Dawn Summers

Dawn Summers is a fictional character in the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played by Michelle Trachtenberg.

Related Topics:
Fictional character - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Michelle Trachtenberg

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Dawn is the younger sister of the title character Buffy Summers. She first appeared at the end of the series' fifth-season episode "Buffy vs. Dracula", and would later come to be a regular cast member throughout the following seasons. Her introduction in the series came as a major surprise, since prior seasons had firmly established that Buffy was an only child. This was even mentioned at the start of the episode which she first appeared in, demonstrating that this was not a continuity error or a 'retcon'.

Related Topics:
Buffy Summers - Buffy vs. Dracula - Retcon

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During the fifth season's story arc, it was revealed that Dawn had not, indeed, existed before the beginning of Season 5 and that she was in fact the Key, meaning that in actuality, she was mystical energy that possessed the capability to "unlock the doors between dimensions." Dawn's identity had been concealed, even from herself, and her human form entrusted to Buffy, by a group of monks who intended to hide the Key from the evil entity Glory.

Related Topics:
Story arc - Monk - Glory

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Dawn, and those around her, were unaware of her true nature for quite some time, as they had been imbued with artificial memores. Dawn herself had been forged into human form with a complete recollection of her false life as Buffy's sister, making her eventual discovery of the facts about her existence difficult to come to terms with, resulting in an identity crisis of sorts.

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Eventually, by becoming more involved with Buffy's Slayer life, Dawn gradually grew less dependent on those around her, and by the show's seventh and final season had matured to the point of wanting to take an active role in helping the group battle its foes.

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