Editing Dawn Summers (section)

==Characterization==
In the beginning of season 5 Dawn is portrayed as less mature than her age of fourteen. She is seen to be immature, sulky, and klutzy, often breaking objects, and she keeps a diary. Buffy and Joyce also infantilise her to some degree; they are shown finding someone to babysit her, although they later become more relaxed about this as seen in "[[No Place Like Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|No Place Like Home]]".

Responding to fan complaints of Dawn being whiny throughout season 6, Joss Whedon says, "I scratched my head. I was like, 'Excuse me, she's been abandoned by about six parental figures. The girl has huge issues.'" However, he acknowledges that he and the writers hit "the same note for a while... We needed to make some changes."<ref name="movies.ign.com">{{Citation|last=P. |first=Ken |title=An Interview with Joss Whedon |date=June 23, 2003 |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/425/425492p9.html |access-date=July 18, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210072147/http://movies.ign.com/articles/425/425492p9.html |archive-date=December 10, 2007 
}}</ref> Whedon has expressed regret over not being able to go further with Dawn's character in season 7, but, as he says, "You get into a situation that you do like to stand alone [but] 'Dawn Goes on a Date' is not something that people would really sit for."<ref name="movies.ign.com" />

Author Nikki Stafford saw the season 7 episode "Potential" as an example of Dawn's growing maturity. She praises the character for taking charge and accepting the possibility she might be a Potential Slayer, and for quietly stepping back when she turns out to be wrong, without revealing how disappointed she really is. Stafford states, "Dawn has come a long way from the annoying adolescent she was in season 5, and the screechy, difficult teen she was in season 6 ('get out, Get Out, GET OUT!'). She is a mature young woman, the same age as Buffy was in season 1, but she is handling her problems with even more grace and acceptance than her older sister did."<ref name=BiteMe>{{Citation|last=Stafford|first=Nikki|title=Bite Me!: The Unofficial Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer|publisher=ECW Press|year=2007|location=[[Toronto]]|pages=338|isbn=978-1-55022-807-6}}</ref>