Dawn Summers

"She still thinks I'm little miss nobody, just her dumb little sister. Boy, is she in for a surprise."

- Dawn Summers

Dawn Summers was a member of the Scooby Gang, sister of Buffy Summers and daughter of Hank and Joyce Summers. In her original form, she was a mystical power of living energy, known as The Key; however, she was transformed into an ordinary teenage human girl.

Clues of Arrival
"Miles to go. Little Miss Muffet counting down from seven three oh."

- Faith Lehane

Dawn Summers's arrival into the life of Buffy Summers was seemingly foreshadowed in a number of dreams the Slayer experienced in the years 1999 and 2000. Prior to her confrontation with Mayor Richard Wilkins III, Buffy dreamed of preparing a bed with rogue Slayer Faith Lehane, who, at the time, suffered a coma due to blood loss and severe injuries. The next year, in a similar dream, the still comatose Faith told Buffy, while in Dawn's future bedroom, "Little sis coming, I know," to which Buffy replied, "So much to do before she gets here." Some months later, in a third dream, Buffy was told by the spirit of the First Slayer in the form of Tara Maclay to "Be back before Dawn."

The Key
"They had to be certain the Slayer would protect it with her life. So they sent the Key to her in human form… in the form of a sister."

- Spike on Dawn's origin.

In 2000, Czech monks of the Order of Dagon continued to protect The Key, as they had done since the 12th century. The Key was a concentration of living energy that could be used to shatter the veil separating all dimensions. If used, The Key would cause dimensions to flood one into the other, merging until the energy of the Key was spent, thus sealing the dimensional tearing. The monks wanted to put this dangerous power to good use; however, they were attacked by Glorificus, a hell goddess bent on returning to her home dimension regardless of the cost. In an act of desperation, the three surviving monks used powerful magics, as well as a portion of the Slayer's own essence, to forge The Key into human form as a fourteen-year-old girl, then sending her to Buffy as a sister for protection. The monks also altered reality, as well as the memories of the Slayer, her family, and friends, to make the now-human Key fit into the world, making everyone in Buffy' life believe that Dawn had always been present has her sister.

Sunnydale


For many months, Dawn, as well as Buffy, their mother Joyce, and the Scooby Gang were unaware of her mystical origins, believing the memories the monks had crafted for them. Dawn was supposedly born in 1986 in Los Angeles, and had moved with Buffy and Joyce at age ten to Sunnydale after Buffy burned down the Hemery High School gym. Only those "outside reality," such as mental patients, were capable of seeing Dawn's true nature. Later, when Joyce developed a brain tumor, she was briefly capable of perceiving Dawn in her original form. By this time, Buffy also discovered Dawn's origins through a spell, though after she met the last dying monk of Dagon, she learned that Dawn was now a common human being with no memories of her original form, and that she had to be protected.



Over the course of late 2000, Dawn came to learn how she came into existence. Upon learning of her mystical origin on Buffy's birthday, she suffered an identity crisis, took to self-harming, and ran away from home, though Buffy, who had initially considered Dawn a burden laid upon her shoulders against her will, managed to assure her that, no matter how she came to be, they were real sisters no matter what, securing those words with a blood oath.

Dawn was then subjected to further turmoil when her mother died unexpectedly from a brain aneurysm. Devastated to the point of irrationality, and feeling abandoned by Buffy, she turned to black magic in order to bring her back to life, though she undid the spell when she came to realize the inherent dangers of what she had done. After Joyce's death, Dawn began to suffer from kleptomania, at first beginning by simply stealing Anya Jenkins' earrings and then growing to the point where she began to repeatedly and excessively steal from many stores around town, including the Magic Box.



"You wanna know what I'm scared of, Spike? Me. Right now, Glory thinks Tara's the Key. But I'm the Key, Spike. I am. And anything that happens to Tara... is 'cause of me. Your bruises, your limp... that's all me, too. I'm like a lightning rod... for pain and hurt, and everyone around me suffers... and dies. I... must be something so horrible... to cause so much pain... and evil."

- Dawn blames herself for Glory's attacks.

