Dawn Summers had various relationships over the years.
Romantic[]
- Kevin Berman — Dawn took a liking this boy in her junior high art class. He was sensitive about her "family problems," indicating that he too had resorted to self-harm on occasion.[1]
Dawn has her first kiss.
- Justin — A charming, manipulative teenage vampire with whom Dawn, unaware of his identity, shared her first kiss. When Justin tried to turn her into a vampire, Dawn was forced to stake him with a discarded crossbow bolt, an experience which upsets her greatly.[2]
- R. J. Brooks — Dawn developed an obsessive crush on this popular high school athlete because of his bewitched letterman jacket, resulting in her humiliating herself at cheerleader tryouts and pushing his rival down a flight of stairs. When pitted against the other female Scoobies in a contest for his love, Dawn decided to commit suicide by lying on a train track to prove her "love" for him. Buffy rescued her and the destruction of his jacket broke the spell.[3]
Dawn and Ken, the thrice wise.
- Kenny — Dawn dated this boy for some time, although Buffy, Leah, and Giles warned her that he was a thricewise. He apparently disappeared after Dawn became a giantess, which Buffy believed to be a side-effect of losing her virginity.[4] Dawn later confided to Xander that she cheated on Kenny with his roommate,[5] and the thicewise cast the spell on her that resulted in her transforming into first a giant, then a centaur, then a living doll. However, the two made peace and the spell was broken.[6]
- Nick — Dawn cheated on Kenny with his college roommate Nick, losing her virginity. She and Nick attended a frat party during her freshman year at Berkeley. Xander described him as "cigarettes, dirty hair, didn't care what anyone thought, never gave you the time of day, but he seemed to be in pain deep down." He was also the vocalist and bass guitarist of a band.[5]
Dawn and Xander become romantically involved.
- Alexander Harris — Dawn harbored a crush on Xander into her adolescence, feeling that he was the only one who treated her like an adult. She saw him as brave and "seeing everyone as equals," expressing jealousy and dislike over Anya and his relationship with her. When Harmony had taunted Xander in front of the Summers' house, Dawn became defensive over him, only to accidentally invite Harmony in the house. After getting kidnapped by Harmony and saved by Buffy, she noted that Xander wasn't mad at her as one of the good things that happened that day.[7] Xander was both well-aware of and very flattered by her crush, exhibiting notable jealousy when Buffy informed him that she moved on to Spike.[8] Although she eventually outgrew her romantic feelings for him, Dawn and Xander remained close, bonding over the fact that neither had any real superpowers.[9] When Dawn was undergoing a series of mystical transformations, Xander was Dawn's only real confidante, as Willow was absent and Buffy occupied as head Slayer. Throughout the transformations, he was there to comfort her and allay her insecurities. By the time she was a human again, despite the possibility of romantic interest from Buffy, Xander and Dawn began seeing each other.[10] With the end of magic and the relocation of the Scoobies to San Francisco, Dawn and Xander moved into an apartment together. However, the couple were seen to argue because of him forgetting her birthday, when she ordered him to sleep on the couch as punishment.[11] As the year carried on, Xander continued to be there constantly for Dawn as her health started to deteriorate more and more. Eventually, this climaxed in her falling into a coma and suffering from a mystical illness, slowly killing her due to being created from the Key that was a form of magic. Grief-stricken and feeling once again useless, Xander angrily took his emotions out on a wall punching it over and over again. Buffy took action and stopped his self-destructive behavior, only to have him turn on her instead. Venting his anger and guilt by self-projecting it on Buffy, they pulled out all of the stops to save Dawn. Still driven by blind anger and helplessness, Xander reflected in his inner monologue that he had given up being involved in supernatural affairs to protect Dawn and now all he was doing was "watching" again. His sense of desperation and self-loathing built to the point he had decided to work with Simone Doffler and Severin if it meant he could save Dawn's life, knowingly betraying Buffy by doing so. When Dawn was registered mostly conscious thanks to Willow, Xander had done his utmost to comfort her. He informed her of her fading away essence but promised her it would be fixed before anything could happen to her. When Dawn begged him to stay with her in San Francisco, Xander had rejected her pleas. He was resolved to save her on his own through the plans of Severin and Simone and did not see Buffy's plan involving the Deeper Well as successful. Following the restoration of magic and Dawn being restored to existence, her emotions "reset" to the point when she was originally created, causing her relationship with Xander to come to a halt as she had reverted to her original childish crush rather than actually being in love with him. While, in the dimension of Anharra, Dawn manifested what Giles referred to as god-like powers. She easily defeated the local god-king Kerberon, disintegrating him, while respected and worshiped by the local Anharran demons. Xander had volunteered to stay with her in this dimension as her company, so she witnessed him teach the Anharrans about Earth's culture and pacifism, in special architecture, counseling, and entertainment. Her admiration for him made Dawn's love for him renew and the two soon resumed their relationship.[citation needed]
Familial[]
Buffy and Dawn.
