"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty."

For her personality section, I'm going to be giving a general overview, and then a much more extensive look at who Buffy Summers really is.

NOTE; This is a blanket personality essay that I have written and built over time and it encompasses her entire canon history and all aspects of her personality, not just up to the canon point from which I have chosen to take her. I felt it was more thorough than going through and cutting out the bits and pieces that cover things which won't be relevant to her specific canon point, as her personality is a very solid thing at its core even through experiences and change.

-----> *OVERVIEW* ->>

Buffy is a leader by nature. She always has been. Even back before she became the Slayer when she was the quintessential Californian princess – cheerleader, homecoming queen, all of that – she was still very much a leader. She demands to be followed whether that's by trend-setting or leading an army of girls with weapons against a damn-near impenetrable force of evil. She's self-assured and strong-willed. She is a very independent woman who doesn't have much taste for authority, who does what she thinks is the best thing, and right thing, to do. If that involves bending the rules, then so be it. She's a rebel, even in terms of being a Slayer - she likes to do things her own way, even if her Watcher or the Council have demanded otherwise. Sometimes her natural ability to lead can go to her head, and she'll get a little too headstrong and arrogant about things. She's often fairly well convinced that she's the foremost expert on all of the monsters and demons that come around, just because she's The Slayer, and she's been there.

Buffy also has a huge heart. She cares about people, sometimes more than what's good for her. She can get attached to people far too quickly, and she definitely puts her all into her friendships. She's a very protective person and will stop at nothing to keep those she loves safe. She considers her emotions to be assets, and knows that, despite what she's learned from the First Slayer and what she's been told of Slayers in the past, they give her power. They build her strength. There isn't anything she wouldn't do for the people she cares about; she would go to the ends of the earth to protect them, no matter what.

She can be extremely strong in her opinions, and isn't afraid to step up and assert her authority when she feels it's necessary. Buffy also possesses the uncanny ability to whip out witty comments at the most appropriate (and, alright, sometimes inappropriate) times, always offering a crack - especially when dealing with her enemies. She comes off a little bit cynical and sarcastic at times, but usually just when she's in a bad mood. She's very emotional, despite the strong image she upholds. She's not quick to cry, or a baby about her feelings, but when the need hits her, she lets it out, sometimes despite her best efforts to hold it in. She's fairly good at bottling when she really has to, when she really wants to, but it puts a strain on her and letting it all out is just… better.

Now, the dutiful part of her. Buffy has two people within her, always. Buffy the Girl, and Buffy the Slayer. The Leader. Sometimes they coexist harmoniously and combine forces to bring the best of both out respectively. Other times… Buffy just wants to be normal and gets upset and acts put upon about being the Slayer. Now, with all the other Slayers running around, that shouldn't be too big a deal, right? Wrong- she's still the first one, she's still the original one, so she's still the one who both wants to and is expected to call the shots. So she's got the entitlement and the burden all at once – and while it's no longer a burden she can't share, it's still very much a heavy weight to carry. Buffy the girl sometimes headbutts against Buffy the Slayer, and vice versa. There have been times when she resists her duty and responsibilities and ignores what she should be doing, and allows just Buffy take back over completely. It… usually backfires.

On the contrary, there are times when she shoves Buffy-the-girl aside and becomes the Slayer. Whole-heartedly, entirely, the Slayer. A soldier. The one woman who can change everything, who lives for the fight. Death is her gift. The part of her who is a warrior, built and given the skill and strength through generations and generations of Slayers. She becomes colder, harder, and much less tolerant of insubordination. She gives orders and expects them to be followed and is harsher than she needs to be from time to time. She's snappy and makes judgments that she is convinced are completely right even if they can be mistakes. She can get so into her own headspace and so determined and set on the path she's taking that she loses her desire to maintain her personal connections over that sense of battle is right, duty is right. She can become almost frighteningly militant at times.

These instances are usually the starkest contrast between when she's just being herself and when she shows the hardened, matured, weathered person her life experiences have forced her to become. She kind of has a chip on her shoulder because of it at times, and she really has been through… a lot. She's lost friends, she lost her mother, and she's lost her own life - twice. That's a lot for a girl her age to go through. But that doesn't mean that she's a full-on grown up despite being well on her way into adulthood. There are many instances in which Buffy is still immature. She has a jealous streak, and easily turns to petty insults (even if they're not said to a person's face all the time) when a sour chord is struck for her. She can be very knock-down drag-out mean-girl vicious, too, going right for the jugular in an argument when she feels she's at a disadvantage and needs to change it. She very much has eldest child syndrome in that regard. She can actually be… a lot of a brat. When she doesn't get her way, she lashes out. This is a very teenage attitude and approach to conflict to still have.

That brings us back around to the fact that she's still just a girl, though, somewhere in there beneath all of the very complicated multi-tiered cake parfait pie that is Buffy to the outside world. Really. Whether she's considered Queen of the Slayers, The Only Slayer, big sister, best friend, daughter, student, mentor, California girl… No matter how you swing it, she's still Buffy. She never loses her distinct self, not once, and she never would. She can laugh, she can cry, she can give strength, and triumph, but she can still be hurt, and she can still love. She can still live. Her life may be more of a daily battle than it's ever been before, each passing moment bringing the possibility for an Apocalyptic disaster, but she still gets through it with perk and a chipper smile.

Now; the following is a more detailed outline of particular aspects of Buffy, including some very poignant strengths and weaknesses she possesses.