Strict Rules The Slayers Had To Follow On Buffy

"In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer." There's no better way to introduce the greatest collection of vampire hunters in history. The story of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" defined a generation of TV fans and created some of the coolest demon-fighting heroes of all time.

The Slayers are women imbued with enhanced strength, speed, agility, and senses that make them able to stand toe-to-toe with some truly dangerous supernatural enemies. Slayers fight vampires, save lives, and prevent the apocalypse on a near-daily basis, and most of the time the world never even notices the work that they do. Between the TV show and everything that happened after "Buffy" Season 7, we've learned quite a lot about where Slayers come from and how they operate.

Slayers follow a set of rules that have been haphazardly created throughout history by the Council of Watchers and by Slayers themselves. Some of the rules are simple reminders that help keep a Slayer alive as long as possible, and others are strict dictums meant to protect the safety of all humanity. Naturally, Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy breaks almost every single one of them. 

Slayers aren't technically superheroes, but while fighting evil, they do follow the number one rule of cool comic book characters everywhere: Never reveal your secret identity. Buffy is supposed to keep her powers to herself, and she's supposed to help keep the world of vampires, demons, and deadly creatures a secret. Throughout "Buffy," we see examples of people getting sucked into the Slayer's world and suffering because of it. The titular character's friends and family are always at risk, and even her classmates are in a little more danger because they go to school with the Slayer. To a certain extent, it makes sense for Slayers to try and keep their superpowered lives secret.

But, on the other hand, does it really? Maybe the rules worked for Slayers in the past, but they seem a little out of place in Buffy's actual life. The people of Sunnydale are constantly bombarded by all sorts of supernatural threats, and they might actually appreciate the knowledge that someone out there is working to save them. Of course, Buffy does break the rule on some select occasions. She lets her friends, and eventually her mom, into her world, and she arguably becomes a better Slayer by doing so. This is one of several strict Slayer rules that should probably be retired.

This is a rule that Buffy apparently learned well before her first day at Sunnydale High. In the very first episode of "Buffy," Xander (Nicholas Brendon) gets clued into his new friend's secret life when a stake falls out of her purse. At that point, Buffy didn't know that Sunnydale sits right on top of a Hellmouth, but she was still ready to fight at a moment's notice.

Other people also seem to be aware of this rule. When Angel first met Buffy just after she arrived in Sunnydale, he gave her a silver cross necklace as a gift. That necklace later helps Buffy fend off an attack from the vampire Luke (Brian Thompson), reminding her and us that there's more than one way to be ready for battle with vampires. As the show progresses, we see Buffy and her friends setting up stockpiles of weapons in the library, at Buffy's house, and eventually at the Magic Box.

You'd think that every character in the show would internalize the importance of having a weapon handy, but that isn't necessarily the case. On more than one occasion we see people like Xander and Willow (Alyson Hannigan, who never seems to get cast in Hollywood anymore) getting caught out after dark and without a stake, and Buffy always ends up needing to step in to save the day. This is a rule that everyone in the Buffyverse should follow, but as long as the Slayer always stays on top of it, the people around her can get a little lax with the rule.

Slayers might be superpowered vampire hunters, but technically they aren't the ones who are supposed to be leading the fight against evil. The Watchers have created an organization dedicated to training and directing Slayers, and normally they would be responsible for calling the shots. Watchers are supposed to oversee everything a Slayer does, but Buffy's relationship with Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) goes completely against that arrangement.

In the first couple of seasons, Buffy's willingness to completely disregard what Giles has to say is just part of the status quo. Giles does his best to support Buffy in everything she does, but he learns early on that the two of them are going to have a much more casual relationship than a typical Slayer and Watcher. It's not until Season 3 that "Buffy" shows us how far outside the norm Giles is as a Watcher. When the Council of Watchers starts intervening in Buffy's affairs by sending Wesley (Alexis Denisof) to Sunnydale, they make it crystal clear that Slayers obeying their Watchers is a strict rule.

Naturally, the Council doesn't get its way. With the help of Giles and the rest of the Scooby Gang, Buffy effectively resists the Council's rules and pushes their influence out of town. Once again, Buffy proves that even the strictest Slayer rules can have exceptions because her unique relationship with Giles is part of what makes her such an effective Slayer.