- Buffy Summers — Buffy and Dawn had a typical sibling relationship, with some added strain. They constantly held an almost hostile relationship, as Dawn felt overshadowed by her elder sister and how everyone seemed to treat her better. Buffy felt unreasonable jealousy too of how their mother focused so much on Dawn and never truly gave her the same affection, though rationally acknowledged that she was "the baby" so that's how it was. Despite their constant bickering, Buffy still was protective of her little sister as she rushed immediately to save her from Harmony who had abducted her.[7] When realizing that Dawn was the Key, Dawn and her sister develop an unbreakable bond due to Buffy's continual efforts to protect and defend her from Glory. When Dawn discovered she was the Key, she saw herself as not real and initially refused to believe Buffy or Joyce loved her like she was their actual family. Buffy, however, comforted her and confessed honestly that she loved her like a sister, even if she was just created six months before.[12] Following Joyce's sudden death, Dawn noticed Buffy's distant attitude and angrily assumed she wanted nothing more to do with her little sister. Dawn was also extremely upset by Buffy's lack of tears and constant work, seeing her as treating their mother's death as a chore. The two soon had a heated argument when Dawn recklessly attempted to resurrect Joyce but after seeing Buffy's complete breakdown and all of the pain she was repressing, her attitude softened considerably. After halting her mother's resurrection, Dawn comforted Buffy and the two sobbed together.[13] Their bond was so strong that Buffy adamantly refused to kill her little sister despite knowing that's how she would save the world, even threatening to kill anyone who tried; she told Giles that Dawn was more than a sister to her, their relationship was physical, and she felt as though Dawn was part of her.[14] Upon realizing that she herself had to die to save the world, Buffy genuinely told her that she loved her and always will, begging her to live for her and giving her the advice that "the hardest thing in this world was to live in it" before jumping off the tower to her death.[15] Dawn was heartbroken when realizing that Buffy died for her and when realizing she was resurrected, she was overjoyed and this time begged her to live, insisting that she was trying to carry on her life but it was so hard without her. Dawn promptly almost died on the collapsing tower but seeing her in danger, it seemed to awaken her from her almost feral state as Buffy had saved her life.[16] Dawn was also furious when Willow had realized that she had brought something over, mistakenly believing they were going send Buffy back and that they couldn't take her away from her after bringing her back to her.[17] However, due to Buffy's closed-off attitude as well as her being never home (instead, she was with Spike), Dawn began to worry that her sister was trying to avoid her. This thought stuck with her until Buffy assured her that she didn't want to die again and that she wanted to see her sister grow up.[18] Following their mother's death, Buffy seemed to represent a maternal/sisterly relationship with Dawn, as she had become her parental guardian. This was especially seen in the next year when Dawn started high school. Despite this, Buffy said firmly to Giles that she'd kill Dawn if it was necessary to save the world again because of her duty as the Slayer. After Sunnydale's destruction, Dawn was envious of the Slayer army as they took up most of her sister's attention, jealously calling them "her slayer sisters" to Xander. Buffy admitted enviously that Dawn seemed to see Willow as a better sister than her.[4] However, they eventually reignited their close relationship when Buffy apologized and resolved to try better.[6] Closer to the battle at the Hellmouth, Buffy had Xander kidnap Dawn in order to get her to safety, telling her by letter: "everything I do is for you." Dawn, however, returns to Sunnydale and Buffy allows her to fight in the final battle, finally accepting her as an adult. Following the end of magic, Dawn allowed Buffy to room with her and Xander in their apartment until she wanted to leave.[19] As her health began to deteriorate, Buffy and her friends were desperate to save Dawn's life. Her sister, Willow, and Xander had proceeded to go to the Deeper Well in hopes of saving her life.[20] Buffy was overjoyed when they succeeded in getting her sister back.[21]
