Template:SPOILERS
- ↳ Note: This article is about the vampire. For other uses, see Angel.
- “...Doesn't matter what you try. Doesn't matter where I am or how badass you think you've become. 'Cause you know what? I'm Angel. I beat the bad guys.”
- ―Angel taunts Lindsey McDonald[src]
Angel was one of the most famous vampires of all time of vampire history, legendary for both his savage villainy and his great heroism. Born Liam in 1727 in Galway, Ireland, he was sired by Darla in 1753 and changed his name to Angelus and was dubbed The Scourge of Europe, earning notoriety for being one of the most sadistic and brutal demons in history, and the most evil vampire ever recorded. Both The Master and the First Evil recognized how purely evil Angelus was. He was also known as The Demon with the Face of an Angel or The One with the Angelic Face because of his physical beauty. However, in 1898, Angelus was cursed by the members of Clan Kalderash as vengeance for killing a member of their clan. They returned his soul, forcing him to live eternally in guilt over the countless crimes he had committed.
In the late 20th century, Angel, as he began calling himself, became an ally and lover of the current Slayer, Buffy Summers. After the two were forced to realize their limitations as a couple, Angel left Buffy and moved to Los Angeles, where he became a Champion of the Powers That Be and dedicated himself to "helping the helpless" in the hope of achieving atonement.
Eventually, Angel adopted the identity of Twilight and gathered a cabal of humans and demons who had become wary of the rise of multiple Slayers. As Twilight, Angel sought to keep these forces distracted as well as make Buffy grow more focused and stronger, and at the same time, try to keep the Slayers' deaths as low as he could.
Angel was later discovered to be under the control of Twilight, a sentient dimension who had been manipulating him all along to destroy the Earth and create it in the Earth's place. When Angel came to his senses and rebelled against Twilight, it possessed him and battled against the Scooby Gang in the ruins of Sunnydale, where it killed Buffy's beloved mentor and father figure, Rupert Giles, before Buffy destroyed the Seed of Wonder, the source of all the Earth's magic. After being purged of Twilight, Angel, overcome with grief and guilt, fell into a catatonic state. Upon awakening, Angel, along with Faith Lehane, dedicated himself to tend to Giles' unfinished business.
Biography
Liam
- Angel: “I was a man once.”
- The First: “And what a man you were. A drunk, whoring layabout and a terrible disappointment to your parents.”
- — Angel and the First Evil[src]
In his human life, Angel was a lazy, ambitious drunk named Liam.
Angel was born as a human named Liam in Galway, Ireland. His overbearing father was a linen and silk merchant. At the age of 18, Liam had a relationship with a noblewoman named Sarah Gilfried. Liam became disillusioned with the women of his era, especially showing distaste for the noblewomen whom he found to be "dull, simpering morons;" he wished he could meet someone "exciting," and "interesting." By his twenties, he had developed a taste for alcohol, tavern brawls, whoring, and sloth. Liam's only real ambition lay in seeing the world. Despite his strained relationship with his parents, he had great affection for his little sister, Kathy.
Liam meets Darla in a dark alley promising him to show him the world.
At the age of 26, after a night of drunken debauchery and attempts to seduce Anna, the family's only maidservant, Liam and his father got into an argument, where the older man said Liam was waisting his life, and labeled him a "terrible disappointment." Liam argued he acted exactly as his father wanted, and that he was leaving no matter what. As his father argued that he would be homeless and alone, Liam argued that he wouldn't be without a bed at night, and ordered his father out of his way. His father stopped him only long enough to state he was never in his way, possibly implying that Liam could have been anything he wanted if he hadn't spent the time blaming his father, but often taken to mean he was never stopping Liam from leaving, which is offset by the earlier argument about why Liam shouldn't leave.
During a tavern brawl, the drunken Liam caught the eye of what seemed to be an affluent woman, but was actually a vampire named Darla who asked one of the barmaids about him. The barmaid told Darla that his lies look good at night, but vanish in the morning Darla stated that actually wouldn't be a problem for her . After being kicked out of the tavern, he plotted to steal his father's silver, but instead Darla lured him into an alley, and promising him a world full of excitement and travel, transformed him into a vampire. He quickly became one of the sadistic vampires who ever existed. The price was the loss of his human soul, along with his conscience, creating a demon that would act upon Liam's darkest impulses.[7]
Angelus
- “Angel. He was the most vicious creature I ever met... I miss him.”
- ―The Master[src]
On the night he rose from his grave, and in response to Darla's assertion that he could have anyone in the village, he set about slaughtering the entire community. First, however, he murdered his own family, which he said was "the sweetest blood of all." He had no problem entering his former house, as his little sister Kathy invited him in without hesitation or suspicion; according to Liam, "she thought that I'd returned to her. An angel." His own mother was the next victim. When killing his father, Liam told him how he had made something of himself after all. However, while gloating over his father's corpse, Darla cruelly deflated him, claiming that his father won because his disapproval would haunt Liam for the rest of his life.[8]
His little sister thought he had returned to her an angel
- “You told me I wasn't a man. You told me I was nothing. And I believed you. You said I'd never amount to anything. Well, you were wrong. You see, father? I have made something of myself after all.”
- ―The vampire Liam to his father[src]
Liam took the name "Angelus," presumably inspired by his sister's mistaken belief that he was an angel. He was later described in historical volumes as "the one with the angelic face,"[9] and "the demon with the face of an angel."[10] After leaving Ireland, Angelus and Darla cut a bloody swath through Wales and northern England before finally reaching London in 1760. During Angelus' first meeting with Darla's sire, the Master, he openly mocked the older vampire, showing no fear despite his greater age, power, and authority, and confronted Darla about her decision to remain underground with him when she could be traveling the world with him. Won over by his bold fearlessness, Darla chose to live with Angelus, abandoning the Master's leadership temporarily.[11]
Known as "the one with the angelic face," Angelus became known as one of the most sadistic vampires in history
In May 1764, Angelus and Darla killed the wife and infant son of vampire hunter Daniel Holtz, and turned his young daughter into a vampire, forcing him to destroy her.[12] Holtz then devoted himself to capturing Angelus and Darla, chasing them across Europe and killing almost 400 other vampires in the process.
In 1765, Angelus and Darla had a near miss with Holtz in Arles after making too much noise by ordering room service and then eating the waiters. Darla fled to Vienna, knocking out and abandoning Angelus in a burning barn and riding off on their only horse. After meeting again in Vienna and eating a troubadour in Madrid, Angelus and Darla became acquainted with the vampires James and Elisabeth.[13]
Two years later, Holtz tracked them down in Marseilles and managed to put numerous arrows in Angelus.[13]" After voyaging to Morocco, Holtz briefly lost them in northern Africa.
In 1771, Holtz tracked Angelus to Rome and captured him. With the assistance of Monsignor Rivalli, Holtz tortured Angelus while trying to figure out how to get Angelus to help him to capture Darla. But instead, Darla came to the rescue with a horde of vampires. Darla declined to kill Holtz, telling Angelus that she was having too much fun tormenting him and he was now "like family".
With this, Holtz abandoned his hunt and retired to York until 1773 when a demon named Sahjhan offered to take him to the future in exchange for his promise to kill the Angel and Darla of that time.[14]
In 1786 [15], Angelus sired a Puritan by the name of Penn, who mimicked Angelus by wreaking havoc on his father and killing his family. Over time, he began copying Angelus' "signature" of the time, carving a cross-shaped mark on the face of his victims in order to spite God.[10]
In 1789, a lone Angelus encountered The Beast in Prussia, standing in a field of bodies. The Beast sought Angelus' aid in killing the Svear Priestesses, a group who wished to banish the Beast who could not kill them himself. When Angelus declined to assist the Beast, he was violently attacked, but a group of Svear priestesses banished the Beast while Angelus was passing out.[16]
On Christmas Eve 1838, Angelus won a card game and took his winnings by killing his opponent, a man named Daniel, in Dublin, Ireland, who was to be married the next day.[17]
Of all of Angelus' atrocities, Drusilla was his worst
In 1860, young woman named Drusilla from London, England, caught the attention of Darla, who then brought her to the attention of Angelus, as a gift. Drusilla was "cursed" with the "sight;" the ability of foresight, something her mother saw as "an affront to the Lord." Drusilla and her sisters were all noted to be virgins, and Drusilla was described as being "sweet, pure and chaste." While posing as her priest in order to torment her, Angelus killed her family in front of her, which caused Drusilla to flee to a convent. On the day she was to take her holy orders, Angelus massacred the convent. After having sex with Darla practically on top of Drusilla, Angelus finally pushed her over the edge into complete insanity. It was at that point that he turned her into a vampire. Drusilla was Angelus' "masterpiece," an everlasting testament of his finest cruelty, as her immortality meant that her torment would never end.[1][18]
In 1880, Drusilla turned the mild-mannered mother's boy and poet, William, into a vampire, to whom Angelus served as a mentor and role model.[19] William went so far as to consider the elder vampire his sire and "Yoda."[20] Angelus taught William about the art of mass slaughter, including an incident during a wedding party where Angelus beat the groom to death with his own arm. When he realized how much William cared for Drusilla, Angelus had sex with her just to hurt him, an action William would never forgive.[21]
In 1883, Angelus killed a female servant named Margaret during a luxurious Christmas party in London. The woman had a young son.
In 1888, Spike got himself, Angelus, Darla, and Drusilla chased out of London, England and into an abandoned mine shaft in Yorkshire, England by an angry mob. Angelus, wondering why they hadn't killed him yet, threateningly warned William, who had taken the alias of "Spike," not to attract the unwanted attention of angry mobs or the Slayer. The mere mention of the Slayer peaked great interest in Spike, who would go on to kill two of them and become a particularly renowned vampire.[19]
In 1890, Angelus attended a production of Giselle by the Blinnikov, a Russian ballet troupe run by Count Kurskov. Despite being evil, he was moved to tears during the performance.[22] The same year, Angelus and Spike used a trick that involved them holding hands and beheading their enemies with a length of wire in St. Petersburg, Russia.[23]
In 1894, Angelus and Spike were captured in Rome, Italy by henchmen of The Immortal, a mysterious and seductive being with whom they both had a fierce rivalry. The two male vampires were tortured while The Immortal had a threesome with Darla and Drusilla, something that, incidentally, the female vampires never allowed Angelus and/or Spike to do. Angelus and Spike attempted to take revenge on the Immortal, but failed miserably.[24]
Cursed with a Soul
- “You don't remember. Everything you've done. For a hundred years. In a moment, you will. The face of everyone you have killed — our daughter's face — they will haunt you and you will know what true suffering is.”
- ―Kalderash Elder to Angelus[src]
Angelus' sins come back to haunt him when gypsies curse him with his human soul
Angelus' unlife took a pivotal turn in 1898, when he raped and murdered the favorite daughter of a tribe of gypsies, the Kalderash clan in Borşa, Romania, who had been kidnapped and given to him by Darla as a " birthday present."[25] To avenge her death, the Kalderash cursed him by restoring his human soul, thus afflicting him with a conscience and condemning him to an eternity of remorse for the crimes he'd committed as the soulless Angelus.[7] Bedraggled and dirty, looking like a beggar, he attacked and tries to feed on a woman, but was unable to.
The ensouled Angelus following Darla to China at the time of the Boxer Rebellion
During the Boxer Rebellion, Angelus tried to resume his life with Darla, but found himself able to kill only animals, murderers, and rapists while protecting innocents from Darla. Darla noticed this, angry at his deception and inability to kill innocent humans while Spike recently killed a slayer. She confronted him about it gave him the chance to prove himself by feeding on a baby whose parents Darla killed. He refused and instead rescued the child by jumping out of a window.[11]
Angel newly arriving to America
Two years later, Angelus fled and lived in self-imposed isolation, controlling the temptation to feed by avoiding humans altogether. He traveled to the United States, arriving in New York City via Ellis Island in 1902.
During the First World War, Angelus found himself in the trenches, and was nearly killed by Watcher Geoffrey Wyndam-Pryce before he escaped into a river. Discovering that the powerful vampire Kakistos was working with the Germans, Angelus and Geoffrey were forced into an uncertain alliance to destroy Kakistos's cult, Kakistos being apparently killed in a subsequent plane crash after a battle with Angelus. Although he never learned that Angelus was anything more than another vampire, Geoffrey allowed him to leave after the cult was destroyed in recognition of his assistance.[26]
During the 1920s, Angelus spent some time in Chicago, where he saved a little lap dog from being run over by a car; however, he was tempted to feed on the dog's owner, a young woman who tried to seduce Angel, only to be harshly rejected.[27] In Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Angel had a disagreement with a demon named Boone over a señorita, for which Boone called him out. Angel fought Boone for three-and-a-half hours until the sun came up and Boone honorably let him go.[28] Angel then spent time in Missoula, Montana during the Great Depression.[29]
Angel during World War II
During World War II, Angel was coerced into undertaking a secret mission by the Demon Research Initiative. They sank him to the bottom of the ocean to rescue an American submarine crew from three vampires the Nazis had captured as part of their paranormal research activities: Spike, Nostroyev, and The Prince of Lies. After the American crew had captured the German submarine, the vampires had escaped their bonds and murdered most of the crew; the few survivors sought refuge behind a locked hatch. After the submarine suffered damage from a depth charge, Angel was forced to sire a mortally wounded Ensign Sam Lawson, as he was the only person who was able to repair the damage, and while Angel didn't care about the mission, he needed to have it succeed to get the US government to leave him alone, and he needed the submarine so he would not get trapped on the ocean floor. Proceeding these events, Angel went underground until the war was over.[30]
Angel during the 1950s
in 1952, Angel was a resident of the Hyperion Hotel in Los Angeles. During this time, Angel attempted to stay to himself, avoiding interaction with other residents and patrons. Despite the numerous strange incidents, murders and suicides running rampant throughout the hotel (caused by a demon), he looked the other way when his help would have made a difference. After finding a young woman named Judy Kovacs hiding in his room, Angel tried to preserve his isolation, first by disarming and removing the man chasing her, then by ejecting Judy. However, her repeated attempts to interact with him allowed the two to form a budding friendship — very surprising and rare for Angel at that time in his life. Meanwhile, hotel staff and residents, including Judy, continued to become warped and Angel decided to help. He discovered the presence of a Thesulac Demon, a paranoia demon affecting the humans in the hotel, but by the time Angel learned how to defeat it and obtained the items required, the entire hotel was overcome with pathological paranoia. Mad with demon-induced hysteria, the hotel residents and staff turned on Judy after their suspicions were raised by a private detective. To save herself, Angel's new friend pointed the mob in his direction, saying he had been found with blood. With rabid fury, they ambushed Angel, beat him, and then hanged him. Embittered by the consequences of becoming close to a human, Angel abandoned Judy and everyone else. Instead of destroying the Thesulac as it was in his power to do, even when the demon gave him the opportunity, he personally gave the vicious demon free reign to prey upon and ravage them unhindered.[31]
Angel in the 1970s
In New York during the late 1970s, Angel witnessed a robbery at a doughnut shop. After the robber shot the employee and fled, Angel stayed with the man as he died. Unable to resist the sight and smell of the clerk's still-warm blood, Angel succumbed to his urges and fed on the body. Deeply disgusted by his own weakness, Angel fled the shop, and then exiled himself to a life of homelessness, living in alleyways and feeding on rats.[27]
- “I wanna help her. I wanna become somebody.”
