Inca Princess

This article is about a subject whose real name is unknown, being identified only by a title, nickname, or alias.

Inca Princess
Aliases	Ampata Gutierrez
Status	Deceased
Classif.	Human
Appearances
Appeared in	"Inca Mummy Girl"
Portrayed by	Ara Celi

“She was offered as a sacrifice and went to her death. Who knows what she gave up to fulfill her duty to others. What chance of love?”

―"Ampata"

The Inca Mummy, who assumed the name of Ampata Gutierrez, was an undead Inca princess who was accidentally released.

Biography

The Inca Mummy

She was made a princess by the Incan people at the age of sixteen and later was made into a sacrifice for the mountain god, Sebancaya. She eventually became part of an Incan mummy exhibit, touring places like Boston, Atlanta and New York. Five hundred years after her death, on tour to the Sunnydale Museum, she was accidentally awoken by a Sunnydale High 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.

In an attempt to recapture her stolen life, she attacked, killed, and assumed the identity of Ampata Gutierrez, the foreign exchange student whom Buffy Summers and her mother were to host. She and Xander Harris instantly hit it off. "Ampata" fell in love with him, since he was the first person she had met who treated her like a girl rather than a princess. Although unaware of the Scoobies' true roles and awareness of the supernatural, she learned that they were examining the broken seal that had kept her contained. Instead of translating it, "Ampata" claimed that the seal should be destroyed.

However, her need to suck the life from others finally exposed her true nature. Her restored body was unable to last longer than a few hours on its own after so many centuries, even after she drained the mystical Incan guardian who had been summoned by the Seal to keep her contained. After Rupert Giles translated the seal and the body of the real Ampata had been discovered, she was attempted to drain Willow Rosenberg. Xander intervened and informed her that she would 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

The mummy fed on the life force of living humans to regenerate her own body temporarily

“Here. It explains that mummies kill by feeding off the life force of a person. Effectively freeze-drying them, you might say.”

―Rupert Giles

Through lip contact, the Inca Princess would drain the life-force of other humans, temporarily recuperating her youthful appearance while the victim was killed and left in a mummified state. This process was involuntary, as "Ampata" required of her willpower to kiss Xander without killing him and even so she drained some of his life-force, leaving him briefly dazed.

She also possessed exceptional fighiting skills and strength, enough to overpower the Bodyguard as well as Giles, and hold her own in a fight against Buffy.

Behind the Scenes

• She was portrayed by Ara Celi.

• Ampata was based on the Inca Ice Maiden, a mummy discovered in 1995 on Mount Ampato, located in Arequipa, a region in southwestern Peru

• Her story is similar to that of Buffy, in that both girls were "destined" to protect their people and die because of it. Buffy herself reflected on the similarities between them.

• The fact that she was attracted by Xander (like the She-Mantis) would 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.

Appearances

• "Inca Mummy Girl"
• "Anne" (Only mentioned)