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1For comics examples, see ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
2
3[[foldercontrol]]
4
5[[folder: Season One]]
6* AndIMustScream: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E3TheWitch The Witch]]", Amy's body-swapping witchy mom has one of her spells turned back on her, and seemingly vanishes. At the end of the episode, it turns out she's been trapped in one of her old cheerleading trophies. She presumably died when they blew the school up at the end of season three, but fans speculate that this somehow released Catherine to possess her daughter Amy again, explaining Amy's otherwise inexplicable FaceHeelTurn.
7** The comics confirm that she's still trapped.
8* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
9--> '''Principal Snyder:''' There are things I will not tolerate. Students loitering on campus after school. Horrible murders with hearts being removed. And also smoking.
10* AttemptedRape: Xander tries to rape Buffy in "The Pack" (while possessed by a hyena), though nobody is surprised that Buffy fights him off.
11* BloodBath: The {{Pilot}} episode shows [[BigBad The Master]] hanging out in a pool of blood while [[NonNudeBathing fully dressed]].
12* TheBully: Four of them feature in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E6ThePack The Pack]]".
13* CarFu: One of the moments that brings Cordelia around to the side of awesome is when she drives her car straight through an amassing horde of vampires and right into the high school, plowing through the halls until she pulls up in front of the library in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E12ProphecyGirl Prophecy Girl]]".
14* CharacterizationMarchesOn:
15** Angel, Buffy ''and'' Darla had remarkably different personalities in the first few episodes; Angel was mysterious and kind of chipper (especially his first appearance), Buffy was a perky cheerleader and Darla was whiny, cowardly, not particularly smart or capable, and seemingly not even all that important in the Master's hierarchy (Luke, for one, clearly outranked her). It wasn't until the episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E7Angel Angel]]" that they settled into the personalities they are better known for; Angel became brooding, Buffy was a kind of grim optimist and Darla had a distant, haunting persona (since she died in this episode, this is better seen when she returns from the dead in ''Series/{{Angel}}'').
16** Angel specifically shows very little of his alleged badassness in early episodes. Mostly he's knocked around by whatever BigBad they're fighting to show how much stronger Buffy is than he. After his FaceHeelTurn he does actually become majorly badass, then is stuck somewhere in between badass and BadassDecay post-resurrection. He finally is shown as the Badass AntiHero he's meant to be when he gets his own show.
17** Harmony was an obnoxious but not particularly stupid SmugSnake in her earlier appearances before turning into the airheaded HarmlessVillain she is known for. Being turned into a blood sucking demon just might have something to do with that: Other vampires lose their soul. Harmony lost her brain.
18* ChekhovsClassroom: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E4TeachersPet Teacher's Pet]]": In order to defeat the evil science teacher who is actually a giant praying mantis, Buffy uses the recorded sound of bat sonar to "make [her] nervous system go kerplooey". She learnt about that in science class earlier in the episode (though, thankfully, from the previous science teacher. No villain should be stupid enough to teach a class their own weaknesses). Although that's not how she ultimately kills the praying mantis. She does that with a big machete. It's Buffy, after all.
19* TheChosenZero: Giles' initial reaction to Buffy.
20* {{Cliffhanger}}: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E4TeachersPet Teacher's Pet]]". The she-mantis has left some eggs and they're starting to hatch. [[AbortedArc This is never followed up on, at least not on-screen]].
21* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: When Giles suggests Buffy tail someone in "I Robot, You Jane", she sarcastically replies, "What, in dark glasses and a trenchcoat?" GilliganCut to Buffy following Dave in a trendy short trenchcoat and pink-framed sunglasses.
22* DateMyAvatar: Willow once dated her nice charming chat-buddy Malcolm... who was actually a incorporeal murderous demon possessing the computer system.
23* DeadStarWalking: Creator/JossWhedon hoped to include actor Creator/EricBalfour (Jesse) in the title credits to shock viewers when his character dies. Unfortunately, the show literally could not afford an extra set of title credits at the time.
24* DemonicDummy: {{Subverted}} in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E9ThePuppetShow The Puppet Show]]". People are getting murdered around the school, one of Buffy's classmates has been caught yelling at his dummy in a way that implies it wants to kill people, and then said dummy attacks Buffy. However, it turns out that the dummy is actually haunted by the ghost of a demon hunter, and thought ''Buffy'' was the one killing the other students (having seen her use SuperStrength earlier).
25* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Buffy originally had a fairly different, more 'Valley Girl' inspired look with big jewellry (especially rings), big hair and short skirts. In Season Two, the producers decided they wanted a different look for the character. This coincided with Sarah Michelle Gellar having her hair cut shorter, and dyed blonder, for her role in ''Film/Scream2'', which she filmed in-between seasons one and two.
26** This pilot episode is the only time when we see Xander riding a skateboard, since the scene required a lot of space and was difficult to shoot. In later episodes we can see Xander holding a skateboard a couple of times, but never again does he ride one.
27** The pilot and "The Harvest" are two of the few episodes that feature the upper level of the Bronze. Joss Whedon wrote the script to feature the two levels, but didn't realize how difficult it would be to shoot these scenes. Not only was it impractical in terms of filming and lighting, but it stretched their already non-existent budget. It shows up a few times in season 6.
28** In the pilot Giles states that Slayers have a supernatural ability to sense nearby vampires, and while Buffy does not exhibit it at the moment, she should be able to do it with practice. This never comes up again in the series.
29** When a pack of vamps chase Buffy and Angel into the Summers house, one of the pursuers gets his hand through the door before Buffy slams the door on his wrist. It is later established that, barring an invitation, an invisible force field encases the doorway to keep vampires out. The henchvamp shouldn't have been able to get his arm through like that. ("Angel")
30** In "Witch", Giles seems unfamiliar with magiks, saying "Pretty good for my first [spell-]casting, eh?" and such--which is totally at odds with his, y'know, rebellious ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} youth period.
31* EliteMooks: The Three. Luke. Darla.
32* TheEndOrIsIt: After polishing off the She-Mantis, we see that there are still some [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Ridley Scott]]-esque hatchlings in her closet. ("Teacher's Pet")
33** The Master's skeleton.
34* EnemyMine: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E12ProphecyGirl Prophecy Girl]]", Xander enlists his hated enemy's (Angel) help to storm the Master's lair, and save Buffy. Angel scoffs at that, so Xander shoves a cross in his face for extra convincing.
35* EnvironmentalSymbolism: Angel’s statue of [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Kwan Yin]] – like a true Bodhisattva, Angel will delay his own enlightenment to ease the suffering of others.
36* EyeScream: The Master, after making a mook apologize to him for failing, admonishes him about ''[[GoryDiscretionShot (SQUISH)]]'' something in his eye.
37* FaceYourFears: Xander punches an evil knife-wielding clown right in its evil knife-wielding clown face during "[[Recap/BuffyTHeVampireSlayerS1E10Nightmares Nightmares]]". In fact all the characters had to face their fears - even the Master, who laid his hand on a cross to make a point - but he was the only one who literally knocked his out.
38* FailedAuditionPlot: In "Witch", Buffy tries out for the cheerleading team but initially doesn't make the cut. Later in the episode she does get a spot on the team... which ends up making her a target for the witch who is magically injuring other cheerleaders to earn herself a spot.
39* FakingAmnesia: Xander pulls this in "The Pack", after being possessed by the spirit of a hyena. After Buffy and Willow save him, he tells them that he can't remember a thing and hopes he didn't do anything "too embarrassing". Giles, however, sees right through it.
40-->'''Giles''': "I've been reading up on my animal possession and I cannot find anything anywhere about memory loss afterward."\
41'''Xander''': "Did you tell ''them'' that?"\
42'''Giles''': "Your secret dies with me."\
43'''Xander''': "''Shoot me, stuff me, mount me''."
44* {{Fanservice}}: On the first DVD of season 1, the menu opens with a seductive-looking Creator/SarahMichelleGellar crawling towards you wearing a low-cut top. Also, in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E10Nightmares Nightmares]]", one gets ten seconds of a mostly-naked Nicholas Brendon.
45* ForgottenFallenFriend: Willow and Xander's close friend Jesse. A SacrificialLamb in the pilot, then never mentioned again. Made more JustForFun/{{egregious}} by Xander making a reference made to before the two met Buffy as "just you and me." Possibly justified in that case, as he ''was'' [[BrainwashedAndCrazy not exactly himself at the time]].
46* GlasgowSmile: Marcie intends to do this to Cordelia in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E11OutOfMindOutOfSight Out of Mind, Out of Sight]]".
47--> '''Marcie:''' Your smile... I think it should be ''wider''.
48* GloryDays: Amy's mother never got over her glory days as a cheerleader, so forcibly switched places with her daughter to relive "her glory days".
49* GrandTheftMe: In "The Witch", Amy Madison's witch mother swaps bodies with her so that the mother can have a second shot at eternal fame and glory as a high school cheerleader.
50* GraveClouds: In a first-season episode, it is always night in a graveyard that had been magically relocated next to Sunnydale High.
51* HauntedTechnology: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E8IRobotYouJane I Robot, You Jane]]" has a demon which possesses a computer (and then the Internet, and finally a robot body) as the result of a book-scanning project.
52* HookHand: One of the Master's vampires has blades where one of his hands used to be.
53* ICommaNoun: "I Robot, You Jane".
54* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Willow realises Malcolm on the internet may not be who he says he is because he mentions Buffy had burned her previous school down, to which Willow responds, "I never told you that."
55* IfYouCanReadThis: At the end of "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", a textbook on infiltrating a cult compound to assassinate its leader is readable in DVD format, and consists of the lyrics to "Happiness is a Warm Gun" by Music/TheBeatles.
56* InvisibleJerkass: Marcie in "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", who became a psychopath after turning invisible. For her it was a case of Go Mad from the Isolation; everyone treated her like she was invisible so the Hellmouth made her invisible and thereby empowered her to get revenge on others.
57* LonelyPianoPiece: The Buffy theme plays slowly on a piano over the final scene of ''Prophecy Girl''.
58* OnceKilledAManWithANoodleImplement: In the first episode, Buffy mentions having once killed a vampire using only an exacto knife.
59* RemoteBody: In "I Robot, You Jane", the demon Moloch creates a mechanical robot self he operates via the internet. Eventually he gets stuck in that body.
60* SacrificialLamb: The special double-length pilot episode introduces Jesse, best friend of Xander. It seems that Xander and Jesse will be a regular pairing throughout the show, mirroring the Buffy and Willow friendship. Then Jesse is turned into a vampire and Xander is forced to kill him. But that's okay, because he's never mentioned again.
61* SignsOfTheEndTimes: Mrs. Calender knows the Hellmouth is about to open based on locally occurring portents; a family's swimming pool begins to boil (with them in it), a cat gives birth to a litter of snakes and a baby is born with [[EyeScream his eyes facing inward]].
62* SpontaneousHumanCombustion: In "The Witch", Giles initially attributes this as the cause for a cheerleader bursting into flames; it's later revealed to have been caused by a witch's spell.
63* StabTheScorpion: Variation between the Master and a mook in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E5NeverKillABoyOnTheFirstDate Never Kill a Boy on the First Date]]" where the Master (who could certainly kill the mook with his index finger) plucks a bug out of the air next to the mook's head.
64* StockScream: Shows up in "The Harvest".
65* TakeFive: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E12ProphecyGirl Prophecy Girl]]", Xander wants to get Buffy alone so he can ask her out:
66-->'''Xander''': Willow, don't you have a thing?\
67'''Willow''': A thing? The thing! That I have! Which is... a thing I have to go to. See ya later.
68* TeacherStudentRomance: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E4TeachersPet Teacher's Pet]]", a new hot-babe teacher seduces boys (including Xander) and invites them to her home. Of course, she turns out to be a giant man-eating mantis who preys on virgins. Hooray for metaphors.
69* TrashTheSet: The library gets wrecked in the finale, mainly because they had no idea if there would be a second season.
70* UnseenPenPal: "I Robot, You Jane" had a twist on it, when Willow's cyber-boyfriend turned out to be a literal demon on the Internet, Moloch the Corruptor. (The magical book in which it was sealed had been scanned into a computer.) The metaphor was lampshaded when Buffy used it as an argument to persuade Willow to check up on "Malcolm".
71* MurderByCremation: In "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date", Buffy kills a particularly tough vampire by shoving it into the cremation oven; they were at a morgue because that's where he woke up.
72* VainSorceress: Catherine Madison from "The Witch", who stole her own daughter's body to relive her high school glory days.
73* VirginPower: Subversion in "Teacher's Pet", where it just seems to increase your odds of [[OutWithABang sex with a murderous humanoid mantis]].
74* YouAreWhoYouEat: The demon group "Brotherhood of Seven" have to eat the heart and brain of a human/s every seven years in order to maintain their disguise.
75* YourMindMakesItReal: What causes the MonsterOfTheWeek in "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder: Season Two]]
79* AbandonedWarehouse: Spike and Drusilla use one as their lair.
80* AbortedArc:
81** It's hinted that Mr. Snyder was conspiring with Mayor Wilkins to eliminate Buffy as a threat by bullying her, and later by expelling her from school on trumped-up murder charges. Season 3 reveals that while he was doing some work with the mayor, Snyder was still as much in the dark about what was going on as the rest of the adults of Sunnydale.
82** Willow suddenly becomes a lot stronger in magic and seems possessed while performing the curse to restore Angel's soul. The other characters are notably frightened. Despite this being a good starting explanation for Willow's developing magical powers, the possession is never mentioned again.
83** The Anointed One — a prepubescent child who'd been made a vampire in the first season — was meant to be the main villain of the season. The problem was, while vampires don't age, the actor playing the role had had something of a growth spurt and clearly wouldn't be able to hold up as an immortal, ageless vampire. As a result, his storyline was scrapped and he was killed off rather anticlimactically — if satisfyingly — by Spike three episodes into the season.
84* AboveTheInfluence: Willow and Buffy practically strip down and jump Xander's bones in "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", but Xander refuses to let them. After the LovePotion wears off, Buffy is proud of him for it, but Willow is angry at him due to her past emotional history with him.
85* AbsurdlyIneffectiveBarricade: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E16BewitchedBotheredAndBewildered Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered]]", after a spell gone awry has caused every girl in the school aside from Cordelia to fall madly in love with Xander, he attempts to take refuge in the school library by moving the card catalogue in front of the double doors that serve as the entrance. Since he apparently didn't realize that the doors open outwards, a coat (and not much else) wearing Buffy calmly opens the doors and walks around the catalogue while Xander's back is turned.
86* AchillesInHisTent: Buffy comes back from her summer in L.A. still steaming with issues from being killed for a minute. When the Master's men steal the Master's bones with the intent to resurrect him, Buffy explodes at Giles and blows off the Scooby Gang's attempts at consoling her. This lasts until Willow, Giles, Cordelia, and Miss Calender are captured by the vampires for the resurrection ritual. In this case, the prompt for her glorious return is less than she realizes that she's needed and more that it's brutally spelled out for her by Xander, who basically gives her an "As a result of this mess I'm completely over indulging your self-pity; get over yourself and do what you should have done in the first place" speech.
87* AlienCatnip: Slayer blood and high people for vampires.
88--> '''Spike:''' If every vampire who said he was at the Crucifixion was actually there it would've been like Woodstock. I was actually at Woodstock... that was a ''weird'' gig. I fed off a flower person and I spent six hours watching my hand move.
89* AndThisIsFor: Xander in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E5ReptileBoy Reptile Boy]]":
90-->"This is for the bra! This is for the wig! This is for the makeup! And this is for the last 16 and a half years!"
91* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
92-->'''Snyder:''' Halloween must be a big night for you. Tossing eggs, keying cars, bobbing for apples...one pathetic cry for help after another.
93* AttemptedRape: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E20GoFish Go Fish]]", a member of the swim team tries this on Buffy. She begins by breaking his nose, but doesn't get much further than that because Snyder shows up, and accuses Buffy of leading him on. Later in the episode, the swim coach offers Buffy to be pack-raped by his team of monster fish. When she escapes and he is trapped with them instead...
94-->'''Buffy''': Wow... they really love their coach.
95* {{BFG}}: Buffy DoesNotLikeGuns. She thinks guns are never helpful. Apparently she doesn't think a AT-4 rocket launcher is a gun, as she uses one to kill The Judge.
96* BecomingTheCostume: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E6Halloween Halloween]]", a powerful spell transforms everyone in town into whatever they had dressed as for the night -- Willow becomes a ghost, Xander a trigger-happy soldier and Buffy a hapless 18th-century noblewoman. Only the costumes from one specific shop, the one run by the guy who did the spell, do this -- regular Halloween costumes have no effect on their wearers at all.