Weeks later, when Glory tortured Spike for information and "brain-sucked" Tara, leaving her completely mad, Dawn was greatly affected and blamed herself for all of the harm that Glory had done to the people of Sunnydale, describing herself as a "lightning rod" for pain. Despite her sister's best efforts, Dawn was nonetheless kidnapped by Glory and taken to a tower, crudely built for the ritual where Dawn would be bled and the gates between dimensions would fall. Dawn tried to plead with Glory's human alter-ego, Ben, and while he tried to help her at first, he ultimately decided to help Glory with her plans out of self-preservation. Dawn was so disgusted by this that, during a subsequent encounter with Ben, she demanded that he turn into Glory, preferring Glory's in-your-face evil to Ben's cowardice.

As Glory's plan came to fruition and the barriers between dimensions began to crack, Dawn was willing to give her life and suicidally jump into the dimensional tear because once her blood stopped boiling, the chaos would cease; but Buffy stopped her and sacrificed herself instead.



Depression
""The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.""

- Dawn quotes Buffy the last words she told her before leaping off the tower.

Following Buffy's noble suicide, Dawn struggled with abandonment issues, as well as her escalating kleptomania. Having been devastated by her sister's death, Dawn was overjoyed when Willow Rosenberg resurrected her through magic. On Halloween, Dawn experienced her first kiss with a vampire named Justin, who she was reluctantly forced to stake when he tried to kill her.

Shortly after, Xander Harris accidentally summoned the demon Sweet, who forced the residents of Sunnydale to perform in musical numbers. Sweet was ready to claim Dawn as his bride when he saw her wearing his amulet, which Dawn had stolen from the Magic Box. However, Xander admitted his part in things and Buffy admitted she had been in heaven while dead, leaving everyone, including Dawn, shocked and horrified.

Dawn later accompanied an increasingly-reckless Willow to the home of Rack, a magical drug dealer, which goes awry when the two were attacked by a demon and Willow attempted to magically drive the two away. The resulting car crash landed Dawn in hospital with a broken arm; this event served as the catalyst that led to Willow's decision to stop using magic altogether. When Buffy briefly became convinced that she had murdered Katrina Silber due to the manipulations of the Trio and resolved to turn herself into the police, Dawn reacted violently, accusing Buffy of running away and deserting them.

In January, Dawn's feelings of abandonment drew the vengeance demon Halfrek to Sunnydale. After inadvertently making a wish to Halfrek, Dawn got the Scoobies and their friends trapped in the Summers house on Buffy's birthday. During the group's imprisonment, Dawn's collection of stolen items was discovered, as well as her abandonment issues. The group was eventually released from the house and Dawn returned all the items she still owned, resolving to do better, while the gang attempted to assuage her depression and feelings of abandonment.



When Tara was shot by Warren Mears, Dawn was the first to find her dead in the house, hours after Willow had left her side to pursue revenge; she was noticeably affected by her friend's death, even advocating Willow's decision to kill Warren in revenge, though she quickly changed her mind when Willow actually did so and then went after Warren's accomplices, Andrew Wells and Jonathan Levinson.

When she later confronted a corrupted Willow at Rack's place, Dawn desperately attempted to reason with her, but Willow, unmoved and slightly annoyed, simply threatened to turn Dawn back into a ball of energy and end her human existence simply to put an end to her constant whining, but Buffy arrived on the scene before Willow could make good on her threat. While helping Buffy battle demons set loose from the Earth by Willow, Dawn proved herself to be capable in a fight, finally earning Buffy's respect. The trauma of Tara's death and Willow nearly ending the world made Buffy realize that the world was worth living in, and she promised to show Dawn the wonders of the world.

"Watcher Junior"
By the time of the reopening of Sunnydale High School in September 2002, Dawn had matured and was considered a full-fledged member of the Scooby Gang. She often helped her friends solve cases and battle monsters in a similar capacity to the role Willow had played as a teenager. When Buffy feared she would fail on her first day as the school counselor, Dawn reassured her that she would be fine and that she would be a great counselor. Dawn was the first victim of the love spell her classmate R.J. Brooks had inadvertantly cast on the females of the town with his magic letterman jacket, and she nearly killed herself by train to prove her love for him, though she was saved by Buffy and the letterman jacket was destroyed.



