Sense was the ability to detect information about one's surroundings through sensations, such as sight,[1][2] smell,[3][4] and hearing.[5][6] Such ability was notable if the sense was more accurate than an average human's, as it was the case of vampires[1][2] and werewolves.[3][7] Additionally, an individual could hone their sensory perceptions into an advanced sense of awareness.[8][9]
Relatedly, sense manipulation was the ability to alter one's senses, either suppressing[10] or adding them.[11]
Examples
Sight
Vampires appeared to possess some degree of night vision. When Sunnydale High School's lights were turned off at night, Angel assured he could still "see all right."[1]
As Illyria escaped Wolfram & Hart, Spike was the only one who "saw a blur" just before she vanished, leading to the team to speculate her disappearance stemmed from altering time rather than teleportation.[2]
Smell
A werewolf's sense of smell was highly developed, remaining so even when in their human form. It was enhanced enough to Oz track and distinguish between the scents of individual people[3][7] and identify that someone was afraid.[3]
By scent, Angel could tell that Wesley had sex with a bleached blonde the night before.[12]
Spike tracked Buffy down by scent alone several hours after she had left her home.[13] Due to their strong scent of blood, Spike was also able to track down the demon Gnarl into a cave Wilken's Grove[4] and Dana into a basement in Los Angeles' docks.[14]
Hearing
Members of the vampire cult of Ul-Thar were able to overhear what Fred whispered to Darla, who then informed her: "Vampires have great hearing."[5]
Due to his vampiric heritage, Connor possessed acute hearing. Gunn expressed disbelief when Connor was able to hear him quietly talk with Fred from afar.[6]
Glorificus overheard her minions quietly commenting on packing her belongings, and she claimed she could hear them because of her "god-like ears."[15]
Overall awareness
Some individuals were aware of their senses in a way that enhanced their overall perception of their environment.[8][16][9]
With training and experience, Slayers could detect the position of an attacker without seeing them (see Slayer#Senses). It was the case when Buffy pinpointed the position of invisible Marcie Ross by silently hearing her steps,[17] when she landed a ball on Giles after being blindfolded and spun around,[8] and when she defended herself from three invisible Lei-ach demon by hearing a faint growl that alerted her to their presence.[18]
Vanessa Brewer trained with the Order of the Nanjin and became more in touch with her surroundings, sensing every motion around her while being blind. However, an completely immobile vampire would be undetectable for Vanessa due to the lack of breathing and heartbeat, a knowledge that Angel used to his advantage when he defeated her.[9]
Adam described himself as "aware," knowing "every molecule" of himself and everything around him. He was able to detect a woman had blood disease, even if she didn't know herself, and was immune to the mental effects of Jonathan's augmentation spell.[16]
In the hell dimension of Anharra, Dawn Summers had full access to her Key powers, which included a new set of senses. She knew what was safe to eat and see the portals she could open.[19]
References
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