Catherine Madison

Catherine Madison's History

Early life

Catherine attended Sunnydale High School in her youth, where she was a popular student and captain of the cheerleading squad. Under her leadership, the Sunnydale High cheerleading squad became tri-county champions. Her victories earned her a trophy, which would later be housed in the school trophy case, and the nickname "Catherine the Great." She was also Homecoming Queen, while her boyfriend was Homecoming King. The two got married right after graduation.

After their daughter Amy was born, Catherine and her husband began to have heated arguments. Amy often heard her father call Catherine a "witch." When Amy was twelve, Catherine's husband left the family for another woman, and Catherine started to often lock herself in her house's attic for days. During this time, Catherine also put herself through cosmetology school to support herself and her daughter, although she also forced her to eat nothing but broth if she gained a single pound.

Body switch

During Amy's sophomore year at Sunnydale High, Catherine used her powers to exchange Amy's body with her own, in order to relive her glory days as a cheerleader. However, she was unable to compete with the others students, which left her as an alternate. Unwilling to accept this, Catherine placed dangerous curses on several other cheerleaders in order to make the squad, using dolls to focus each curse on its intended victim.

These included Amber Grove, whom Catherine caused to spontaneously combust; Lishanne Davis, whose mouth was erased; Cordelia Chase, who went blind; and Buffy Summers, who was cursed with a Bloodstone vengeance spell to debilitate her immune system. By this time, Catherine kept a cat to guard her spellbook.

With Buffy suffering from the curse, Rupert Giles cast a reverse spell to undo all the curses that Catherine had cast, which was also successful at switching Catherine back into her own body. Back in her original body, Catherine knocked Giles out and turned against her daughter. She was then confronted by Buffy, who was back to full health and strength.

Catherine then tried to cast a curse of Corsheth on Buffy, but the Slayer deflected it back at Catherine with a mirror, who then disappeared.

Legacy

Catherine trapped within the trophy.

Under the effects of her own spell, Catherine became trapped within the trophy she had won as a student decades before. The only signs of Catherine's presence within the trophy were her moving eyes and her muffled voice.

Catherine's natural powers as a witch were passed on to her daughter, who gradually became corrupted as well. Years later, during a fight, Buffy took Catherine's appearance with a magic illusion to frighten Amy, after Willow saw her dreamspace and recognized Catherine as her "nightmare."