Whedon intended Riley to be the antithesis of Buffy's boyfriend of the past three seasons, Angel ( David Boreanaz ), who now headed his own spin-off show.

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.

These stories explain how Buffy's relationship with Pike ended, 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.

Earlier in the series, the audience glimpsed Buffy's most personal sexual fantasy in her dreamspace: a threesome with Angel and Spike.

The series ' final two arcs are in some sense are about Buffy's relationships with Angel and Spike.

As the series went on, the significance of Dawn's arrival is revealed to the series ' other characters and they come to understand that she has not always been Buffy's sister, or indeed a sentient being ; Dawn had originally been the mystical ' key ' to unlocking dimensions, and was made into Buffy's sister so the Slayer would protect her.

However, Xander's unique position as both outside of and within the main group enhances his insight into the other characters, especially as the series continues ; in Season Eight, he is Buffy's unofficial " Watcher ".

In " Time of Your Life, Part One " ( 2008 ), serving under series ' villain Twilight, Amy and Warren attack Buffy's Scottish citadel with a missile and spectral warriors, killing seven Slayers.

Riley also appears in the first issue of the follow-up series Season Nine ; the structure of " Freefall, Part I " suggests that Riley — like Spike, Xander, Willow and others — could have been Buffy's possible one-night-stand after the party she hosts at her apartment in San Francisco.

The series relied on its own form of magic to explain Buffy's superpowers and other supernatural occurrences up to the fourth season.

Rupert Giles was Buffy's Watcher in the beginning of the series.

An ongoing theme in the series is Buffy's complex relationship to her destiny as the current Slayer and how she uniquely expresses this role, and this plot element is further explored in season four in general, and in the episode " Restless " in particular.

At the start of the television series Buffy and her mother Joyce, who has divorced Buffy's father, move to a new town named Sunnydale where Buffy is to attend Sunnydale High School, which, unknown to her, is situated on a portal to hell, called a Hellmouth.

Buffy's parents are barely seen in the film, but her mother Joyce ( Kristine Sutherland ), plays a prominent role in the series.

Buffy is frequently referred to as a superhero by authors, and Joyce's initial ignorance of Buffy's abilities and responsibilities creates skepticism among both characters in the series and viewers about Joyce's intelligence and motivations.

According to Lorna Jowett, Joyce is rare among the characters on the series: " Joyce is always and only Buffy's mother, never just another person or a member of the team.

An ongoing theme in the series is Buffy's complex relationship to her destiny as the current Slayer and how she uniquely expresses this role, and this plot element is further explored in season four in general.

* That much of Buffy's pleasure comes from her sense of being a " normal girl falling asleep in the arms of her normal boyfriend " underscores one of the Slayer's fundamental internal conflicts, which she first expresses to Giles in the Buffy premiere, " Welcome to the Hellmouth ", and essentially resolves in the series finale, " Chosen ".

Angel leaves the Scoobies at Buffy's graduation.

Willow is able to perform a complicated spell to restore the soul of Angel, a vampire who is also Calendar's murderer and Buffy's boyfriend.

In the explicitly-canonical Whedon stories of 2007, Spike and Angel first appear in a joint cameo in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight ( Dark Horse ) as part of Buffy's sexual fantasies.

In the Dark Horse Presents # 24 Season Eight tie-in, " Always Darkest ", Spike and Angel appear ( again in a dream sequence ) at Buffy's side when she is fighting Caleb, but to her dismay the two start flirting with and kissing one another.

" Giles feels betrayed when Jenny reveals she is actually a member of the Kalderash gypsy clan, sent to keep an eye on Buffy's relationship with the vampire Angel.

Giles goes to warn Faith as Duncan states this is the fate that Slayers deserve for rejecting the Watchers Council, especially Buffy, reminding Giles that Buffy's relationship with Angel resulted in Jenny Calendar's death.

The character's backstory gives her ties to Buffy's boyfriend Angel ( David Boreanaz ), and it is gradually established over the course of Buffy and Angel.

He pines for Buffy's romantic affection, oblivious to Willow's affections for him, and distrusts Buffy's boyfriend, the ensouled vampire Angel ( David Boreanaz ).

Though Brendon does not portray Xander again subsequent to " Chosen ", the Angel episode " Damage " ( 2004 ) mentions that Xander is in Africa, recruiting newly activated Slayers for Buffy's team.

