I never saw the movie version of “Buffy”, I began watching soon after its’ first season and have seen most, but not all, of the series’ run, which presumably picks up after the events of the movie (since Buffy was kicked out of her high school in L.A. for burning down the gym, but only because it was infested with vampires). But did the movie (or perhaps an episode I missed) ever discuss the life of the Vampire Slayer just prior to Buffy? I remember the “backstory of Spike - explained in detail!” episode that shows two previous Slayers, and of course there’s the Primal / First Slayer. But what about the one whom Buffy replaced? How’d she die (presumably while fighting vampires, but how specifically was she aced?)
The movie has different continuity than the series, although elements carry over. For instance, in “School Hard” from season 2, it’s stated that Buffy burned down the gym at her former school. Didn’t happen in the movie. Anyway, in the movie it’s stated that there is only one Slayer, who when she dies is reincarnated as the next Slayer. We see a few Slayers at the beginning of the film from throughout history but not, I don’t think, the one right before Buffy.
Are we talking about the movie ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, starring Kristy Swanson + Donald Sutherland?
I don’t recall there ever being a discussion of the Slayer whose death activated Buffy.
IIRC, JW was not happy with the movie treatment of his vision, and was delighted when the series got picked up because he could tell the story his way. And something about the Slayer being reincarnated doesn’t sit right with me. It means there will be at least 15 years of Slayer free Vampire activity every generation.
I remember likgin the movie when it first came out, and eagerly watched the series premiere, only to be disappointed that it had not picked up where the film left off. So I stopped watching. Until 6.7. Then I caught up on all the other episodes and have now seen the entire series at least 6 times.
The movie Buffy and TV Buffy have very little to do with each other. That said, I don’t recall any discussion of the slayer that came before Buffy either.
As far as the reincarnation bit, that word is a little misleading. It’s not so much reincarnation as the transfer of powers and responsibility to a new slayer. Which it seems to me could cause problems, like with Buffy. There was seemingly a stretch of time that she didn’t know she was the slayer and didn’t want to be. With apocalypse around every corner it’s a wonder the world didn’t end while she was putzing around.
Russell
Another weird thing ab0ut the movie Slayer/Watcher rlationship is that not only is the Slayer reincarnated but the Watcher as well. So there’s only ever been one slayer and one watcher.
The “reincarnation bit” is in the movie, it’s diffferent in the series. In the series, I don’t think there was a huge span of time between the death of the previous slayer and the Council finding Buffy. There *was * a bit of time between her leaving LA and resuming her slaying in Sunnydale, though I’m not sure exactly how much.
I don’t remember them ever really discussing the Slayer previous to Buffy, and since I’ve been rewatching it for the past month or so, I can confidently say that she wasn’t mentioned through mid-season 5.
Well, a slayer was created in the time that it took Xander to restart Buffy’s heart, resulting in two slayers being around, so they’re not waiting for them to get reincarnated…
I watched the entire series last month after I got the Chosen Collection and the Slayer before Buffy was never even referenced. Niki Wood, a Slayer from the Seventies based in New York, is the only one in recent decades mentioned before the Buffy/Faith era.
That’s my recollection too.
The series offers no information whatsoever about Buffy’s predecessor. I would have remembered something like that.
Oh, and the movie doesn’t count.
Which leads to an interesting question…
In the 7 years that Buffy was slayer in Sunnydale, she saved the world at least 4 or 5 times. Why were there no world-ending threats in Sunnydale during any of the (presumably numerous) years when the lone Slayer in the world did NOT live in Sunnydale? Why were there never any world-ending threats anywhere OTHER than Sunnydale during Buffy’s tenure? And if you were an evil being with an agenda, why would you live anywhere NEAR Sunnydale? I mean, why even be in North America? And even ignoring world-end-level-threats, what keeps the vampires in, say, Boston in check? Should we assume that there are dozens or hundreds of other heroes on the level of Angel scattered around the rest of the world whose stories we just happen not to hear?
There were plenty in LA.
Obviously, there were elsewhere, we just didn’t see them, since we were watching the lot in Sunnydale (and LA, later).
Of course, if we do that, we don’t have a TV show. 
Face it, all the dram on Boston Public doesn’t happen in one high school in 10 years, much less a single season.
But without breaking the fourth wall, I’d say that Evil is drawn to the Slayer as a challenge. The nature of the whole battle between Good/Evil demands conflict. What’s the good of winning if you can’t see them bleed?
This is the only part I can answer - because a hellmouth is in Sunnydale. It attracts evil like moth to a flame.
Presumeably there’s (or was, or is) heavy Watcher-based defences at other hellmouths - and then lighter groups in other heavy on the evil places, and finally possibly just a couple of Watchers to…uh, watch…the places where there’s little vampires about.
I believe the Council has demon hunters and researchers all around the world. Plus, you know, there’s the rogue demon hunters (what’s a rogue demon?)
We do know there are other Hellmouths (one in Cleveland). Wasn’t the Hellmouth in Sunnydale closed for years, and opened up again by the Master in Season one? I may be making that up, but I thought so…
It could be (phlebotnum) that the energy of the Slayer (phlebotnum) draws or atttacts demons against their will (phlebotnum). We do know the Hellmouth itself draws them when it’s being particularly active. It could just be coincidence. It could be the Watcher’s Council would have moved her where she would be useful, except that she already lived on a freakin’ Hellmouth.
It could even be (fanwank) that the Potential nearest a Hellmouth at the time of Calling will be Chosen. I like that one.
But, uh, no, I don’t think it was ever really addressed.
(excuse me, I must go wash off this phlebotnum from my fanwanking…)
Well, look at Gunn as an example. Independent of any supernatural backup, he organized his neighborhood to battle the vampires there. He had a friend from, I wanna say, Miami, who had a similar crew. Justine lost a sister to vampires and became a vampire hunter. Presumably there were people in other cities who did similar things.
Now of course with thousands of Slayers they can be posted as needed, or simply work out of the city where they happen to live.
While there may only have been one Slayer, the Slayer isn’t the only thing out there keeping things safe. I think that, for the most part, Slayers have been pretty minor players in the Battle against Evil. I mean, their destiny to is kill vampires, which are just about the lowliest of the low in the demon hierarchy, at least until they’ve got five or ten centuries under their belt and have started to look like some sort of barnyard animal. There are a lot of other forces for good at work out there, we just don’t see a lot of them in Buffy. The occasional sentient ventriloquists doll, or order of medieval knights, or misguided secret military organization. Angel had more, including Angel himself, Gunn and his vampire killing street gang, the occasional friendly oracle, magic shop owner, electric cat burglar, luchaderos, or whatever
The other thing is that, while Buffy saved the world a lot, I think that’s mostly for a fairly limited definition of “world.” In the alternate universe episode, we saw what would have happened if The Master had opened the Hellmouth: and while it certainly was a bleak and terrible future, it wasn’t exactly like the Earth had been burned to a cinder. There have probably been a lot of Armageddons that have been unsuccessfully prevented: when we hear about them in the real world, we hear about them as ethnic cleansing in Rwanda, or something.
Kigali has a Hellmouth?
Yeah, and Dickens was a hack because those kinds of coincidences never happen in real life.