Editing Buffy Summers (section)

==Appearances==

===Film===
[[File:Kristy Swanson Photo Op GalaxyCon Raleigh 2019.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Kristy Swanson]] (''pictured in 2019'') first portrayed Buffy, in the 1992 film, ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''.]]
The character of Buffy first appears in the 1992 film, ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', played by [[Kristy Swanson]]. The film, written by Joss Whedon, depicts Buffy as a shallow high school cheerleader who is informed by a man named Merrick ([[Donald Sutherland]]) that she has been chosen by [[fate]] to battle the [[undead]]. Buffy reluctantly undergoes training in her abilities by Merrick, and as her responsibility as the Slayer causes her to become alienated from her [[valley girl]] peers, she finds friendship and romance with fellow outcast Pike ([[Luke Perry]]). Merrick eventually comes to respect Buffy's rebellious nature, and she defeats vampire king Lothos ([[Rutger Hauer]]) by relying on her own contemporary style as opposed to traditional Slayer conventions.<ref name="Buffyfilm">{{cite video | people=[[Joss Whedon]], [[Fran Rubel Kuzui]]| title=''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' | medium=DVD | location=United States | publisher=20th Century Fox|date=1992}}</ref> Although this film is not in [[continuity (fiction)|continuity]] with the later television series, in 1999, author [[Christopher Golden]] adapted Joss Whedon's original script into a comic book entitled "[[The Origin (Buffy comic)|The Origin]]", which Whedon later confirmed to be "pretty much" [[Buffyverse canon|canonical]].<ref name=Origin>{{cite book|last=Golden|first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher Golden |author2=Dan Brereton |author2-link=Dan Brereton |author3=Joe Bennet|title=The Origin|publisher=[[Dark Horse Comics]]|year=1999|location=[[Milwaukie, Oregon|Milwaukie, OR]]|isbn=978-1-56971-429-4|title-link=The Origin (Buffy comic)}}</ref><ref name=Origincanon>{{cite web|last=Whedon|first=Joss|author-link=Joss Whedon|url=http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?date=19990117|title=Bronze VIP Archive for January 17, 1999|access-date=June 10, 2007|quote=The origin comic, though I have issues with it, CAN pretty much be accepted as canonical. They did a cool job of combining the film script (the SCRIPT) with the series, that was nice, and using the series' Merrick and not a [[Donald Sutherland|certain OTHER thespian]] who shall remain hated.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220181357/http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?date=19990117|archive-date=December 20, 2014}}</ref>

On May 25, 2009, ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' revealed [[Roy Lee]] and Doug Davison of [[Vertigo Entertainment]] would be working with [[Fran Rubel Kuzui]] and Kazi Kuzui on a relaunch of the ''Buffy'' series for the big screen. The series would not be a sequel or prequel to the existing movie or television franchise and Joss Whedon will have no involvement in the project. None of the cast or original characters from the television series will be featured.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kit |first=Borys |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i666afabc28491e6a2f12dfb80c0f7098 |title='Buffy' in for feature relaunch |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=May 25, 2009 |access-date=June 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090701075853/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i666afabc28491e6a2f12dfb80c0f7098 |archive-date=July 1, 2009 }}</ref> Television series executive producer [[Marti Noxon]] later reflected that this story might have been produced by the studio to frighten Joss into taking reins of the project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fearnet.com/news/interviews/b19604_exclusive_marti_noxon_on_future_of_buffy.html|title=Exclusive: Marti Noxon on the Future of 'Buffy'|access-date=July 24, 2010|date=July 21, 2010|work=[[Fearnet]]}}</ref> Studio interest in the project has continued, however. A script was rejected in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/12/22/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-movie-looking-for-new-writer|title='Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie looking for new writer|access-date=September 30, 2012|date=December 22, 2011|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