- Joyce Summers — Dawn and her mother were very close, just as Buffy was. However, Dawn viewed Buffy as being her mother's favorite. Xander disagreed with her and told her Joyce loved them both equally.[7] Joyce had intuitively realized before everyone else but Buffy that Dawn was not actually her daughter and was something else entirely. However, Joyce told Buffy that she still loved Dawn like her daughter and requested Buffy to protect and love her the same.[22] After realizing she was the Key made for Buffy to protect, Dawn shut out her mother and sister, convinced that they did not truly love her. However, this eventually dissipated when her family told her otherwise.[12] Dawn loved her mother very much and was absolutely grief-stricken over her passing, recklessly resorting to magic to bring her back to life only to halt the ritual before whatever she had resurrected reached the house, realizing what she was doing was wrong.[13] Dawn eventually had to battle supernatural forces in order to speak to an apparition of her mother claiming to be trying to warn her.[23]
- Hank Summers — Dawn and her father shared a similar relationship that Buffy did with him — neglectful and distant. However, it was mentioned by Buffy that Dawn had cried for weeks after Hank ceased his visits.[24] This was especially enforced when Hank refused to show up her mother's funeral, much to Dawn's anger.[citation needed] In the next year, Hank was back in touch with Dawn at least by phone.[25] Years later, when the sisters were living in San Francisco, Hank was attempted to reconnect through monthly reunions. Announcing he was about to marry again, he communicated his decision to exclude Buffy from their wedding ceremony "for safety reasons," based on her public reputation as a Slayer, which enraged Dawn and saddened Buffy.[26]
- Rupert Giles — Originally, Giles had no strong connection to Dawn and was merely just Buffy's watcher. While writing in her diary, Dawn claimed she didn't think Giles liked her very much, probably because he was "old".[7] Eventually, she warmed up to Giles and viewed him as a father figure. Dawn even ate cookie dough, listened to music, and gossiped about boys when Buffy asked him to babysit her. However, Giles was greatly uncomfortable and appalled by the experience.[27] He, as with Buffy, was protective of her and the two were shown to be rather close. Dawn was openly upset when Giles left for England and he told her he was only a phone call away as they hugged.[25] After his return,[28] they were planning to conduct an experiment by mixing food cereals together before a demon attacked. Giles acted as the lone parent figure to Dawn, being forced to reprimand her for her actions after Buffy absently avoided them.[2] Giles consoled Dawn after the gang unanimously decided that Buffy should leave for the time being.[29]
Dawn considers Willow like a mother to her.
- Willow Rosenberg — Dawn always admired Willow; she stated "Willow's the awesomest person. She's the only one who likes school as much as me."[7] The two grew closer and in the aftermath of Joyce's death, Dawn had asked her and Tara to resurrect her. Tara adamantly refused while Willow was more hesitant, her main reason being spells like that usually backfired. Dawn was furious with both of them for their rejection, but Willow secretly helped her by getting out a book about resurrections, unbeknownst to her.[13] When Buffy died, Willow and Tara moved into Buffy's house and acted as guardians to Dawn. Years later, Willow revealed that she and Tara considered simply taking Dawn and moving out of Sunnydale to start their own family together.[5] Their relationship suffered a blow when Willow, strung out on dark magic, gets Dawn into a car accident,[30] but they soon make up. When Willow was kidnapped by Amy and Warren, a furious Dawn told Buffy that Willow was "like a mom" to her.[31]
- Tara Maclay — Dawn befriended Tara when the other Scoobies didn't know her too well. They bonded over their shared feeling of being an outsider from the Scoobies, causing both to feel great sympathy for each other.[7] Dawn was quick to defend Tara against her father,[24] and asked if Tara could help her resurrect her mother along with Willow, which Tara refused much to Dawn's frustration.[13] She was devastated when she was "brain-sucked" by Glory.[32] Even after Willow and Tara broke up, Dawn and Tara continued to meet up for the occasional milkshake.[33] Dawn appeared to consider Tara as a surrogate mother until her death.[citation needed] Dawn was deeply affected by Tara's death, staying with her corpse so she wouldn't be alone and voicing her opinion of what her killer, Warren, deserved.[34]
Friendship[]
