Supernatural genetics… this unusual topic was tackled over at alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer. Buffy
sacrificed her life to close the portal between worlds and save her sister Dawn, the Key.
Dawn came into this world by supernatural means by a few monks who conjured her as flesh
and blood to protect her otherworldly power. The monks told Buffy that they had to be
sure Buffy would protect her with her life, so they gave her Buffy’s genetics and made her
Buffy’s sister. Because they are made of the same blood, Buffy was successful in closing
the portal and saving the world. Recently at the newsgroup, j. slayer questioned, “Consider this...if Dawn were made purely
from genetic (material) taken from Buffy and she didn't have a father, she would be a
clone...however, that raises the question, why isn't Dawn then identical to Buffy (like
Dolly the sheep clone was identical to the sheep she was cloned from)?"
J. Slayer further questioned, “It wouldn't surprise me if we learned someday that Dawn
does indeed have a father and the monks simply didn't give Buffy the whole story...they
certainly never said that Dawn was made "only" or "entirely" from Buffy... perhaps it was
the genetic material of Buffy and someone else..."
Luna offers the following thoughts, “They never said Dawn was made from Buffy at all...
that's something Buffy either figured out or had a flash of Slayer Inspiration about or
something. The monk was dying when he told her about it, maybe if he'd had more time he
would have explained the mechanism. I think at this point what we're supposed to believe
the recipe goes something like this: Essence of Buffy + Essence of Key + Mucho Magic =
Dawn."
Steve believes everyone has gotten off the track with his comment, “Dawn does have a
father. His name is Hank Summers and his last known whereabouts was Spain. Buffy is her sister. They didn't clone her. They
used Buffy's genetic material as a template to weave the human form of the Key into."
Wouter agrees, “Buffy's DNA might have 'simply' been resequenced by the monks so that a
young girl could exist with enough genetic markers in common with Buffy to be a (or pass
of as a) daughter of Hank and Joyce."
Others feel that Dawn does have a father, but don’t feel it’s Hank. Acristleo says, “The
monks were sending Dawn (The Key) to someone that would protect her with their own life.
As far as candidates go, Spike is the only one who did this, or at least tried to."
Paul has an interesting insight, “I think *Willow* would be an even *more* likely source
for getting an extra DNA sample. And she's (Dawn’s) *definitely* got the bookish stuff
going for her - *and* the attraction for things magical being cooler than things Slayer,
if we're going to speculate about this."
I don’t know about you, but supernatural genetics gives me a headache. I believe for
Buffy to be successful in closing the portal (only someone with the same blood as the Key
could do it) that Dawn had to be some combination of Buffy’s, Hank’s, and Joyce’s DNA,
maybe more like a fraternal twin. If Dawn had Buffy’s DNA combined with someone else
outside the Summer’s family, she theoretically shouldn’t have been able to close that
portal.
I’m hoping in Season 6 we may find out more about Dawn, especially if she will be
vulnerable to any more hellgods bent on breaking dimensional walls and creating hell on
earth. Fun stuff!
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"Supernatural Genetics on Buffy"