While home alone one night in November, Dawn was forced to perform a solo exorcism to protect what she believed to be her mother from a demon. Joyce turned out to be The First Evil, and it attempted to persuade Dawn that Buffy "would not choose her." Shortly after this, Rupert Giles returned to Sunnydale with a slew of Potential Slayers in tow, as The First had been attempting to wipe out the Slayer line. Willow cast a spell in an attempt to trace the Potential that was found within Sunnydale's borders, and the results made Dawn believe that she was the Potential. However, it was soon discovered the Potential was truly her classmate Amanda, a classmate of Dawn's. Xander explained to a disappointed Dawn that being normal was possibly the hardest role of all and informed Dawn that she wasn't ordinary...she was extraordinary.



During the Scooby Gang's mutiny against Buffy who was making questionable decisions, Dawn was the one responsible for personally kicking her sister out of the house, an act that had a profound effect on her. When Buffy returned to the fold, Xander, on Buffy's orders, chloroformed Dawn and departed Sunnydale with her, but Dawn subsequently tasered Xander and adamantly returned to town to help in the fight. In the final battle against The First, during which all the Potentials were activated as bona-fide Slayers, Dawn kept a clear head as she guarded one of the high school's above-ground exits with Xander, slaying at least three Turok-Han Vampires independently. The battle culminated in Sunnydale's destruction, and Dawn was among those that survived the battle unharmed and escaped the crater that had once been her home, asking her sister what they were going to do next.

Post-Sunnydale
A year and a half after the destruction of Sunnydale, Dawn had become a giantess, which Buffy believed was the result of losing her virginity to her college boyfried, a thricewise named Kenny. Xander, however, believed that she may have subconsciously brought it on herself as a way of gaining Buffy's attention after so many new Slayers moved in with them, as the three took residence in a citadel in Scotland. Buffy and Dawn's relationship had been strained and conflicted. Dawn didn't want to speak with Buffy about her condition, preferring to wait for Willow, who Dawn described as a mother figure. Her exact height was unknown but she was tall enough to pick apples from the very top of the trees. Dawn had indicated that she wants to leave Scotland once her condition was back to normal and possibly return to Berkeley. Dawn began to accept the advantages of being super-sized when she stomped on malevolent witch Amy Madison, knocking her unconscious and allowing Willow to capture her.



Dawn was unsure whether Kenny was the reason for her massive growth spurt. Dawn revealed to Xander that she did not have sex with Kenny like everyone else believed but she had, in fact, slept with his roommate.

She eventually shrunk to normal size again, but then turned into a centaur. Xander surmised that she will likely experience a third transformation before she could return to normal. Dawn underwent her final transformation into a living doll and was kidnapped by a dollmaker for her 'protection.' Buffy, Willow, Andrew Wells, and the Slayers managed to confront Kenny about the curse but he fled, only to show up later alongside Buffy to rescue Dawn. After she apologized to him, the spell was instantly broken and she became a real girl again. The two had a heart-to-heart, where she explained that she wasn't ready for sex with Kenny because of how intensely she liked him, before parting ways again. Afterwards, she and Buffy mended their bridges as well. As a result of Xander being Dawn's only confidante during her transformations, the two developed romantic feelings for each other and began dating.

When Buffy gained a multitude of new powers, Dawn showed increasing concern that the new abilities would have a major consequence, only to be increasingly frustrated when Buffy and Willow repeatedly dismissed her theories as paranoia. Ironically, Dawn proved to be correct when reality began to "evolve" to accomodate Buffy's newfound status, unleashing numerous hordes of extra-dimensional demons on Earth in the process.

Following the destruction of the Seed of Wonder- and the subsequent loss of virtually all the world's magic - Dawn and Xander settled into a semi-retired life in San Francisco. Dawn also began her freshman year of college over again.

Examples of Alterations to Reality by the presence of Dawn


Dawn always believed there was more than one of Ted, a robot that began dating her mother in 1998. She was also acquainted with Faith Lehane, as Dawn held a grudge against her for her past deeds when Faith returned to Sunnydale; this grudge could stem from the incident where by Faith kidnapped Joyce and possibly, in light of the altered reality, Dawn as well. Also, she and Angel know each other, even though they never technically met until later; When Buffy is lecturing Dawn on not falling in love with vampires (particularly her then-crush Spike), Dawn sarcastically replies, "Right, that's why you were never with Angel for three years." Additionally, when Angel's evil alter-ego, Angelus, called the Summers home in 2003, Dawn recognized Angel's voice, and Angelus clearly knew who she was.

