Angel (Buffyverse)
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Angel (born 1727 in Galway, Ireland) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the television programs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The character is portrayed by David Boreanaz.
Biography
Character history
Angel was born as Liam, to an Irish merchant, in 1727. By 1753, at the age of 26, he had developed a taste for alcohol, women and sloth. Though not a bad man, Liam was a hedonist whose only real ambition lay in seeing the world. For the lazy Irishman that seemed a laughable dream, especially after he was expelled from his father's household, but he had caught the eye of an affluent woman — actually a vampire — named Darla. She lured him into an alley, and, promising him a world full of excitement and travel, transformed him into a vampire.The loss of his soul meant Liam no longer possessed any restraint over his darker impulses. On the night he rose from his grave, and in response to Darla's claim that he could have anyone in the village, he set about slaughtering the entire community. When he came to slaughter his own family, he found no problem in entering, his little sister inviting him in without hesitation or suspicion. Before killing his father, he would tell him mockingly, "[My sister] thought that I'd returned to her. An angel. She was wrong."
For generations Darla and Liam, now known as Angelus, terrorized humankind, murdering and torturing anyone who crossed their path. Angelus sired the vampires Penn (who indulged his blood lust by becoming a serial killer), and Drusilla, a young woman driven insane by Angelus before he finally sired her. Drusilla, in turn, sired Spike, for whom Angelus largely served as a mentor and "role model." Spike would go so far as to call the elder vampire his "Yoda". It is rumored that while Angelus, Darla, Spike, and Dru were together, they were called "The Whirlwind". This is merely speculation, as Darla refers to them together again, however a small group of fans have begun calling their group as such.
According to Angel in the episode "City of", he had been around for 14 wars. And "Vietnam doesn't count; they never declared it."
Re-ensoulment
In 1898, Angelus slew the favorite daughter of a tribe of Gypsies, the Kalderash Clan. To avenge her death, they cursed him by restoring his human soul, thus afflicting him with a conscience and condemning him to an eternity of remorse. He tried and failed to resume his life with Darla. After he was unable to kill a baby to prove himself to Darla, Angelus fled (presumably to America). There he lived an isolated life avoiding humanity, and the temptation to feed, living in a dark apartment.During WWII, Angel was recruited by The Initiative who sunk him to the bottom of the ocean to rescue an American Submarine crew from Nazi vampires (including Spike).
In 1952, Los Angeles, Angel was a resident at the Hyperion Hotel, the building which would one day become the future base of Angel Investigations. During this time, Angel was attempting to stay to himself, avoiding interaction with other patrons and looking the other way when his help was required, even despite the numerous strange incidents of murders and suicides running rampant throughout the hotel. After his meeting with a young woman named Judy, he was forced to disarm a man chasing her but then immediately ended any interaction with her soon after. However her repeated attempts to contact him managed to help him build a, luke-warm at best, relationship with her while the hotel continued to become corrupted around him. Though he didn't understand why, Angel felt compelled to help the human residents of the hotel by defeating the Paranoia demon affecting them but by the time he had obtained the items he required, the entire hotel had been overcome with paranoia and not only did Judy betray him in order to save herself but the hotel residents beat and then hanged him. This was a turning point in Angel's life where he got close to a human and tried to selflessly help her and the other residents but in the end decided it was not worth saving them, bitter at their actions against him. He returns many decades later to find Judy an old woman, having been trapped in the Hyperion all this time feeling guilt at Angel's apparent death by hanging because of her accusations. Angel forgives her and remembers her fondly as one of his first few friends.
In New York during the 1970s Angel came upon a robbery at a doughnut shop. After the robber killed the employee and fled, Angel stayed with the man as he died. Unable to resist the urge to feed from a warm human, Angel fed on the man and then grew disgusted with himself. He exiled himself to a life of homelessness, living in alleyways and feeding off of stray rats.