Some rules were meant to be broken. This isn't one of them, but Buffy breaks it all the time anyway. Even though Slayers will fight any demon or evil force that threatens a person's life, vampires are their number one foe. Most vampires spend at least a portion of their time looking and behaving like normal human beings, but Slayers are supposed to stay vigilant and not fall into the trap of thinking of vampires as people.

Buffy's never been particularly good at that. Her first serious boyfriend was Angel (David Boreanaz), a vampire with a long and extremely bloody history. When they started dating, Buffy got around that rule because Angel had a soul, but when he lost his soul in Season 2, Buffy learned just how dangerous it can be to let a vampire into her life. Naturally, she made that mistake several more times.

Some of the best relationships on "Buffy" are between our hero and a vampire she's not supposed to trust. Spike's (James Marsters) presence with the Scooby Gang almost proves that some soulless vampires can be reliable friends, but there's always at least one exception to the rule. Most vampires are like Holden (Jonathan M. Woodward) in the Season 7 episode "Conversations with Dead People." Yes, they can hold a conversation, and they can even be nice for a while, but at the end of the day, they can't fight their evil, demonic nature. One way or another, their story ends with a Slayer's stake in their chest.

You don't even need to watch a whole episode of "Buffy" to understand this Slayer rule. All you have to do is watch the show's intro, which explains exactly what Slayers do. Slayers are supposed to fight back against the forces of evil, protecting humanity from all kinds of demons and supernatural terrors. The fact that they aren't supposed to use their powers to help themselves goes without saying — or, at least, it should go without saying.

If you're familiar with the best "Buffy" secondary characters, then you'll know that there's one Slayer who could be single-handedly responsible for this rule needing to be written down. Buffy's temporary death at the end of Season 1 caused there to be two Slayers at once, and in Season 3, Faith (Eliza Dushku) steps into the role of the second Slayer. Faith's character arc sees her being swayed by Sunnydale's evil mayor and her own self-serving tendencies. Faith has no problem using her powers to make her life better by doing things like breaking into stores and taking whatever she wants. Faith's downward spiral starts with her disregarding her true responsibilities as the Slayer, and it ends with her breaking the most important Slayer rule there is.

Slayers are meant to be protectors of humanity, so of course they aren't supposed to kill humans. Even when a human being is working with vampires and demons, Slayers are supposed to spare their lives. The rule against killing humans is more than just a practical or moral matter: Slayers have a demonic essence within them that gives them all of their enhanced abilities. Because of that essence, the possibility of a Slayer becoming evil is a real danger, and it's something that people have been concerned about since the creation of the very first Slayer.

Forbidding Slayers from killing humans is a way of keeping Slayers more connected to their humanity than the demonic powers within them. Thanks to Faith, we've seen how dangerous a Slayer can be when she's no longer committed to saving the world, and there's not a big jump from killing a person to becoming a full-blown villain. Slayers can spiral out of control quickly, so this rule is as much for their sanity as it is for our safety. To be fair to Faith, she killed Deputy Mayor Allan Finch by accident, mistaking him for a vampire. Mistake or not, it had a huge impact on her as a character.

The best and worst "Buffy" episodes all have one thing in common: training scenes. Slayers might have powers, but that doesn't mean they can take it easy. Even with her enhanced strength and speed, Buffy still needs to put in the work. Slayers are supposed to train every single day, and in "Buffy," we see how strict that rule is meant to be.

In the early seasons of the show, our favorite Slayer spends plenty of her downtime in the Sunnydale High library studying fighting techniques and mastering different weapons. In those years, Buffy was still just a kid, and she had Giles guiding her through everything she needed to know. After graduating, Buffy still had to keep up her training regimen, and she continued working with Giles at his house and later at the Magic Box.

Slayers take training so seriously that Buffy didn't even get to take a break after dying. In Season 6, Buffy is still coping with her experiences in the afterlife, and Giles is right there, trying to help her get back into her old routine with her training regimen. Buffy's training story comes full circle in Season 7 when she finally gets to step into the teacher role while helping the Potentials. Of course, as a teacher, Buffy's arguably putting in even more hours than she was as Giles' student.

