'Angel' (also known as 'Angelus', originally 'Liam') (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. During the episode "
Carpe Noctem", Angel's mind is switched to another body, and is portrayed by
Rance Howard.
Fictional character biography
Pre-''Buffy''/''Angel''
Angel's story before he met Buffy unfolds in flashbacks scattered among numerous episodes of both ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel'', presented without concern for chronological order.
Angelus during the 18th century.
Liam was born to an
Irish merchant, in 1727. By 1753, at the age of 26, he had developed a taste for alcohol, women and sloth. Though a good man at heart, Liam was a hedonist whose only real ambition lay in seeing the world. For the lazy Irishman, this seemed a laughable dream, especially after he is expelled from his father's household, but he 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.
Becoming a vampire meant the loss of his soul, freeing Liam to act upon 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. He even murdered his family without hesitation. 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 goes so far as to call the elder vampire his "
Yoda."
In
1898, Angelus slew the favorite daughter of a tribe of
Gypsies, the Kalderash Clan. To avenge her death, the Kalderash cursed him by restoring his human soul, thus afflicting him with a
conscience and condemning him to an eternity of remorse for the crimes he had committed as the soulless Angelus. During the
Boxer Rebellion, the vampire - now known as "Angel" - tried and failed to resume his life with Darla, finding himself unable to feed on a baby to prove himself to his sire. Angel fled, presumably to the
United States and lived in self-imposed isolation, controlling the temptation to feed by avoiding humans altogether.
Angel
arrived in New York via
Ellis Island in 1902. Aside from one
mention of the unspecified interval he spent in Missoula during the
Depression, Angel does not surface for the next four decades.
During
World War II, Angel was coerced to undertake a secret mission by
The Demon Research Initiative. He had to rescue an American submarine crew from three
Nazi-captured vampires (including Spike), who had murdered most of the crew after escaping. During this adventure, Angel was forced to sire
Sam Lawson to repair damage to the engine, which they sustained after a German attack.
In
1952,
Los Angeles, Angel was a resident at the
Hyperion Hotel, the future base of
Angel Investigations.
[1] Although he tried to isolate himself, Angel was forced to become involved by the actions of Judy, who had fled her home town after stealing a sum of money from her job. Things quickly deteriorated when a string of murders and suicides gripped the hotel, and everyone slowly grews increasingly paranoid. As Angel learned, this was the result of a Thesulac demon, a demon living off fear, and he initially tried to kill the demon, until the people at the hotel turned against him (including Judy), and lynched him. Surviving the hanging, and disgusted with the humans, Angel allowed the demon to take everyone inside the hotel for his own.
Upon Angel's return to the Hyperion many decades later, he finds Judy there, an old woman, still trapped, still consumed with guilt for causing her new friend and protector to be lynched in her stead. Telling Judy he has forgiven her, Angel allows them both to find some sort of peace. However, at the time of his bitter departure from the Hyperion, he disappeared again and little is known of his activities for the next twenty years.
In
New York during the
1970s, Angel witnessed a robbery at a doughnut shop.
[2] After the robber shot an employee and fled Angel stayed with the man as he died, and then proceeded to feed on him. Deeply disgusted by his own weakness, Angel fled the shop, and then exiled himself to a life of homelessness, living in alleyways and feeding on rats. Two decades later, a shadow of his former self, the reclusive and emotionally tortured Angel was sought out in 1996 by a demon named
Whistler, who persuaded him to join the fight against evil. Whistler helped Angel meet the newly-called
Vampire Slayer,
Buffy Summers. The following year, when he and Buffy finally meet in
Sunnydale, he introduces himself, not as Angelus, but as Angel.
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''
Although Angel already sees Buffy while she is still in L.A.
[3], he doesn't appear until after her move to Sunnydale, and after her first day at
Sunnydale High [4]. The two fall in love, but Buffy does not realize Angel is a vampire until several weeks later in the episode "
Angel". Though they try to deny their feelings, they cannot resist the passion growing between them. When they finally consummate their relationship in "
Surprise", Angel experiences one moment of pure happiness, which breaks the Gypsy curse and he loses his soul. Without the compassion and conscience instilled by his human soul, Angel instantly reverts to his former evil self, Angelus, in the following episode.