97* Bittersweet17: The events of Buffy's 17th birthday are in one of the most important episodes in the series. She loses her virginity to Angel, who is said to reverse to his evil self called Angellus when he is the happiest in his life, ie: having sex with Buffy. Buffy would finally realise that Angel is definitely not the man (or Vampire) she liked and realises he must be defeated.
98* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Sort of with the Judge, who kills based on whether a target has humanity or not. Any vampire with sufficiently human traits--like interest in books, or involvement in romance--is a fair target to him, even if they're otherwise serving evil purposes.
99* BlackComedyRape: In "Go Fish", Buffy is captured by the coach who had exposed the swim team to a concoction that transformed them into fish monsters. He tosses her to them to satisfy their "needs", leading her to snark:
100-->"Great. This is just what my reputation needs: that I did it with the entire swim team."
101After Buffy escapes and the coach falls into the fish-men's clutches instead:
102-->"Wow. They really love their coach."
103* BlatantLies: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E7LieToMe Lie to Me]]".
104-->'''Giles:''' Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.
105* BrainwashResidue: Xander retains some of his soldier knowledge after "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E6Halloween Halloween]]". A rare positive (or at least useful) example.
106* BreakInThreat: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E17Passion Passion]]", Angelus sneaks into Buffy's bedroom while she's sleeping and draws a picture of her, which he leaves for her to find in the morning. (Buffy had previously allowed Angel into her home, and hadn't removed the permission after Angel turned into Angelus. Once she became aware of this, she had Willow perform a spell to uninvite him.)
107* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E1WhenSheWasBad When She Was Bad]]", Buffy channels her inner [[Series/TwentyFour Jack Bauer]] by pulling this stunt with a burning cross ''shoved down a vampire's burning throat,'' [[OlderThanTheyThink several years]] before ''24'' aired and discussed much the same form of torture.
108* ByTheEyesOfTheBlind: The child-killing demon Der Kindestod from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath Killed by Death]]" can only be seen by young people with fevers.
109** Anyone with a high enough fever, actually. But since Der Kindestod only kills children, any adults sick enough to see it pass by dismiss it as a fever-induced hallucination.
110* CallBack: Plenty of em. When Ethan "leaves" in "Halloween" Giles finds a card with "Be seeing you," on it. Be Seeing You is what Eyghon later says while leaving Giles' apartment in "The Dark Age".
111* CarnivalOfKillers: The Order of Teraka sent a superstrong cyclops, a WormThatWalks and a BadassNormal posing as a uniformed cop to kill Buffy.
112* CensorshipBySpelling: Famously in "When She Was Bad".
113-->'''Willow''': But why is she acting like such a B-I-T-C-H?\
114'''Giles''': Come on Willow, we're a bit old to be spelling things out.\
115'''Xander''': ...a bitca?
116* ComputerEqualsMonitor:
117** Angelus is satisfied that Jenny's electronic translation of the incantation that would restore Angel's soul is gone when he shoves her computer off her desk. The problem is, while the ''monitor'' was wrecked, the actual PC received minimal damage... Justified--not like a 200 year-old vampire would really know how a computer works. His monologue before destroying the computer even makes it explicit. Later episodes also imply that her hard drive was indeed undamaged.
118** The diskette that Jenny used to back up her findings (yes, someone does back things up) falls between the desk and filing cabinet when Willow starts teaching her classes.
119* ContemplatingYourHands: Spike mentions doing this for six hours at Woodstock, after feeding off a "flower person".
120* ContinuityNod: When he asks out Ampata in "Inca Mummy Girl", Xander takes care to make sure she's not a praying mantis.
121* CreateYourOwnVillain: PlayedWith. Angelus was always a threat and The Dreaded, but he had been cursed with a soul and turned good. Buffy ends up breaking the curse in "Innocence" when she has sex with Angel, providing the moment of perfect happiness needed to bring Angelus back; Angelus takes great pleasure in rubbing in Buffy's face that it's her fault he's loose in Sunnydale.
122-->'''Angelus''': You know what the worst part was, huh? Pretending that I loved you. If I'd known how easily you'd give it up, I wouldn't have even bothered.
123-->'''Buffy''': That doesn't work anymore. You're ''not'' Angel.
124-->'''Angelus''': You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? It doesn't matter. The important thing is you made me the man I am today!
125* DateRapeAverted: In "Reptile Boy", Buffy and Cordelia get drugged at a party by a group of cultists. One of the cultists seems to be planning this, but another stops him since she and the other girls [[HumanSacrifice have another purpose]].
126* DeadlyHug: Buffy does this to Angel in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E22BecomingPart2 Becoming Part 2]]", although she has to let go of him first since she does it with a sword.
127* DeadMansChest: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E4IncaMummyGirl Inca Mummy Girl]]", the mummy hid the body of the real Ampata in one of his trunks.
128* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: One episode is named "Killed by Death". Although by "Death", we mean "''[[GrimReaper Death]]''".
129* DieHardOnAnX: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E3SchoolHard School Hard]]", AKA ''Film/DieHard'' with vampires. The Bronze is also a popular location for hostage-takings.
130* DistinctionWithoutADifference:
131-->'''Giles:''' Let's not jump to any conclusions.
132-->'''Buffy:''' I didn't ''jump''. I took a tiny step, and there conclusions were.
133* DoomedAppointment: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E17Passion Passion]]", Jenny is working on the spell to restore Angel's soul and tells Giles she wants to see him later, but doesn't tell him what she's working on. Naturally, Angel kills her moments after she completes her work. Therefore we know the spell exists, but Buffy and the Scoobies don't.
134* DrowningMySorrows: Giles starts drinking heavily after Jenny's death, and it's not PlayedForLaughs. Jenny's death drove Giles to seek fiery vengeance, as well as a bottle. He also got scarily drunk, alone, when the fallout from his Ripper days first encroached on Sunnydale in the form of a demon-possessed corpse by the name of Eyghon. He worked his way through a list of old friends' phone numbers (plus half a bottle of scotch) only to learn they were all dead. His missing an appointment with Buffy for the first time ever was enough to tip her off that something was wrong.
135* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E17Passion Passion]]" Jenny Calendar asks how Angelus was able to enter the school without being invited, which he answers by pointing out the school has their motto written outside, in Latin, which roughly translates to "Enter all you who seek knowledge". This is the only instance in the entire franchise where vampires having to be invited is implied to apply to anything other than personal living spaces, or that the invitation does not have to be given in person. It is later even specifically stated that vampires do not need to be invited into public spaces such as schools and libraries.
136* EggSitting: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E12BadEggs Bad Eggs]]", Sunnydale Health Class students are given the usual "treat an egg as your child" lesson. Xander boils his to make the project easier, which saves him from the embryonic demons in the eggs. Because Sunnydale.
137* EmbarrassingTattoo: The Mark of Eyghon, which Giles never gets removed (as we see it in Season 8, which leads to a conversation with Faith about how he and her are not as different as she thinks). Said conversation is even more meaningful if you know [[http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Mark_of_Kakistos the origins]] of her tattoo. Both of them are the mark of a demon, in her case Kakistos (the really mutated vamp that killed her Watcher). She got it from being possessed by a dead Greek Slayer.
138* EmpathicEnvironment: In Angelus' first episode, the lights suddenly go out on Xander and Willow inside the school. Angelus appears in a darkened hallway, his [[SinisterSilhouettes shape]] blocking a lit EXIT sign.
139* EnemyMine: In the Season Finale, [[spoiler:Buffy and Spike]] team up to defeat Angelus.
140* FishPeople: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E20GoFish Go Fish]]" the Sunnydale High swim team [[LegoGenetics mutates]] into fish dudes due to their coach giving them illegal, Soviet fish-based steroids. Unusually for monsters in a Buffy episode, they all lived HappilyEverAfter in the ocean -- although they did lose their human personalities, so the swim team essentially died.
141* ForcedTransformation: In "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", Amy, under the influence of Xander's love spell, turns Buffy into a rat. She gets better by the end of the episode.
142* ForgottenFriendNewFoe: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E7LieToMe Lie To Me]]", Billy Fordham--"Ford"--an old friend of Buffy's from LA, shows up in Sunnydale. He has figured out she's a Slayer... and that's just for starters. He makes a deal with vampires to bring them Buffy and some [[VampireVannabe vampire wannabes]] to feed on, so that they will turn him in exchange. He's trying to avoid dying of cancer.
143* GreaterScopeVillain: Acathla, with Angelus' motivation being to unseal him and inflict literal Hell on Earth.
144* GroinAttack: Buffy can't bring herself to kill Angelus in "Innocence", but settles for this.
145* GroupieBrigade: "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" has a spell go wrong (as they often do) and Xander is chased by hordes of love-sick fans. Only they want to tear his flesh off, not his clothes.
146* HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster: Joyce's reaction to learning about Buffy and vampires was, literally, "Have you tried...not being the Slayer?" She later describes herself as "marching in the Slayer Pride parade." To be fair, Joyce's reaction is a lot more understandable than most examples on this page, since her biggest concern is that Buffy could get seriously hurt or killed being the Slayer.
147* HemoErotic: A flashback of Angel being sired by Darla.
148* HilarityEnsues: Of the demon Acathla, turned to stone by being stabbed through the heart by a virtuous knight, Spike comments when told that if someone "worthy" removed to sword, Acathla will awaken and "wackiness ensues." Said wackiness being Acathla sucking the world into Hell.
149* IfICantHaveYou: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E16BewitchedBotheredAndBewildered Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered]]", a creepy, creepy love spell causes ''every woman in town'' (except for Cordelia, who was unaffected) to try to do this to Xander.
150* IJustWantToBeNormal: Ampata, a former Incan mummy from "Inca Mummy Girl" chosen as a sacrifice to protect her people, raises herself from the dead and is determined to lead a happy 16 year-old girl's life--even if she has to kill at least one person a day to keep up the facade.
151* ImpossiblyMundaneExplanation: When the gang is attempting to contact Buffy:
152--> '''Xander:''' Well, she didn't go home. I let the phone ring a few hundred times before I remembered her mom is out of town.\
153'''Giles:''' Well, maybe Buffy unplugged the phone.\
154'''Xander:''' No, it's a statistical impossibility for a 16-year-old girl to unplug her phone.\
155'''Willow:''' *nods*.
156* KissOfDeath: Ampata in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E4IncaMummyGirl Inca Mummy Girl]]" steals the life of various men in order to keep herself alive.
157* LateToThePunchLine: In "Lie To Me", Buffy recounts listening to the Divinyls' song "I Touch Myself", in fifth grade to help her get over Ford's rejection, and then mentions that she had no idea at the time what the song was about. Thirty seconds later Willow says, "Oh! ''That's'' what that song is about?!"
158* LaughOfLove: In "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", when Xander is walking down the school hallway after his love spell has inadvertently affected practically every female character in Sunnydale, the girls there are staring, {{sigh|OfLove}}ing and giggling at him, while the guys are watching him enviously.
159* LifeDrinker: Not the vampires, actually, but rather Ampata from "Inca Mummy Girl". She was an Andean mummy who sucked living humans' life forces dry to stay alive herself.
160* LoveConfession: Miss Calendar makes one to Giles in "Passion".
161* LoveConfessor: After [[spoiler: Miss Calendar's death]], Giles confesses his love for her to Buffy.
162* MagicFloppyDisk: A literal one: The spell to restore Angelus' soul is encoded on a misplaced floppy.
163* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: The Anointed One is shoved into a cage and hoisted into sunlight by Spike.
164* MatchstickWeapon: "Passions" has Giles attacking Angelus with a flaming [[BatterUp wooden bat.]]
165* MurderInc: Buffy is once targeted by the Order of Taraka, an assassin's guild hired by Spike to take her out.
166* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Buffy does Angel, which causes him to lose his soul and revert to his evil mind rapist self. Nice job having the hots for a vampire, slayer. Of course, Angel gets equal blame for not keeping it in his pants despite knowing full well his curse. Though in his defense it's not like he knew that there was a way to break it. Speaking of which, when the gypsy tribe cursed Angel in the first place, it was actually a pretty dumb idea of them to allow a way to break Angelus back as their idea of making Angel suffer more. Especially since that part bit them in the ass when he did.
167* NightmareFuelColoringBook: In "Killed by Death", the patient Ryan draws a creepy picture of Der Kindestod. He thanks Buffy for killing the demon by drawing a not-much-less creepy picture of Buffy in the act.
168%%* NightSwimEqualsDeath: In "Go Fish".
169* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In "When She Was Bad", Buffy's attitude problem causes her to get baited easily by the vamps, leaving her friends unprotected so that Willow, Cordelia, Giles, and Miss Calendar get kidnapped by the vampires working for the Anointed One. Xander, normally Buffy's biggest fan, lays it out for her:
170Xander: If they hurt Willow, I'll Kill You!.
171* ObfuscatingDisability: In the last four episodes, Spike is only pretending to still need his wheelchair.
172* OneDialogueTwoConversations:
173** In "Phases", Xander confronts Larry the bully about his secret, which Xander can understand because he's been there before. Xander's talking about being a werewolf. Larry's talking about being a [[ArmoredClosetGay closeted homosexual]]. Later on in the episode, Buffy and Xander chat about the day's events, and Xander says he'll have trouble ever looking at him the same way again. Buffy's talking about the werewolf, Oz, but Xander's talking about Larry.
174* APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy: The college party in "Reptile Boy".
175* PureIsNotGood: From "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered":
176-->'''Amy:''' I don't know, Xander. Intent has to be pure with love spells.\
177'''Xander:''' Right! I intend revenge. Pure as the driven snow.
178* RealDreamsAreWeirder: Buffy's dreams about Drusilla's return are mingled with dreams of opening an office-supply warehouse in Las Vegas.
179* TheRemnant: The Annointed One's army
180* RomanceInducingSmudge: A rare romantic moment passes between Willow and Xander in the season two episode "When She Was Bad", when Willow gets ice cream on her nose as the pair are walking past a cemetery. As Xander leans in to clean it for her, the two look like they are about to kiss... until a vampire pops up behind Willow, forcing Xander to attempt to hold it off and killing a {{Squee}}-inducing moment for Willow x Xander shippers.
181** Willow later attempted to ''invoke'' this trope by putting ice cream on her own nose, but Xander, now once again distracted by Buffy, simply says ''"You got something on your nose."''
182* SceneryCensor: The Monster of the Week in "The Dark Age" is naked when he climbs out of his body bag in the morgue, with a conveniently placed autopsy table to cover his lower half.
183* SerialEscalation: "Hmm, Angelus certainly did a good job inflicting torture and trauma. How can we top it?" They continue this trend throughout the series.
184* ShakingHerHairLoose: In "Go Fish", Buffy pulls a stake out of her hair and shakes it loose as she prepares to fight a vampire.
185* ShockParty: In the aptly named episode "Surprise". In something of a variation, it's actually '''Oz''' who gets the shock; seeing Buffy staking a vamp for the first time. Later in season 5 we have the organizing variation with Tara.
186* ShooOutTheClowns: Poor Spike is left to rot in a wheelchair while the significantly less cuddly Angelus steals the spotlight.
187* SickEpisode: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath Killed by Death]]", Buffy passes out while fighting due to a flu, and she goes to the hospital, where she fights a monster that preys on sick children.
188* SighOfLove: In "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", a lot of the female characters affected by Xander's backfired love spell sigh when they're around him, particularly in the scene when he is walking down the hallway.
189* StabTheSalad: Happened in "School Hard". The gang is preparing an imminent attack from Spike. Willow is fidgeting with a crossbow, Xander & Cordelia are carving stakes and Buffy holds up a machete, which she uses to slice zuccini.
190* StakingTheLovedOne: Several times, most notably with Angelus. In fact, most of the second season is a struggle over this for Buffy.
191* Standard50sFather: Ted seems like one of these at first, but is actually [[spoiler:a killer robot]].
192* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Spike is rather miffed about Angelus deciding to [[VillainBall toy with Buffy]] instead of just killing her outright.
193* SwordFight: Becoming, Part 2. Hell yes.
194* TalkingDownTheSuicidal: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E19IOnlyHaveEyesForYou I Only Have Eyes For You]]", [[spoiler:Angel]] talks [[spoiler:Buffy]] out of killing herself, but they are both not themselves at the time - they are possessed by the ghosts of other people.
