacked a ''god'' and ''hurt it''.
*** Again.
** Her [[FlayingAlive flaying of Warren]]. Disturbing in execution, but so, so deserved. [[FanNickName Willow the Vampire Flayer.]] Whoever thought up the idea deserves a date with Willow for that one.
** Let's face it, her torture and hunt for him was pretty special as well. Before she foregoes the torture and shows just what she's capable of by ordering Warren off the bus before choking him until his head pops like a grape. [[spoiler: It was a robot clone, but NoNonsenseNemesis much?]]
* A great Dark Willow moment: "Jonathan. Andrew. You boys like magic, don't you? [[ShockAndAwe ABDA KADABRA.]]"

'''Xander'''
* Even though he got knocked on his ass, confronting a super-powered Warren in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E19SeeingRed Seeing Red]]" took balls.

* Xander [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath confronting Willow]] in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave Grave]]":

'''Angel'''

'''Giles'''
* Giles' return in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E21Two to Go]]": "[[TheBusCameBack I'd like]] to [[BigDamnHeroes test that theory]]" had viewers cheering. This was after Willow's boast that no one can stop her, and Giles promptly proves her wrong.

'''Spike'''
* Personally, I thought Spike fighting to earn his soul back, throwing away a lifestyle he'd kept for a century, knowing he had little to no chance with Buffy but wanting to be better for her anyways, is one of the most badass things someone can do. Love, man. It conquers all.
* Staring down the demon biker as it bears down on him and moving like a matador to steal the bike in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E2BargainingPart2 Bargaining Part 2]]".
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E1BargainingPart1 Bargaining Part 1]]", Willow uses her magic to warn him to help Giles out with a demon currently attacking him. Spike's response? [[SmokingIsCool To light up a cigarette]]. Willow, panicked by his inaction, demands that he helps Giles and Spike points out he already did. The demon's back then proceeds to go up in flames.
* He calls out the Scoobies in episode 3 for their reckless use of magic and for leaving him out of the loop on the topic. Xander retorts for Spike to look him in the eyes and say that her coming back didn't make that day the happiest day of his life. Spike looks him dead in the eyes and says nothing of the sort, pointing out instead that strong magic like what was used to bring Buffy back would have unforeseen consequences. [[{{Foreshadowing}} He turns out to be completely correct]].
* The several times he is BackToBackBadasses with Buffy throughout the season.

'''Tara'''
* Saving Willow from a biker demon in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E2BargainingPart2}} Bargaining, Part 2]]" by burying an axe in his back.
-->"No one messes with my girl!"
* Tara proves herself to be a real badass in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E1BargainingPart1 Bargaining, Part 1]]". We see her first using her magic offensively when she instinctively hits a demon with a blast when he tries to kidnap Anya, and she later intimidates more with a burst of fire (which also bluffs them into thinking Xander can do magic too). While Willow and Xander are lost in the woods, Tara is able to cast a spell that helps them find their way.
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling Once More, With Feeling]]" - her performance of the ballad "Under Your Spell" is thrilling. Extra points for Creator/AmberBenson, who said that the song was written a bit higher than her normal vocal range - because Joss was convinced she could handle it. Turns out he was right.
* Heartbreaking as it is, Tara's breakup with Willow counts as this. This is a woman who spent most of her life in a household that tried to control her by making her believe she was a demon. Willow was the first person who helped her see herself as a person who deserved to be treated with respect. And when Willow proves that she's more interested in the magical solution, the quick fix, and won't give up the magic even when Tara tells her that she needs Willow to stop... She steps back and away from Willow, refusing to enable her or let her actions not have consequence. She takes a stand to protect herself from someone who, even though Willow loves her, was abusing her (the memory spell, which Tara even explicitly compares to what Glory did to her the previous season).
** And there's also the fact that she continues to see Dawn and care for her, showing that while her relationship with Willow might be over, she's still very loving and protective towards this girl.
* Standing up to Anya in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E14OlderAndFarAway}} Older And Far Away]]". Anya is pushing Willow, who's trying to stay on the wagon, to use magic to get them out of Buffy's house, and Tara steps in.
--> "Hey! You're gonna back off! She said no, and that's it. You're not gonna make her do something that she doesn't want to. And if you try... You're gonna have to go through me first. Understood?"
** Notable because not only are she and Willow broken up at this point in time, but it emphasizes just how [[CharacterDevelopment far she's come]] from the shy girl who couldn't even get a sentence out when under scrutiny in her first appearance.
** And before that she stands up to Spike after being told about him and Buffy, when he gets sexually aggressive she's right on hand to shoot him down.
* Rescuing Willow, Tara and Dawn in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E17NormalAgain Normal Again]]".