[5]
Angelus becomes the "Big Bad" of ''Buffy's second season.
Angelus allies himself once again with Spike and Drusilla, who have recently settled in Sunnydale. Resenting the humiliation he felt because Buffy had made Angel feel like a human being, Angelus takes immense pleasure in tormenting the Slayer and her friends. First, he helps Spike and Dru deploy a powerful demon known as the
Judge. After Buffy destroys the Judge, Angelus embarks on a guerilla campaign, lurking in the shadows, preying on Buffy's classmates, sending her gruesome messages, even drawing pictures of her and her mother as they sleep and leaving them in her bedroom.
He proceeds to murder
Jenny Calendar, which serves him in two ways; First, he eliminates an enemy (Jenny was born Janna of the Kalderash clan) and destroys her work just as she manages to successfully decipher the lost Gypsy curse which could be used to restore Angel's soul. Second, Angelus uses Jenny's death to viciously torment
Rupert Giles, Jenny's paramour and the person on whom Buffy depends most. After this, Angelus widens his focus and begins a scheme to awaken the demon Acathla and bring about the end of the world. Buffy is determined to stop him despite their history, and is able to overcome him in combat. Just as she prepares for the finishing blow however,
Willow Rosenberg is able to restore Angel's soul. Since Acathla can only be stopped by the blood of the individual who activated him, Buffy is forced to sacrifice Angel to save the world. Impaled on the Slayer's enchanted sword, Angel is sucked into Acathla's vortex which suddenly snaps closed.
[6]
Third season
Less than a year later (by Sunnydale time), Angel unexpectedly returns in "
Faith, Hope & Trick from Acathla's hell, reappearing in his mansion in a feral state. Buffy aids him in secret, fostering his rehabilitation.
[7] Once he regains his senses, Angel begins to suspect that his return from Hell was not accidental, and that he must serve some unknown, but evil, purpose. Eventually he begins to experience what he believes to be hallucinations, but he is actually being haunted by the
First Evil. The First, able to adopt the appearances of Angelus' victims, drives Angel ever closer to the brink of madness and tries to tempt him to lose his soul and kill Buffy. Instead, Angel decides to commit suicide, but finds the sun clouded by snow, a rare occurrence in Sunnydale.
[8] After these events, Angel and Buffy try to resume their relationship, but Angel quickly discovers that he cannot possibly give Buffy a remotely normal human life. These thoughts are echoed by
Richard Wilkins and
Joyce Summers, and Angel decides to leave Sunnydale, doing so at the end of the season three finale, "
Graduation Day, Part Two".
''Angel'' the series
In L.A., Angel spends a few months alone, patrolling dives and dark alleys, battling vampires who hunt there. Soon enough, he receives support in his attempts to redeem himself in the service of others. First,
Doyle, a half-demon and fellow Irishman, is sent by
The Powers That Be. Almost immediately thereafter, Angel runs into
Cordelia Chase, a former classmate of Buffy's who has moved to L.A. to find wealth and fame. The trio form
Angel Investigations, a shoestring operation whose mission statement is to "Help the Helpless."
Doyle, Angel's trusted friend and sole connection to the Powers, sacrifices himself in the episode "
Hero" to save others, leading Angel to become even more protective of those few he holds dear.
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, who had briefly served as
Watcher to both Buffy and
Faith in Sunnydale, arrives in L.A. claiming to be a "rogue demon hunter," a lone wolf sort who only works solo.
[9] After their first case, however, Wesley is eager to stay and assist Angel and Cordelia in their mission. A few months later, they are joined by lifelong demon fighter,
Charles Gunn.
[10] Both prescient and empathic, Lorne can sense the futures of humans and demons when they sing. During this time, three young Wolfram and Hart associates,
Lindsey McDonald, Lee Mercer, and
Lilah Morgan, attempt to have Angel killed by the rogue vampire slayer, Faith. Under Angel's influence, the deeply troubled Faith starts along her own path to redemption, ultimately turning herself in to the police as the first step toward making amends for her crimes.
Second season
As Angel continues to help the helpless in Los Angeles, his good deeds begin seriously to disrupt the plans of the evil inter-dimensional law firm,
Wolfram and Hart. In an attempt to control him, the firm resurrects his sire and former lover, Darla, who comes back as a human rather than as a vampire.