- Spike — Feeling isolated from the others, Dawn ran into Spike when she wanted to steal from the Magic Box to find out what Buffy and her friends were keeping from her. She initially mocked him and claimed she was "badder" than him since his chip as well as making fun of his attempt to give Buffy a present for her birthday since she hated him. However, Spike accompanied Dawn to the Magic Box and he helped her realize that she was actually the Key, not a real human.[12] She would arrive at his crypt soon afterward and listen to the stories Spike told her about his past killings. Dawn would also tell him she liked how he treated her normally and said she felt safe with him. She developed a crush on Spike in the process, saying " He's got cool hair and wears leather coats and stuff. And he doesn't treat me like an alien." However, she also acknowledged that Spike would never notice her with Buffy around since he loved her.[8] Because of this, she never pursued him seriously and quickly got over him, eventually regarding him as a kind older brother/protector figure instead. Nevertheless, she later joined the Scoobies in ostracizing him and ejecting him from the Magic Box.[35] But she did, however, get Spike to go along with her plan to bring back her mother and he protected her the entire time. Dawn initially believed he was only doing it for Buffy but when Spike refused to get credit, she was surprised and touched by his concern.[13] When Tara got brain-sucked by Glory, Dawn confided in Spike to believe herself to be evil, which Spike discouraged and comforted her. Promising Buffy to protect Dawn with his life after her death, he was a type of guardian towards her, helping Willow and Tara raise her, and he was the only one that Dawn constantly confided in.[25]They retained a close-knit bond, shown when she wanted to go to Spike's after Tara's death as she felt safest there.[36] When Xander told her that Spike attempted to rape Buffy, Dawn denied it. But when she realized that Spike did try to rape her sister, she was clearly disgusted, angry, and personally betrayed.[18] So much so that she had threatened to set him on fire, which Spike was noticeably disturbed by.[37] After Spike got his soul back, Dawn still remained somewhat distrustful. Nevertheless, she seemed willing to give him the benefit of a doubt and they began to repair their friendship, as Dawn was quick to defend him when Andrew asked why Buffy wanted to save him. Spike often called Dawn by pet names like "Nibblet" and "Little Bit" affectionately.[citation needed] Due to the end of magic causing her to fade away from reality, Spike's dedication and love for Dawn was reawakened and touched on. While she expressed no true memory of him anymore, he had decided to stay with her and take care of her with Andrew while the other Scoobies traveled to England.[20] As Spike continued to tell stories about herself and their past, Dawn didn't remember much but still felt a close bond with him. She took comfort in him and confided in her identity crisis, reminiscent of when she was fourteen.[38]
- Kit Holburn Kit was a student at the rebuilt Sunnydale High who, alongside Dawn and Carlos Trejo, was targeted by three Manifest spirits on her first day of school, but were all saved by the Slayer.[39] Dawn was talking to Kit on the phone before an evil presence invaded the Summers house.[23]
- Andrew Wells — As a member of the Trio, Andrew was at first a foe of Buffy's and, by extension, Dawn. Dawn never really interacted with Andrew until he was captured by the gang during the First's rampage.[40] Like the rest of the Scoobies, Dawn treated Andrew with hostility because of his alliance with Warren and his numerous annoying habits, finding herself put off by his mannerisms, even wondering if "there's a language that he's speaking."[41] However, she, like the rest of the gang, gradually warmed up to him, as she gladly allowed him to film her for his documentary.[42] Dawn and Andrew developed an unusual brother-sister relationship, which grew when Andrew helped Dawn fight against her Japanese robot counterpart with his comprehensive knowledge of Japanese monster movies.[43] When Andrew later saw Dawn (after she was cured of her transformation problem), they hugged like old friends.[44]
- Amanda — When Dawn thought that she was a Potential Slayer, she teamed up with her classmate to slay a vampire Amanda has trapped at the school. It turned out that Amanda was the Potential Slayer rather than Dawn, who then joined the Scoobies. Amanda and Dawn appeared to remain close, trading a friendly smile as Buffy led Amanda and the other Potentials off to training,[9] and danced together later at The Bronze.[45]
Antagonistic[]