A shadow of his former self, a reclusive and emotionally tortured Angel eventually met a demon named Whistler in 1996, who persuaded him to join the fight against the evil that had corrupted him and to help the newly called Vampire Slayer, Buffy Summers. When he and Buffy finally met in Sunnydale, CA, he introduced himself not as Angelus, but as Angel.
Angel's story before he met Buffy unfolds in flashbacks scattered among numerous episodes of both "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel". They were not presented in chronological order. A guide to finding the flashback or flashbacks to a particular event is at .
Over time, Buffy and Angel fell in love. Though they tried to deny their feelings, they could not resist the passion growing between them. When they finally consummated their relationship, Angel experienced the one moment of pure happiness needed to break his curse. Without the humanity and conscience that was instilled by his soul, Angel quickly returned to his former, evil self.
After Angel transformed back into Angelus, he allied himself again with Spike and Drusilla, who had recently settled in Sunnydale. Angelus found immense pleasure in tormenting Buffy and her friends. He went on to kill Jenny Calendar, who had been a core member of Buffy's group, just after she had managed to successfully decipher the lost Gypsy curse which would restore Angelus' soul. He then attempted to awaken the demon Acathla in an attempt to bring about the apocalypse. Buffy, however, was determined to stop him despite their deeply emotional history. Fighting him in one-on-one combat, Buffy was able to overcome Angelus, but before Acathla consumed him, Angel was cursed again by Buffy's friend and comrade Willow Rosenburg, his soul restored moments before Buffy had to kill him and, in doing so, save the world.
Los Angeles
Less than a year later, Angel was unexpectedly released from Hell, reappearing in his mansion in a feral state. Buffy aided him in secret, fostering his rehabilitation. Having regained his senses, Angel realized that his return from Hell was not accidental, and that he must be meant to serve some higher purpose. He made the difficult decision to leave Sunnydale and Buffy, in an effort to protect them both and lend whatever normalcy to Buffy's chaotic life he could. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he would attempt to redeem himself in the service of others. He found support from Doyle, a half-demon sent by The Powers That Be, and Cordelia Chase, a former classmate of Buffy's who had moved to L.A. to find wealth and fame. The trio formed Angel Investigations, a shoe-string operation with the mission statement of protecting those who cannot defend themselves and helping lost souls find their way.Doyle, Angel's trusted friend and sole connection to the Powers, was killed in the line of duty, leading Angel to become even more protective of those he held dear. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, who had briefly served as Watcher to both Buffy and Faith in Sunnydale, arrived in L.A. working as a "rogue demon hunter," but stayed to assist Angel and Cordelia in their mission. A few months later, they were joined by lifelong demon fighter Charles Gunn. The AI Team also enlisted the help of demon karaoke bar-owner Lorne, known initially only as The Host, an Anagogic demon who could read the futures of humans and demons when they sang.
As Angel continued to help the helpless in Los Angeles, his good deeds began to disrupt the plans of the evil inter-dimensional law firm, Wolfram & Hart. In an attempt to control him, W&H resurrected his sire and former lover, Darla, but brought her back as human rather than vampire. W&H then brought forth Drusilla, who turned Darla into a vampire once again, causing Angel to feel that he had failed to save her. He then fired his crew and embarked on a bitter, ruthless vendetta against W&H (going as far as consciously allowing the murder of a very large group of W&H employees) and the newly reunited Darla and Drusilla. In a moment of perfect despair, Angel attempted to remove his soul by having sex with Darla, but instead found a moment of clarity following the desperate act, realizing his purpose was still for good. Horrified at Angel's epiphany, Darla fled Los Angeles. After a difficult reconciliation that involved Wesley taking over the official position of leader for the group, the AI team then found themselves transported to Lorne's home dimension, Pylea. Eventually they returned with a new team member, Winifred Burkle, in tow and to the news that the love of Angel's life, Buffy, had died.
