Angel/Relationships

“I'm not good with people.”

―Angel

Angel had various relationships over the years.

Romantic Interests

A recurring joke is that Angel seemed to have a preference for small, blonde women, as the majority of his love interests were blondes with the exceptions of Cordelia (who had blonde highlights at one point) and Rebecca Lowell. Angel’s love life had never been very active, originally because he held a reluctance to get close to someone and possibly lose his soul. However, he eventually realized he could have "positive sex" through his relationship with Nina.

Darla

The vampire who turned Liam, Angelus and Darla were lovers for over a century, Darla even leaving The Master to live with her "dear boy". As Angelus, he was fond of Darla’s ruthlessness and unpredictability, causing destruction and countless death in their wake. However, neither had any true loyalty towards each other, as they frequently left the other to die on many occasions if it would save themselves. Their twisted romance continued until Angelus was cursed with a soul by the Clan Kalderash. Darla was disgusted with him, and ended their relationship after threatening to kill him. Lost and confused, Angel had originally sought to earn himself back in her good graces since she was all he had ever known, but could not find it in him to kill innocents anymore. He had only killed robbers and morally wrong criminals, utterly repulsing Darla with his sympathy for humanity.

They would reunite years later in 1997 in Sunnydale after finding a path as a champion of the people due to his strong affection for the Slayer, Buffy Summers. Darla had attempted to twist him to give up on redemption and embrace his dark side, showing her disgust with his feelings for a slayer and taunting him by saying Buffy would never be able to fully accept him. Ultimately, Angel had forced himself to stake his sire in order to protect Buffy, though it was later indicated he had carried a degree of guilt over it.

Darla was later resurrected as a human by Wolfram & Hart, intending to destroy Angel’s high morals and drive him over the edge. Using a mystical powder to make her appear in his dreams, Darla and Angel had many dream encounters together. They were often depicted as sexual, but with a bizarre sense of affection between them. Darla also was able to manipulate the dreams into flashbacks of their past. Upon the realization that Darla was resurrected, Angel became obsessed with finding her. After attempting to frame him in the murder of a human, Angel and Darla had a confrontation near a convenient. Angel’s feelings for Darla were established as being ambivalent, as he had threatened to kill her if she killed another innocent, but also ended up kissing her. Darla did her utmost to manipulate him into losing his soul with her through a "moment of pure happiness". However, Angel mostly resisted and told her that while she had taught him many things, she never made him happy. When she referenced his relationship with Buffy and the happiness he felt with her, Angel was amused at her bitterness and told her that he could never have loved her during their relationship because he didn’t have a soul. He informed her of the guilt she would feel eventually over her sins before Darla escaped him.

Angel became increasingly obsessed over Darla, drawing several sketches of her in his room during his brooding. As he had predicted, Darla began to feel the burden of her soul and could not come to terms with her horrible past. She had sought out Angel for help since he was the only one who knew what she was feeling. Angel had accepted immediately, greatly sympathizing with his sire. However, when Darla begged him to turn her into a vampire again to remove the guilt, Angel objected. Darla was furious at his refusal, and told him to stay away from her.

When Darla was diagnosed to be dying, Angel went to extreme lengths to save her so she would be given a second chance at life, trying to sway her from her desire to be a vampire again. Guided by Lorne, Angel took a dangerous life-or-death trial for her to be granted a second chance and was even willing to die himself if it meant Darla would live again. Ultimately, this noble act granted Darla a possible second chance, but it was too late for her since she had already been resurrected by supernatural means. Angel was furious and deeply distraught, blaming himself for her shortened life. After she had come to terms with her inevitable death, Angel comforted her and promised he would be with her so she would not be alone for her death. However, Lindsey had suddenly appeared with Drusilla, who had turned her back into a vampire to have them be a "family" again; Angel could only look on helplessly.

He became determined to stake Darla before she rose into a vampire, but was distracted by Drusilla who briefly fought him. Darla had become a vampire again, attacked him, and left. While they were on different sides again, Angel had willingly locked the Wolfram & Hart lawyers to be fed on by Darla and Drusilla. Alienating himself from his team, he continually trained and was obsessed with finding where Darla and Drusilla were. When he eventually did find them, Angel found he still wasn’t able to stake Darla because he still remembered her brief moments of humanity and how much pain she had been through. Managing to harden himself, he rigged his location when he found them again and set both Darla and Drusilla on fire with a cigarette and gasoline, nearly succeeding in killing both of them.

Some weeks later, a vengeful Darla would return to interfere with Angel’s plan to fight the Senior Partners. At the peak of ultimate despair, he forced himself on her in a desperate attempt to escape his depression. After kissing him for a while, Darla pushed him away in anger and confusion. Angel threw her violently across the room and explained he was doing this because nothing mattered to him anymore. Darla stopped resisting and the two proceeded to have rough sex in his room. Angel would soon feel immense pain in his chest afterwards, echoing that of losing his soul the first time with Buffy. Darla realized he had not become Angelus after some hesitation and was infuriated. Angel explained he had a "moment of perfect despair" and that’s how it’s always been with her. He also admitted that his earlier desperation to save her had more to do with himself than genuinely wanting to save Darla, believing that since she had turned him into a monster it would prove he could be redeemed. Finding himself again, Angel was grateful towards her and decided to spare her. However, he firmly told Darla that if she stayed in Los Angeles he would have to kill her.

When Darla became pregnant with her and Angel’s son, Connor, Darla tells Angel that their son is "the only good thing" that they ever did together; she then stakes herself in order to allow Connor to be born.

Buffy Summers

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In a terrible state of depression to the point he was hiding in alleyways feeding on rats, Whistler (a demon who worked for the Powers) got him off the streets and claimed he had a greater destiny for himself. Initially reluctant and disinterested, he soon allowed him to go along with him but made no promise to be a champion. Whistler guided him to see the calling of the new slayer, none other than 15-year old Buffy Summers. Angel was immediately captivated and awestruck of her, increasing all the more when he saw her struggles to do her duties as well as suffering from the added emotional strain of her parent’s deteriorating marriage. Feeling overwhelming affection and sympathy for her, Angel was motivated to start his path as champion and help her in her fight against evil. A year later, he moved to Sunnydale. When reflecting over this, Angel eventually admitted to Buffy he fell in love with her the moment he saw her. This was because he saw her naivety and how she had her heart unprotected and open, causing him to worry of her being hurt by the world around them. Angel was struck with powerful feelings of protectiveness and a deep yearning to be close to her ever since.

When they officially met for the first time, Buffy was wary of him, but commented that his name was "pretty". He most often warned her of impending danger and then vanished, much to her annoyance. After Angel was wounded in a fight against The Three, Buffy took him back to her house to treat his wounds. He stayed in her room through the night and following day. When they kissed for the first time, Angel unintentionally revealed his vampiric nature to her, and fled. When Buffy hunted him down in an attempt to kill him after she mistakenly believed he had attacked her mother, he staked Darla to protect her, and revealed that he was unique amongst vampires because he had been cursed with his soul. He felt remorse for all the sins he had committed and wanted to help her in her cause.

Over the course of the next year and a half, their relationship progressed, and the two fell deeply in love. On Buffy’s seventeenth birthday, he admitted that he loved her and gave her the Claddagh ring. That night, they slept together for the first time, which resulted in Angel experiencing the "moment of true happiness" required to end his curse. He was alleviated of his soul, and reverted to the guiltless, sadistic Angelus. He taunted Buffy and her friends for weeks on end, stalking her while she slept and leaving numerous corpses to punish her for causing Angel to feel contentment. When he savagely murdered Jenny Calendar and kidnapped Rupert Giles, Buffy was obliged to form an alliance with Spike to finally put a stop to Angelus’s reign of terror over Sunnydale. Although she had Willow attempt to return his soul with a spell, it proved ineffective until after Angelus had already opened a gate to hell. In order to save the world, Buffy was forced to drive him through with a sword and send him to Hell in his ensouled state.

When he unexplainedly came back from Hell, he collapsed and hugged her adoringly. She took care of him for a while, during which time they agreed that they would just be friends. When Spike returned to Sunnydale mourning his breakup with Drusilla, Buffy and Angel were coerced into helping him find ingredients for a love spell. When they insisted to him that they weren’t together, and that they were "just friends", Spike laughed at them and said: "You’re not friends. You’ll never be friends. You’ll be in love ’til it kills you both. You’ll fight, and you’ll shag, and you’ll hate each other ’til it makes you quiver, but you’ll never be friends. Real love isn’t brains, children. It’s blood. It’s blood screaming inside you to work its will." Though in denial, Buffy and Angel eventually came to terms with Spike’s observation, and attempted to distance themselves to no avail. When Angel attempted to kill himself by standing in the sun, Buffy reacted with desperation and confessed to him that she still loved him, and that he should continue fighting the monster within him. They subsequently gave their relationship another chance until Angel chose to end it, justifying that Buffy deserved a normal life. They attended Buffy’s prom together despite having broken up, and Buffy later saved his life by allowing him to drink her blood. After defeating Mayor Wilkins and saving the town, Angel left Sunnydale for good.

