Not much is known about Dawn Summers' past - mostly because she doesn't have one.

Unbeknownst (at first anyway) to the 14-year old girl herself, younger sister of the Slayer, before late 2000 she didn't exist - at least, not in the form she does now.

For millennia Dawn was the Key - an energy that opens a mysterious portal. When an ancient, unnamed evil sought it out, a group of monks gave this energy a corporeal form - and sent her to Buffy.

They felt that as the Slayer's baby sister, Buffy would naturally feel inclined to protect the Key. And this would keep Dawn - the Key - from the evil hunting her down: a being now calling herself 'Glory'.

But as far as Dawn (or anyone else - until Buffy, Giles, and eventually the rest, learned the truth) knows, she has been part of the Summers family all fourteen years of her life. She remembers growing up, the frustration of having an older sister who's a Slayer, and all the joys and pains life can bring.

Dawn is naturally clumsy. Her cute, benign appearance and amusing klutziness (Willow affectionately referred to her as "a big spaz") tend to endear her to others, thus gaining her more protection. While her calamatous nature and feudal relationship with her sister annoy the latter, Buffy does love Dawn, and is determined to keep Glory from her.

As the 'normal' sister of an abnormal girl, Dawn often feels overlooked. She has a large crush on Xander Harris, who is oblivious to her strong feelings. In a big world, amid a group of fighters of extraordinary evil, Dawn understandably feels lost. Little does she know what part she will play in the events unfolding...