Later, in " Twilight " ( 2010 ), Warren discovers he has been working for Angel, Buffy's ex-boyfriend, and Twilight's true identity.

Jenny's death was also used to make clear that Angel, in his incarnation as Angelus, is truly evil and now Buffy's mortal enemy whom she must kill.

" In contrast to both Angel and Spike, Riley held out the possibility of normality in Buffy's life.

The Master sends minions to kill Buffy in " Angel ", an episode featuring the origin story of Buffy's romantic interest ( David Boreanaz ), a vampire with a murderous past who was re-ensouled by a Gypsy tribe as the ultimate punishment ; this " curse " has caused him to feel remorse and live the past century in misery and torment.

Angel and Buffy's friend Xander ( Nicholas Brendon ), who have disobeyed her wishes and followed her, arrive after the Master has risen.

During the confrontation, the Mayor pointedly asks questions about the viability of Buffy's relationship with Angel ( David Boreanaz ), a vampire who has been re-ensouled and who fights alongside Buffy.

Xander kills Angel ; Buffy kills Xander ; Oz kills Willow ; the Master breaks Buffy's neck.

Sutherland auditioned the same day as David Boreanaz, Buffy's romantic interest Angel, and was impressed with how naturally she felt at ease with the material in the readings with the writers and casting agents.

Buffy's tragic love affair with Angel, a relationship that could bring neither of them any happiness, was broken off, in part, after Joyce's request that Angel be the one to end it.

Suddenly, in a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder, Angel bolts awake and runs out into the storm, calling Buffy's name in anguish ...

* Rupert Giles — As Buffy's Watcher, and a father-figure and mentor to the entire group, Giles is a founding figure of the Scooby Gang, although his British upbringing resists the lighthearted nickname at first.

He is also Buffy's lover in Seasons One through Three.

* Riley Finn — Buffy's college boyfriend, Riley is a soldier for the government demon-hunting operation the Initiative.

* Dawn Summers — Buffy's younger sister, Dawn, is actually a mystical orb of energy who was turned into human form by her guardians.

Dawn suffers from abandonment issues due to both her mother and Buffy having died in the same year she entered Buffy's life ; she considers the Scooby Gang to be her surrogate family and is very close to them.

They are mentored by the school librarian who is also Buffy's Watcher, Rupert Giles ( Anthony Stewart Head ), who often works closely with Willow in researching the various monsters the group encounters.

Willow takes on the leadership role when Buffy is unavailable, and her growing powers sometimes make her resent being positioned as Buffy's sidekick.

Scholar Farah Mendlesohn asserts that Willow's realization that she is in love with Tara allows viewers to re-interpret Willow's relationship with Buffy ; in the first three seasons, Willow is often disappointed that she is not a higher priority to Buffy, and even after Willow enters a relationship with Tara, still desires to feel integral to Buffy's cause and the Scooby Gang.

By the seventh season, she is the most powerful person in Buffy's circle.

Season six ( 2001 – 2002 ) depicts Buffy's struggle with depression and loss after being ripped out of a place like Heaven by her friends, who thinking she is trapped in a Hell dimension, perform a spell to bring her back from the dead.

Notably, Spike's first act in Sunnydale is to attack Buffy and a large group of people at her school, making his first appearance the deadliest of any of Buffys " Big Bads ", as he very nearly kills Buffy, but Buffy's mother distracts Spike long enough for Buffy to recover.

Though Buffy is disgusted by this, her hostility towards him fades considerably when she learns that Spike refused, even under intense torture, to reveal the identity of The Key to Glory, nearly laying down his life to protect Buffy's sister Dawn.

When Buffy's decision sees the world lose its magic, Spike is the only one to be emphatically supportive of the decision she had to make.

He spends the summer desperately following up every clue as to Buffy's whereabouts, and is overjoyed when she finally returns months later.

As Buffy's Cruciamentum approaches ( a brutal tradition of the Watchers ' Council in which a depowered Slayer is forced to battle a particularly dangerous vampire using only her wits ), Giles struggles to cope with the guilt of betraying Buffy's trust.

Giles is fired, and replaced with Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, but continues to act as Buffy's unofficial Watcher, proving especially helpful when Wesley turns out to be an incompetent coward.

This is seen most poignantly in " The Body " when her inability to comprehend Buffy's mother's death leads to inappropriate remarks which at first make others angry, but then allow for catharsis and comfort.