Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Tropes (General): Difference between revisions

== General Tropes A-G ==

* [[Abandoned Warehouse]]

** Almost every character on the show has at least one parent who is abusive or neglectful. For instance, Tara's father, who convinced her that she was a demon.

** Also Buffy's father, who does not show up when {{spoiler|Buffy's mom dies}}, forcing Buffy to take care of her underage sister; Xander's father, who is an alcoholic; Spike's mother, who tried to [[Parental Incest|come onto him]] after being turned into a vampire; and Principal Wood's mother, who prioritized her Slayer duties over him. The latter is witnessed from six-year-old Wood's point of view, which is somewhat biased.

* [[All Women Love Shoes]]: At least Buffy and Cordelia have one thing in common.

* [[Alternate Universe]]: Plenty of em, 3 mentioned or seen: The Wishverse, the One with No Shrimp and the One That Is All Shrimp.

* [[Ancient Conspiracy]]: The Watcher's Council.

* [[Ancient Grome]]: Justified, seeing as all the various gods seem to exist.

* [[And I'm the Queen of Sheba]]: One aspiring heir to the Master chatters on that when he kills Buffy, it'll be the greatest event since the Crucifixion. "And I should know. I was there." Behind him, Spike's famous voice cuts in:

{{quote|Spike: Oh please! If every vampire who ''said'' he was at the Crucifixion was actually there, it would've been like [[Woodstock]].}}

** In his first scene, Willy demurs that he's staying away from that whole vampire scene and "living right." ("What's My Line, Pt.1")

{{quote|'''Angel''': Sure you are, Willy. And I'm taking up sunbathing.}}

* [[Anti-Hero]]: Willow, after Glory does her sanity-sucking thing to Tara. YMMV on killing Warren. Spike's also an anti-hero, as is Giles by the end of the show

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: {{spoiler|Ms. Calendar, Joyce, Tara, Anya and Spike.}} After they make the switch to ''[[Angel]]'', {{spoiler|Cordelia and Wesley, though Spike gets better}}. You [[Joss Whedon|have to expect this]].

* [[Apocalypse How]]: Several times, at varying levels. See the trope page for details.

* [[Ask a Stupid Question]]: In the pilot, Joyce asks if Buffy's going out to a nightclub.

{{quote|'''Joyce:''' Oh. Will there be boys there?

'''Buffy:''' No, Mom. It's a nun club. }}

** In "The Harvest", Harmony asks Cordelia if they're going to the Bronze tonight. "No," Cordy snorts, "we're going to the other cool place in Sunnydale." Harmony seems to [[Dumb Blonde|struggle with that conundrum]].

{{quote|'''Xander:''' No, Will, they're going to be clog dancing.

'''Willow:''' ''(amazed)'' Cibo Matto '''can clog dance'''?! ''([[Beat]])'' ...[[Does Not Understand Sarcasm|oh, sarcasm, right]]. }}

{{quote|'''Jonathan''': You think I just want attention?

'''Buffy''': No, I think you're up in the clock tower with a high-powered rifle because you wanna blend in. }}

{{quote|'''Wishverse Xander:''' ''(warily)'' ...Buffy. The Slayer?

'''Cordelia:''' No! Buffy the dog-faced girl! }}

* [[Bad Guy Bar]]: Willy's.

** [[Played for Laughs]] with the Sunset Club, a mecca for dorks.

** The billard table at The Bronze is usually an indicator that someone's up to no good. Xander is angrily playing a game by himself when Faith approaches him with a plan to dust Angel. ("Revelations")

** Percy, the basketball jock who exploits Willow to pass his tests, is cockily shooting pool when Vampire Willow (from the Wishverse) strolls in. ("Doppelgangland")

* [[Baddie Flattery]]: In her nightmare encounter with the Master, he comments that Buffy is prettier than the last Slayer. He compliments her aim in "Prophecy Girl", after casually [[Arrow Catch|catching her crossbow bolt]].

** The Mayor concurs with that assessment. ("Choices") "She's pretty, Angel! [[Expecting Someone Taller|A little skinny]]."

