Consider These 11 'Buffy' Fan Theories

This theory can probably be found on the internet, but it's also something I immediately assumed when Joyce Summers became ill and then died right after a mystical element, a key in the shape of an angsty teen daughter, entered her life. In supernatural lore, magic always seems to require a sacrifice — in this case, a life for a life. Meanwhile, Joyce's memory had to be messed with in order to squeeze Dawn memories in there — noodling that much with a non-slayer's brain might just be fatal. So that's two Summers' women sacrificing their lives for Dawn Summers.

OK, so when it comes down to it, the vampires are probably all inexplicably trained martial artists upon death because it made for some great television. But one fan points out on a Stack Exchange forum that this must simply mean that the soul of the original inhabitant is gone and a demon inhabits their body. In the Buffyversesome some demons happen to be martial arts experts. Such is life.

What Culture points out the alarming fact that Giles gets knocked out a way too many times to be good for his survival. There's no way someone could withstand that many blows to the head without losing a whole bunch of brain cells. This theory supposes that in later series, Giles is brain damaged and that's why he begins to behave more Ripper-like and more prone to use magic. Yikes.

Reddit user flagnut1 has latched on to the logical idea that in order for Willow to give all the slayers their power, she had to kill the previous slayer in the lineup, as a slayer only starts the gig when the Slayer before them dies. The idea is that Willow "decided to try an extremely risky spell (which she never explains to everyone, which arrogantly doing something like this is exactly in line with her character) where she basically causes a small brain hemorrhage or heart attack, in order, in a chain reaction, killing them ALL." Immediately afterwards, she revived every single last one. Willow is a very powerful witch so this theory seems so likely.

What if a lot of Joss Whedon's work was in the same 'verse? There are certainly similar themes like strong women, shady government agencies, supernatural evil, etc across his content. An theory posted on Imgur purports that Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, and The Cabin in the Woods are all apart of a world in which only a slayer, one woman, can save the world. Though this woman has a different name and the government agencies might be different, that could all be timing.

"Buffy vs. Dracula" is a really fun episode but always feels like an odd choice for a season premiere. It's just a goofy monster-of-the-week until until Dawn is revealed. But what if the reason Dracula came to town was business for the Monks of Dagon? Reddit user zixx theorizes that the dreamy vampire could possibly have collected Buffy's blood so the monks could use it to create Dawn.

Joss Whedon claimed in the DVD commentary for "Restless" that the mysterious man trying to interest the dreaming Scoobies in cheese was the "only thing that has no meaning" in Buffy. And yet, fans are inclined to disagree. One specific fan shared on their blog beautiful monsters, the super detailed idea that the cheese represents Buffy and refers to the old nursery rhyme "Farmer in the Dell" in which "the cheese stands alone." Meanwhile, the Slayer is meant to be alone in her quest to defend the world from the forces of evil. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

In a Season 6 episode titled "Normal Again," Buffy is poisoned by a demon to makes her believe she is in actuality confined to a mental hospital and her After being poisoned, Buffy comes to believe that she is confined to a mental hospital and that her life as the slayer is a delusion. Redditor theotherghostgirl decided to run with this alternative universe (the ending was ambiguous) and gave every character a persona in the mental hospital universe. It's eerie how accurate they could be.

Before Dawn comes on the scene, Buffy's father seems to be a little more involved. Sure, he has to cancel ice skating on her birthday, but he also lets her stay with him the summer after Season 1. The Buffy's Dad from Season 1 would probably have attended Buffy and Joyce's funerals. Redditor hohmeisw believes that the monks chose to replace happy fatherhood memories with negative ones so their would be less interference in protecting the key. And thus post-Dawn Dad skipped his own daughter's funeral.

In the Season 1 finale "Prophecy Girl," Buffy is drowned by the Master and dies. Angel can't give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation because he's a vampire, so Xander has to step in. One Reddit forum discusses the confusing nature of this truth. How is Spike able to smoke cigarettes and why do other vampires breath heavily on occasion if they have no breath? Redditor Sneac pointed out, "in religion/magic the breath is life. Ergo, no life, no breath useful to a human."

Before Buffy's 18th birthday in Season 3, Willow casts a protection charm on her friend. Redditor what_consequences made the point that this is kind of a weird gift for someone with strength like Buffy. So the theory is that Willow found out about the Watcher-enforced trial the slayer is forced to take part in when they turn 18 while going through Giles' book and Watcher journal collections. She couldn't tell Buffy about the trial, but still sought to protect her friend.