[11] Wolfram and Hart then summons Drusilla, who turns Darla into a vampire again. Angel turns to a darker side of himself, firing his crew and embarks on a vendetta against both the law firm and the newly reunited Darla and Drusilla. During this time, Angel refuses to prevent the slaughter of a very large group of Wolfram & Hart employees at the hands of Dru and Darla. After a devastating spiritual defeat by
Holland Manners, Angel attempts to shed his soul by having sex with Darla, but instead of happiness, finds despair.
[12] A moment of clarity follows the desperate act, and Angel realizes that his purpose is still to do all the good he can, even if he can't do all the good he wants. Having hoped to get her boy Angelus back, Darla is horrified and infuriated by Angel's epiphany, and flees Los Angeles. After a difficult reconciliation that involves Wesley taking over the official position of leader of the group, the Angel Investigations team find themselves transported to Lorne's home dimension, Pylea in the episode "
Over the Rainbow". Eventually, after Angel defeats the undefeated Champion of Pylea, the
Groosalugg, they return with a new team member,
Winifred Burkle, in tow, and to the news that the love of Angel's life, Buffy, has died.
[13] During this time the
Angel Investigations team also enlists the help of demon karaoke bar-owner
Lorne, known initially only as The Host.
Third season
Despite Buffy's miraculous resurrection a few months later, Angel finds that his previously platonic love for Cordelia has grown to be romantic. Before he has a chance to confess his feelings, however, Darla returns, pregnant with his son, to be named
Connor. False prophecies, time travelers and betrayal lead to Angel losing his infant son to an old enemy,
Holtz, who abducts Connor soon after his birth, taking him to a hell dimension (Quor-Toth) where time passes differently. When Connor returns days later, he is a young man who has been raised by Holtz to believe that Angel is still a soulless monster. Holtz takes his own life in such a way that Connor is led to believe he was killed by Angel and vows to make Angel pay for the suffering he had caused Holtz. That same night, Connor sinks his father to the bottom of the ocean in a steel coffin and Cordelia ascends to a higher plane, the feelings shared between her and Angel still left unspoken.
Fourth season
Rescued by Wesley from his watery prison, Angel's relationship with Connor is strained. It is complicated further by the return of an amnesiac Cordelia, who prefers to stay with Connor because he told her the truth while the others lied to her (albeit because they thought it was for her own good). When a very powerful demon known only as the Beast arrives and begins an attempt to bring forth an apocalypse, Angel's worst fears are realized when he has to strip himself of his soul and revert to his evil alter ego in order to defeat it. Angelus does indeed overcome the Beast, and is also deft enough to realize that the Beast was a mere "flunkie" serving an even deeper evil; the Beast he knew was only interested in smashing and slaughter, and it was unlikely that the Beast would have become smarter since Angelus fought him.
Although he is momentarily free to wreak a little havoc of his own, Angelus is recaptured and re-ensouled with the help of Faith (who almost dies in her quest to capture Angelus) and Willow, culminating in a brief but violent mental battle between Angel and Angelus. After his soul is restored, Angel figures out that the enemy he has been battling is a little closer to home than the group had previously considered, realizing that whatever the Beast's "boss" is, it is using Cordelia's body to carry out its plans. After battling and defeating the divine being known as
Jasmine, Angel is offered the L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart on the grounds that he ended world peace. Angel acts against all of his instincts and makes a deal with his sworn enemy, in exchange for Wolfram & Hart erasing Connor’s memories and giving him a normal life, and trying to find a way to cure Cordelia.
Fifth season
Angel and his team in the final moments of the series finale; "
Not Fade Away".
The lines between good and evil blur as Angel moves into Wolfram & Hart, and they challenge Angel's perceptions of himself and his destiny. Matters are further complicated when Spike appears as a ghost, emerging from a familiar amulet sent to Angel in the mail. Sharing a complicated history of murder and mayhem, they have spent more than a century as rivals in everything. Now both possessing souls, and both still in love with Buffy, they have evolved into very different heroes in the war against evil. Forced to co-exist, they wage a protracted, insidious battle of wits, ending when they finally come to an understanding and acceptance of their unique brotherhood on their journey to redemption.