* [[Basement Dweller]]: Xander, The Trio, Spike.

* [[Battle Trophy]]: Spike's duster.

** As punishment for {{spoiler|murdering Ms. Calender}}, Giles pays a visit to Angelus and greets him with a kerosene-soaked flaming bat to the head.

{{quote|'''Angelus:''' Jeez, whatever happened to [[Good Old Ways|wooden stakes?]]}}

* [[Battle Couple]]: Each of Buffy's boyfriends (Angel, Riley, Spike) are combat-ready.

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: Happens frequently, as you might expect from living on a Hellmouth. Here are just a few examples.

** The M.O. of vengeance demons.

** Quoted by Halloween costume fashionista Ethan Rayne. "Don't wish to blow my own trumpet, but it's genius. The very embodiment of 'be careful what you wish for'."

** "Helpless" depicts what would happen if Buffy were truly a [[I Just Want to Be Normal|normal girl]]] stuck in a house with vampires.

** A scorned Xander performing a [[Love Potion|love spell]] on Cordelia. Needless to say, it backfires.

{{quote|'''Giles:''' I cannot believe that you are [[Who Would Be Stupid Enough...?|fool enough to do something like this!]]<br />

'''Xander''': Oh, no, I'm ''twice'' the fool it takes to do something like this. }}

** The Trio wanted to be taken seriously as super villains. Willow skinned Warren and Jonathan & Andrew fled the country.

* [[Because Destiny Says So]]

** Billy Idol stole his look from Spike

** Martha Stewart is a witch.

* [[Big Brother Instinct]]: Spike to Dawn.

* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: Spells are almost always done in another language, often a dead one like Latin.

* [[Black Eyes of Evil]]: Tend to accompany spellcasting.

* [[Blonde, Brunette, Redhead]]: Buffy (blonde) Willow (redhead) but it's a toss up amongst Cordelia, Anya or Dawn when it comes to the brunette.

** These hair colour stereotypes are heavily inverted. Buffy is hardly a [[Dumb Blonde]], Willow is easily the quietest of the trio and not [[Fiery Redhead|fiery]] normally. And if there's one thing Xander isn't, it's [[Brainy Brunette|brainy]].

* [[Blood Magic]]: In the Master's first attempt at an early parole, his [[The Dragon|Dragon]] Luke volunteers to become the Master's "Vessel", supplying him with power by feeding on human blood.

** It's Buffy's blood which ultimately allows the Master to break free. ("Prophecy Girl")

** In the Season Two premiere, the Master's acolytes attempt a ritual to bring him back to life. This involves [[Slashed Throat|slitting the necks]] of his adversaries (ie the Scoobies) and wetting his skeleton with their blood.

* [[Bloodless Carnage]]: ''Lots'' of death, lots of vampires sucking blood out of people, a few plain old slit throats, very little red.

** "That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, bingo!"

** "Hey Ken, wanna see my impression of Gandhi?" ('''[[Carry a Big Stick|SPLAT]]''')

* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]] / [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]]

* [[Brick Joke]]: "Passions" has a throwaway line about the Orb of Thesulah being sold to dumb New Agers as paperweights. In the Season Finale, Giles mentions he has been using one as a paperweight.

** The origin of Chanterelle's name.

** Xander looks forward to leaving school so he can finally tell Snyder what he thinks of him ("What's My Line, Pt. 1"). This never happens, but in "Restless" Xander does have a cathartic exchange in his [[Dream Sequence]]. ("You know, I never got the chance to tell you how glad I was you were eaten by a snake.")

* [[Conservation of Ninjutsu]]: Frequently applies to vampires, and more [[All the Tropes Wiki Drinking Game|egregiously]] to the Turok-Han.

* [[Continuity Lock Out]]: Happens at least three times in-universe. First Joyce has to learn what it means that her daughter's a slayer, then Riley does the same and later learns about Faith, then in season seven, Principal Wood is out in the cold apropos all the things that have happened to Spike. The first time it's a [[Tear Jerker]], the second just a [[Lampshade Hanging]], the last one a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].

