If you're the Slayer you're strong, quick and agile. However, so are the vamps. A single wrong move will leave your neck broken and call the next Slayer. How do you avoid biting the dust?

By turning up armed to the teeth, of course! Some of these weapons have appeared on the show, and some have just been mentioned. Some have never even been mentioned, but this site has decided to recognise them as kick-ass weapons to have in a vamp fight. Browse on.

Your basic slaying weapon, the stake is your best friend if you ever pay a visit to Sunnydale. It's light, portable and easy to use - just stick it in the vampire's heart and they're dust. It doesn't even have to be a proper whittled stake - any old sharp piece of wood will do. This includes pencils (used by Willow in "Choices" to dust the vamp that had strange ideas about "snacking on the hostage"), tree branches (used by Buffy on many occasionas, but most memorably on "When She Was Bad" as part of her return) and broken tables (the Master gets skewered on one, and poor Spikey, feeling neglected, tries to stake himself on one in "Doomed"). One cannot help but wonder if *any* piece of wood, no matter how small, would do the job. Visions of Buffy and co. armed with toothpricks spring to mind.....

It's not crucifixes that vampires are afraid of, but crosses. The crucifix is a Judeo-Christian symbol and holds no power in the Buffyverse - in "Welcome to the Hellmouth", Giles dimisses Christianity as "popular mythology", stating that "the world did not begin as a paradise." Indeed, it is the *cross* the Christ figure is crucified upon that is the real power in the crucifix, rather than the crucifix itself as a symbol of Christianity.

Today, in the Buffyverse, vampires are seen as 'evil' creatures; whereas before they would have been regarded as predatory magicks, warded off by a magic stronger than their own: the shape of the cross, representing the four elements.

In any case, whatever the power behind crosses, it makes them very effective weapons. The sight of a cross frightens vampires, making them flinch or even run away. The touch of a cross is a searing heat, like picking up hot metal. Virulent red welts are raised with even a short period of contact - as seen on "Angel", where Buffy's cross burns its shape into his neck.

Holy water is one of the inconsistencies in the vampire mythos. If vampires are not affected by the Judeo-Christian cruxifix but by the older symbol of the cross, what part does holy water have to play in the mythology? It is wholly Christian, and appears to be very effective. So, engage your suspencion of disbelief here. *g* In any case, vampires do not have to be religious to be affected by holy water, so, by all means, use it! In fact, they may not even recognise it as holy water until they come into contact with it. The, the reaction is instantaneous: holy water is the vampiric equivalent of sulphuric acid.

In "What's My Line? Pt 2", Angel is tortured by Drusilla, who repeatedly pours holy water down his chest. It burns / scalds him, and turns his skin remarkably red. It would be safe to say that the top layer of skin had been burnt off, leaving the raw flesh underneath to try and heal.

An idea might be to lace a mace spray with holy water - effective against humans *and* vamps!

A crossbow (also known as an arbalest) is a high-tech stake dispenser. Obviously, the small bolts discharged are enough to kill a vampire - so a crossbow is a very useful weapon indeed. However, there are several drawbacks to it:

1. It's very noticeable. You can't exactly walk down the street with it. Contrast this with Buffy's ability to hide a stake in the sleeve of any jacket ever made.

2. Once you run out of bolts, you're in trouble. If you pull out the stake quickly enough, though, it can have an almost indefinite number of uses (leave it in the body, however, and the stake turns to dust along with the vampire).

3. Not always effective. Strong old vampires like the Master can sometimes catch bolts. And if you miss the first time, it takes too long to reload.

Conclusion? A fancy high tech weapon for the modern vampire hunter or those on the go. Ammunition (in the form of bolts) is also easy to pack. Only use this if you're not proficient in hand to hand combat or want to practice your aim.

In "Lonely Hearts" (Angel: The Series), Angel was almost killed by the parasitic host set on fire. He was headed straight for him when kate took him down. Angel was thankful that she'd saved his life. Let's think about this for a second - if Angel was a little girl, we would be able to see the danger. But he's a fully grown man, more than capable of taking care of a demon who is seriously incapacitated for those few seconds it would take the demon to die. Instead, he panics and reacts as if the slightest touch from the fire-engulfed demon would kill him. This is because it *would* have.

Like most creatures, vampires are flammable. What sets them apart from 'natural' creatures is the level to which they take this dislike of fire. Indeed, if you set a human on fire, you will most likely be able to save them by wrapping them in a blanket and stifling the flames. This may take a few minutes, whereby the human will end up with third degree burns. The important thing is, to set them on fire, you'll have to try pretty hard - a vampire, on the other hand, seems to require only the lightest touch to burn into flames. Perhaps it's the 'unnatural' blood that runs through their veins, or maybe it's the texture of their skin: whatever the reason, vampires react to fire the same that a human doused with petrol. So, from this we can conclude that flamethrowers are our friends.

Interesting variants on high-tech weaponry include a lighter and hair spray, as used by Buffy in the movie that spawned the series:

Master Vampire: "You think this will save you? Your puny faith?"

Buffy: (sprays the hair spray through the flame and into the vampire's face) "No. My keen fashion sense!"

Another useful thing to remember is that cremation works on other demons as well. While a stake in the heart might just get them annoyed with you, and garlic might make them sneeze, it's a safe bet that fire won't be greeted with delight. Besides which, the ashes of a cremated demon are much more easily disposed of than a slimy gooey corpse that's rather noticeable. Cremate wherever possible, with the minimum of fuss. Of course, personal safety is a big factor in this, so if you don't have a steady hand, fire-realted things may end up killing you rather than the demon.

This is from classic vampire mythology and hasn't really been used on the show that much. Buffy mentions that garlic is an effective weapon in "The Harvest":

Xander: Okay, so, crosses, garlic, stake through the heart.

Buffy: That'll get it done.

However, we've never seen any vampire turn down a meal because they had French food for dinner that evening. So, the defence that garlic provides is only theoretical - but it's better than nothing!

Ingested garlic, one supposes, 'taints' the blood in some way as to make it unpalatable - like the steroids tainted the blood of the swimmers in "Go Fish". As for garlic hung about a person's neck - we've never seen it done, and I doubt that that will stop aby self-respecting vampire! Stick to crosses and a sword.

Vampires are quite able to move about during the day - as long as they stay indoors, that is. In actuality, the West Coast of the USA is not a good place for vamps because it gets more direct sunlight than the rest of the Western hemisphere put together (with the possible exception of Hawaii). In fact, Britain would be a much better 'gather place'...... *shifty look* which would epxlain a lot of things around here!

Anyway. Sunlight can seem like a pretty lame weapon to the layman - what kind of idiot vamp is going to risk combustion to get a snack? A drunk or starving vampire. You have to be careful and not become overconfident. Also, it gives you some measure of security when walking through the sewers (as you do) in knowing that, given a head start, you could make it up the ladder of a manhole and get out into the day. Whether or not you then proceed to get get run over by a passing truck is your own personal choice.

Suggestions for usage include practicing the use of small mirrors in reflecting small but deadly beams of light. For vampires, sunlight can also be an effective weapon against your enemies - consider the usage in "Blade". Simply deck yourself out in leather (no great hardship) and stick on a motorcycle helmet, and you will be properly equipped to execute disobedient fledgelings.

Or, if you wanted to be more direct about it, dump your leader in a small cage and raise the cage up into the sunlight. Then take over his house, home and gang of vampire killers.