'''Anya'''

'''Dawn'''
* Staking a vampire for the first time in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E6AllTheWay All the Way]]".
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave Grave]]", where Buffy and Dawn are fighting the earth monsters: Dawn takes a hit and goes down, losing her sword; Buffy sees her fall, but is unable to help. Then, just as the monster moves in for another attack on Dawn...she somersault-rolls past it (in a very Buffy-like move) and lands next to her sword--which she uses to decapitate the monster in a single stroke. Buffy can only stare in disbelief.
-->'''Dawn:''' (holding up the sword, tiny smile) What? You think I never watched you?

'''Other'''
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E21TwoToGo}} Two to Go]]": Jonathan's little speech to Andrew when Andrew is holding the sword to Xander's throat and Jonathan has a sword to Andrew's.
* Katrina, Warren's ex in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E13DeadThings Dead Things]]" definitely deserves some credit; once the date rape spell the trio have cast on her wears off she responds with fury for the things they've done (and were planning to do) to her, outright identifying it as rape which [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrifies Andrew and Jonathon.]] She then proceeds to fight her way out of their lair, almost making it to the basement door until Warren kills her with a bottle to the head.

'''Buffy'''
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless Selfless]]":
** A lot smaller, but actually very impressive as well, the kill of the spiderdemon. She just throws an axe into the air - down comes the spider, cut in half !
** She shuts down Xander's hypocrisy in wanting to let Anya live (and not giving a thought to the twelve innocent people she killed by granting one wish) by reminding him that she killed Angel - right after he got his soul back - because she had to in order to save the world. And that she's had to sacrifice more than he ever will in order to protect the innocent.
* Saving Dawn from killing herself to get a boy's attention in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E6Help Help]]" and giving her one of truest lessons of the whole show - "No guy is worth your life. Not ever". Even when under the same spell, Buffy will still protect her sister.
* Her speech at the end of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E10BringOnTheNight}} Bring on the Night]]", made all the more epic by the fact that when she makes this speech, she's battered and bruised, and manages to look the stronger for it.

* From "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E11Showtime Showtime]]", after three epiodes of being unable to harm Turok-Han, she devises a plan to lure it away from the house and into a construction site. After a long, brutal fight, she finally puts an end to the Ubervamp by ''decapitating it with barbed wire''.

* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E20Touched Touched]]": Having got her mojo back, she faces Caleb again, only this time, instead of relying on brute strength, she goes for speed and reflexes, dodging every blow and making him angrier by the minute, all as a ruse so she can find what he's hiding in the basement.
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E21EndOfDays End of Days]]": Having got the scythe, she rescues the Potentials by taking out several vamps. Just two episodes ago, they deposed her as leader. Now she's reminding them why she leads.
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen}} Chosen]]":
** Buffy killing Caleb with the scythe.
-->'''Caleb:''' You can't do it. You haven't got the ba-[[GroinAttack THWACK]]\\
'''Buffy:''' [[PreMortemOneLiner Who does nowadays?]]
** Buffy's little look from side to side after she cuts Caleb in half from the groin up.
-->'''Angel:''' Now I'm pissed. Where is he?"\\
'''Buffy:''' [[{{Pun}} "He had to split."]] (cracks up)
** [[spoiler: '''YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!''']]
** Buffy getting stabbed, collapsing onto the ground, taunted by The First Evil about the wound being mortal, then standing up and just ignoring it. "I want you to get out of my face." Incredibly Awesome Pun, anybody?
** In addition, the fact that she gets up in slo-mo with that epic look on her face and the rousing music brewing in the background and then SLICES THREE TUROK-HAN OFF A CLIFF.
--->'''Joss Whedon:''' [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]] himself would be like "''DUDE!''"