- Glorificus — Glory was a major enemy of Dawn because she was searching for the Key, which was in fact Dawn herself (although Glory was unaware of this at first). Initially, the hell goddess treated Dawn as a minor annoyance, but pressed her for clues concerning the Key's location, although Dawn was too frightened to do anything against her. Still upset by discovering she was the Key, Dawn asked Glory questions about the Key in an attempt to gain information on her origins, which Glory provided hoping Dawn might reveal the Key's location. When Glory came to assume that Dawn had no information, she tried to kill her but was stopped by Buffy and the Scoobies.[12] However, upon discovering that Dawn was the Key, Glory made it her mission to capture her and eventually succeeded.[14] In their final meeting, Dawn called Glory a monster and insinuated that she couldn't take on Buffy. An enraged Glory revealed to her that, while her blood can open the portal, her death can close it, or, in her words, "the faster [Dawn] dies, the better for [her] sorry species." She then taunted Dawn by suggesting that Buffy wouldn't show up to save her since "she's not really your sister." In the end, however, Glory's plans were foiled while she herself was killed in her human vessel Ben at Giles' hands, while Dawn's life was saved at the cost of her sister's.[15]
- Warren Mears — Warren could be considered a major antagonist to Dawn, considering how much Dawn mourned over the death of Tara. Dawn also claimed she sat in the room with Tara's dead body because she didn't want her to be left alone. Immediately afterward, she openly supported Willow's intent to kill Warren, even stating that if she could, she would do so herself.
Other[]
- Anya Jenkins — Dawn was initially unfriendly towards Anya, jealous of her relationship with Xander and accused him of "having the worst taste," meaning Anya. She also found Anya's ignorance of human ways and abrupt rudeness very annoying, similar to most of the Scooby Gang. Anya was, however, very protective of the young girl. When Dawn accidentally invites the vampire Harmony into the Summers house, Anya defends her reaction, to Buffy's shock.[7] However, as time went on, they did bond somewhat, despite the fact that she often spoke to Dawn as if she was much younger than actual age. When finding that a kleptomaniac Dawn had stolen magic artifacts from her shop, Anya reprimanded her severely. However, this conflict was not extended. Anya demonstrated a genuinely human affection for the teenager, almost as she would for her own daughter or little sister. Over time, Dawn displayed almost no real hostility towards her and grew accustomed to her odd personality like the rest of the Scoobies, serving as a bridesmaid at her wedding and doing the "dance of capitalist superiority" with her in the magic shop.
- Riley Finn — Dawn and Riley seemed to have what you would call a friendly relationship for the most part. However, she did express annoyance at Riley's obvious interest in Buffy at first, saying in her thoughts "He's so into her. And they're always kissing. And groping. I've bet they've even had sex." She was irritated that Riley always called her "kid" and considered her a kid just like everyone else, which she vehemently denied.[7] Riley did take Dawn at to a carnival under Buffy's request and they seemed to get along, as Dawn mentioned how Angel always made Buffy cry and she never got that worked up over him, causing her to say that she thought he was good for her right now. She had however unknowingly depressed Riley by her statement, due to his insecurity and doubts that Buffy didn't actually love him the same way he loved her. After Riley broke up with her and returned to Sunnydale with his new wife Sam, Dawn seemed angry with him for leaving and hurting Buffy's feelings, but she accepted Riley's friendliness and hugged him in forgiveness.[46]
- Angel — Dawn concluded that Angel always seemed to make her sister cry and that Buffy and Angel's relationship was very dramatic due to the "her boyfriend being a vampire" thing, which caused Dawn to deduce that Riley seemed the better choice for her. When the two were reunited in San Francisco, Dawn mentioned having a crush on him as a child.[47]
- Faith Lehane — When Faith returned to Sunnydale to assist against the First, Dawn was antagonistic towards her for previously trying to murder Buffy, while Faith referred to her as a "brat." However, after Faith took her and the Potentials to The Bronze, the enmity between them seemed to fade. At the event, Dawn danced with Faith, led the Potentials in saving her from a group of possessed cops,[45] and eventually sided with her when Faith took over the leadership of the Scoobies.[48]