Despite Buffy's miraculous resurrection a few months later, Angel found that his previously platonic love for Cordelia had grown to be romantic. Before he had a chance to confess his feelings, however, Darla returned, pregnant with his son, to be named Connor. False prophecies, time travelers and betrayal led to Angel losing his infant son to an old enemy, Holtz, who abducted Connor soon after his birth, taking him to a hell dimension (Quar'toth) where time moves differently. When Connor returned months later, he was a young man who was raised by Holtz to believe that Angel was a soulless monster. Connor vowed to make Angel pay for the suffering he had once caused and he acted out his retribution by sending him to the bottom of the ocean in a steel coffin. Just then, Cordelia ascended to a higher plane, the feelings shared between her and Angel still left unspoken.
Rescued by Wesley from his watery prison, Angel's relationship with Connor was strained. It was complicated further by the return of an amnesiac Cordelia. When a very powerful demon known only as the Beast arrived and began an attempt to bring forth an apocalypse, Angel's worst fears were realized when he had to strip himself of his soul and revert to his evil alter ego in order to defeat it. Angelus did indeed overcome the Beast, and was also deft enough to realize that the Beast was a mere "flunkie" serving an even deeper evil. Although he was momentarily free to wreak a little havoc of his own, Angel was recaptured and re-ensouled with the help of Faith (who almost died in her quest to capture Angelus) and Willow. After his soul was restored, Angel figured out that the enemy he was battling was a little closer to home than the group had previously considered, realizing that whatever the Beast's "boss" was, it was using Cordelia's body to carry out its plans. After battling and defeating the divine being known as Jasmine, Angel was offered the L.A. branch of W&H on the grounds that he ended world peace, despite the fact that "world peace" meant no free will and the sacrifice of thousands of lives at the hands of Jasmine, who had to literally devour people to stay alive. Angel acted against all of his instincts and made a deal with his sworn enemy, in exchange for W&H erasing Connor’s memories and giving him a normal life.
Angel's year spent running W&H was one marred with challenge and self-doubt. Trying to battle evil from within the belly of the beast proved to be more difficult than even imagined, with the lines of good and evil becoming ever more grey with every action taken.
Shortly after Angel assumed control of the law firm, matters were further complicated when Spike appeared as a ghost, emerging from a familiar amulet sent to Angel in the mail. Sharing a complicated history of murder and mayhem, they had spent more than a century as rivals in everything. Now both possessing souls, and both still in love with Buffy, they had evolved into very different heroes in the war against evil. Forced to co-exist, they waged a protracted, insidious battle of wits, ending when they finally came to an understanding and acceptance of their unique brotherhood on their journey to redemption. Though it must be said Spike never felt the need to prove his redemption as Angel did - It was clear that all Spike had done, he had done for love of Buffy. In both series he appeared in, it was always clear that unlike Angel, who saw himself as seeking redemption (since he got his own series), Spike wasn't as openly concerned about that. (though it must be mentioned that originally, Angel only started to help people because of Buffy, it's highly doubtful that Angel would have ever become a champion without her influence) What he had done as a soulless vampire did come to haunt Spike, as he told Angel in the episode "Damage." Also, in the episode "Destiny," where they were preparing to do battle over Cup of Perpetual Torment, Spike tells Angel "You had a soul forced on you. As a curse. Make you suffer for all the horrible things you've done. Me, I fought for my soul, went through the demon trials, almost did me in a dozen times over, but I kept fighting. Because I knew it was the right thing to do. It's my destiny." Then Spike defeated Angel for the first time in their century plus association. This may have been due to Angel's emotional problems, lack of self confidence and concerns over his chance at redemption through the Shanshu, as on four other occasions over the course of the year Angel did show a slight dominance, in terms of fighting, over Spike again. However, Spike clearly believed he was the "better" being, and might have prevailed anyway. Despite this, Spike and Angel came to an understanding that let Spike stand loyally beside Angel in their last battle against the forces of the Senior Partners, a battle both are believed to have survived.
Angel finally understood that he would never be able to completely stop the forces of evil, but that he could temporarily sever the Senior Partners' hold on Earth (which, he realized, was the reason for the Apocalypse) - now understood to be the never ending course of life on Earth, man's inhumanity to man, all having become business as usual, with Angel (at least as far at the Senior Partners knew) right where the Senior Partners always wanted him to be - behind a desk, running their L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart.