** Mainly because if it were restored it would actually be pretty cool.

* [[Coolest Club Ever]]: The Bronze, literally the only club in town.

* [[Cryptic Background Reference]]

* [[Cutesy Name Town]]: Welcome to ''"Sunnydale,"'' the most evil and horrible place on the planet, next to [[Running Gag|Cleveland]].

** Willow congratulates Buffy from moving on from Angel ...then makes the mistake asking the Scoobies if they approve of the new guy, Scott. "He didn't try to slit our throats or anything," quips Cordelia. "It's progress." ("Faith, Hope, and Trick")

{{quote|'''Buffy:''' A ''lot'' of people came to my Welcome Home party.

'''Willow:''' But they were eaten by zombies. }}

** At a pep rally in the same episode, Oz muses that the cheerleaders' spelling has improved.

* [[Dangerous Workplace]]: The Magic Box's storekeeper keeps getting killed over the seasons. In "Real Me", Giles decides to buy the shop and run it with the Scooby Gang there to hangout and protect ''him''.

** On a creepy note, ''none'' of the magic store's owners have lived. This includes {{spoiler|Anya}} (killed by a Bringer) and {{spoiler|Giles}} (killed in Season Eight).

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Oz, Spike, Buffy, Xander.

** Giles also has his moments.

** The Annointed One tries this on Buffy in "Prophecy Girl", standing on the school lawn and wahing for help. Buffy sees right through him.

** Inverted with Faith's introductory scene, when the Scoobies rush in to 'rescue' her from a disco vampire.

* [[Did Mom Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?]]: Angelus and Joyce. Spike and Joyce, for laughs.

** [[Running Gag|And later, Dracula and Joyce.]]

** Dawn believing she's a Potential = pregnancy

** Buffy revealing she's as a slayer to her mother = coming out of the closet. The initial incident aside, Joyce later refers to a figurative "Slayer [[Pride Parade]]"...

** Dawn finding out she's The Key = adoption

** Riley letting vampires feed on him = prostitution

** One dream at the end of Season 3 prophesies Dawn, who shows up in Season 5. It even gives the number of days until Buffy's death at the end of Season 5... at the end of Season 3.

* [[Dresses the Same]]: In the episode "Angel", Cordelia spots a girl wearing a dress identical to her own, and accuses her of wearing a cheap knockoff of her designer original. The girl scurries off with Cordelia in hot pursuit, haranguing her. "This is exactly what happens when you sign these free trade agreements!"

* [[The Dragon]]: The Master has [[Co-Dragons]] in Luke and Darla.

** The Annointed One becomes a [[Dragon Ascendant]] following the Master's death. The vampire preacher Absalom could be considered the A.O.'s Dragon.

** Magic=drugs, complete with dealers.

*** And don't lets forget Riley's blood-addiction thing (which is also played with in Angel, to an even further degree)

** In the episode "Angel", Things aren't going so well between Buffy and her fan club. As the leader of the Three is going for the kill, Angel suddenly yanks his hair from behind and punches him in the face.

{{quote|'''Angel''': Good dogs don't... [socks vampire] '''[[Punctuated Pounding|bite!]]'''}}

{{quote|'''Angelus''': ''(to Giles)'' All right, you've had your fun, but you know what it's time for now?

'''Buffy: [[Walk in Chime In|My fun.]]''' }}

{{quote|"[[Villainous Rescue|Hello, cutie]]."}}

** In the same episode, Angelus readies himself to free Acathla as his acolytes look on. Buffy enters quietly behind one of the henchvamps and cleanly decapitates him. O hai!

* [[Embarrassing Cover Up]]

* [[End of an Age]]

* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]: "I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of ''apocalypse''".

* [[Estranged Soap Family]]: Hank Summers, who was gradually retconned into being a deadbeat dad. He made one reappearance in later seasons, but as part of the [[Cuckoo Nest]].