He moved to Los Angeles, where he began walking his path of redemption with Angel Investigations. Angel was still very heartbroken by their break-up and seemed pained every time she was strongly mentioned. He was also revealed to have kept a picture of her in a book, much to Doyle’s surprise. When Doyle received a vision of Buffy being in danger, Angel immediately dropped everything and took off back to Sunnydale to protect her. Upon arriving, Angel had withheld himself from revealing to Buffy while he was trying to protect her and instead chose to follow her around secretly to ensure her safety. Giles had criticized him of the unfairness of the action, but Angel remained stubborn. He argued that if she knew he was there, it would only cause her more distractions that could possibly get her hurt and he would just be in the way. Giles had reprimanded him once more and reminded him that it was not his job to keep her safe. Angel became defensive and angry, biting back it wasn’t Giles’ either, but that wouldn’t stop either of them from trying. Nevertheless, he admitted it was painful for him to see Buffy again and be forcefully reminded of the fact that he could not have her. Angel succeeded in protecting her and saving his life before returning back to Los Angeles.

Buffy followed him to L.A. and expressed her anger that he had hidden his presence from her in Sunnydale. Angel was guilty over unintentionally hurting her, but still believed he had done the right thing. Buffy grudgingly acknowledged she had been in danger and had decided to help him track a Mohra Demon that had attacked them in the office for them to be even. Angel and Buffy inevitably brought up their painful relationship and how hard it was to see each other when they could never be together. Soon afterwards, Angel was turned mortal by the Mohra demon’s blood. Realizing it was permanent, Angel impulsively kissed Buffy in the sunlight. They struggled to redefine their relationship afterwards. Angel was hesitant on rushing into things because there could still be loopholes and though he wanted to be with Buffy, he didn’t want to hurt her again. A disappointed Buffy agreed to his logic and claimed that they should keep a distance from each other. However, this ultimately failed as Buffy and Angel were unable to resist the intense sexual attraction between them now that the barrier of losing his soul had been erased. Angel spent most of the day with Buffy eating sweets and making love to her, fully enjoying the perks of being human with her.

However, after a brutal failed attempt to beat the stronger Mohra demon, Angel became uncertain and troubled. He sought out The Oracles and upon realizing that Buffy would die sooner if he stayed the way he was, he asked them to change him back. Admiring his sacrifice, they agreed to rewind the day. Angel told Buffy this at the last minute. He confessed he loved her completely, but they couldn’t be together when it cost her life and the people they still needed to help against the evil forces. Angel and Buffy shared one last desperate kiss before the day was ultimately turned back and he was once again a vampire. Buffy had no memory of their happiness together and declared to him they should stop seeing each other and try to ’forget’. Angel hide his pain and watched her walk out the door. Angel fell into a brief depression afterwards and struggled to come to terms with his refreshed pain, causing their business to suffer. He opened up to Doyle about the rewinded day and came to the conclusion that both Buffy and himself belonged to the world fighting evil, not each other. After Faith was back to her killing spree and out of her coma, Angel had called Giles instead of Buffy for information. However, he expressed concern over whatever Faith had done to her, and was implied that at least some of his initial desire to fight Faith was for Buffy’s sake.

When told of Buffy’s new relationship with Riley, Angel shown to be genuinely surprised and pained that she had moved on to someone else. When Buffy arrived to help him in L.A., Angel was at first kind, if not surprised that she had come, and attempted to calmly reason to her that Faith could be changed. However, claiming Buffy was obsessed with vengeance, Angel protected Faith and refused to allow her to hurt her. Buffy was jealous and furious by this, hitting him for it. Angel had, on instinct, hit her back, but was immediately regretful that he had done so. After Faith had turned herself in, the argument between the two escalated. Angel remained firm in his belief that Faith could be redeemed, and that Buffy wasn’t involved since she was the one that told him to stay away from her. Buffy cruelly used her relationship with Riley as an attempt for retribution. Angel was truly furious with her this time. He reminded her how he couldn’t move on because of his curse, and that she didn’t know him anymore so it was no business of hers to tell her how he should run things. He ordered a surprised and hurt Buffy to return to Sunnydale. After she had left, Angel was immediately frustrated for his harsh treatment of her. Filled with regret, he decided to follow Buffy back to Sunnydale to make things better.

Angel had a confrontation with her current boyfriend, Riley, while he attempted to apologize to her. He expressed extreme contempt and dislike of him, solely because of his jealousy over Buffy being with someone other than him. Driven on by jealousy, Angel had mocked Riley and had no qualms fighting with him without holding back. Buffy soon broke them apart, and allowed Angel to explain himself. He apologized for his rudeness, telling her that he had no right to treat her like that. While Buffy was amused at how he had tried to ’make things better’ (fighting with Riley, taunting him etc.), she was grateful he came, acknowledging he had not been entirely wrong. He had offered to help Buffy with any trouble in Sunnydale, but given his tense relationship with Riley, she had declined. On good terms again, Angel left, but not before pointing out how he obviously didn’t like her new boyfriend at all.

When Buffy’s mother passed away, Angel returned to Sunnydale to comfort her. Buffy opened up to him over her guilt over not finding her mother sooner as well as the hopelessness she felt. He remained supportive and encouraging, comforting Buffy by saying she would make it through this despite her doubts. Angel offered to stay longer than a day if she wanted and the two shared a passionate kiss. However, Buffy feared her vulnerability would cause them to sleep together, triggering the removal of his soul. Agreeing with her worries, Angel spent a few more moments holding her in the cemetery until sunrise.

After Buffy sacrificed herself in the battle against Glory, Angel left Los Angeles and spent several months at a monastery in Asia in attempt to come to terms with his grief. Upon returning, he refused to mention Buffy’s name and did not want to open up about how he felt over her death. He also stated to Cordelia that in his entire existence, no one mattered to him the way Buffy did. After a confrontation with James and his obsessive love for his dead lover, Angel started to feel guilty that he wasn’t as hopeless over Buffy’s death as James was (who literally killed himself) and that it felt like a betrayal to her for existing when she was dead. However, Cordelia assured him it was wrong to think like that because he was stronger than James and that Angel living on was honoring Buffy’s memory, not betraying it. Eventually, Angel was informed of Buffy’s resurrection by Willow and left immediately after to meet Buffy off-screen somewhere between Los Angeles and Sunnydale. Buffy later described the encounter as "intense".

He also came to Buffy’s aid in her fight against Caleb, after which she greeted with a "hello" kiss. Angel showed immediate jealousy and confusion over Buffy’s growing connection to Spike, especially when Buffy instructed him to leave to work on the second front and partly because of Spike. Buffy chided Angel for his jealousy and while she loved him, Spike had earned a place in her heart too. She confessed to Angel that she did still have feelings for him, and that she did still want a future for them, but made it very clear that she wasn’t remotely ready for a serious relationship. She described if they were ever be together again, it would be a "long time coming. Years, if ever." Angel, as he was leaving and bestowing to Buffy the amulet Spike would use in the final battle, responds wryly: "I ain’t getting any older".

Following Spike’s return to life in Los Angeles, Angel continued to express anger and jealousy over their shared love for her; the two argued frequently about Buffy, and Angel even expressed that Buffy was a "forever love." Angel had, on many occasions, displayed unattractive bouts of jealousy over Buffy’s other romantic relationships (most notably her relationships with Riley and Spike). Angel had also assigned a spy to watch over Buffy once she moved to Europe after Sunnydale’s destruction since she was no longer close to Los Angeles, justifying it by wanting to make sure she was safe, still habitually concerned and over-protective. He later went with Spike to seek Buffy out in Rome, albeit unsuccessfully, and showed immense jealously toward The Immortal upon discovering that she was dating him. Angel and Spike were left on common grounds when Andrew told them that Buffy loved both of them, and that someday one of them might have her.