Slayers have their Watchers to rely on outside of battle, but in the heat of the moment, they only have themselves. That's why it's so important for them to stay in fighting shape, though it's just as important for them to learn how to trust themselves. Slayers should be able to instinctively identify their enemies and know the best way to go about bringing them down.

This is one of the earliest lessons that Giles tried to teach Buffy. In the show's premiere, Buffy runs into Giles at the Bronze, and the two of them have a conversation on the balcony overlooking the dance floor. Giles tries to explain to Buffy the importance of tapping into her Slayer instincts. He says that she should be able to sense vampires and demons around her and that she should be able to spot them without hesitation.

To Buffy's credit, she does immediately identify a vampire at the Bronze — but she doesn't use any of her Slayer powers to do it. Instead, Buffy realizes that a boy who's flirting with Willow is a vampire because of how far out of date his fashion choices are. From the very beginning, Buffy trusted her instincts. She just didn't always lean on her supernatural ones.

When it comes to protecting humanity from the forces of evil, Slayers tend to take a very hands-on approach. Their skillset mostly lends itself to staking vampires through the heart and punching demons into next week, but there are times when taking the direct approach isn't the best thing to do. Buffy and her friends learn early on that magic can be a powerful tool in their arsenal, and Willow specifically dives into the mystical and occult head first.

Magic in the Buffyverse can be as simple or complex as you can imagine. A witch might make a pencil float or trap a human soul inside an ancient vampire. As the years progress, Willow becomes one of the most powerful members of the Scooby Gang because of her magical proficiency, but the more she learns, the more she realizes just how dangerous magic can be.

Season 6 really shows the terrible effects magic can have on the people who use it. Throughout the season, Willow becomes reliant on magic, and she starts using it for mundane tasks like changing her clothes. Her reliance on magic puts a wedge in her relationship with Tara (Amber Benson) and nearly splits them up for good, but Willow has a hard time letting go of the power she's obtained. At the end of the season, magic takes control of Willow, and she nearly ends the world. Thankfully, things turn out alright.

There are a handful of strict Slayer rules that apply to Buffy more than any other Slayer in history, and this is one of them. Every Slayer faces extreme danger in her life, and almost all of them experience some terrible loss related to their fight against vampires. That said, only a few Slayers find themselves fighting battles for the fate of the world, and as "Buffy" fans know, our titular hero has been one of those special Slayers time and time again.

Buffy's first near-apocalyptic experience came in the show's very first season. Technically, Buffy managed to avoid two apocalypses in that first 12-episode arc. In "The Harvest," vampires are trying to complete a ritual that will bring The Master (Mark Metcalf) back to his full power, and Buffy manages to save the day at the last second. At the end of the season, the Master is once again making an attempt to return to our world, and Buffy barely manages to stop him.

Unlike many other Slayers throughout history, Buffy lives directly on top of a Hellmouth, which means she gets to experience the worst that the demonic forces have to offer. She and her friends face down an apocalypse about every 18 months, and at a certain point, they barely blink when they learn that a new potentially world-ending threat has come to town. Armageddon is all in a day's work.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" changed TV forever, which is funny because, in the show's universe, Buffy Summers changed the role of the Slayer permanently. When she became the Slayer, Buffy stepped into an ancient tradition full of pre-established practices and a lengthy list of strict rules. However, she also helped establish new rules for future Slayers: Buffy introduced teamwork into the Slayer tradition.

Before Buffy, Slayers were basically all lone wolves. Some of them had close relationships with their Watcher and the Council of Watchers, but when it came time to actually head into a fight, they were on their own. That's partly because the dangerous lifestyle a Slayer leads is incredibly isolating, but it's also because the Council seemed to think that Slayers worked best when they were alone. Time and again, Buffy not only bucks this trend, but also shows how counterproductive it is.

Buffy's friends make her life less lonely and much more liveable, but they also genuinely contribute to the larger Slayer project. Buffy would have died without Xander stepping in to save her in the Season 1 finale, and the world would have been lost countless times without Willow's magical intervention. Buffy turned being the Slayer into a group project well before she literally created a legion of new Slayers at the end of Season 7. She proved that Slayers don't need to be on their own and that they can be even more effective with friends in their corner.