195* TeacherStudentRomance: A tragic example in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E19IOnlyHaveEyesForYou I Only Have Eyes for You]]". Back in The50s, one of the school's female teachers had an affair with a male student. She realized it was wrong and tried to break it off, only for the distraught student to kill her, followed by himself. The plot involves their ghosts, who keep possessing random couples and almost making them act out the murder-suicide.
196* TemptingFate: "Passion":
197-->'''Angelus:''' Don't worry, ''[[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain rollerboy]]'', I've got it under control.\
198''([[StormingTheCastle Giles tosses a Molotov cocktail]].)''
199* ThisExplainsSoMuch:
200--> '''Xander:''' Yes, vampires are real, there are a lot of them in Sunnydale.\
201'''Willow:''' I know this must come as a shock...\
202'''Oz:''' Actually, it explains a ''lot''.
203* ThisIsUnforgivable: While Xander never liked Angel and repeatedly vouched for just dusting Angelus, he doubles down on it after Angelus kills Jenny in cold blood in "Passion", citing it as proof that Angel is beyond redemption.
204* TooDumbToLive: Billy Ford. Want to cure your cancer? [[InsaneTrollLogic All you have to do is ask some nice vampires to turn you into a vampire in exchange for giving them the Slayer.]] [[SarcasmMode Nothing wrong with this plan AT ALL.]] Except Ford wasn't trying to 'cure' his cancer, he was dying and had nothing to lose. [[spoiler:The plan actually worked too, except that Buffy survived (not Ford's fault) to stake Ford when he emerged from his grave.]] ''Why'' he was buried there while waiting for him to rise is another question entirely.
205* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Spike, Angelus, and Drusilla form a rather twisted example.
206* UnresolvedSexualTension: Try an entire season's worth of Bangel UST climaxing in a single orgasmic KissOfTheVampire.
207* ValentinesDayEpisodes: "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", although most of the episode is simply the messy aftermath of a badly handled Valentine's Day between Cordelia and Xander. Angelus had some romance-themed MindRape in store for Buffy, but said aftermath was too distracting.
208* TheVillainKnowsWhereYouLive: One of the first things Angel does when he turns evil is to go into Buffy's room while she's sleeping, draw a detailed picture of her, and leave it for her to find in the morning.
209* WhatTheHellHero: During the first episode of the season, "When She Was Bad", Buffy's behavior in the Bronze, toward Xander in particular, is so obnoxious that [[AlphaBitch Cordelia]], of all people, decides to call her on it, warning her that if she doesn't cool it, she'll "lose even the loser friends you have now."
210* WithThisRing: Angel and Buffy's Claddagh rings.
211* WhoNeedsEnemies: Spike's uneasy alliance with Buffy at the end of the second season.
212* YouNeverDidThatForMe: While Xander and Cordelia's relationship was still a secret to the rest of the scoobies, Cordelia protested as Xander declared that he was off to help Buffy out of yet another sticky situation.
213--> '''Cordelia''': "There you go, off to save the great Buffy again... I bet you'd never do that for me..."
214[[/folder]]
215
216[[folder: Season Three]]
217* AloneAmongTheCouples: Discussed at the beginning, and they set out to avert it.
218* AreYouSureYouCanDriveThisThing: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E6BandCandy Band Candy]]", Buffy drives to the Bronze even though she failed her driving test, with Willow in the passenger's seat. Willow gets increasingly anxious, despite Buffy's relaxed-ness. They make it to the Bronze [[spoiler:which they discover is full of middle-aged people acting like teenagers due to cursed candy]]; then Buffy attempts to drive to Giles' house, which results in a crash.
219-->"Wooo Summers, you drive like a '''SPAZ!!!'''
220* ArtifactTitle: This was the season where this set in, since it was the first one where the BigBad wasn't a vampire. Though he did make extensive use of vampire underlings, and few vampires appeared as significant secondary antagonists.
221* AttemptedRape: Xander is almost raped and murdered by Faith in "Consequences". Angel intervens.
222-->'''Angel''': He forgot the safety word, is that it?
223* BatmanGambit: Giles pulls one on Buffy in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E3FaithHopeAndTrick Faith, Hope & Trick]]" to get her to reveal what happened when she killed Angel back in "Becoming, Part 2". By asking her under the pretext of needing information to create a binding spell to prevent Acathla from being re-awakened, Giles eventually gets her to admit the painful truth without questioning his motives in asking.
224-->'''Willow''':...I really could help with that binding spell.
225-->'''Giles''': There is no spell.
226* BitCharacter: A harried teacher exhorting his students to "be somber" about the new year. He pops up again on Graduation Day, grimly making the kids play Hangman.
227-->"[[EvilLaugh Heh heh]]. They always go for the '[[SchmuckBait E]].'"
228* BrandX: Trick orders a "medium diet soda" at a drive-thru window without actually specifying ''what'' soda in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E3FaithHopeAndTrick Faith, Hope & Trick]]".
229* BroughtDownToBadass: In "Helpless," Giles is forced to strip Buffy of her powers using powerful mixtures of adrenaline suppressors and muscle relaxers as part of her Cruciamentum, a rite of passage to test the Slayer's intellect and wit. Buffy comes out on top against Kralik, the AxCrazy vampire the Council set her up against, by exploiting his dependency on anti-psychotic pills, swapping the water he drinks with them with holy water.
230* BroughtDownToNormal: Buffy in "Helpless", as part of a test by the Watcher's Council.
231* BuryYourGays: Larry in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2 Graduation Day, Part Two]]". Was confirmed later.
232* CardCarryingVillain: ''Faith.'' After the accidental murder of the deputy mayor she throws herself so far into villainy that she becomes about as scary as Angelus. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that her life takes a marked improvement under the Mayor, compared to the good guys, and she first wanted to corrupt Buffy by forcing her to kill her, then it turns out Faith genuinely did have a death wish.
233* ChildrenAreInnocent: The demon from "Gingerbread" uses this to get the parents of Sunnydale to kill witches and anyone who protects them, including their own children.
234* CollapsedMidSpeech: The Mayor starts his Ascension in the middle of his speech to the graduating students, which causes him strong pains. However, he knew that it would happen and his collapse last few moments before he turns into a demonic snake. He only complains that he doesn't have time left to talk about civic pride.
235* ContinuityNod: "Lily" and her boyfriend attempting to buy lunch at a diner by dumping a bunch of change onto the table. Creator/DavidArquette and Creator/LukePerry did the exact same thing in the ''Buffy'' feature film.
236* DaddysLittleVillain: Despite not really being his daughter, Faith winds up very much playing this role to The Mayor — she's his loyal Dragon, of whom he is clearly protective. Her loyalty is based on him being the first (and possibly ''only'') person who ever valued her just for being her (not using her or trying to change her). When he tells her that even if Buffy did a FaceHeelTurn, he'd still pick Faith over her, it's a weird but touchingly sincere moment that clearly means the world to her. Buffy sending her into a coma led to his one swear word and Buffy taunting him about said loss led to his defeat. Many scenes between Faith and the Mayor involved him acting very fatherly and tender, giving her gifts and general life advice (about respecting and valuing herself) alongside assassination missions. Nice little call back in both Season Seven and the Season Eight comics, showing that Faith remembers him fondly despite her HeelFaceTurn.
237* DestructoNookie: The overtly sexualized scene in the season finale when Buffy makes Angel vamp out and drink her blood. While he's lying on top of her, she grabs a metal object for support, and it just crumples. She also kicks a table through a wall. Angel leaves her with the most insane hickey in history through all of season 4.
238* {{Dissimile}}: It seems Buffy has Gandhi confused with Teddy Roosevelt.
239** Xander talks tacks about selling chocolate to support for the school's band, but loses focus as [[FootsieUnderTheTable Willow's foot creeps up his shin]].
240-->'''Xander''': The band. Yeah. They're great. [[DistractedByTheSexy They march]].\
241'''Willow:''' Like an army. [beat] Except with music instead of bullets, and...usually no one dies.
242** Wilkins explains to Faith that her errand in question involves something crucial to his ascension. He brightly says that without it, "well, what would Tollhouse cookies be without the chocolate chips?" Faith regards her cookie as if she's actually pondering that zen question. He continues, "A pretty [[GoshDarnItToHeck darn big disappointment]], I can tell you!"
243* {{Dominatrix}}: Picture this scene: You're tied up in a cage with burn marks over your body and a cute little girl in leather bondage gear enters. From the baby talk calling you puppy it's clear she is crazy, and she reacts to the silent treatment you give her with the promise that she is going to make you bark.
244* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Averted in Faith's sexual assault and attempted murder of Xander. Angel first hits her on the head with a baseball bat to stop her, and when she wakes up he dubiously asks her about it.
245-->"He forgot the safety word?"
246* DrowningMySorrows:
247** In "The Wish", an alternate-universe Sunnydale without Buffy is overrun by vampires. Giles leads a ragtag band of vampire hunters, and his apartment littered with liquor bottles spells out his desperation.
248** In "Doppelgangland", Anya tries to drown her sorrows at the Bronze, but as she looks outwardly like a teenage girl the bartender stubbornly insists on an I.D. "I'm 1,120 years old! Just give me a frickin' BEER!!!"
249** There's Spike in "Lovers Walk". Apparently alcohol ''does'' affect vampires.
250* DumbAndDrummer: Faith's list of loser ex-boyfriends goes "Ronnie: deadbeat. Steve: klepto. Kenny: '''drummer'''."
251* EnemyMine: A very brief one occurs in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E19Choices Choices]]", when the Mayor and Faith, in the interest of mutual survival, team up with the Scooby Gang in the high school cafeteria when demon spiders escape from the Box of Gavrok.
252* EnhanceButton: Mocked.
253* EuphemismBuster: An un-{{lampshade}}d version.
254--> '''Mayor''': No slayer of mine is going to live in a fleabag motel. That place has a very unsavory reputation. There are immoral liaisons going on there.
255--> '''Faith''': Yeah, plus all the screwing.
256* EverybodyKnewAlready: Revealed in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E20TheProm The Prom]]" that everyone knows in school that Buffy protects them from bad stuff.
257* FaceHeelTurn: Faith. It starts in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E15Consequences Consequences]]". The sad part is, it's partially the Scoobies' fault.
258* FinalBossPreview: The First is first seen in Season 3.
259* ForcedTransformation: A few times.
260** "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E11Gingerbread Gingerbread]]": In order to escape being burned at the stake, Amy turns ''herself'' into a rat. She... not so much gets better at the end of the episode.
261** The end of the season sees someone turn into a snake. Not really a big deal.
262* FriendToPsychos: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E4BeautyAndTheBeasts Beauty and the Beasts]]", Debbie tries to cover for her boyfriend Pete when he starts going through a Jekyll/Hyde situation. She's not very good at it, though.
263* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Wishverse Buffy is an even more by-the-book Slayer than Kendra, perhaps second only to the First Slayer.
264* TheGlomp: Willow, courtesy of, well...''everybody'' in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland Doppelgangland]]". The Scoobies, having mistaken her for Wishverse Willow, are elated when she turns out to be still alive.
265-->'''Willow:''' It's really nice that you guys missed me. Say, you all didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs, did ya?
266** Despite being accepted into Oxford, Willow announces to Buffy that she "will be matriculating with Class of 2003" at UC Sunnydale. The mischievous smile. "...Say, isn't that where you're going?" Buffy squees and tackles her to the grass.
267* GoodIsNotSoft: When Angel is poisoned and Buffy learns that Slayer blood is the cure, her rather scary initial plan is to bring by force the psychotic Faith to him to feed on, dead or alive. When that doesn't work Buffy offers herself to feed on, which Angel absolutely refuses. So Buffy punches him in the face until the blows anger him enough to vamp out, then she makes him feed on her.
268** Faith actually told Buffy that sometimes innocent people get hurt because of the good guys, and [[{{Hypocrite}} Buffy]] throws it back in her face.
269* GratuitousGerman: In "Gingerbread", the newspaper article the gang looks up and the chant Giles is doing at the end of the episode qualify for this.
270* HandsOnApproach: Willow and Xander have this problem. Unbeknownst to them, Buffy and Angel are also struggling to keep their hand off of...things.
271* HeWhoFightsMonsters: "Gingerbread" begins with Buffy's mom finding two young children after [[spoiler: what looks like]] a magical rite. She responds by organizing the other parents in Sunnydale into an organization to go after witches (and Slayers.) The episode ends with them all trying to burn ''their own children'' at the stake.
272* HeldBackInSchool: Oz. He was supposed to go to summer school. "Remember when I didn't?"
273* HiddenDepths: Cordelia, Oz. They score surprisingly well on standardized tests.
274* HighDiveEscape: A darker variation in the lead up to the season 3 finale where a brutal fight between [[TheHero Buffy]] and [[DarkActionGirl Faith]] ends with Faith stabbed in the stomach and on the edge of a rooftop. Faith knows Buffy needs her blood to heal [[TheAtoner Angel]] and convinced her stab wound is fatal, she gets revenge by falling backwards off of the roof onto the back of a passing truck, which carries her [[NotQuiteDead now comatose]] body away before Buffy can catch up to it.
275** Even darker; when she's in hospital, the doctor explains that her stab wound to the stomach wasn't actually serious, but [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the head injury from the fall has put her in a coma with possible brain damage]].
276* HomeFieldAdvantage: The third season finale was one huge HFA. The mayor is giving the commencement address at Buffy's graduation, which is also where his Ascension is going to occur. In response, the Scoobies organize the entire senior class to fight off the Mayor's vampires and hold the Mayor at bay until Buffy lures him into the library, which they've already filled with explosives. He dies.
277* HostageForMacGuffin: Subverted in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E19Choices Choices]]": The Scoobies have captured the Box of Gavrok belonging to Mayor Wilkins, while Mayor Wilkins has captured Willow. The Scoobies debate the morality of destroying the box instead of giving it to the Mayor, but agree to make the trade. Wesley, however, insists on destroying the box rather than letting Wilkins have it, but Oz then proceeds to smash the pot needed for the ritual to do so to ensure that they will trade for Willow. The Mayor does not attempt to kill Willow anyway, and releases her once he has the box. The result is that Willow is safe, but the Mayor has the box.
278* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame
279* {{Hypocrite}}: Xander's furious that Buffy knew that Angel had come BackFromTheDead and withheld the information from the others, when he himself had deliberately neglected to tell Buffy that Willow was planning to curse Angel with a soul again in "Becoming Part 2" to ensure that Buffy ''would'' kill him.
280* IThinkYouBrokeHim: "Beauty and the Beasts" has a rare version that's not played for comedy.
281* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Cordelia, although she survives. Also most vampires and a few other monsters.
282* IndustrializedEvil: "The Wish".
283* InterrogationMontage: Done by Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordy in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E18Earshot Earshot.]]"
284* ItsAWonderfulPlot: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E9TheWish The Wish]]", Cordelia unwittingly makes the demon Anyanka create a world wherein Buffy never moved to Sunnydale, which has turned into a truly hellish place where the Master and his army of vampires rule practically unopposed. The whole thing later gets a twist as Cordelia gets killed about halfway through the episode, leaving Giles to find a way to undo the wish.
285* ItsPersonal: Discussed in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E1Anne Anne]]":
286-->'''Oz''': If I may suggest: "This time it's personal." I mean, there's a reason why it's a classic.
287* JerkassHasAPoint: Spike's legendary "Love's Bitch" speech from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E8LoversWalk Lovers Walk]]".
288-->""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."
289** This is echoed by Mayor Wilkin, who doesn't foresee anything good for Angel and Buffy's relationship. He's reminded of his own wife in her last days, senile and cursing Wilkins for his eternal youth.
290* KirkSummation: Subverted by Willow in "Choices".
291* LadiesAndGerms: "Ladies, gentlemen, spiny-headed creatures..."
292* LaResistance: The White Hats (Giles, Larry and Oz) in the Wishverse.
293* LecherousLicking: Vampire Willow does this a lot, including to [[ScrewYourself regular Willow]], who is understandably freaked out by it.
294* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: In "Consequences", Mr. Trick is staked by Faith before he can drain Buffy. His last words?
295--> '''Mr. Trick:''' ''(indignant and mildly shocked)'' Oh. No. No, this is no good at all...
296* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E6BandCandy Band Candy]]" Joyce and Giles have sex on the hood of a police car.
297* MaskOfPower: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E2DeadMansParty Dead Man's Party]]" and the Nigerian zombie mask. Note a MaskOfPower that does not need to be worn. Though the Mask wants to be worn by one of its zombies to unlock its full power.
298* {{Metaphorgotten}}: "Homecoming". Willow expressing her guilt about kissing Xander.