It is revealed that she was present when Buffy was killed by the Master and when Angelus wanted to kill Buffy's friends and leave them as messages in the high school, Angelus attacking her rather than Willow as he did in actual reality; the resulting experience leaving her, in Willow's words, "all trauma-girl" when it comes to Angel-related matters.

Personality
"What do ya know. Bitty Buffy."

- Spike

Dawn was a strong-willed, confident young woman. Much like her mother and sister, she possessed a deep reserve of inner strength and a cynical and sarcastic streak. However, Dawn suffered from moderate abandonment issues, which branched into self-harming and kleptomania for some time. Dawn was also very kind and caring, but also very stubborn and independent, much like her sister Buffy.

However, after helping Buffy out by killing zombies, she matured, becoming more comfortable in her own skin and and in her fabricated life.

Powers and Abilities
Dawn is a human being who, as seers and the mentally unstable can see, is really a massive ball of energy. With the right ritual conducted in the right time and place, her blood opens a dimensional portal to all universes, bringing chaos and destruction to Earth within minutes. It's never made entirely clear if Dawn is actually human or still the transfigured key, though many characters repeatedly state that Dawn was the Key, and Dawn herself stated as far as she knows, she is no longer the Key, and even if she still is, she no longer opens anything.

Dawn has no superhuman powers; however, her experience in battling vampires and demons has made her a capable fighter and given her a limited knowledge of spellcasting; dialogue between herself and Buffy hints that she learned multiple fighting skills from watching Buffy, and Buffy began formally training her the summer before her first year at Sunnydale High. She can also read a variety of languages ranging from Turkish to Latin. Dawn has grown to rarely flinch when in danger, and her loyalty to her sister and friends is absolute.

Dawn mystically grew to the size of a giantess, an event which became a recurring gag in the series. However, she was not as proportionally strong as she is large, as mentioned by Buffy. Nevertheless, she still takes an active role in large scale battles, decommissioning enemies with super-sized kicks. She is shown to be able to damage a large stone wall by punching it, although she hurts her hand in the process. Later, Dawn was transformed into a centaur and a living porcelain doll with inherent physical traits, but what supernatural powers these forms granted was unknown. The transformations stopped and she was brought back to normal.

Romantic Relationships



 * Xander Harris — Dawn harbored a crush on Xander into her adolescence, feeling that he was the only one who treats her like an adult. Xander was both well-aware of and very flattered by her crush, exhibiting notable jealousy when Buffy informed him that she moved on to Spike. Although she eventually outgrew her romantic feelings for him, Dawn and Xander remaied extremely close, bonding over the fact that neither has any real "superpowers." When Dawn was undergoing a series of mystical transformations, Xander was Dawn's only real confidante with Willow's absence and Buffy's duties as head Slayer. Throughout the transformations, he was there to comfort her and allay her insecurities. By the time she was a human again, and despite the possibility of romantic interest from Buffy, Xander and Dawn began seeing each other. After the end of magic and the relocation of the Scoobies to San Francisco, Dawn and Xander moved into an apartment together.




 * Spike — Feeling isolated after discovering she was the Key, Dawn developed a crush on Spike because "he's got cool hair, and he wears cool leather coats and stuff. And he doesn't treat me like an alien." However, she soon realized that, although Spike seemed to have some affection for her, he loved Buffy. Dawn accepted that nothing would happen between them and came to regard him as a kind of older brother/protector figure instead. Nonetheless, she later joined the other Scoobies in ostracizing Spike and ejecting him from the Magic Box. When Tara was brain-sucked by Glory, Dawn confided in Spike that she believed herself to be evil, but Spike comforted her. He looked after Dawn following Buffy's death, helping Willow and Tara raise her, and continued to act as guardian. Following Spike's attack on Buffy, she openly threatened to set him on fire if he hurt Buffy in anyway, something that he was noticeably disturbed by. After learning he had regained his soul, they began to repair their relationship, with Dawn being quick to defend him when Andrew asked why Buffy wanted to save him. Spike often called Dawn "Nibblet" in an affectionate manner.