In the episode "Destiny," when they prepare to do battle over the 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." Although the Cup turns out to be fake, Angel's defeat at the hands of Spike is a source for inner turmoil in the following episodes. Most of these events turn out to be the machinations of
Lindsey McDonald, a returning nemesis, and after he is defeated, Angel grows more confident once more.
This defeat coincides with a last visit from Cordelia, who passes along a single vision to Angel. Now finally understanding that he will never be able to completely stop the forces of evil, Angel decides that temporarily severing the Senior Partners' hold on Earth is enough. Together with his comrades, Angel prepares to suicidally incur the apocalyptic wrath of the Senior Partners as a way of going out in a blaze of glory. They assassinate 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 is badly wounded, and
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce is killed.
Lorne is instructed to kill
Lindsey, temporarily an ally, after they've completed their mission, and he does so, leaving behind Angel and his team afterwards. Gunn manages to make it to the meeting point, the alley behind the Hyperion Hotel, where he, Angel, Spike and
Illyria engage in battle with the dark armies that the Senior Partners have sent against them. The last words spoken on screen are, "Let's go to work."
After ''Angel''
In the non-canonical comics following the series, the four members of Angel's team seem to have survived the battle. Angel goes to Romania to remove his curse. He helps the Gypsies in a fight versus a dictator and he is forced to kill the only person who was able to remove his curse.
Series creator
Joss Whedon has stated that he had originally intended Angel to survive this battle and go on into a sixth season. However, this was his original intention prior to the show being cancelled and prior to his writing the final episode. Early previews of the Buffy season eight comics have revealed that Angel and Spike will appear sparingly – suggesting both survived the battle (although death has not stopped either character from coming back in the past and another dead character from the ''Buffy'' series,
Anya Jenkins, is reported to make an appearance).
Angel has been picked up for a canonical "season 6" comicbook series, to be written by
Brian Lynch and plotted by Joss Whedon. It will begin as a twelve issue mini-series titled "''."
Powers and abilities
Angel has the powers and vulnerabilities of a Buffyverse
vampire, though he is considerably stronger than the average vampire. He is a highly skilled combatant and generally fights unarmed, using circular attacks such as spinning kicks and back hands. He has, however, mastered many varieties of weapons, favoring the
axe and the
broadsword. Angel also possesses some cognitive abilities; he has a photographic memory ("
Habeas Corpses") and has displayed a psychic connection to those he has sired on at least one occasion ("
Somnabulist"). In "
Power Play", he reveals that Cordelia passed on her visions to him earlier that season in "
You're Welcome". However, he explains that this was a "one-time deal", suggesting that this ability is not permanent. As Angelus, he displays considerable skill in manipulating others emotional states and has driven his victims insane, as seen with Drusilla. With or without his soul, he is shown to be an expert in torture, having tortured Giles as Angelus ("
Becoming, Part Two") and Linwood as Angel ("
Forgiving").
As well as his supernatural abilities and fighting skills, Angel displayed a number of other talents. He apparently has "very nice handwriting" and is a skilled
artist, first seen in the episode "
Passion", using
charcoal crayon and
China ink to draw portraits. He can speak several languages, including
Korean,
Italian,
Spanish,
French,
Russian,
Romanian and
German, and in "
Harm's Way" tries to learn the language of the Vinji and Sahrvin demons from an instruction tape. He is a convincing
improvisational
actor, as seen in the episodes "
Enemies", "
Five by Five", and "
The Shroud of Rahmon."
Development of character
Boreanaz said that when he auditioned for the role of Angel, the role was described to him: "He may get hit, but he'll always come back. He has the grace and movements of a boxer, and he's mysterious".
[14] Originally, Angel was supposed to be a one-time character until David Boreanaz was found.
[15] However, when it was planned that Angel would lose his soul, Joss Whedon was doubtful of David Boreanaz being capable of portraying the cruelty of Angelus. Joss changed his mind after he saw David performing Angelus and said that he never saw anyone creeping him out like that.
Appearance
Boreanaz as Angel in the fifth season of ''Angel''.
