The fight choreography and clever set design, along with a generous helping of quips, are part of what gives most brutal fights in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

A major theme in BtVS is that every Slayer has a death wish, and skill alone does not make a surviving Slayer. Throughout the series, there were moments where the seemingly indomitable Slayer faced overwhelming odds, including the Slayers who died in Buffy, but she is sometimes overpowered by the Big Bads in the show, despite always coming back swinging.

5 Buffy vs. Sunday

The introduction of Sunday in Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 4 is significant because of a particular milestone in the Scoobies’ growing up, especially Buffy. Throughout Buffy’s training, viewers learn the importance of mindset for a Slayer, as well as how crucial a good system is for the Slayer’s continued survival and success. Sunday struck at a time when Buffy was distracted and less stable, showing that with the right timing, even a moderately strong vampire could defeat the strongest Slayer. This reminder, early in season 4, sets vital foundations for deeply exploring the Slayer’s role.

Before the introduction of the Initiative, Buffy was adjusting to college. She flounders in her first week, including humiliation by a professor, and overall struggles to adapt to her first semester at UC Sunnydale. In episode 1, “Freshman”, Sunday and her gang overpower Buffy, and she makes a narrow escape. With the help of her friends, Buffy is able to go back and challenge Sunday again. Buffy still looks like she may not be a match for her until, symbolically, she destroys Buffy’s “Class Protector” trophy, a poignant source of pride, which riles her up enough to renew her focus.

4 Buffy vs. Glory

Glory was a formidable Big Bad in Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 5. As Glory herself frequently reminds viewers, she is a god. On multiple occasions, she emphasizes her might by treating fights as a mere inconvenience. In episode 5, “No Place Like Home”, she refers to her combat with Buffy as “valuable time out of life that I’m never gonna get back”. She stands out as one of the most charismatic villains in this scene, and Buffy has to make the right call to flee from the fight, accepting defeat, taking Glory’s monk captive with her.

How to defeat Glory was a major source of contention in season 5 because it seemed impossible, with Buffy’s power creep problem in later seasons. It took the combined might of the Scooby Gang to finally defeat Glory. Willow weakened her by draining her power and disorienting her, while Buffybot exhausted her in combat before the real Buffy ed the fray. Ultimately, a direct hit from a wrecking ball brought the powerful god down. Although Glory has a vulnerability to the Troll Hammer and her weakness via Ben, she is an incredibly difficult foe for Buffy to take down.

3 Buffy vs. Caleb

Although Caleb doesn’t have the godly might of the beautiful and lustrous Glorificus, he certainly holds his own in a fight and is a real threat to Buffy. Caleb, an agent of the First Evil in Buffy, ambushed the Scooby Gang at the Shadow Valley Vineyards, where he was searching for a Slayer weapon. In the brutal fight that followed, he killed two potential Slayers and overpowered Buffy, Faith, and Spike. Although Buffy briefly knocked him down, it was a costly retreat. Caleb injured Xander before Spike intervened, allowing the group to escape.

Buffy’s victory does not seem inevitable even in the crypt confrontation where she is given the Slayer weapon by the Last Guardian. Caleb says, “Can’t you see? You can’t stop me. I can just keep going back for more.” And he does - Buffy almost falls to the villain when Angel makes a surprise intervention, but Buffy finishes the fight for herself twice. The second time, she slices him in half, quipping, “he had to split”. Nevertheless, Caleb showed his durability and brought home the insidious and recurring nature of evil in the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

2 Buffy vs. the Master

An early example of Buffy falling to a challenge was her drowning at the hands of the Master in the season 1 episode “Prophecy Girl”. The episode sees the horrifying fulfillment of an ancient prophecy - the Master defeats and kills Buffy by biting her neck and leaving her in a shallow pool. But death is not the end for the Slayer. Angel pulls her from the water, and Xander's R brings her back to life. This near-death experience imbues Buffy with a new level of strength and focus, allowing her to overcome the Master, who had unknowingly revealed that her blood was the key to his power.

The Master was chilling within the show's initial scope...

While later Big Bads in Buffy the Vampire Slayer presented more complex and world-ending threats, the Master was chilling within the show's initial scope. His ancient age, predating even the curse of human features, gave him a monstrous appearance reminiscent of older, more powerful vampire strains. His control over his followers was absolute, enforced through brutal punishment and a warped sense of familial loyalty. His knowledge of ancient prophecies and dark rituals, paired with his potent hypnotic abilities that even Buffy couldn't initially resist, established him as a terrifying first antagonist.

1 Buffy vs. Dark Willow

Willow came into her own in season 6, surprising viewers by becoming a Big Bad as Xander almost did. Evolving from a ing role, Willow's grief-fueled magic had surged beyond Buffy's Slayer strength. Their fight wasn't about Buffy winning physically, a likely impossibility, but about engaging Willow for long enough to get Andrew and Jonathan to safety. More crucially, it was about buying time to reach the core of the lost Willow and prevent her from going too far. Buffy's efforts were a strategic holding action against overwhelming magic. Her horror at having to fight her best friend is palpable.

In the episode “Two To Go”, they initially have a fist fight because Anya is blocking Willow’s magic. Even without her magic, Willow’s descent into darkness gives her physical prowess to rival Buffy’s in a brilliant piece of fight choreography. As soon as Anya is unconscious and she is able to tap into her magic again, she does not hesitate to use lightning on her friend. It is uncertain what Willow is going to do next, but Buffy is defeated in the fight, with Giles stepping in to challenge Willow magically.