30 Days of Buffy: Day 19

Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates

Dawn seems to be hated more than any other character in the Buffy-verse (with the possibly exception of Riley).  But I really liked her, and thought she was a good addition to the show.  She wasn't perfect, but I do think the good outweighs the bad.  I definitely don't think she deserved all the hate she got.

Part of this might be my intense love of Michelle Trachtenberg.  I was a devout fan of Pete and Pete and spent hours watching and re-watching Harriet the Spy.  I even watched the short-lived NBC drama Mercy because Ms. Trachtenberg was on it.  But I digress.

I liked Dawn.  Yes, she was a whiny teenager, but I don't really blame her for that.  She's been living in the shadow of her sister the slayer for her entire life, which she just found out is almost six months.  And she's not quite human.  And a god wants to kill her.  And her mom died.  I'd whine, too.

But Dawn has some good qualities, too.  She really does want to help Buffy.  As soon as she's allowed, she's hanging out doing research.  And she's good with the languages.  She may not be all that interested in school, but she does want to learn.

Dawn is also proactive, which is probably a Summers trait.  When everyone finds out that Dawn is the key and starts acting weird, she sneaks out and learns that she's the key.  She may not always make the best decisions, but that's part of being in high school.  Buffy made some pretty stupid decisions when she was Dawn's age, too.

In the seventh season, she finally matures and really comes into her own.  I love her arc in Potential.  And I like that, despite not having any superpowers, she steps up and joins the fight.  When Xander kidnaps her to get her away from it, she heads straight back to Sunnydale.

So yes, she could be annoying at times.  But I think that she was an interesting character who added a lot to the show.