Although Angel is meant to be an immortal, and thus never physically age, Angel's appearance does change in accordance with David Boreanaz's age. When Boreanaz first appears in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' as Angel, he is 26. At the end of his own series in 2004, he is 33. This element of the fictional universe calls for a
suspension of disbelief, although it has been a source of humour on DVD-commentaries.
[16] Consistently though, Angel has a
tattoo on his
shoulder-blade of a
griffin from
The Book of Kells,
[17] with the addition of the letter 'A' beneath it.
[18]
Character traits
Angel is born in Ireland, and in flashbacks his Irish accent is extremely strong. By the time of his first appearance on ''Buffy'', Angel has developed an American accent, having lived in the country for close to a century. During those first years in America, Angel becomes somewhat of a "Fanilow" (a fan of
Barry Manilow), particularly loving the song "
Mandy". As he quotes, "I think it's kinda pretty". During
his mental battle with Angelus, his demon stated that he particularly hated Angel's visits to Manilow's concerts. He also stated in Season 5 that he enjoyed William the Bloody's poetry, to which Spike retorts, "You like Barry Manilow."
Other preferences, include, according to the character Cordelia Chase, a "thing" for petite blondes. She most likely drew this conclusion from his romantic relationships with Buffy Summers and Darla. Angel is also a fan of ice hockey (he watches the game in "
Life of the Party") and he hopes Connor will grow up playing ice hockey, one of the reasons being that it is a sport where most games are played indoors, and at night (allowing for vampires to spectate).
Over the course of the show, Angel has been able to do things that a normal vampire can't. Angel once insisted, "There are three things I don't do: tan, date, and sing in public," although he has broken all of those rules on occasion; he sang in Caritas, dated Nina, and endured sunlight by various methods: during "
In the Dark" he possessed the
Gem of Amara, allowing him to go to the beach during the day; in "
I Will Remember You" he was temporarily restored to human life; he was unaffected by the sun of
Pylea; and throughout Season 5 he had an office protected by "necro-tempered" glass that prevented the sun from affecting him.
Similarly, although Angel is technically dead, he has experienced a heartbeat on three separate occasions; once when he was temporarily resurrected by the blood of a Mohra demon ("
I Will Remember You"), when he was temporarily transferred into the body of an old man with a heart condition ("
Carpe Noctem"), and when his heart was briefly restarted during a fight with Gwen ("
Ground State").
The character's villainous streak as Angelus has been well-received and documented. In ''Buffy & Angel: Official Yearbook'' 2006, Angelus was voted number two by fans as "Best Buffyverse Villain", with
Glory as number one and the
Mayor as number three.
Angel vs. Angelus
Whilst Liam is human and Angelus is a vampire, Angel is a third, unique persona, a demon burdened with a human soul. A hybrid of man and vampire, he constantly deals with vampiric urges, and the human conscience that prevents him from ever forgetting his past misdeeds. 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"), later seasons of ''Buffy'' and ''Angel'' had the relationship between Angelus and Angel far more intertwined. Angelus once referred to himself as "Angel" during Season Two of ''Buffy'' (possibly to torment Buffy). Angel usually says "I" when speaking of Angelus, but has also used "he". In "
Amends" Angel protests, "It wasn't me!", but more often speaks of Angelus' crimes as his own. They share the same memories, and Angel never resumed the name of his human original, Liam (except while amnesiac in "
Spin the Bottle"). Also, in Season One's "Eternity", Angel reverts back to his evil self without even losing his soul, when he is drugged and enters a state of 'bliss' that allows Angelus to regain control. This suggests that in a subconscious state that Angel's true nature is allowed to appear, although it may have been that the drug-induced state of bliss 'tricked' Angel's body into thinking that the curse had been broken.
: '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.
(Episode 3.10 (Buffy) "
Amends")
: '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!
(Episode 1.21 "
Blind Date")
: 'Cordelia (possessed by Jasmine)': 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 (possessed by Jasmine)': Knowing's different than living it. When I was up there, I could look back and see everything 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...
(Episode 4.07 "
Apocalypse, Nowish" 'Note:' Since the above was said by the entity that would become known as Jasmine while posing as Cordelia, this specific example of Angel being just a different aspect of Angelus comes from a questionable source to say the least.)
