10 Best Character Arcs In Buffy The Vampire Slayer & Angel

10. Dawn Summers

It's fair to say that Dawn Summers, introduced in season five as Buffy's younger sister, is the most divisive character in the franchise. Of course, much of the hate she receives is barely justified. Sure, she was loud, whiny, and a kleptomaniac, but she was also a ball of energy known as The Key, created to open a demon dimension that would bring about the end of the world.

All I'm saying is, maybe it's time to cut her some slack.

Dawn spends season five coming to terms with the fact that she's not technically real, and by the end of the season is willing to give up her life to save everyone. She also learns to think of Buffy as her real sister, and over the next two seasons grapples with her new life, her emotionally distant sibling, and her lack of parental figures.

By the end of the show, the vast majority of her annoying habits had disappeared, and she proved to be a selfless hero in her own right. Hers was not a overly complex arc, looking at it as a whole, but it was low-key one of Buffy's most subtle and effective.