'''Willow'''
* Willow having the first confrontation with The First Evil in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E7ConversationsWithDeadPeople Conversations With Dead People]]". Even better, she manages to drive it away when it realizes that she's not as weak-willed as it thinks. She's left shaken by the encounter, but she doesn't back away from it.
* Willow's BadassBoast to Andrew in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E9NeverLeaveMe}} Never Leave Me]]":
-->''I'm talking! Don't interrupt me! Insignificant man. I am Willow. I am death. If you dare defy me, I will call down my fury, exact fresh vengeance, and make your worst fears come true. Okay?''
* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E15GetItDone}} Get It Done]]", Willow [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on the GratuitousLatin before showing why she's one of the most powerful women in the world:
-->''Via, concursus, tempus, spatium, audi me ut imperio. '''[[PrecisionFStrike Screw it!]]''' Mighty forces, I suck at Latin, OK? But that's not the issue. [[RefugeInAudacity I'm the one in charge, and I'm telling you open that portal, now!]]''
* In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen}} Chosen]]", Willow [[spoiler: using her magic to unlock all the Potentials' powers]], complete with [[OneWingedAngel white-haired glowing Willow]], "Oh. My. Goddess.", and an appropriate summation when the spell is over and Willow flops to the floor, exhausted: "That was nifty."

'''Xander'''
* Saving Dawn from one of the Bringers by tackling him off her in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E9NeverLeaveMe Never Leave Me]]"
* When comforting Dawn at the end of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E12Potential}} Potential]]":

* He gets a series long SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome simply for surviving. Buffy's a slayer and she died, twice. Willow's a witch and the most powerful character on the show. Anya's a demon [[spoiler: and she died]]. Spike's a vampire [[spoiler: and he died]]. Xander's human, arguably not even a BadassNormal, and he's survived.

'''Angel'''
* Appearing out of nowhere to save Buffy at the last moment from Caleb - with his show on ''a different television network'' - in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E21EndOfDays End of Days]]".
-->[[HeyYouHaymaker Hey]]. ''(punches Caleb)''. Never cared much for preachers.
-->Oh, you are ''so gonna lose''.

'''Giles'''
* The way he thwarts the attempt on his life in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E14FirstDate First Date]]" is suitably awesome.

'''Spike'''
* Crazy Spike embracing the cross in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E2BeneathYou Beneath You]]".
* When the First Evil is impersonating [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith Drusilla]] to manipulate Crazy!Spike in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E10BringOnTheNight Bring on the Night]]". He [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu laughs at the First]], declaring that she's not Dru... because she's not ''nearly'' crazy enough.
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E15GetItDone Get it Done]]", Spike's getting his ass kicked by a demon that he needs to kill to help Buffy. [[CombatSadomasochist And he's laughing gleefully]], clearly having more fun than he has all season. The demon pins him against a wall, and Spike simply snaps its neck before pulling out a cigarette. Lighting it with a match struck on the dead demons skin tops it all off amazingly.