Together with his comrades, Angel set into motion his final stand against the forces of evil, walking bravely into battle. Accompanied by Spike, Illyria, and a badly-wounded Charles Gunn in the alley as the series draws to an end, preparing to suicidally incur the apocalyptic wrath of the Senior Partners, as a way of going out in a blaze of glory. Together they assassinated the members of the Circle of the Black Thorn, the Senior Partners instruments on Earth for pulling all the political and economic strings. In this effort, Gunn was badly wounded, and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was killed. Gunn managed to make it to the meeting point, the alley behind the Hyperion Hotel, and together with Angel, Spike, and Illyria, proceeded to engage in battle with the dark armies that the Senior Partners sent against them.
Series creator Joss Whedon has stated that he had originally intended Angel to survive this battle and go on into a sixth season.
This was later confirmed in the publications of the recent IDW comics The Curse and Old Friends that Angel, as well as Spike and Illyria, survived this battle; Charles Gunn, already badly wounded, was told by Illyria that he would not survive even ten minutes; Gunn's response was, "Let's make 'em memorable". It should be mentioned that Gunn also survived this battle in the IDW Comics series, albeit with the loss of an eye.Powers & Abilities
Angel has the usual powers and weaknesses of a vampire, along with some abilities which may be unique to him. Some of his vampiric powers are greater than average, because of his age and perhaps his bloodline. His talents may be divided into three main categories: physical, sensory, and mental. He is also skilled in a number of different areas.Angel’s entire physiology is of superhuman quality. His strength, though ill-defined, is far beyond that of normal humans: he can punch through wooden walls, leap 15 feet straight up, rip apart bicycle chains, and so forth. His motor skills and reflexes far surpass those of humans. He also has standard vampire durability against most forms of mundane physical damage; he once jumped down from a four-story rooftop without sustaining any apparent injury, and has described being shot as feeling “like a bee sting.” Nonetheless, Angel is not indestructible. He has all the vulnerabilities of a Buffyverse vampire: direct sunlight will cause combustion that would eventually kill him if he stays out in the sun's rays for more than a few seconds. A stake through the heart and decapitation would instantly kill him. In addition, certain objects of religious significance to Christians — specifically Bibles, crucifixes, and holy water — can burn his flesh. He can be rendered unconscious by poisons and tranquilizers, though he has survived dosages that would be fatal to a human. Also, Angel, like all Buffyverse vampires, can not enter a person's home unless he's invited by one of the occupants, though this rule does not extend to the home of non-human entities, public facilities, and temporary lodging like a motel room.
At least two of Angel’s senses — his smell and hearing — are also super-humanly acute. On many occasions he has tracked people through the streets (or even sewers) of Los Angeles by smell alone; his olfactory talents are apparently superior to dogs, as he does not need to sniff the ground to track in this manner. Like all Buffyverse vampires, Angel can also smell fear. His hearing is so sensitive that he once was able to eavesdrop on a conversation happening in the lobby of a hotel while confined in the hotel’s basement. As vampires are primarily nocturnal, his sight may also be of superhuman quality, though this is less certain; he has been noticed using night-vision goggles, for instance. Through Angel and Spike, the viewer learns the differences between human and vampire senses of taste: while the episode I Will Remember You reveals that a vampire's ability to taste conventional human food is dulled, we also learn that vampires can easily taste subtleties in blood, (fear makes a person's blood taste pleasantly salty, Slayer blood is an aphrodesiac, cold, hot, and warm blood all have different tastes, human blood is preferable to otter blood, which in turn is preferable to pig blood, etc.).