Over a year later, Angel was manipulated by the mysterious entity Twilight (and Whistler) through word of a prophecy, forcing him to torment Buffy by murdering 200 of her fellow slayers. Angel was naturally reluctant to deceive and fight against her, but Whistler convinced him that being Twilight would prevent the world from going to Hell as well as keep both Buffy and himself alive. Disguising himself as an enemy against Buffy, Angel manipulated all of her true enemies under his leadership to have Buffy become focused and strong, as well as simultaneously keeping them from killing her.

After his identity was revealed, Buffy was brought to the brink of despair, but became a superpowered being under the effects of Twilight. While attempting to calm down an enraged and betrayed Buffy, Angel made very heavy, heartfelt claims to her. He had stated to her that there was a reason for the feelings, and that they could never be happy with anyone else. Soon, influenced by the entity, the two suddenly expressed their love for each other, and had passionate airborne sex that led to the birth of a new universe, Twilight, which they later came to discover threatened Earth’s existing universe. Angel tried to convince her to stay with him in the Twilight paradise, truly believing the universe was their chance at happiness. Buffy refused him, believing that Twilight was only a trap. Angel told her that it was what she was meant for all along; while Buffy briefly considered Angel’s offer, upon hearing Xander’s scream of pain, rejected it fully, and justified that she was meant to fight for her family and friends, not personal happiness. Angel, with brief hesitation, agreed to leave the paradise and fight by Buffy’s side.

Upon Spike’s arrival, Angel quickly expressed jealousy and distrust towards him once again, slightly annoyed that Buffy was going alone to Spike for information. Buffy reminded him Spike would never tell her with him around and that jealousy was beneath him, urging him to help slayers and make up for the damage he caused. Angel reluctantly agreed, though made sure to say he would find her soon. Later, Angel was possessed by Twilight again, and attempted to kill Spike in rage and fought with Buffy over the Seed of Wonder in the ruins of Sunnydale. The battle reached its climax with Angel brutally murdering Buffy’s Watcher, Rupert Giles, before Buffy’s very eyes. In despair, she completed her duty and smashed the Seed, destroying Twilight’s influence for good. Upon the realization that Buffy was crying and that Giles had died, Angel ignorantly attempted to comfort her, only for a furious Xander to push him away from her, and try to kill him. While Buffy eventually functioned well enough prevent her friend’s near-staking of him, in Angel’s catatonia, she left him in the care of Faith in London, unable to look at him without feeling disturbed.

During a conversation with Whistler, it was revealed that Angel and Buffy had been destined to meet all along. A greater destiny was at work, and foretold that the two of them would either die together, kill each other or change the world (Recreation Prophecy). However, falling in love with Buffy was never part the prophecy, and was a completely unexpected turn of events. At the end of their meeting, Angel expressed his sincere gratitude to Whistler for giving him Buffy and bringing her into his life along with his purpose, admitting that was something he would never be able to repay him for.

As soon as Spike arrived in London to briefly help Angel and Faith with Eyghon the Sleepwalker, Buffy had been brought up immediately from Angel to Spike, claiming she "gave him the brush off". Spike had immediately threw in his face his own even more strained relationship with Buffy right back, harshly reminding him of how she still ’"couldn’t stand to look at him" since Giles died. Not denying this, Angel deduced that Buffy was seeing someone new, appearing less than happy of it. Spike claimed she was getting "chummy" with a cop and he had his suspicions, but left before he could see anything unfold. Dismayed at this new rival for Buffy’s affections, Angel seemed to then understand why Spike left, indicating he would’ve done the same.

When he became temporarily insane due to the presence of Giles’ soul increasing, Spike had ranted to Angel his insecurities and frustrations over his relationship with Buffy. Oddly, he had assumed that he had moved on from Buffy and he didn’t understand how it was possible for him since Spike was struggling to do so himself. At this statement, Angel sadly corrected him. He explained he couldn’t give him any advice since he hadn’t yet accomplished that either, a more or less obvious omission that Angel still fostered love for Buffy as well. Not that long after, Faith received a call from Buffy back in San Francisco. Angel had immediately questioned if Buffy was able to travel to London to help them fight Pearl and Nash, uncharacteristically enthusiastic. His wishful thinking was soon met with disappointment, as Faith told him Buffy was too busy saving Dawn.

Within hours of Giles’ resurrection, Angel was happily planning to call Buffy and tell her, knowing she would be glad that Giles was back. However, Giles firmly discouraged it. He took care to remind him that Buffy didn’t have time to travel to London when Whistler was an immediate threat and that it was much too soon for her to know. Angel was clearly disappointed, but nevertheless agreed. After Whistler’s sacrifice to save the world, Angel said to Giles by the time of his departure that he hoped he would tell him when, if ever, there would a right time for him to see Buffy again; Giles promised he would.

Angel finally reunited with Buffy months later to help her battle Archaeus. It was awkward and up in the air between them, but Buffy treated him surprisingly amicable despite their unresolved issues and the two hugged. She accepted Angel’s apology and was grateful he brought back Giles. Angel wanted to talk longer with Buffy and catch up, but it was cut short when he found she was dating Spike now. Angel reacted with anger and jealousy, especially over the fact he wasn’t given a warning beforehand. He completely shut down talking about it and single-mindedly focused on the mission instead. He helped Buffy’s group with Archaeus. After it’s all said and done, Angel forced himself to accept Buffy’s relationship with Spike as long as she seemed happy, though makes a point of saying "it won’t last".

Kate Lockley

Kate Lockley served 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. Kate frequently expressed distrust of Angel, believing he was responsible for stalking an innocent human (who was actually Darla), as well as showing hostility towards him when she found him stealing the Shroud of Rahmon. Under the influence of the cloak, Angel had taunted Kate heavily (very reminscent of Angelus), and bit her. While he ended up feeding on her, Angel regained enough control over himself to stop and told her to pretend to be dead. In return, Kate had stopped the police from arresting Wesley. She had also again helped him to go after a newly-turned Darla instead of having him arrested.

The two eventually reconcile when Angel saves her life after she attempted to commit suicide for losing her job at the L.A.P.D.. When she briefly worked for Angel Investigations after Los Angeles returned to Earth, the two nearly had sex while under the influence of Illyria’s pheromones while she was attempting to mate with Connor — Kate noting that it would be a good way to relieve the sexual tension —, but the moment soon passed, and the two decided not to bring it up again.

Rebecca Lowell

A short-lived love interest, Rebecca Lowell was an actress who hired Angel as her bodyguard. Learning about his vampire nature, she tried to convince him to sire her, not wanting to become old and unattractive, but her attempts only resulted 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

Angel and Cordelia Chase first met when she was still in high school in Sunnydale. She was one of Buffy’s classmates and a fellow member of the Scooby Gang; the two fought evil together for the better part of three years before moving away separately after graduation. They met again in Los Angeles, where Cordelia had settled down in the hopes of becoming an actress. Angel rescued Cordelia from a demon, and subsequently started Angel Investigations together, along with Doyle. Angel was aware of Doyle’s infatuation with Cordelia long before she learned about it herself; they mourned his death together, and welcomed the help of Wesley. Together, the trio worked together to solve paranormal mysteries in and around Los Angeles, during which time Cordelia and Angel forged a close friendship. In an effort to remove the visions Doyle had given her, Cordelia had kissed Angel eariler on. He reacted with awkwardness and confusion, trying to tell her she was confusing friendship with something else before Cordelia corrected it, explaining why she did it and that she had no romantic feelings for him.

In the early stages of their friendship, Cordelia quickly recognized his fear of being Angelus again and promised him that she would stake him without hesitation if he did go evil again. Ironically, Angel was deeply grateful for this. When Angel was guilty over killing a champion he thought had been evil, Cordelia comforted him and demonstrated her complete belief that he would someday be rewarded with the Shanshu Prophecy because of how great a person he was.

When his faith in his mission disappeared and he became obsessed with taking down Darla and Wolfram & Hart, Angel had fired Cordelia from Angel Investigations with Gunn and Wesley. Consequently, their friendship suffered and became estranged for a few months. Cordelia felt so betrayed and hurt by him, she coldly ordered Angel to leave when Wesley lay in the hospital, so he left. Feeling more and more purposeless, Angel had even threatened Cordelia when she stood in the way of a book he needed to get for information, much to her shock. After sleeping with Darla and finding himself again, Angel decided to make it up to her and the others. Cordelia, however, was not quick to forgive him. Angel made several efforts of trying to connect to her even to the point of agreeing with her almost all the time, causing Cordelia to blow him off by telling him they weren’t friends anymore. He was greatly disappointed and upset by this, again trying to show approval of her decision to give Harmony a chance. In the end, Angel would bought Cordelia dozens of new clothes (despite telling Wesley he was going to give her time) and was extremely satisfied with her immediate forgiveness afterwards.