- ―Angel is motivated to become a force for good.[src]
Two decades later (1996), the reclusive and emotionally tortured Angel was sought out by a demon named Whistler, who persuaded him to join the fight against the evil that had corrupted him and to help the newly-activated Slayer, Buffy Summers. Angel traveled to Hemery High School in Los Angeles, where he witnessed Buffy being called as the Slayer and her initial training under her Watcher, Merrick, as well as her emotional suffering over her new duties and her parents' deteriorating marriage. Filled with a new purpose in life, Angel resolved to help the Slayer, with whom he had fallen in love, and moved to Sunnydale, California, where Buffy was predestined to move the following year.[7]
Sunnydale
- “A vampire in love with a Slayer. It's rather poetic... in a maudlin sort of way.”
- ―Rupert Giles[src]
Angel is inspired to do good by Buffy, with whom he falls in love
Angel fell in love with Buffy the first time he saw her on that fateful day in Los Angeles when she first was called. Soonly after, Angel had his own apartment in Sunnydale where he put himself on a diet of pig's blood. Angel didn't show himself until after her move to Sunnydale, and after her first day at Sunnydale High where he imformed her of The Harvest. Angel continuely added Buffy in the fight against evil, giving her a cross necklace during their first encounter and later his leather jacket when warning her of a forked-hand vampire he fought beforehand. Though sharing an attraction, Buffy did not realize Angel was a vampire until several weeks later when they had their first kiss after battling with The Three . This eventually led to conflict as Darla, who was at Sunnydale with the Order of Aurelius, framed Angel for biting Buffy's mother, Joyce Summers, which gave Buffy the incentive to kill Angel. During their confrontation, Angel explained to Buffy his curse before killing his former lover Darla who had subsequently arrived to kill Buffy. Clearing things up, Buffy realized she by then she had fallen in love with him in turn. Though they tried to deny their feelings, they could not resist the passion growing between them and began dating a year later, months after Buffy killed the Master.
This however, took some time due to issues of trust. Angel expressed jealously towards Buffy's classmate and close friend Xander Harris who, as a human could spend time with her more often and Buffy was suspicious when she found Angel confronting Drusilla which led to Angel giving Buffy an insight into his dark past.
Spike and Drusilla had recently moved to Sunnydale that year with the purpose of killing Buffy and healing Drusilla who was badly injured. To restore her, Spike had Angel kidnapped as part of a ritual where a weak vampire could brought to full light by the death of their sire. Even though Buffy managed to save Angel, Drusilla still somehow recovered.
Only after several months of dating, Buffy and Angel make a strong connection with each other
Spike and Drusilla then reawakened a dangerous demon called The Judge to incinerate the human race. Before doing so, Angel was tasked with going abroad to hide one of the Judge's pieces, thus leaving Buffy for a long period of time. To comfort a saddened Buffy, Angel gave her a physical token of his love during her seventeenth birthday, a Claddagh ring, as was traditional in Ireland. They were later apprehended by Spike and his minions who planned to have Angel watch Buffy die at the hands of a newly arisen Judge.
They escaped and fled to Angel's apartment where they consummated their relationship that night. Angel experienced a moment of pure happiness, at which time he learned about a second aspect to the Gypsy curse: if he ever were to experience a moment of true happiness, he would lose his soul and revert to his former evil self. Angelus immediately kicked back into action, killing a prostitute and arrogantly blowing Buffy off while pretending nothing had happend when they met again. Angelus was disgusted that Buffy made him feel love and vowed to destroy her life.
Angelus threatens Willow
Angelus allied himself once again with Spike and Drusilla and took reisdence in their factory. Resenting the humiliation he felt because Buffy had made Angel feel like a human being, Angelus took immense pleasure in tormenting the Slayer and her friends. First, he helped Spike and Dru deploy the Judge to incinerate the human race.[32] After Buffy destroyed the Judge, Angelus embarked on a guerrilla campaign, lurking in the shadows, preying on Buffy's classmates, sending her gruesome messages, drawing pictures of her as she slept and leaving them in her bedroom. He even revealed the fact Buffy had sex with him to her mother Joyce, pretending to be an obsessed, unstable, love-struck boyfriend.
Angelus' reign of terror culminated in his murder of Jenny Calendar, which served him in two ways. First, he eliminated an enemy (Jenny was born Janna of the Kalderash gypsy clan) and destroyed her work just as she had managed to successfully decipher the lost Gypsy curse which could be used to restore Angel's soul. Second, Angelus used Jenny's death to viciously torment Rupert Giles, Jenny's paramour and the person whom Buffy depended most, being her Watcher. Enraged, Giles went out and tried to kill Angelus, though only succeeded in burning down the factory he lived in.[33]
Along with Spike and Drusilla, Angelus then moved to an abandoned mansion. After Angelus orchestrated this masterpiece of terror, Drusilla drew his attention to a new opportunity for destruction and chaos. Angelus widened his focus and began a scheme to awaken the demon Acathla and bring about the end of the world. Buffy was determined to stop him. Not knowing how to preform the ritual, Angelus kidnapped Giles and tortured him, wanting to know how to do it, though also doing it for the sake of his own enjoyment.
Buffy kills Angel in order to save the world, sending him to hell for a hundred years.
In their final fight, Angelus defeated Buffy, but continued to torment her rather than kill her, allowing her to stage one last counterattack. In her anger, the Slayer was able to overcome Angelus during a full-blown sword fight, but just as Acathla opened the vortex into his hell dimension, Buffy's best friend, Willow Rosenberg, used the ritual Jenny had rediscovered and preserved to restore Angel's soul. Since Acathla could only be stopped by the blood of the individual who activated him, Buffy was forced to impale her beloved Angel to save the world. Impaled on the Slayer's enchanted sword, Angel could only stand there as he was sucked into the closing vortex.[34]
Angel returns from Acathla's hell in a feral state
A few months later, Angel was unexpectedly released from Acathla's hell, reappearing in his mansion in a feral state.[35] Because time can run differently between dimensions, he had experienced a century of brutal torment and was little more than a rabid animal in behavior. Buffy aided him in secret, fostering his rehabilitation. Angel remained feral and she had to chain him up, but he eventually broke out and came to Buffy's rescue when one of her classmates turned into a monster and attacked her. Angel killed him and finally recognized Buffy afterward, and regained his sanity.[36]
When they discovered that Angel had returned and Buffy had not told them, Buffy's friends were disgusted and furious, though Angel managed to win back some good faith and acceptance in the gang after he saved Willow from being killed by the corrupt former Watcher Gwendolyn Post.[37] Angel began to suspect that his return from Hell was not accidental, that he must be meant to serve some unknown purpose. That fear -- that this purpose was not for the cause of good -- grew in Angel's mind at Christmastime as he began to experience what he believed to be hallucinations. However, he was actually being haunted by the First Evil, who claimed to be the one that freed him from Acathla's world (a claim that remains unconfirmed). The First, able to adopt the appearances of Angelus' victims, drove Angel ever closer to the brink of madness by lashing him with guilt and, ultimately, tempting him to end it all by losing his soul once again and killing Buffy in the throes of passion. In despair, Angel chose to kill himself by waiting outside for the sun to rise, rather than risk the life of his beloved Slayer. To Angel's shock and consternation, an apparent miracle occurred and it snowed so heavily that Christmas morning that the sun was blotted out all day. From that moment, he began to entertain the hope that his return might have some purpose for good after all.[17]
Due to his own experiences, Angel tries to help Faith get back on the right path
When the latest Slayer, Faith Lehane, began to go rogue after accidentally killing the Deputy Mayor, Angel attempted to rehabilitate her and nearly succeeded, but his chances at redeeming her were ruined by the interference of Buffy's new Watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, and a special ops team sent by the Watchers Council, who only succeeded in driving Faith even farther down the path of darkness.[38] Later, when Faith began working for the evil Mayor, Richard Wilkins, as a double agent, the duo attempted to force Angel to revert to Angelus once again and appeared to succeed; fortunately, this was in fact revealed to be an elaborate ruse masterminded by Buffy and Angel, with some help from Giles, to expose Faith's new loyalties.[39]
Angel takes Buffy to her prom despite having broken up with her
After that miraculous snowy day in southern California, Angel and Buffy tried to build an actual relationship, taking in the occasional movie, getting away on more scenic patrols, and enjoying moonlit picnics in the cemetery. But it was not to be. Even before their one and only night together, Angel had worried about Buffy's future with him, his inability to give her a family, or even a remotely normal human life. Upon hearing his own concerns reflected back to him from such disparate sources as Mayor Wilkins and Joyce, Angel at last made the difficult decision to leave Sunnydale and Buffy, hoping to give her some semblance of a normal life. Angel broke up with Buffy in the sewer right before her prom night, but went to the dance to let Buffy have her perfect high school moment.[40]
Before the Mayor's Ascension, Faith infected Angel with the "Killer of the Dead," a poison specifically designed to kill vampires that could only be cured by the blood of a Slayer, in order to distract Buffy. Having failed to bring a dead Faith to Angel to cure him, Buffy forced Angel to feed from her. Even Angel resisted at first, he was enraged when Buffy hit him enough that he indulged himself on Buffy's blood, almost killing her but stopping before he could drain her completely. Having quickly recovered from his poison, Angel rushed Buffy to the hospital where he stopped the grieving Mayor from smothering Buffy.[41]
Angel promised Buffy that he would stay until Sunnydale High's Graduation Day, to help avert the Mayor's Ascension. He also warned her that, if they survived the ordeal, he would leave without saying goodbye, as it would be too painful to not do so. They survived with Angel commanding a small number of fighters to surround the Mayor's vampire henchmen. After the destruction of Sunnydale High, Angel, with a last, long look at the Slayer, kept his final promise and departed for Los Angeles.[41]
Los Angeles
Angel Investigations
Angel in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, Angel spent a few months alone, patrolling dives and dark alleys, battling vampires who hunt there and fighting the blood lust that had been reawakened when he fed from Buffy by not getting close to the humans he was trying to help. Soon enough, he received support in his attempts to redeem himself in the service of others. First, Doyle, a half-Brachen Demon and fellow Irishman with precognitive abilities was sent by The Powers That Be to be Angel's guide. Almost immediately thereafter, Angel ran into Cordelia Chase, a former classmate of Buffy's who had moved to Los Angeles to find wealth and fame. The trio formed Angel Investigations, a private detective agency whose mission statement was to "help the helpless." Doing this, Angel attracted the attention of the evil law firm, Wolfram & Hart.[29]
The trio managed to do a lot of good, but when Doyle had a vision of Buffy in danger at Thanksgiving, Angel immediately returned to Sunnydale to help against Hus, a Native American vengeance spirit accidentally set free by Xander Harris' construction crew. However, Angel made his presence known to all of the Scoobies except Buffy under the belief that his presence would only distract and endanger her even more.[42]
During his day as a human, Angel and Buffy embrace
Upon discovering the truth, Buffy, hurt that Angel never revealed his presence to her, immediately traveled to Los Angeles to confront him, and the two agreed to stay away from one another for the time being. Just as she was about to leave, however, the two were attacked by a Mohra Demon. Though the duo succeeded in wounding it, the Mohra escaped, and Buffy and Angel immediately tracked it down in the sewers. The two became separated, and Angel seemingly killed the demon, and in doing so, its blood mixed with his own and resurrected him, making him human again. Buffy and Angel reveled in finally being able to be happy together, but Angel soon discovered that the Powers That Be had not yet offered him forgiveness as he had not sufficiently atoned. When Angel was nearly killed by the regenerated Mohra, Buffy managed to slay it with his help. Upon discovering that Buffy would die much sooner if he remained human, Angel made an impossibly painful decision: he had the Oracles rewind time to reverse his transformation into a human, leaving no one but himself with any memory of the incident.[43]
Eventually, Doyle, Angel's trusted friend and sole connection to the Powers That Be, sacrificed himself to save others, leading Angel to become even more protective of those few he held dear. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, who had briefly served as Watcher to both Buffy and Faith Lehane in Sunnydale, arrived in Los Angeles around that time, claiming to be a "rogue demon hunter," a "lone wolf sort" who only worked solo. After their first case, however, Wesley was eager to stay and assist Angel and Cordelia, who had inherited the visions from the Powers that Be from Doyle, in their mission.[44] A few months later, they were joined by lifelong demon fighter Charles Gunn after Angel resolved a vampire-human street conflict that was turning in favor of the former.[45]
During this time, three young Wolfram & Hart associates, Lindsey McDonald, Lee Mercer, and Lilah Morgan, attempted to have Faith assassinate Angel. Angel defeated Faith, but refused to kill her, having discovered that Faith really wanted help.[25] Even as Buffy, the Watcher's Council, and the Los Angeles Police Department pursued Faith, Angel continued to help her. When Faith gave herself up to the police, he and Buffy got into an argument, during which Buffy used her relationship with her new boyfriend, Riley Finn, to attack him. In response, Angel launched a tirade against Buffy, reminding her that, while it was great that she had moved on, he himself could not and had no one with whom to share his pain, culminating in him telling Buffy that she didn't know him anymore and that she had no right to just show up with her "great new life" and tell him how to do things in "his city" before harshly ordering her to go back to Sunnydale. Immediately afterward, Angel regretted his words and traveled to Sunnydale to make amends. Though he ran afoul of Riley and the Initiative in the process, he managed to get to Buffy and apologize, who also apologized for butting into his life, and Angel departed after informing Buffy that he didn't like Riley, much to Buffy's amusement.