===Television===
Buffy returned in Joss Whedon's television series ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', this time played by [[Sarah Michelle Gellar]] for all of the show's [[List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes|144 episodes]]. In season 1 (1997), Buffy begins to accept the responsibilities and dangers of her calling as the Slayer after moving to the small California town of [[Sunnydale]]. She becomes best friends with [[Xander Harris]] ([[Nicholas Brendon]]) and [[Willow Rosenberg]] ([[Alyson Hannigan]]), and meets her new [[Watcher (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Watcher]], the school librarian, [[Rupert Giles]] ([[Anthony Head|Anthony Stewart Head]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vampires.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-rupert-giles/ |title=Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Rupert Giles |publisher=Vampires |date=June 21, 2010 |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref> Together they form the Scooby Gang, and work together to battle [[villain of the week|various supernatural occurrences]] which plague [[Sunnydale High]]. In the season finale, Buffy battles the vampiric villain known as the [[Master (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Master]] ([[Mark Metcalf]]), and is drowned in the process. She is [[CPR|resuscitated]] by Xander and rises to defeat the vampire lord.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/prophecy-girl/episode/12/summary.html |title=Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Prophecy Girl Episode Summary on |publisher=Tv.com |access-date=June 29, 2010 |archive-date=November 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121095627/http://www.tv.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/prophecy-girl/episode/12/summary.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the show's second season (1997–1998), Buffy continues to come to terms with her destiny, finds forbidden love with benevolent vampire [[Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Angel]] ([[David Boreanaz]]), and clashes with new villains [[Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Spike]] ([[James Marsters]]) and [[Drusilla (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Drusilla]] ([[Juliet Landau]]). She also meets her Slayer replacement, [[Kendra Young|Kendra]] ([[Bianca Lawson]]), who was called when Buffy was killed by the Master. Kendra is later killed by Drusilla, and the next replacement is seen in season 3. In the episode "[[Surprise (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Surprise]]", Buffy loses her virginity to Angel, an event which triggers the loss of his soul and unleashes his sadistic alter-ego, Angelus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvacres.com/horror_vampires_angelus.htm |title=Horror > Vampires > David Boreanaz as Angelus/Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) |publisher=Tv Acres |access-date=June 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914145538/http://www.tvacres.com/horror_vampires_angelus.htm |archive-date=September 14, 2012 }}</ref> Angelus proceeds to subject the characters to mental and physical torture for the remainder of the season. In the final episode of season 2, Buffy is forced to reveal her identity as the Slayer to her [[Joyce Summers|mother]] ([[Kristine Sutherland]]), and send the newly good Angel to [[hell]] to save the world. She then leaves Sunnydale for Los Angeles in the hopes of escaping her life as the Slayer.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Watcher's Guide, Volume 1 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|author=Nancy Holder|page=[https://archive.org/details/buffyvampireslay01gold/page/8 8]|isbn=978-0-671-02433-8|date=October 1, 1998|publisher=Gallery Books |url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/buffyvampireslay01gold/page/8}}</ref>

Season 3 (1998–1999) sees Buffy reconnect to her calling, her friends, and her family after her departure, as well as make difficult life decisions regarding her relationship with the resurrected Angel. She must also deal with the introduction of rebellious new Slayer [[Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Faith]] ([[Eliza Dushku]]), who becomes increasingly destructive and disloyal over the course of the season. In the season finale, Buffy stabs Faith in an attempt to save Angel's life, and leads her classmates into a climactic battle against the demonic [[Mayor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Mayor of Sunnydale]] ([[Harry Groener]]). Angel then leaves Sunnydale in hopes that Buffy can have a more normal life without him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turnto23.com/entertainment/23967453/detail.html |title=Hottest Hollywood Vampire No. 2 – Entertainment News Story – KERO Bakersfield |publisher=Turnto23.com |date=June 28, 2007 |access-date=June 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705035143/http://www.turnto23.com/entertainment/23967453/detail.html |archive-date=July 5, 2010 }}</ref>

In the fourth season (1999–2000), Buffy balances her Slayer duties with her new life as a college student at [[University of California|UC]] Sunnydale. She experiences some difficulty adjusting to college life, and becomes increasingly disconnected from her friends, who all seem to be moving in different directions. Buffy eventually finds a new love interest in the form of [[Riley Finn]] ([[Marc Blucas]]), a soldier in the demon-hunting [[U.S. government|government]] [[task force]] known as The Initiative. She briefly joins forces with Riley's team, until they discover one of the Initiative's experiments, [[Adam (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Adam]] ([[George Hertzberg]]), is creating an army of demon-human hybrids.<ref name="buffyworld1">{{cite web|url=http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/summaries/078_summ.html |title=Buffy : Season 4 : Episode 78 Summary |publisher=BuffyWorld |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref> Buffy unites with her friends to defeat Adam in a spell which invokes the power of the [[First Slayer]].<ref name="buffyworld1"/> During ''Buffy'' season 4, Buffy also appears in the first season of spin-off series ''Angel'' (1999–2000), guest starring in the episodes "[[I Will Remember You (Angel)|I Will Remember You]]" and "[[Sanctuary (Angel episode)|Sanctuary]]".