After Cordelia’s visions began to intensify in pain level, Angel showed great concern for her and frequently asked if she was alright, much to her slight annoyance. He would even buy several brands of food for her (since he had forgotten what she liked) and while Cordelia found it a little too much, she was nonetheless grateful. Angel would also indicate a slight level of attraction to her for the first time when Cordelia was dressed in a bikini for a commercial and was extremely angry when she was rudely criticized in terms of appearance and desirability. His protectiveness culminated to the point he impulsively threatened to kill the director insulting her, only for an embarrassed and angered Cordelia to shoo him away from the set. On one occasion, a shocked Angel would mistakenly assume she told him she loved him when she had actually been talking about Groosalugg. After her furious rejection, he was mildly put out by her lack of concern for him and comically asked if she loved him as a friend.

After Buffy’s death, Cordelia was the most intuitive to Angel’s grief despite his efforts to hide it. Angel initially brushed off her attempts to tell him how he felt over Buffy, but eventually told her how he thought he was betraying her by still existing. Cordelia disagreed and made Angel realize he was honoring Buffy’s memory by living since that’s what she would want. When her visions began to take a toll on her body and manifest, Angel was immensely worried over Cordelia and barely ever left her side. When she confessed to him her fear of not being able to help him without her visions, Angel replied, "That’s not why I need you." Angel’s care for her led him to release Billy without knowing who he was because of Wolfram & Hart, as saving Cordelia was most important.

They eventually developed romantic feelings for each other, but managed to suppress them for a very long time, as they were uncertain of the opposite party’s feelings. When Cordelia wished she had never met Angel and had become an actress instead, she was horrified to discover that Angel had received Doyle’s visions instead, and kissed him in order to take them back and save him from insanity. The two later came to realize that they had fallen deeply in love with each other, and arranged a nighttime meeting to discuss their relationship. They were torn apart before the meeting; while Cordelia ascended into a Higher Being, Angel was imprisoned underwater by his son, Connor. When they both returned, they did not pursue their relationship further.

Possessed by Jasmine, Cordelia slept with Connor instead, and subsequently fell into a coma when Jasmine attempted to use Cordelia’s body to create an independent host for itself. Later, in Angel’s perfect-day dream sequence, Angel and Cordelia consummated their relationship, but Angel called out "Buffy!" as he lost his soul, just as he did in Sunnydale years earlier. (According to writer Dave Fury, this was because he was remembering when he lost his soul in "Surprise", rather than imagining it was Buffy). Angel remained very protective over Cordelia in her sleeping state, and worried about her with the remaining members of Angel Investigations. When Angel and the gang took up shop at Wolfram & Hart, Cordelia seemingly awoke from her coma and was shocked by the events that had transpired in her absence. She used her last day on Earth to put a misguided and disillusioned Angel back on his path or righteousness. Before dying and becoming a genuine Higher Power, she and Angel shared their first and only real kiss. She passed on one final vision to Angel, detailing the Circle of the Black Thorn. Because of her, Angel was able to stop the Apocalypse from coming to fruition from the inside out.

Later, after Los Angeles was sent to Hell by the Senior Partners, Angel reunited with an apparition of Cordelia on another plane, who was meant to ease his transition to death. Angel, who had been shown an image of his own dark role in the Apocalypse, had resigned himself to die, but was reassured by Cordelia’s spirit that he truly was a Champion of good. Angel sacrificed a chance to move on to the afterlife with Cordelia to return to his fight for redemption.

Nina Ash

A werewolf who Angel saves from being eaten, Nina Ash developed feelings for him, as Angel tried to help her deal with being a werewolf. Angel was initially oblivious to her affection towards him (which everyone except him noticed) until Nina asked him out on a date. He was initially reluctant and fearful, as he was worried about his "Gypsy Curse", but eventually (some convincing needed from Wesley’s part) he attempts to give it a shot. Angel began to semi-seriously date her, but he traveled to Rome immediately to keep his ex-girlfriend Buffy away from The Immortal, even expressing a desire to be with Buffy again at one point, without so much as a thought of Nina.

This relationship established that Angel was able to have positive sex (unlike his "perfect despair" moment with Darla) and still kept his soul. The two broke up when Angel attempted to send her away to save her from the Senior Partners’ inevitable revenge, though he did not tell her this. When Los Angeles gets send to Hell, Nina tells Angel that the reason she had been helping Connor was because he was his son. She acknowledged that he had moved on, but also states that she wants to whatever she can to help him. Later, upon Gunn’s arrival in London, he informed Angel on the others, mentioning that Nina is now married. Angel displayed a noticeable lack of jealousy, simply saying that it was good for her.

Intimate Liaisons

Drusilla

Angelus tormented the human Drusilla, sired her and kept her on as a companion afterward, regarding her as his greatest work. Angelus continued to be intimate with her after she sired Spike as a mate in order to play with the newer vampire’s mind. The two appear to have resumed a sexual relationship after Angel lost his soul in 1998. Once ensouled, Angel regarded her as an enemy. When Drusilla had come to Los Angeles to turn a human Darla into a vampire once again, Angel had immediately tried to kill them both. After firing his crew and alienated himself even further, he became obsessed with killing Drusilla and Darla no matter what it took. Catching them by surprise, Angel would suddenly set both of them on fire with a lit cigarette and gasoline, nearly succeeding in killing them both.

The Transuding Furies

The Transuding Furies were the three beautiful, powerful beings who cast the anti-demon-violence spell on Lorne’s bar, Caritas. When Angel needed 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, "Mmm... 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 shared a kiss with Gwen Raiden after she gave 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, Eve 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.

Friendships

Allen Francis Doyle

Doyle was Angel’s first ’contact’ with the Powers That Be, and also the first real friend Angel had made for several decades (The Scooby Gang was generally Buffy’s friends rather than Angel’s, even before he lost his soul). Although Doyle kept most of his past secret, he and Angel did form a close, if awkward, bond over time, with Angel attempting to help deal with financial difficulties while Doyle encouraged Angel to re-connect with people. After Doyle sacrificed himself in recognition of heroism that Angel had inspired in him, Angel and Cordelia mourned his loss together. Angel would attempt to bring back Doyle through The Oracles, only to have the request turned down under the grounds of it taking away Doyle’s noble redemption as well as being a "self-serving" matter.

Forced to open up by Cordelia, Angel admitted to her that he missed Doyle and believed it should’ve been him that saved him and died in his place. He and Cordelia continued to mourn him for several years, even keeping an aborted commercial Doyle recorded shortly before his death as a memento. When Angel found himself facing Doyle’s demon father Axtius- ironically a pure-blood supremacist- two years after Doyle’s death, Angel remembered Doyle with pride as he reflected on Doyle’s last act of sacrifice, taunting Axtius with his inability to accept Doyle for who he was instead of acknowledging the good that Doyle had done with his life.

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

Initially merely Buffy’s second Watcher, Angel and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce became closer when Wesley relocated to Los Angeles when he was fired from the Watchers Council, Angel offering Wesley a job when he had trouble working as a ’rogue demon hunter’ in recognition of his superior research skills compared to those possessed by him and Cordelia. Over time, Wesley grew from his initially bookish self into a more confident and combatant leader, even taking over the agency for a time after Angel fired the others and remained in charge after his return.

Their friendship worsened when Angel had fired him from Angel Investigations along with Cordelia and Gunn so they wouldn’t be in the way of his obsession in finding Darla and Drusilla. Despite keeping out of contact with them for months, Angel tried to visit Wesley when he was shot in the stomach but was shooed away by a still-betrayed Cordelia. Having a sudden epiphany, after helping them against some demons, he asked if he could work under Wesley. Hesitantly, Wesley had agreed but still did not entirely trust or forgive him. Wesley was one of the first to forgive Angel’s betrayal and the two rekindled their close friendship. He would also have some of his confidence restored when Wesley told him he could overcome his demon side in Pylea.

However, their relationship later soured after Wesley stole Angel’s son Connor due to a faked prophecy, with Angel being openly resentful and grief-stricken, attempting to even murder Wesley for his actions. They then had a tenuous relationship since, but came to reconcile little by little as Wesley pulled him from the bottom of the ocean and Angel later came to more or less fully forgive him, acknowledging that Wesley was the one that always had to make the hard decisions, though their relationship was never the same as it once was.

For some time during the period Los Angeles was sent to Hell, Wesley was Angel’s only regular contact — albeit serving as the Liason to the Senior Partners — finally sacrificing his existence to restore Angel and Los Angeles to Earth. In memory of Wesley, Angel had a wing of a library dedicated to Wesley and Fred, sometimes reflecting that he hoped that Wesley and Fred had somehow managed to find each other again after their deaths.

