Done and Dusted: Remembering Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Best Kills

Buffy the Vampire Slayer never shied away from zany supernatural horror or raw teenage emotional horror during it’s seven-season run. Of the hundreds of vampires staked, dusted, decapitated, or burnt throughout the series, we remember a few of the coolest and most monumental kills by the legendary Slayer herself.

The ‘bite den’ keeper

Whip, the sleazy owner of a ‘vampire brothel’, was not a major character, but the scene where Buffy takes out his whole gang with a single beam was pretty epic.

Claw

The baddest-looking baddie of the series might just have been this vampire, who purportedly cut off his own hand and replaced it with razor sharp claws. He is responsible for a particularly brutal murder before Buffy stakes him with a fence post.

Baby’s first staking

Robert Berman was the name of the first vampire Buffy ever slays. We see him in a flashback scene, and although it is an imperfect staking, it was obviously a pivotal moment in Buffy’s life.

The Master’s vessel

Of all the various vampires that Buffy and the gang fought to kill the Master (and keep him dead), Luke was one of the most persistent and important. Buffy fooled him with a slick made-you-look diversion and staked him just in time to impede his nefarious purposes.

Hell yeah, libraries

Which brings us to the Master himself, the leader of an ancient vampire cult and one of the main villains in Sunnydale. Buffy memorably stakes him in the school library. Even then, his skeleton continues to cause trouble until Buffy smashes it.

Sweetheart killing

There’s a lot going on with Ford’s story: Buffy’s childhood crush, vampire fan boy, terminal cancer patient. His slaying is not epic but it marks a grim and important point in Buffy’s character arc. Buffy waits by his grave for him to rise as a vampire and stakes him, dispassionately. She and Giles share a bleak moment when she asks him for comfort he cannot honestly give her.

Psychotic killer cum vampire

Zachary Kralik was a serial killer/possible cannibal before he even became vampire, and Buffy was slated to face him for her Slayer coming-of-age challenge. Things go awry, but Buffy still pulls of one of her creative kills when she tricks him into drinking holy water. Not only was it clever, but she passed the test designed for her in even tougher circumstances, cementing her prowess as a Slayer.

Angel

Far and away the rawest, most emotional kill and a dramatic moment in the Buffy/Angel love story. The moment Buffy realizes that she has to stake him, just as she has gotten him back, was heartbreaking. Still not over it. Watch Buffy/Angel fan vids and weep with me, friends.