Angelus' cunning and cruel nature makes him exceptionally lethal.
The relationship between Angel and Angelus has been described and depicted in numerous ways. Both personas are shown battling for control inside Angel's mind in the episode "
Orpheus". In Season Four, Jasmine threatens Angelus by telling him that she will lock him away inside Angel forever, where he will be forever watching, forever thirsty, forever longing to escape his prison. When the two confront each other in "Orpheus", they clearly appear to be different people, albeit evenly matched. Though Angelus does not accept that Angel is truly 'separate' from him (believing that Angel is merely "denying what he is"), he nonetheless draws a line between the two of them, and is disgusted with what Angel does with his body while in control. Angelus particularly resents Angel's two decades of eating rats after an incident where he succumbed to temptation and bit into from a murder victim. As seen in "
Becoming, Part One" and "
Becoming, Part Two", it takes a few moments for Angel to remember the events of Angelus' life after the curse comes into effect. This gap in memory is presumably the reason why the spell that erased all memories and references to
The Beast did not affect the part of Angel's mind that Angelus resides in.
Although Angelus's bodycount was vast, his worst weapon was arguably his boundless cruelty and love of psychological intimidation. He is prone to brutal displays of what he would see as affection, such as nailing a puppy to a tree. Another example of Angelus's grisly acts of love was when he brought Dru a still-warm human heart on Valentine's Day. Angelus has always had an obsession with elevating death to an art form; a truly satisfying kill must be perfectly framed and appreciated. He delights at the prospect of torturing a bound Giles in "
Becoming, Part Two," mentioning that that the last time he tortured someone, they hadn't even invented the chainsaw. In the episode "Amends",
The First Evil references him killing a man's three children, then propping them up in bed so that they appeared to be sleeping. It was only after the father kissed one of them good night that he felt how cold they were. This is mirrored in a prior episode when Angelus placed the recently-slain body of Jenny Calender in Giles' bed, making Giles believe she had set up a romantic evening for them.
Angelus had a weakness in that he was prone to excessive talking, and a need to utterly obliterate the mind of his victims before killing them. This streak of sadism sometimes gave potential victims time to escape or fight back (although it made little difference as he almost always got them in the end). Spike once observed to Angelus "you bloody well talk them to death before you kill them!"
It should be noted that Angelus is often referred to as 'Angel,' the former typically being used to distinguish the two if necessary. Angelus accepts 'Angel' as a nickname, unwilling to see a distinction between his 'ensouled' half and his evil half.
Relationships
Romantic interests
★ '
Darla': Angel was sired by Darla. The pair were lovers until Angelus' transformation into Angel drove them apart, although he briefly tried to stay with her. She was regarded by Angel as his 'obsession,' and even with a soul, knowing what she was and what she had done, he was still attracted to her in some way. During Darla's brief moments of humanity - when she is resurrected by Wolfram and Hart - the two retain a close bond, with Angel risking his life to give her a second chance. When Darla becomes pregnant with her and Angel's son, Connor, Darla stakes herself to allow Connor to be born, asking Angel to tell the child that their son was the only good thing they ever did together.
★ '
Buffy Summers': When Angel first sees Buffy, he realizes that he wants to be someone. When they sleep together for the first time, Angel loses his soul, becoming Angelus. Buffy is forced to kill him, to save the world, even though Willow has just ensouled him. After he returns from Hell, he and Buffy still love each other, and attempt a relationship. After realizing this relationship is unfair to Buffy, he leaves. Buffy comes to L.A., and for a brief time, Angel becomes human. He has to rewind the day, because being human will eventually lead to Buffy's death without him able to fight at peak performance. After Buffy dies in the fifth season of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', Angel spends months away at a monastery in Asia. He comes to help Buffy in the ''Buffy'' finale, and they have an emotional conversation. Angel provides aid to Buffy in the final fight against
Caleb, gives her an amulet that proves important in the final confrontation with the First, and goes to seek Buffy out in Italy during the last season of ''Angel'', albeit unsuccessfully. He feels that he and Buffy share a "forever love."
