Justine Cooper

"You've always been a slave, Justine. You just couldn't see the chains."

- Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

Justine Cooper was a vampire hunter and follower of Daniel Holtz. She was portrayed by Laurel Holloman.

Biography
Justine Cooper was a young woman who became a bitter vampire hunter and possibly a borderline alcoholic after her twin sister, Julia Cooper, was killed by vampires. Unable to cope with the death of Julia, Justine turned to alcohol and roamed graveyards at night, killing any vampire she encountered. She is the first vengeful soul that Daniel Holtz recruits in his battle against Angel.

After having her hand impaled with an ice pick for hours, she reluctantly joins the cause and forms a bond with him. Justine seeks out others that, like herself and Holtz, lost loved ones to vampires and were consumed by their desire for revenge. Wesley, who is meeting in secret with Holtz in order to protect Connor, tries to reach out and turn Justine away from Holtz.

However, Justine deceives Wesley and slits his throat in order to kidnap Connor and deliver him to Holtz. After a standoff amongst the members of Wolfram and Hart, Angel and Sahjhan, Holtz abandons Justine and jumps into the hell dimension, Quor-toth. Justine, amazed and saddened rallies the remaining members of Holtz's militia to kill Angel. She fails, but hours later, she imprisons the demon Sahjhan in a Resikhian Urn in revenge for trapping Holtz in Quor-Toth.

Upon his return to Earth, Holtz is found by Justine and prompts her to kill him. She stabs him in the throat with an ice pick, making the wounds resemble a vampire bite mark. Following Holtz's last wish, she frames Angel for the killing by telling Connor that Angel was the one who killed Holtz. She then aids Connor in his plan to trap Angel at the bottom of the ocean.

In the following months, Justine is kidnapped by Wesley, who imprisons her in a closet, bound and gagged, with a little food and a bucket. Reluctantly, she helps him find the metal box in which she and Connor put Angel, while at the same time, Justine taunts Wesley by telling him he has turned to evil, "banging the enemy and keeping slave girl in his closet". Wesley counters by telling her that she had been a slave to Holtz and to her own desire for revenge. Wesley had broken Justine to the point of being capable to dissuade her from attacking him by threatening to take away her bucket.

Back on land and with Angel released, Wesley cuffs Justine to a railing. She taunts Wesley once more, telling him Angel will turn on him. Wesley merely throws her the key to her cuff and tells her she now has the choice of moving on with her life or continue to be a slave.