In season 5 (2000–2001), Buffy battles the hell-goddess [[Glorificus|Glory]] ([[Clare Kramer]]), and fully embraces her destiny for the first time. A younger sister named [[Dawn Summers|Dawn]] ([[Michelle Trachtenberg]]) mysteriously appears in Buffy's household, her existence having been seamlessly integrated with memories of the other characters. Buffy suffers emotional turmoil throughout this season, including the realization Dawn is not actually her sister,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBX/is_3_7/ai_67718265/?tag=content;col1 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711092725/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBX/is_3_7/ai_67718265/?tag=content;col1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 11, 2012 |title=Under Michelle's spell – TV actress Michelle Trachtenberg – Interview &#124; Girls' Life &#124; Find Articles at BNET |publisher=Findarticles.com |access-date=June 29, 2010 |first=Kelly |last=White |year=2000 }}</ref> the deterioration of her relationship with Riley,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whedon.info/Marc-Blucas-On-leaving-Buffy.html |title=Marc Blucas – On leaving Buffy – Backstage.com Interview |publisher=Whedon.info |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref> the discovery that Spike has fallen obsessively in love with her,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fearnet.com/news/b17300_buffy_vampire_slayer_hell_yeah.html |title='Buffy the Vampire Slayer'? Hell Yeah! |publisher=FEARnet |date=November 12, 2009 |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref> and her mother's death from a [[cerebral aneurysm|brain aneurysm]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buffyguide.com/players/joyce.php |title=Joyce / Kristine Sutherland |publisher=BuffyGuide.com |date=April 17, 1955 |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref> She takes control of her destiny and duties, informing the [[Watchers' Council]] that ''they'' work for ''her'', not the other way around; that their job is to supply her with whatever information she requires, immediately and fully.<ref>Episode 5/12, "Checkpoint." First aired January 23, 2001.</ref> While on a quest to learn more about her nature as the Slayer, Buffy is told "death is her gift",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2003/03/06/you-cannot-run-from-your-darkness-who-says-im-running-buffy-and-the-ownership-of-evil-erma-petrova/ |title=Refractory » "'You cannot run from your darkness.' / 'Who says I'm running?': Buffy and the Ownership of Evil" – Erma Petrova |publisher=Blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au |date=2003-03-06 |access-date=2010-06-29 |archive-date=April 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415094331/http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2003/03/06/you-cannot-run-from-your-darkness-who-says-im-running-buffy-and-the-ownership-of-evil-erma-petrova/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> a message she has difficulty understanding until the episode "[[The Gift (Buffy episode)|The Gift]]", in which she sacrifices herself to save Dawn and the world by diving into Glory's interdimensional portal and closing it.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bite Me! The Unofficial Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer |isbn=978-1-55022-807-6 |publisher=Ecw Press|year=2007 }}</ref>

Season 6 (2001–2002) depicts Buffy's struggle with depression after her friends, believing she was trapped in a [[Hell]] dimension, performed a spell to bring her back from the dead; however, she was actually in [[Heaven]], and feels great loss after being ripped out. Forced to take a mundane and degrading job slinging burgers at the [[fast food restaurant|Doublemeat Palace]] after realizing her family was in financial ruin, she sinks into a deep depression amid feelings of self-loathing and spends much of the season on a downward spiral alienating her friends and family and embarking on a violent sexual relationship with the vampire Spike which leaves neither satisfied and spawns dire consequences for the both of them. Aside from dealing with her emotional and psychological demons in this season, Buffy is continually targeted by a group calling themselves [[Trio (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|The Trio]] - [[Warren Mears]] ([[Adam Busch]]), [[Andrew Wells]] ([[Tom Lenk]]), and [[Jonathan Levinson]] ([[Danny Strong]]). Initially satisfied with only wreaking havoc for personal gain in Sunnydale, the Trio soon become bent on becoming powerful nemeses to the Slayer. At first, their activities are merely annoying to Buffy and the Scoobies, but Warren's intentions become darker as the season goes on, and by the end Buffy is forced to deal with the Trio as the Slayer, while Andrew and Jonathan must come to grips with Warren's betrayal against them. As the season draws to a close, Buffy is forced to battle her best friend when Willow becomes psychotic with dark magic after Warren shoots and kills Willow's girlfriend [[Tara Maclay|Tara]] ([[Amber Benson]]) and wounds Buffy in the process. Willow then tries to destroy the world to end all suffering, although Xander gets through to her in the end. Buffy then promises to change her self-destructive behavior to be there for her sister.

