That troll hammer...

[deird1]

I've seen a few comments recently on Buffy picking up Olaf's hammer - and how the fact that she could so easily when Spike couldn't lift it shows just how much stronger Buffy is than the average vampire.

Which I'm finding odd, because I always assumed it was because the hammer is a mystical item. So Buffy, as the Slayer, has special picking-up-hammer powers that are denied to Spike.

...am I completely alone in this assumption? Does everyone else in the whole world take it as Buffy being ridiculously strong compared to Spike?



(Yes, she's stronger than him. But not by that much...)

Comments

[beer_good_foamy]

No, but Slayers are inherently mystical and have all sorts of weird powers that vampires don't have - especially in season 5 (what with Buffy being able to put herself in a trance, talk to spirits, prophetic dreams, closing portals, etc etc.) OK, so it's not a perfect fit, but I think it works better than the idea of Buffy being roughly, what, 10 times stronger than Spike in a dead lift?

[shipperx]

But after the first couple of seasons they seem pretty consistent overall that Buffy is stronger than most vampires. She dispenses with them easily. And at some point or another I think both Angel and Spike mention that she's stronger. I think generally they avoided too many visual cues about it because it tended to look silly (such as the time they tried to make it look like teeny-tiny SMG was carrying Michelle Trachtenberg and the proportions just looked... unweildy. Troll hammer wasn't as visually silly-looking. But I never understood why a troll hammer would necesarrily be 'easier' for a Slayer. the mythology doesn't overlap and both Slayers and Vampires are demon-powered so I'm not sure where there would be an inherent preference (unlike Slayer Scythe which was a Slayer-specific weapon).

[beer_good_foamy]

Yeah, but Buffy isn't Superman strong (if she was, she wouldn't occasionally have trouble with vampires, let alone once or twice be almost matched by well-trained humans). If it's weight alone that makes Spike completely unable to even budge the hammer while Buffy lifts it like it was foam rubber, she'd be a LOT stronger than she's ever shown to be in any other situation.

...Cue MST3K mantra. :) The big question is - who carried the hammer back to the Magic Shop afterwards?

[shipperx]

Buffy isn't Superman strong

At least not until space-frakking (sorry. Couldn't resist). No, she isn't as strong as Superman, but who is? And Superman has his strength paired with virtual invulnerability (which is why Kryptonite has to be brought around all the damn time). Invulnerable superheroes are a problem... just ask Heroes.