299-->'''Willow''': We were so guilty about "the fluke" that we overcompensated helping Cordelia and spun the group dynamic out of orbit. Now we're just this meteor shower headed for Earth...
300* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: In the episode "Earshot."
301* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
302** When Faith begins to go bad after staking the Deputy Mayor, Buffy and Giles plan to deal with it ''without'' alerting the Watcher's Council, but Wesley finds out anyway after eavesdropping on them and immediately calls in a special ops team to bring her in. In the process of doing so, he completely ruins Angel's attempts to get through to her just as he was beginning to succeed, setting off a sequence of events that lead to Faith becoming Mayor Wilkins' [[TheDragon dragon]].
303** PlayedStraight - somewhat - with the demon Balthazar. Balthazar was Mayor Wilkins' rival - had he regained his power, he would have killed the Mayor. By killing Balthazar, Buffy eliminated one of the two major threats to the Mayor. Of course, the other major threat was herself...
304* NoTellMotel: Faith crashes here upon coming to Sunnydale, further emphasizing the differences between her and Buffy. The Mayor upgrades her to a condo, but advises to maintain her old place as a cover.
305* NotSoHarmlessVillain: The Mayor. At first, he seems like a self-serving politician tapping into supernatural powers for personal gain. Then it turns out he commands a small army of vampires and plans to become a pureblood demon. Oh, and he's also invulnerable; not just NighInvulnerable, ''invulnerable''.
306* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In "Graduation Day Part 2", the Mayor — normally cheerful, friendly and oddly wholesome for a villain who constantly speaks in a chipper, upbeat tone — goes on a brief, furious VillainousBreakdown after Buffy puts his Faith into a coma.
307-->'''Mayor Wilkins''': ''(to Angel)'' Yeah, well I'd get set for a world of weeping! I'd get set for a world of pain! Misery loves company, young man, and I'm more than willing to share that with you and your whore!
308* OneDialogueTwoConversations:
309** When Willow starts discussing Buffy's secret affair with Angel, Xander immediately deflects the discussion to ''their'' sordid tryst. This proves to be consistent behavior between Willow and Xander throughout the season; the stress of being caught cheating is so overwhelming, they keep blurting out pseudo-confessions to anyone in sight.
310* OtherMeAnnoysMe: Vampire Willow to Willow, and vice versa.
311* PropheticName: Scott Hope. Now, if only his first name were Dash...
312* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Angel, whose SuperpoweredEvilSide delights in MindRape, was particularly disgusted with...
313* RecurringExtra: Should you be watching reruns of season 3 episodes, look for a shortish Asian guy carrying a skateboard. He's in many episodes and is referred to as "Asian Dan" by the cast. In the season 4 DVD, Creator/SethGreen, Creator/JossWhedon, and Marti Noxon joke about his frequent appearances in the "Wild at Heart" audio commentary.
314* ResurrectionSickness: Angel, though it starts out looking like CameBackWrong.
315* RoomFullOfCrazy: From "Helpless". Buffy runs into a room full of pictures of her mother taken by a really crazy vampire.
316* RuleOfThree: In season three, when Angel [[spoiler:has been poisoned by Faith and needs the blood of a Slayer to cure him]], Buffy punches him to get him to vamp out. Of course, she hits him once, twice, aaand the third time does it.
317* SequelEpisode: "Dopplegangland" is this to "The Wish".
318* {{Shadowland}}: Buffyless Sunnydale to Normal Sunnydale.
319* SnowMeansLove: A providential snowfall prevents Angel from committing suicide-by-sun. He and Buffy then go for a walk in the snow. This is ''southern California.'' Y'know, because snow is nearly impossible there.
320* SpoilerOpening: The 3rd season opening shows Faith before she even makes her first appearance. Averted in season 1, it doesn't hint that Angel is a vampire.
321* TalkingDownTheSuicidal:
322** In the episode "Earshot," Buffy talks [[spoiler:Jonathan Levinson]] out of killing himself, although she thinks that she is [[spoiler:convinving him not to commit mass murder instead]].
323** Buffy also convinces [[spoiler:Angel]] not to kill himself when he is attacked by the First Evil.
324* TeacherStudentRomance: Wesley and Cordelia had a mutual attraction; in fact, he actually thought ''she'' was a teacher when they first met, in a possible nod to the DawsonCasting. Only a partial example, since Wesley was a mentor to Buffy, not her (and not a very good one), though he was presumably employed by the school in some capacity to justify him hanging out in the library.
325* TemptingFate: In "Dead Man's Party":
326-->'''Willow:''' No, let them go, Oz! Talking about it isn't helping, we might as well try some violence!\
327''(A zombie breaks in through the front window.)''\
328'''Willow:''' ''I was being sarcastic!''
329* ThatWasTheLastEntry: The first info the Scoobies have about the prophesied "ascension" is a journal entry saying "Tomorrow is the ascension, may God help us." It was the last time the town was ever heard of.
330* ThisIsUnforgivable: Faith actually tries to get Willow to give her the whole "you can still be a good guy" speech, instead getting Willow telling her she's way past forgiveness. At least part of this is because she had kidnapped and tied up Willow though. Ironically, Willow becomes one of the few people who actually could later understand what Faith was going through, having gone evil and killed someone only to be brought back by someone showing caring and kindness when she didn't deserve it.
331* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Subverted with gusto in "Anne", when Oz throws a stake.
332-->'''Oz:''' That really never works.
333* TitleDrop: For the episode title in "Dead Man's Party".
334* ATruceWhileWeGawk: In "Anne", Buffy's fight with the demons is interrupted by the head demon holding a knife to Lilly. He announces that their fight is lost and he'll kill Lilly to make an example. Lilly kills him instead. A beat later, the main fight resumes.
335* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Invoked by the Mayor, who was him, his son, his grandson and his great grandson (he's immortal).
336* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: "Graduation Day, Part Two".
337* VerySpecialEpisode: "I Only Have Eyes For You" and "Earshot" ended with a PSA about calling the suicide hotline, [[{{Tearjerker}} which would have been useful for some fans.]]
338* WalkOnTheWildSideEpisode: In "Doppelgangland", Willow gets a little fed up with her reputation as Old Reliable and flirts with danger a bit by doing a dark incantation with Anya. It doesn't end very well.
339* WasntThatFun: After the Mayor has just completed a dark ritual on his way to becoming a true immortal demon.
340-->'''Mayor:''' "This officially commences the Hundred Days. Nothing can harm me until the Ascension."
341-->''[beat. Breaks into a fit of gleeful giggles]''
342-->"Gosh, I'm feeling chipper! Who's for a root beer?!"
343* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Buffy's proposal for dealing with a vengeance demon in "The Wish".
344-->'''Buffy:''' "Why don't I just put a stake through her heart?" \
345'''Giles:''' "She's not a vampire." \
346'''Buffy:''' "You'd be surprised how many things that'll kill."
347** Also a fantastic instance of {{foreshadowing}}. A few episodes later, guess what Faith accidentally kills a man with.
348* YearInsideHourOutside: Various hell dimensions, including the demon workhouse in the season opener and the realm where Angel is held after the events of season two.
349* ZombieApocalypse:
350** A Nigerian mask causes a minor one in "Dead Man's Party".
351** The alternate timeline created in "The Wish" is a vampire variant.
352[[/folder]]
353
354[[folder: Season Four]]
355* ActorAllusion: Giles puts on "Danse Macabre" during his silent presentation in "Hush". "Danse Macabre" is the theme tune of ''Series/JonathanCreek''. Creator/AnthonyStewartHead played magician Adam Klaus in the pilot episode of that show.
356* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Professor Walsh gives a lecture on the Id. ZigZagged, as her other lectures indicate she's just giving a broad overview of all schools of psychological thought.
357* AllTakeAndNoGive: Spike and Harmony's relationship, with Spike as Taker and Harmony as Giver.
358* AndIMustScream: The episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E10Hush Hush]]".
359-->''Can't even shout\
360Can't even cry\
361The gentlemen are coming by\
362Lookin' in windows\
363Knockin' on doors\
364They need to take seven\
365And they might take yours\
366Can't call to mom\
367Can't say a word\
368You're gonna die screaming\
369But you won't be heard''
370* ApocalypseAnarchy: The Gentlemen steal everyone's voices. Everyone freaks out, gets drunk, goes to church, resorts to violence in the streets.
371* ArcNumber: [[MouthfulOfPi 314]], otherwise known as Adam.
372* ArmiesAreEvil: The Initiative.
373* AttackBackfire: Adam got a rush off of the Initiative's electricity guns.
374* BasementDweller: Xander doesn't get to go to college and lives in his parents' basement, where he pays rent. And he's forced to keep Spike there for a while.
375* BatmanGambit: Spike uses this to good effect in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E20TheYokoFactor The Yoko Factor]]". Knowing the personalities and temperament of each character, he casually plants information with each of them to turn them on each other. He does it in a way that's particularly ingenious: he relies on their own expectations of ''him'' to lead the characters into "discovering" the false rumors for themselves... so that each of them thinks it was their own idea.
376** YMMV on whether it counts as "ingenious" - the fight lasted less than an episode, and directly led them to the idea which helped them destroy Adam. If it was a BatmanGambit, it wasn't a very good one.
377** The fight only ended so quickly because Spike realised that if they weren't talking, Willow wouldn't decode the {{MacGuffin}} for the team and so he had to remind her to do it, which led to the gang talking, which led to them figuring out that Spike had been manipulating them the whole time. If Spike and Adam had given it a little more thought, it would have worked perfectly.
378* BatmanInMyBasement: Inverted, Xander keeps Spike in his basement in Season 4 for a bit and later in his closet (which is fucking huge) in Season 7.
379* BigLittleMan: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E4FearItself Fear, Itself]]" has [[MonsterOfTheWeek Gachnar the Fear Demon]]... who is 4 inches tall. Buffy stomps him like a bug.
380* BlackHoleSue: [[LampshadeHanging Used for humorous effect]] in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E17Superstar Superstar]]", when Jonathan uses a wish spell to fold reality around himself and turns himself into an invincible, charismatic hero, admired by everyone. Unfortunately he forgot to read the [[KarmicBalance fine print]]. [[color:white:In-Universe]]
381* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Inverted in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E12ANewMan A New Man]]".
382--> '''Riley:''' Buffy, when I saw you stop the world from, you know, ending, I just assumed that was a big week for you. Turns out I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of "apocalypse".
383* CaliforniaUniversity: UC-Sunnydale
384* CantDefaultToMurder: The vicious vampire Spike is captured by the military and has an antiviolence chip implanted in his brain, leaving him unable to kill or even harm humans (and essentially leaving him a neurotic mess, since that's his favorite hobby). Subverted when he learns the chip only responds to humans, and that he can kill demons and other supernatural creatures at will. And he does. Repeatedly.
385* CoincidentalBroadcast: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E3TheHarshLightOfDay The Harsh Light Of Day]]", Giles tells them that watching TV isn't going to help them with their problem. Sure enough the news showed a clue to Spike's whereabouts.
386* CollectiveGroan: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E11Doomed Doomed]]", when the gang realized they have to prevent the end of the world ''again''.
387* CombinedEnergyAttack: In the 4th season's penultimate episode.
388* ComingOutStory: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E19NewMoonRising New Moon Rising]]", Although there's a FantasticAesop twist in that many of the standard plot points are applied to Oz (as a werewolf) rather than Willow (as a "coming out" lesbian).
389* ConflictBall: Spike deliberately passes it around in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E20TheYokoFactor The Yoko Factor]]", making insinuating and subversive comments to make the Scoobies turn on each other and vent repressed feelings of anger and resentment that had been bottled up. He even lampshades the trope, pointing out that people latch onto one specific event or situation as a cause of strife, but that what really happens is that the event or situation is just an excuse to bring to the forefront issues that were there all along.
390* ConspiracyRedemption: Riley and the Initiative. Riley was a loyal soldier for the organisation and attempted to recruit Buffy as well, but eventually learned that the Initiative was using {{Mad Scientist}}s (particularly Walsh), [[SuperSoldier boosting its soldiers' performances]] with [[GovernmentDrugEnforcement drugs]] and [[HollywoodCyborg cybernetic implants]], and creating a cyborg SuperSoldier [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot using demon body tissue]]. [[spoiler:After Walsh tries to kill Buffy, and the Initiative captures and experiments on Oz,]] Riley deserts and joins the Scoobies, and the following season is [[PutOnABus headhunted by a military demon-killing unit]] that's less morally ambiguous.
391* ContinuityNod: Xander being called a "demon magnet."
392* CreepyChildrenSinging: The Gentleman rhyme in "Hush".
393* {{Crossover}}: With its spinoff ''Series/{{Angel}}'', which has crossed over with a few things.
394* CutApart: In "Hush", we see Tara knocking on one of the dorm room's doors, and Willow waking up from the noise. The door opens, and one of The Gentlemen surprises Tara. This was actually hinted, since Tara had previously found Willow's room number (which isn't the number on the door).
395* DenouementEpisode: "Restless."
396* DrivenToSuicide: At one point, Spike tries to stake himself after getting the chip, only saved by Willow and Xander. Luckily, he finds that he can hurt demons, regaining his will to live.
397* DrowningMySorrows:
398** In "A New Man", Giles is so upset about feeling useless that he goes out and gets drunk with Ethan Rayne. Bad idea. He also gets drunk in "The Yoko Factor" when Spike's manipulations got him feeling he was useless.
399** In "Something Blue", Willow isn't drowning her sorrows. She's just bathing them.
400** Buffy's beer-drinking spree made her go, in her own words, one million years BC. If ever there was a more literal way to convey the message, "drinking is bad, kids." The only more literal way would be if the episode had been called "Beer Bad", WHICH IT WAS. Given this exchange at the end of the episode, one gets the impression that Joss Whedon couldn't resist subverting the anti-alcohol message:
401-->'''Xander''': And was there a lesson in all this, huh? What did we learn about beer?
402-->'''Buffy''': Foamy!
403-->'''Xander''': Good. Just as long as that's clear.
404* EvilIsNotAToy: Are we supposed to be ''surprised'' that Professor Walsh's [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot human-demon-cyborg]] stabs her in the back and tries to conquer the world?
405* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The result of Willow's "my will be done" spell is that her metaphorical words become literally true.
406* FakeOutMakeOut: Xander tries to invoke this with Buffy while undercover at the Initiative, but Buffy rebuffs him by pointing out that "This is the Initiative. Military guys and scientists do not make out with each other."
407* FantasticAesop: The reason why "Beer Bad" was denied additional funding from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
408* {{Foreshadowing}}: "I hope it's a ''funny'' aneurism."
409* ForGreatJustice: Parodied by Spike. "For the safety of... puppies, and... Christmas, right?"
410* {{Fratbro}}: With the setting shift to college, Fratbros show up. Notably, the Halloween episode takes place in a frathouse where they [[ContrivedCoincidence accidentally summoned a demon]] trying to make a haunted house.
411* FreakyFridayFlip: Buffy and Faith in "Who Are You?"
412* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In "The Harsh Light of Day" the Greek letters on the Frat house Buffy are Gamma Alpha Pi (ΓΑΠ) which, from the angle the shot is taken, look a bit like FAIL. The house in the background across the street bears the letters ΤΩA. Perhaps it's a sorority house?
413* GhostlyGlide: The Gentlemen in the episode "Hush" hovered inches off the ground rather than walking, adding to their creepiness.
414* GoodFeelsGood: Faith, when she was in Buffy's body masquerading as her.
415* GrandTheftMe: The spell Willow uses to help Buffy works like this, not only is she imbued with [[TrueCompanions the power of all the Scoobies]], she acts possessed.
416* InhumanableAlienRights: According to the Initiative, vampires and other monsters have no rights that are worth respecting. At first, Riley Finn shared this view, until one of the werewolves the Initiative captured turned out to be Oz and he realized that some of the "monsters" he had been capturing actually had normal lives.
417* IntoxicationEnsues
418* {{Jerkass}}: Forrest.
419* LectureAsExposition: Lampshaded ''and'' subverted in "Hush", when Giles is forced to this without his ability to speak.
420* LoveCannotOvercome: Giles's TemporaryLoveInterest Olivia. At the end of the episode "Hush," after Olivia learns of the existence of demons, she says, "Scary." Giles asks, "Too scary?" and Olivia responds, "I'm not sure." Since we never see her again after that, we can presume that it was indeed too scary for her.
421** We do see her again on the show, though only in a dream Giles has in the season finale.
422* MagicVersusScience
423* MagicalNativeAmerican: Hus in "Pangs".
424* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: Spike returns ready to cause trouble for Buffy, only to be tasered and captured by members of the Initiative. He escapes from them in the next episode, but has [[RestrainingBolt a chip planted in his head to make sure he can't harm the heroes again]], which wound up sending him directly into [[BadassDecay a certain other trope.]]
425** A few episodes later, Initiative professor [[spoiler:Maggie Walsh]] was impaled on a spike and skewered [[KarmicDeath by Adam, the monster she created.]]
426* AManIsAlwaysEager: That Oz is reluctant to engage in the physical act of love strikes fear into Willow's heart as a sign of infidelity. Xander lampshades it, saying she may have encountered "the seven annual minutes he's legitimately too preoccupied" to want sex.
427* TheManBehindTheCurtain: Gachnar in "Fear, Itself".
428* MildlyMilitary: The Initiative.
429* MineralMacguffin: The Gem of Amarra.
430* TheMinnesotaFats: Subverted in "Superstar".
431* MundaneMadeAwesome / WimpFight:
432** Xander vs. Harmony. Slow motion hair pulling set to dramatic action music.
433** Done to explicitly mock the show's often unrealistic fight scenes.
434* NeverRecycleYourSchemes: The Initiative is reviewed, and deemed to have utterly failed, in its mission to research whether demons could be used to create {{Super Soldier}}s. So the whole thing is shut down & concreted over: "burn it, gentlemen, and salt the earth". The possibility of keeping the very successful demon-''fighting'' side of its operation up-and-running is never even suggested -- the shadowy government agency heading it was more concerned about [[SlaveToPR covering up a potential scandal]] than public safety.
435* NoSympathy: Spike is captured by the Initiative and implanted with a cerebral microchip that prevents him from harming humans; he turns to the Scoobies for help, and they all take great delight in tormenting him and mocking him to his face, except for Willow, who pities him. It reaches a head in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E11Doomed Doomed]]": Xander is pissed that Spike tried to commit suicide simply because he wanted to stake Spike himself, and Buffy's line when they go to the high school says it all for her:
436-->'''Buffy''': Why is he even here? It's not like he can fight.\
437'''Willow''': If we leave him alone, he'll stake himself.\
438'''Buffy''': And that's bad because...?
439* NotRightInTheBed: When Faith takes over Buffy's body, she comes on to Spike, and is a lot more sexually aggressive with Riley than Buffy is.
440* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Buffy and company get used to thinking of Spike as harmless thanks to the chip implanted in his head that prevents him from physically attacking any humans, but he occasionally shows them that he could still cause them problems or even get them all killed, even if he can't attack them directly.
441** When Faith wakes up from her coma and plans to go on a rampage against the group, Giles and Xander run into Spike, and because he's lived with them, fought demons together with them a few times, and generally been unable to harm them, they make the mistake of assuming he'll be an ally. They ask him if he's heard anything about Faith, and Spike feigns concern, which makes them fill him in on the whole Faith situation (as Spike has never seen or heard of Faith before) complete with a physical description and the fact that she's looking for vengeance against the group. With this information in hand, Spike announces that he's going to find the rogue Slayer so he can tell her where they are so he can watch as Faith kills them. And thanks to their assumption that he's harmless, he even has a rough description of the person he should be looking for.
442-->'''Spike''': What do you need?
443-->'''Xander''': Her. Dark hair, [raises a hand to about Faith's height] ye tall, name of Faith, criminally insane.
444-->'''Spike''': Is this bird after you?
445-->'''Xander''': In a bad way, yeah.
446-->'''Spike''': Tell you what I'll do then: head out, find this girl, tell her exactly where all of you are, then watch as she kills you. ''[Spike smiles at Xander and Giles, then sighs in annoyance at their shocked expressions]'' Can anyone in your damn little Scooby club at least try to remember that I ''hate'' you all. Just 'cause I can't do the damage myself doesn't stop me from aiming a loose cannon your way.
447** He manipulates the existing tensions within Buffy's friends and successfully gets them to turn against one another.
448* OutOfFocus: Joyce is largely absent from the season, as Kristine Sutherland was in Italy at the time.
449* PerplexingPlurals: Riley comments that, after falling in with the main characters, he suddenly finds himself needing to know the plural of "apocalypse".
450* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: This is actually exploited by Spike, who makes it worse by getting all their problems out into the open to divide the Scoobies. They eventually make up and are stronger then ever, which helps them defeat Adam.
451* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Part of Faith's attempts to hurt Buffy after stealing her body was to seduce Riley, essentially raping both of them. This is treated as Faith's MoralEventHorizon, to the point where subsequent episodes revolve around it, Angel doesn't want to talk about it once he finds out, and after using it for motivation to stop Faith (he immediately tries to shoot her first chance he gets) Buffy shows up to kill her, and since Angel won't is willing to go through him to do so. It's even a special kind of evil for Faith, as after she does the deed is disgusted, then believes she is a monster on par with Angelus and becomes a DeathSeeker.
452* RousingSpeech: Subverted in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E11Doomed Doomed": Spike's sudden unexpected outburst of enthusiasm for "fighting the good fight" (after he realized that the implanted behavioral modification chip didn't punish him for killing demons) meets with helpless silent protestation from Xander and Willow that, and after a long exhausting day of monster-slaying, Spike was blocking their view of the [=TV=] box. The irony of course lies in the fact that Spike is a vampire, and used to be Buffy's enemy until that point.
453--->''What's this? Sittin' around watching the telly while there's evil still afoot? It's not very industrious of you. I say we go out there and kick a little demon ass! What? Can't go without your Buffy, is that it? Too chicken? Let's find her. She is the chosen one, after all. Come on! Vampires! Grrr! Nasty! Let's annihilate them, for justice, and for... the safety of puppies... and Christmas, right? Let's fight that evil! Let's kill something!'' [Credits start running.] ''Oh, '''come on!'''''
454* ScreamingWoman: Subverted in "Hush".
455* SelfDeprecation: Done in a unique way, with Faith insulting herself while in Buffy's body. This starts out as an imitation of the holier-than-thou attitude she considers Buffy to have, but quickly turns into Faith spilling her own self-hatred.
456* SelfImposedChallenge: Meta example. Joss Whedon got so much acclaim for how crisp, funny, amazing, wonderful, and awesome the dialogue was that he wrote an episode where the entire town loses their voices completely five minutes in. It's generally regarded as one of the best episodes in the entire series.
457* ShoutOut:
458** The interior of the Initiative's headquarters was inspired by The Village from ''Series/ThePrisoner1967''.
459** Adam, the name of FrankensteinsMonster, according to Creator/MaryShelley.
460* ShowingOffTheNewBody: Practically the first thing Faith does after swapping bodies with Buffy is take a long bath.
461* SlasherSmile: The Gentlemen.
462* TeacherStudentRomance:
463** At first Buffy's relationship with Riley ''should'' fit, or at least border on, this trope -- in real life, some universities consider it ''very'' dodgy for a freshman to date ''any'' graduate student, let alone the TA of a class you're in.
464** WordOfGod states that Professor Maggie Walsh had feelings for Riley. Seeing as he views her more as a mother figure - and she's completely deranged - this is exceedingly creepy. It's even creepier when you remember that she was experimenting on Riley too. It was extra super creepy that she watched Buffy and Riley have sex from a video camera installed in his room, then decided to have Buffy killed off. Call that lady Queen Squick.
465* TestosteronePoisoning: Buffy actually says the trope's name when Angel and Riley fight over her in "The Yoko Factor".
466* TwoScenesOneDialogue: does an interesting take on this in one episode. Giles explains the ancient lore of this week's demon, while the Initiative is briefed on the nature of the same "HST" (Hostile Subterranean) in military jargon.
467* VariableTerminalVelocity: A particularly [[DrinkingGame/TVTropes egregious]] example in "Doomed", where Buffy jumps into the Hellmouth after a demon and catches up to it while falling, even though she took the time to run over to Riley, grab a rope from him, and run back before jumping in.
468* VerbThis: When Buffy first fought The Initiative, she fired a flare gun while saying "Contain this!"
469* VideoWills: Mayor Wilkins.
470* VocalDissonance: Jonathan crooning a forties pop song in "Superstar". Pro athlete, military genius, star of ''The Matrix'', and '''now''' he's Sinatra.
471* VoiceOfTheLegion: Buffy speaks with the voices of the whole Scooby Gang after the enjoining spell combines them all in her body.
472* WilliamTelling: In "Superstar" Jonathan alters reality to change himself from a geek into a demon-fighting James Bond-expy. One scene has him putting on a blindfold in preparation to shooting apples from the heads of several Initiative soldiers.
473* WorryingForTheWrongReason: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E8Pangs Pangs]]", Xander is in a panic because he has been cursed with a host of diseases. He's most stressed about the syphilis. Anya says comfortingly:
474--> It'll make you blind and insane, but it won't kill you. The smallpox will.
475[[/folder]]
476
477[[folder: Season Five]]
478* AdoptTheDog: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E18Intervention Intervention]]" is pretty much the definitive moment in Spike's [[HeelFaceTurn change from evil to good]]. Despite brutal torture, Spike [[DefiantToTheEnd refuses to give Dawn up to Glory]]. Later Spike confesses to his adoring robotic replica of Buffy ([[EngineeredPublicConfession or so Spike thinks]]) that if Buffy lost Dawn, it would destroy her, and he could not live with her being in that much pain. [[spoiler:And this was ''before'' he got a soul.]]
479* AnachronismStew: The Knights of Byzantium are an ancient order of {{Knight Templar}}s who use medieval arms and armour for no apparent reason other than to have a cool scene involving Buffy fighting knights on top of a moving Winnebago.
480* AnotherDimension: Glory's world, an Creator/HRGiger-ish dimension which we see bits of in the finale.
481* ArcWords: "Death is your gift."
482* BandOfBrothers: After falling apart the previous season, the Scoobies eventually band together into an ''extremely'' powerful group of TrueCompanions -- even Spike by the end of the season. One of the times this is best seen is when Tara's family comes to take her home against her will. The ending of [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E6Family that episode]] sums it up.
483* BattleDiscretionShot: We never see how Glory kills the knights trying to kill Dawn.
484* BreakTheBadass: Buffy's reaction to the revelation that Glory isn't a demon like everyone thought. On the contrary, Glory is a god.
485* ButtMonkey: Xander becomes the TropeNamer, yet over the next few episodes [[TookALevelInBadAss Takes A Level in]] CharacterDevelopment by getting a promotion at work, moving out of his parent's basement and stabilizing his relationship with Anya.
486* CarryABigStick: The hammer wielded by Olaf the Troll, which becomes a ChekhovsGun for the season finale.
487* ChekhovsArmoury: About ''every'' piece of {{Phlebotinum}} that shows up during the fifth season is eventually used to fight Glory.
488* ChekhovsGunman: Doc, the old man who gave Dawn the spell to bring Joyce back to life. [[spoiler:Turns out he's a Glory worshipper and he is the one who opens the portal.]]
489** Warren will be much more important come season 6.
490* CourtlyLove: Spike's CharacterArc this season, with Buffy as the unobtainable princess.
491* CurbStompBattle: The creepy old guy with the tail to Spike. Then Buffy to the creepy old guy with the tail
492** Glory curb stomps Buffy on several occassion before the final battle
493* CosmicRetcon: Only child Buffy suddenly has an annoying little sister to butt heads with. Dawn appears out of nowhere yet everyone thinks she's always been a member of the Summers family. It takes several episodes before this mystery is answered.
494* DaydreamSurprise: Used brutally in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E16TheBody The Body]]", and as a LoveEpiphany for Spike.
495* DespairEventHorizon: Buffy crosses it when, despite her best efforts, Dawn is captured by Glory. The sheer guilt over failing to protect Dawn after everything she's been through renders Buffy catatonic for almost the entirety of the next episode, forcing Willow to embark on a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind to snap her out of it; during said travel, Buffy confesses she'd long since given up hope of defeating Glory and actually began ''wishing'' that Glory would win just so the fear would finally end.
496* DeterminedDefeatist: Spike in "The Gift", as shown by his "we band of buggered" line.
497* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: In-universe example -- Harmony refuses to have a threesome with Spike unless it's boy-girl-boy. Exceptions are made for Creator/CharlizeTheron.
498* FeudEpisode: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E11Triangle Triangle]]" has Xander's best friend (Willow) and his girlfriend (Anya) feud because they are both worried that the other will hurt him.
499* FictionAsCoverUp: Dracula got Creator/BramStoker to write his book to pump up his street cred. Other vampires thought it was a really dick move, because it let the normal humans in on a lot of their secrets.
500* GhostStory: Dawn listens to scary stories told by the monster himself -- Spike in his crypt. Buffy is not amused.
501* HeroicBSOD: When Glory snatches Dawn, Buffy lapses into catatonia. Willow has to both take [[YouAreInCommandNow command of the Scoobies]] and make a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind to snap Buffy out of it.
502* HeroicSuicide: Dawn attempts one in the season finale. Buffy [[spoiler: performs it in her place]].
503* HonorRelatedAbuse: Tara's family is like this in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E6Family Family]]". They abuse her emotionally [[spoiler:and lie to her to make her hate herself, fooling her into believing that she's less than human]]. When she breaks free and makes a life of her own, they start threatening to move on to physical abuse, and would most likely have made good on their threats if it wasn't for almost the entire cast closing ranks around her and telling them that they would have to [[GoThroughMe go through them]] to get to her.
504** Which also allows Spike to cement his HeelFaceTurn [[spoiler:by hitting her, purposely causing an electric shock to his brain via his chip to prove she's human.]]
505* HughMann: The Scooby Gang initially get totally taken in by the Buffybot and chalk her weird behaviour up to the recent death of Buffy's mom. Since she's ''still'' all but holding up a sign reading "I Am A Robot Impersonator" the whole time, Buffy is still not very happy that her friends were completely unable to tell the difference.
506* {{Hypocrite}}:
507** Glory constantly goes on about how much she hates being human and considers human things beneath her, and yet she adores silk and has quite the shoe collection.
508** Buffy shows compassion and empathy for Warren's SexBot April, but later views the Buffybot, who was designed by Warren for Spike for a similar purpose, as nothing but an "it."
509* IMissMom: Buffy and Dawn
510* InstantEmergencyResponse: Averted in "The Body", where it takes a reasonable length of time for the ambulance to arrive.
511* ISayWhatISay: The two Xanders in "The Replacement."
512* IWishedYouWereDead: When Dawn is captured by Glory, Buffy goes into HeroicBSOD mode. In her mind, she repeats the same images over and over again; one of them was her placing a book back on the shelf in the Magic Shop. Buffy explains to Willow (who has gone on a [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind journey to the center of Buffy's mind]]) that she had momentarily given up on saving her sister Dawn and briefly wished Dawn would die just so the fear would be over.
513* LifeWillKillYou: Joyce is simply dead one day. While the audience shouldn't be surprised by a death (in the Buffy-verse, at any rate), it was totally unexpected that she died the way she did. [[spoiler:"[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E15IWasMadeToLoveYou I Was Made to Love You]]" ends with Buffy coming home, and her mother is dead on the floor. The next episode is called "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E16TheBody The Body]]", and quickly reveals that it was a simple aneurysm -- caused by complications from a procedure she underwent earlier in the series to remove a brain tumor.]]
514** Bonus points that everyone was so surprised and unsettled that it ''wasn't'' anything extraordinary. Xander, especially, is shaken, saying ''things like this don't just happen.'' Anya, who usually has a very matter-of-fact attitude towards supernaturally related death and violence, is completely at a loss and in tears.
515* LiteralSplitPersonality: Cool Xander and Loser Xander in "The Replacement."
516* LoveEpiphany: Spike has a CatapultNightmare in which he realises his obsession with Buffy is something far, far worse! Inverted with Riley Finn who realises that Buffy doesn't love him, fueling his eventual decision to leave.
517* LoveHurts: Spike is tormented by his unrequited lust for the Slayer.
518-->'''Spike:''' "What the bleeding hell is WRONG with you bloody women?! What the hell does it take?! Why do you bitches torture me?!
519-->'''Buffy:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Which question do you want me to answer first?]]
520* MacGuffinBlindness: Glory searches all through the season for the key, but doesn't realize that it was Buffy's sister Dawn all along until right near the end.
521* MindRape: Glory pulls people's sanity straight out of their skull and feeds on it, leaving them as gibbering messes. Tara eventually ends up as one of her victims.
522* MookHorrorShow: The Dracula episode, where we see a vampire running madly through a graveyard... and then we realize he's running for his (un)life. From Buffy.