Angel possesses at least two superhuman cognitive abilities. One is a photographic memory; he is able to recall visual impressions in great detail and fidelity (it is unclear whether this ability is unique to Angel; it is possible that he possessed it as a human being and it carried over into his unlife, or it could be one of the effects of the Gypsy curse designed for him to suffer for his past sins). Angel has also displayed a receptive “psychic connection” to vampires he has sired, though this appears to depend on his relationship with them. For instance he never experienced any visions of Drusilla's activities yet he did with his childe Penn. Despite being part of a collective with Drusilla for a while, he appears to be closest to her when tormenting her as a human, his limited affections reserved for his sire Darla who possessed such a close connection to Angel. Penn was treated more as a child and was trained specifically by Angelus for a period of time. This ability was not further developed to explain its true extent and was never displayed with his other childe, Lawson, with whom he also did not have a long or important relationship.
Angel is a highly skilled combatant. Generally he prefers to fight unarmed, using a style that seems to blend several different disciplines and to take advantage of his superhuman strength and speed. Angel uses a lot of circular attacks such as spinning kicks and spinning back hands. He, unlike Buffy, likes to stay grounded in his attacks and rarely does any jumping moves. While Angel has lost to both Buffy and Spike at one time it does not take away from the fact that he is generally equal to Buffy and that he is generally better than Spike. In the two fights between Buffy and Angel, Angel controlled much of the fights but lost due to excessive talking and getting re-ensouled and sent to the hell realm. In his fight with Spike, the match was equal until the end, this was due to the fact that Angel was not sure of himself and Spike was. If Angel had been as confident as he usually was in fights he might have won. For Angel to fight at his very best, he needs to be confident and in the right frame of mind. If he is lacking in one he will probably lose. When he has both he can beat almost anybody. Angel's fighting ability is greater than Spike's, and possibly Buffy's, but he is less ruthless in battle which can play in Spike's, and Buffy's, favour. He is also far more patient than Spike and plans things out whereas Spike will just rush in. This can be a disadvantage and could possibly give his opponent chance to counter. Finally, Angel's great weakness is his love of talking, a weakness which he shared with Angelus. Spike on the other hand does no talking at all when he is angry - he merely roars into battle without pause or compunction.
In other fights Angel clearly displays his skill at fighting. He was able to defeat Marcus Hamilton in the final fight at Wolfram and Hart. Prior to the episode “Destiny” Angel fought Spike from time to time and displays clear dominance - but none of those fights took place after Spike's ensoulment, which changed him dramatically. Also During season 2 of Buffy before the last fight Angel and Buffy would go back and forth in fights, displaying that they were nearly equals.
He has mastered many varieties of weapons, favoring the broadsword and axe. As Angelus, he once demonstrated proficiency with a shotgun; it’s not clear whether Angel’s ensouled persona also possesses this skill. His arguably greatest asset as a combatant is his self-confidence and determination, coupled with his ability to seize any advantage. While Angel lacks Spike's uncanny ability to sense an opponent's weakness, he has far greater ability to remain calm, and follow a plan. Angel is also quick to adapt to his foes abilities, as he did in defeating Marcus Hamiliton.
He also possesses some skills in magic, on several occasions demonstrating impressive ability in spells and wizardry. In conjunction with his drinking of Marcus Hamilton's Senior Partner-infused blood in the final episode, all of Angel's abilities may have increased dramatically. Whether the effects of his blood-imbued strength boost are temporary or not remain unseen.
As Angelus he displays a considerable skill in manipulating others emotional states to devestating affect. Able to provoke full blown arguements with a few carefully chosen words and with time and effort drive the emotionally unstable to insanity. He is also an expert at both physical and psychological torture. Angel with a soul most likely will not use these 'talents' however if he still has them.
In the final season episode You're Welcome, Cordelia passed on her visions to Angel in the same way that she had originally been granted them by Doyle. Angel was given a psychic connection to the Powers That Be, allowing him precognitive visions that he utilised in the last few episodes of the series.
Finally, as he told Connor in the last episode of the series, he has "very nice handwriting."
