As the Chosen One, the Slayer, Buffy Summers, is doomed to spend her life battling monsters. Is she doomed to loneliness, as well? Must she go through life unpartnered? Sure, she has her friends, but let’s face it, so far her love life has been a disaster—every relationship has failed spectacularly. Only three ever really even got off the ground, and all of them crashed and burned. Angel’s curse pretty much destroyed any chance for long-term happiness there, she and Riley never managed a solid emotional connection, and Spike—well, that was messy, wasn’t it?

So who’s out there who might be a fit lifemate for the Slayer, the Chosen One?

First off, I think we can immediately eliminate any ordinary, untrained human being. Those around Buffy are inevitably going to encounter the creatures of the night—demons, vampires, evil gods, the entire panoply. We got a look at this all the way back in the first season, with Owen in “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date” (1-5), and again with Scott in the third season, and even Parker in the fourth. Anyone in Buffy’s life is going to get involved in her Slaying, and a normal man’s life expectancy in such a situation, Xander notwithstanding, is not likely to be very great. Bringing a new arrival up to speed, teaching him to cope with the menaces Buffy faces, would be risky and time-consuming, to say the least. Furthermore, an ordinary mortal boyfriend’s presence is likely to endanger Buffy, as well, as  …