523* MustBeInvited: Buffy tolerates Spike's StalkerWithACrush behavior until she [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove discovers he's fallen in love with her]] (and realizes he's getting too close to her family). She then gets Willow to bar Spike from the house. Then Spike shows himself willing to give his life to protect Dawn, so in the season finale Buffy invites him back into her home.
524* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: In every episode where Buffy fights Glory until [[spoiler:TheGift]], she gets her ass handed to her and is typically forced to flee.
525* NotInFrontOfTheKid: When we meet Dawn, everyone spends most of a season trying to keep the slaying away from her. They don't talk about it in front of her, except insofar as they can do so in code (they mostly fail).
526* NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: Glory can be slowed by magical artifacts.
527* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
528** Drusilla is certifiably off her rocker, driven insane by Angelus and in almost every appearance was a Cloudcuckoolander. In "Crush", however, when Spike tries to reunite with her she is the picture of sanity and is clear-headed enough to be hurt and upset over him falling for Buffy.
529** In "The Gift", Giles is trying, as gently as possible, to explain to Buffy that it may be necessary to kill Dawn to save not only the world but all of reality. Buffy point-blank says she's not discussing the matter until Giles jumps to his feet and shouts, "YES WE BLOODY WELL ARE!"
530* OnlySaneMan: Spike has a major case of this in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E21WeightOfTheWorld The Weight of the World]]", when [[spoiler: he is the only one immune to the glamour that prevents mortals from remembering that Ben is Glory. See also GlamourFailure.]]
531* OurDragonsAreDifferent: One comes out of the Key Portal during ''The Gift''.
532* OutOfGenreExperience: "The Body" feels ''very'' different from a normal episode of the show, using MoodDissonance and a complete absence of background music to recreate the sense of dislocation we feel when someone close to us dies.
533* ProdigalFamily: As shown in the aptly-named episode [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E6Family "Family"]], Tara's relatives are a textbook evil, possessive family. They've been telling her she's a demon all her life with the intent of keeping her "down on the farm," and they never expected her to escape --or to hook up with the one group most likely to be able to disprove them.
534* PromotionToParent: Buffy has to take over this role for Dawn, despite her [[PuppyDogEyes desperate attempt]] to foist the task off onto Giles.
535* PsychoSupporter: Giles [[spoiler:smothering Ben to death in "The Gift".]]
536* PutOnABus: Harmony and Riley.
537* RetroactiveWish: In "Triangle".
538-->'''Willow''': I wish Buffy was here!
539-->'''Buffy''': I'm here!
540-->'''Willow''': I wish I had a million dollars!
541* RevealingContinuityLapse: Taken to new heights when an entirely new character appears in the first episode, treated by everyone as Buffy's sister who has been there all along. The characters even reminisce about her place in old episodes she wasn't in! Eventually, it turns out that this is because she was magically implanted there into Buffy's life because she is needed for a powerful ritual.
542* RevisitingTheRoots: At the end of the fifth season, Buffy starts off an episode by killing a vampire in an alleyway. This is after having blown up a giant demon snake in season three, fought off a man-made demon-cyborg in season four, and she was presently in the battle with a demonic god trying to destroy the universe. She even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this by pointing out she hadn't done something so simple in a while.
543* {{Robocam}}: April and Buffybot POV -- complete with Positions and Fetishes.
544* RobeAndWizardHat: Giles wears them for the magic shop's grand opening. They look [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-623f3E1EU&feature=related ridiculous]].
545* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:("Into the Woods") Buffy discovers her boyfriend Riley is visiting vampire prostitutes, so she burns down the building and kills every member of the gang in seconds. At first Buffy resists the temptation to kill the vamp-ho when she's at her mercy, but then [[DarkSide changes her mind]] and spears her [[InTheBack as she's running away]]. ("Tough Love") When Glory brain-sucks Tara turning her insane we see our first hint of Dark Willow as she takes on a PhysicalGod with BlackEyesOfEvil and ShockAndAwe.]]
546* RousingSpeech: Subverted in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]" in which Buffy gives an unimpressive speech before the final battle, and Spike and Giles have the following exchange referencing ''Theatre/HenryV'':
547--->'''Buffy:''' Hey, everybody knows their jobs. Remember, the ritual starts, we all die. And I'll kill anyone who comes near Dawn.\
548'''Spike:''' Well, not exactly the St. Crispin's Day speech, was it?\
549'''Giles:''' (Wryly) "We few, we happy few..."\
550'''Spike:''' We band of buggered.
551* SexBot: April in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E15IWasMadeToLoveYou I Was Made To Love You]]", a deconstruction of the PygmalionPlot where Season 6 BigBad Warren creates the perfect girlfriend only to dump her as she's too boring. Spike then intimidates him into building a Buffybot ("[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E18Intervention Intervention]]"). HilarityEnsues.
552* SillySimian: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E10IntoTheWoods Into the Woods]]", Anya wants to watch a movie about monkeys playing hockey because "The ice is so slippery and monkeys are all irrational".
553* SmokingHotSex: Spike is in his crypt smoking then we see Buffy the bot pop up from...how should this be put, smoking him.
554** TagalongKid: Dawn, although she is very crucial to the plot, and probably the {{Deuteragonist}} of the season after Buffy.
555* ThreatBackfire: Xander (under Dracula's thrall) tells Riley he'll have to go through him to get to Dracula. He is immediately punched unconscious.
556* TonightSomeoneKisses: Willow and Tara's first on screen kiss in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E16TheBody The Body]]" in a way that anyone who thinks GirlOnGirlIsHot might find cheering for this inappropriate.
557* TookALevelInJerkass: Riley Finn tries to make himself DarkerAndEdgier in [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys an effort to appeal to Buffy]]. It doesn't end well.
558* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: "Buffy vs. Dracula" ends inconclusively, with Buffy killing the Count, but with him clearly able to come BackFromTheDead at will.[[note]]Though Drac was wise enough not to reform near Buffy, who shooed him away threateningly.[[/note]] The show also had to break many of its [[MagicAIsMagicA own rules]] about [[OurVampiresAreDifferent how its vampires work]] [[labelnote:*]] though season 8 reveals his powers are a result of his skill in magic.[[/labelnote]] in order to pit Buffy against a recognizable version of Dracula; the whole episode relied heavily on RuleOfCool.
559* WhamEpisode: "The Body."
560* WhamLine: "We're not supposed to move [[TitleDrop the body]]!!" The delivery of the line and Buffy and Giles' subsequent reactions can be one of the most chilling moments in the entire series.
561* [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What Happened to the Dragon?]]
562* WholeEpisodeFlashback: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E7FoolForLove Fool For Love]]" shows Spike's past, notably how he killed two previous Slayers.
563* TheWorfEffect: On their first meeting Glory inflicts a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Buffy, who only escapes because the building collapses.
564[[/folder]]
565
566[[folder: Season Six]]
567* ActionDressRip: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E4Flooded Flooded]]", a monster attacks a bank and Buffy initially couldn't fight because of her "stupid skirt". She [[CallBack does it again]] when fighting a demon at Xander's wedding.
568* ActuallyADoombot: The Scoobies use the Buffybot to make the underworld think that the Slayer is still protecting Sunnydale. When a vampire accidentally discovers this, it provokes immediate RapePillageAndBurn by demon bikers.
569** The first time Willow gets her mitts on Warren. Fizz crackle pop.
570* [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels All Bikers Are Hellmouth Angels]]
571* AllJustADream: "Normal Again" [[spoiler:OrWasItADream]]
572* AmbiguousSituation: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E17NormalAgain Normal Again]]", in which Buffy is injected with a poison that make her hallucinate... Or is it the other way around? According to a psychiatrist, who may or may not be a real person, she is in fact getting better: She has been sick all along, and now she's finally waking up from years of catatonic schizophrenia. So, the whole series is either ThisIsReality or a mad AllJustADream with a dash of TheSchizophreniaConspiracy. In the end, Buffy choses her life in Sunnydale over her life in the mental institution, but the ending leaves it ambiguous whether or not the world she settled for is the real one. Of course, when you consider the show has [[Series/{{Angel}} a spinoff]] full of people she never met...
573* AnachronismStew: The Trio combine magic with high technology to carry out their capers.
574* ArmouredClosetGay: Scott Hope, Buffy's only normal high school boyfriend. He accused every girl who broke up with him that they're gay. He came out in season 6 apparently.
575* AttemptedRape:
576** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E13DeadThings Dead Things]]", Katrina is almost being raped by Warren, Andrew and Jonathan under the effects of a device that suppresses her will. She is less than happy about it when it wears off just in time. Her calling them out on it and the events that follow cements Warren's slide into monster territory and starts Jonathan down the road toward his Heel–Face Turn.
577** Spike attempts to rape Buffy in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E19SeeingRed Seeing Red]]", and since Buffy is injured and can't fight him off, he nearly succeeds before she eventually is able to kick him off her long enough for him to realize what he's nearly done and stop himself.
578* {{Bambification}}: The first sign this season will be DarkerAndEdgier [[spoiler:is when Willow cuts a fawn's throat for its BloodMagic.]]
579* BasementDweller: The Trio's headquarters is in Warren's parents' basement. ("Why can't we have a lair with a view?")
580* BatmanGambit: The magic Willow stole from Giles tapped into what humanity was left in her. As a result Willow senses the pain of all human beings. And her reaction is to try to wipe out all life on Earth. However, this also gives Xander the opportunity to get through to her and talk her down.
581* BattleDiscretionShot: Buffy's first fight against the Trio, as they're all invisible.
582* BaitAndSwitch: When Spike leaves Sunnydale, it seems as though he's planning to have his chip removed, but it turns out he was [[spoiler: getting his soul instead]].
583* BittersweetEnding: Xander saves Willow (and the world) with his friendship speech, Buffy regains her desire to live, and Dawn proves to Buffy that she's more that Just a Kid in need of protection when it comes to battle, suggesting a healthy shift in their relationship. However, Tara is still dead, and while Willow no longer wants to destroy the world, she's still last seen sobbing into Xander's arms, with the viewer uncertain of how long it may take her to recover from the trauma of the last few episodes. Additionally, Xander and Anya are still broken up, The Magic Box has been wrecked, and Jonathan and Andrew, terrified of Willow's rampage, flee to Mexico (with Jonathan either ignoring the epiphany he had in the previous episode or deciding that Buffy's inability to stop Willow left him with no other option). Meanwhile, Spike reclaims his soul, but given how he last left things in Sunnydale, it's unclear where things might go from here now that he has it.
584* BitterWeddingSpeech: Xander's father gives one at Xander's wedding.
585* BlackComedyRape: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E11Gone Gone]]", Buffy, while invisible, "forces" oral sex on Spike, who has just told her to get dressed and get out. His reaction is a simple "Hey, that's cheatin'!".
586* BookEnds / RuleOfSymbolism: Buffy starts Season 6 by clawing her way out of her grave into the night, beginning a year-long HeroicBSOD. She ends the season climbing out of another grave into the light, having rediscovered the value of living.
587* CameBackWrong: Buffy believes she has after Willow reanimates her cadaver using dark rites and blood of animals. Indeed, Spike's chip no longer reads her as human. Ultimately subverted; the spell only altered her molecular structure very slightly, but just enough to confuse Spike's chip.
588* CavemenVsAstronautsDebate: The Trio debated who was the best Film/JamesBond in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E5LifeSerial Life Serial]]". It got so bad that Warren and Andrew actually came to blows.
589* CradleOfLoneliness: Willow does this after Tara breaks up with her.
590* CuckooNest: "Normal Again", very scarily played.
591* DarkerAndEdgier: Tends to be true of the sixth season compared to the others, though there are darker episodes in the other seasons and LighterAndSofter ones in season 6 as well.
592* TheDarkSide: Spoofed when Spike encourages Buffy to walk with him on the Dark Side -- which consists of Spike playing poker for kittens while Buffy gets drunk and makes snarky comments. Things become more serious later on in the season when Spike wrongly assumes (or convinces himself) that Buffy's depression and desire for rough sex means she wants to abandon her life and join him on the Dark Side. His failure to understand the complexity of her emotions has [[DestructiveRomance serious consequences for both of them]].
593* DeathIsCheap: People killed by magical means can potentially (though not easily) be resurrected.
594* DeathSeeker: Implied, but ultimately subverted; after being resurrected, Buffy suffered severe depression and stated at least once that she was happier when dead, but when she discovers she's fading away as a result of the Trio's [[Main/InvisibleMainCharacter invisibility ray]] in "Gone," she decides that despite her depression and her current crappy life, she wants to live. It's to the extent that in the finale, Dawn is genuinely surprised that Buffy actually ''didn't'' want Willow to destroy the world. Then again, there's a difference between "wanting to die yourself" and wanting to let everyone die.
595* DeconstructorFleet: Season 6 deconstructs what the show is about. The focus is on the Scoobies' foray into the real world and not the whole saving the world plot and being heroes. Only the bad guys care about that.
596* DemotedMemories: The fate the demon of the episode [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E17NormalAgain "Normal Again"]] had in store for Buffy: she would be tricked into killing all her friends and then spend the rest of her life telling herself that they never existed and that she was never the slayer. That all her memories of Sunnydale was made up in her own head while she was a psychotic living in a mental institution.
597* DestructiveRomance: Buffy starts a secret relationship with Spike to combat her depression. Unfortunately this only ends up making things worse -- Spike is convinced Buffy wants to come over to TheDarkSide and is frustrated by her unwillingness to either return his love or abandon her friends, while their InterplayOfSexAndViolence, her lust for a soulless monster who's supposed to be her enemy and her [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman guilt over using Spike without respecting his own feelings]] only increases Buffy's self-loathing. At one point she savagely beats an unresisting Spike, describing him in terms that are [[RageAgainstTheReflection clearly referring to herself]] ("There is nothing good or clean in you! You are ''dead'' inside! You can't feel anything real!"). The InUniverse ValuesDissonance between the two reaches a point where [[spoiler:after she ends the relationship, Spike nearly forces himself an injured Buffy; fortunately Buffy is able to kick him off for long enough for Spike realize what he's doing and stop himself. Viewing this act as crossing the MoralEventHorizon, he becomes motivated to go on a quest to regain his soul.]]
598* DidYouDie: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E15AsYouWere As You Were]]", Buffy and Riley promise to swap stories if they get a chance and see whose were more exiting/dangerous/crazy ext.. She asks if he died, and when he says he didn't, she says, "I'm going to win."
599* DisappointedInYou: Discussed and subverted in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E6AllTheWay All The Way]]":
600-->'''Giles''': We need to have a conversation.\
601'''Dawn''': This the part where you tell me you're "not angry, just disappointed"?\
602'''Giles''': Pretty much. Except for the bit about not being angry.
603* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Rack, who gets Willow high on dark magic, looks more like a drug dealer than any VerySpecialEpisode, PublicServiceAnnouncement and every single person in the gangland wars, combined.
604* DontYouDarePityMe: A variation. After revealing to Tara that, as a result of her depression, she's in a mutually abusive relationship with Spike, Buffy tearfully begs Tara to ''not'' forgive her; not out of anger, but because she's so disgusted with herself that she doesn't think she deserves pity.
605* DwindlingParty: Season Six begins the first handful of episodes with the biggest roster of Scoobies to date, with Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Dawn, Anya, Tara, and Spike. Then Giles flies back to England and Tara begins CommutingOnABus due to her breakup with Willow forcing her to put distance between herself and the rest of the group (at least initially, as she remains close to Buffy and Dawn). The last third of the season rapidly has Anya becoming a demon again after her and Xander's failed wedding, Tara briefly rejoining in full and then dying, Spike leaving to regain his soul, and Willow going mad with grief and becoming the BigBad. By the penultimate episode, the only core Scoobies left in any official capacity are Buffy, Xander, and Dawn.
606* DrowningMySorrows:
607** In "Life Serial", after failing college, Xander being forced to fire her from construction after a demon attack and not being able to stand working at the Magic Shop, Spike pours Buffy a scotch. They then go out to a demon bar where Buffy wants to get information, takes a bottle of Khalua handed from Spike and drinks through it and snarks when Spike plays cards to get the demons talking. HilarityEnsues when Buffy becomes roaringly drunk off her ass.
608** In "Entropy", Anya tries to get Spike drunk so he'll curse Xander after breaking up with him. As Spike has been dumped by Buffy, the two end up sharing the bottle and having Sex for Solace.
609* EasyAmnesia: In the episode "Tabula Rasa".
