When Buffy first aired in 1997, we had Xena, Wonder Woman, and a handful of other female superheroes sprinkled into fantasy worlds overrun with male leads. And when female superheroes were part of the plot, they were often oversexualized and oversimplified.
Not only did BTVS give us a woman with the whole "superhero package," but it also presented us with a complicated, flawed woman we could both respect as a hero and relate to as a person. Buffy's character proved that strength isn't always just a physical thing. She proves, most importantly, that "vulnerability" doesn't mean "weakness." Despite expertly carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders since she was 15, Buffy is open to love, she experiences deep loss, she falls down and gets back up, and she loves and lives again. And again. And then one more time after that.
She's a unique superhero unlike any — male or female — who came before her, and one who influenced the development of many heroines after her.
