Q: What’s the dealie-yo with this show? Give me the run-down!

A: The basic premise is that there is a Vampire Slayer named Buffy who, well, slays vampires. Buffy also slays demons and other evil beings, and is aided by a group of people.

Q: Who aids Buffy?

A: Buffy’s friends, often called the Scooby Gang or the Slayerettes, are as follows:

• Willow; a powerful witch and Buffy’s best friend.
• Xander; a non-powered human who is extremely loyal to Buffy.
• Giles; Buffy’s Watcher, and a father figure to the Scooby Gang.
• Dawn; Buffy’s sister, used to be a mystical ball of green energy but was changed to be a human.
• Anya; Xander’s ex-finance, used to be a venegance demon, became human, became a venegance demon again, gave it up to be a human, and finally was killed during Sunnydale's destruction.

Q: What about those who used to be a part of the Scooby Gang, but aren’t anymore?

A: Sure, here they are:

• Tara; another powerful witch, used to be Willow’s girlfriend, now deceased.
• Riley; ex-military guy, Buffy’s ex-boyfriend, had vampires suck on him (but not in that way) and left Sunnydale, now happily married.
• Oz; werewolf, Willow’s ex-boyfriend, left when he couldn’t control his wolf side, can control it now, but Willow chose Tara over him so he left again.
• Angel; vampire with a soul, Buffy’s ex-boyfriend, left for Los Angeles and started his own private investigation firm, currently now running the evil law firm of Wolfram & Hart and trying to not make it so... well... evil.
• Cordelia; Queen B of the group, Xander’s ex-girlfriend, left for Los Angeles, joined Angel’s investigation firm, acquired visions, became partly demon, ascended to a higher being, came back possessed by Jasmine, had sex with Connor, gave birth to Jasmine and is currently residing in a coma being cared for by Angel and his employees at Wolfram & Hart.

Q: You forgot Spike!

A: No I didn’t. Spike was never really a part of the Scooby Gang, but he occasionally helped them out whenever it suited his fancy. Anyway, he got chipped and tried various times to remove it. He eventually got his soul back, then rid of the chip with Buffy's help, sacrificed his life to prevent an apocalypse, and is currently haunting Angel over at Wolfram & Hart.

Q: Speaking of Spike’s chip, what was up with that anyway? How did it work?

A: Spike was incapable of harming human without getting a headache in return. He, however, could harm demons. The chip automatically recognized if the being was human or not, and also worked on intent. But all of this is a moot point, as the chip is gone now.

Q: And now we come to the million-dollar question. When a Slayer dies, a new one is called. Buffy died in Season One, that called Kendra. Kendra died, and that called Faith. So why, when Buffy died at the end of Season Five, did that not call a new Slayer?

A: Because every Slayer gets only one replacement. Buffy’s replacement was Kendra. When Buffy died in Season One, the lineage passed on to Kendra. And when Kendra died, the lineage went to Faith. Faith is the official “Slayer” according to the Slayer lineage. The only way to make a new slayer is to kill Faith.

Q: So you can’t make a “Slayer Army”?

A: Only if you're Willow and have access to a mystical sycthe that was forged specificially for the Slayer. Then yeah, you can make a "Slayer Army" as happened in the final Buffy episode. Otherwise? Nope.

Q: So why, when Faith went into a coma, did that not call forth a new Slayer?

A: Because Faith wasn’t clinically dead. And yes, that means that if a Slayer went into a coma, the vampires could have a party.

Q: Where is Faith now, anyway?

A: She went to jail for a bit, but now she's roaming the countryside as a fugitive.

Q: OK, changing topics here. What exactly does a Watcher do? Watch?

A: Yes. No! A Watcher trains and teaches the Slayer. And, on occasional, a Watcher will get involved in battles. But the Watcher’s main purpose is to train the Slayer and supervise her.

Q: What’s up with the Watchers’ Council?

A: The Watchers’ Council is basically a bunch of pompous, self-satisfied British buttholes. And they have terrible organization skills as well.

Q: How does the Watcher’s Council know when a Slayer is called?

A: When the previous Slayer dies, of course! As for how they know who the new Slayer is, it’s never been shown on the show, but I think it’s safe to assume they probably have a bunch of psychics working for them, and the psychics tell them who and where the new Slayer is.

Q: We saw with Kendra that she was trained her whole life to be a Slayer. How can the Watchers predict who will be chosen?

A: The Watchers can’t. But what they can do is find a pool of likely candidates and train them. Which is what they did with Kendra. They’re not always right, though. Both Buffy and Faith fell through the cracks and weren’t identified by the Watchers’ Council as potential Slayers before they were chosen.

