Inca Mummy

The Inca Mummy, who assumed the name of Ampata Gutierrez, was an undead Inca princess. She was portrayed by Ara Celi.

Biography


She was made a princess and chosen as a sacrifice by her people at the age of sixteen. As a mummy, on tour to the Sunnydale Museum, she was accidentally awoken by a Sunnydale student, Rodney Munson, when he damaged the sacred seal keeping her 'asleep'. She was able to stay alive by sucking the life out off others.

She pretended to be Ampata Gutierrez, the foreign exchange student whom Buffy and her mother were to host- having drained the original Ampata-, convinced that she could recapture her stolen life. She and Xander instantly hit it off, 'Ampata' developing feelings for him- to the extent that she claimed to be in love with him- as he was the first person she'd met who treated her like a girl rather than a princess. Although unaware of the Scoobies' true roles and awareness of the supernatural- Xander claiming that they were a 'crime club' to account for their reasons for asking her the original question-, she learned that they were examining the broken seal that had kept her contained when they asked for her help in translating it, 'Ampata' claiming that the seal should be disposed of.

However, her need to suck the life from others finally exposed her true nature, her restored body unable to last longer than a few hours on its own after so many centuries dead even after she drained the mystical Incan guardian who had been summoned by the Seal to keep her contained. When she was preparing to drain Willow after the Scoobies had learned about her true nature- Giles having completed his own translation of the seal and the subsequent examination of 'her' bags confirming her deception-, Xander intervened, informing her that she'd have to drain him before he would let her near Willow despite her desperate assurances that they could be together once she had dealt with Willow. Although she briefly seemed willing to respond to his ultimatum, she was finally unable to drain Xander, instead reverting back into a mummy as Giles completed his repair of the seal.

Powers and Abilities
She inhales the life forces of her victims, transforming them into corpses and so preserving her own human appearance; although she can apparently control this, given that she kissed Xander at least once with no apparent side-effects, as her physical condition weakened she had to make a conscious effort not to consume others.

Trivia

 * His story is strangely similar to that of Buffy, in that both girls were 'destined' to die due to a prophecy, Buffy reflecting on the similarities between them.


 * The fact that she was attracted by Xander (like the She-Mantis) will become a recurring joke in the series ("Anne", "Something Blue" and "First Date").


 * She is, with Kathy Newman, one of the rare enemies to have shared the same bedroom with Buffy.


 * She was the first non-vampire character in the show to emerge from a grave, later examples including the zombies of Ovu Mobani ("Dead Man's Party") Bob, Dickie and Parker ("The Zeppo"), Joyce (briefly in "Forever"), Buffy ("Bargaining, Part Two") and Illyria ("A Hole in the World") (Although in Illyria's case her essence emerged from her sarcophagus to possess another host rather than her body returning completely).

Appearances

 * "Inca Mummy Girl"
 * "Anne"