In the final season of the show (2002–2003), things start to come around for Buffy when Principal [[Robin Wood (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Robin Wood]] ([[D. B. Woodside]]) hires her as a school counselor for the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High School and she has repaired her relationships with Dawn and her friends. However, she is also confronted with the threat of the [[First Evil]] and becomes a reluctant leader to the [[Potential Slayers]], who are initially respectful of her, but become increasingly more alienated by her tactics and decisions throughout the season. She unexpectedly becomes emotionally close with Spike, who has sought out his soul in an effort to prove himself to her. In the show's final episode "[[Chosen (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Chosen]]", Buffy shares her power with her fellow Slayers before leading them into an epic battle against an army of [[Turok-Han]] vampires. She also confesses her love to a disbelieving Spike before he sacrifices himself to save the world; as he dies, Buffy escapes Sunnydale's destruction with the surviving characters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aabuffyfinalenews.htm |title=Buffy the Vampire Slayer News – Series Finale |publisher=Movies.about.com |access-date=June 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219044509/http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aabuffyfinalenews.htm |archive-date=February 19, 2011 }}</ref>

Following the end of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', the character maintains a presence in the fifth season of ''Angel'' (2003–2004), but does not appear onscreen. In the episode "[[The Girl in Question]]", Angel and a resurrected Spike travel to [[Rome]] to find her, where they learn she is apparently now dating the [[The Immortal (Angel character)|Immortal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/angel/the-girl-in-question/episode/276677/summary.html?tag=ep_guide;summary |title=Angel: The Girl in Question Episode Summary on |publisher=Tv.com |access-date=June 29, 2010 |archive-date=December 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203024556/http://www.tv.com/angel/the-girl-in-question/episode/276677/summary.html?tag=ep_guide;summary |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sarah Michelle Gellar was approached to appear as Buffy in ''Angel''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[You're Welcome (Angel episode)|one hundredth episode]], but declined, so the character of [[Cordelia Chase]] ([[Charisma Carpenter]]) was used instead. She was asked to appear in the second to last episode of the series, "[[Power Play (Angel)|Power Play]]", but had to decline due to outside conflicts.<ref name=DavidFury>Jozic, Mike, "[http://www.mikejozic.com/buffyweek6.html Week 6; David Fury]" ''Mikejozic.com'' (September 2004)</ref>

Between 2001 and 2004, Joss Whedon and [[Jeph Loeb]] developed a 4-minute pilot episode for ''[[Buffy the Animated Series]]'', which was set during the show's first season. Had the series been picked up by a network, the series would have focused upon Buffy (voiced by [[Giselle Loren]]) in more high-school adventures. Following a 2008 [[internet leak|leak]] of the pilot to YouTube, Loeb expressed some hope the series may be resurrected in some form.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/08/26/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-animated-series-to-be-resurrected/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828141315/http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/08/26/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-animated-series-to-be-resurrected/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 28, 2008|title='Buffy The Vampire Slayer' Animated Series To Be Resurrected?|access-date=September 5, 2008|last=Vineyard|first=Jennifer|date=August 26, 2008|work=[[MTV|MTV Movies Blog]]|publisher=MTV.com}}</ref>

