Buffy Anne Summers is a fictional character and the title protagonist of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in The WB/UPN 1997-2003 television series and subsequent 1998-2018 Dark Horse and 2019-present Boom! Studios comic series of the same name. Buffy is the heroine of the series, which depicts her life and adventures as she grows up. In the film, she is a high school cheerleader who learns that she is a Slayer (a Chosen One gifted with the strength and skills to fight vampires and the forces of darkness, as both a vampire and demon hunter). The television series shows her carrying out her destiny in the small town of Sunnydale, California built atop a portal to Hell, called a Hellmouth, surrounded by a group of friends and family who support her in her mission. In the comic book continuation, she is a young woman who has accepted her duties and is now responsible for training others like her.