Angel

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.

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 &mdash; actually a vampire &mdash; named Darla. She lured him into an alley, and, promising him a world full of excitement and travel, transformed him into a vampire.


 * 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: 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...

(Episode 4.07 "Apocalypse, Nowish")

Angel has made more appearances in canon Buffyverse programs than any other character. He appeared in:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer &mdash; 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"

Angel &mdash; As the star of the series, Angel appeared in all 110 episodes of five seasons.

Trivia

 * Angel was supposed to be a one-time character until David Boreanaz was found.
 * 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, with the addition of the letter 'A' beneath it.
 * The first time it was planned that Angel would lose 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 pilots and finales of both Buffy and Angel.
 * Angel is a fan of ice hockey (we see him watching the game in "Life of the Party") and he hoped Connor would 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).
 * Angel says, "Three things I don't do: tan, date, and sing in public."