 * Kevin — Dawn took a liking this boy in her junior high art class. He was surprisingly sensitive about her "family problems," indicating that he too had resorted to self-harm on occasion.


 * Justin — A charming, manipulative teenage vampire with whom Dawn, unaware of his identity, shared her first kiss. When Justin tried to turn her into a vampire, Dawn ws forced to stake him with a discarded crossbow bolt, an experience which upsets her greatly.
 * RJ Brooks — Dawn developed an obsessive crush on this popular high school athlete because of his bewitched letterman jacket, resulting in her humiliating herself at cheerleader tryouts and pushing his rival down a flight of stairs. When pitted against the other female Scoobies in contest for his love, Dawn decides to commit suicide by lying on a train track to prove her "love" for him. Buffy rescued her, and the spell was broken.


 * Kenny — Dawn dated this boy for some time, although Buffy, Leah, and Giles warned her that he was a "Thricewise." He apparently disappeared after Dawn became a giantess, which Buffy believes to be a side-effect of losing her virginity. Dawn later revealed that she cheated on Kenny with his roommate, and he casted the spell on her that resulted in her transforming into three different things. However, the two made peace and the spell was broken.


 * Nick — Dawn cheated on Kenny with his college roommate Nick, losing her virginity. She and Nick attended a frat party during her freshman year at Berkeley. Xander described him as "cigarettes, dirty hair, didn't care what anyone thought, never gave you the time of day, but he seemed to be in pain deep down." He was also the vocalist and bass guitarist of a band.

Familial

 * Buffy Summers


 * Joyce Summers


 * Rupert Giles — Dawn seemed to regard Giles as a fatherly figure. He, as with Buffy, is protective of her and the two are shown to be rather close. Dawn was clearly upset when Giles left for England, and he softly told her he was only a phone call away as they hugged. After his return, they were planning to conduct an experiment by mixing food cereals together before a demon attacked. Giles acted as the lone parent figure to Dawn, being forced to reprimand her for her actions after Buffy absently avoids them. Giles consoled Dawn after the gang unanimously decide that Buffy should leave for the time being.


 * Willow Rosenberg — Dawn always admired Willow; she stated, "Willow's the awesomest person. She's the only one who likes school as much as me." When Buffy died, Willow and Tara moved into Buffy's house and acted as guardians to Dawn. Their relationship suffered a blow when Willow, strung out on dark magic, gets Dawn into a car accident, but they soon make up. When Willow was kidnapped by Amy and Warren, a furious Dawn told Buffy that Willow was "like a mom" to her.


 * Tara Maclay — Willow's girlfriend, Dawn befriended Tara when the other Scoobies didn't know her too well. At that point, neither of them were considered to be part of the Scooby Gang. Dawn was quick to defend Tara from her father, and was devastated when she was "brain-sucked" by Glory. Even after Willow and Tara broke up, Dawn and Tara continued to meet up for the occasional milkshake. Dawn appeared to consider Tara as a surrogate mother until her death. Dawn was deeply affected by Tara's death, finding the courage to voice her opinion of what her killer, Warren, deserved.


 * Anya Jenkins — Dawn was initially unfriendly towards Anya, jealous of her relationship with Xander. However, as time when on, they became closer, despite the fact that Anya often spoke to Dawn as if she were much younger than she actually was.


 * Andrew Wells - As a member of The Trio, Andrew was at first a foe of Buffy's, and by extension, Dawn. Dawn never really interacted with Andrew until he was captured by the gang during the First's rampage . Like the rest of the Scoobies, Dawn treated Andrew with hostility because of his alliance with Warren and his numerous annoying habits, and found herself off-put by his mannerisms, even wondering if "there's a language that he's speaking" . However, she, like the rest of the gang, gradually warmed up to him, and gladly allowed him to film her for his documentary . Dawn and Andrew developed an unusual brother-sister relationship, which grew when Andrew helped Dawn fight against her Japanese robot counterpart with his comprehensive knowledge of Japanese monster movies . When Andrew later saw Dawn (after she was cured of her transformation problem), they hugged like old friends.

