5 Iconic Buffy the Vampire Slayer Big Bads Who Came Closest to Killing Her
Over the course of its run, Buffy the Vampire Slayer introduced many great villains. The story of high schooler Buffy Summers embracing her role as the Slayer, a young woman fated to be humanity’s greatest protector against vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness, proved not just hugely successful but completely iconic. Many of the best Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes followed not just the eponymous Slayer and her friends, but villains who have proven almost as iconic in their own right. While Buffy fought many villains over the course of the show, each narrative arc was defined by a bigger, more threatening figure that served as one of the show’s big bads.
Even in a show teeming with powerful beings, some of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s monsters were pretty ineffective against the Slayer and her friends. However, some of the show’s biggest antagonists actually came close to killing Buffy, with one even temporarily succeeding. For all the powerful beings Buffy has fought over the years, here are the five that came closest to actually emerging victorious against her.
5) The First Evil
The First Evil is a being manifested from, surprisingly, all of the evil in existence. After being introduced in season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the First Evil went on to serve as the main antagonist of the show’s seventh and final season. An incorporeal entity that can assume the appearance of people who have died, the First doesn’t provide any real physical threat, but instead is adept at mental manipulation and deception, and uses these as its main weapons against Buffy.
As the First Evil is an incorporeal being, it didn’t come close to killing Buffy physically, but instead almost broke her via psychological manipulation. Its activation of the Turok-Han vampires and use of Caleb as its champion also contributed to its near triumph over Buffy. While the First can only indirectly claim to have been near to killing Buffy, it’s still one of the show’s most dangerous big bads that almost beat the iconic Slayer.
4) Adam
Adam serves as the big bad of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 4, and he’s another villain that came pretty close to killing her. Classified as a cybernetic demonoid — a being created from human, demon, and technological components — Adam’s plan is to stage a massacre of humans and demons alike, and use the ensuing chaos to eventually create an army of cybernetic undead demonoids in his image. As well as being one of the show’s most memorable villains in a visual sense, Adam is also one of its most dangerous big bads.
Adam’s nature as a hybrid gave him a variety of strengths that allowed him to be stronger and tougher than Buffy. In a straight fight, Adam is stronger than every hero in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and that’s what allowed him to come incredibly close to killing Buffy. It was only with the help of the Enjoining Spell, which used the abilities of her closest allies, that Buffy was able to triumph over Adam; otherwise, he would have surely succeeded in killing the Slayer.
3) Caleb
Whether Caleb can be considered one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s big bads is a matter of opinion, as he’s essentially a secondary character to the incorporeal First Evil. As the First Evil’s primary agent on Earth, Caleb is a major antagonist in the show’s overall story, even if he has only limited screen time. Deeply misogynistic, Caleb is a sadistic sociopath serial killer and defrocked priest who serves as one of Buffy’s final enemies in the show’s seven-season run.
Empowered by his partnership with the First Evil, Caleb is shown to be physically stronger than Buffy and capable of defeating her. In fact, he comes within moments of killing her, brutally beating her and the Scooby Gang in their first encounter. Buffy is only able to beat Caleb in the end after acquiring the Scythe, the mystical weapon capable of shifting the balance of power within the Buffy universe. Were it not for the Scythe, Caleb would almost certainly have killed Buffy with ease in their final confrontation.
2) Glory
Glory served as the main antagonist of season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is often considered one of the show’s most iconic big bads. As a god from a hell dimension, Glory is one of the most powerful villains in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who was banished from her own dimension by other gods fearful of her terrible power. While trapped on Earth, she is constantly seeking to break free of her earthly prison by breaking down the barriers between dimensions, effectively bringing about Hell on Earth.
Established as being far stronger and more powerful than any Slayer, vampire, or demon before her in the Buffy universe, Buffy herself was no match for Glory in their early encounters. Buffy eventually triumphed over Glory with the help of Willow’s magical abilities and her possession of the Dagon Sphere and Olaf’s Hammer, but even then, it was a pretty narrow victory. Glory came extremely close to killing Buffy by brutally beating her ahead of the Slayer’s eventual triumph, which highlights just how dangerous a figure she is within the show’s continuity.
1) The Master
The first-ever big bad of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the Master, an ancient and powerful vampire who led the Order of Aurelius, a vampire cult dedicated to opening the Hellmouth beneath Sunnydale. As well as being one of the most important villains in the show’s history, he’s also one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s strongest vampires, and while he might not be the most powerful villain in the show, he still occupies a very unique place in its history. That’s because the Master is the only big bad to have actually succeeded in killing Buffy Summers.
The show’s season 1 finale sees Buffy confront the Master, and the villain swiftly hypnotizes and kills the hero. However, with her friends on hand, Buffy was swiftly resurrected, allowing her to kill the Master and thwart his plan to unleash the full power of the Hellmouth. Even so, the Master was the only big bad to have actually managed to kill Buffy, even if her death was only temporary.
