Hank Summers was the father of Buffy and Dawn Summers, and ex-husband of Joyce Summers.[1]
Biography[]
Hank met Joyce during a homecoming dance in her freshmen year at college.[2] They married, and had their daughters Buffy and Dawn in Los Angeles. He took Buffy trick-or-treating until she was twelve.[3] At the end of 1996, he and Joyce divorced. Their fights and separation happened around the time Buffy was called as a Slayer,[4][1] making her believe her troubles caused their disagreements.[1] Joyce, Buffy, and Dawn then moved to Sunnydale.[5]
During the first year after the separation, Hank still visited Buffy and Dawn on some weekends,[1] and Buffy spent a summer vacation with him in Los Angeles, when he noticed she was distant and disconnected (due to her death fighting the Master) so he overcompensated, "spoiling" Buffy with shopping, since "at least when she was burning stuff down [he] knew what to say."[6] On her eighteenth birthday, Hank cancelled an ice show with Buffy, a previous yearly tradition, promising he would make it up to her.[7] Later in the same year, Buffy went to Los Angeles to see her father.[8]
During Joyce's sickness and following death, Buffy tried to contact Hank leaving "messages all over the place," with no response; at the time, the last she'd heard from him was that he was in Spain with his secretary.[9][10] During Buffy's death, though, Dawn indicated she had spoken with him, but hid her sister's absence in fear that she'd be taken away. After her resurrection, Buffy described Hank as a "shiftless and absentee father."[11]
In 2002, when Buffy was stabbed with a Glarghk Guhl Kashmas'nik demon's skewer, it gave her visions of being a patient in a mental asylum, in which her last years as a Slayer in Sunnydale were part of her delusion. In this world, Hank and Joyce were together and deeply caring for their sole daughter.[12]
Years later, Hank had started working in Silicon Valley, and reunited with his daughters in San Francisco. He had left Francesca and was then engaged to Paige, who was also the mother of two teenagers and had moved with him. In one of his monthly reunions with Buffy and Dawn, he announced he and Paige have decided to exclude Buffy from their wedding ceremony "for safety reasons," based on her public reputation as a Slayer, which enraged Dawn and saddened Buffy.[13]
When Buffy left to the Safe Zone, she asked Dawn to "fill Dad in on everything," implying they still maintained contact.[14]
Behind the scenes[]
- He was portrayed by Dean Butler in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and James Paradise in the film.
- According to Nicholas Brendon, Joss Whedon had Hank go abroad because he was dissatisfied with his casting of Dean Butler.[15]
Appearances[]
Canonical[]
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Origin | |||||||||||
The Origin, Part 1 Appears |
The Origin, Part 2 Absent |
The Origin, Part 3 Absent |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1 | |||||||||||
"Welcome to the Hellmouth" Absent |
"The Harvest" Absent |
"Witch" Mention |
"Teacher's Pet" Absent |
"Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" Absent |
"The Pack" Absent |
"Angel" Absent |
"I Robot, You Jane" Absent |
"The Puppet Show" Absent |
"Nightmares" Appears |
"Out of Mind, Out of Sight" Absent |
"Prophecy Girl" Mention |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2 | |||||||||||
"When She Was Bad" Appears |
"Some Assembly Required" Absent |
"School Hard" Absent |
"Inca Mummy Girl" Absent |
"Reptile Boy" Absent |
"Halloween" Absent |
"Lie to Me" Absent |
"The Dark Age" Absent |
"What's My Line? Part One" Mention |
"What's My Line? Part Two" Absent |
"Ted" Mention | |
"Bad Eggs" Absent |
"Surprise" Absent |
"Innocence" Absent |
"Phases" Absent |
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" Absent |
"Passion" Absent |
"Killed by Death" Mention |
"I Only Have Eyes for You" Absent |
"Go Fish" Absent |
"Becoming, Part One" Flashback |
"Becoming, Part Two" Absent |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 3 | |||||||||||
"Anne" Absent |
"Dead Man's Party" Absent |
"Faith, Hope & Trick" Absent |
"Beauty and the Beasts" Absent |
"Homecoming" Mention |
"Band Candy" Absent |
"Revelations" Absent |
"Lovers Walk" Mention |
"The Wish" Absent |
"Amends" Absent |
"Gingerbread" Absent | |
"Helpless" Mention |
"The Zeppo" Absent |
"Bad Girls" Absent |
"Consequences" Absent |
"Doppelgängland" Absent |
"Enemies" Absent |
"Earshot" Absent |
"Choices" Mention |
"The Prom" Absent |
"Graduation Day, Part One" Absent |
