Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 5

Principal Cast
In order of character appearances Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers (22/22) Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris (22/22) Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenburg (22/22) Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins (22/22) Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers (22/22) Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles (22/22) James Marsters as Spike (21/22) Marc Blucas as Riley Finn (10/22)

Recurring Cast
In order of character appearances Amber Benson as Tara Maclay (18/22) Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers (16/22) Charlie Weber as Ben (14/22) Clare Kramer as Glory (12/22) Troy T. Blendell as Jinx (6/22) Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall (5/22) Kevin Weisman as Dreg (3/22) Justin Gorence as Orlando (3/22) Joel Grey as Doc (3/22) Bailey Chase as Graham Miller (2/22) David Boreanaz as Angel (2/22) Juliet Landau as Drusilla (2/22) Adam Busch as Warren Mears (2/22) Julie Benz as Darla (1/22) Kali Rocha as Cecily Addams (1/22) April Wheedon-Washington as Nikki Wood (1/22) Abraham Benrubi as Olaf the Troll (1/22) Harris Yulin as Quentin Travers (1/22) Sharon Ferguson as Primitive (1/22) Dean Butler as Hank Summers (1/22)

Season Summary
Dawn appears in Sunnydale as a younger sister of Buffy. No one finds this strange, but it is soon revealed that the teenager is a mystical energy called The Key that was transformed by a group of monks, using Buffy's essence, into human form. False memories were implanted in all those concerned to protect the fourteen-year-old from Glory, an exiled God from a demon dimension who wants to leave the human body in which she is trapped -- Ben the hospital intern -- for her home universe.


 * While she worked to locate the Key, she creates an army of mental patients as she fed off their brains. Buffy and her friends struggle to discover her plan while protecting the innocent Dawn, who struggled to accept who she is while Spike fell in love with Buffy. Joyce Summers dies after a struggle with brain tumor in an episode which won the series its widest critical acclaim.
 * Glory eventually discovers the Key's new form and kidnaps her for a ritual that would bring down the walls separating different dimensions. This would bring total chaos on Earth. While Glory cannot be killed in her God form, Ben was murdered by Giles to protect Buffy and the world. Once the ritual began thanks to a demon who came to help Glory, Buffy finally understood a cryptic message from the First Slayer. As she shares the same essence with Dawn, Buffy throws herself into the vortex and sacrifices her own life for the world. She leaves Dawn with the message, "The hardest thing in this world is to live in it."