Later, Angel and his teammates uncover the Shanshu Prophecy. The prophecy reveals that the vampire with a soul will play a pivotal role in the apocalypse, and upon fulfilling his destiny, would be rewarded by being made human.
To Angel's shock, Wolfram & Hart brings back Darla as a human
The Angel Investigations team enlisted the help of demon karaoke bar-owner, Lorne, initially known only as The Host. Both prescient and empathic, Lorne could sense the futures of humans and demons when they sang. As Angel continued to help the helpless in Los Angeles, his good deeds began seriously to disrupt the plans of Wolfram & Hart. In an attempt to control him, the firm resurrected his sire and former lover, Darla, though she came back as a human rather than as a vampire. Angel became obsessed with Darla on two fronts; at first, he wanted to prove that she was actually back and not just a figment of his imagination and second, he desired to save her when it was revealed that she was dying from the same disease that was killing her before she was sired by the Master. Wolfram & Hart then summoned Drusilla, who turned Darla into a vampire again. Angel felt such deep anguish at his failure to save Darla, and such intense fury at Wolfram & Hart for their machinations, that he fired his crew and embarked on a bitter, ruthless vendetta against both the law firm and the newly reunited Darla and Drusilla. At his darkest moment, Angel allowed Drusilla and Darla to slaughter a number of prominent Wolfram & Hart employees, even locking them in the room to ensure that none would escape.
Eventually, Holland Manners succeeded in completely breaking Angel's spirit by telling him that the power of Wolfram & Hart came from the evil within humanity itself; depressed and tortured, Angel had sex with Darla in an attempt to shed his soul and become Angelus again, but only found perfect despair rather than perfect happiness. An epiphany followed the desperate act,[46] and Angel realized that his purpose was still to do all the good he could, even if he couldn't do all the good he wanted to. Having hoped to get Angelus back, Darla was disgusted and infuriated by Angel's epiphany, and fled Los Angeles. The group finally reconciled, and Wesley was appointed the official leader. But Angel's relationship with his teammates, particularly Cordelia, was strained, though things improved rather quickly.
After the death of Buffy's mother, Angel returned to Sunnydale to comfort Buffy, and the two spent a night discussing how life would continue after Joyce's death. Angel assured Buffy that she was strong and would find her way over time, and offered to stay in Sunnydale as long as she needed him, though she knew that he could not stay for long. Nonetheless, Buffy appreciated that he came, and he remained with her until sunrise.[47]
Afterward, Cordelia was sucked into Lorne's home dimension of Pylea, and the Angel Investigations team followed her. Eventually, after Angel defeated the undefeated Champion of Pylea, the Groosalugg, they returned with a new team member, Winifred "Fred" Burkle, in tow, and learned that Buffy had died.[48][49]
Fatherhood
Angel helping Darla, who was pregnant with their human son
Devastated by Buffy's death, Angel spent several months mourning her in a Tibetan monastery in Sri Lanka, returning despondent and believing that he had betrayed Buffy by continuing to live while she was dead, though Cordelia assured him that he was in fact honoring her memory by continuing to fight the good fight in Buffy's stead. Despite Buffy's miraculous resurrection a few months later, Angel found that his previously platonic love for Cordelia had grown to be romantic. Before he had a chance to confess his feelings, however, Darla returned, miraculously pregnant. The previous year, Angel had endured trials in order to win a new life for Darla as she was dying.[50] However, Darla had already been given a second chance at life and Angel's prize seemingly went to waste. However, thanks to the one night of passion the two shared together, Darla became pregnant which was thought to be impossible for vampires. Because she was dead and therefore could not give birth to the child, Darla staked herself, leaving only a crying baby. Angel was overcome with parental love, and named their child Connor, in recognition of his Irish heritage.
2002: False prophecies, time travelers, and betrayal led to Angel losing his infant son to an old enemy, Holtz, who abducted Connor soon after his birth, taking him to the hell dimension Quor'toth, where time passed differently. Wesley unintentionally brought about the kidnapping due to uncovering a false prophecy that stated "the father will kill the son," and Angel attempted to kill Wesley in the hospital; Wesley was subsequently fired from Angel Investigations, while Angel resumed his position as the team's leader. Unexpectedly, Connor returned days later, a young man of 18 or so who had been raised by Holtz to be a warrior and to believe that Angel was a soulless monster. Holtz took his own life in such a way that Connor was led to believe he was killed by Angel, making Connor hate his father and be determined to make him pay for the suffering he had caused Holtz and others. Connor then sank his father to the bottom of the ocean in a steel coffin, while Cordelia ascended to a higher plane, the feelings shared between her and Angel still left unspoken.
Angel continually tries to do the best for his son, Connor
Rescued by Wesley from his watery prison, Angel's relationship with Connor was strained. It was complicated further by the return of an amnesiac Cordelia, who preferred to stay with Connor because he told her the truth while the others lied to her (albeit because they thought it was for her own good).
2003: When a very powerful demon known only as the Beast arrived and began an attempt to bring forth an apocalypse, Angel's worst fears were realized when he had to strip himself of his soul and revert to his evil alter ego in order to defeat it, after Cordelia had a vision of Angelus facing the Beast in the past which Angel did not recall (It was later revealed that a spell had been cast before the Beast's arrival which erased all reference to it in this dimension, with Angelus being immune because he technically didn't exist when the spell was cast). Angelus did indeed overcome the Beast, and was also deft enough to realize that the Beast was a mere "flunky" serving an even more powerful evil; the Beast he knew was only interested in smashing and slaughter, and it was unlikely that it would have become smarter in the years since his initial encounter with Angelus.
Angelus returns and taunts from within his cage
Although he was momentarily free to wreak a little havoc of his own, Angelus was recaptured and re-ensouled after he defeated and drank from Faith, who had injected herself with a powerful drug. Faith (who had almost died in her quest to capture Angelus) and Willow helped to accomplish Angel's restoration via a brief but violent mental battle between Angel and Angelus. After his soul was restored, Angel, using information that Angelus had acquired during his freedom, figured out that the enemy he had been battling was a little closer to home than the group had previously considered. He realized that whatever the Beast's "boss" was, it was using Cordelia's body to carry out its plans, and it had seduced Angel's son Connor over to its side, warping the youth further and increasing the gap between Angel and his son. After battling and defeating the divine being known as Jasmine, Angel was offered the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram & Hart as their thanks for ending world peace by killing Jasmine. Angel acted against all of his instincts and made a deal with his sworn enemy in exchange for them erasing Connor’s memories and giving him a normal life, and trying to find a way to cure Cordelia who had gone into a coma.
Soon after the events in Los Angeles, Angel traveled to Sunnydale to give Buffy an amulet that he had obtained from Wolfram & Hart because he was told that it would play a role in the upcoming battle with The First Evil and had to be worn by someone with a soul, but more than human - a champion. He saved Buffy from getting killed by Caleb, but she insisted that she finish the fight on her own. After the fight concluded, they shared a kiss while being unknowingly watched by Spike, along with The First Evil. Angel wished to fight with her in the battle, but Buffy told him to go prepare his crew for a second front in case the Scoobies failed to stop the First. Angel then discussed with Buffy, Spike, the return of his soul, her feelings for him, the future. and if he had a place in it with her. She told him that it would be a long time, if ever, but she sometimes saw a future with him. Accepting, Angel returned to Los Angeles to prepare the second front, hoping he would not have to use it, and told Buffy, "I ain't getting any older."
CEO of Wolfram & Hart
Angel's year spent running Wolfram & Hart was one marred with challenge and self-doubt. Trying to battle evil from within the belly of the beast proved to be more difficult than even he had imagined, with the lines of good and evil becoming ever more gray with every action taken, and he soon discovered that his friends and allies in the Scooby Gang, including Buffy, had deemed him untrustworthy. Shortly after Angel assumed control of the law firm, matters were further complicated when Spike appeared as a ghost, emerging from the amulet Angel had given Buffy and that was then sent back to Angel in the mail. Sharing a complicated history of murder and mayhem, they had spent more than a century as rivals in everything. Now both possessed souls, and both were still in love with Buffy; they had evolved into very different heroes in the war against evil. Forced to co-exist, they waged a protracted, insidious battle of wills, ending when they finally came to an understanding and accepted their unique brotherhood on their journey to redemption.
Angel and Spike fighting for the Shanshu Prophecy
When they battled over the Cup of Perpetual Torment, Spike told Angel "You had a soul forced on you. As a curse. Make you suffer for all the horrible things you've done. Me, I fought for my soul, went through the demon trials, almost did me in a dozen times over, but I kept fighting. Because I knew it was the right thing to do. It's my destiny." Then, Spike defeated Angel for the first time in their century-plus association, making Angel believe that Spike was the vampire with a soul spoken about in the Shanshu Prophecy. Despite this, Spike and Angel came to an understanding that let the two of them operate as a lethal team when the two ended up fighting side-by-side, using their long experience of each other's skills to operate in near-perfect tandem. However, when he discovered that Lindsey McDonald had returned to L.A. and had been manipulating Spike and others in a revenge plan, Angel defeated him in a fight and regained his confidence.
While investigating the sinister children's program, Smile Time, Angel was turned into a puppet. Puppet Angel managed to stop Smile Time's plans and save the children of Los Angeles. He remained a puppet for several days until the spell wore off. It was around this time that he realized werewolf Nina Ash was attracted to him, and the pair started dating.[51]
Angel was elated when Cordelia finally awoke from her coma. Cordelia and Angel discussed how skewed he got from his path and how lost he was without her, Cordelia shocked to learn that he and the others had taken over "Evil Incorporated." Before Cordelia took her leave, she and Angel finally revealed their feelings for each other, culminating in a kiss.[52] The kiss, more than just a symbol of love, was instrumental in Angel returning to his path; Cordelia passed onto Angel a single vision as later that night, and Angel realized what he had to do.[53]
Angel and Connor reunited
Angel was later reunited with his son, Connor, when the the latter was forced to fulfill his destiny by killing the demon Sahjhan. As a result of this, Connor's memories were returned to him and he remembered that Angel was his father.[54]
Angel finally understood that he would never be able to completely stop the forces of evil, but that he could temporarily sever the Senior Partners' hold on Earth and stop their apocalyptic plans. To this end, Angel pretended to delve deeper into the darkness and fooled the Senior Partners and his teammates into thinking that he desired to join the Circle of the Black Thorn, the Senior Partners' instruments on Earth. He even went so far as to sign away his candidacy for the Shanshu Prophecy to prove his loyalty.
Together with his comrades, Angel prepared to destroy the Circle of the Black Thorn, a battle that none of them expected to survive. He instructed his teammates to spend the day as if it was their last as he spent it by visiting Connor who revealed to his father that he regained his memories and appreciated what Angel did for him but wanted to keep it at that. Later that night, Team Angel assassinated the members of the Circle of the Black Thorn with Angel taking on Marcus Hamilton with the help of Connor. In this effort, Gunn was badly wounded (probably mortally), and Wesley was killed. Gunn manages to make it to the meeting point, the alley behind the Hyperion Hotel, where he, Angel, Spike, and Illyria engaged in battle with the dark armies that the Senior Partners had sent against them.[55]
Fall of Los Angeles
The Senior Partners render Angel human, leaving him vulnerable to mortal injuries
During the battle, Angel was teleported away from Gunn and towards the dragon he later befriended, who had been tricked in fighting for Wolfram & Hart; Gunn was dragged away and subsequently turned into a vampire.[56] The Senior Partners sent all of Los Angeles to a hell dimension between moments of time, turning the city into an apocalyptic battlefield full of demons. At the same moment, they rendered Angel human to deprive him of his strength and immortality when he needed it most; unaware of the change, he leaped off a rooftop, breaking his legs and back. He was discovered by Wesley, resurrected as a ghost to act as liaison between Angel and the Senior Partners.[57] The dragon took Angel back to W&H, where he relied on neo-primitive healing salves and incantations to repair his broken body. The process took months, and Angel spent every second awake and in agony; to endure the pain, he spoke to an imaginary Cordelia. Believing he was talking to him, the dragon came to believe its own name was Cordelia.[58] With his body healed, Angel, using various spells and enchantments to provide himself with his vampiric abilities, began patrolling the hell-ridden city with "Cordelia," rescuing citizens and sending them, anonymously, to a safe-house run by Connor, Nina, and Gwen Raiden. His mission was complicated by the deaths of the Demon Lords who had taken control over areas of Los Angeles.[59] Angel declared war on the Demon Lords, challenging them to a battle to liberate the city.[60] Initially alone in the fight, he was soon aided by his old friends, Spike, Illyria, Connor, Gwen, Nina, Groosalugg, Lorne, and Wesley,[61] and successfully tricked the Lords into killing themselves with the Hagan Shafts.[62]
Angel is horrified by a vision of his role in the Shanshu Prophecy
Following their victory, Team Angel returned to their old base, the Hyperion Hotel,[62] where Angel resumed his patrols of the city. After killing a nest of vampires, Illyria revealed to the group that Angel was no longer a vampire, leaving Connor feeling angry and betrayed. When he asked Illyria to seek out the most powerful vampire in Hell-A, Angel was horrified when she led him to Gunn.[63] Defeating Angel in battle, Gunn undid the magics keeping Angel alive, reopening every wound he had suffered since turning human.[64] Visited by the spirit of Cordelia, Angel resigned himself to death after receiving a vision from the Senior Partners regarding his role in the Shanshu Prophecy; himself standing alone surrounded by bodies.[58] However, last-minute encouragement from Connor inspired him to keep fighting.[65] Angel's friends healed his injuries, but at the same time, Gunn caused Illyria to revert to her true form.[66] As Illyria prepared to end all existence, Angel devised a plan to stop her; he had Betta George telepathically force Spike and Wesley's memories of Fred into Illyria's mind. The distracted Illyria was then taken down by the Senior Partners' forces. Meanwhile, Connor was mortally wounded by Gunn and died in his father's arms.[67] Realizing that the Senior Partners needed him alive for their plans, Angel provoked Gunn into decapitating him with the Flaming Sword. As planned, the Senior Partners reset the timeline to the last point Angel was alive, the moment before Los Angeles was sent to Hell. This time, Angel rescued Gunn before he was sired and took him to a hospital, and tearfully reunited with a resurrected Connor. However, the Wolfram & Hart building had mysteriously vanished from existence, and everybody remembered their time in Hell, making Angel and his allies city-wide celebrities recognized for their heroism.[68] Giving Cordelia the dragon over to Groosalugg to remain as inconspicuous as possible, Angel reopened Angel Investigations.[69]
- “All this time, I did what I did because of the Shanshu Prophecy. Well. Time to start doing what I do despite it.”