★ '
Kate Lockley': Kate serves as Angel's contact in the police force as he starts his private detective business. The strong possibility of a relationship is hinted at, but ultimately doesn't materialize as she is unable to accept her discovery of his vampire nature, blaming him for the death of her father when her father was killed by vampires and wouldn't invite Angel in to help.
★ 'Rebecca Lowell': A short-lived potential love interest introduced in the episode "
Eternity," Rebecca is an actress who hires Angel as her bodyguard. Learning about his vampire nature, she tries to convince him to sire her, not wanting to become old and unattractive, but her attempts only result in Angel briefly reverting to Angelus when she drugs his drink, inducing a feeling of bliss. After this, she leaves the office and is never seen again.
★ '
Cordelia Chase': Friends for years, Angel and Cordelia eventually realize that they have fallen in love with one another, only to be torn apart by her ascension and transformation and his imprisonment underwater by Connor before they can tell each other. Upon their subsequent returns, they do not pursue the relationship; Cordelia instead, under the control of Jasmine, forms a relationship with Angel's son, which results in her falling into a coma when Jasmine uses her body to create an independent host for itself. Later, Cordelia returns to put Angel back on track to stopping the Apocalypse. She does this and just before she dies, Cordelia and Angel share their first and only real kiss. In doing so, one last vision, that shows Angel who the true power holders are, is passed to him, helping him to stop the Apocalypse from the inside.
★ '
Nina Ash': A werewolf who Angel saves from being eaten, she develops feelings for Angel and he is eventually convinced to give a relationship a shot. This relationship establishes that Angel is able to have positive sex (unlike his "perfect despair" moment with Darla) and still keep his soul.
Intimate liaisons
★ '
Drusilla': Angelus tormented the human Drusilla, sired her and kept her on as a companion afterwards; Angelus regarded her as his greatest work. The two might have resumed a sexual relationship in Season Two of Buffy after Angel loses his soul.
★ '
Spike': Spike mentions in the fifth season episode, "Power Play", that "Angel and me have never been intimate. Except that one--" Whedon has
confirmed in numerous interviews and forum posts the possibility of at least a one-night stand between the pair. In the DVD commentary to the episode "A Hole In The World" he 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."
★ 'The Transuding Furies': The Furies are the three beautiful, powerful beings who cast the anti-demon-violence spell on
Lorne's bar,
Caritas. When Angel needs the spell removed to
fight Gunn's rogue former gang, the Furies tell Cordelia that they will require 'payment' for such an act, and only Angel is 'equipped' to repay the debt (Whenever he is mentioned all three of them say, "Mmmm... Angel"). The general tone seems to imply a past sexual relationship between the Furies and Angel.
★ '
Gwen Raiden': A thief with command over electricity, Angel shares a kiss with Gwen after she gives him an electro-shock that (temporarily) reawakens his dead heart. He subsequently flirts with her to make Cordelia jealous while they are trying to protect the
Ra-Tet from the
Beast, but later seems to develop a slight affection for her; he almost appears jealous when she asks for Gunn's help over his.
★ '
Eve': Angel's liaison to the Senior Partners, she and Angel have a one-time encounter at Wolfram & Hart's Halloween party, when Lorne loses control of his empathic powers and he begins to unintentionally write destinies instead of reading them (he tells Angel and Eve to "get a room", saying that "you could cut the sexual tension with a knife"). When Angel thinks they should talk about it, Eve remarks, "It's not as if this is the first time I've had sex under mystical influence. I went to
UC Santa Cruz". After this, however, their relationship becomes increasingly hostile due to Eve's relationship with Angel's old foe Lindsey, particularly following her attempt to
infect Angel with a dream-inducing parasite.
