While the Buffyverse is quite similar to our own, there are some Buffyrules that are a little different. Whether you believe in the supernatural or not, Sunnydale, the Hellmouth, Vampire Slayers, these are all fictional creations that use our real world as a foundation. So...

Buffy

Buffy has certain powers and abilities that we've learned about over the last three seasons, but there has been some debate as to the nature of these. She has increased strength, but that seems to waver in and out depending on the situation. She can withstand a hard punch or kick, and she can jump a little higher than most Olympic athletes. She can sense vampires from a short distance, but apparently only when they're 'vamped out', not when they look normal. (This would explain why she didn't know Angel was a vampire when they first met) Her reflexes are lightning-quick and she could walk a tightrope if she had to. She's got tremendous flexibility, and is quite comfortable swinging from ropes, vaulting barriers, and other acrobatic moves. She can handle most conventional weapons - sword, stake, club, crowbar, missile launcher. I doubt she could fire a gun well, but you never know. Besides, guns don't do much for vampires. Her recuperative abilities are remarkable; bruises heal within hours, and she's got second winds like Austin Powers has mojo, baby, yeah!

Vampires

Apparently, vampires are humans with these nasty little demons inside of them, which require blood, hate the sun, and makes their faces go all freaky when the bloodlust is upon them. They also have increased strength and stamina, and can survive quite a bit. No word yet on what happens if they drink blood tainted with the AIDS virus, but they can get sick, and if they are seriously injured, it takes a while for them to mend. They can walk around in the daytime, as long as they stay out of the sun. It is uncertain at this point what would happen on a really cloudy day, but the suspicion is that it's the ultra-violet rays that toast vampires, and besides, California never has cloudy days anyway. You can kill them with the trusty stake in the heart, exposure to sunlight, and by cutting off their heads. They're not big fans of fire, either. They can tell if someone is human or a vampire, and they know a Slayer on sight. Most of them seem curiously stupid, though, like the security guys on Star Trek (always ready to die).

Magic

Magic definitely exists, although Whedon and company seem to borrow from several different sources to get what they need. It is then possible that all magic, from whatever source you can get it from, is real. Whatever culture, whatever texts, it's all real - if you do it right. Gypsy magic seems the most reliable, but there's Egyptian magic, white magic, black magic, pagan magic... and so on. The interesting thing is that the source of the magic seems less important than the intentions of the spellcaster. Willow has cast more than one 'dark' magic spell to help her friends, but I suspect that her terminal cuteness protects her from any ill effects.

Heaven and Hell

There is a Hell, so it follows that there is a Heaven, which would indicate a Judeo-Christian belief structure of some kind. There has not yet been any direct references to God or Satan, but plenty of demons and hellspawn. The message seems to be, there's a lot of supernatural folks fighting for evil, but the only beings fighting for good are human, except for: Angel, whose soul was restored, and Whistler, who is some sort of good demon... possibly an angel, but this is marvelously unclear. God is well-known for sitting back and having his creations sort things out for themselves, but a few times, it seems that He (or She) has taken a more active role in things (the Christmas snowstorm that hits Sunnydale and saves Angel from the sunrise, for example).

Other Beasties

We've got werewolves, mummies, bug people, possessed animals, egg monsters... Find an encyclopedia of monsters, and they're all in the Buffyverse. My question is, when are they going to get athletic shoe endorsement deals?

The Hellmouth

The Hellmouth, situated underneath Sunnydale, apparently directly under the high school (how's that for an obvious use of a metaphor), is this focus for mystical energy, little of it good. The Master, a kick-ass vampire, was stuck in the Hellmouth for a while before he got out and Buffy toasted his sorry butt. The Hellmouth attracts evil like Hollywood attracts lawyers, making the distinction between normal reality and supernatural reality somewhat murky. Odd things are more likely to happen in Sunnydale thanks to the Hellmouth, which is really handy from a script-writer's point of view, because then you don't have to come up with complicated explanations for ridiculous plot devices.

Willow and Giles

These two can find out anything about anything. She's got her computers, he's got his books, so between the two of them, they have access to more knowledge than the Library of Congress. Her ability with the computer/internet would make Bill Gates check his security firewall twice, and his ability with his library of books would put Oprah's research assistant to shame. They are both skilled in magic, although Willow is rapidly becoming the Wicked Wicca of choice.

The Authorities

Since the Mayor had been running things in Sunnydale from the beginning of the series, it's safe to say that the reason that the usual authorities didn't pay much attention to the terrifically high homicide rate was because the Mayor didn't want them to. Principal Snyder had been appointed by the Mayor, but he seems relatively oblivious to the dangerous reality of Sunnydale, and to the evil nature of his employer. The police, well, we don't see much of them, since you rarely find vampires at Dunkin Donuts. Now that we've moved to UC @ Sunnydale, we haven't seen any authorities as yet, but we can always hope for a nasty Dean. :)

The Slayer Phenomenon

In every generation, there is a Slayer... It's not explained why the Slayer is a teenage girl, or whether she lives long enough to get to old age, or if there's a cutoff age, and then the mantle is passed to someone else. We do know that there are Slayers-in-waiting - Kendra was one of those, and when Buffy died for a minute, Kendra went into action. After Kendra died, Faith popped into view. This would indicate that Slayering is not hereditary; it appears to be a random selection, although the Watcher's Council knows the prospective Slayers' identities and grooms them from a young age. We also know that vampires can sense Slayers - Spike knew Buffy was a Slayer the first time he met her. As well, the Slayers aren't just women, they're really good-looking women. That might be one of their powers, actually. :)

Cultural References

The Buffyverse shares our real-world culture, which makes it easier to write the witty dialogue. References to movies, other television shows, music, books, Mulder and Scully, the Internet, famous people are all present and accounted for. At the same time, Sunnydale seems remarkably isolated for a Californian community; the high mortality and missing person rates are never remarked upon by the media, and nobody in Sunnydale seems bothered by the fact that kids die at an alarming rate. With that level of willful ignorance, you'd think it was a poverty-stricken minority community instead of a predominantly middle-class white town. (And what's with that, by the way? Does everyone on the show have to be white? Is Sunnydale the same town that the cast of 'Friends' came from?)

As I think more about the show and the universe it has created, I'll add more observations to this page. In the meantime...

Comments, suggestions, flowery praises? E-mail me!


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