- ―Angel[src]
Back to Earth
Recreation of Angel Investigations
- “Back to the beginning. Back when I used to do some good.”
- ―Angel[src]
As his friends went their separate ways, Angel reunited with Kate Lockley for the first time in over three years. Kate had changed dramatically since their last meeting and invited herself to join the new Angel Investigations alongside Connor, with Gunn, Illyria, and Spike eventually rejoining as well. Angel's new-found fame proved difficult for the agency, with many potential cases turning out to be just people who wanted to see Angel. Angel also had to put up with constant assassination attempts from the Demon Lords, who had been resurrected in the restoration of Los Angeles.[70] One of these assassins, the feline shapeshifter Dez, quickly became an ally to the team.[71] Angel also befriended James, a Potentate who abandoned his fellow warrior angels when they began killing humans.[72]
One of Angel's missions took him to the San Diego Sci-Fi Festival, a comic book convention where he viewed a preview of Last Angel in Hell, a Hollywood adaption of the Fall of Los Angeles. Angel was disappointed by the inaccuracy of the film, in which his character, Angel Cartwright, was played by Nicholas Cage.[73] When contacted by a corporation about the possibility of turning their clients into vampires to grant them immortality, Angel was abducted and kept prisoner after he rejected their offer, stating that his "condition" was not something that could be passed on, the organization studying him to try and develop a means of duplicating his status of an immortal with a soul.[74] However, Illyria was able to find Angel after the lab's premature unveiling- having been unable to establish that the soul had been successfully returned to their clients despite their best efforts-, informing him that she had decided to continue fighting for humanity if he would help to serve as her moral compass- due to the similarity between the two as demons "afflicted" with a human conscience-, simultaneously asking for his permission to "court" Connor as she approached a once-in-a-millennium breeding stage and seeking Connor to be the father of her potential offspring.[75]
Following his and Illyria's escape, the group found themselves with a new problem when new team member Laura Kay Weathermill revealed that James was not an angel, but was in fact an unidentified higher demonic power investigating Earth to prepare for his conquest of it. Prior to his departure from the Hyperion, James beat Laura unconscious and ripped off Angel's hands and feet, only for the amputated limbs to start growing back. Wondering at this sudden change in vampire powers, the team learned that it was an indication that some powerful supernatural upheaval was about to take place.[76] This attack was foreshadowed by James attempting to eliminate Angel and Spike by summoning a soul-eating demon known as Liss Hubble,[77] but this attempt was interrupted when Liss revealed that Spike does not actually have a soul.[78] Despite this shock, Angel and the group managed to defeat Liss, Angel agreeing with the other group's comments that Spike had changed recently, expressing disinterest in having Spike revert to his crazy basement-inhabiting self, although he concluded that Spike could stay around so long as they kept an eye on him, Spike reaffirming that he was still on their side.[79] Following a confrontation with a demonic sisterhood that sought Connor's blood for unspecified reasons, Angel decided to take a temporary leave from the agency in order to give Connor a chance to find out who he was on his own without following in his father's footsteps.[80]
James' Future
Just as he was leaving Los Angeles, Angel was 'summoned' into the future by Darrow, an agent of the Senior Partners, who shows him the world that James had created, only for Angel to leap off the building into the city rather than remain and be forced to help the Senior Partners again.[81] While exploring the city, Angel discovered that his original offices have been turned into a museum dedicated to his memory- including a statue of him-, allowing him to re-arm himself before he was forced to retreat to the sewers with Darrow to escape James. Before he can learn Darrow's plan, however, Darrow was found unconscious, only for Angel to learn that Darrow's attacker was actually Illyria.[82] Having convinced Illyria that he was only there to help take down James, regardless of what other plans Wolfram & Hart have for him, Angel, Illyria and Darrow sneak into James's main office, only to discover that James had been decapitated by his "sister."[83] As Illyria clashes with James's sister, Darrow, fatally injured in the fight, admits to Angel that he had a great role in the past that will see him acting in ways he never imagined, but dies before he can fully explain this comment. Although James's sister offers Angel control of this Earth, granting him freedom to run it any way he likes so long as he continues to provide her with her armies, Angel rejects the offer due to his experience with trying to run Wolfram & Hart that way, asking that Illyria send him back to the past so that he can confront James.[84] Returning to his time, Angel was able to use a gem that he had acquired from Darrow to disrupt James before he and Connor- using Connor's new powers- defeated James. Returning to Angel Investigations- while expressing confidence that the present-day Illyria would find them again-, Angel confronted the Conduit in the White Room one last time, informing it that he or Connor would always be there to stop W&H's plans.[85]
Twilight
Angel takes on the identity of Twilight and assembles an anti-Slayer organization to "save the world."
- “Powerful people -- governments -- lining up to wipe out the "terrorists" you created. Demons weren't thrilled either. I put on a mask, talk about "Master Plans"... distract them. Keep the body count as low as I can while I push.”
- ―Angel explains the Twilight ruse.[src]
At some point, Angel gained new abilities after a meeting with a shape-shifting higher power, including flight and invulnerability, which he quickly used to save a damaged airplane.[86] With governments and demons fearful of the new Slayers created by Buffy and plotting to destroy them, Angel was approached by Whistler, the very same demon who originally put him on his heroic path, and the higher power itself, who presented him with numerous possible future scenarios, those of which that depict Angel fighting alongside Buffy, ending with both of them dying in battle, and insisted that the only way for Angel to save them both was to fight against Buffy,[87] stating that if Angel did not do so, the entire world would go to Hell like Los Angeles did.[88] Though naturally reluctant to deceive Buffy, Angel assumed the identity of "Twilight" and gathered a cabal of those most likely to oppose the Slayer army, consisting of several demons, members of the United States military such as General Voll, and Lieutenant Moulter, as well as Buffy's old enemies Warren Mears and Amy Madison, and her ex-boyfriend Agent Riley Finn, the latter of whom was acting as a double agent for Buffy, though "Twilight" was aware of this fact. His supposed goal was to bring about the end of magic and eliminate all Slayers. However, his true goal was to keep the anti-Slayer forces distracted with his supposed "master plan," thus allowing him to coordinate the anti-Slayer movement and limit the potential damage that might result had these factions struck independently, while at the same time give Buffy a concrete threat to fight against, keeping her focused and ready for the challenges that lay ahead, while also guiding her into a position where she would somehow acquire powers similar to his.
Twilight revealing his identity
As Twilight, Angel orchestrated the training of rogue Slayer Genevieve Savidge by the warlock Roden, which resulted in the deaths of both threats to Buffy, a mystical missile attack on the HQ of the Slayer Organization and full scale siege on the Tibetan sanctuary set up by Daniel Osbourne and his wife Bayarmaa. During the siege, Twilight left behind his "seconds" - Amy, Warren, and the General - to kidnap Giles, Faith, and Andrew (although he had some trouble recognizing Andrew, most likely due to the brevity of their previous contact). He took them to his "Villain HQ," which was magically cloaked three seconds in the future, though Buffy tracked him down when the cloak was undone by Willow and Amy. Confronted by Buffy- now possessing strength, invulnerability, and flight like his own- Twilight chose to reveal his true identity to her. Though initially enraged by this, Buffy, under the influence of a glowing aura, was moved when Angel explained his plan, and kissed him. The two give in to their passions after being apart for years and start engaging in an act of passionate airborne sex, subsequently finding themselves in a paradise dimension. Giles explains to the others that the current events tie in to a prophecy of a supernatural upheaval where the world shall be recreated after a Slayer changes the world, with Buffy and Angel having been selected to serve as the catalysts of that change.[89] Despite the prospects of eternal happiness with Angel in the new paradise dimension, Buffy chooses to return upon witnessing her friends and family fighting the resulting demonic hordes. Angel agrees to join her, only for the fight to be interrupted when Spike appears claiming to have the answer to the current crisis.[90] Later, Buffy confesses to Angel that it was the "weirdest best day" of her life and tells him that he had her heart. However, given Angel's currently tense relationship with Spike, as well as the Scoobies' current hostility towards him, Buffy asked Angel to help protect the Slayers from the currently-attacking demons while she went with Spike to investigate his claims.[86]
While in the midst of doing so, however, Angel encountered the same higher power who granted him his new powers, this time in the form of a winged lion. The power revealed itself to be the very dimension, itself called 'Twilight,' that Buffy and Angel chose to abandon, and insisted that Angel and Buffy finish what they started. To this end, Twilight seemingly possessed Angel and sent him to the ruins of Sunnydale to stop the Scoobies and Spike. Although Buffy was able to keep Angel occupied long enough to destroy the Seed of Wonder, Angel killed Giles before he was returned to normal.[91] Following this, Angel had been reduced to an apparently catatonic state, with Faith taking care of him in the London flat that Giles left to her as she feels that she was the only person who will not judge Angel for his actions as Twilight due to her past experience with redemption[92]
Efforts to Resurrect Giles
- Faith: “ And I'm all for using the Watcher's files to help people who need help, demons who need killing, the whole nine. But you gotta stop obsessing over every detail of his life. If you wanna take his place without going crazy--”
- Angel: “Take his place? I could never take his place. I'm going to bring Giles back to life.”
- — Angel's determination to resurrect Rupert Giles.[src]
In London, Angel was confined to Giles' flat where he remained in a state of intense depression for a prolonged period of time. Faith cared for him and in an attempt to speed up his recovery, read him passages from Giles' old Watcher's Diaries. After he heard about a little girl who was playing host to a demon, he suddenly recuperated, donning his redemptive mindset once more. He accompanied Faith to the girl's residence, and as th
Angel reveals his intention to resurrect Rupert Giles to Faith.
e demon was slaughtered he received a rush of Giles' memories detailing the day he'd fallen in love with Jenny Calendar. On the way back to their apartment, Angel told Faith that Giles' writings about the girl had "opened his eyes" and then sent her on her way, informing her that he could go home alone and wait for her, as she had other things to do. Later, when Faith returned to the apartment after spending several hours in Brixton with her fellow Slayers, she openly questioned Angel about his time under the guise of Twilight. She was particularly interested in knowing if he had murdered Giles in his own right mind, or if he had been taken over by Twilight's influence at the time. While he did not deny that he had been dominated by Twilight during the actual murder, he reminded Faith that he had been himself on many other occasions, and that he now had more blood on his hands than even Angelus. He told her that he wanted to continue Giles' work where he'd left off, helping people in need, and also revealed the true reason why he had recovered so suddenly. He had decided to bring Giles back to life.[93]
Angel fights side-by-side with Faith.