Other
★ '
Faith Lehane' — When Faith first crosses the line by killing a man, Angel is the first person to attempt to rehabilitate her. However, he is interrupted when
Wesley tries to hand her over to the
Watchers Council. While working for
Mayor Wilkins, Faith attempts to remove Angel's soul by seducing him. At this point Faith harbors a primal sexual attraction to Angel, but this is never elaborated on after she falls into a coma. After awakening from her coma and fleeing
Sunnydale Faith goes to
Los Angeles. Shortly after her arrival
Wolfram and Hart hire Faith to kill Angel. After torturing Wesley, Angel confronts Faith, and during the fight he realizes what Faith ''really'' wants; she wants Angel to kill her. He refuses, and again tries to help her, defending her from both Buffy and agents of the Watcher's Council. Thanks to Angel's help Faith starts down the path to redemption by confessing to her crimes and going to prison. He visits her to make sure she is alright and prison is where she stays for several years. She later breaks out, but only because Angel needs her help, due to Angelus having been restored. Despite the difficulties involved in such a task, Faith makes sure he is brought in and protected so he can be re-ensouled by
Willow, even defeating
Connor to prevent him from staking his father. The two share a strong bond based on their mutual desire for redemption; Faith also states that Angel is the one person that has never given up on her, a factor that doubtless plays an important role in her decision to fight so hard to save him.
★ '
Willow Rosenberg' - Angel shares deep affection and mutual confidence with Willow, and not just because she restored his soul not once but twice; in several occasions he asks for her help, looking at her as a reliable ally and friend. During his initial time in Sunnydale, after Buffy, Willow was probably Angel's closest friend in the Scooby Gang, although, as with all the team, his relationship with her was somewhat strained after he came back from Hell. Furthermore, after losing his soul, he attacks her and threatens to bite her, calling her "cute and helpless" suggesting a possible physical attraction. At the end of episode "
Orpheus" (the last time they meet onscreen) they hug as very good old friends.
★ '
Winifred Burkle': After he rescues her from the Pyleans during their first meeting, Fred develops a crush on Angel for a time; she gets over it after learning more about the curse, but later kisses Angel as part of a ruse to escape
Jasmine's followers. She remains the only person to have seen Angel's demonic side before she knew who he was and ''not'' been scared by it, creating a close bond between the two of them even without a romantic relationship.
Appearances
Canonical
Angel has appeared in by far the most episodes in Buffyverse, for a total of 166 episodes. Buffy and Willow are next, with 151 and 150 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.
; ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer'':Angel/Angelus was a series regular in Seasons Two-Three (1997-1999), although he did not appear in "
Inca Mummy Girl". Angel was both in the first and last episode of ''Buffy The Vampire Slayer'' as in his own series ''Angel''. He appeared in 56 episodes in all, including guest appearances in:
★ 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", "
Forever"
★ Season 7 (2002, 2003) - "
End of Days"; "
Chosen"
; ''
Angel'' : Angel/Angelus was a regular in all five seasons (1999-2004), and is the only character to appear in every episode, 110 overall.
; ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8'':He appears in one issue so far with a cameo appearance in Buffy's dream sequence only:
★
The Long Way Home Part 3
Other stories featuring Angel which are considered
canonical include "
Numb", from the 2004 comic mini-series ''Tales of the Vampires''.
Non-canonical
Angel has also appeared in many of the ''Buffy/Angel''
expanded universe material. He appears as a main character in most of the Angel
comics and
novels, as well as some of the Buffy
comics and
novels.
References
★ ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', 1997-2003, created by
Joss Whedon.
★ ''
Angel'', 1999-2004, created by
Joss Whedon and
David Greenwalt.
Notes
1. "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" (''Angel'' 2x02).
2. "Orpheus" (''Angel'' 4x15).
3. "Becoming, Part One", (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' 2x21)
4. "Welcome to the Hellmouth", (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' 1x01).
5. "Innocence" (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' 2x14).
6. "Becoming, Part Two" (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' 2x22).
7. Revelations" (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' 3x07).
8. "Amends" (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' 3x10).
9. "Parting Gifts" (''Angel'' 1x10).
10. "War Zone" (''Angel'' 1x20).
11. "To Shanshu in L.A." (''Angel'' 1x22).
12. "Reprise" (''Angel'' 2x15).
13. "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb" (''Angel'' 2x22).
14. Stokes, Mike, "Soul Man", from ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine'' #1 (UK, October 1999), page 13.
15. bbc.co.uk interview
16. Most notably on the ''Angel: Season Five'' DVD; commentary for the episode "A Hole in the World", as conducted by Joss Whedon, Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof.
17. maquisleader.com - tattoo
18. cityofangel.com - tattoo
See also
★
Vampire (Buffyverse)
External links
★
★
A site examining the relationship between Angel and Angelus
★
Angel-us.com
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