Buffy Summers: A vampire slayer called to her destiny at the age of 15, Buffy is now a surrogate single mom to mystical sister Dawn. She has died twice in the line of duty, only to be brought back both times by her friends. Previously, she was employed at the Doublemeat Palace, a job she neither wanted nor liked but needed in order to make ends meet. After much persuasion from her former watcher, Rupert Giles, the Council of Watchers is now paying her for her slaying duties therefore; her days of flipping burgers are over. Every relationship that she has been involved in has ended badly, including her relationship with her father and the only human boyfriend she's ever had, Riley (Parker was a one-night stand so he doesn't really count). She's been involved romantically with two vampires, Angel - supposedly the only vampire with a soul - and Spike, once part of the scourge of Europe and Angel's grandchilde. Currently she is dating her new watcher, William Giles, supposed nephew of her previous watcher.

Dawn Summers: Mystical sister of Buffy, also known as the Key. A couple years back a group of Monks, in an effort to hide the Key from the Hell God Glory, transformed the ball of green energy into the form of a girl and sent her to live with the Slayer, knowing that Buffy would protect her. Dawn is now sixteen and a sophomore at Sunnydale High School. Over the course of several weeks, prior to and after her sixteenth birthday, it was discovered that she possessed several powers of her own. Not only is she a mystical key that can open and close portals at will, she can also heal major injuries by touch as well as can be considered a Slayer-In-Training since she possesses somewhat similar skills to that of Buffy (being made from Buffy's blood, this is not a surprising development). She is currently dating Connor, the son of Buffy's former lover and Champion of the Powers That Be, Angel.

Rupert Giles: Buffy's former watcher and surrogate father. He has mentored and cared for Buffy since her arrival in Sunnydale in the spring of 1997. After Buffy's death in the spring of 2001, he opted to leave Sunnydale and return to England for good. However, he came back to town to be with a newly resurrected Buffy, only to leave once again after she showed signs of being too dependent upon him. When Warren Meers became a threat to Buffy and her friends, Giles again returned to Sunnydale but this time he brought with him borrowed power from a Coven of Witches to help defeat the arrogant boy. Once the threat was eliminated, he returned to England to help translate an ancient prophecy that dealt with the death of his beloved slayer. While there, the vampire, William the Bloody, turned up on his doorstep as a human. After much soul searching on his part, he realized that Spike would be the perfect solution to his dilemma - he would have Spike trained to be Buffy's watcher so that he could remain in England. Despite the fact that his transfer has been approved, Giles still finds himself spending most of his time in California and not England.

Willow Rosenberg: Best friend of Buffy and girlfriend of Tara Maclay. Willow is a very powerful witch who went on a violent rampage after Warren Meers accidentally killed Tara. After trying unsuccessfully to destroy the world because of her pain, she inadvertently made a wish to then vengeance demon, Anya, which sent her back to the minutes prior to Tara's death. Because she still maintained all memories of what had happened prior to the wish, she was able to save Buffy from Warren's bullet as well as avert Tara's death. These actions changed the events of history and created an alternate reality in which they all now reside. Willow eventually told the group about her wish and what had happened to cause it, as a result and despite Xander's anger for no longer being a hero, the group decided not to destroy Anya's power source and to continue to live in this reality. With encouragement from both Tara and Giles, Willow traveled to England and spent several months under the tutelage of the Coven in order to learn how to control her darker side. The impending doom of the Last Judgment forced her to return to Sunnydale several weeks before she was to complete her final trials.

Xander Harris: Best friend to Willow and Buffy and boyfriend of Anya Jenkins. Xander is the heart of the Scoobies. He provides comic relief as well as free carpentry service when needed. Though he can be obstinate and somewhat abrasive, he is loyal to his friends and a hard worker. At one time he was engaged to former vengeance demon Anya but left her at the altar when he got cold feet, thus making their relationship very strained. He was severely injured in their battle against Warren and as a result, he spent several weeks in a coma until Dawn healed him. After recovering from his injuries, he and Anya attempted to reunite, only his stubbornness and ignorance about her being a demon again put a damper on things. He is now in the process of wooing Ms. Jenkins after realizing that demon or no, he still loves her.

Anya Jenkins (Anyanka): A former vengeance demon that became human after a wish gone wrong in 1999. Xander escorted her to their senior prom, but shortly before graduation and the Mayor's ascension, she disappeared to parts unknown. She returned to Sunnydale several months later to try to remove Xander from her mind by having sex with him. Eventually, the two wound up falling in love and getting engaged in the days prior to Buffy's death in 2001. After being jilted at the altar in front of family and friends, she returned to her vengeance ways. Despite knowing the consequences of her actions, she disobeyed the rules of vengeance to help her friends defeat Warren. As a result of her misuse of powers, D'Hoffryn appeared at the Magic Box to discipline her for her transgressions...her punishment, to live out the rest of her days as a human. Currently she is part owner of the Magic Box with Giles and has made a killing on the stocks and bonds markets. Also, she has an innate fear of all things bunny.

Tara Maclay: Girlfriend of Willow and a powerful sorceress in her own right. While attending Sunnydale University, she ran into Willow at a Wiccan meeting. The two became fast friends and then more, but not until after Willow's werewolf of an ex-boyfriend came back to town. In 2000, her father, brother and cousin came to Sunnydale to drag her back home, telling her that she was a demon and needed to be at home to hide from everyone. It was then that Buffy stood up to the nasty man and Tara became an accepted member of the Scooby Gang. After Buffy's death, Tara moved into the Summers' home to help Willow raise Dawn but moved out in 2001 after Willow became too obsessed with performing magic. Originally killed by a stray bullet after reconciling with Willow, time was reversed by a wish and Willow was able to stop her death from happening. Tara was the first of the group to realize that there was something off about Willow, eventually confronting her lover about what had really happened. At first, she was shocked and not sure if she could continue in a relationship with a person that was capable of becoming so evil, but she was the voice of reason and support when Willow revealed the secret to the rest of the gang. Once the truth was revealed, she supported Willow's quest for learning to control her darker side and as a result, went to England with her lover to study under the Coven. Currently she is back in Sunnydale to help fight against the upcoming Last Judgment.

William the Bloody/Spike/William Giles: A legendary vampire with a penchant for torturing his victims with railroad spikes, as well as a reputation as the Slayer of Slayers, Spike arrived in Sunnydale in the fall of 1997. After trying to kill Buffy several times over, they put aside their hatred and formed a tentative if somewhat unusual alliance in May of 1998 while trying to stop Angelus. Part of the deal was that Spike and Drusilla would be allowed to leave town, unharmed. In October 1999, he returned to Sunnydale once again, without Dru, this time looking for the Gem of Amara. Eventually a government group called the Initiative captured him and implanted a chip into his brain, rendering him harmless to humans. Once he realized that he could harm demons without his chip zapping him, he began fighting on the side of good, assisting the Scooby gang as well as annoying them. After Buffy's