Buffy The Vampire Slayer has an unprecedented array of iconic characters. Over its seven seasons, audiences could delight in both allies and enemies of every demonic and magical shape and form. However, while most characters are best remembered for their strengths, many are known for their odd weaknesses.
Of course, when it comes to weaknesses, Buffy Summers' enemies aren't the only ones with odd exploits. A few fan-favorite heroes of the Buffyverse can have some weird weaknesses as well. For both heroes and villains, these weaknesses vary. Some are odd phobias, others are interesting character traits, and some come with the job.
The Anointed One
While prophecy was on this immortal child’s side, puberty wasn’t. Season 1 of Buffy spent important time setting up this child vampire to be the Master’s successor. While the Anointed One did lead Buffy to her first death, it was the Anointed One's potential that offered the biggest threat to Sunnydale and the Scooby gang.
Bearing an innocent exterior and the promise of a wide scope of powers, it came as a shock when the Anointed One was killed early in season 2. Spike took advantage of all vampires' weaknesses - sunlight - and burned him alive. But this demise was less a weakness of the character and more a weakness of the show. A series oftentimes shift their stories to account for real life, and in this case, the reality of actor Andrew J Ferchland’s visible aging became his character’s undoing.
Turok-Han
The final season of Buffy opens with a seemingly indestructible proto-vampire invading Sunnydale. The Turok-Han are like vampire neanderthals and possess increased strength, making them a pretty devastating foe for Buffy and the Scoobies. This season showed the Turok-Han defeating Buffy and killing a few potential slayers. The gang spent most of the season trying to find a way to defeat the Turak-Han, only to find out that the team would have to face an army of them in the Hellmouth.
However, during the final confrontation with the First Evil, it seemed that the Turok-Han had many of the same weaknesses as regular vampires. This meant regular humans could defeat them in mass numbers given enough training. Here, this uber-vamp manifested the weakness of plot necessity because even they couldn't win against a series finale.
The Gentlemen
"Hush" is easily one of the memorable episodes in Buffy as the atmosphere in this episode is so unique and chilling. No one speaks for a majority of the episode. Somehow, the Gentlemen have the eerie power to render everyone in an area speechless. They then glide elegantly around and overpower their victims with grace and eerie smiles because no one can hear their victims struggle.
Of course, what would be the weakness of a silent monster? Sound. While it makes perfect sense that a scream could be their undoing, what is probably the weirdest part of this weakness is the Gentlemen's reaction to sound. Their heads become geysers of goo, dramatically shifting the tone of the episode.
The Judge
This legendary demon was summoned to Earth in the 14th century to burn humanity from the world. While “no weapon forged” can stop him, he is defeated in the 14th century by armies of humans who scatter his dismembered body “in every corner of the Earth.” In 1998, he was reassembled and learned nothing from his 600 years wallowing in defeat.
Before he has even had the chance to reclaim his former power, he encounters Buffy and the gang. Thanks to his hubris and a rocket launcher, the Judge's body was blown to bits and once again scattered to keep him from coming back.
The First Evil
The First is a primordial force that predates humans and demons. It is evil itself. While it wants nothing more than to tip the balance of good and evil and appear in a physical form, it is actually a non-corporeal being. To compensate for its intangibility, The First has become a master manipulator, creating illusions, impersonating the dead, and sowing doubt into its victims.
While it has powers and can use others for its ill will, it cannot move past its inability to interact with the physical world. This is a big weakness for a villain. What's more, this is a weird weakness for a villain set to be the final villain for a series finale.
The Trio
While individually members of this team provided episodic difficulties for the Slayer and the Scooby gang, in early season 6, they banded together to become ultimate supervillains. They persistently created many troubles in Sunnydale, but nothing so dramatic as to actually get themselves noticed by the Scoobies or the Demon population.
What kept them alive was their inability to cause permanent damage, which might be considered a strength. But all that changed when Warren kills his ex-girlfriend, Katrina. This landed the trio on Buffy’s radar. Unfortunately, it seems that killing is the Trio's ultimate weakness as Warren killing Tara marks Trio’s downfall.
Anya
Anya is a strong fearsome woman who happens was once a demon. But, despite her strength, she has Leporiphobia - a fear of bunnies. While many see bunnies as relatively harmless bundles of cuteness, the former vengeance demon sees something far worse. But what makes this weakness so odd is that before becoming a demon, Anya, known then as Aud, raised rabbits in Sweden.
Sometime during her tenure as the Patron Saint of Scorned Women, Anya feared her former charges. As a vengeance demon, Anya saw other dimensions and realities. Maybe she learned some dark secret about bunnies that the show never explored?
Buffy
As the Chosen One, Buffy Summers isn't excluded from the harsh realities of the normal world. After her resurrection, she is faced with not only the shock of leaving heaven but the responsibility of being the primary caretaker for Dawn. While money troubles and having to work a terrible job are normal issues, it's weird to have the Chosen One taken advantage of by everyday problems.
Giles, her Watcher has significant wealth, her witch friends never seem to have money troubles, and an entire Watcher’s Council exists solely to help the Slayers do their jobs. Yet, it seems that all a big bad has to do is take out Buffy's checking account.