Angel vs. Angelus
Angel is the third, unique persona we see. Liam is the human and Angelus is the vampire. "Angel" is Angelus + Liam, a demon burdened with a human soul. Angel is a hybrid of man and vampire, he constantly deals with the vampiric urges, and the human conscious. The decision of the writers to make a sharp separation between the characters for Season Four was seen as a violation of continuity by some fans. Though the early seasons of Buffy expressed the view that when a human becomes a vampire "You die, and a demon sets up shop in your old home; it walks like you and it talks like you - but it's not you" (Lie to Me), all previous seasons of Buffy and Angel had the relationship between Angelus and Angel far more intertwined. Angelus frequently referred to (and referring to himself) as "Angel" during Seasons 1 and 2 of Buffy (possibly to torment Buffy). It would seem that even before he was ensouled, "Angel" was something of an 'affectionate' nickname that Angelus was known by (or indeed a mere translation; before being cursed he had traveled in many countries and it is likely that he was generally known by the equivalent of Angel in the local language). Similarly, Angel had almost always said "I" when speaking of Angelus; they clearly share the same memories, and it is noteworthy that he never resumed the name of his human original, Liam (except while amnesiac in Spin the Bottle).Also it must be remembered that in season 1s Eternity that Angel reverts back to his evil self without even losing his soul.This suggests that in a subconscious state that Angels true nature is allowed to appear.
Angelus was already a unique vampire, being he didn't retain a semblance of humanity, where most vampires possess the slightest trace of the human that once inhabited the body; this is seen in "Innocence," it also contributes to the demon world referring to vampires as "half-breeds." This enhances the fundamental differences between Angel and Angelus. On the other hand there's Spike, who retained a lot of William's traits, and eased his soulful transition.)
This, in addition to the fact that Rupert Giles, a Watcher well versed in vampire lore, still held Angel responsible for his deeds as Angelus, has led some fans to believe that the "demonic possession" line (always touted by humans, and mildly contradicted by Angel in Doppelgängland) is actually mythology perpetuated by the Watcher's Council so as to remove any moral objection to the Slayer's role as "vampire executioner." However, Giles' holding Angel responsible for the actions of Angelus may be more due to his own personal involvement than anything else.
Further evidence for this theory developed with the handling of Spike's character arc, which implied that a soul was not the "person" but rather just that person's humanity and conscience; suggesting that Angel and Angelus are not different beings, but rather opposing egos of the same person. Angel hints at this when he tells Buffy that it's not the demon in him who is responsible for his acts. Darla also states that Angelus' evil was innate, suggesting that Liam initially had a far greater potential for darkness than was first apparent.
- Angel: Look, I'm weak. I've never been anything else. It's not the demon in me that needs killing, Buffy. It's the man.
- Angel: ...there is no guilt, there is no torment, no consequences... It's pure. I remember what that was like. Sometimes I miss that clarity.
- Cordelia: But not the trying to kill your friends and family part, right? Just checking!
- Cordelia: What I remember when I was a higher being... I remember seeing you. Your past. When you were Angelus.
- Angel: I've never tried to hide who I was. Or what I've done. You already knew.
- Cordelia: Knowing's different than living it. When I was up there, I could look back and see everyting you did as Angelus. More than see. I felt it. Not just their fear and pain. I felt you. And how much you enjoyed making them suffer...
In the context of the primary theme of the Angel series, redemption, this makes the most sense, which is possibly the reason for the writers returning to the "blurred" relationship between Angel/Angelus in Angel Season Five. It would also explain Angel's occasional lapses into darkness while still retaining Angel's brooding nature instead of reverting to Angelus's sadism, notably in Season 2 where he condones the massacre of Wolfram & Hart employees at the hands of Darla and Drusilla, and Season 3 where he attempts to smother Wesley Wyndam-Pryce with a pillow for abducting his son.
Therefore, some fans consider it best to think of Angel and Angelus as different sides of the same person - rather than thinking of one as "the Demon" and the other as "the Soul". When ensouled, the ego that has come to be known as "Angel" is dominant; without his soul, he reverts to his id, the Angelus persona. Both personas are controlled by his own thoughts, emotions, and actions, however, making him just as responsible for what Angelus does as he is for his actions as Angel. This is also supported by the fact that both personas do battle for Angel's mind before his soul can be restored in Orpheus.