Faith Lehane

When Faith Lehane crossed the line by killing a man, Angel was the first person to try and rehabilitate her but he was interrupted when Wesley tried to hand her over to the Watchers Council. While working for Mayor Wilkins, Faith attempted to remove his soul by seducing him but he rejected her advances, stating that he was in love with Buffy. At this point, Faith harbored a sexual interest in Angel, though this is most likely out of jealousy towards Buffy. In order to gain inside information from the inside about the Mayor’s plans, Giles had a dark shaman fake the removal of Angel’s soul, and he as "Angelus", pretended to become romantically involved with Faith. Weeks after the exposure of this ruse, Faith’s last act in the Mayor’s employ was to shoot Angel with a poison called the Killer of the Dead, and it was this that leads into her near-fatal confrontation with Buffy - the only cure being the blood of a Slayer.

After awakening from her coma and fleeing Sunnydale, Faith arrived in Los Angeles. Shortly after her arrival, Faith is hired by Wolfram & Hart to kill Angel. After she tortured Wesley, Angel confronted Faith, and during the fight he realized what Faith really wanted; she wanted Angel to kill her. Still holding back, Faith had a breakdown and begged him desperately to kill her. Angel took pity on her and comforted her instead. Angel took her in, and rehabilitated her in his own way be encouraging her to come to terms with the mistakes she had made. He felt sympathy for her due to his shared desire to atone. Angel knew Faith could be saved and did his utmost to protect her when she was at her most vulnerable.

Despite his love for Buffy, he had sided with Faith and refused to have Buffy wreck vengeance since it would only make things worse. Angel had prepared to turn himself in for illegally harboring a wanted criminal, only for Faith to make a confession and willingly chose to go to prison for punishment. He visited her periodically, wanting to give her a friend to talk to and check up on her in prison. Angel and Faith often talked about redemption, and if they’d ever accomplish what they wanted, bonding quickly over their shared desire to atone. However, she eventually broke out when he needed her help, due to Angelus having been restored. Despite the difficulties involved with such a task, Faith made sure he was brought in so he can be re-ensouled by Willow, even defeating Connor to prevent him from staking his father.

Faith also stated Angel is the only one that never gave up on her, a factor that doubtless plays an important role to fight so hard to save him, to the point where Faith takes it upon herself to care for Angel when he is reduced in a catatonic state after his period under Twilight’s control despite the fact he killed Giles. The two work together after Angel comes out of his catatonia to and decided to resurrect Giles to atone for his mistake. When Faith admitted to him she didn’t think it would work, Angel understood her concerns and entrusted her to be the one to stop him if he went too far trying to set things right. She accepted the responsibility and decided to help him despite her initial doubts Angel could pull it off.

When Pat Lehane paid an unexpected visit, he encouraged her to reconnect with him. However, Angel also stood up against her father when he tried to turn her back into a murderer and coldly told Pat Lehane to never contact them again. After Faith turned to Drusilla to ’remove her pain’, Angel told her she was not the same person that ran away from her problems. She’d be able to deal it this time and that by removing her guilt, it made her less than what she was. Eventually, she regained her senses and helped him against Drusilla. Moved by his belief in her and how he again proved himself to be the only person who did not give up on her, Faith reiterated her desire to help him bring Giles back.

The two however briefly argued over Connor, and how Faith was being the cautious one and advising him to not get Connor killed bringing Giles back. Angel denied her assumption, and mentioned her near-killing of her father in retaliation. Angel and Faith made peace with each other through their journey in Quor’toth after she gave him a pep talk showing her encouragement over Giles and how she admired how easily he could throw away his quest for Connor, saying she wished her own father loved her as much as he did his son.

When Angel was briefly trapped in his own body when Giles’ soul fully manifested within him- leaving him with Angel, Angelus and Giles inside him- Faith immediately rejected the possibility of simply staking Angel to stop Angelus getting out in favor of the riskier maneuver of confronting the soul-eating Enders to recover the Essuary as a means of extracting Giles’ soul, also defending him against Nadira and other Slayers by stating that Angel wasn’t Twilight or Angelus, but the man who saved others.

After Whistler was defeated, although Faith decided to move on after so many things that she had built for herself were destroyed during her time working with Angel, Angel assured her that he understood her reasons, expressing confidence that she would be fine in whatever path she chose and that he would be available if she decided to come back. When she eventually returned to London as part of her new job with Zane Pharmaceuticals, the two exchanged an awkward but warm hug when they were reunited.

Charles Gunn

A former street-fighter, Angel came across Charles Gunn during a case, expressed a desire to want him to work for him. Gunn though, initially refused, as he held a black-and-white outlook on the supernatural, immediately having a distrust of him, being a vampire. After being forced to kill his sister, Gunn’s open antagonism towards Angel died down. However, he still refused to work for him and did not trust him. Gunn however let go a little of his prejudice towards him, as he began working part-time for Angel Investigations. At the time Gunn and Angel weren’t very close, as Gunn had stated that if Angel lost his soul or became evil again, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. Angel and Gunn had an argument while they were trying to destroy the Shroud of Rahmon while undercover. Angel wanted him away, but Gunn stayed anyway to help. In an effort to protect him, he had punched Gunn in a failed attempt to get him away. Gunn had punched him back, angrily ordering him not to do it again. As the affects of the shroud began to effect them, Gunn was furious with him for feeding off Kate Lockley, but trusted him enough to destroy the shroud.

After firing him from Angel Investigations, Gunn, Wesley, and Cordelia were alienated from Angel. Some months later, he was regretful for his treatment of them and wanted their forgiveness. Gunn was still angry towards Angel, but gave him a chance to prove himself like the others. Conflict between the two culminated when Gunn’s former crew goaded him into killing Angel in Caritas, causing Gunn to declare that he was not Angel’s friend because of what he is, but refused to kill him since he could at least see they were on the same side as opposed to Gunn’s crew now killing anything non-human even if it wasn’t actually hurting anybody. Angel appeared to respect his feelings, stating to Gunn, "You’ll prove that I can trust you when the day comes that you have to kill me... And you do."

However, around the Fall of Los Angeles, Gunn became a vampire and had immediately put the blame on Angel, believing that he could have saved him from this fate. Angel was initially unaware of this, believing him to be dead but eventually came across Gunn, horrified by his now vampire status. He felt guilt and grief over Gunn’s fate but knew he had no choice but to fight him. Gunn, however gained the upper hand, driving a sword into his now human body. When realizing that Angel was now human, he was shocked but then stripped Angel of all his vampire glamour, and left him to die. However though, after Gunn had killed Connor, Angel was wild with grief and vengeance, violently beating up Gunn and almost killing him. Because of this, when Los Angeles was sent back to the way it was and Connor had returned, Angel was still understandingly bitter towards him, but still had told him that it wasn’t him who had did all those terrible things and that he understands what he’s going through, expressing a desire to help him since he himself wants atonement.

Later, after the members of Angel Investigations went their separate ways, Gunn and Angel reunite as old friends in London and he embarks on the journey to Quor’toth with him.

Lorne

Lorne was originally someone Angel contacted for information on particular cases he did, given how Lorne owned a morally ambiguous demon bar named Caritas. He was always reluctant to help, as he wanted to remain neutral in the demon world. Despite that, he helped Angel out on numerous occasions, developing respect and camaraderie towards him. Angel’s bond with Lorne was more noticeable during their journey in Pylea where he had encouraged him to make some form of peace with his family, only for the attempt to backfire horribly. Eventually, Lorne was forced to leave his demon bar and joined Angel in the Hyperion Hotel, where he became a member of Angel Investigations. He was a useful and valuable member, even caring for Connor when Angel was away on cases. Lorne and Angel developed a close, brotherly bond (Lorne once describing Angel as "the undead brother he never had.") but he eventually left Angel’s team, realizing that life was not for him. Nevertheless, he still held Angel in high regard and they remained close up until his death, which Angel did grieve for when he passed on.

Fred Burkle

When Angel saved Fred from Pylea, he "vamped out", but rather than his face changing like usual, the demon inside of him comes out completely. After killing two guards, it tries to kill Gunn and Wesley - until Fred, her right hand soaked with blood, lured the demon back to her cave. Fred cared for Angel as he recovered, and remained the only person who wasn’t scared of him after learning about his vampire nature. Angel ended up bringing Fred back to Los Angeles with him, taking her in and being the only member of the group who wasn’t unnerved by her state of mind. He frequently talked with Fred and encouraged her to get out in public more, eventually even requesting Cordelia to go out and spent time with her.

