Potential and new Slayers
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 Standing: Indigo as Rona, Iyari Limon as Kennedy, Sarah Hagan as Amanda, Sitting: Kristy Wu as Chao-Ahn and Felicia Day as Vi |
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Potential slayers are fictional characters created by Joss Whedon for the cult television programs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
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[edit] Character history
Potential slayers are usually young girls, generally from the ages of 14 and 19 and from anywhere around the world, who are poised to become the next Slayer at any moment. They have a greater co-ordination than normal human teenagers and other minor supernatural powers, but nowhere near the abilities of an active slayer. It is noted that battling vampires comes particularly naturally to them.
These girls can sometimes be identified by the Watchers Council where a new Watcher is dispatched to guide and train them, should they be called to be the slayer. Other times, the girl is completely oblivious to her calling, and remains that way unless she is activated as the new "chosen one". Buffy Summers was one such potential, only becoming aware of her status when her predecessor was killed and her first Watcher, Merrick, found her. The next slayer, Kendra, on the other hand, was given to her Watcher by her parents when she was very young and educated in slaying throughout her life. There is no apparent order to the activation of a new slayer; they are mystically chosen at random instead.
In the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the malevolent and sinister creature known as The First Evil puts its plan to rid the world of the Slayer line into action. It uses such disciples as its high priests, its Harbingers, and its followers, such as Caleb, to attempt to kill all of the potential slayers and finally Faith and Buffy, thereby making sure no replacement slayer can be activated. Buffy receives several prophetic dreams of potentials being murdered throughout the early episodes of the season, but does not fully understand what is happening until Giles arrives back in Sunnydale, flanked by three potential Slayers, to explain the state of affairs. From that moment forth the known surviving potentials (numbering a few dozen) from all across the globe begin to travel to Sunnydale to be under Buffy's protection - some sent by their Watchers, others chased there by the Bringers. Eventually Willow and Buffy discover a way to activate all the potential slayers across the world, including those as yet undiscovered by the gang, using the Guardians' Scythe.
Now there's no such thing as "potential slayers". Instead they are an entirely new kind of Slayer.
[edit] Amanda
Amanda (born 1986) was introduced as a tall, skinny, pale-faced and painfully shy Sunnydale High student who first appeared in the seventh season episode, "Help", part of the seemingly-random stream of students showing up in Buffy's guidance office. In a foreshadowing of her future appearances, she notes her Buffy-esque tendency to stick up for herself using violence, when she explains that the reason for her being sent to Buffy was probably because she has beaten up a student who taunted her.
Later, in "Potential", Willow learns of a potential slayer who lives in Sunnydale and decides to cast a locator spell. While originally misinterpreting the spell to indicate that Dawn is the potential, it is later revealed the spell found Amanda. Amanda was near Buffy's house trying to get advice for dealing further with a vampire she has imprisoned in school. Dawn and Amanda rush back to the school, where Amanda dispatches the vampire when learning of her true destiny when the harbingers attack her. She indicates her membership in swing choir, and her dislike of the marching band, in the same episode.
The only potential that has gone to Sunnydale highschool, she finds it strange to meet Principal Wood outside of school — and presumably, later to fight alongside him in "Chosen". She appears to enjoy role-playing games as she plays in what appears to be a spoof of Dungeons & Dragons along with Andrew, Giles and Xander. She is killed violently in the final battle in the Hellmouth, later that episode.
Amanda was the only potential to have been shown to be able to deal with vampires without any training and without any special powers. Her abilities indicate that potential slayers are equipped, naturally, to be able to fight vampires better than the average person even before they are "called". Her appearance in the episode "Help", where Buffy learns she cannot save everybody, could be interpreted as a foreshadowing of her death in the finale.
Amanda was portrayed by Sarah Hagan and has appeared in:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Amanda appeared in 10 episodes overall. She has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Season 7 (2002 - 2003) - "Help", "Potential", "First Date", "Get It Done", "Storyteller", "Dirty Girls", "Empty Places"', "Touched", "End Of Days", "Chosen".
[edit] Caridad
Caridad - A girl from the Philippines to whom Xander is attracted; first seen in "Dirty Girls". She plays a small role in the final episodes of the seventh season, most notably in "Touched", where Caridad first aids Giles and Kennedy in luring out and capturing a Bringer, and then later when following Faith alongside numerous potentials to an underground arsenal of The First. She is then seen in the following episode "End Of Days", at first helping those wounded from the bomb blast escape the sewers and then later at the Summer's residence, helping heal the wounded and briefly quizzing Buffy on whether her return to the fold is permanent. She too survives the climatic Hellmouth battle according to the Buffy magazine.
Caridad was portrayed by Dania Ramirez and has appeared in:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Caridad appeared in 3 episodes overall. She has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Season 7 (2002 - 2003) - "Dirty Girls", "Touched", "End Of Days".