* Tackling Caleb to save Xander in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E18DirtyGirls Dirty Girls]]".
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E20Touched Touched]]", he ''epically'' calls the Scoobies out for their mutiny against Buffy in the previous episode:

* Him sparing Wood's life in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E17LiesMyParentsToldMe Lies My Parents Told Me]]", despite having been lured to be slowly beaten to death and getting the undisputed upper-hand in the fight.
* The quiet way he tries to take responsibility for his past soulless actions by keeping the soul he nearly died several times over to get back a secret. Let that sink in; he went ''that far'' in the hopes of being a better man for Buffy--readily accepting the same suffering Angel had forced upon him, tearing his mind apart and causing him to SelfHarm. Yet the moment he has a few hours of lucidity, he puts his efforts towards helping the gang out and maintaining the facade that he's the same as before he left. This is even as his former companions regard him with mistrust and hatred, his MoralityChain and once surrogate-little sister Dawn outright threatens to kill him. Given that only reason the truth comes out is that his sanity slips again, one has to wonder if he'd planned to ''never'' tell them the truth and simply live with being regarded as a soulless monster even though he'd worked so hard ''not'' to be one anymore. It's a powerful gesture that speaks more to his remorse than any apology ever could.
* Even if you weren't a Spuffy shipper you have to admit Spike being willing to [[spoiler: go up ''in flames'' even when he knew she didn't return his feelings to save the day]] in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen Chosen]]" is awesome.


'''Anya'''
* She manages to hold her own in a duel against Buffy in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless Selfless]]", which is very impressive for someone not known for their fighting prowess.
** She's also ready and willing to give up her life and soul just to reverse the wish. She'll sacrifice herself for the sake of twelve boys she does not know. The boys themselves weren't angels, but that doesn't stop Anya from knowing what she did was wrong and has to be undone.
* Everybody should know how badly Buffy cracked after The First drove a potential to suicide in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E15GetItDone Get it Done]]". Basically, she goes beyond DrillSergeantNasty in an epic "everyone sucks but me" speech. Well later, when her arch nemesis Faith shows up, reformed, wanting to help and the potentials wanting her over Buffy she spits it and leaves. We gotta give Anya this for her thoughts.
-->" You missed her "everyone sucks but me" speech. If she's so superior, let her find her own way back."
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen Chosen]]":

'''Dawn'''
* Threatening Spike in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E2BeneathYou}} Beneath You]]":
--> '''Dawn''': You sleep, right? You. Vampires. You sleep. \\
'''Spike''': Yeah. What's your point? \\
'''Dawn''': You know, I probably can't take you in a fight, even with a chip in your head, but if you ever hurt my sister, [[BewareTheNiceOnes you're going to wake up on fire. ]]\\
'''Spike, shortly after, to Buffy''': When did your sister [[TookALevelInBadass get unbelievably scary]]?
* She manages to hold her own when the Bringers attack in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E9NeverLeaveMe Never Leave Me]]".
* Her speech to Amanda in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E12Potential Potential]]", and the subsequent act of sheer guts when she hands over the stake to Amanda, while ''facing down a vampire and six Bringers''.
* After Buffy gets ejected from her house in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E19EmptyPlaces Empty Places]]", Rona quips "Ding dong, the Witch is dead", prompting Dawn to shut her up in the most threatening manner possible.
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E21EndOfDays End of Days]]", Buffy sends Dawn out of town, getting Xander to pretty much kidnap her to keep her away from the apocalypse. Buffy leaves a touching letter with Xander for Dawn, she reads the note and we hear Buffy narrate what's written on the note - then the narration cuts off midway through, as Dawn tosses the note aside, tazes Xander, takes control of the car and turns right around to go back and fight the evil. In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen Chosen]]", Buffy returns home to find a pissed off little sis in front of her. She stares at Dawn for a moment, then Dawn kicks her in the shin.
** Which ''hurts'' Buffy, before Dawn calls her a dumbass. Considering her actions over the season this can be very cathartic.
** The best bit of this is when you expect a ridiculous Buffy speech but she just says "...if you get killed, I'm telling".

'''Faith'''
* Coming back to Sunnydale to fight evil, even knowing the reception she was apt to receive.
* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E20Touched Touched]]", telling off the Potentials after assuming leadership after Buffy leaves and telling them that they wanted her to lead, well, she's going to lead. ''Especially'' when she tells Kennedy to back the hell off.