* [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones]]

{{quote|"The truth is I like this world. You've got... [beat] dog racing. [[British Footy Teams|Manchester United]]. And you've got people. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It's all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision. With a real passion for destruction. Angel could pull it off. [[Waxing Lyrical|Goodbye, Piccadilly. Farewell, Leicester Bloody Square]], y'know what I'm saying?"}}

* [[Everybody Has Lots of Sex]] : Averted. In the seven-year series, Buffy only has four sexual partners (Angel, Parker, Riley and Spike), Willow has three (Oz, Tara and Kennedy) and Xander has two (Faith and Anya, not counting demonic seductions with intentions on his life). With the exception of Parker and Faith, two one-night-stands who promptly abandoned the cast regulars after the event, all these relationships evolved into sexual contact after prolonged friendship and/or dating.

* [[Evil Counterpart]]: Giles in particular racked up a high count, if only because anyone with a vaguely [[Evil Mentor|mentor-like]] personality or [[Evil Brit|British accent]] will qualify. Giles had an evil counterpart on ''Angel'', too, despite never even appearing on that show!

** For another example, look at Gnarl from "Same Time, Same Place" and tell us he doesn't remind you of [[Lord of the Rings|Gollum.]] They even have the same habit of referring to themselves in the third person.

* [[Exposition of Immortality]]: It's a TV show with vampires and demons and werewolves, oh my! There was going to have to be some of this going on at some point. Being television means a lot of it comes through flashbacks; mainly provided for Angel as Angellus, Angel being cursed by the gypsies, Angellus being evil with Spike and Dru etc.

** When the earthquake stops, and the Master, in mid-rant, asides, "Whaddaya think? 5.1?"

** "Prophecy Girl:" When he wakes up, tell him...I dunno. Think of [[Facing the Bullets One-Liner|something cool]]. Tell him I said it.

* [[Girlish Pigtails]]: Buffy sports pigtails while working incognito at a [[Greasy Spoon]].

** Buffy during Giles's dream sequence in the episode "Restless." Buffy's attitude in the scene is that of a much younger child, and Giles is essentially her father.

** Wishverse Buffy from the alternate universe ("The Wish") wears green camo and has a prominent scar across her mouth.

* [[Graying Morality]]: Gradually, over the course of all seasons, the gaps between the clear white and black of the first season fade. Never hits [[Grey and Gray Morality]], though.

* [[Hollywood Dateless]]: ''Everybody''. Not least of which [[Sarah Michelle Gellar|Miss Maybelline]] herself.

* [[Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday]]: Except of course when Dawn is in trouble. Other than that Halloween (despite being boycotted by any self-respecting demon), Buffy's birthday party, and any school event is a guaranteed demon magnet.

** Willow as well.

** Xander is a massive example. Continuously blows down on Spike at any chance he gets for his past crimes. Yet it's never mentioned that Anya, who is far older than Spike, spent 1000 torturing and killing men, not to mention being a misanthropic man hater. And to make matters worse, Anya has never been sorry for doing what Vengeance Demons do, and caught nowhere near the amount of criticism Xander gave to Spike, or even Angel.

** Buffy glancing up from her career aptitude test to inquire, "Do I like shrubs?"

{{quote|'''Xander''': That's between you and your God.}}

** In "Earshot", Buffy, discussing her "Touch of the Demon", is obliged to mention that it was "A ''good'' touch. Not a bad touch."

** Cordelia in her cheerleader uniform. "I still have knee marks on my back."

{{quote|'''Buffy:''' You're not an animal. Animals I like.}}

** In "Lover's Walk", Spike sobs that he's "nothing" without Dru, a sentiment which Buffy is inclined to agree with. "You're not even a loser anymore. You're a shell of a loser."

* [[Internal Affairs]]: The Watcher's Council keeps its Slayers on a tight leash. In fact, they have an entire wetworks team dedicated to taking down rogue Slayers. The Watchers themselves (poor Giles) are also under close scrutiny.

* [[Interplay of Sex and Violence]]: As far as vamps are concerned, there is no separating wall.

** "Once More With Feeling" has Xander (more through foolishness than malice) summon a demon that danced several people to death and caused several unwanted confessions.