[edit] Chao-Ahn
Chao-Ahn (born possibly 1989 in Hong Kong or Guangzhou, China -since she speaks only Cantonese-) arrived in Sunnydale in the seventh season episode, "First Date", without speaking a word of English. Most of her subtitled lines serve as comic relief, a contrast to the serious apocalyptic tone of the season, as none of the other characters understand her Cantonese words or properly interpret her nonverbal communication. Contrary to fan rumour, Chao-ahn was absent from Chosen and was not seen in the final Hellmouth battle. Many fans have mistaken the Asian Slayer that is bitten by a Turok-Han to be her, but upon close examination, it appears to be another actress.
Chao-ahn's fate remains unknown.
- Note: The asian girl wearing a cyan top that fights in the battle isn't Chao-ahn, instead another Slayer played by stuntwoman Ming Liu
Chao-Ahn was portrayed by Kristy Wu and has appeared in:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Chao-Ahn appeared in 6 episodes overall. She has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Season 7 (2002 - 2003) - "First Date", "Get It Done", "Dirty Girls", "Empty Places", "Touched", "End Of Days".
[edit] Chloe
Chloe was a quiet, Midwest American girl who was one of the youngest potentials to seek protection from Buffy after the First Evil launched its campaign against the slayer line. First introduced in "Showtime", Chloe seemed reluctant to engage in her newfound responsibilites and by her next and final appearance in "Get It Done", it was clear Chloe wasn't cut out for life on the hellmouth. After being pressured by a forceful Kennedy during a training regime, Chloe was an easy target for the First. After talking to her all night, the First pushed her into hanging herself, later manifesting as Chloe next to the hanging girl's dead body after she was found by Buffy, Kennedy and others. Buffy then buried Chloe's body next to that of the recently deceased Annabelle, and Chloe's suicide was a major catalyst in Buffy choosing to take drastic action, culminating in her meeting with the men who created the first slayer.
Chloe was portrayed by Lalaine and has appeared in two episodes:
Season 7 (2002 - 2003) - "Showtime", "Get It Done".
[edit] Dana
Dana (born possibly 1989 in Los Angeles, California) is an unstable girl who became a slayer at the time of "Chosen". When she was ten, her family was brutally murdered and she was severely tortured. The emotional torment destroyed her sanity and she was confined in a psychiatric hospital. However, in 2003, she began to exhibit the physical and psychic powers of a slayer. She escaped several months later. During and after her escape, she injured and killed several innocent people.
Dana also exhibits a slayer ability not explicitly shown in either Buffy or Angel before, the ability to feel the experiences of previous slayers, almost as though she was possessed by these former slayers. Most notably, Dana adopted the personas of the two slayers Spike murdered during his more notorious years as a vampire; a Chinese Slayer and Nikki Wood. This unusual ability had been somewhat explored in the canonically separate Buffy the Vampire Slayer feature film, in which the title character experiences dreams relating to the experiences of former slayers.
Dana mistakes Spike for the human (who is now deceased) that had tortured her. She captures Spike and saws off his hands. Angel later apprehends Dana, but Andrew and a squad of Slayers then take her into their custody to locations unknown, saying that Buffy no longer trusts him.
Dana was portrayed by Navi Rawat and has appeared in:
Angel
Dana appeared in 1 episode overall. She has made guest appearances in the episode:
Season 5 (2003 - 2004) - "Damage".
[edit] Kennedy
Kennedy (born 1983) is one of the first three potentials to arrive in Sunnydale. She comes from a wealthy family with a summer home in the Hamptons and has at least one sibling; a half-sister. The script for "Bring On The Night" describes her as:
KENNEDY, 19, the oldest of the bunch. She's tough and wry - takes all the mysticism associated with the Slayer gig with a serious grain of salt.
An unapologetic, out-of-the-closet lesbian, Kennedy aggressively pursues a relationship with Willow, whose longtime lover, Tara, was murdered at the end of season six. This state of affairs produces unexpected consequences in the episode, "The Killer in Me". Eventually, Kennedy and Willow become lovers and remain so through the end of the series. Kennedy fights alongside the other potentials and Buffy at the final battle with the uber-vampires in the series finale and survives the mass destruction of the Hellmouth. In the fifth season Angel episode, "Damage", a year after the end of Buffy, mention is made that Kennedy and Willow continue to be a couple and are now living in Brazil together gathering together slayers.
Kennedy was portrayed by Iyari Limon and has appeared in:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Kennedy appeared in 13 episodes overall. She has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Season 7 (2002 - 2003) - "Bring On The Night", "Showtime", "Potential", "The Killer In Me", "First Date", "Get It Done", "Storyteller", "Lies My Parents Told Me", "Dirty Girls", "Empty Places", "Touched", "End Of Days", "Chosen".
[edit] Molly
Molly (born possibly 1987 or 1988 in London, England) was one of the first three potentials to arrive in Sunnydale. Although the veracity of her accent is questionable, its mockney tones suggest a lower-class suburb of London. Her accent was much derided by British fans of the show, drawing unfavourable comparisons with Juliet Landau's accent as Drusilla. She was later murdered by Caleb in the episode, "Dirty Girls". The stage directions in the script for "Bring On The Night" describe her as:
MOLLY, 14 or 15, is a Brit of East Indian heritage. She's cute, pudgy. Her style is very "Ghost World." Pigtails and a miniskirt, ripped stockings, a lunch box for a purse.
