Highlights

• Buffy Summers is a vital and iconic character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, known for her pop culture references and sassy sense of humor.
• Buffy's love life is tumultuous, from dating vampires to discovering her boyfriend is a demon-hunter, but she ultimately learns to prioritize herself before committing to a partner.
• Buffy's relationships with her Watcher, Giles, and former lover, Angel, highlight her deep emotional connections and the complex challenges she faces as the Slayer.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer would not be the same without its eponymous protagonist, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Gellar played the role for seven seasons and also made several appearances on the spin-off series Angel. Indeed, while Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a large and ever-changing supporting cast, it is, at heart, a coming-of-age story for Gellar's heroine.

As a character, Buffy is known for her pop culture references and sassy sense of humor. This distinctive way of speaking allows her to spar both verbally and physically with evildoers, and it also means that she has some memorable lines in both Buffy and Angel.

1 "I'm Cookie Dough."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Chosen" (Season 7, Episode 22)

• "Okay. I'm cookie dough... I'm not done baking. I'm not finished becoming whoever the hell it is I'm gonna turn out to be. I make it through this, and the next thing, and the next thing, I turn around and realize I'm ready. I'm cookies. And, then, you know, if I want someone to eat—or enjoy warm, delicious, cookie me, then, that's fine. That'll be then—when I'm done."

Buffy's increasingly bizarre love life is as much the focus of the series as her efforts to fight against evil. From dating two vampires to discovering that her one "normal" boyfriend is secretly a member of a demon-hunting military unit, the road to true love is certainly rocky for the titular Slayer.

She reflects on this in the show's final episode. She tells her ex-boyfriend Angel that she needs to find herself before she can truly commit to any potential partner. It's an important moment of growth delivered via a baking metaphor and, as such, is classic Buffyspeak.

2 "Are You Trying To Get Yourself Killed?"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Passion" (Season 2, Episode 17)

• "Are you trying to get yourself killed? You can't leave me. I can't do this alone."

One of Buffy's most important relationships is with Giles, her Watcher. He is meant to train her for her role as the Slayer, but there are times when she has to look out for him.

Giles goes to confront Angelus after the vampire murders his girlfriend, but is clearly outmatched. Although Buffy can save him, she is furious at Giles for risking his life for the sake of revenge. Her response shows their deep bond and her reliance on him—he is the father figure she needs.

3 "I Tried So Hard To Help You, And You Spat On Me."

Angel: "Sanctuary" (Season 1, Episode 19)

• "I gave you every chance! I tried so hard to help you, and you spat on me. My life was just something for you to play with. Angel. Riley. Anything that you could take from me, you took. I've lost battles before, but nobody else has ever made me a victim."

Buffy is horrified when she arrives in L.A. to find that former lover Angel is now protecting Faith, a rogue Slayer, because he thinks that she can redeem herself. Faith worries that she is beyond help and that none of her former friends will give her a chance to. Buffy's angry outburst seemingly confirms this.

Buffy's emotionally charged speech demonstrates the real hurdles that Faith must overcome to better herself. However, despite these obstacles, the two are eventually able to reconcile.

4 "I Killed You, And It Didn't Help."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Amends" (Season 3, Episode 10)

• "What about me? I love you so much, and I tried to make you go away. I killed you, and it didn't help. And I hate it! I hate that it's so hard. I know everything that you did, because you did it to me."

Buffy's tortured relationship with the vampire Angel only gets more complicated when Angel, wracked with guilt over his past actions, decides to commit suicide. Buffy tries to talk him down from the edge, pointing out that she does understand his remorse, as he has wounded her before. However, she still loves him.

While fans remain split on who Buffy's perfect man is, her dialogue in "Amends" shows not only her deep affection for Angel but also the redemptive power of love.

5 "I Walk. I Talk. I Shop. I Sneeze."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Restless" (Season 4, Episode 22)

• "I walk. I talk. I shop. I sneeze. I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back. There's trees in the desert since you moved out, and I don't sleep on a bed of bones."

In "Restless," Buffy encounters the spirit of the First Slayer after performing a dangerous ritual with her friends. The First Slayer mocks Buffy's reliance on those closest to her and points out that Slayers have just one purpose: to kill.

Buffy disputes this, pointing out that, as the world has changed, so should her part in it. She is not a killing machine or a one-dimensional stereotype. Instead, she is a multifaceted individual with the capacity to develop further, showing how far the Slayer role has changed since its inception.

6 "Giles, I'm Sixteen Years Old. I Don't Want To Die."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Prophecy Girl" (Season 1, Episode 12)

• "Read me the signs! Tell me my fortune! You're so useful, sitting here with all your books! You're really a lot of help! [...] Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't want to die."

While Buffy the Vampire Slayer's first season regularly juxtaposes Buffy's mystical destiny with her adolescent angst, it is not until the finale that she faces her greatest challenge. A prophecy foretells Buffy's death, forcing her to come to terms with the real price of being the Slayer.

Buffy's anger at Giles and Angel, followed by an admission of almost childlike vulnerability, drives home the point that Buffy is, at heart, a teenage girl. Although she has been gifted considerable powers, she maintains her human fears and flaws—including a desire to quit when the going gets tough.

7 "There's Only One Thing On This Earth More Powerful Than Evil, And That's Us."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Bring On The Night" (Season 7, Episode 10)

• "From now on, we don't just face our worst fears; we will seek them out. We will find them and cut out their hearts one by one, until the First shows itself for what it really is. And I'll kill it myself... There's only one thing on this earth more powerful than evil, and that's us."

Although Buffy faces some truly terrifying enemies during Buffy the Vampire Slayer, her greatest challenge comes in the show's final season, when she must face the embodiment of evil itself. Despite a tough battle ahead, she rallies her friends to work together to vanquish the latest threat.

Buffy's speech is emblematic of the franchise as a whole. It is not just Buffy's supernatural powers that make her exceptional, but the support provided by those around her. The greatest threat to the First Evil, then, is not Buffy, but the entire Scooby Gang.

8 "But I Have To Save The World. Again."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Becoming, Part 2" (Season 2, Episode 22)

• "It never stops! Do you think I chose to be like this? Do you have any idea how lonely it is? How dangerous? I would love to be upstairs, watching TV or gossiping about boys, or, God, even studying! But I have to save the world. Again."

Balancing the normal and the supernatural is one of Buffy's greatest challenges. When her mother learns about her slaying escapades and demands that she stop, Buffy delivers one of the show's most iconic speeches about the terrible burden that she has to bear as the Slayer.

Some critics have treated the line as a metaphorical coming out, with Buffy revealing her true self to her mother. Whether taken at face value or considered at a deeper level, the line is memorable, well-performed, and sums up one of Buffy's central themes.