In every generation, a slayer is born who is responsible for saving the world from the things that go bump in the night. Buffy The Vampire Slayer sees the title character save the world more times than she can count - and her story continues in comic books even after the television series ends.
Most of Buffy’s time is focused on vampires, but throughout her series, she’s gone up against her fair share of demons and other supernatural creatures. Just how well would she fare against the supernatural beings and villains in another franchise, like Teen Wolf? On Teen Wolf, Scott McCall rarely was able to take out any villains alone, needing the help of his ever expanding pack. There are a few of his villains Buffy Summers could have easily handled without any extra help.
Can Defeat: The Beast
Buffy didn’t often have to go up against the likes of werewolves, but she would have handled them the same way she handled vampires: with her super strength and a whole lot of sass. The Beast would provide her a bit of a challenge.
Legend has it the Beast is the very first werewolf. Its DNA was implanted into a normal teenager in Teen Wolf, something that certainly can play into the melding of science fiction and fantasy Buffy saw in her own series. With her own super strength and durability, Buffy wouldn’t have had a problem fighting the Beast. The question is really whether she would have defeated the Beast outright or figured out how to save the person within.
Cannot: Ghost Riders
The Ghost Riders make up the Wild Hunt. They look like spooky cowboys, but they use their supernatural abilities to make people disappear.
Buffy would have had a hard time facing off against the Ghost Riders. They ride the lightning, something even a Slayer can’t survive. She also would never know that people were missing unless someone pointed it out to her since the Wild Hunt erases all traces of the people they take. Scott is only able to take on the Ghost Riders because he has the help of a banshee they fear and another enemy who seeks them out.
Can Defeat: Kate Argent
Kate Argent starts off as a hunter who is after dangerous supernatural creatures. Her desire for power and revenge eventually gets the better of her. She becomes a werejaguar, linked to her own supernatural army.
While Buffy probably would let Kate get away as a human - after a battle in which Buffy definitely bests her - she wouldn’t take too kindly to the werejaguar version of her. Buffy would definitely be strong enough to take anything Kate threw at her, and it’s unlikely she’d let her off the hook a second time.
Cannot: Dread Doctors
The Dread Doctors would make for one very confusing villain for Buffy. She would certainly be the one to notice that people in her town suddenly seemed to have supernatural abilities - or had silver nosebleeds.
Fighting the Dread Doctors would be difficult for Buffy because of all of the weird science they’ve amassed over the years. In fact, it would be like when Buffy took on Dracula without her abilities - but times three. There’s a good chance she wouldn’t be able to beat them without quite a bit of help from her friends.
Can Defeat: The Kanima
On the surface, the Kanima is just another monster with claws and a tail for Buffy to fight. The paralytic venom might literally give Buffy pause in their first confrontation, but Buffy would be able to work out weaknesses in a fight.
Research courtesy of the Watcher’s Council would let Buffy know just how and why someone becomes a kanima. While she’s not always the best at detective work, even Buffy would be able to work out who in town is the best candidate for the creature.
Cannot: Nogitsune
The Nogitsune, a fox spirit trapped for decades who just likes to cause a little chaos, is tougher than he looks. The spirit is able to inhabit the body of a regular person, control his own supernatural sentries, and is stronger than the average shapeshifter.
While Buffy is a master of defeating monsters head-on, this is one “monster” that is more of a strategist than a hitter. The Nogitsune would be able to take her life apart from the inside out, something she wouldn’t see coming.
Can Defeat: Deucalion
An alpha werewolf leading a group of alpha werewolves, Deucalion has a lot of power in the werewolf world. In the supernatural world as a whole, Deucalion isn’t particularly special.
Buffy would have no problem using her fighting expertise against Deucalion and his pack. She might not have the same strength or claws as an alpha wolf, but she knows how to make her size - and her opponent’s judgment - work for her.
Cannot: The Darach
Once upon a time, the Darach was a druid, or the equivalent of a witch in the Teen Wolf universe. Druids act as healers, keepers of knowledge, and they know how to help or hurt supernatural creatures despite not having the same abilities. The Darach is what happens when a druid goes bad. They have even more power than a druid and can do a lot more than just hand-to-hand combat.
The caveat here, of course, is that Buffy could definitely defeat the Darach if she has a little magic on her side. Buffy could easily take on the bad guys the Darach put in her path, as long as there was a witch combatting the magic. She wouldn’t be able to do it on her own.
Can Defeat: Desert Wolf
The Desert Wolf is like a lot of the villains Buffy faces over the years. She’s confident in her own abilities, someone who holds a grudge, and someone who seriously underestimates her opponents.
Just as Malia and Braeden are able to go up against the Desert Wolf because she doesn’t believe they’ll be strong enough to beat her, Buffy could bring an end to her reign of terror and quest for power.
Cannot: The People Of Beacon Hills
When the Anuk-Ite begins making the people of Beacon Hills give in to their own paranoia and fear, the residents turn on the supernatural creatures who call the town home. Going up against regular old humans is not something Buffy would be particularly equipped to do.
With Buffy’s unwillingness to cross certain lines, she would have a hard time facing off against townspeople influenced by outside forces. It would be difficult for her to pull back on her strength to not cause lasting damage. She wouldn’t try to take on civilians, but instead, would try to find a way around the trouble.