Liam's father

Liam's father was a silk and linen merchant from Galway in the 1750s. He had two children, an elder son called Liam and a younger daughter- apparently half Liam's age- called Kathy. He regarded his son as a great disappointment as Liam spent most of his time drinking and having sex with various women he met in taverns. Although Liam claimed that his father was the reason for his low attitude as his father had low expectations of him in the first place, which Liam never felt it worthwhile to correct, his father appeared genuinely upset at the implications of his son's claims and grabbed Liam as he began to walk out of his house, saying, "I was never in your way, boy." Despite this overture, Liam walks out and his father angrily calls out after him that if he goes courting trouble, he is sure to find it. Then he slams the door shut on the brink of tears. Liam is later found dead after being sired by Darla and buried. While everyone else at the funeral is in tears, his father remained silently over the grave long after everyone else had left, departing only as night set, simply stared ahead of himself without any sign of tears. Later that night, Liam - now Angelus - rises from his grave and begins feeding off the rest of the village. He gains access to his old home thanks to Kathy's assumption that he returned to her an angel. Mocking his father's inadequacy in the face of his new vampiric strength, Angelus smirkingly informs his father that he had made something of himself after all before proceeding to drink from him. Later Darla informed him that his father's defeat of him would last lifetimes as his father would now never approve of him in the future.

Angel's issues with his father continued long after the restoration of his soul, Angel admitting to Buffy once that he always wondered if his father was always like that or if he merely made his father the way he was due to his failure as a son, although Buffy assured him that he could still be grateful to him for being his father if nothing else ("Monster Island").

Historical Note
Some of Liam's attitude towards his father could be explained by the fact that, at the time when Liam was alive, the cotton industry was taking off and far surpassing the silk and linen trade, which, combined with recent anti-Catholic laws, would have made it increasingly difficult for Liam's father to earn a living, thus prompting Liam's increased disinterest in his father's way of life.

Appearances

 * "The Prodigal"