What Happens When a Slayer Is a Twin? Buffy the Vampire Slayer Already Told Us

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's universe worked on some pretty simple rules: every generation there's a single woman born with all the power she would need to fight against the forces of evil. But this simple truth left fans with an even more simple question: what if the slayer has a twin? Thankfully, the Buffy comic books have the answer.

Vampires are incredibly dangerous creatures in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, and it takes a lot to put them down. That's why every slayer is granted higher strength than the average vampire. But strength alone isn't enough to beat most vampires, which is why slayers also have enhanced senses, such as being able to sense the presence of a vampire.

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Slayers are also granted prophetic dreams, allowing them to see things that have yet to happen. As a complete package,it makes slayers absurdly difficult to defeat. But the slayer of the future, Melaka Fray, wasn't a complete package, as explained in Fray #1 by Joss Whedon and Karl Moline.

Melaka Fray Shared Her Slayer Heritage with Her Twin Brother

Fray #1 by Joss Whedon, Karl Moline, Andy Owens, Dave Stewart, and Michelle Madsen

Harth And Mel Fleeing On The Rooftops in Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics — Harth And Mel Fleeing On The Rooftops

When a slayer is born as a pair of twins, their powers are equally split between the twins. Melaka got all the strength and physical powers of being a slayer. She was fast and incredibly strong, capable of easily lifting a full-grown male vampire over her head, despite having the physique of the average teenage girl. But she lacked the prophetic dreams and memories of slayers. Surprisingly, Melaka found this to be a good thing, as it meant she had to create her own fighting style and not rely on what others had done.

Her twin brother Harth had all the physical abilities of the average fourteen-year-old boy, which wasn't much. Harth very nearly lost his life when he was attacked by a vampire, but moments before he died of blood loss, he managed to bite the vampire in return, drawing blood and causing himself to become a vampire. Because Harth had been born with all the prophetic dreams and memories of past slayers, he had the knowledge of how vampires work - and how to become one if necessary. Unfortunately, as a vampire, he was a major threat to the world.

A Future Slayer's Twin Brother, Harth, Was One of the Most Dangerous Vampires

He Knew Every Tactic a Slayer Might Try

Harth As The King Of Vampires in Buffy the Vampire Slayer lore — Harth As The King Of Vampires

Thanks to his vampiric biology, Harth had enhanced agility, strength, and durability nearly on par with a slayer. Combined with his prophetic dreams and inherited memories, he was practically more of a slayer than his sister Fray. He was an incredibly dangerous opponent, and he very nearly ended the slayer line permanently when he attempted to absorb the power of every slayer in existence. Harth ended up being one of the final antagonists in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe entirely due to the combination of being part-slayer and part-vampire.

The entire reason vampires haven't taken over the world yet is because of the combined efforts of the slayers and the watchers. The slayers have the instincts and the physical strength to take the vampires on, and the watchers have the knowledge to predict what the vampires will do and how they will behave. Vampires, despite being intelligent, are essentially just animals, acting on instincts and their desire for blood. But because Harth had knowledge of how past slayers functioned, he continually outsmarted and manipulated his sister.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Comics Answered a Long Standing Fan Question

But What If They Had Been Triplets...?

Melaka Fray The Slayer Of The Future from Buffy the Vampire Slayer lore — Melaka Fray The Slayer Of The Future

Fray and Harth were the only sibling slayers seen in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe. Every other slayer was either born as an only child or had older and/or younger siblings. It's only in the case of twins that the powers and knowledge of a slayer are divided between the two children. Interestingly enough, it also doesn't seem to be based on gender. While slayers are always born female, this rule is ignored in the case of twins, as Harth, a male child, was still able to inherit the slayer's knowledge from his sister, and that knowledge allowed him to become a vampire.

Fans still debate to this day whether someone who is a vampire is still the person they were or just possessed by a demon...

The creators of Buffy the Vampire Slayer put a great deal of effort into their world-building, and fans have long been questioning and trying to figure out exactly how everything works. Even in the six years the show ran, it didn't have enough time to explain everything. Fans still debate to this day whether someone who is a vampire is still the person they were or just possessed by a demon, a debate based completely on a single line from Giles in season one. But for anyone who ever questioned what would happen if a slayer was a twin, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics have the answer.

Fray #1 is available now from Dark Horse Comics!