Inca Princess

Inca Princess's History

Mummification

The girl lived in the 15th century in eastern Peru, where she was chosen as a princess by the Inca people at the age of sixteen. She was told she was the only one who could defend her people from the netherworld, so she was sacrificed for the mountain god Sebancaya and mummified with a cursed seal that made sure that she would not awake.

She eventually became part of the Inca Princess exhibit, touring places like Boston, Atlanta, and New York, while still aware of her surroundings.

Reawakened

Five hundred years after her death, on tour to the Sunnydale Natural History Museum, the mummy was accidentally awoken by a Sunnydale High School student, Rodney Munson, when he damaged the sacred seal keeping her dormant. She was able to stay alive by absorbing the life force out of others, firstly doing so to Rodney, which gave her more mobility and left his mummified corpse in her tomb to take her place. After this, a bodyguard was summoned to assassinate her.

In an attempt to recapture her stolen life, the Princess attacked, killed, and assumed the identity of Ampata Gutierrez, the foreign exchange student whom Buffy Summers and her mother were to host. This restored her body in its full, youthful form. She and Buffy's friend Xander instantly hit it off and she fell in love with him. Although unaware of the Scooby Gang's true purpose, the Princess learnt that they were examining the broken seal that had kept her contained. They asked if she could translate it, but "Ampata" claimed that the seal should be destroyed.

Drawing closer to Xander, "Ampata" agreed to be his date at the World Culture Dance at the Bronze. However, her need to absorb the life from others made this difficult, her restored body was unable to last longer than a few hours on its own. Being confronted by the bodyguard, the Princess refused to give herself up despite the fact she had to kill others, so she drained her assassin and proceeded to the dance. Dancing with Xander, "Ampata" was conflicted by her desire to kiss him as her body started to decompose. She tried to maintain herself by seducing Jonathan, but was interrupted when Xander approached. The two then kissed, until she left Xander feeling somewhat burned out, although not fully restoring her.

Final death

After Rupert Giles translated the seal and the body of the real Ampata had been discovered, the Watcher attempted to reconstruct the artifact at the museum. The Princess sensed his actions and found him in time to break the seal even further, then chocked him until he passed out. Buffy intervened and the two fought, but the mummy managed to fight the Slayer off and shut her inside her coffin.

The mummy attempted to drain Willow Rosenberg as she arrived in the museum. Xander intervened and told her that she would have to drain him before he would let her near Willow, despite the Princess' assurances that they could be together once she had dealt with Willow. The Princess then agreed to his ultimatum, but eventually could not drain him. Her deprivation caused her to revert back into her mummified state. Buffy pulled the corpse off Xander, before it fell to the floor and shattered to pieces.

For years, the Inca Princess was a recurring matter when the Scooby Gang considered Xander's bad track in having relationships with supernatural women.