Fred developed a strong crush on Angel, but he showed no acknowledgement of her feelings, treating her simply as a good friend. After seeing a movie with her, Angel swiftly denied it being a date and didn’t share Cordelia’s concerns that he had to talk to her about it. Eventually being convinced, he expressed to Fred that though he cared for her, he did not return her feelings. She quickly interrupted him by saying she already knew he did not like her like that, and accepted his wish to be just friends. Their moment, however, was interrupted when Angel was told of Buffy’s resurrection. He immediately left without a word to meet her, unintentionally causing Fred to feel uncomfortable and disappointed.

Fred however, eventually moved on to Gunn instead after learning about Angel’s curse, although she and Angel remained good friends, Fred being the only other person present at the birth of Angel’s son Connor. Though their relationship was largely platonic and not romantic, Fred did kiss him once to fool passers-by- into thinking they were just a random couple when they were on the run from Jasmine’s followers. When she asked if they bought it, Angel replied "I did." Outside of this, they remained very close. Like the rest of his team, Angel was deeply affected by Fred’s death, to the point where he briefly considered an attempt to save her that would have killed thousands of others in the process, but eventually decided against it in the end.

When Fred was resurrected after the restoration of magic, although shocked to see her again, Angel was clearly grateful to have an old friend back as he set out to determine the reason for her rebirth.

Familial

Connor

Angel’s relationship with his son Connor has most often been a rocky one. When Darla was pregnant with him, Connor’s soul imbued her with motherly emotions, forcing Angel to realize that the thing she carried possessed a soul. He remained very protective of Darla and his unborn child, and cared for him very lovingly with the help of Angel Investigations after Darla’s death. Soon after his birth Connor was kidnapped and brought to Quor’toth where he was raised to despise his father.

Upon his return as an adolescent, he immediately attempted to kill Angel, much to Angel’s distress and confusion. Connor’s short-lived relationship with Cordelia Chase further separated them. Still, Angel loved his son deeply, and made a deal with Wolfram & Hart to grant him a normal human life with no memory of his lineage. After the spell was broken, Connor, having been granted emotional stability by his surrogate parents, rejoined his father in the fight against evil.

Liam’s Father

Angel’s father had low expectations of his drunkard, whoring son when both were alive. Liam felt somewhat guilty for his behavior, but remained reluctant to change; after he was sired by Darla, he rose as Angelus and murdered his family, including his father. Upon the restoration of his soul, Angel would later admit to Buffy that he still wondered if his father became so antagonistic as a result of his own failure as a son.

Antagonistic

“There's always been people who hate me... usually with good reason.”

―Angel

Spike

After William was turned by Drusilla and became Spike, Angelus was initially fond of him and they bonded over their shared love of death and having another male in The Whirlwind. Spike even appeared to idolize him and looked up to him, at least part of his savagery and violence taught to him by Angelus. After twenty years, Angelus and Spike clashed over their different viewpoints of evil and violence. Spike saw it as being nothing for the rush, blindly jumping into any public brawl to have fun. Angelus was evil for the sake of evil and saw it as being an act of "art". Spike’s continual public exposure caused The Whirlwind to go into hiding many times to be safe, much to Angelus’s disgust.

Though allies on the side of good once ensouled, vampires Angel and Spike have always had a tense, unfriendly relationship. Angel reflected that much of their hostility originates from the fact that Spike, at least in part, wanted to be Angel, noting that every action Spike took was something Angel had done before him: Drusilla turned Spike as a substitute for what she couldn’t have with Angelus, Spike attempted to take Angelus’s reputation after he was ensouled, later became the second known vampire to repossess his soul, and perhaps most obvious, Spike fell in love with Buffy following Angel’s long-lived relationship with her. The most direct cause of their conflict seems to stem from their competition in the area of love; their attentions are very often focused on the same woman, Drusilla or Buffy (though in the case of Drusilla, Angel’s interest was very much based on his soulless desire to hurt Spike, whom he knew had become pitifully attached to her).

Angel and Spike’s relationship worsened when they realized they both loved Slayer Buffy Summers. Angel, while never verbally admitting to it, felt jealous of Spike’s relationship with Buffy; the same can be said of Spike in regards to Angel’s romance with her. They often have heated, verbal (and sometimes violent) disputes over Buffy. Many characters have pointed out similarities between them; they are both ensouled vampires with intense love for the same woman, but both vehemently deny it, stating that they are nothing alike.

Though both eventually fight on the side of good, their personalities tend to clash. Spike takes their mission far less seriously, although the two make an effective team against such foes as the guardians of the Deeper Well and their ensuing fight against Illyria. And despite their constant antagonism, there does seem to exist some affection between them, as Spike appeared genuinely happy to see Angel and even hugged him upon their reunion in Sunnydale, and Angelus greeted Spike with a kiss on the forehead upon losing his soul, a degrading, symbolic gesture than a friendly one. Though he tried to bury it, much of Angel’s hatred of Spike also stems from guilt: he turned Drusilla, and was at least in part responsible for the chaos Spike reigned without a soul.

Following Spike’s sacrifice at the Sunnydale Hellmouth, Angel felt that because the Senior Partners had presented him with the Amulet, they had intended he give up his life instead. On the deepest level, Spike exists as a relic of Angel’s most deplorable sins; Angel never foresaw a person with so much involvement in his past as Angelus becoming so profoundly involved in his future as a hero. Spike verbally accused Angel of being a coward on numerous occasions. During Spike’s time in Wolfram & Hart, the two appear to have bonded. Angel at least began to accept Spike’s presence in his group, though he remained reluctant to acknowledge Spike as a Champion or possible subject of the Shanshu Prophecy.

When they traveled to Rome to get Buffy away from The Immortal, they drank together, seemed to have equal concern for Buffy’s well-being and shared rather comical jealousy and outrage towards The Immortal when told Buffy was dating him. Angel often saw Spike as a nuisance, and Spike considers Angel very irritating and much too ’noble’. Still, they seem to have developed underlying respect towards each other. Angel and Spike also appear to have a sexual history, which has been implied many times but neither of them seem willing to discuss it. Spike later left Los Angeles and Angel behind, as he recognized Angel had been accurate when he accused Spike of wanted to be him, acknowledging that his interest in the Shanshu Prophesy was based around his rivalry with Angel rather than a desire to be human himself.

Since Spike would not be able to be possessed by Eyghon, Angel would contact him from London for assistance. He still clearly viewed Spike as an annoying nuisance, but was able to work together much easier than before with only general bickering. However, Angel and Spike did erupt into a harsh argument over Buffy and their strained relationships with her, much to Faith’s irritation. When Giles’ soul was fully inside him, Angel became briefly insane and was locked in a basement. Spike ranted to him, revealing his jealousy and insecurities over Buffy as well Angel. When Spike concluded that Angel had moved on from her by finding a purpose and seeing other women, he coherently corrected this assumption and told him he wasn’t over her either. Able to relate to his troubles, Angel took pity on him and gave him Harmony’s number as a ’thank you’.

Despite this small act of kindness towards each other, Angel and Spike quickly returned to their quarreling relationship. When he had decided to return to San Francisco to help Dawn, Angel argued against it. However, his reasons for this was because of his fight with Pearl and Nash combined with his preference for Spike to not be near Buffy to impress her. Despite this, they were able to cooperate during the fight against Archaeus; once the crisis was resolved, Angel gave Spike his blessing to date Buffy and even shook his hand, though he later privately confessed to Willow his belief that "it won’t last."

The Immortal

The Immortal was an arch-nemesis of both Angel and Spike for many reasons. During their soulless periods, The Immortal had captured and knocked out both Angelus and Spike, while at the same time "concurrently violating" both Darla and Drusilla at the same time(something neither of them had ever let them do) and consequently wounding their pride and dignity. A series of unfortunate events had happened before and after this, causing Angelus to have intense hatred towards the Immortal. A century later, Angel, now a soulled vampire, also hated the Immortal, especially when told by Andrew that Buffy was dating him (A practical joke on his part, as it was a Buffy decoy). He displayed, along with Spike, immense jealousy and outrage over this information, going out of his way to get Buffy away from the Immortal until he, with great reluctance, gave up, though still made a point of saying "he hated that guy."