'''Other'''
* Depending on your view of Buffy's behaviour in the latter half of the season, the potentials confronting her about her poor leadership and demanding she get on board or leave in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E19EmptyPlaces Empty Places]]" might be a collective SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for the group.
** And of course, the Potentials in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen Chosen]]" after getting full Slayer powers. Bonus points to Vi and Rona, the two girls who were most hesitant about fighting and were terrified more than anyone else; especially Vi. But when they get fully empowered? Vi guts several ubervamps with her knife in a whirling frenzy of destruction, and Rona kills a lot of them, with a broken arm, no less.
** One Potential on the receiving end of AbusiveParents becomes a Slayer. She [[PunchCatch stops the abuse]] and shoots a DeathGlare.
* On the villainous side, the First morphing into each previous BigBad [[ContinuityCavalcade in reverse order]] to torment Spike in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E1Lessons Lessons]]". CreepyAwesome indeed.
* Caleb beating the shit out of the Scoobies in their first confrontation in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E18DirtyGirls Dirty Girls]]".
* Amanda in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E4Help}} Help]]" seeks Buffy's advice on an abusive boyfriend...should she pound him into the pavement some more. As a long term BullyHunter the question leaves Buffy speechless. [[spoiler: [[{{Foreshadowing}} Of course]], Amanada turns out to be a Potential.]] In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E12Potential Potential]]", takes on vamps and Bringers with a little help from Dawn. With no clue of what's going on. Even Kennedy thinks she's a badass having trouble fighting just one with help.
* Creator/SarahMichelleGellar getting to play a Buffy villain, in the form of the First Evil's favored guise, in the style of her character from ''Film/CruelIntentions''. Comes to a peak with First!Buffy [[IShallTauntYou taunting]] Good!Buffy during the final fight, with Buffy delivering a "[[ShutUpHannibal Shut Up, Buffy!]]" by [[MadeOfIron fighting on despite a seemingly mortal wound]].
** If that floats your boat Buffy herself is also for the second part of the season a villain, whose actions as a DrillSergeantNasty GeneralFailure very nearly led to TheBadGuyWins.
* Blink and you'll miss it, in "Empty Places", when confronted by a shotgun wielding DirtyCop Kennedy does a move straight out of ''Film/TheMatrix'' and whacks him with his own gun, aims it at him, then [[ThrowAwayGuns tosses it aside.]]

* Buffy's first Awesome moment in the series was her staking of Luke, the Vessel, and she picks ''such'' an excellently bitchy way to do it. She shatters a window, [[SchmuckBait making Luke think the sunshine is getting in]], but he stops cowering and starts looking confused when he sees a streetlight. Then Buffy sneaks up and stakes him.

* The earliest awesome Willow moment was when she got Cordelia, who was talking shit about Buffy, to destroy the program she made for computer class by telling her to press "Deliver" (DEL).

* A huge moment of awesome for her, which gets glossed over in the episode itself: in "Prophecy Girl", Xander is upset after Buffy gently turned him down, and asks Willow to the prom instead. The guy that she's head over heels for just asked her out, so obviously she's going to accept, right? WRONG. Willow gently but firmly tells him that she will not be the back-up option, and that while she'd love to go out with Xander, she will do it when he's interested in ''her,'' not just as a replacement for Buffy. That took as much guts as just about anything on this page.

* When Parker breaks up with Buffy after a one night stand, Willow goes to tear him a new one. He starts putting the moves on her, and she plays along a bit, before rocking him by seeing through his act.
* This was on Funny Moment, but it's worth repeating here.

* That speech he gave to Buffy after she briefly lost her self-esteem in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E1TheFreshmen The Freshmen]]":

* Willow having the first confrontation with The First Evil. Even better, she manages to drive it away when it realizes that she's not as weak-willed as it thinks. She's left shaken by the encounter, but she doesn't back away from it.

