Buffy Summers (Normal Again)

In the season 6 episode 'Normal Again' Buffy is stabbed by a skewer from a demon summoned by the Geek Trio. The injected venom gives her recurring visions of being a patient in a mental hospital with her being the Slayer just a delusion.

Asylum Buffy world
Asylum Buffy is portrayed as having been an inmate in a mental asylum for the previous six years when she was diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia. Her mother Joyce is still alive and still married to her father Hank whilst her time in heaven after her death at the end of season 5 is explained as her having a temporary recovery from her condition the previous summer. The doctor theorises that Dawn's sudden creation was the result of Buffy needing a familial bond after Joyce's 'death' within her delusion but that the fantasy world Buffy has created is now no longer as satisfying to her as it once was, hence the inadequacy of the Geek Trio compared to previous villains and her visions of the 'reality' of the asylum. Joyce pleads with Buffy to accept the reality of the asylum and reject the fantasy of Sunnydale but in the end Asylum Buffy chooses the tougher path of bearing the burden of being the Slayer, lapsing back into a catatonic state much to her parents distress. The final image of Asylum Buffy is of the door of the mental hospital slamming shut on her room.

Ramifications of Asylum Buffy storyline
In his DVD commentary for the episode director Rick Rosenthal comments that the ending is ambiguous and leaving it to the viewer to decide whether it was real or not. In interview Joss Whedon, commented that it was the "ultimate postmodern look at the concept of a writer writing a show," explaining away inconsistencies and unreal elements of the show "the way any normal person would." He added "If the viewer wants, the entire series takes place in the mind of a lunatic locked up somewhere in Los Angeles... and that crazy person is me. Although, personally, I think it really happened."

Fan theories exploring the implications of the episode and his statement are referred to as the Normal Again alternative, exploring the possibilty that Buffy being the Slayer is simply a 7 year long delusion beginning when she hallucinates first meeting Merrick and ending with the final scene of Chosen which actually represents her regaining her sanity once more. It is noted that by the end of the final episode Buffy has destroyed Sunnydale, literally overcome her demons and triumphed over herself in the form of the First Evil. What is more Faith's final words in the series are telling Buffy that she now has to ...'live like a regular person' and Dawn asking 'what are we going to do now?'.

However there are several logical difficulties with this interpretation presented by the narrative. Events occur in the Buffyverse without Buffy ever being aware of them, notably never learning the truth about Xander's lie concerning Willow's message in 'Bargaining pt2' and virtually the whole of the Angel episode 'I Will Remember You'. By contrast Asylum Buffy is present in every single scene in the mental hospital as she would be if that were her delusion. Sunnydale Buffy is also aware of current events which would be impossible if she were in a catatonic state in an asylum whilst on several occasions Sunnydale Buffy attempts to escape her calling as the Slayer which is illogical if it is her escapist fantasy.