One night, Angel saved Nadira's life from a vampire, but fled in order to avoid being seen by Faith's Slayers (most of whom wanted him dead for his actions as Twilight). Faith found him, and asked him how he intended to resurrect someone who had died a natural death. He disclosed that he would work Giles' soul rather than his body; while Faith still seemed skeptical of his plan, she agreed to help him.[94] The pair followed a lead to a demon dealing Mohra blood, which Angel hoped to use to recover Giles' body once his soul had been restored. He tracked down the blood at a demon auction, but just as they had managed to claim it, Angel's old associates Pearl and Nash suddenly attacked.[94] The demon siblings engaged Angel and Fiaht in battle, but Faith managed detain them by planting Mohra blood in Nash's pocket. The other demons at the auction ran for a chance to get it while Angel and Faith went to examine the basement of the establishment. To their intense disappointment, they discovered in the new magic-less world, Mohra blood did not regenerate dead flesh with stability, but triggered perpetual regeneration until the victim was decapitated. Still determined, Angel began researching other methods of restoring corpses back at their apartment; when Faith came downstairs, he surprised her by speaking in a British accent and asking for tea.[94]
Reliving Giles' memories, Angel chose to visit a cemetery where the the Watcher had once witnessed the deaths of his friends at the hands of a Lorophage demon: an insect-like beast that feeds on emotional trauma. While there, he followed the scent of blood to a seniors' home, where he came across a deranged young man slaughtering the residents. After taking care of the problem, he sparred with Faith on the roof of their building, and discussed the emergence of a new "it" vampire, Mother Superior, who ran a cult in a nearby church. Angel quickly brought up the possibility that the same Lorophage demon that had killed Giles' friends when he was younger was responsible for the bouts of psychosis blighting the city, as victims of Lorophage attacks oftentimes lose their sanity as a result of their trauma being brought to the surface too suddenly. The two went to an old associate of Giles, Alasdair Coames, for help. Angel realized that a vampire might be controlling the Lorophage through hypnosis. They followed a lead to Mother Superior's church, only to find both the Lorophage demon and a completely sane Drusilla Keeble.[95]
Angel reminisced about the moment he'd first laid eyes on Drusilla over a century ago. Her purity had driven him to want to mold her into his "masterpiece." Seeing her again with her sanity restored, he desperately asked her how she had managed it, causing her to reveal that the Lorophage demon had consumed the traumatic memories that had caused her lunacy. She had chosen to help people with her newfound clarity, but as Angel was aware, her efforts had gone in vain. He attempted to kill the Lorophage to prevent further problems, but it easily fought him off. Drusilla then offered to remove his suffering. He refused, and along with Faith, left the church. He met Faith's father back at the apartment, and urged her to reconnect with him; he then went to the Easter End of London, to the old house where Drusilla had lived with her family as a human. Drusilla was already there waiting for him, and once again begged him to let her take away his pain. He refused again, and then urgently apologized for what he had done to her as Angelus; however, she declared that she no longer cared. She was able to see that he had attached a magical item known as the Tooth of Ammut to his body, which he intended to use to draw the fragments of Giles' soul trapped in demons and other mysitcal sources into his body.[96]
Angel and Faith walk on whilst reflecting about Drusilla's saintly past.
When he arrived at the apartment again, he and Faith confronted her father, who revealed that he had come to ask his Slayer daughter to kill a mobster for him. She turned him down, but when the man showed up looking for him, she and Angel were forced to fight him off; in a moment of rage she cut off the man's hand, and in remorse, fled the scene.[97]Angel followed her to Drusilla's church, where she had hoped to have her pain alleviated by the Lorophage. Although the initially accepted Drusilla's gift, Angel convinced her to reject it with the justification that the loss of her pain would only deprive of her of the emotional strength she had gained through maturation. Angel then forced the Lorophage to feed on itself, releasing the torment it had consumed from Drusilla, Faith and its other victims. Drusilla begged Angel not to force her to take back her pain, but as it returned to her body she once again lost all sense. Before running away, she gave Angel a teary and foreboding message, foretelling his dark future involving the three "voices" that would soon come to inhabit his body.
Having saved each other once more, Angel and Faith made an uneasy truce. Faith declared her appreciation to Angel for continuing to believe in her, and as they walked away together, they reflected about Drusilla's past as a saintly human. Faith proclaimed Drusilla to be a mess, and although Angel openly agreed with her, he made the closing statement: "But before she met me, she was beautiful."[98]
Willow visits Angel in London with a dangerous request.
Back at the flat, they were surprised to find two young women: Giles' great aunts, Lavinia and Sophie, who had been powerful mystics before magic was removed from the world. After dealing with the unfortunate effects of the aunts magical deals, Angel and Faith were suddenly visited by Willow Rosenberg, who revealed that she had found a way to restore the world's magic. By traveling to the Hell dimension Quor'toth, the only dimension accessible by non-magic means, she could obtain its surplus magic and then travel to other realities via portals. However, she would need Connor's assistance. Despite Angel's reluctance to involve his son in his life again, he agreed and together with Willow and Faith, returned to Los Angeles, where they reunited with Charles Gunn and Connor, and used the scythe to carve symbols on Connor's body to open a rift to Quor'toth.[99]
Willow's plan proved successful. In Quor'toth, Connor served as a guide, while Willow reminded Angel about the possible consequences of being in another dimension. They eventually came across dog-like demons who worshipped Connor; wanting to help them, Connor stayed behind. As Willow attempted to open a portal to the World Without Shrimp, they were attacked by the Old One called Quor'toth. Willow tried to fight him off, but was at first overcome. Angel encouraged her by prompting her to reflect on how weak she had become without magic. As Willow regained her confidence, the magic began to corrupt her.[100]
In an attempt to calm her, Angel convinced Willow that she was strong enough to fight both the darkness and the demon. Still, she could not control herself, and transformed completely into "Dark Willow." She dropped a mountain on Quor'toth, and preached her desire to rule over the entire dimension. As she rampaged, Angel concocted a plan. Faith launched him into the sky, where he managed to sink his teeth into Willow's throat. His plan worked, and Willow returned to normal and fainted from fatigue. Angel struggled briefly with the urge to continue feeding on her; startled and frightened, he begged Faith to kill him. She came close to doing so at his request, but was stopped by both Willow and Connor. In the wake of the battle, Angel and Willow managed to reconcile. She revealed that although she hadn't yet forgiven him, she couldn't hate him either. She allowed him to take the fragment of Giles' soul from the Scythe, and he and Faith returned to Los Angeles.[101]]]
Angel met up afterwards with Whistler at a London pizzeria on the anniversary of their first meeting. Angel was immediately furious with him when he realized Whistler was working with Pearl and Nash, about to resort to violence until Whistler broke his wrist and ordered him to sit down. They reminisce about the day the meet and when Angel was given his purpose for redemption. While Whistler was angry that he had ruined the plan, Angel remained unphased, defending himself by saying their friends were in danger and he wanted to help. He called him out on many people dying in the process and that Whistler was manipulating both him and Buffy from the beginning, assuming they would be too drunk on power and each other to make the right choice. Whistler admitted this, elaborating on both Angel and Buffy's meeting being predestined as well as the story of his parents who were killed by the Powers That Be for breaking the rules.
Stunned by the knowledge of Whistler's information and the vision he had before the end of magic of a dark future, Angel seemed slightly more sympathetic. He admitted that he was grateful towards him for giving him purpose in life and allowing him to meet Buffy but denied the plan believing Whistler to have gone crazy since he was cut off from the Powers and wanted to help him with that, not participate in something that could sacrifice the lives of many innocent people despite Whistler's fixation on "balance". Furious by this, he attacked Angel and nearly staked him. Ultimately, he survived as Whistler still had a soft spot for him but nonetheless warned Angel to never see him again.[102]
After traveling to Peru with Faith to retrieve the Crown of Coils from a demon (something he claimed he needed as it had kept regenerating their opponent during the fight), Angel flew back on a plane to London to dig up Giles' coffin from his grave. As planned, he and Faith dug up the grave to get his body only to be shocked and confused to see that Giles' corpse wasn't there. Returning to London, they soon realized that the body had been gone before it was buried, as the grave was untouched. A furious and grief-stricken Nadira, along with her slayers appeared, with one of them lying dead between them. Immediately, she told Angel she knew he was trying to bring back Giles so ordered him to resurrect Marianne, who had been killed by his "child", Drusilla. Angel refused, explaining that Giles was only possible because his life had been so steeped in magic. Impulsively, Nadira attacked him and threatened that he better find a way or they will all kill him, quickly leaving with her team after receiving a text about a possible "solution".[103]
Fed up with her difficulty with her slayers, Faith's patience snapped and she blamed him for their lack of trust and respect of her. She made it clear that she was done once she finished helping him with his efforts to bring back Giles. Understanding and seeing the truth in her statements, Angel agreed without complaint. Together, they go to the funeral home of Giles to piece together what happened to Giles' body. The Fairweather sisters informed them that Ethan Rayne was on the guest book for the funeral, much to Angel and Faith's confusion since he was killed by General Voll during the Twilight Crisis. However, Angel quickly realized that it was Eyghon the Sleepwalker who had possessed Ethan Rayne and now possessed Giles as well, stating that he is the last piece of Giles' soul for them to gather.[104]
Soon after, they run into Nadira and her band of slayers fighting against zombified slayers and "Giles" (Eyghon). Seeing their struggle, Angel and Faith immediately take action to help them. When Faith gets hit by "Giles", Angel fought against him and then Egyhon himself to give her and the others distance to recover. Injuring him, Giles and Eyghon escape through a broken window. They regroup back at Alasdair's. Angel admitted he already knew Eyghon had been alive still since he was Twilight and that he owned Giles' soul which was why he could be able to resurrect him. Faith then shared with them that Eyghon had made a deal with Whistler, Nash, and Pearl to help him have a perfect zombified world with no magic. Consequently, tying heavily into the new world revolution Whistler had spoken of. Angel then decided that he would be the one to attack Eyghon, believing himself to be immune to possession but he also knew he was not strong enough to do it alone. Having earlier reluctantly called Spike for some assistance,[105] he arrived to help him take down Eyghon since he too would likely be immune. [106]
As expected, Angel became competitive and petty with Spike, quickly getting very easily annoyed with him to the point they started their trademark bickering over their common source of arguing (each other in general, Buffy). Somehow, they start focusing on strategy again only to be abruptly interrupted by an attack from Eyghon and his zombies. Spike and Angel worked together against Eyghon, almost succeeding in capturing him. This backfired soon enough as Eyghon managed to possess Spike, overcoming the demon inside enough to do so. It
Angel begins to lose sanity with three presences inside his body.
also attempted to with Angel himself but this failed. Having three different spirits in him forced him out but Angel became unstable and erratic, constantly shifting between himself, Giles, and Angelus. Briefly, Giles took over his consciousness and decapitated Eyghon, killing him instantly and ending his control over the dead. Despite the danger having passed, Angel continued to be shifting back in forth between the three, much to the concern of Faith and Spike. Since Angel was the only person who had an idea on restoring Giles' body, Spike and Faith are forced int
Angel admits to Spike that he is not yet over Buffy.
o some new plans and an unlikely partnership until he once again regained control of himself. [107]
As Angel suffered from a bout of insanity because of the three spirits fighting for power over his body, he muttered about the death of Jenny Calendar from Giles' perspective. Observing this, Faith and Spike decided it was best to chain him to the wall in her basement to prevent him from hurting himself or others. Together, they went to retrieve the Essuary, a magical item within which store Giles' soul so they could free it from Angel's body, from a den of Enders. When they returned, Spike went down to the basement and ranted to a still-insane Angel about his own insecurities in regards to love, stating his worries that Buffy had begun thinking him boring after he regained his soul. Angel regained consciousness at some point, but did not make this apparent until Spike admitted that he had always admired Angel for his ability to move on from Buffy. Spike said: "I'll tell you this, mate! I'd give anything to know how you got over her." Angel then spoke up, much to Spike's surprise, and sadly confessed: "When I do, I'll let you know." In gratitude for helping him, Angel gave Spike Harmony's phone number. The following morning, he and Faith caught Spike exiting the bathroom shower with Harmony. He jokingly expressed that if he had set anyone up but Harmony, he would have felt sleazy, and then left to get breakfast with Faith.[108]
Personality
- “Never much for small talk, are you? Too busy trying to perfect that brooding 'block of wood' mystique. God, I love that.”
- ―Spike[src]
Angel is a resolved and serious man who is prone to being uptight at times. His most prominent and mocked trait is his tendency to be overly gloomy and brooding. Before moving to Los Angeles, he was inclined to spend much of his time alone, and was never open with friends or allies, with the exception of Buffy to a certain extent, though he still to kept quiet about his past from her, as he felt it would disgust her. The sins he committed as Angelus are constantly at the forefront of his mind, to a degree where he felt for a very long time that he did not deserve happiness or redemption. He defied Whistler's wishes for him to help Buffy at first, and many years later, when he was offered a chance to live without his vampiric weaknesses with the Gem of Amara, he chose to destroy it instead, justifying that he needed to continue living with his punishment. He also refused Drusilla's offer to remove his pain with her Lorophage Demon because he felt that his guilt drove him to do good and kept Angelus at bay.[98] He also dislikes parties, prefering to remain on the sidelines where he can reflect in the dark.
Angel is quite self-detrimental and is prone to long spells of doubt, depression and regret. He still feels that he is far from deserving of contentment, but works tirelessly to prove himself to his peers and the Powers That Be. Still, for a long time he believed himself a lost-cause. When he fed off the body of a shop keeper in a moment of weakness, he resigned himself to a life of homelessness, and was not stirred out of it until Whistler showed him Buffy Summers. Though this state of mind changed somewhat when he fell in love with Buffy, it wasn't until he learned about the Shanshu Prophecy that he truly began believing in himself and his actions. He has an almost unhealthy obsession with his destiny; he will follow almost any metaphorical road as long as he believes it will help people (specifically Buffy or himself) to achieve what they were destined for. Because of this, he his prone to making dangerous decisions. This was made most obvious when he allowed himself to be manipulated by Twilight for what he believed was the greater good. Under Twilight's influence, he murdered hundreds of Slayers, with Buffy, created a dimension that threatened to destroy Earth itself and later, brutally murdered her Watcher, Rupert Giles.
Angel is a quiet, private individual. He tends to keep up a stoic and brave persona, and is similar to Oz in that regard. Interestingly enough, while Angel is known for being depressingly serious, he also has a unique, cutting sense of dark sarcasm. He is prone to wittily throwing taunts and demeaning comments to his enemies or those he dislikes, a similiarity he shares with both Buffy and Spike. He is also somewhat self-conscious, and worries what other people think of him very often. He believes he possesses little talent with words, and dislikes public speaking.[109] During his first year in Los Angeles with Angel Investigations, he displayed an acute lack of people skills, and was very anti-social and reclusive. He worried constantly what people would think of him, and was reluctant to drink blood around his friends. Simply put, Angel has difficulty trusting others, and it takes him a long time to feel comfortable around his companions. He is also unintentionally blunt in his reasonings and manner of speech, though to a lesser extent over the years. He has a tendency to bottle up his emotions, feelings and problems, and rarely opens up. According to his friends and despite his constant objection, he rarely smiled and only openly cried on one occasion.[109]
Still, Angel is an excellent and very capable leader, and always makes quick, effective decisions. Despite having a distinct lack of knowledge of pop culture references and educational tributes, he was usually extremely rational and calculating, often falling back on simple reason. He is also very sympathetic and caring, and is pleasant and fair to most people, with the exception of those he intensely dislikes. He is very over-protective and over-bearing over those he loves (most notably Connor, Cordelia and Buffy).