* Xander when comforting Dawn at the end of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E12Potential}} Potential]]":

* Xander gets a series long SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome simply for surviving. Buffy's a slayer and she died, twice. Willow's a witch and the most powerful character on the show. Anya's a demon [[spoiler: and she died]]. Spike's a vampire [[spoiler: and he died]]. Xander's human, arguably not even a BadassNormal, and he's survived.

* Angel appearing out of nowhere to save Buffy at the last moment from Caleb - with his show on ''a different television network'' - in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E21EndOfDays End of Days]]".

* Crazy Spike embracing the cross.
* Even if you weren't a Spuffy shipper you have to admit Spike being willing to [[spoiler: go up ''in flames'' even when he knew she didn't return his feelings to save the day]] is awesome.

* Spike's getting his ass kicked by a demon that he needs to kill to help Buffy. [[CombatSadomasochist And he's laughing gleefully]], clearly having more fun than he has all season. The demon pins him against a wall, and Spike simply snaps its neck before pulling out a cigarette. Lighting it with a match struck on the dead demons skin tops it all off amazingly.

* Him sparing Wood's life, despite having been lured to be slowly beaten to death and getting the undisputed upper-hand in the fight.

* Everybody should know how badly Buffy cracked after The First drove a potential to suicide. Basically, she goes beyond DrillSergeantNasty in an epic "everyone sucks but me" speech. Well later, when her arch nemesis Faith shows up, reformed, wanting to help and the potentials wanting her over Buffy she spits it and leaves. We gotta give Anya this for her thoughts.

* "Bunnies. Floppy. Hoppy. Bunnies."

* Toward the end of season 7, Buffy sends Dawn out of town, getting Xander to pretty much kidnap her to keep her away from the apocalypse. Buffy leaves a touching letter with Xander for Dawn, she reads the note and we hear Buffy narrate what's written on the note - then the narration cuts off midway through, as Dawn tosses the note aside, tazes Xander, takes control of the car and turns right around to go back and fight the evil. And later surprised Buffy turns around to see angry Dawn (who's literally just walked up behind her). She stares at Dawn for a moment, then Dawn kicks her in the shin.

** The best bit of this is when you expect a ridiculous Buffy speech but she just says "...if you get killed, I'm telling."

* Telling off the Potentials after assuming leadership after Buffy leaves and telling them that they wanted her to lead, well, she's going to lead.

* Depending on your view of Buffy's behaviour in Season 7, the potentials confronting her about her poor leadership and demanding she get on board or leave might be a collective SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for the group.
** And of course, the Potentials in the finale after getting full Slayer powers. Bonus points to Vi and Rona, the two girls who were most hesitant about fighting and were terrified more than anyone else; especially Vi. But when they get fully empowered? Vi guts several ubervamps with her knife in a whirling frenzy of destruction, and Rona kills a lot of them, with a broken arm, no less.

* On the villainous side, the First morphing into each previous BigBad [[ContinuityCavalcade in reverse order]] to torment Spike. CreepyAwesome indeed.
* Caleb beating the shit out of the Scoobies in their first confrontation.
* Amanda in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E4Help}} Help]]" seeks Buffy's advice on an abusive boyfriend...should she pound him into the pavement some more. As a long term BullyHunter the question leaves Buffy speechless. [[spoiler: [[{{Foreshadowing}} Of course]], Amanada turns out to be a Potential.]] Who takes on vamps and Bringers with a little help from Dawn. With no clue of what's going on. Even Kennedy thinks she's a badass having trouble fighting just one with help.

* Blink and you'll miss it, when confronted by a shotgun wielding DirtyCop Kennedy does a move straight out of ''Film/TheMatrix'' and whacks him with his own gun, aims it at him, then [[ThrowAwayGuns tosses it aside.]]

Buffy getting stabbed, collapsing onto the ground, taunted by The First Evil about the wound being mortal, then standing up and just ignoring it. "I want you to get out of my face." Incredibly Awesome Pun, anybody?