Daniel Holtz

Back to the time when Angel was still Angelus, he had cruelly murdered Daniel Holtz’s entire family, and only Holtz survived. He had since been consumed with vengeance and grief, spending his entire life tracking down Angelus and Darla, and they were often on the run from him, although the two turned down various opportunities to kill him as they considered him a form of family. Eventually reduced to a hermit after relentless years of chasing them and failing, Holtz made a deal with the demon Sahjahn to be left in ’stasis’ until the time came when he could take his revenge.

Centuries later, Holtz was reawakened and again preceded to resume his hunt, only to find Angelus now Angel, a souled vampire. Nevertheless, he continued his quest for revenge, seeing Angel’s soul as simply another means of tormenting his enemy, regardless of the fact that Angel’s ally Wesley tried to convince him that Angel was not responsible for Angelus’s crimes. Angel felt guilt over his actions to Holtz, but had many clashes with him and Holtz never wavered. He eventually, upon the discovery of Angel having a son, he- thanks to Wesley’s unintended help-, took Connor as an adopted son and raised him in a hell dimension of Quor’toth, taking Connor away from Angel. Although Angel tried to apologize to the elderly Holtz when Holtz returned to this dimension, Holtz merely pretended to forgive Angel, subsequently arranging for his own murder in a manner that would frame Angel for the crime.

Xander Harris

Xander had a natural dislike of him, partly because of Xander’s large amount of jealousy over Angel and Buffy’s relationship(as he had a crush on Buffy at the time) and also because of his view of vampires being evil. He often showed open hostility towards Angel, constantly showing great disapproval of Buffy loving a vampire and had a great lack of trust in him. Angel also held similar feelings toward Xander, viewing him as a great annoyance and was often frustrated with Xander’s difficulty. Angel had also admitted that, while at first denying it, eventually admitted that he did indeed feel jealous of Xander, especially after seeing Buffy seductively dance with Xander at one time. Though knowing that Buffy did not romantically love Xander then, he revealed to her that it bothered him that Xander could be with Buffy during the day and see her in the sunlight, none of which he could do with her.

Angel then continued to dislike Xander, even punching him in the face hard once when under the ruse of being Angelus, something he had been wanting to do for a long time. Xander still treated Angel antagonistically, but seemed to have softened up to him a little at one time. When Xander had shown outrage and anger at Angel for feeding off Buffy, he said nothing against the criticism,  too guilty to try. However, Angel was shown to be extremely annoyed when Xander was happy to order him around and was forced to work closely with him against The Mayor. This slightly annoyed Buffy, comparing them to bickering old ladies. Once Angel had left Sunnydale for L.A, their rivalry is largely forgotten. They ran into each other briefly when Angel was deterimined to protect Buffy because of Doyle’s vision. He was shown to be annoyed and offended when Xander had assumed right away he was evil. Xander later admitted that he still hates the "guts part" of Angel.

When Twilight’s influence was released completely by the end of magic, Angel and Xander quickly came to blows. Having accidentally killed Giles in his possession, he was furious and full of resentment. Despite Angel’s weak attempts at an explanation, he did not actively defend himself as Xander overpowered him, fully prepared to stake him with the slayer scythe. Thankfully, he had halted despite his strong grudge and hatred for Angel, only because a grief-racked Buffy had somehow managed to step in between them. Two years later, the two men are reunited against Archaeus, for once in good terms, and once he was driven off, Xander made peace with Angel, citing his therapy sessions, as well as his belief that they had more in common than he realized, comparing his current relationship with Dawn to Angel’s own struggles with Buffy choosing Spike over him.

Riley Finn

While not officially introduced, Angel had first seen Riley during his self-appointed mission to preserve Buffy’s safety against Shumash Indians through Doyle’s vision. He had questioned Willow over who he was after seeing him actively talk with Buffy, showing suspicion and slight jealousy at his overly friendly behavior towards her.

Angel would finally come face-to-face with Riley when he was attacked by some Initiative soldiers in an alleyway. Riley had assumed he was soulless again by sleeping with Buffy during her brief L.A. visit. Angel didn’t correct this nor try to resolve the situation in a civil manner, challenging him and showing blatant contempt of Riley when he tried to stop him from seeing Buffy. The two broke out into a fight with each other. Eventually pushed into true anger, Angel didn’t hold back and easily dispatched of him. Successfully reaching Buffy’s dorm, Riley recovered and followed him. When Riley was still hostile, Angel lost any shred of already low patience he had, proceeding to taunt and threaten him into another fight. Riley and Angel traded blows again, only for Buffy to roughly separate them. Buffy decided to talk to Angel and hear him out privately. Angel had dismissively looked over Riley one last time, taunting him with a superior smirk when Buffy wasn’t looking. After making amends with her, Angel would then tell Buffy he didn’t like him at all. Later, when taking the form of a masked individual as Twilight, he recruited Riley into his army, making a point of saying he was "very humans first" and that he still didn’t understand what Buffy had seen in Riley, still appearing to hold on to old jealousy.

Lindsey McDonald

A former lawyer of Wolfram & Hart, Lindsey tried to kill Angel on numerous occasions and often proved a difficult foe. Angel also treated Lindsey antagonistically, to point where he chopped off his hand. Lindsey’s relationship with Angel became increasingly hostile as he developed a warped interest in Darla, to the point where he tried to attack Angel after learning that Angel and Darla had slept together. Although they achieved a degree of reconciliation after working together to destroy a W&H organ donation plan that involved taking organs from live subjects — including an old friend of Lindsey’s —, Lindsey returned to Los Angeles to try and undermine Angel after he was given complete control of Wolfram & Hart’s Los Angeles branch, resenting Angel’s success. Lindsey’s assumption of the name "Doyle" earned him Angel and Cordelia’s renewed anger at his abuse of their old friend’s name, with Angel neatly defeating Lindsey’s attempt to activate a failsafe that the Partners had created to kill Angel if he proved to be uncontrollable. However, he was forced to save Lindsey from a hell dimension, in order to acquire information from Lindsey that would help him defeat the Senior Partners. Although Angel later requested Lindsey’s aid in the planned last stand against the Circle of the Black Thorn, once Lindsey had dealt with his targets he was shot by Lorne on Angel’s orders, Angel reasoning that Lindsey would never be "part of the solution", this last act angering Lindsey with the realization that Angel didn’t consider Lindsey important enough to kill him himself. Their relationship was quite complex, with Lindsey coming to Angel for help more than once when the actions of Wolfram & Hart were too much for him to stomach. Angel did initially try to help Lindsey find redemption, but eventually gave up on him.

Lilah Morgan

Through all of Lilah Morgan and Wolfram & Hart’s schemes, Angel fostered a strong, bitter hatred towards Lilah. Like Lindsey, Lilah desired to have Angel killed despite Wolfram & Hart’s policy against it, and Angel proved on several occassions that he had no qualms about killing her if he had to. Following her death, while talking to the Conduit of the Senior Partners, Angel noted that he had liked Lilah as an adversary as he always knew what to expect from her.

Harmony Kendall

While Angel has never truly hated Harmony Kendall, he viewed her as an annoyance and a nuisance. He gave Harmony a brief chance of working for them because of Cordelia, but ended up distrusting her given her lack of soul and believed she couldn’t work for them. Upon the discovery of Harmony being his secretary in Wolfram & Hart, he immediately threatened to kill her, but eventually didn’t go through with it. He spent much of his time bossing her around and was rarely ever nice to her. When Harmony betrayed him in the end, he showed no surprise as he had already known she would, promptly causing her to flee. It was later revealed that Harmony was part of the reason he left Angel Investigations, as it had irritated him that she kept bothering him. Angel does appear to have had some degree of appreciation for Harmony, as he left her a letter of recommendation. Reuniting with Harmony, Angel showed annoyance and disdain at her unplanned visit, taking care to remind her of her betrayal and her fleeing during an apocalypse, but nonetheless agreed to help her with someone blackmailing her.

Pearl and Nash

Under the guise of villain Twilight, Angel had recognized Pearl and Nash’s eager involvement in "evolution" and united him in his group supposedly meant to kill Buffy Summers. However, he had manipulated the siblings, his real goal all along had been to focus the two of them with Buffy’s other enemies in order to keep her alive and focused against the rising threats. Realizing his betrayal and that he cut the two out of "evolution", Pearl and Nash developed a vendetta against him. Angel had fought the two of them and it was revealed the two of them had sided with Whistler to get their revenge on Angel and fulfill their part in evolution.  Angel would fight them again while he attempted to resurrect Giles, and would be openly against each other when Whistler prepared to unleash the plague on humanity.