Other fans prefer the view that they are indeed separate beings but, having a single shared memory, have strong feelings of having been the other at the times when the other was dominant.
Although Angelus' bodycount was vast. His capacity for psychological intimidation was substantially above contemporary real-life serial killers. During his time with Darla he committed some of the most atrocious and despicably evil acts of his time. One such example, is that he is prone to brutal displays of what he would see as affection one such account had him nailing a puppy to wall, while a full explanation of this was never given as Buffy interupted Giles with "Skip it, I dont have a puppy. So Skip it. ". Another account of Angelus's brutal acts on Valentines Day, was when he brought Dru a still warm human heart, perfectly in tact. Angelus's mean streak does not stop there, he always had an obsession with death being an art form every kill a work of art to be savored and appreciated. One of the greatest homages to that fact is that in the Episode Amends The First Evil makes reference to him killing a mans three children then propping them in bed to make it look like they were sleeping, It was only after the father kissed one of them good night that he felt how cold they were, Angelus killing him immediately after. He also had a weakness in that he was prone to excessive talking, and had a need to attempt to psychologically destroy his victims before physically killing them. This streak of sadomasochism sometimes gave potential victims time to either possibly escape or attempt to fight back(Although it made little diffrence as he almost always got them in the end). In that sense, Spike was by far the more dangerous of the two - he disliked talking at all when he was angered, or his bloodlust was up, he merely killed immediately and without compunction. He once observed to Angel "you bloody well talk them to death before you kill them!"
Romantic Interests
- Darla. Angel was sired by Darla. The pair were lovers until Angelus' transformation into Angel drove them apart. Many years later they briefly resumed their affair, leading to Darla becoming pregnant with her and Angel's son: Connor.
- Drusilla. Angel tormented the human Drusilla, sired her and kept her on as a companion afterwards. The two possibly also had a sexual relationship many years later during a period where her lover, Spike, was wheelchair-bound.
- Spike. Spike mentioned in the fifth season episode, Power Play, that he "was never intimate with Angel... except for that one time". Whedon has [confirmed] in numerous interviews and forum posts the possibility at least a one night stand between the pair. In the DVD commentary to the episode Hole In The World he explicitly says: "You know, um, I just wanna say Angel and Spike, they were hanging out, uh, for years and years and years, they were in, you know, all kinds of deviant, they were vampires... Are we thinking they never...? Come on, people! I'm just sayin'. I'm just sayin'. You know, they're open-minded guys. They may be evil but, you know, they're not bigoted or closed-minded."
- Buffy Summers. Supposedly Angel's first 'true love' as well as Buffy's first love. When they slept together for the first time, Angel lost his soul, becoming Angelus.
- Kate Lockley. The strong possibility of a relationship was hinted at, but ultimately didn't materialise.
- Rebecca Lowell. A short-lived potential love interest introduced in the episode Eternity.
- Cordelia Chase. Friends for years, Angel and Cordelia eventually realised that they had fallen in love with one another, only to be torn apart by her ascension and transformation and his being imprisoned underwater by Connor. Upon their subsequent returns, they did not pursue the relationship, Cordelia instead forming a relationship with Angel's son. In the episode Waiting in the Wings a spell nearly causes the pair to have sex. Later, just before she dies, Cordelia and Angel kiss, passing on her visions to him.
- Gwen Raiden. Angel shared a kiss with Gwen after she gave him an electro-shock that (temporarily) reawakened his dead heart.
- Nina Ash. A werewolf that Angel saves. This relationship establishes that Angel is able to have positive sex (unlike his "perfect despair" moment with Darla) and still keep his soul. This has been implied since Season 1 but was previously countered by constant jokes referring to Angel as a eunuch.
- Eve. A one-time encounter at Wolfram & Hart's Halloween party. She remarked, "It's not as if this is the first time I've had sex under mystical influence. I went to UC Santa Cruz."