===Literature===

As the main character of the franchise, Buffy appears in almost all ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' literature. This includes a [[Dark Horse Comics|Dark Horse]] [[ongoing series|ongoing]] [[Buffy comics|comic book]] and a [[Buffy novels|series of novels]]. Buffy's debut into literature came in the comic ''Dark Horse Presents 1998 Annual'' on August 26, 1998,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whedon.info/Buffy-Season-8-Comic-Book-to.html |title="Buffy Season 8" Comic Book to become a Motion Comic |publisher=Whedon.info |date=June 13, 2010 |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref> while her first prose appearance was in ''[[Halloween Rain]]'' by [[Christopher Golden]] and [[Nancy Holder]] on October 5, 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whedon.info/Buffy-Season-8-Comic-Book-Details.html |title="Buffy Season 8" Comic Book – Issue 1 – Details |publisher=Whedon.info |date=June 13, 2010 |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref> Most of these stories occur between episodes and seasons of the television series, however, some are set outside the timeline of the show to explore in depth other areas of Buffy's history. Christopher Golden adapted the film into a comic entitled "The Origin" (1999) which more closely resembles Joss Whedon's original script.<ref name=Origin/><ref name=Origincanon/> In 2003, [[Scott Lobdell]] and [[Fabian Nicieza]] wrote a [[Year One]]-style run on the ''Buffy'' comic book series which filled the gap between the film and the first season of the show. These stories explain how Buffy's relationship with Pike ended,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://amog.com/entertainment/buffy-lost-tv-films-marriage-comics/ |title=From Buffy to Lost: A Look at TV & Film's Marriage with Comics |publisher=AMOG |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref> as well as fleshing out events alluded to in the television series, such as the time she spent in a mental institution and her parents' divorce. The novel ''[[Queen of the Slayers]]'' (2005) by Nancy Holder offers a potential follow-up to the television series; set after season 7, it depicts Buffy living in Italy with the morally ambiguous Immortal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shadowcat.name/book0772.html |title=Queen Of The Slayers (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) |publisher=shadowcat |access-date=June 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100128115910/http://www.shadowcat.name/book0772.html |archive-date=January 28, 2010 }}</ref>

Buffy also makes appearances in literature outside of her own titular series. In the ''[[Tales of the Slayers]]'' comic [[one-shot (comics)|one-shot]] "Broken Bottle of Djinn" (2002) by [[Doug Petrie]] and [[Jane Espenson]], Buffy battles a spirit in Sunnydale High,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/11-001/Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-Tales-of-the-Slayers-TPB |title=Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayers TPB :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics |publisher=Darkhorse.com |date=February 20, 2002 |access-date=June 29, 2010 |archive-date=February 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227142816/http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/11-001/Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-Tales-of-the-Slayers-TPB |url-status=dead }}</ref> while the ''[[Tales of the Vampires]]'' comic book story "Antique" (2004) by [[Drew Goddard]] sees her breaking into Dracula's castle to rescue Xander from the infamous vampire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/12-914/Tales-of-the-Vampires-1 |title=Tales of the Vampires #1 :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics |publisher=Darkhorse.com |date=December 10, 2003 |access-date=June 29, 2010 |archive-date=March 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306204846/http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/12-914/Tales-of-the-Vampires-1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Volume II of the similar series of novels ''[[Tales of the Slayer]]'' (2003) features two stories about Buffy; the character battles a mummified spirit in Todd A. McIntosh's "All That You Do Comes Back Unto Thee", while Jane Espenson's "Again Sunnydale" sees a season 6-era Buffy sent back in time to high school, when her mother is still alive but Dawn does not exist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/12-915/Tales-of-the-Vampires-2 |title=Tales of the Vampires #2 :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics |publisher=Darkhorse.com |date=January 14, 2004 |access-date=June 29, 2010 |archive-date=March 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306205143/http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/12-915/Tales-of-the-Vampires-2 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Post-television "Season" continuations====