Despite his constant stoicism, Angel is more than capable of forming close bonds with others, particularly his Angel Investigations associates. He could be roused to phenominal anger when they were harmed or threatened in any way, and openly threatened to kill Lilah Morgan when she tortured Cordelia to force him to work for her,[110] and nearly smothering Wesley to death when his actions resulted in Connor being trapped in Quor'toth.[111] He is immensely loyal to those he cares about, and has been shown to be willing to give up almost anything for their safety and well-being. Strong examples of this include him wiping an insane Connor's memory so he would live peacefully with new parents[112] and taking away his chance of being together with Buffy as a human under the believed notion that he was saving her from death by constantly risking her life to protect him [113] Still, he would on occasion put them below the "bigger picture", particularly the fate of the world. He came very close to ending Cordelia's life to prevent Jasmine from being born, and fought ferociously against an insane Connor,[114] and tortured Buffy under the guise of Twilight for an entire year so the world wouldn't be sent to Hell. Of course, he was manipulated into believing Twilight's influence was good, and beat Buffy down to her lowest point so she could be empowered. Because of Angel's martyr complex, he tends to be overly self-sacrificing and has repeatedly given up his own happiness for the world and other people.
Angel can be considered to an "artist" in many ways. As Angelus, he described evil as an art, and created "masterpieces" out of people through intense physical and emotional torture. Out of all the sins he comitted, Drusilla lived on as a relic of the very worst of his immoralities. He had a very artistic slant in regards to villainy, and in a conversation with Spike about the natures of good and evil, said: "I couldn't take my eyes off them (victims). I was only in it for the evil. That was everything to me. It was art... the destruction of a human being." On a more positive note, he is also an excellent sketch artist, and possesses a photographic memory that he uses to his advantage. Literarily, Angel is the "artist", while Spike is the "poet."
Angel was constantly caring and empathetic toward those who were in need of help, as he took it upon himself to "help the helpless." While he did enjoy giving aid to others, he was also very motivated by the prospect of redemption in the form of Shanshu. The thought that he might someday be forgiven for his past and allowed to live on was beautiful to him and he latched onto it quickly. He also felt no joy from being a vampire, and preferred to be human. However, when asked by Nina Ash if he enjoyed being a vampire, Angel admitted that he thought being nearly indestructible was "kinda cool."[115]
Angel often naturally adopted a controlling persona around people, especially those he was closest too. Xander once took notice of this, and mockingly called him "Bossy the Cow."[1] Spike earlier did something similiar, claimed that Angel liked to pretend he was the boss. Another notable trait of Angel's is his tendency to make life-changing decisons for other people without their consent or knowledge. He never did this out of spite, and believed that he was only being caring and was doing the right thing, making him narrow-minded, ornery and very self-willed. Despite his almost trademark stubbornness, he could be very gullible at times and easily swayed by the thought of destiny. Such cases include his quick acceptance of the taking up the mantle of Twilight because of Whistler and his misguided period in Wolfram & Hart. Angel, while not exactly quick to anger, can become irritated at times. People who have annoyed him most include Spike, Xander and Harmony.
Angel also has an obsessive streak, most prominently seen in Darla's resurrection by Wolfram and Hart and later with his desire to bring Giles back from the dead.[116] Angel has been seen many times to be obsessively single-minded in his plans and goals, to the point that he occasionally disregarded his moral code and crossed a line; he can also be impulsive, often running blindly down any path he believed would help redeem himself and not bothering to think about the consequences of his actions until it was too late, something that Willow criticized him for.[117] Because of this thought process, it has been often seen to make things worse rather than better. Angel also believes that the end justifies the means and has been seen doing morally wrong acts for "the greater good," examples being his murders of Drogyn[53]and Lindsey (he instructed Lorne kill him), and actions as Twilight.[118]
Despite being over two-centuries old, Angel is not the most mature individual. Buffy even compared his emotional maturity to that of a twelve-year-old during one of their reunions.[119] He can be childish, petty and utterly proud. For example, he feigned annoyance and pretended to be unimpressed when he heard Lindsey singing at Caritas,[120] and showed intense displeasure at Spike for regaining his soul, as it caused him to feel less unique.[5] He also expressed a childish distaste of riding on the back of a motorcycle with other men on two occasions: first, with Wesley, who tried to make him wear a pink helmet,[121] and later, with Spike.[122] Spike also called Angel a "drama queen"[123] and Cordelia once noted that he was melodramatic and showy.[124]
Angel is prone to unattractive and very obvious bouts of jealousy and possessiveness. He often denied his jealousy, despite the fact that he gave no care to conceal it.[1] The most direct causes of him revealing this side of himself stem from Buffy's other romantic relationships, most notably Riley Finn, and to a greater extent, Spike.
During his darker phases, Angel also smoked, such as his reversion to Angelus in 1998 and his dark phase in Los Angeles in late 2000.[32][125]
Appearance
- Giles: “There's mention over two hundred years ago in Ireland of Angelus, the one with the angelic face.”
- Buffy: “They got that right.”
- — Giles and Buffy[src]
Angel's most readily identifiable characteristic was his hair which varied in length. As and human and Angelus he often sported either long, shoulder-length hair, either down or in a loose ponytail. After regaining his soul, he cut his hair shorter by the 1920s, occasionally slicked with a side part. In the next five decades, Angel kept his hair that way until the 1970s where had grew out his hair again. Since the late 1990s during his tenure in Sunnydale, Angel's hair was consistently spiked upward at the front with styling product (a fact that he was apparently unaware of, due to his reaction upon seeing his reflection in a mirror during a trip to Pylea). The length seemed to be slighter shorter around 2002 and while CEO of Wolfram and Hart, he sometimes had his hair combed over. Around the fall of Los Angeles, Angel returned to his notable spiked look. Angel had a very distinct appearance and style of dress, traditionally wearing full-length, black wool dusters, a light brown trench coat, or a shorter leather jacket, black trousers and black dress shoes. Although his dress shirts tend to vary in color, they are often in gem tones and other dark colors. While he initially wore untucked white button down shirts with black dress jackets and a black leather bomber jacket (which he gave to Buffy), he began wearing white undershirts, white and black wife beaters, a red velvet shirt, gray and black soft pullovers and long-sleeved dress shirts in colors such as blue and red. The notable exceptions to this rule were when Angel wore a Hawaiian shirt while undercover,[126] a cream pullover identical to his darker ones to make a customer more comfortable,[127] an uncharacteristic white and yellow striped dress shirt while under Jasmine's thrall and a loud Italian sports jacket[24] (although this last was only because his usual clothes were damaged by a bomb planted by the Immortal and there was nothing else available for him to wear).
While in the Twilight persona, Angel wore a black leather duster along with metal chest armor, black pants, black gloves, black boots and a red, black and gold mask.
Angel has been considered to be physically attractive to others numerous times, noted especially his legendary title as the "one with the angelic face". After his first meeting with Buffy, which left her with a bad impression, she still described him as "gorgeous"[128] and later embarrassingly called him a "honey" after claiming most girls would find him attractive "if they have eyes".[129] His looks took not only the interests of Buffy but also Cordelia, Faith, Fred, Kendra Young, Anya Jenkins and various other women. He has even caught the attraction of males. Xander, though in anguish, commented that Angel was "buff" and a very attractive man when first seeing him[130], the flamboyant Lorne had a tendency to affectionately call him "angelcakes", a homosexual talent manager openly stated Angel was a "beautiful man" without even being properly acquainted while a rude television commercial director assumed he was a male-model.[131] Angel seemed largely surprised or unresponsive to these claims though did admire himself when looking in a mirror in Pylea.
Despite this, Spike did criticize his appearance in terms of his hair, claiming he used "Nancy boy hair gel"[3] and Doyle who, thinking Angel had slept with his love interest Cordelia, described Angel's forehead as "overhanging". [132] Spike had also made note of his forehead, mockingly giving him the occassional insult of "Captain Forehead".
Powers and Abilities
- “You get lucky, you might last ten minutes. Really lucky, and you're unconscious for the last five.”
- ―Angel warns Griff of what he's capable of.[src]
Angel had the standard powers and vulnerabilities of a vampire; he was immortal, regenerated damage, possessed superhuman physical attributes, and had heightened senses, able to track people by scent alone. He was also vulnerable to holy items and sunlight, could be killed by decapitation and a stake to the heart, needed to regularly ingest mammal blood to maintain his vitality, and could not enter the residence of a living human without being invited by a resident. Due to his advanced age, however, he was considerably more powerful than an average vampire; for example, he was able to run at such speeds that he appeared to teleport several meters[28][133][134][110], and withstand prolonged exposure to sunlight and holy items to no ill effect.
He was a highly skilled combatant and generally fought unarmed, using circular attacks such as spinning kicks and back hands. In addition to his proficiency in many forms of martial arts, he mastered many varieties of weapons, favoring broadswords and sometimes axes. He is even more dangerous when Angelus takes over, since his soul-less self often fights with no remorse. During his lifetime, Angel successfully stood up to and defeated a wide variety of powerful and skilled opponents, including Buffy Summers, Faith Lehane, Marcus Hamilton and Connor, amongst others. Additionally, Angel beat Spike on numerous occasions, only losing to his protege once, when he was discouraged and suffering self doubt, in their century plus association.[21] Following Darla being sired by Drusilla, a cold, ruthless and driven Angel was shown to have single-handedly defeated around twenty vampires and demons in one fight.[125] Angel even survived a hand-to-hand fight with the ancient vampire Kakistos on one occasion despite living in seclusion for over a decade by the time of their fight.[26] Angel was also able to physically dominate The Beast, forcing the demon to its knees before finally succumbing to The Beast's strength. Even when human, Angel was able to defeat opponents far stronger than him, including briefly getting the better of Spike, before Illyria stepped in, and defeating Charles Gunn who was, at the time, a vampire.[109]
Angel also possessed some cognitive abilities; he had a photographic memory[135] and displayed a psychic connection to those he had sired on at least one occasion.[10] While running Wolfram & Hart, he was given Cordelia's visions[53] on her last day on Earth;[52] however, he believed that this was a "one-shot deal," suggesting that this ability was not permanent. Because of his age, Angel had immense knowledge of both demonology and history (on occasion rivaling that of Giles and Wesley).
He also possessed a high pain tolerance, able to withstand prolonged periods of torture without succumbing.[3]
Angel also had some experience in magic, able to perform spells, exorcisms, and glamours, although he preferred to rely on others' expertise if the option was available rather than doing them himself. As Angelus, he displayed considerable skill in manipulating others' emotional states, using psychological tactics to attack both the Scooby Gang and Angel Investigations both times when Angel lost his soul, though the most notable example was his driving Drusilla insane. He was also an expert in torture as both Angel and Angelus. Additionally, Angel was highly intelligent, possessed strong leadership skills, and had a natural flair for strategies and tactical planning; although he initially followed Buffy's lead when working with the Scooby Gang, this could have been based around his own social uncertainty after decades of isolation and/or his attempt to help her grow as a Slayer, demonstrating greater skills and confidence when he moved to Los Angeles to set out on his own. Angel also appeared to be a master of intimidation; when Connor broke free of his restraints and beat down Gunn and Fred, Angel, despite his weakened condition after three months trapped at the bottom of the ocean and only a limited amount of recently-ingested blood to restore himself, quickly stood up to Connor and ordered him to sit down, which he did after only a slight hesitation[136].
He had "very nice handwriting"[55] and was a gifted artist, using charcoal crayon and China ink to draw portraits.[33] He can drive, owning a black 1967 Plymouth GTX and a Dodge Viper, along with an entire garage full of other cars as W&H CEO. He can speak several languages, including English, Korean, Tibetan, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, Belarusian, Romanian, and German, and attempted to learn the language of the Vinji and Sahrvin demons via an instruction tape[137]. Angel was competent, but uncomfortable, with modern technology; he frequently struggled to understand cellphones (once claiming that they must have been invented by a "bored warlock") and confused computer terminology such as "chatty rooms."[138]. He also knew how to change diapers, but claimed to be more familiar with pins than the "new-fangled fasteners" of disposable brands[139]. He was also a convincing improvisational actor, deceiving Faith and Mayor Richard Wilkins as well as later the Circle of the Black Thorn and his own allies into believing that he had either reverted to Angelus or gone corrupt.[39][53] Additionally, according to Cordelia, Angel possessed remarkable cooking skills "for someone who's on a liquid diet."[44]
Following the Fall of Los Angeles, Angel was turned human by the Senior Partners as a way to deprive him of his strength when he most needed it. He used various enchantments to keep up the appearance that he was still a vampire and heal the worst of his injuries. However, following the Temporal Fold performed by the Senior Partners, Angel regained his vampire abilities and handicaps. He demonstrated an ability to regenerate limbs, his hands and feet growing back after the traitorous James tore them off during his escape, the team speculating that this change in abilities hints at an upcoming supernatural event.
As Twilight, Angel had obtained new abilities, including flight and invulnerability. The precise source and limit of his new abilities are unknown, but he survived having a tree thrown at him without any apparent side-effects, the tree simply splintering off his chest. He also showed immunity to sunlight and all vampire weaknesses, and his new abilities also seemed to have altered the conditions of his Gypsy curse, as he had sex with Buffy without losing his soul. His pre-existing abilities, such as his strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and senses, were also greatly enhanced. He had apparently reverted to his original strengths and weaknesses following the destruction of the Seed of Wonder and the "death" of Twilight.
