| The Magic Box | |
|---|---|
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer location | |
| Creator | Joss Whedon |
| Type | Magic shop |
| Notable locations | Training room Basement |
| Notable characters | Rupert Giles Anya Jenkins Buffy Summers Scooby Gang |
The Magic Box is a fictional magic shop in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon. It is located in Sunnydale and was last owned and operated by Rupert Giles, and served as the primary headquarters of the Scooby Gang for seasons five and six.
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The shop went through a series of owners, many of whom met grisly deaths at the hands of Sunnydale's demonic residents.
A magic shop in the same location as the Magic Box, at 5124 Maple Court, first appeared in season 3, at which time it was known as "Uncle Bob's Magic Cabinet". By the beginning of season 5, its name had been changed to "The Magic Box". Another magic shop, in a different location, was shown in the season 2 episode "Passion", from which Jenny Calendar purchased an Orb of Thesulah as a means of storing Angel's soul during a spell she was seeking to cast to restore the vampire's soul.
In the episode "Real Me" in season 5, Giles bought the shop, after spending a year unemployed following the destruction of Sunnydale High, and the death of the Magic Box's previous owner. Giles moved his book collection to the shop, and it became the Scooby Gang's meeting place and source of knowledge, much as the library had been in the first three seasons. It remained their main meeting place until its destruction at the end of season 6 ("Grave").
Soon, Anya revealed herself to be a genius at retail and became Giles's assistant manager ("No Place Like Home"). When Giles returned to England, Anya became the shop's manager while Giles stayed on only as a silent partner ("Tabula Rasa").
For a brief period, Buffy Summers also worked part time for The Magic Shop ("Life Serial"), but after a spell cast by Jonathan caused her to experience a time loop she found she was not cut out for such employment and walked out.
Unofficially, Buffy's sister, Dawn, and her friends Xander, Willow, Tara, and others also helped out in the shop from time to time. The Magic Box was also the headquarters at which they met to research vampires, demons, witches, and other supernatural and paranormal phenomena after the old high school and its library were destroyed. In the season 6 episode "Older and Far Away", it was revealed that Dawn had stolen a number of items from the shop. This kleptomania had earlier included Dawn's theft of a magic pendant used to summon the demon Sweet ("Once More, with Feeling").
The Magic Box had a full basement, which was used to store excess stock, and a loft in which many of the esoteric volumes from the Sunnydale High School library were kept after they'd been removed from the library in preparation for its detonation as a means of killing the demonic mayor Richard Wilkins ("Graduation Day").
The shop itself displayed merchandise on tables, on shelves and racks, and inside glass counters. A room behind the shop was reserved as a training area for Buffy, where she could practice hand-to-hand combat and martial arts techniques and tactics (first introduced in "Out of My Mind"). It was equipped with a punching bag, a pommel horse, tumbling mats, protective pads, and other paraphernalia and included an armory of various weapons.
In addition to the Orb of Thesulah, the following merchandise was available for sale at The Magic Box:
A wide variety of other magical paraphernalia was also available, including candles, crystal balls and love potions, along with presumably non-magical items such as history books and jewelry.
The Magic Box was destroyed in season six, when "Dark Willow" sucked its magical contents dry in "Villains", and then fought first with Buffy, then with Giles. During the battle, the Magic Box was reduced to rubble ("Grave").
The Magic Box is seen once more in season seven when Anya is emptying out the wreckage ("Same Time, Same Place").
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