Other

Whistler

Whistler had took Angel off the streets during his twenty-year ensouled depression, setting him on his path for redemption. Angel was initially reluctant, but after seeing the Slayer Buffy Summers being called, he agreed in his desire to help her. Consequently, he held Whistler in high regard for many years. When he came to him with word of the Twilight Prophecy, Angel agreed when told of the consequences of the world going to Hell and Buffy (along with himself) dying in the process. Nonetheless, he expressed his frustration to Whistler over fighting against Buffy and manipulating her masked as "Twilight". However, Whistler was undeterred by Angel’s complaints, insisting it was the only way to save the world.

After Angel rejected the his destiny partly because of Buffy, their relationship became strained and antagonistic. Whistler was angry with his decision and believed it had been necessary for the world even if cost many lives. Angel was in turn angered with his team-up with Pearl and Nash and denied his belief that the Twilight universe would help when it cost so much. He remarked Whistler had never told him the full details and had been manipulating him and Buffy from the beginning. After telling him his origins and asking if he would help him with bringing magic back (even though it would cost millions of lives), Angel rejected it. He admitted he would always be grateful towards Whistler for giving him a purpose and letting him meet Buffy which was why he wanted to help him, believing he had gone crazy because of the loss of magic. Whistler was furious and stabbed him in the chest, nearly killing him.

When he finally unleashed his plague across London, Angel made many attempts to reason with him, but Whistler remained stubborn. Losing patience, he challenged him and gave up reasoning any further. After draining some of his powers through the plague ball, Angel managed to convince Whistler to stop his plan. When Whistler sacrificed himself to save the world and thanked him for ’saving him’, Angel was genuinely sad at his demise and took a brief moment to grief for him.

Rupert Giles

At first, Rupert Giles regarded Angel with an even temper (even commenting that his relationship with Buffy was "rather poetic in a maudlin sort of way"), regarding Angel almost as a peer, sharing books and prophecies with him. But when Angel lost his soul and murdered Jenny Calendar, the Watcher, devastated to the point of irrationality, set fire to the vampire’s warehouse lair and attacked him with a flaming baseball bat, severely beating him before being disarmed by Angelus and rescued by Buffy. When he later needed information, Angelus kidnapped and tortured Giles for hours. After Angel returned from Hell, Giles was upset and wary. He kept a loaded crossbow in hand when talking to Angel, yet he also attempted to help Angel with his hallucinations.

Giles and Angel come together again when Angel returned to protect Buffy. Giles seemed to had lost some of his anger toward him and had discussed the Chumash Indian spirits and how they would stop him. Nevertheless, the two argued over Buffy and Angel’s fixated focus in protecting her. Giles had criticized him for hiding his presence from her, believing it to be less cruel if he allowed Buffy to see him. Giles had also taken care to remind him that Buffy was not helpless and did not need his "protection". Angel angrily retorted that both of them knew that, but they would still always try to keep her safe anyway. Giles silently acknowledged this, knowing that Angel’s natural overprotectiveness and concern over Buffy was something they could both be able to relate over. Angel had also called Giles for information on Faith after she woke from her coma and though Giles was vague over what exactly she had done to Buffy, he had told him she was dangerous and wrecked havoc on Sunnydale.

When Angel started to work for Wolfram & Hart, Angel called on Giles for help twice. The first time, when the unstable Slayer Dana was on the loose, Giles sent Andrew Wells. The second time, when Angel and his crew needed help to cure Fred of the infection that becomes Illyria, Giles told them Willow was unavailable. Both times there were indications that Giles, like the other Scoobies, no longer trusted Angel because of Angel’s association with the evil law firm.

After Angel killed Giles while possessed by Twilight, he expressed a desperate desire to bring Giles back to life. Though usage of Mohra Demon blood became out of the question, it was later revealed that Angel was using a Tooth of Ammuk to absorb fragments of Giles’ soul into his body from various locations that were meaningful to the Watcher during his life, in an effort to restore him. As a result, Angel began taking on characteristics and mannerisms of Giles, whose soul increasingly cohabited with Angel’s, to the point where Angel was briefly driven insane by Giles’s soul inside him and their shared memories of his murder of Jenny in particular. Angel has acknowledged that resurrecting Giles will not totally redeem him, but regards it as one of the mistakes that he must make up for.

When Giles was brought back trapped in the body of his pre-teen self, Angel was nonetheless elated and satisfied that he had managed to resurrect him, treating the "minor glitches" quite lightly in comparison to the rest. The two had a brief clash when Giles was angry with Angel for bringing back due his stress at being trapped in the wrong body, but his anger towards him eventually dissipated. Later, Giles expressed his gratitude that Angel had freed him from torment under Eyghon and told him that if he ended up dying again in this battle, he would be able to accept the outcome peacefully. Angel acknowledged this, as he was willing to do the same. After stopping the magical plague from spreading, Angel was on good terms with Giles and both seemed to respect each other. Angel would also ask Giles if he’ll tell him when, if ever, there was a right time for him to see Buffy again, something he agreed to do.

Willow Rosenberg

Angel shared deep affection and mutual confidence with Willow Rosenberg, and not just because she restored his soul twice. In several occasions he asked 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 and most friendly towards him, although, as with all the team, his relationship with her was somewhat strained after he came back from Hell following his time as Angelus. After restoring Angel’s soul for the second time, they hugged as old friends. However, Willow showed open hostility toward Angel because of his actions as Twilight, momentarily turning him into a frog out of her fury. After he killed Giles, Faith stated that the entire Scooby Gang, aside from Buffy, wanted Angel dead.

Eventually, however, Willow seems to move past a little of her anger towards Angel, as after openly criticizing his desire to resurrect Giles, she reluctantly agreed to help, as she needed Angel’s help to bring magic back into the world. Willow, however, slapped him when he criticized her desire to involve Connor, angrily blaming him for everything that had gone wrong, but when she burst into tears out of emotion, Angel tried to comfort out of care and concern for her, agreeing to let Conner chose. Throughout their adventure in Quor’toth, they seemed to slightly repair their relationship. Angel seemed to genuinely show a great deal of care for her, as he has tried to comfort a distraught Willow about absorbing too much dark magic, telling her urgently that he had to trust her. She admitted that she did trust him despite his past actions as Twilight but she just didn’t trust herself. Willow unfortunately briefly got taken over by the dark magic, only for Angel to bite her to revert her back to normal. Willow returned the favor, stopping Faith from killing him and telling Angel that he could fight his dark side. When he regained control, the two had suddenly hugged each other in gratitude.

Afterwards, Angel and Willow come to a resolution. She told him she understood that he was sorry, that he had believed he was doing the right thing and that it was necessary, but firmly reminded him that it didn’t change the fact that what he did was wrong. Willow seriously said to him that she didn’t think she could ever really forgive him for what he did, but at the same time, she couldn’t find it in her to hate him. Angel was satisfied with this, just glad that she didn’t hate him anymore. Keeping her part of the deal, she left the a piece of Giles’s soul from the scythe in his hands, before departing to continue her solo quest.

Daniel "Oz" Osbourne

Angel and Oz rarely interacted during their brief time in the Scooby Gang, but seemed to get along well enough when seen together, most likely because they shared similar experiences, being a vampire and werewolf, respectively. Oz had agreed to give Angel the Gem of Amara that enabled him to walk in the sunlight under Buffy’s request, travelling to L.A as he had a gig there. He had helped him against the threat of Spike and returned back to Sunnydale. They seemed to have a slight bond of camaraderie, as both speak in brief sentences and are, in some ways, similar, each tormented by their fear of what their supernatural side was capable of if deprived of the control their human side provides. They had humorously engaged in a very abreviated, pleasant conversation upon reuniting in L.A., Oz stating that him and Angel were usually "laconic".

Groosalugg

Angel and Groo have a complex relationship. Initially, Angel was jealous of Groo’s relationship with Cordelia upon realizing he did have romantic feelings for her. However, unlike how he treated other romantic rivals (ex. Riley, Spike), he was never openly hostile towards him and treated him with a sense of fairness, although not exactly friends. Groosalugg treated him with great respect and friendliness, being a fellow champion and viewing him as noble. When Groo realized Cordelia loved Angel and not him, he showed no bitterness towards Angel, deciding to be in a sad acceptance. Years later, he assisted him with the Fall of Los Angeles, and Angel gladly accepted his help, viewing him as a useful ally.

Illyria

Although his relationship with Illyria was initially adversarial, with her even killing Angel during time slips and then nearly again during the Fall of Los Angeles before being stopped by Spike, Illyria has gone on to develop considerable respect for Angel, agreeing to follow his orders and plans in combat, and later requesting for him to act as her moral guide as she attempts to become a hero her way.