Angel vs. Angelus
- “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.”
- ―Angel to Buffy[src]
While Liam is a human and Angelus is a vampire, Angel is something else: a demon with a human soul, a hybrid of man and vampire. Angel significantly contrasts with Spike, the other vampire with a soul, whose personality appears to remain fundamentally the same with or without his soul, barring his soulled self feeling somewhat guiltier about his past than his soulless self would. With the exception of while amnesiac,[140] Angel has not taken back his birth name of Liam, although Spike occasionally calls him this in order to aggravate him. As Angelus, he considers both the physical and mental destruction of a human being to be artistic, while as Angel, he frequently struggles with his vampiric urges.
Angelus is several times referred to as perhaps the most evil and brutal vampire in existence, even surpassing his comrades in The Whirlwind, murdering more people in his first hundred years of activity then any of them in their entire lives. Angel once told Lindsey McDonald "I'm the greatest mass murderer you've ever met," despite the fact that Lindsey had previously met all the former members of the Whirlwind.[55] Even The Master, an ancient vampire known for his evil, once commented that Angelus was "the most vicious creature [he had] ever met."[9] Besides being a mass murderer, Angelus is also a violent rapist, known for sexually assaulting many of his female victims, such as the Gypsy girl that lead to his being cursed, and possibly Drusilla. He is also known to use the threat of rape as a psychological weapon, shown when he, while locked in a cage, gleefully reveals that "they're not a lot of things I wouldn't mind doing to that [Cordelia's] body. Other than the obvious."
Angel, by contrast, is nearly the complete antithesis of this. He enjoys the feeling of helping people and doing what is right, and desperately desires to atone for the atrocities he committed as Angelus. His soul provides him with constant torment with memories of his past, as his photographic memory allows him to recall, in perfect detail, every single one of the faces of his past victims. While once fighting because he believed he was making a difference in the battle between good and evil, and that he would gain measure of redemption upon completion of this task, he has since altered this view after having an epiphany about his fight, and altered his reasons. He once explained these reasons to Kate Lockley by saying "All I want to do is help. I want to help because I don't think people should suffer as they do, because if there's no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world."[46] He does not always seem to believe it is actually possible for him to gain redemption for his evil actions, once telling Spike that he believes his escape from Acathla's hell was not an escape, but only a "short reprieve," and that he still believes he will go to hell if/when he dies.
The distinction between Angel and Angelus is somewhat blurred. Immediately after regaining his soul, 'Angel' initially appeared unaware of what he had done as Angelus, later simply acting like Angelus with a conscience - showing horror at his past crimes without otherwise acting differently from his vampire persona - before he fully accepted his new status as a vampire with a soul, while initially only killing murderers and rapists, it got to a point where he refused to kill an innocent baby and instead took the child away from Darla. By the 1950s, Angel had developed to a point where he was compared to "Angelus without the sadism," possessing a cynical view of the world and generally uninterested in social interaction without actually wanting to kill anybody. At one point, he briefly attempted to help a young woman escape prosecution for her mixed-race heritage before she turned on him in a panic under the influence of a Thesulac demon, Angel subsequently abandoning the hotel to the demon's influence even after it offered him the chance to kill it, although he eventually atoned for this action by returning to the hotel to eliminate it once and for all.[31]
It takes a few moments for Angel to remember Angelus' actions whenever the curse takes effect.[7][34] Angel once reverted to Angelus without his curse being broken, due to having been secretly fed a happy pill that, while under its effects, made him experience perfect happiness.[141] The two are indeed shown to be separate personas, both struggling within Angel's mind for control,[27] with Drusilla noting that Angelus is always whispering to Angel in the back of his mind to encourage him to submit to his vampiric instincts, although Angel rejects this idea and claims that he is used to ignoring what people have to say to him.[96] In support of this, Angelus appeared genuinely scared for the first time in his existence when Jasmine threatened to return him to his prison within Angel's mind, where he would be forced to watch forever. When all reference to the Beast was erased from this dimension, Angel was also affected, while Angelus was not, as he did not technically exist when the spell was cast. Further evidence can be found in the fact that Angelus considers himself a separate being to Angel, often referring to Angel as though he were a separate person.
Oftentimes, when speaking of Angelus' crimes, Angel will refer to him in the first person, but will, at other times, refer to him as a separate entity. For example, when being taunted by the First Evil,[17] Angel cries out, "It wasn't me!" Though the names "Angel" and "Angelus" are typically used synonymously, there is a distinction, which Buffy noticed: when Angelus tried to taunt her by claiming that Angel never really loved her, Buffy adamantly stated, "That doesn't work anymore. You're not Angel."[32] However, he appears to have gone by the name of Angel long before meeting Buffy face to face; he corrects the Demon Research Initiative when they refer to him as Angelus.[30] At one point, Angelus does refer to himself as Angel ("Wrong. I am Angel. At last.")- although this could just mean that he regards himself as the true personality while Angel is "just something that [he is] forced to wear"- and is constantly referred to as "Angel" by both Drusilla and Spike during his time in Sunnydale, suggesting that Angelus, before being ensouled, considered the name to belong to him (indeed, as The Master points out, "angelus" is just the Latin version of "angel"). It is Jenny Calender who first makes a distinction between the two personalities (the Scooby Gang always referred to him as Angel, although Angel Investigations- with the exception of Connor- drew a clearer distinction between the two identities when Angelus was released once again), Jenny stating that "Angelus is back" when learning about the true nature of his curse.
Angelus has been shown to resent many of Angel's habits and is disgusted by them, such as his love for Buffy, his loyalty and compassion towards his teammates in Angel Investigations, his twenty-year period of feeding on rat blood after giving into his desires by drinking from a murder victim, and his enjoyment of Barry Manilow. Additionally, due to Angel's relationship with Buffy, Angelus is greatly disgusted by the fact that when soulled, she had made him feel human: when Buffy and Angelus are possessed by the ghosts of a murder-suicide couple and freed from their influence after the ghosts reaffirm their love and kiss,[142] Angelus was so horrified and disgusted by this intimate contact with Buffy that he immediately ran off and frantically scrubbed himself in the fountain of the Crawford Street Mansion, remarking that love had "violated him" and deciding that he needed "a really vile kill" to completely cleanse himself. However, Angelus does not truly hate Buffy, as he bizarrely does not feel pure hatred towards anything, and even seems to lack the ability to do so. This is shared by Angel, who once commented that he had "given up on hate a long time ago," and that he/Angelus never killed purely out of hatred, but rather because of his shear sadism.[124] Unlike Angel, Angelus is unaffected by the Judge, a demon who can incinerate any being with "humanity" (more specifically the ability to feel the complete range of human emotions), thus proving that Angelus is seemingly a complete sociopath who is incapable of experiencing emotions properly. Nonetheless, Angel's seeming inability to hate makes him the only known male being immune to the misogyny-inducing touch of Billy Blim. However, Angelus, despite being purely evil, is capable of great sadness on rare occasions. Ballet in particular has had this effect on him, as he was moved to tears by a performance of Giselle which he attended in 1890. Angel also shares this quirk, and still remains in awe of the ballet.[22] This is also linked to their mutual appreciation of the arts. Although it is only later admitted by Angel, both he and Angelus both (secretly) enjoyed Spike's poetry, although Angelus was always too proud/embarrassed to ever admit it.
Both identities have shown themselves to be skilled improvisational actors, Angelus easily able to win the trust of his victims while Angel has managed to fool such opponents as a random Wolfram & Hart lawyer to the entire Circle of the Black Thorn into believing that he belonged to their respective affiliations. Each possess essentially the same combat style- although Angelus tends to taunt his opponents to put them off-guard, such as when he fought Buffy and the Beast, while Angel is generally a silent combatant unless the other person talks to him first. Both have demonstrated a skilled use of psychology outside of battle; Angel retains Angelus' understanding of the psychosis of such criminals as stalkers, giving him a unique insight into many of his enemies, while Angelus regularly exploits Angel's knowledge of his allies to play on their weaknesses, such as playing on Buffy's natural insecurities about her sexual performance after losing her virginity, mocking Xander's crush on Buffy with the knowledge that Angel got to her first, mentioning Wesley's affair with Lilah in front of Fred, revealing Angel's knowledge that Gunn and Fred killed Professor Siedel while Angel had kept quiet, and taunting Connor about the deaths of Holtz and Darla.
Cordelia, while possessed by Jasmine, once commented that Angelus is dangerous because he "lies with the truth," providing enough information to turn his enemies against each other while withholding some crucial details like Angel's own feelings about the topics Angelus is discussing; for example, when talking with Connor, Angelus implied that Darla and Holtz killed themselves because they hated Connor, whereas Darla staked herself for the sole purpose of ensuring Connor's survival (although Holtz's death was an extension of his obsession with punishing Angelus). Despite this shared awareness of each other's thoughts, the two's different natures mean that they still cannot understand their other self, Angelus commenting that he fails to understand Angel's concern with the "human condition," regarding humans' only purpose as being to suffer and die, while Cordelia- albeit when possessed by 'Jasmine'- noted that Angelus appears to have a greater understanding of opponents like the Beast than Angel does.
Another key difference between Angel and Angelus is that Angelus, though pure evil and incapable of feeling love, is known for brutal acts of 'love,' such as giving Drusilla a fresh human heart as a Valentine's Day gift.[33] Additionally, he has been shown to use others' relationships to torment his enemies; in "Passion," for example, he places the recently-slain body of Jenny Calendar in Giles' bed, along with a few clues to make it appear as though Jenny had set up a romantic evening for them. During his stay in Sunnydale, Angelus repeatedly broke into Buffy's home to watch her sleep and drew portraits of her and her mother then left them behind for Buffy to find. Angelus also snuck into Willow's house, killed all of her pet fish, then strung all of them together in an envelope for Willow to find. One of Angelus' most notorious crimes[17] is when he killed three children and set them all up in bed to make them appear to be sleeping, and their father didn't realize the truth until he kissed one of them good night and noticed how cold they were. Angel, by contrast, is often aware of the importance of love even if he often shies away from it because of both his guilt about his past and the curse on his soul, forming strong familial bonds with his teammates at Angel Investigations. He described his relationship with Cordelia as "family" only a few months after they started to work together.[143] During his relationship with Buffy, he gave her a cross, a claddagh ring, and a book of poetry for her birthdays.
Additionally, Angelus is not only an expert in torture, but is a complete sadist. When contemplating torturing Giles for information on how to awaken Acathla, Angelus remarked that the last time that he had tortured someone, they hadn't even invented the chainsaw, and even told Giles that he hoped that he wouldn't reveal the information just so he would have the opportunity to torture him. Indeed, Giles later remarked that Angelus had in fact tortured him for several hours largely for his own amusement. While Angel possesses Angelus' knowledge of torture, and has used it on occasion, such as when he tortured Linwood Murrow to try to learn how to open a portal to Quor'toth to save his son, typically he acquires information by intimidating those enemies who know about his past as Angelus into thinking that he will torture them rather than actually resorting to such measures, to the point where Gavin Park gave in and started talking about what Wolfram & Hart had deciphered after extracting Lorne's latest 'vision' from his mind after Angel appeared in his office before the vampire even touched him.
Another difference between the two is their views on killing humans. While Angelus doesn't hesitate to kill humans and in fact enjoys it, Angel tries not to as much as possible. Angel will kill an evil human if the need arises, shown in his willingness to kill people such as Vanessa Brewer in combat, but will not kill under other circumstances unless he is certain that he has to, as shown most keenly by the fact that he generally avoided killing anyone at Wolfram & Hart directly himself regardless of the valid reasons and varied opportunities he possessed to do so. After Angel got his soul back the first time and was trying to convince Darla to let him rejoin her, she revealed that while he had been killing again- Angel trying to be what Darla expected because he didn't know what else to do with himself-he had only been killing rapists, thieves and murderers, in short, only evil humans.
Angelus' Achilles' heel is his own narcissism and ego: he is prone to excessive talking, and his constant need to taunt his opponents or brag about his accomplishments when he has them on the ropes has often been used against him by his victims, either to try to escape or fight back. Spike once remarked that Angelus "bloody well talk[s] them to death before [he] kill[s] them!" For example, in his final battle with Buffy, Angelus defeats the slayer, but his excessive talking allows her to regain herself and fight back, ultimately beating him. Similarly, when fighting Faith, he is shown to be superior in combat, but his taunts send her into a rage which allows her to beat him back, although he still manages to beat her when she lets her guard down. Although Angel is equally aware of his combat skills and reputation, he typically talks with his opponents prior to battles rather than during, once convincing an opponent not to bother fighting him, and exploiting opportunities to end a fight where Angelus would have allowed his foe to live so that he could mock them before delivering the killing blow.
Overall it would seem that Angel and Angelus are, in general, two separate identities sharing the same body, but their shared memory causes them to consider themselves almost one person. Angel feels remorse over the crimes of Angelus and considers himself to be condemned to Hell for those crimes, but this could be taken as an assumption rather than proof as we have only Angel's feelings about his spiritual status to go on rather than external opinion. However, The Powers That Be seems to believe angel and angelus are one as they view him responsible for his actions as he was given missions to by them to atone. Also Angel has referred to himself as Angelus and Angelus has referred to himself as Angel suggesting that they both consider the names interchangeable, although Angelus seems to only do this to taunt others, usually referring to Angel as a separate person, and even correcting those that call him 'Angel', reminding them that his name is Angelus. It is possible that Angel changed his name from Angelus simply to make a distinction between his soulless and ensouled self. It should also be noted that despite having his soul restored, Angel still struggles with the same vampiric urges he has while soulless. However, while soulless, he acts on these urges but when ensouled, his humanity holds him back. Each identity clearly loathes what the other brings to their shared existence, with Angel hating himself for his vampiric urges and "his" crimes while soulless, while Angelus hates Angel for the humanity his soul provides him. When the separate personlaities fought during the events of Orpheus, Angelus expresses pleasure at finally being able to take his frustrations out on Angel for all the things he had made him watch as he was trapped within Angel's subconscious.