** Willow tried to end the world and all she got was a summer getaway to England.

** Anya even lampshades this when complaining about Buffy's treatment of her in a season 7 episode, pointing out that Buffy's entire team was evil at one time.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Dru and Angelus even take it to [[Squick]] levels.

* [[Killed Off for Real]]: {{spoiler|Miss Calender}}, {{spoiler|Tara}}, and several Potencial Slayers over the course of Season Seven. The Series Finale also saw the abrupt death of {{spoiler|Anya}}.

* [[Kiss Me I Am Virtual]]: April, the Buffybot.

** Don't forget the demon that turned the Internet and any computer connected to it into his plaything, trying to romance Willow.

* [[Knight Templar]]: The Knights of Byzantium.

** The Watcher's Council.

{{quote|'''Buffy:''' Let's be realistic Willow, your basic spells are usually only about 50/50.

'''Willow:''' Oh yeah? Well... so's your face! }}

'''Willow''': ''(stands up in her defense)'' Buffy would never do that! --Oh. Except for that... [[Hypocrisy Nod|sometimes you do that]]. ''(sits)'' }}

** In "Revelations", rogue Watcher Gwendoyln Post exploits the rift between Faith & Buffy to conceal her own hunt for a mystical glove. When Angel gets in her way, Gwen sic Faith onto him, also.

* [[Love Floats]]: Tara and Willow do this a few times.

* [[Mad Scientist]]: Professor Walsh, Warren Mears, Ted.

* [[Magic Floppy Disk]]: Ms. Calendar's spell, Maggie Walsh's data.

* [[Monster of the Week]]: Most of the first season is this.

* [[Mooks]]: Most commonly vampires. Also, Glory's demon lackeys.

* [[Muggles Do It Better]]: Buffy blowing up the Judge with an RPG, and later the ascended Mayor with some TNT.

* [[Mundanger]]: "So, we meet at last, [[Dripping Disturbance|Mister Drippy]]."

** The Initiative. Nondescript name that starts with [[Spell My Name with a "The"|"The"]] and is an organization? The logical analytical circuits find that highly unlikely and the bullshit meter agrees.

** The name "Glory" doesn't strike fear into the hearts of the common person, but the name she's known by among the Monks? The Beast.

** Once Wesley crossed over to ''Angel'', it surfaced on that show as well.

{{quote|'''Robert Wyndam-Pryce''': Oh that's right, this is Los Angeles. [[Eagle Land|We're supposed to talk about our feelings. Then maybe we'll hug.]]}}

** While we're at it, nice work imitating Twilight, becoming possessed and {{spoiler|killing Giles,}} Angel.

** Nice job having Faith arrested just as Angel was getting through to her, Wesley.

* [[No Periods, Period]]: Flat-out averted in the movie, as Buffy gets menstrual cramps whenever a vampire is around. This is explained as her body's reaction to something perceived as unnatural (it also underscores the connection between slayer-ness and femininity).

** Xander going through Buffy's purse in search of a stake and being horrified to discover a tampon.

* [[No Smoking]]: The show has a clear bias against smoking, as every character in the show who has smoked has been either evil (Spike and the evil Angel) or doomed (Laura in Nightmares; the prostitute who was Angel’s first kill after re-losing his soul; and Sheila in School Hard). Subverted with Faith, she starts smoking after her [[Heel Face Turn]].

* [[No Bisexuals]]: Willow, from Season 4 onwards. In some episodes suggest she still has feelings for Oz (and a continuing attraction to Xander and Giles, among other male characters), whereas in some she'll chirp "gay now!" at the very idea that she could be attracted to a boy, or react to a Love Potion-induced crush by trying to turn her target into a girl (though she only did so when someone else claimed that she couldn't be attracted to him if she's gay). This could be the character's own assumption that she's gay rather than bisexual, as one of Willow's defining traits is jumping headlong into her current role (of which magic and lesbianism are both big parts) in an effort to overcome her original Shrinking Violet background.