In 2007, Buffy's story continued on from season 7 when Joss Whedon revived ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' as a comic book, again published by Dark Horse. Whedon differentiated these comics from previous ''Buffy'' literature, stating "We could do something and for once we could make it canon.  We could make it officially what happened after the end of the show."<ref name=WhedonQ&A>[http://www.tvguide.com/News/buffy-vampire-slayer/061207-01 TVGuide.com Q&A with Joss Whedon about Season 8] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080823155123/http://www.tvguide.com/News/buffy-vampire-slayer/061207-01 |date=August 23, 2008 }}</ref> The continuation series emulates the structure of a television series, with five "seasons" published between 2007 and 2018 and Whedon overseeing multiple writers in the role of "executive producer".  
[[File:longwaycover01.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Buffy appears in literature such as the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight'' comic book series and various spin-offs. Art by [[Jo Chen]].]]
In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight|Season Eight]]'' (2007–2011), it is quickly established that Buffy is not living with the Immortal in Rome as previously suggested in ''Angel''; this is simply a cover story to ensure her safety as she is now the leader of an army which recruits and trains Slayers to deal with demonic threats worldwide.  However, a mysterious group led by the masked villain Twilight believe the Slayers themselves pose a danger to mankind and the natural order.  In "[[Wolves at the Gate]]", a lonely Buffy shares a sexual encounter with a younger Slayer [[Satsu (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Satsu]]; the relationship ends soon after when Satsu accepts that Buffy does not return her romantic feelings.  The [[Time travel in fiction|time travel]] story "[[Time of Your Life (Buffy comic)|Time of Your Life]]" acts as a crossover with ''Buffy'' spin-off ''Fray''; Buffy is kidnapped two centuries into the future and meets her eventual successor [[Melaka Fray]] and Fray's vampire twin brother Harth.  These events have been orchestrated by a villainous future version of Willow, whom Buffy reluctantly kills to return home.  The tensions between Buffy and Twilight's respective armies eventually erupts into a full-scale war in [[Tibet]]; Twilight is unmasked as Angel being manipulated by enigmatic cosmic forces trying to destroy the universe and usher in a new dimension where Buffy and Angel will live together in paradise.  However, Buffy rejects Twilight's influence and saves her world by returning to the ruins of Sunnydale and smashing the Seed of Wonder, cutting Earth off from the source of all magic in the process.  During these events, Buffy reunites with Spike, Giles is killed by a Twilight-controlled Angel, and the Slayer army is dissolved; Buffy moves to San Francisco with her friends to grieve their losses.

In contrast to the global scale of ''Season Eight'', ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine|Season Nine]]'' (2011–2013) follows Buffy living a more grounded civilian life in San Francisco; she works in a local coffee shop and shares an apartment with roommates Anaheed and Tumble.  Buffy is now a pariah in the supernatural community due to her destruction of magic and must deal with "zompires", a feral new breed of vampires which have emerged since demons can no longer access Earth and fully possess human bodies.  After getting [[Blackout (drug-related amnesia)|blackout drunk]] at her housewarming party, Buffy has a [[Human pregnancy|pregnancy]] scare and turns to Spike for support when she decides to have an abortion; the pregnancy turns out to be a misunderstanding caused by Andrew, who switched Buffy's body with a robot as part of a misguided plan to keep her safe.  In "Guarded", Buffy explores new career opportunities by temporarily joining Kennedy's [[Security company|private security company]] Deepscan and shutting down TinCan, an interdimensional social media site run by long-term ''Angel'' villains [[List of Angel characters#Wolfram & Hart|Wolfram & Hart]]. With most of her existing relationships strained, Buffy makes new allies in [[San Francisco Police Department|SFPD]] homicide detective Dowling and teenage vampire hunter Billy, and joins a magical council alongside demons D’Hoffryn and Illyria to battle the evil Slayer Simone and magic-siphoning Severin.  When Dawn starts fading from existence due to the absence of magic, Buffy reunites with Willow and Xander in "The Core" to save her, [[Subterranean fiction|journeying deep within the Earth]] to create a new Seed of Wonder and battling Maloker, an Old One and progenitor of all vampires, in the process.  During ''Season Nine'', Buffy also makes minor appearances in the spin-off comics ''Spike: A Dark Place'', ''Willow: Wonderland'', and ''Angel & Faith''.