* The quiet way he tries to take responsibility for his past soulless actions by keeping the soul he nearly died several times over to get back a secret. Let that sink in; he went ''that far'' in the hopes of being a better man for Buffy--readily accepting the same suffering Angel had had forced upon him, tearing his mind apart and causing him to SelfHarm. Yet the moment he has a few hours of lucidity, he puts his efforts towards helping the gang out and maintaining the facade that he's the same as before he left. This is even as his former companions regard him with mistrust and hatred, his MoralityChain and once surrogate-little sister Dawn outright threatens to kill him. Given that only reason the truth comes out is because his sanity slips again, one has to wonder if he'd planned to ''never'' tell them the truth and simply live with being regarded as a soulless monster even though he'd worked so hard ''not'' to be one anymore. It's a powerful gesture that speaks more for his remorse than any apology ever could.

* The way he thwarts the attempt on his life is suitably awesome.

* Personally, I thought Spike fighting to earn his soul back, throwing away a lifestyle he'd kept for a century, knowing he had little to no chance with Buffy despite that, is one of the most badass things someone can do. Love, man. It conquers all.

* The season overall is chock-full of the gang marvelously averting PoorCommunicationKills and showing how they've grown.
** When Spike and Buffy's WillTheyOrWontThey starts becoming an issue again, Xander and Dawn immediately confront them on it, enabling them to realize they can take the steps towards having a relationship again. This enables them to resist Harmony and other vampires' blatant attempts to break them up. And when Spike's own insecurities pop up and he tries to end things before he messes them up too badly to even be friends, Buffy calls him on it.

* The finale and final fight against [[spoiler: D'Hoffryn]]. When the tide of battle turns on him with [[spoiler: the Anya ghost's betrayal]] he quickly hightails it out of that dimension to recover. The crew ''don't let him'' and hunt him down. He quickly tries to get on their good sides, promising them one wish each, no backstabbing, using insecurities they've had throughout the season. Everyone turns him down and Buffy cuts his head off.

* Buffy's speech at the end of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E10BringOnTheNight}} Bring on the Night]]", made all the more epic by the fact that when she makes this speech, she's battered and bruised, and manages to look the stronger for it.

* Buffy killing Caleb with the scythe.

* Buffy's little look from side to side after she cuts Caleb in half from the groin up.

* "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen}} Chosen]]": Buffy getting stabbed, collapsing onto the ground, taunted by The First Evil about the wound being mortal, then standing up and just ignoring it. "I want you to get out of my face." Incredibly Awesome Pun, anybody?

* "That's right. They're trapped. Terrified. Meat for the beast. That's all they've been doing for days - running away from an enemy that can't be killed. But, see, I don't believe that. I'm the Slayer. I always find a way. I'm the thing that nightmares have nightmares about. And right now, you and me are gonna show them why."
* "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless Selfless]]":
** A lot smaller, but actually very impressive as well, the kill of the spiderdemon. Buffy just throws an axe into the air - down comes the spider, cut in half !
** She shuts down Xander's hypocrisy in wanting to let Anya live (and not giving a thought to the twelve innocent people she killed by granting one wish) by reminding him that she killed Angel - right after he got his soul back - because she had to in order to save the world. And that she's had to sacrifice more than he ever will in order to protect the innocent.

[[folder: Season 12

-->"No one touches my girl!"

* Angel appearing out of nowhere to save Buffy at the last moment from Caleb - with his show on ''a different television network''.

* When the First Evil is impersonating [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith Drusilla]] to manipulate Crazy!Spike. He [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu laughs at the First]], declaring that she's not Dru... because she's not ''nearly'' crazy enough.

* Dawn to Spike in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E2BeneathYou}} Beneath You]]":

* Dawn's speech to Amanda in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E12Potential Potential]]", and the subsequent act of sheer guts when she hands over the stake to Amanda, while ''facing down a vampire and six Bringers''.
* After Buffy gets ejected from her house, Rona quips "Ding dong, the Witch is dead", prompting Dawn to shut her up in the most threatening manner possible.

