Stake

Stake
Type	Weapon
User(s)	Slayers Vampire hunters
Appearances
Debut	"Welcome to the Hellmouth"

Maggie: “We use the latest in scientific technology and state-of-the-art weaponry, and you, if I understand correctly, poke them with a sharp stick.”

Buffy: “Oh, it's more effective than it sounds.”

— Buffy Summers and Maggie Walsh

A stake was a pointy wooden object and one of the most effective ways to slay a vampire. 

Usage

In order for the weapon to be effective, it must've penetrated the vampire's heart. However, vampires in possession of the Gem of Amarra would be rendered invincible, and immune to staking. A vampire could also become immune to staking by having its heart surgically removed, although this process certified the vampire’s death within about six hours.

Stakes were the most commonly used weapons by vampire hunters and Slayers whilst fighting and hunting vampires, along with crossbows, crosses, holy water and bladed weapons which generally were secondary weapons. Buffy Summers seemed to have a penchant for using stakes, once holding one when hunting a Mohra Demon.

Generally, any wooden object of a reasonable size could function as a stake (including broken chair legs, decorative bamboo sticks, tree branches etc.) but professionals tended to carry their own specially carved stakes. Agents of the Initiative along with Wolfram & Hart security guards and Special Opps each individually carried their stakes while dealing with vampire attacks, similar to how they would use a combat knife or nightstick.

More advanced versions of this weapon were Angel Investigations' Stake-loaded wristbands and Connor's Stake gun. The Scythe also contained wooden stake opposite to its head. 

Kendra Young once owned a individual stake which she nicknamed "Mr. Pointy". She then passed this on to Buffy before her death. 

Along with vampires, stakes were also an effective weapon against species related to vampires, such as the Turok-Han and zompires.

Behind the Scenes

File:Retractable stake demontration.jpg

Prop Master Randy Erickson demonstrates how the retractable stake works

• The prop stakes used in Buffy the Vampire Slayer were made of real wood, however, when it came to stabbing, stakes with a retractable points were sometimes used in action scenes to create the illusion of stabbing. There were also stakes cast in foam rubber and plastic.
• There were two to three different stakes introduced per season.
• In the non-canonical video games Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Chaos Bleeds, some demon enemies (like hellhounds and hanoch demons) could only be killed with the same methods as vampires like fire, decapitation, and staking.

Gallery

Promotional Images

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Episode Stills

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Screenshots

Xander holding Buffy's stake in confusion

Buffy and one of her stakes.

Oz holding a stake made from a baseball bat handle

Buffy with the stake Mr. Pointy

Buffy wields a makeshift stake

Props

Prop Master Randy Erickson with various prop stakes

A prop stake carved from real wood

Randy Erickson holding a retractable stake

The main stake prop used in the first and second seasons of Buffy and many of the promotional images of those seasons

The stake prop used in "Welcome to the Hellmouth"

A stake prop used in the third season of Buffy

A stake prop used in the fourth season of Buffy.

A stake prop used in the fourth season of Buffy

A prop stake used in the sixth season of Buffy

Appearances

Buffy The Vampire Slayer "Welcome to the Hellmouth" "The Harvest" "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" "Angel" "Nightmares" "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" "Prophecy Girl" "When She Was Bad" "School Hard" "Inca Mummy Girl" "Lie to Me" "What's My Line, Part One" "What's My Line, Part Two" "Ted" "Surprise" "Innocence" "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" "Killed by Death" "Becoming, Part One" "Becoming, Part Two" "Anne" "Dead Man's Party" "Faith, Hope & Trick" "Band Candy" "Revelations" "Lovers Walk" "The Wish" "Gingerbread" "Helpless" "Bad Girls" "Consequences" "Doppelgangland" "The Prom" "Graduation Day, Part Two" "The Freshman" "The Harsh Light of Day" "Fear, Itself" "Beer Bad" "Wild at Heart" "Pangs" "Hush" "Who Are You" "Superstar" "Where the Wild Things Are" "New Moon Rising" "Buffy vs. Dracula" "Real Me" "Out of My Mind" "No Place Like Home" "Fool for Love" "Shadow" "Listening to Fear" "Triangle" "Checkpoint" "Crush" "Intervention" "The Gift" "Bargaining, Part One" "All the Way" "Once More, with Feeling" "Tabula Rasa" "Dead Things" "Older and Far Away" "As You Were" "Entropy" "Seeing Red" "Lessons" "Beneath You" "Help" "Conversations with Dead People" "Sleeper" "Bring on the Night" "Showtime" "Potential" "First Date" "Get It Done" "Storyteller" "Lies My Parents Told Me" "Dirty Girls" "Chosen" Angel "City Of" "In the Dark" "Bachelor Party" "Somnambulist" "The Prodigal" "Five by Five" "War Zone" "Blind Date" "Judgment" "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" "Guise Will Be Guise" "The Shroud of Rahmon" "The Trial" "Reunion" "Redefinition" "Reprise" "Epiphany" "Disharmony" "Heartthrob" "That Old Gang of Mine" "Offspring" "Quickening" "Lullaby" "Dad" "Provider" "Loyalty" "Sleep Tight" "Forgiving" "Double or Nothing" "A New World" "Benediction" "Tomorrow" "Deep Down" "The House Always Wins" "Spin the Bottle" "Apocalypse, Nowish" "Soulless" "Salvage" "Orpheus" "Shiny Happy People" "Conviction" "Soul Purpose" "Damage" "Why We Fight"