Having restored magic to the world, ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten|Season Ten]]'' (2014–2016) picks up with Buffy and her friends reluctantly responsible for creating the laws governing it; Buffy must guard the ancient [[grimoire]] ''Vampyr'' in which the new laws of magic are formalized when recorded in the book.  Some rules have already materialized without Buffy's input (zompires are extinct and vampires now possess heightened strength and shapeshifting powers) and new rules tend to have unforeseen ''[[The Monkey's Paw|Monkey's Paw]]''-style consequences.  Daunted and tempted by this new-found power, Buffy seeks the advice of D’Hoffryn and his magical council, as well as [[Lobbying|lobbyists]] from various mystical and demonic communities pursuing their own conflicting agendas. Meanwhile, Buffy and Spike's decision to pursue an official romantic relationship is complicated by the manipulations of the demon Archaeus and the subsequent assistance by Angel; in the one-shot issue "Triggers", Buffy expresses her repressed trauma over the sexual assault she experienced from soulless Spike back in the television episode "Seeing Red".  Following his resurrection in the spin-off series ''Angel & Faith'', Giles reunites with Buffy, and the paternal relationship they share is reaffirmed when Buffy's father Hank excludes her from his wedding.  D’Hoffryn eventually turns on Buffy and murders the rest of the council to seize the power of ''Vampyr'' for himself; finally accepting the responsibility she has been avoiding, Buffy outsmarts D’Hoffryn, commits to her relationship with Spike, and organizes her own council with whom to codify the laws of magic.

''Season Eleven'' (2016–17) opens in disaster when a huge [[Shenlong]] dragon attacks San Francisco, killing thousands.  In response to public outrage, the US President Malloy introduces the Supernatural Crisis Act, a set of new policies claiming to "legalize and normalise" the supernatural; this begins with a census and quickly leads to the relocation of magical individuals to the "Safe Zone", an [[Internment|internment camp]] in the [[Grand Canyon]].  Buffy rejects an opportunity to join a Slayer peacekeeping force alongside the antagonistic Jordan, and instead opts to join Willow and Spike at the Safe Zone, where she does her best to maintain peace and protect innocent or harmless inmates.  Buffy and Willow eventually agree to have their powers removed to leave the camp and further investigate the Pandora Project, a [[Conspiracy theory|government conspiracy]] to drain and abuse magical energy; they expose [[White House Press Secretary]] Joanna Wise for summoning the Shenlong in the first place to put her plans in motion.  Buffy briefly reabsorbs the power of all the Slayers in the world to battle the magic-infused Wise, but returns the power by the season's final issue, warning a repentant Jordan not to misuse it.

In 2018, it was announced that Dark Horse was losing the license to publish ''Buffy'' comics; Joss Whedon's intent for the final season was to "give the Dark Horse era some closure".<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.cbr.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-finale-joss-whedon-interview/ | title=INTERVIEW: Joss Whedon Teases Buffy's Surprising End & Dr. Horrible's Return| date=August 15, 2018}}</ref> The four-issue ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Twelve: The Reckoning]]'' (2018) picks up one year after ''Season Eleven'', with a thirty-year-old Buffy pondering her future; she is separated but on cordial terms with Spike, still working as a part-time police consultant, and a doting aunt to Dawn and Xander's baby daughter Joyce.  Tying up story elements first alluded to in 2001's ''Fray'', Buffy is warned about an apocalypse called "the Reckoning" led by time travelling vampire Harth, in which the Slayers are depowered and Buffy is banished to a hell dimension battling an army of demons.  With help from her friends, and those of Angel and Fray, Buffy proactively takes the fight to Harth in an attempt to change her fate; Illyria sacrifices herself to banish the demons in Buffy's place, altering history.  After the battle, Buffy becomes a fulltime member of the SFPD supernatural division alongside Faith, reconnects with Spike, and comforts a grieving Angel over Illyria.  Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Buffy, Fray returns to the 23rd century to discover her world has been [[Utopian and dystopian fiction|drastically improved]] by the continued presence of many Slayers.

====Boom! Studios reboot====
In 2019, Buffy was reinvented by [[Boom! Studios]] in their ongoing comic ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Boom! Studios)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]].''  This series is a complete [[Reboot (fiction)|reboot]] and has no continuity with any previous stories; Buffy is depicted as a teenager in 2019 rather than the 1990s. She is already aware of her destiny as the Slayer and has been living in Sunnydale for only three weeks when the series begins. She befriends Willow and Xander after saving them from a vampire outside Tunaverse, the fast food restaurant where she works.