* Another great Willow moment was in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E21WeightOfTheWorld}} Weight of the World]]". With Dawn kidnapped by Glory, Buffy catatonic, and Tara having lost her mind, Willow's finally had enough when Xander and Spike start fighting. After forcing them apart with magic, she takes charge, berating them. The entire time her voice is nearly deadpan, but containing a fury that leaves even Anya and Spike afraid to piss her off.

** Not to mention he escapes ''by himself''. When the scoobies show he just has to figure out how he's getting out the elevator, past the henchmen and to his crypt, in broad daylight. Notably the scooby gang showed up to ''kill him before he could talk''.

* Willow summoned this otherworldly being to try to resurrect Tara but he gave a huff about how she died by human means. Willow screamed at the thing and you can tell that she hurt it.

* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling Once More, With Feeling]]" - her performance of the ballad "Under Your Spell" is thrilling. Extra points for Amber Benson, who said that the song was written a bit higher than her normal vocal range - because Joss was convinced she could handle it. Turns out he was right.

* Katrina, Warren's ex in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E13DeadThings Dead Things]] definitely deserves some credit; once the date rape spell the trio have cast on her wears off she responds with fury for the things they've done (and were planning to do) to her, outright identifying it as rape which [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrifies Andrew and Jonathon.]] She then proceeds to fight her way out of their lair, almost making it to the basement door until Warren kills her with a bottle to the head.

* Cordelia snaps at Harmony in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E16BewitchedBotheredAndBewildered}} Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered]]":

* Half of ''Angel & Faith'' has become ''Series/CallOfDuty'' with Kennedy and Faith filling in for Price and Soap. Well Sam, Riley's wife, shows up as a MacMillin {{Expy}}, sniping a good dozen vamps. GunsAreWorthless? Not as long as she's around they ain't.

* In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E1BargainingPart1 Bargaining Part 1]]", the leader of the demon bikers rips off a vampire's head with his bare hands. In part two,, he throws a punch...and Buffy catches it in her palm and thrashes him effortlessly. Looks like dying made her stronger. Again.

* Giles' return to Season 6: "[[TheBusCameBack I'd like]] to [[BigDamnHeroes test that theory]]" had viewers cheering. This was after Willow's boast that no one can stop her, and Giles promptly proves her wrong.

* In "Bargaining", the leader of the demon bikers rips off a vampire's head with his bare hands. Later, he throws a punch...and Buffy catches it in her palm and thrashes him effortlessly. Looks like dying made her stronger. Again.

* Spike staring down the demon biker as it bears down on him and moving like a matador to steal the bike.

* The show gets a meta-example in that any other show would have made a big stunt out of Willow and Tara's first kiss, if they let it in at all. This got put in in a completely natural way, and not sexualized.
* "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I. Owe. You. Pain.]]"

* Another great Willow moment was in the previous episode, "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E21WeightOfTheWorld}} Weight of the World]]". With Dawn kidnapped by Glory, Buffy catatonic, and Tara having lost her mind, Willow's finally had enough when Xander and Spike start fighting. After forcing them apart with magic, she takes charge, berating them. The entire time her voice is nearly deadpan, but containing a fury that leaves even Anya and Spike afraid to piss her off.

* This:

* Perhaps less impressive when you consider that everyone in the Buffyverse is MadeOfIron - but swordfighting in a melee, having been stabbed in the stomach only last night, cannot be fun.

* Glory appears at the park, and grabs her hand, probably breaking it - at any rate you can see that Tara's in serious pain - but Glory threatens the people around them if Tara draws attention, so she keeps quiet. Then Glory demands to know where Dawn is, threatening Tara with terrifyingly described insanity if she doesn't tell...and again, she keeps quiet, apparently because she'd take anything rather than let someone else be hurt.