610* FailedASpotCheck:
611** Buffy doesn't notice all of the obvious signs that Willow has developed an addiction to magic, even after Xander and Anya point it out to her and after Tara breaks up with her because of it; it isn't until Willow's addiction leads to her getting Dawn in a near-fatal car accident that Buffy finally notices.
612** Xander doesn't even notice Willow's bloody shirt after [[spoiler:Tara is killed.]]
613* FantasticDrug: Magic in Season 6.
614* [[FingerPokeOfDoom Finger Poke of OH MY GOD MY SKIN JUST GOT REMOVED!]]
615* {{Fainting}}: The characters all faint in Tabula Rasa when they lose their memories. This seems to be an effect of magical memory loss, as it happens in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Spin The Bottle" where the characters are all reverted to their younger selves' memories.
616* FreezeRay: Warren's got one.
617* FryingPanOfDoom: Not played for comedy in "Normal Again" when Buffy hits Xander with one then drags him to the basement to be killed by the MonsterOfTheWeek, or "Hells Bells" where Future!Xander attacks his estranged wife Anya.
618* GilliganCut: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E6AllTheWay All the Way]]", Dawn's friend Janice didn't want her and her friends to go into the creepy old man's house. Sure enough...
619* GRatedDrug: Magic during season 6, especially during the episode "Wrecked".
620* GoingCommando: Parking Ticket Lady, attempting to bribe a meter maid, sings about her lack of underwear.
621* GroundhogDayLoop: In "Life Serial."
622* [[HehHehYouSaidX Heh Heh You Said Magic Bone]]
623* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: Even after they start having sex, calling Buffy "luv" or "my girl" is a guaranteed way for Spike to get a sock in the jaw.
624* HomeFieldAdvantage: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E4Flooded Flooded]]", a demon breaks into the Summers home and proceeds to trash it while attempting to kill Buffy. She slowly maneuvers it into the basement where there's less stuff to break, and also a convenient weapon (in the form of [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Full! Copper! Repipe!]]).
625* {{Hypocrite}}: Last season, Buffy derided Warren for dehumanizing the robot he made for sexual gratification. This season, she's outright abusive to Spike, whom ''she'' dehumanizes and uses for sexual gratification.
626* IAteWhat: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E12DoublemeatPalace Doublemeat Palace]]" Buffy is trying to tell the scoobies that she suspects the Doublemeat burger secret ingredient is human meat, but by the time she actually says it Xander has already eaten the burger she brought.
627* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: Magic = Drugs.
628* IHaveManyNames: The demon from "Once More With Feeling".
629* IWantSong: "Going Through the Motions."
630* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The show briefly indulges in it with the TwoPartEpisode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E9Smashed Smashed]]" and "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E10Wrecked Wrecked]]", as well as the following standalone episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E11Gone Gone]]". The three names are euphemisms for being intoxicated with alcohol or drugs.
631* ImportantHaircut: Buffy deliberately applies this trope...but ends up at the hair salon because she made a mess of things. Also subverted in that it marks no actual change in her life or behaviour -- Buffy cuts her hair after Spike compliments it (they recently resolved their {{UST}} and Buffy is regretting it) but quickly ends up in his bed for round two.
632* ImpossiblyTackyClothes: Dear god, the bridesmaid dresses at Anya's wedding. Buffy even describes their awful green as "radioactive".
633* IncrediblyLongNote: They got the mustard ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut!
634* InvisibleBackupBand: Played with in [[MusicalEpisode "Once More With Feeling"]].
635* InvisibleJerkass: "Gone" involves a Jerkass moment from Buffy herself. The point was that she had so much stress and depression going on at the time that she felt trapped and powerless. The invisibility let her get away with doing the things she ''wanted'' to do anyway, without having to take any responsibility for her actions—as Spike points out, she's pretending that she isn't really "there" as she does it.
636* {{Irony}}: Buffy learns the value of life at a cemetery. She's also convinced to keep living by a (un)dead guy.
637* KnockKnockJoke: "If we want her to be exactly she'll never be exactly I know the only really real Buffy is really Buffy and she's gone who?"
638* LotusEaterMachine: Played with. The alternate universe Buffy finds herself in in "Normal Again" is hardly paradise, but within it, Joyce is still alive, her parents are still together, and she's a normal girl without the responsibility of the world on her shoulders. It is however, a hallucination she's having from demon venom, which is both slowly killing her and causing her to kill all her friends.
639* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces:
640** Buffy and Spike in Season 6 have sex on [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E9Smashed the walls and floor (because they've smashed up all the furniture)]], [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E12DoublemeatPalace in a back alley outside Buffy's workplace]], [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E15AsYouWere on the lawn of her house with Dawn waiting inside]] and [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E13DeadThings on an interior balcony of the Bronze with her friends dancing below]] -- behaviour which causes Buffy to feel both excitement and self-loathing.
641** Spike and Anya have sex on the table in the Magic Box shop in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E18Entropy Entropy]]"... and get caught on camera doing it.
642* MindRape:
643** Willow erases Tara's memories of their arguments while they're in a relationship. Repeatedly. Tara is especially upset because she remembers Glory's prior violation of her mind. She is likely also not happy with Willow taking advantage of this mind rape magic to ''literally'' rape her.
644** Not to mention, Rack , who basically uses Willow (and others) as some sort of telepathic crack whore. Both Rack and Willow make orgasm faces when he transfers power into her, and then tells her that she "tastes like strawberries."
645* MissionImpossibleCableDrop: When Andrew drops down to steal a diamond, only to have Warren and Jonathan stroll into the museum without issue.
646* {{Mundanger}}: "So, we meet at last, [[DrippingDisturbance Mister Drippy]]."
647* MusicalEpisode: [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling "Once More With Feeling"]] bizarrely sends up the musical genre (and its respective subgenres) as a whole, musical and dance genres from rock to ballet, and (in typical Joss Whedon fashion) the series itself with wicked glee, yet also manages to fit plot and CharacterDevelopment in as well and come up with a plausible (for Buffy) explanation for why everyone's singing.
648* NerdInEvilsHelmet: The Trio tried really hard, but never quite got the "evil" part down. Except Warren.
649* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
650** [[spoiler:Willow brings Buffy back from the dead, thinking she's in Hell. It turns out Buffy was in Heaven and being brought back to the real world gives her a HeroicBSOD, as well as opening the way for the First One.]]
651** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E19SeeingRed Seeing Red]]", due to all the shit she was dealing with, rather than just subduing Warren, she humiliates him, and lets him get away. Several hours later he shows up with a gun, shoots her, and kills Tara, resulting in an [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge extremely pissed off Willow]].
652* NoMereWindmill: Buffy stopped trying to explain the very real threat of vampires after her mother had her put in a mental hospital for believing such silly delusions.
653* NotSoHarmlessVillain: The Trio, but ''especially'' Warren. At first, they're kind of silly with their arguments over ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and the best actor to play Film/JamesBond, and their kinda weird attempts to challenge Buffy in ways that, really, were nothing compared to five seasons of big bads and various monsters of the week. Warren stops being funny when he tries to rape his ex via mind control and kills her when she tries to escape, and near the end of the season he shoots Buffy and murders Tara.
654* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
655** When Anya doesn't open the magic box for a long time after Xander left her, he is genuinely scared.
656** While in early seasons Giles often chided the Scoobies for their immature behavior, he did have a certain respect for their talents and tried to speak to them like rational adults. In "Flooded", when he eventually calls Willow out on her magic by referring to her as a "rank amateur" and an idiot, you know that the line has been crossed.
657* OperationJealousy: Spike shows up to Xander and Anya's wedding with some random goth girl to make Buffy jealous. She admits it kinda worked.
658* PowerHigh: When Willow starts to OD on witchcraft it's explicitly analogized to a drug high. She ends up in Rehab because of this.
659* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil:
660** Spike is a soulless demon who has tortured and killed hundreds. Yet he remains the Loveable Rogue, up to the point when he tries to rape Buffy. At that point, he even loses the sympathy of Dawn, who used to think he was pretty cool. More importantly, the attempt even shocks Spike himself, and sends him down the road that leads to him regaining his soul. Equally pointedly, this is the only Spike behavior that Buffy ''really'' has a problem with since at least Season 4 if not earlier. Apparently every other despicable thing Spike did on-camera and had done in his past was forgivable from Buffy's point-of-view.
661** Warren's MoralEventHorizon comes when he tries to rape, and then kills, his ex-girlfriend, Katrina. The "kills" is probably the more important part of that equation, but the attempted rape definitely takes him several degrees down the spectrum towards villainy. The point is driven home with LampshadeHanging and MoodWhiplash. The Trio has used a mind control device on Warren's ex; this is initially played for laughs as they make her dress up in a French maid outfit and serve drinks. Just as Warren is about to realize the PowerPerversionPotential of his invention, however, she snaps out of it—and the tone immediately gets much darker as she angrily points out that there's nothing funny—and everything immoral and illegal—about what they were doing to her.
662* RedHerring: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E6AllTheWay All the Way]]" spends the first half building up the creep factor of an old man, watching kids menacingly through his window. When Dawn, her friend, and two guys try to pull a trick on them, he invites them inside for some "treats" and then goes into the kitchen with one of the boys, and reaches for a knife. [[spoiler: Then, it's revealed that he really is a harmless man making brownies, and the two guys are vampires]]
663* ReroutedFromHeaven: Subverted. Her friends ''think'' this happened and resurrect her. Turns out no, she'd been quite enjoying heaven.
664* ResurrectionSickness: Buffy. Like Angel back in season three, though inverted. He spent a century being tortured in a hell dimension and came back feral. She spent her time in heaven and thought she'd been kidnapped into hell.
665* SexBot: April and the Buffybot.
666* ShesBack: Subverted; it takes most of the season for Buffy to recover from her depression over having been wrenched back into the real world.
667* ShooOutTheClowns: Jonathan and Andrew are sent to jail, and Warren faces off with Dark Willow, who takes over as the Final Boss, seeking vengeance for Tara's demise.
668* SliceOfLife: Season 6 dealt with the Scoobies day-to-day foray into grown up life.
669* SpoilerCover: The season 6 DVD has [[spoiler:Dark Willow]] on the cover, and, even more inexplicably, on the ''first disc''.
670* TastesLikeFeet: Buffy drowning her sorrows in ''Life Serial'' where she's drinking some indeterminate alcohol, though from the Slayer's reaction it must be something like tequila straight and she's not exactly a drinker.
671* ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld:
672-->'''Jonathan''': It's true, my friends. The way I see it, life is like an interstellar journey. Some people go into hypersleep and travel at sub-light speeds, only to get where they're going after years of struggle, toil and hard, hard work. ''We'', on the other hand ...
673-->'''Andrew''': Blast through the space-time continuum in a wormhole?
674-->'''Jonathan''': Gentlemen... [[[MoneyToBurn lights cigar with flaming bill]]] '''CRIME''' is our wormhole!
675* ThisIsUnforgivable: After Warren shoots Buffy and Tara, nearly killing the former and actually killing the latter, Xander agrees with Dawn that Warren deserves to die, declaring he's no better than the vampires and demons they fight every day. Even, despite being physically sick at the sight of Willow flaying him alive, Xander still insists that Warren deserved what he got.
676* TheTroubleWithTickets: Marti Noxon's parking ticket aria.
677-->It isn't right, it isn't fair / There was no parking anywhere / I think [[ImplausibleDeniability that hydrant wasn't there]] ♫
678* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: The relationship between the Spike subplot and the Willow main plot becomes somewhat muddled with "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E20Villains Villains]]". Xander refers to Spike’s assault on Buffy as "the other night," though it would have been the night before, or "last night." After the attempted rape, Spike is shown leaving town on his motorcycle that same night, but his arrival in Africa is inter-cut with Willow’s Warren-hunt plot, which occurs in its entirety the night after Spike assaults Buffy. A flight from LA to Africa is at least 20 hours, so there is no way through conventional means Spike could have left town when he did and made it to a tribal village in Africa in less than a day (and on Angel he later remarks he’s never been on a plane before). Therefore, unless he found someone to teleport him to Africa (which is certainly possible), it’s reasonable to assume his entire Africa subplot takes place sometime after the Willow plot and is edited in for dramatic effect.
679* UnflinchingFaithInTheBrakes: Willow does this in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E20Villains Villains]]", when using magic to stop an oncoming bus.
680* UnsatisfiableCustomer: Buffy has to deal with a spell creating one of these in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E5LifeSerial Life Serial]]". The spell is cast to create an endless time loop until she can satisfy the customer. Hilarity Ensues. This may actually be a subversion. The customer is satisfied by a very reasonable action on Buffy's part. The frustration and anger seen in previous attempts usually results from Buffy's poor efforts at handling the problem in the first place (trying to sell her a damaged and useless item for example). That is: Any person with decent customer service skills could have satisfied this customer initially. Buffy, on the other hand...
681* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Buffy uses Spike as a confidant because he's a "dead man", so her confessions don't count. When they start having sex, she refuses to admit there's love involved or even acknowledge (to herself or others) that he's her boyfriend; Spike calling her "my girl" or "love" often drives her to fury. Spike's soulless nature is often used by her as an excuse for this behaviour. Eventually Buffy faces up to how she is using him and breaks off the relationship.
682** Buffy's killing of the guy who was cursed by Anya to be tortured in a hell dimension. He had a very legitimate grievance with Anya, and he's unconscious and helpless, and he's killed like it's nothing. Also the bank-robber demon, who hasn't really done anything worthy of summary execution, yet is executed after first being knocked unconscious. Killing humans under any circumstances is apparantly an atrocity, but demons can be killed for crimes that would only warrant jail-time for a human and it's nothing.
683* WindmillCrusader: While Buffy has TheCuckoolanderWasRight as an inherent trait, the episode “Normal Again” subverts this when Buffy is drugged and hallucinates that she’s been insane all along and that Sunnydale is only in her mind. In this, Buffy was a insane WindmillCrusader before the series started, and she has been locked in a mental institution throughout the whole series.
684* VolleyingInsults: Xander and Anya's duet in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling Once More With Feeling]]".
685-->'''Xander:''' She clings / She's needy / She's also really greedy / She never --\
686'''Anya''' [interrupting] [[LameComeback His eyes are beady!]]\
687'''Xander:''' This is ''my'' verse, hello!
688* XanatosGambit: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave Grave]]", Giles arrives with the powers of a coven in order to defeat Willow after she does a FaceHeelTurn. If he defeats her then threat neutralized, if he loses Willow will take his power and thus giving Willow a window to her emotions, so Xander could stop her. Its mixed with BatmanGambit as he was banking on the emotional appeal.
689* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: To drive home that she's not kidding, Buffy calls Spike "William" [[spoiler:when breaking up with him]].
690* ZeroGSpot: At the end of Tara's love song "Under Your Spell" in "Once More With Feeling", she levitates into the air over her bed, and it's strongly implied she's doing it so an off-camera Willow can do cunnilingus on her.
691[[/folder]]
692
693[[folder: Season Seven]]
694* AchillesInHisTent: Buffy getting deposed by her own pupils, who install Faith as their new leader. One episode and bomb explosion later, and everyone goes crawling back to blondie.
695* AndThenWhat: The final question asked to Buffy once everything's said and done.
696* AnticlimaxCut: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E1Lessons Lessons]]":
697-->'''Buffy:''' Vampires, demons... they're nothing compared to what's coming.\
698'''Dawn:''' I know. I just can't believe it's back.\
699'''Buffy:''' Believe me, I thought I was long past it. I guess you never are. Just a few more days til it starts, and then we'll never know what's coming next.\
700''(Cut to the opening ceremony at the new Sunnydale High School.)''
701* ArcWords: "From beneath you it devours".
702* BackForTheFinale: Some of the former regulars are in season 7 (either literally or in spirit).
703** Angel shows back up to help Buffy in the last two episodes of the series after not appearing in-person since Season 5's "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E17Forever Forever]]". It was his only time appearing in the show after ''Buffy'' moved to the UPN.
704** Faith returns (and takes on a major role) for the last 5 episodes of the series. Prior to that, her most recent appearance had been in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E16WhoAreYou Who Are You?]]" from Season 4. The arc setting up her return was mapped out in Seasons 1 and 4 of ''Angel''.
705** Oz gets a casual mention from Xander.
706** Cordelia appears in a piece of footage from "Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered".
707** All of the show's previous Big Bads show up as projections of the First Evil at the end of the season's first episode in a speech made to Spike, with it taking the forms of Warren, Glory, Adam, The Mayor, Drusilla, and The Master. It continues to use the forms of Drusilla, The Mayor, and Warren at various points of the season to respectively manipulate Spike, Faith, and Andrew.