Antagonistic

 * Glory - Glory was a major enemy of Dawn because she was searching for the Key, which was in fact Dawn herself (although Glory was unaware of this at first). Initially, the hell goddess treated Dawn as a minor annoyance, but pressed her for clues concerning the Key's location, although Dawn was too frightened to do anything against her. When Glory came to assume that Dawn had no information, she tried to kill her, but was stopped by Buffy and the Scoobies. However, upon discovering that Dawn was the Key, Glory made it her mission to capture her, and eventually succeeded In their final meeting, Dawn called Glory "a monster", and insinuated that she couldn't take on Buffy. An enraged Glory revealed to her that, while her blood can open the portal, her death can close it, or in her words, "the faster [Dawn] dies, the better for [her] sorry species." She then taunted Dawn by suggesting that Buffy wouldn't show up to save her since "she's not really your sister." In the end, however, Glory's plans were foiled while she herself was killed in her human vessel Ben at Giles' hands, while Dawn's life was saved at the cost of her sister's.


 * Warren Mears- Warren could be considered a major antagonistic to Dawn considering how much Dawn mourned over the death of Tara. Dawn also claimed she sat in the room with Tara's dead body because she didn't want her to be left alone.


 * Amy Madison-Due to Amy taking Willow to see Rack, Willow began to be hooked on magic. Magic was Willow's equivalent of drugs. As she became more hooked on it, the harder it was for her to stop using it. When Willow took Dawn along with her to Rack, Willow put Dawn in a lot of danger. Dawn broke her arm, had a few bumps and scratches but her perspective of Willow at that moment really changed. After her actions Willow admitted to Buffy she needed help. If it hadn't of been for Amy pulling Willow to 'the dark side' that wouldn't of happened.

Gallery

 * See Dawn Summers/Gallery

Behind the Scenes

 * She was portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg.
 * Dawn was a regular character for the last three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, she joined the regular cast in "Real Me" right after she was introduced in season five premiere "Buffy vs. Dracula" as a quest star. She appeared in 66 Buffyverse episodes.


 * Trachtenberg says she was thrust into the role without knowing much about Dawn's personality; she describes her initial meeting with Joss Whedon as "Alright, welcome to the cast, you're a teenager, you're a Key, have fun."


 * Responding to fan complaints of Dawn being whiny throughout Season Six, Joss Whedon said, "I scratched my head. I was like, 'Excuse me, she's been abandoned by about six parental figures. The girl has huge issues.'" However, he acknowledged that he and the writers hit "the same note for a while... We needed to make some changes." Likewise, Whedon expressed regret over not being able to go further with Dawn's character during Season 7, though he expressed, "You get into a situation that you do like to stand alone [but] Dawn Goes on a Date is not something that people would really sit for.


 * Dawn was originally intended to appear in the Angel episode "The Girl in Question" after Sarah Michelle Gellar was unavailable to appear as well. However, Michelle Trachtenberg was unavailable for filming, so the character of Andrew Wells, played by Tom Lenk, replaced her.


 * When Dawn tasered Xander with a stun gun in "End of Days," fans assumed that she possibly stole it from Agent Riley Finn during his relationship with Buffy.


 * In 2005, Diamond Select Toys produced several action figures in the likeness of Michelle Trachtenberg for their Buffy the Vampire Slayer line. Each figure featured a "real-scan" likeness of Michelle and episode/character specific outfit. Figures produced: "Lessons Dawn", "Once More, With Feeling Dawn", "The Gift Dawn" alongside Glory, and "Intervention Dawn" alongside Buffy and Joyce in a "Summers Family Figures" set.

Appearances
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 * Dawn appears in all episodes of Season 5, 6, and 7. She first appears at the end of "Buffy vs. Dracula" and is added to the opening credits in "Real Me".

Buffy Season 8

 * The Long Way Home
 * No Future for You
 * Anywhere but Here
 * A Beautiful Sunset
 * Wolves at the Gate
 * Time of Your Life
 * After These Messages ... We'll Be Right Back!
 * Living Doll
 * Retreat
 * Turbulence
 * Twilight
 * Last Gleaming

Buffy Season 9
}}
 * Freefall