"Graduation Day, Part Two" Absent |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4 | |||||||||||
"The Freshman" Absent |
"Living Conditions" Mention |
"The Harsh Light of Day" Absent |
"Fear, Itself" Mention |
"Beer Bad" Absent |
"Wild at Heart" Absent |
"The Initiative" Absent |
"Pangs" Absent |
"Something Blue" Mention |
"Hush" Absent |
"Doomed" Absent | |
"A New Man" Absent |
"The I in Team" Absent |
"Goodbye Iowa" Mention |
"This Year's Girl" Absent |
"Who Are You?" Absent |
"Superstar" Absent |
"Where the Wild Things Are" Absent |
"New Moon Rising" Absent |
"The Yoko Factor" Absent |
"Primeval" Absent |
"Restless" Absent |
Angel: Season 1 | |||||||||||
"City Of" Absent |
"Lonely Heart" Absent |
"In the Dark" Absent |
"I Fall to Pieces" Absent |
"Rm w/a Vu" Absent |
"Sense & Sensitivity" Absent |
"The Bachelor Party" Absent |
"I Will Remember You" Mention |
"Hero" Absent |
"Parting Gifts" Absent |
"Somnambulist" Absent | |
"Expecting" Absent |
"She" Absent |
"I've Got You Under My Skin" Absent |
"The Prodigal" Absent |
"The Ring" Absent |
"Eternity" Absent |
"Five by Five" Absent |
"Sanctuary" Absent |
"War Zone" Absent |
"Blind Date" Absent |
"To Shanshu in L.A." Absent |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5 | |||||||||||
"Buffy vs. Dracula" Absent |
"Real Me" Absent |
"The Replacement" Absent |
"Out of My Mind" Absent |
"No Place Like Home" Absent |
"Family" Mention |
"Fool for Love" Absent |
"Shadow" Absent |
"Listening to Fear" Absent |
"Into the Woods" Absent |
"Triangle" Absent | |
"Checkpoint" Absent |
"Blood Ties" Mention |
"Crush" Absent |
"I Was Made to Love You" Absent |
"The Body" Absent |
"Forever" Mention |
"Intervention" Absent |
"Tough Love" Mention |
"Spiral" Absent |
"The Weight of the World" Vision |
"The Gift" Absent |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 6 | |||||||||||
"Bargaining, Part One" Mention |
"Bargaining, Part Two" Absent |
"After Life" Absent |
"Flooded" Absent |
"Life Serial" Mention |
"All the Way" Absent |
"Once More, with Feeling" Absent |
"Tabula Rasa" Absent |
"Smashed" Absent |
"Wrecked" Absent |
"Gone" Absent | |
"Doublemeat Palace" Absent |
"Dead Things" Absent |
"Older and Far Away" Absent |
"As You Were" Absent |
"Hell's Bells" Absent |
"Normal Again" Vision |
"Entropy" Absent |
"Seeing Red" Absent |
"Villains" Absent |
"Two to Go" Absent |
"Grave" Absent |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 7 | |||||||||||
"Lessons" Absent |
"Beneath You" Absent |
"Same Time, Same Place" Absent |
"Help" Mention |
"Selfless" Absent |
"Him" Absent |
"Conversations with Dead People" Mention |
"Sleeper" Absent |
"Never Leave Me" Absent |
"Bring on the Night" Absent |
"Showtime" Absent | |
"Potential" Absent |
"The Killer in Me" Absent |
"First Date" Absent |
"Get It Done" Absent |
"Storyteller" Absent |
"Lies My Parents Told Me" Absent |
"Dirty Girls" Absent |
"Empty Places" Absent |
"Touched" Absent |
"End of Days" Absent |
"Chosen" Absent |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 10 | |||||||||||
New Rules, Part 1 Mention |
New Rules, Part 2 Absent |
New Rules, Part 3 Absent |
New Rules, Part 4 Absent |
New Rules, Part 5 Mention |
I Wish, Part 1 Vision |
I Wish, Part 2 Absent |
Return to Sunnydale, Part 1 Absent |
Return to Sunnydale, Part 2 Mention |
Day Off (or Harmony in My Head) Absent | ||
Love Dares You, Part 1 Absent |
Love Dares You, Part 2 Absent |
Love Dares You, Part 3 Absent |
Relationship Status: Complicated, Part 1 Absent |
Relationship Status: Complicated, Part 2 Absent |
Old Demons, Part 1 Absent |
Old Demons, Part 2 Absent |
Old Demons, Part 3 Absent |
Freaky Giles Day Appears |
Triggers Mention | ||
In Pieces on the Ground, Part 1 Absent |
In Pieces on the Ground, Part 2 Absent |
In Pieces on the Ground, Part 3 Absent |
In Pieces on the Ground, Part 4 Absent |
In Pieces on the Ground, Part 5 Absent |
Own It, Part 1 Absent |
Own It, Part 2 Absent |
Own It, Part 3 Absent |
Own It, Part 4 Absent |
Own It, Part 5 Absent | ||
"Where Are They Now?" Absent |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 11 | |||||||||||
The Spread of Their Evil Mention |
In Time of Crisis Absent |
A House Divided Mention |
Desperate Times Absent |
Desperate Measures Absent |
Back to the Wall Absent |
Disempowered Absent |
Ordinary People Absent | ||||
The Great Escape Absent |
Crimes Against Nature Absent |
Revelations Absent |
One Girl in All the World Absent |
Girl Blue, Part 1 Absent |
Girl Blue, Part 2 Absent |
Girl Blue, Part 3 Absent |
Girl Blue, Part 4 Absent |
Other[]
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References[]
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