** In "Angel", Darla reminiscences with Angel about their fling in Budapest.

** "Zeppo" is one big lampooning of this trope. The Scoobies face the deadliest threat ever, and we never see it.

* [[Not So Dire]]: Very common gag.

* [[Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering]]: The Watcher's Council. By the time of ''Angel'', even Wesley shrugs off their violent demise without much grief.

== General Tropes O-Z ==

** In "Flooded", Andrew boasts that he trained flying demon monkeys to disrupt a school play.

** In "Empty Places", Rona says, "Ding, dong, the witch is dead" when Buffy is ousted from the house.

* [[Offscreen Afterlife]]: Twice -- Buffy in Heaven and Angel in Hell.

* [[Ominous Latin Chanting]]: Most of the spoken magic in the series. Gaelic is a rare variation

* [[Opposites Attract Revenge]]

* [[Orcus on His Throne]]: Glory and the First Evil, both of whom spend long stretches of time not doing very much of anything.

** Buffy's old mentor Merrick looks different in a season 2 flashback.

* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: One comes out of the Key Portal during ''The Gift''.

* [[Shrinking Violet]]: Willow and Tara. Also, Marcie Ross from the first season is this trope taken [[Up to Eleven]]: She was so shy that she eventually began to feel invisible, a feeling that was made worse by the fact that no one in school really noticed her. The power of the Hellmouth made that feeling into reality and Marcie could no longer be seen by anyone.

* [[Shrouded in Myth]]: Some demons, and to some vamps, Buffy or Slayers in general.

* [[Simple Score of Sadness]]: Buffy and Angel's love theme.

* [[Sinister Minister]]: Caleb: Taking, mass and kicking ass.

** A Catholic Priest, Josephus du Lac, wrote a number of books containing dark rituals, resulting in du Lac being excommunicated. ("What's My Line?")

* [[Six-Student Clique]] - The high school years: Buffy = The Head and The Wild One, Willow = The Smart one, Xander = The Quirk, Cordelia = The Pretty one, Oz = The Muscle. During college, Riley became the muscle and Tara became the pretty one.

* [[Slave Mooks]]: Strangely common. The mooks of the various Big Bads are this, some only because of the Big Bad being a '''very''' [[Bad Boss]] and some due to brainwashing. Also shows up with some weekly villains like the giant worm demon thing in Bad Eggs' baby-controlled people and Spike becomes one for a bit in Season 7.

* [[Smash to Black]]

* [[Spider Sense]]: Slayers are said to be very attuned to vampires in the area; trying to sneak up on one is a bad idea. However, we've seen normals like Giles use this ability, too, so it could just be a matter of training.

** Similarly, Angel is able to detect Darla lurking in his apartment ("Angel"). The spin-off series established (late in its run, waaaaay at the end of Season Five) that vamps can sense each others' presence.

* [[Stock Phrases]]

** From "The Harvest"

* [[Superman Stays Out of Gotham]]: Buffy would be a ''big'' help in Los Angeles since, as Angel admits, she's stronger then even he. After appearing twice on ''Angel'' to read him the riot act (and wring Faith's neck), Angel tells her to [[Persona Non Grata|take her cowboy antics someplace else]].

** Fortunately for Angel, he has a spare Slayer stewing in jail.

* [[Supernatural Angst]]

* [[Surveillance as the Plot Demands]]

* [[Supervillain Lair]]:

* [[The Virus]]: Vampirism.

* [[Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World]]

* [[Wannabe Diss]]: Liberally sprinkled on everyone from [[Heroic Wannabe|Heroic Wannabes]] to [[Vampire Wannabe|Vampire Wannabes]].

* [[Weapon Twirling]]: Buffy frequently twirls her stakes.

* [[Working with the Ex]]: ''Buffy The Vampire Slayer'' is not shy about using this trope.

** [[Angel]] and Buffy during season 3 of her show.

* [[World of Snark]]: Just about every character ever seen is snarky as hell.

* [[You Have Failed Me]]: The Master kills one of his minions in episode 2. "[[Eye Scream|You have something in your eye]]."