Buffy the Vampire Slayer created a whole new generation of genre fans, bringing fantasy and the paranormal to the forefront. We were lucky enough to get seven seasons of this show, which utilized longer storytelling formats in addition to a more monster-of-the-week style. It goes without saying that some of the best monsters in the series are mentioned in the title—the vampires. The vampires in Buffy expanded the limits of the show, from introducing some of the best secondary characters (looking at you, Spike) to spin-off series and beyond. While Angel and Spike may steal the show, in terms of vampire stories, there are plenty of other notable vampires in this beloved series.
It’s safe to say that Buffy the Vampire Slayer consistently blew fans’ expectations out of the water. The show, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, has created a lasting legacy that lives on in the minds of its viewers. The promise of a reboot has only served to stoke that flame, as we anxiously await to see how true it’ll remain to the source material that changed our lives forever. With that in mind, let’s take a walk down memory lane, looking at some of the best vampires in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, sans the obvious top dogs.
1) Harmony
There are many forms of power, especially in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe. For example, Harmony may be a vampire, but she utilizes a very different skill set to get her way. As with a few other vampires on this list, Harmony didn’t start out this way. So when she was first introduced, she was a human, complete with the popular girl storyline. She was a classic bully with a dark soul, long before she became part of the undead.
Here’s the thing: Harmony is an entertaining vampire, but not because she’s effective at what she does. She cultivates power in her looks, and she isn’t exactly the best at creating successful schemes. With time, she could have improved those skills, but at least her failures made her memorable, as did her redemption arc in Angel. Stories like this quickly made her a fan favorite.
2) Luke
Luke may not be the strongest vampire around, but he has access to a wealth of power and information. Luke was a member of the Order of Aurelius, not to mention the vassal of the Master. That made him a secondary villain at best, as it was his responsibility to source food for The Master. Interestingly, Buffy makes the second Slayer Luke faced, and you’d think that would have given him the edge.
Luke was most notably part of a master plan to bring The Master back, pitting him against the likes of Buffy and her allies. While Luke was older, stronger, and more agile than many other vampires portrayed at this time, he was no match for the Slayer. Ultimately, Buffy won the battle against Luke, using her brains to get the upper hand. She tricked Luke into believing the sun was up, shattering a window and causing him to flinch back. It created the opening necessary to stake him, winning the battle and stopping The Master’s plan.
3) Kakistos
When people picture stereotypical vampires in Buffy, they’re probably thinking something more similar to Kakistos. Kakistos is an ancient vampire, whose name is Greek for “the worst.” The name is pretty fitting, all things considered. Kakistos made a name for himself in Buffy lore, leaving a wake of destruction and pain. While Kakistos is powerful, he lacks the ability to create a human disguise, limiting his ability to blend in as a vampire.
Kakistos’ appearance in Buffy began with a quest for vengeance. Still salty about Faith for scarring him and removing the sight in one of his eyes, he begins his hunt. By this point in the series, Kakistos had already killed Faith’s Watcher (which is how Faith came to injure him so badly), so the emotional stakes were already high. Buffy provided not just physical backup, but moral support, as Faith wanted nothing more than to run away from this enemy. Unlike most vampires, Kakistos couldn’t be killed with an average-sized stake, forcing to team to get a bit more creative when taking him down.
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4) Holden
Most vampires aim to be a physical threat to Slayers, Buffy included. That said, it’s safe to say that Holden provided a different sort of threat to Buffy. He had a way of getting under her skin, and not in the way one might imagine. Holden was once a fellow classmate at Sunnydale High School, which proved to be an excellent excuse to catch up when the two would cross paths again.
Little did Buffy know that Holden was now a vampire. The two began chatting. More importantly, Holden got Buffy talking, portraying a stellar example of active listening. It was something Buffy really needed at the time, which is the problem. Once Buffy was good and distracted, Holden struck. He very nearly succeeded, too. Thankfully, Buffy survived his initial attack and won the fight. That said, there’s no denying that this one took a toll on Buffy. She didn’t need a betrayal in a vulnerable moment, nor did she want to kill Holden. Two blows in quick succession, proving that this vampire cut Buffy in a different sort of way.