Her ethnicity was later changed to British Caucasian instead of British East Indian, and the casting directors appears to have forgone the "pudgy" direction in favour of a slender, more athletic actress.
Molly kills the vampire the Slayers in training were locked in with by Buffy and Spike in the episode "Potential", though this happens off screen and the tale is relived by the SITs as they converse with Amanda. Though heavily speculated it was Kennedy who killed the vampire, the language used and directed at Amanda, suggests they (Amanda and Molly) are the only two Potentials that actually have killed a vampire.
Molly was tragically gutted to death by Caleb in the climax of the episode "Dirty Girls" but was mentioned by Faith as a fallen potential Buffy failed in the episode "Empty Places".
Molly was portrayed by Clara Bryant and has appeared in:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Molly appeared in 7 episodes overall. She has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Season 7 (2002 - 2003) - "Bring On The Night", "Showtime", "Potential", "Get It Done", "Storyteller", "Lies My Parents Told Me", "Dirty Girls".
[edit] Rona
Rona (born in 1986) arrived in Sunnydale in the seventh season episode, "Showtime". Rona didn't know she was a potential slayer, until the Bringers attacked her. A somewhat argumentative African-American girl from an underprivelleged background, Rona eventually accepts her destiny and she survives the climatic Hellmouth battle despite being badly injured several times.
The script for "Showtime" describes her in the following:
TILT UP on the sandaled feet and slim legs belonging to- RONA, 16, black, ratty blue jeans and denim jacket, a knapsack slung over her shoulder.
Rona was portrayed by Indigo and has appeared in:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rona appeared in 8 episodes overall. She has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Season 7 (2002 - 2003) - "Showtime", "Potential", "Get It Done", "Storyteller", "Lies My Parents Told Me", "Dirty Girls", "Empty Places", "Chosen".
[edit] Vi
Vi (born in 1985 possibly in Texas) arrived in Sunnydale in the seventh season episode, "Showtime". A timid redhead, Vi's penchant for bizarre hats is reminiscent of Willow in the third season. She initially seems unfit for her calling. However, she proves to be an extremely courageous fighter during several battles, especially in the final battle within the Hellmouth. She survives the final battle. Vi was trained by her Watcher, who once showed her a blurry photograph of a vampire.
Vi was portrayed by Felicia Day and has appeared in:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Vi appeared in 8 episodes overall. She has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Season 7 (2002 - 2003) - "Showtime", "Potential", "Get It Done", "Dirty Girls", "Empty Places", "Touched", "End Of Days", "Chosen".
[edit] Other potential and new Slayers
Other Potential Slayers that we are introduced to include:
- An unnamed Turkish girl in İstanbul, Turkey, murdered by the Bringers.
- An unnamed punk girl in Frankfurt, Germany, also murdered by the Bringers.
- An unnamed girl living in Buffy Summers' house who Andrew pays particular attention to when making his "Buffy: Slayer of the Vampyrs" film.
- Nora - A British girl, murdered and then discovered by her Watcher, Robson, in London.
- Annabelle - 16, an upper-class, slightly snobbish, vegan British girl who first arrives in Sunnydale in "Bring on the Night" along with Kennedy and Molly. Described in the script as "a sleek, athletic upper-class Brit. She's a bit of a snob. Very into her training, a tad humorless." Only her fear takes over and she tries to escape. She ends up getting killed by the Turok-Han. Annabelle is portrayed by Courtnee Draper.
- Eve - 17, a blonde Southern belle who reaches Sunnydale, but is killed before meeting Buffy. The First uses her form to infiltrate the Summers' house in "Showtime". Eve is portrayed by Amanda Marie Fuller.
- Shannon - Arrives in Sunnydale after being stabbed and thrown out of a moving car by Caleb in "Dirty Girls". She survives, regains her strength, and takes part in the final fight. She survives the final fight, and can be seen standing by the bus, in the show's final moments. Shannon is portrayed by Mary Wilcher.
- Colleen - Only seen in Xander's fantasy dream scene in "Dirty Girls". Her survival is unknown. She is portrayed by Rachel Bilson.
- Dominique - A French girl mentioned in "Dirty Girls" when she has the stomach flu. Her survival is unknown.
- Dianne - A brave Potential who gets killed by Caleb during the fight in the vineyard in "Dirty Girls".
- "Injured Girl" (As she is referred to in the credits) - Never mentioned by name, played by Lisa Ann Cabasa; first appears in "Touched". In "End of Days", she is tended to by a somewhat unmotivated Anya and Andrew. She takes part in the Hellmouth battle, and can be seen helping Vi haul Rona to the schoolbus.
A number of other Potentials, all unnamed, are seen at Buffy's house and in various battles. Also near the end of "Chosen", many Potentials who had not come to Sunnydale appear, including a battered overweight girl living in a trailer (who stops her abusive boyfriend upon activation of her Slayer powers), a Japanese girl, another girl of Indian lineage, an Afro-Caribbean high school student and a 12 year old girl stepping up to home plate at a baseball game.
Besides Dana, many new Slayers help Andrew recover Dana on Angel's fifth season episode "Damage".