Appearances
Angel has appeared in:Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Angel became a series regular in the show's second and third seasons, although he did not appear in Inca Mummy Girl. He appeared in 56 episodes in all, including guest appearances in the episodes:
- Season 1 (1997) - Welcome To The Hellmouth; The Harvest; Teacher's Pet; Never Kill a Boy on the First Date; Angel; Out of Mind, Out of Sight; Prophecy Girl.
- Season 4 (1999, 2000) - Pangs; The Yoko Factor.
- Season 5 (2000, 2001) - Fool for Love (flashbacks); Forever.
- Season 7 (2002, 2003) - End of Days; Chosen
Trivia
- Angel was supposed to be a one-time character until David Boreanaz was found. [link]
- In the Angel season three episode Carpe Noctem, in which Angel was victim of a bodyswitch, he was played by Rance Howard.
- Angel has a tattoo on his shoulder-blade of a griffin from The Book of Kells[link], with the addition of the letter 'A' beneath it. [link]
- The first time Angel was planned on losing his soul, Joss Whedon was doubtful of David Boreanaz being capable of portraying the cruelty of Angelus.
- Also, Angel seems to be a "Fanilow" (a fan of Barry Manilow), particularly loving the song "Mandy". As he quotes, "I think it's kinda pretty."
- Angel has appeared in by far the most episodes in Buffyverse, for a total of 166 episodes. Buffy and Willow are next, with 146 and 147 episodes respectively. He has also appeared in the most seasons of Buffyverse (All seasons of Buffy and Angel except for Buffy season 6) for a total of 11. He is also the only actor to appear in the pilot and finale of both Buffy and Angel.
- Angel is a fan of ice hockey, one of the reasons being that it is a sport where most games are played indoors, and at night.
See also
| Buffyverse | ||
| Main | Canon | Index Chronology: Ancient | Modern | BS1 | BS2 | BS3 | BS4/AS1 | BS5/AS2 | BS6/AS3 | BS7/AS4 | AS5 | Future | Flashbacks | |
| Buffy | Characters (main) | Characters (minor) | Episodes | Plot | Comics | Film | Pilot (unaired) | Promo: History.. | Novels | Promos: Pre-"Bargaining" | |
| Angel | Characters (main) | Characters (minor) | Episodes | Plot | | |
| Spin-offs | Comics | Fan made productions | Fray | Novels | Spike movie | Undeveloped productions Buffy Animated | Card Game | RPGs | Tales of Slayer (prose) | Tales of Slayers | Tales of Vampires | Toys | Video Games Upcoming: Blackout | | | | | | Portal Through Time | Spike vs Dracula | | |
| Powers | Angel Investigations | Circle of the Black Thorn | Order of Aurelius | The First Evil | The Initiative | Monsters | Old Ones | The Powers That Be | Ra-Tet | Scooby Gang | Senior Partners | Watchers' Council | Wolfram & Hart | |
| People | Adam | Amy | Andrew | Angel | Anya | Buffy | Caleb | Connor | Cordelia | Dawn | Darla | Doyle | Dru | Eve | Faith | Fred | Giles | Glory | Gunn | Harmony | Holtz | Illyria | Jasmine | Jenny | Joyce | Jonathan | Kate | Kennedy | Lilah | Lindsey | Lorne | The Master | Mayor Wilkins | Oz | Professor Walsh | Riley | Spike | Tara | Warren | Wesley | Willow | Xander | |
| Places | L.A. | Sunnydale Bronze | Caritas | Hellmouth | Hyperion | Library | Magic Box | Pylea | Sunnydale High | |
| Music | Complete Tracklist | Use of Music in Buffy & Angel | Dingoes Ate My Baby | Film | | | Once More, With Feeling | |
| Key Terminology | "Demon" | "Slayer" | "Vampire" | "Watcher" | "Werewolf" | "Witch" "Child of Senior Partners" | Shanshu | Sunnydale Syndrome | Tro-Clon | |
External links
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