5) Dracula
Fans always anticipated that at some point, the infamous vampire, Dracula, would show up in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He made his long-awaited appearance in Season 5, and it’s safe to say that his abilities put him on a whole new level, even by vampiric standards. Dracula had more powers than the standard vampire, even the older ones. These included magic, shapeshifting, and reconstitution. Understandably, the latter made him a bit tricky to deal with.
Worse, Dracula had a host of abilities that helped him take control of people. Combined with his magnetic personality, it spelled disaster for Sunnydale. He temporarily hypnotized Xandar to do his bidding and successfully charmed Buffy enough to get some of her blood. Buffy won at least one battle, staking Dracula. This is where the crew learned about his reconstitution abilities, as he quickly reappeared unharmed. This could have been a very bad situation, had he not listened to Buffy’s threat and left.
6) Buffy the Vampire
Thanks to the magic of storytelling, more than one member of the Buffy crew became a vampire throughout the series. Thankfully, not all transitions were permanent, explaining how Buffy spent some time as a vampire in “Nightmares.” It all began when The Master buried her alive, and honestly, it feels like there’s untapped potential in this side of Buffy’s story. The series played around with this concept with a few characters, but it doesn’t feel like they fully explored it for Buffy.
As with most vampires, Buffy the Vampire presumably got to keep her skills and abilities. She might have even been able to keep her abilities as a Slayer, but the show didn’t really delve into that too much, leaving unanswered questions left and right.
7) Darla
Darla is an older vampire with an extensive history in Buffy’s universe. She was sired by The Master in the 17th century. She would then go on to sire Angelus (becoming his lover in the process). She’s also Connor’s mom, though she had to stake herself to allow for him to be born. To put it another way, Darla was set up to be one of the biggest problems for Buffy, and she embraced that role wholeheartedly. She also embraced chaos, explaining her sometimes impossible-to-predict moves.
While Darla is certainly a powerful vampire, some of her abilities are harder to define. She has a way of understanding those around her, and as a master manipulator, she uses that to get what she wants. She sowed discord between Angel and Buffy early on, which led to problems down the line.
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8) The Master
The Master, as the name probably implies, is one of the Big Bads of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was the first major antagonist of the series, appearing in Season 1. As an ancient vampire, he’s more powerful than most of the others, forcing them to bend their knee. Likewise, he created an organization known as the Order of Aurelius and found new ways to create problems for Buffy and the crew on a regular basis.
For a moment, it looked like The Master achieved the (seemingly) impossible. He seriously wounded Buffy, drank her blood, and left her to die. Had he stuck around and ensured his success, this story would have gone very differently. Thankfully, Xandar was able to bring Buffy back to the side of the living, putting her back in the game.
9) Drusilla
Drusilla is one of the older vampires in the series, and her actions have had a lasting impact on Buffy and the entire cast. Drusilla was once a human with psychic powers before Angelus sired and tortured her (possibly not in that order). Drusilla is the infamous sire of Spike, and for a long time, the two held a close bond. She would later forge a connection with Darla, which explains a lot about these two.
Combining clairvoyance with vampire abilities made Drusilla a dangerous foe, especially for the likes of Buffy. She easily saw through Buffy’s plans, plus she had the handy little ability to get into people’s minds when needed, as long as she could get her hands on them. Drusilla is a chaotic character, making unpredictable moves. She has left her mark on Buffy‘s canon and Slayer lore, creating ties to many Buffy characters while also successfully killing a Slayer previously.
10) Vampire Willow
Poor Willow went through so much in the series, and of course, one such event put her into the realm of the bloodsuckers. Fans got two different chances to see what Willow would be like if she became a vampire. The first happened during “The Wish,” in which Cordelia wished away Buffy’s presence in Sunnydale. Naturally, this means that vampires overtook the town, turning the survivors, like Willow, into vampires. It becomes very clear that Willow is a powerful vampire, capable of holding her own against even a pack of other vampires.
A few episodes later, in “Dopplegangland,” Vampire Willow and Willow battle it out, but the story is far more layered than that. While viewers ultimately learned of Willow’s sexuality much later, some dialogue from this episode is believed to tease the truth, as Vampire Willow flirted with her counterpart. Ultimately, Vampire Willow was tricked into a cage, sent back to her own reality, and staked. Not the best way to go.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is available to stream on Tubi, Hulu, and Disney+.
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