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Sunnydale is a fictional Southern California town that is the setting for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. The town was intended to be a generic, calm, suburban town which contrasts with it's dark underbelly which in the case of Sunnydale, is quite literally a hellmouth. Sunnydale's hellmouth is a doorway to evil that makes the town host to numerous strange happenings. It is reasonable to expect that anything can happen in Sunnydale but expecting it to be good is to ask too much.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Setting

Sunnydale changed in size and appearance over the show's eight seasons. It was originally a small town at the beginning of the series, and according to the Welcome to Sunnydale sign in the pilot episode, had a population of 38,000. It also had forty-three churches, a small private college and an unexceptional main street. What was unique about Sunnydale was its vast cemeteries, 12 in all. Given the nature of a town where high school students celebrate a low mortality rate at prom, however, this is understandable.

After the highschool was destroyed during graduation at the end of season 3, Buffy and Willow moved on to Sunnydale University, connected to the University of California. That a town Sunnydale's size had a sizeable university contradicted original concepts of the town's size. In fact, the town seemed to grow larger as the show grew longer.

Sunnydale is a coastal town, two hours away from Los Angeles. It has tall cliffs overlooking the ocean as seen in the episode Grave. It also has wooded areas, docks, and a beach. In the series finale however, Sunnydale was seen to be in the middle of the desert. In the episode, the deserted town collapsed into an enormous sinkhole, burying the hellmouth completely.

One of Sunnydale's most prominent features is it's seedy locations. There are the requisite sewer tunnels, mausoleums turned lairs, caves and underground laboratories that are always host to one kind of evil or another. The town also hosts more than its share of dark alleyways, which provide a perfect hiding place for lurking vampires and various demons.

Sunnydale High School

Sunnydale High is host to teen angst, insectoid teachers, vengeful ghosts, invisible students, cannibals, zombie raisers, and hell-hound nurturers as well as a rather unique library filled with books on the occult. Naturally, Buffy had her work cut out for her. The school, which lies directly above the hellmouth is under constant attack by evil. It was blown up in the season 3 finale to destroy the Mayor who ascended and became a massive demon during graduation.

The high school was rebuilt in the same location and shortly after opening, experienced a resurgence of evil, stronger than before. It was haunted by the very physical former students who'd been given life and form by a talisman. The students began to experience more than mere hauntings and eventually a riot broke out and the school was shut down. Residents fled the town and after battling it out with vampires emerging from beneath the school, Buffy and her slayerettes abandoned the school and town as it collapsed in on itself.

The Bronze

The Bronze is the local teen hangout. It has been host to several popular bands. Although it has a bar and dancing, Buffy and friends have used it as a study spot. On more than one occasion, vampires have taken over the Bronze but have always been beaten back by Buffy. Being bitten is always a risk at the Bronze as it is as popular a snack spot for vampires as it is for teens.