Q: So does that mean that there are a bunch of girls waiting around to get chosen who end up never being chosen?

A: As we saw during Season Seven, yes. Sucks to be them, eh? Thank goodness that Willow fella came along, huh?

Q: So how exactly does a Slayer get chosen, if the Watchers don’t choose them?

A: It’s never been revealed, but the most likely explanation is that The Powers That Be choose the Slayer depending on their needs. Buffy was very likely chosen because the Hellmouth was going to be opened soon, and TPTB needed somebody close by to prevent that from happening.

Q: So do we know whom the Slayer before Buffy was?

A: It’s never been revealed on the TV show. However, a novel, “The Book of Fours,” did deal with that question. According to the novel, India was her name. However, do bear in mind that the novels aren’t necessarily canon, and if the TV show ever decides to deal with the identity of the Slayer before Buffy, the writers might very well decide to create a completely new character instead. But for now, we’ll go with India.

Q: Changing topics again, what’s up with Angel and his soul?

A: Angel used to be a pretty vicious bastard of a vampire, until one night he feed on a gypsy girl. The gypsy’s family decided to curse him with a soul, so that Angel would feel remorse and pain for his actions. The catch is, if he ever felt perfect happiness, he would lose his soul.

Q: Right, and that happened when Angel had sex with Buffy. So why did Angel not lose his soul when he had sex with Darla?

A: Because having sex does not equal perfect happiness. For Angel, sex with Buffy was perfect happiness, but sex with Darla was just a roll in the hay.

Q: Speaking of Darla, what the heck is up with her? I thought she died in Season One?

A: She did die when Angel staked her. But then the evil law firm, Wolfram & Hart, resurrected her as a human. Unfortunately, Darla used to be a prostitute, and thus had syphilis, which was killing her. Drusilla eventually turned her into a vampire again.

Q: OK, so how the heck did she get pregnant in the first place?!? Vampires can’t produce children!

A: Jasmine did it! And she's also the one who brought Angel back from Hell and provided the Miracle Snow, in case you were wondering. Pretty much everything that happened to Angel from Buffy Season Three to Angel Season Three? It's Jasmine.

Q: Tell me about Connor! How is it he was born one year and then months later on, he's a teenager!

A: Connor was a normal and healthy baby, that ended up being kidnapped by a vampire hunter named Holtz. Holtz's family was killed long ago by Angelus when he was evil, so Holtz wanted to return the favor. But Holtz had a change of heart and decided to take the baby and raise it as his own... in a hell dimension called Qu'ar'toth. Connor grew up there, raised by Holtz until they both came back to our dimension months later, but because time in Qu'ar'toth passes faster there, Connor went from child to teenager while Holtz went from adult to old man. Since Connor returned, Holtz died, framing Angel, Connor and Angel fought several times, Connor slept with Cordelia and impregnated her with an entity that would become Jasmine (Don't ask. Really.) and then Connor went nuts and became such a danger to himself and others that Angel made a deal with Wolfram & Hart that resulted in everyone but Angel's memory of Connor being wiped out. Including Connor, who now has a normal life as a normal teenager and has a normal life and normal (but false) memories to go with it.

Q: By the way, is the movie canon?

A: Yes and no. Parts of the movie are canon, parts are not. Here’s a quick rundown.

What’s the same in the movie and the TV show?

• The character of Buffy Summers. A perky cheerleader who is chosen to slay vampires, but would rather lead a normal life.
• Buffy’s parents are Joyce and Hank.
• Buffy attended Hemery High School.
• Buffy’s first Watcher was named Merrick. Merrick was killed.

What’s not the same?

• In the movie, Buffy never burnt down the gym. On the TV show, she did.
• In the movie, vampires could fly. On the TV show, they can’t.
• In the movie, vampires don’t turn into dust when you stake them. On the TV show, every single vampire has turned into dust when staked except for Dracula.
• In the movie, the Slayer and the Watcher were reincarnated, and the Slayer had a birthmark – a mole above her lips. On the TV show, Slayers aren’t reincarnated, they simply get chosen when the previous one dies. And there’s a Council of Watchers. And no birthmarks for Buffy, Kendra, Faith, the Chinese Slayer, or Nancy (the 1970’s Slayer) either.

What might be the same, but might not be?

• The character of Pike. Buffy’s never mentioned him at all, but that doesn’t mean anything.
• Likewise, that vampire Buffy fought in the movie. No mention of them on the TV show so far, but all that could mean is that Buffy doesn’t like to talk about her Hemery High days.