Dawn Summers

Lore & Background

After years of foreshadowing, Dawn was introduced at the start of the fifth season as part of a large in-story retcon: Characters accepted Dawn's presence as if she had always been there, and as if Buffy always had a sister, with only the audience aware that this was not the case. As the series went on, the significance of Dawn's arrival is revealed to the series's other characters, and they come to understand that she has not always been Buffy's sister, or indeed a sentient being; Dawn had originally been the mystical 'key' to unlocking dimensions and was made into Buffy's sister so the Slayer would protect her.

Dawn is, however, a real girl, Buffy's biological sister, and has real memories of her fictional childhood. She struggles in a very human way when she discovers the truth about her origins and later endures problems with self-harm and kleptomania. The show's sixth and seventh seasons, as well as its canonical comic book continuation, follow Dawn's journey toward adulthood.

Reader's Guide

Dawn Summers begins as a seemingly ordinary teenager who is actually the mystical Key, made into Buffy's sister so the Slayer would protect her. She has no innate Slayer abilities, but her significance lies in her role as the Key, making her a target for the hell-god Glory. Dawn's defining moments include her existential crisis upon learning her origin, her mother's death from a brain aneurysm, her resorting to black magic to try to bring her mother back, and her first kiss with a vampire named Justin, whom she reluctantly stakes (her first vampire kill) when he tries to turn her.

In the final season, Dawn becomes more grown-up and a full-fledged member of the 'Scooby Gang', trained by Buffy in combat. She falls victim to a love spell in the episode 'Him', displaying dangerous behavior such as attacking people and trying to commit suicide to prove her 'love' for classmate RJ Brooks. After wrongly believing herself to be a Potential Slayer, Xander explains to Dawn that being normal is perhaps the hardest burden of all. Dawn then falls into a watcher-esque role offering the group answers from research.

When Buffy tricks her into leaving town before the impending apocalypse, Dawn adamantly returns to fight against the First, during which she battles alongside Xander, and once again proves her value as a fighter by killing several Ubervamps and survives. In the comic continuation, she experiences transformations into a giant, a centaur, and a living doll, and eventually settles down in San Francisco with Xander.

Did You Know?

• Michelle Trachtenberg was unavailable for the Angel episode 'The Girl in Question', so Andrew Wells (Tom Lenk) replaced her.
• In the comic continuation, Dawn is cursed after sleeping with a 'thricewise demon' named Kenny and transforms into a giant, then a centaur, then a living doll.
• Buffy's sacrifice in season 5 neutralized the power of The Key, giving Dawn the opportunity of a normal life.