708* BestServedCold: Robin Wood fights vampires in the hope of encountering the one that killed his mother (which turns out to be Spike).
709* TheBigBoard
710* BigOMG: "Oh my God! Oh, well, you know, not ''my'' God, because I defy him and all of his works."
711* BilingualBonus: While discussing the newly-found scythe, one name comes up: "M question-mark." Giles points out that the "question mark" (ʔ) is actually a glottal stop in the International Phonetic Alphabet. What does "mʔ" sound like? The closest English example would be "[[LoudGulp gulp]].
712* BitchInSheepsClothing: The First uses this trope a lot; masquerading as the ghosts of now-dead loved ones like Joyce and Cassie (who claims to be speaking for Tara), as well as pretending to be a Potential and sowing discord from within the group.
713* BrickJoke: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E9NeverLeaveMe Never Leave Me]]" we see [[spoiler: Warren (actually The First Evil)]] coaching Andrew on sacrificing a pig for its blood in the basement of Sunnydale High, at which Andrew fails miserably. Later in Episode 16, "Storyteller" we find Buffy and Principal Wood in that basement trying to figure out why strange phenomena are happening... when a a squealing pig runs by.
714--> '''Wood''': God, I hope that's not a student...
715* BullyHunter: For once it's not Buffy. Rather she is asked by Amanda if she should keep pounding her abusive boyfriend into the pavement. A stunned Buffy cannot answer, though if she wasn't a teacher at the time she probably would have joined in.
716* CatchTheConscience: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E16Storyteller Storyteller]]", in order to make Andrew feel remorse for killing Jonathan.
717* ChekhovsGunman:
718** Amanda, the first student Buffy talked to in her job as councilor was a potential slayer.
719** Andrew answers a call (for Willow) from a guy with a girly voice called Fred. In the next episode Willow comes back with Faith.
720* TheChosenMany: Buffy has Willow release the powers of all potential slayers to help fight The First.
721* CelebrityStar: Aimee Mann. "I hate playing vampire towns."
722* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Faith, despite smoking being a universal sign of evil. Well, the potentials acting like five year olds was a bit much for her. And Buffy still wanting her dead. And trying to reconcile with a recently evil Willow.
723* CoolAunt: Where Buffy calls a suicide victim weak and stupid and delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the rest of the group, Faith takes the potentials out partying when the stress gets too much and watches out for their welfare.
724* DecapitationStrike: Happens in the final season when the First Evil's followers blow up the Watchers' Council headquarters in London, killing almost all the leadership.
725* DeusExMachina: The amulet and scythe that appear at the end of season 7 definitely qualify.
726* TheDevilIsALoser: Caleb, right-hand man to the First Evil, refers to Satan as a "little man" (at least, compared to his boss).
727* DiscontinuityNod: Giles' declaration that magic is not an addiction.
728* DrillSergeantNasty: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E15GetItDone Get It Done]]", Kennedy, the most senior of the potentials and who has received substantial training from her watcher, has taken up this role with the others, shouting at one of them, Chloe, and calling her a "maggot" when she does her steps wrong; then as an aside she jokes to Buffy how cool it was that she got to call somebody a "maggot". The First drives Chloe to suicide that night, and then taunts Kennedy by implying that the "maggot" insult led to the suicide.
729** Buffy herself fared little better. When a reformed Faith comes to town, she makes no effort to horn in on the gig but quickly demonstrates that Buffy is a failure as a leader. In fact, her reaction to Chloe's suicide could have come right from the ''Film/FullMetalJacket'' script.
730* EliteMooks: The First Evil's Turok-Han army.
731* EyeScream:
732-->"So you're the one who sees everything. Well, let's just see what we can do about that."
733** And the Bringers, the First's assassins and priests.
734* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E8Sleeper Sleeper]]", Aimee Mann sings a song called "Pavlov's Bell." During the next episode "Never Leave Me" the Scooby Gang discusses the possibility that Spike is being controlled by means of Pavlovian conditioning.
735** When we first see Amanda, she mentions having confusing feelings for a boy that bullies her, and the fact that she retaliates quite physical and effectively. Next episode we see her we find out she is a potential slayer, which is fitting considering the obvious parallels with Spuffy and the natural physical prowess of slayers.
736** In "Help", Cassie (A girl with precognition powers) will tell a still-insane Spike, "She'll tell you one day", with no other context. In the final episode, Buffy confesses her love to him.
737* ForgottenPhlebotinum: The First falsely claims to have captured a potential Slayer, and nobody thinks to use the spell they used just a few weeks ago which can detect potentials.
738* GhostCity: Sunnydale in the second half of the season.
739* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Inverted with Faith, who didn't smoke when evil but does now that she's reformed.
740* GrandFinale: The final season of the show, and Buffy fights her biggest foe: the personification of evil.
741* GroinAttack: You can tell Buffy likes this as she delivers the ultimate one to Caleb. Buffy has super strength of course. She finds a scythe that is meant to be the ultimate weapon. What does she do with it? Why ''slice the evil priest in half starting with his balls.'' [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill If a job's worth doing...]]
742-->[[BondOneLiner "He had to split."]]
743* {{Hammerspace}}: At least once, Buffy pulls out a cell phone when this was the only place it could have been.
744* HeelFaceReturn: Faith's appearance looks like this to anyone who wasn't watching ''Series/{{Angel}}''.
745* HypercompetentSidekick: Willow is this. As the most powerful Witch in the Western Hemisphere, she was ''so'' strong that [[spoiler: the writers felt the need to ''knock her out'' before major fights most of the season]].
746* {{Hypocrite}}: When Willow goes dark, Buffy insists on helping her and talking her down, but when Anya, now a vengeance demon again, kills several people in granting a wish in "Selfless", Buffy jumps right to MurderIsTheBestSolution; when Xander points this out, Buffy replies that it's not the same thing because Willow is human and Anya is a demon. In the same conversation, she states that when it comes to demons, she is the law and her word and judgment is absolute, when previously, she specifically told Faith that Slayers aren't the law or above it.
747** By that same token, Xander has NoSympathy for Spike (and before him, Angel) because of their past deeds without their souls, yet defends Anya who--with a soul, mind you--killed an entire house of frat boys over a mean-spirited prank they pulled, not to mention centuries of carnage before that. She may have regretted it, sure, but so do Spike and Angel, and they have the excuse of having had no capacity for real remorse while committing those deeds.
748** Giles spends much of the season deriding Buffy for her faith in Spike, declaring him too dangerous and insisting Buffy must "think like a general" to win against The First--even going as far as to go behind her back to have Spike killed. However, when Buffy does exactly that and wants to pursue the Vineyard again after a failed attack, he participates in the mutiny and allows her to be booted from the house and deposed as leader.
749* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Holden pronounces this of Buffy in "Conversations With Dead People."
750** [[spoiler: Post-soul]] Spike still wears the outward facade of his demon's brash confidence, but clearly thinks very little of himself now. He even goes as far as to beg Buffy to stake him once he remembers the killings he'd done while under the First's control, believing his attempt to be a good person had already failed.
751* IAmAMonster: Spike attempts to goad Buffy into StakingTheLovedOne by reminding her of just how evil he'd been before [[spoiler: his soul]]. He points out that even young girls [[RelativeButton like Dawn]] were not free from his cruelty, and that he's a monster who needs to be put down before he hurts anyone else.
752* JugglingLoadedGuns: "End of Days", it is implied that Willow and Tara's cat, Miss Kitty Fantastico, met her demise in a tragic crossbow accident.
753-->'''Dawn:''' Xander, my crossbow is not out here. I told you, I don't leave crossbows around all willy-nilly. Not since that time with Miss Kitty Fantastico.
754* LaughOfLove: In "Him", Dawn and RJ are laughing while dirty-dancing together at a party.
755* TheLegionsOfHell: The First has a giant army of Ubervamps in it's hell dimension.
756* LetThemDieHappy: Attempted by Buffy, shot down by Spike. Whether or not she actually meant it is subject to WildMassGuessing, though the fact that she does choose to spend what very well could have been her final night alive with him rather than Angel suggests she did [[TheFourLoves on some level]].
757* LifeWillKillYou: PlayedWith in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E4Help Help]]". Buffy, while working as a school counselor, meets a student named Cassie who has predicted her own death. The Scoobies spend the episode trying to find out who might be after her, and learn of a cult that intends to sacrifice Cassie. Buffy saves Cassie from the cult, then saves her from a booby-trap by [[ArrowCatch catching a crossbow bolt]] inches from Cassie's head. [[spoiler: Cassie dies soon after of a heart attack.]]
758* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Xander and Anya have sex on the kitchen floor, as the rest of the house is crowded with sleeping Potentials. The one free bed has already been nabbed by Willow and Kennedy -- the [[RightThroughTheWall noise of their lovemaking sets Xander and Anya to doing it as well]].
759* MobileMaze: Sunnydale High's basement. Xander notes that blueprints are no good here (and ''he'' built the place!) because the walls seem to move about.
760* MotionlessMakeover: Dawn is paralyzed by a demon. Anya has fun posing her. When they have to run off to save the day, leaving Dawn sitting on the couch with her arm extended, Buffy comes back momentarily to stick a remote in Dawn's hand.
761* MultipleChoiceChosen: We learn about Potentials, girls all over the world who have the potential to become the next Vampire Slayer once the current one dies. Buffy gathers a bunch of them together in her house to teach them about slaying for when the time comes that one of them will be chosen.
762* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Ultimately, it's the First's attempts at taunting Buffy that give her the idea that ends the fight once and for all.
763* OnceMoreWithClarity: "Everyone's talking to me! [[[EurekaMoment lightbulb moment]]] Nobody's [[InvisibilityCloak talking to each other]]."
764* OneHourWorkWeek: Buffy's job as a school counsellor. {{Justified| Trope}} in that she only has the job because Principal Wood wants to keep her around in case of Hellmouth-related problems, and it's explicitly stated to be part time.
765* OutOfFocus: Several characters suffer from this, Xander probably getting the worst of it, but Giles, Anya, Dawn, and to a lesser extent Willow are all massively pushed to the sidelines in order to accommodate more storylines for {{Sp|otlightStealingSquad}}ike. Although Giles' reduced screentime is more due to the fact that Creator/AnthonyStewartHead moved back to England to spend more time with his family.
766* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E19EmptyPlaces Empty Places]]" has all of Buffy's friends (including her own sister) remove her from leading them and kick her out of her own house after one bad mission that results in two dead Potentials and Xander losing an eye. PlayedWith slightly in that Giles connived things so that [[UndyingLoyalty Spike]] and [[HeroWorshipper Andrew]] were sent away for the day, likely so they wouldn't be there to take Buffy's side. It should be noted that the Buffy-less group immediately goes and screws up in exactly the manner they accused Buffy of doing (recklessly falling into a trap that gets even more people killed). While they are doing that, Buffy heads off to complete the mission she was pitching when she got overthrown, succeeds on her own, acquires the scythe and kills Caleb. She's magnanimous enough not to point out how much she got done all alone when they apologize and ask her to be in charge again.
767* RememberTheNewGuy: {{Deconstructed}}. When a Vampire recognizes Buffy in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E7ConversationsWithDeadPeople Conversations With Dead People]]" he explains that they went to High School together and shared a few classes. Buffy, however, does not recognize him at all, not even when he tells her his name, and it is only after ten minutes of explaining when they met and things they had done together that she remembers who he is. To the end of the episode he never becomes a close and dear friend from her past, instead remaining a minor acquaintance that she met on rare occasions and had forgotten in the time since then because they had never been very close in the first place.
768* RoguesGalleryShowcase: The First Evil turns into every BigBad from the show in Season 7, all in a row one time.
769** Angelus is sorely missed right about now; his spot is taken by Drusilla.
770* RousingSpeech: The greatest has to be Buffy's speech to the Potentials in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E10BringOnTheNight Bring On The Night]]" where she declares war against the source of all evil.
771** Also lampshaded.
772--->'''Buffy:''' Hello! All I ''do'' is look at the big picture. The other day, I gave an inspirational speech to the telephone repair man.\
773'''Giles:''' It takes more than rousing speeches to lead, Buffy.
774* RuleOfCool: Joss has specifically cited this as the reason why, in the final episode, [[spoiler: all of the Ubervamps suddenly start dying easier than regular vampires seem to, even when being fought by normal humans.]]
775* SickAndWrong: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E6Him Him]]", Xander lasciviously eyes a gyrating nymphet on the dance floor ("Daddy ''like''!"), only for her to turn around and reveal herself as Dawn. Cue {{facepalm}}.
776-->'''Willow:''' Right there with ya.
777* SinisterMinister: Caleb, a psychotic misogynist and SerialKiller who used his sermons to lure impressionable young women to him and then brutally murder them. This was before he became TheDragon for the First Evil, who granted him SuperStrength and an army, then tasked him with massacring the Slayer Potentials and the Watchers. He took to his mission with sadistic glee, reciting twisted prayers and Biblical references as he casually broke arms, snapped necks, and put out eyes. Caleb was, bar none, the single vilest villain in the canon, even surpassing ''Angelus'' in depravity and pure hatred.
778** Joss Whedon defended himself from backlash by pointing out that the Church had kicked Caleb out.
779** And for those who would doubt the above statement about Caleb being worse than Angelus, bear in mind that Angelus is a ''vampire''. He has no soul whereas Caleb has no such excuse for his evil.
780* SleepCute: Buffy asks Spike to hold her in "Touched", and they end up falling asleep like that. They proceed to do the same thing the next night.
781* SmashCut: Creator/JossWhedon loves this trope, but particular mention goes to "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless Selfless]]" which cuts from Anya singing a happy song to her [[spoiler: being skewed with a sword by Buffy]]
782* SuicideIsShameful: In "Get it Done", Buffy expresses this when Chloe, spurred by the First Evil's manipulations, hangs herself. After burying her, Buffy has absolutely NoSympathy for her trauma or struggles, and openly calls her a stupid, weak idiot in front of the Scoobies and other Potential Slayers.
783-->Anyone want to say a few words about Chloe? Let me. Chloe was an idiot. Chloe was stupid. She was weak. And anyone in a rush to be the next dead body I bury, it's easy. Just...think of Chloe, and do what she did. And I'll find room for you next to her and Annabelle.
784* SurpassedTheTeacher: Played with; Spike confronts Giles with words along these lines, saying that one of the reasons that Giles turned on Buffy was that Giles was jealous that Buffy had surpassed him in her abilities.
785* TakeThat: One of the first potentials killed was an {{Expy}} of Sydney Bristow from ''Series/{{Alias}}.'' To show that it wasn't just coincidence or a nod to the show her death would be shown in every single Previouslies'' possible, and worked into the actual episode whenever given half a chance.
786* TeacherStudentRomance: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E6Him Him]]", a magic jacket casts love spells on half the female cast, making Buffy, Willow, Anya, and Dawn chase after the high school football hero, R.J.. Anya is hundreds of years older than the guy, but it's Buffy who follows this trope: she's a counselor at the school now, and before she tries to ''kill the principal'' for her beloved, she gets him up on a desk with naughty things in mind...in time for her lovesick little sister to walk in and catch them (and for Xander to scold Buffy).
787* TechnicolorDeath: Halfrek's fiery death in the episode "Selfless" is like this.
788* TookALevelInKindness: That woman you might have seen chilling in prison on [[Series/{{Angel}} another show]] before breaking out to save a villain? Who's treated by some of the characters as so cool and nice now? Faith. Yeah, that Faith.
789%%* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers
790* TrashTheSet: ''Trash the whole town''. Sunnydale is reduced to nothing but a crater at the end of the series.
791* UltimateJobSecurity: Buffy had this at the Doublemeat Palace and Sunnydale High and Giles had it at the old Sunnydale high. The first time for her was due to having blackmail material and the second because the principal was the son of a Slayer (the one Spike killed and got his [[BadassLongcoat coat]] from) and kept her there because of easily guessed reasons. Giles? Here's an FYI, don't fuck with someone who's nickname is [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Ripper]].
792* UndyingLoyalty: Spike proves himself to be this for Buffy, as he's the only person all season who, without fail, takes her side and offers her support no matter what happens.
793* WhereItAllBegan: The final epic battle ends where the series began, Sunnydale High.
794* WhoYouGonnaCall:
795-->'''Spike''': Who you gonna call? ...That phrase is ''never'' gonna be usable again, is it?
796* YouCantFightFate: Cassie's death.
797[[/folder]]
798

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