Relationships
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 compared to other Buffyverse main characters. This was 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 into a vampire, Angelus and Darla were lovers for over a century - Darla even leaving The Master to live with her 'dear boy'- until Angelus regaining his soul drove them apart. Although he briefly tried to redeem himself in her eyes by continuing to kill humans- Angel even admits that he initially sought Darla rather than redemption after he first gained his soul- he eventually left her when he was forced to accept that he didn't have it in him to kill innocents any more. Because Darla sired Angel, he sees her as something more than a mate, even developing genuine feelings for her when his soul was restored, although he nevertheless denies any claims that he loved her as Angelus as he regards his demon as being incapable of feeling love. During Darla's brief moments of humanity - when she is resurrected by Wolfram & Hart - Angel goes above and beyond in trying to help her atone, but later admits to her and himself that this was more out of a desire to prove that he could save himself rather than a desire to save Darla. 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.[144]
- Buffy Summers: Angel initially admired Buffy from afar. He was greatly inspired by her confidence and courage upon discovering she was the Slayer, and chose to recover from his state of ensouled depression and move to Sunnydale to become her ally against evil.[145] When they met for the first time, Buffy was wary of him, but commented that his name was "pretty."[146] 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.[147] He felt remorse for all the sins he had committed and genuinely 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.[148]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.[149] 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."[150] Though in strong 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.[151] 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.[152] He moved to Los Angeles, where he began walking his path of redemption with Angel Investigations. When Buffy came to L.A. to help him, Angel briefly became human and they spent one blissful day together. Ultimately, Angel was forced to rewind time to save her life, and he alone was left with the memories.[43] Later on, their relationship became strained, partly because Buffy had entered into a relationship with Riley Finn, but also because Angel chose to help Faith. When Buffy's mother passed away, Angel returned to Sunnydale to comfort her; the two sat in the cemetery for several hours, and shared a kiss before he left again.[47] 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 recover and come to terms with his sadness. Cordelia managed to encourage Angel that he was honoring Buffy's memory by continuing to fight for redemption.[13] After Buffy's resurrection, they met somewhere between Los Angeles and Sunnydale in order to see each other. 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; Buffy, however, chided Angel for his childish behavior 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 could even see a future for them, but made it very clear that she wasn't remotely ready for a serious relationship. She said that if it did eventually happen, it would be a "long time coming. Years, if ever." She instructed that Angel leave, and he presented her with the Amulet Spike would wear in the final battle and returned to Los Angeles once more.[119] 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 her to be safe and protected, 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.[24] Over a year later, Angel was manipulated by the mysterious entity Twilight, and tormented Buffy by murdering her fellow Slayers (he believed he was fulfilling a prophecy). 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 initially enraged and betrayed Buffy, Angel made very heavy, heartfelt claims to her. He had stated to her matter-of-factly that he believed there was a reason for their feelings for each other and in his opinion why they could never be fully 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. [153] Angel tried desperately to convince her to stay with him in the Twilight paradise, but 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 eventually agreed to leave the paradise, choosing to fight by Buffy's side instead.[154] Upon Spike's arrival, Angel quickly expressed familiar jealousy and distrust towards him once again, slightly annoyed by Buffy insisting that she had to talk to Spike alone to get get information since he wouldn't tell her if Angel came then adding that she knew he needed to redeem himself a little by protecting some slayers. Eventually winning him over, Angel agreed though made sure to say he would find her soon. [155] Later, Angel was possessed by Twilight again, and attempted to kill Spike in rage and fought to 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. Angel's guilt left him catatonic. Buffy, unable to look at him without feeling disturbed but also wanting to make sure he would be taken care of, left him in the care of Faith in London.[156] 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.[102] As soon as Spike arrived in London to briefly help Angel and Faith with Eyghon the Sleepwalker, somehow Buffy had been brought up almost immediately. As usual, Angel and Spike once again argued heatedly over her much to Faith's extreme annoyance.[157] When he becomes 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 quietly and sadly corrected him. He explained that he could not give him the advice he was looking for since he hadn't yet accomplished that either, a more or less obvious omission that Angel still maintained and fostered love for Buffy as well. [158]
- Kate Lockley: Kate serves as Angel's contact in the police force as he starts his private detective business. The strong possibility of a relationship is hinted at, but ultimately doesn't materialize as she is unable to accept her discovery of his vampire nature, blaming him for the death of her father when her father was killed by vampires and wouldn't invite Angel in to help. The two eventually reconcile when Angel saves her life after she attempted to commit suicide after losing her job at the Los Angeles Police Department, Kate going on to become a member of the reformed Angel Investigations after the Fall of Los Angeles had been undone. Although she and Angel nearly have sex at one point- Kate suggesting that they just do it to resolve their sexual tension - this was merely the result of Illyria's attempts to seduce Connor creating a psychic 'heat' in the Hyperion, with Angel and Kate promising to never bring the incident up again when Illyria's influence fades.
- Rebecca Lowell: A short-lived love interest, Rebecca was an actress who hires 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 Cordelia 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.[141] Ironically, the met again in Los Angeles, where Cordelia had settled down in the hopes of becoming an actress.[141] Angel rescued Cordelia from a demon, and subsequently started Angel Investigations together, along with Doyle.[141] 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. Cordelia accepted him completely as a vampire and a man, and in turn, Angel watched Cordelia develop from a petty adolescent into a brave and loyal young woman. Cordelia's painful visions never managed to dampen their bond, and 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.[159] 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.[52] 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.[160]
- Nina Ash: A werewolf who Angel saves from being eaten, she 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.[51] 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.[24] This relationship establishes that Angel is able to have positive sex (unlike his "perfect despair" moment with Darla) and still keep his soul. The two break up when Angel attempts to send her away to save her from the Senior Partners' inevitable revenge, though he did not tell her this.[53] 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.[109] Later, upon Gunn's arrival in London, he informs Angel on the others, mentioning that Nina is now married. Angel displays no jealousy, merely saying that it was good for her.[101]
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 might have resumed a sexual relationship after Angel lost his soul in 1998.
- The Transuding Furies: The Furies are the three beautiful, powerful beings who cast the anti-demon-violence spell on Lorne's bar, Caritas. When Angel 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 shares a kiss with Gwen after she gives him an electro-shock that (temporarily) reawakens his dead heart. He subsequently flirts with her to make Cordelia jealous while they are trying to protect the Ra-Tet from The Beast, but later seems to develop a slight affection for her; he almost appears jealous when she asks for Gunn's help over his.
- Eve: Angel's liaison to the Senior Partners, she and Angel have a one-time encounter at Wolfram & Hart's Halloween party, when Lorne loses control of his empathic powers and he begins to unintentionally write destinies instead of reading them (he tells Angel and Eve to "get a room," saying that "you could cut the sexual tension with a knife"). When Angel thinks they should talk about it, Eve remarks, "It's not as if this is the first time I've had sex under mystical influence. I went to UC Santa Cruz."[161] 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.[162]
Friendships
- Doyle - Angel's first 'contact' with the Powers That Be, and also the first real 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[163], Angel and Cordelia continued to mourn his loss for several years, Angel even keeping an aborted commercial that Doyle had begun recording before his death.
- Wesley Wyndam-Pryce - Initially merely Buffy's second watcher, Angel and Wesley became closer when Wesley relocated to Los Angeles when he was fired from the Watcher's 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. Angel and Wesley maintained a strong, close friendship until it later soured after Wesley stole Connor. Angel was openly resentful and grief-stricken, attempting to even murder Wesley for his actions. They then had a tenous relationship since, but came to reconcile little by little as Wesly pulled him from the bottom of the ocean and Angel later come 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.
- Faith Lehane - When Faith crosses 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 Watcher's 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 harbors 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 and 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.[25] He refused and again tried to help her, defending her from agents of the Watcher's Council and even Buffy. Thanks to Angel's help, Faith starts down the path of redemption by confessing her crimes and going to prison.[164] He visited her periodically, wanting to give her a friend to talk to and check up on her, prison being where she stayed at for several years. However she later breaks out, but only because Angel had 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-ensoulled by Willow, even defeating Connor to prevent him from staking his father.[27] The two share a strong friendship based on their mutual desire for redemption; 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.[165] The two work together after Angel comes out of his catatonia to finish Gile's unfinshed business.
- Gunn - A former street-fighter, Angel comes across him during a case, expressed a desire to want him to work for him. Gunn though, intially refused, as he held a black-and-white outlook on the supernatural, immediately having a distrust of him, being a vampire. Gunn however let go a little of his predjudice towards him, as he began working part-time for Angel Investigations until Angel had fired him during his dark phase. At the time Gunn and Angel weren't incredibly close, as Gunn had stated that if Angel lost his soul or became evil again, he wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Angel eventually came back to Angel Investigations, causing him and Gunn to develop a friendship throughout the years. 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 vengence, violently beating up Gunn and almost killing him. Because if this, when it was 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[109]. Later, after seperation, Gunn and Angel reunite as old friends in London and he embarks on the journey to Quor'toth with him.[101]
- 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 relutant to help, as he wanted to remain neutral in the demon world. Despite that, he helped Angel out on numerous occassions, developing respect and comradery towards him. 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 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.[166]
- Fred Burkle - When Angel saves Fred from Pylea, he "vamps 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 ends 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. She had a crush on him for some time after her arrival, often saying "handsome man saved me from the monsters", even appearing slightly envious of Angel's feelings for Buffy[167] but Angel did not return her feelings, seeing her as dear friend rather than a love interest. Fred however, eventually moves on to Gunn instead, once learning about his curse. Though their relationship was largely platonic and not romantic, Fred did kiss him once to fool passerbys 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.[23]
Familial
- Connor - Angel's relationship with his his son 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 and 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
- Spike - Though often allies on the side of good, 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 Anglus'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) disupites 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 ensueing 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[20], and Angelus greeted Spike with a kiss on the forehead upon losing his soul (this was more of a degrading, symbolic gesture than a friendly one). Though he tries 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. Also, following Spike's sacrifice at the Sunnydale Hellmouth, Angel felt that beause 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 forsaw a person with so much involvment in his past as Angelus becoming so profoundly involved in his future as a hero. Spike verbally accuses Angel of being a coward on numerous occasions. During Spike's time in Wolfram and Hart, the two appear to have bonded. Angel at least began to accept Spike's presence in his group, though he remained reluctant to aknowledge 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 outrwage towards The Immortal when told Buffy was dating him[24]. Angel often sees 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[53][165][168]but neither of them seem willing to discuss it. Spike later left Los Angeles and Angel behnd, as he recognized Angel had been accurate when he accused Spike of wanted to be him, aknowledging that his interest in the Shanshu Prophesy was based around his rivalry with Angel rather than a desire to be human himself.
- The Immortal - The arch-nemisis 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 Angelous 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[169]). 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."[24]
- Daniel Holtz - Back to the time when Angel was still Angelus, he had cruelly murdered Holtz's entire family sadistically, and only Holtz survived. He had since been consumed with vengence 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 soulled vampire. Nevertheless, he contiuned 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 apologise 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 black-and-white view of " all vampires are bad." 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 difficultness. 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.[170] 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.[171] 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. [39] 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 criticizism, seemingly 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.[41] Once Angel had left Sunnydale for L.A, their rivalry is largely forgotten, Xander admiting that he still hates the "guts part" of Angel [172] and, years later, Angel only mentioned him once that Buffy did jokes the same reason Xander did.[156] However, given the circumstances of Giles's death, it seems Xander's antagonism towards Angel returned full-force, Faith remarking that almost everyone, besides Buffy, wanted Angel dead.[165]
- Riley Finn - Angel barely knew Riley yet held an immediate dislike of him. This was of course because of the fact that Riley was Buffy's boyfriend and Angel because he still loved Buffy, held and regarded Riley with jealousy of their relationship. Riley also disliked him, seeing Angel as a threat. Both of them having equal jealousy and emnity towards each other, they ended up coming to blows in an alley, and again in Buffy's dorm due to Angel's taunts, which greatly annoyed her. While the fight was broken up by Buffy, Angel had still finally taunted Riley with a smug, satisfied smirk when he went to talk to her alone, which went unnoticed by Buffy.[172] Later, when taking the form of a masked individual named 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.[87]
- Lindsey McDonald - A former lawyer of Wolfram and Hart, he had tried to kill Angel on numerous occassions and often proved difficult. Angel also treated Lindsey antagonistically, to point where he had hacked off his hand [173], forcing him to get a fake one. Afterwards, 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 greater 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.[52] However, he was forced to save Lindsey from a hell dimension, in order to defeat the Senior Partners. In the end though, Angel sent Lorne to shoot and kill Lindsey as according to Angel, he "wasn't part of the solution", his last act angering Lindsey with the realization that Angel didn't consider Lindsey important enough to kill himself.[55]
- Lilah Morgan - Through all of her and Wolfram and Hart's schemes, Angel fostered a strong, bitter hatred towards Lilah. It was after he let Darla and Drusilla kill the whole Special Projects Division except for Lindsey and Lilah, that Angel threatened Lilah in her own car. Like Lindsey, Lilah desired to have Angel killed despite Wolfram and Hart's policy against it. When she tortured Cordelia, it uped the bar on her vendetta against him and Angel, in spite of his moral code, was willing to kill Lilah in the White Room if it were required.
- Harmony Kendall - While Angel has never truly hated Harmony, he like many others, viewed her as an annoyance and a nuisance. Upon the discovery of Harmony being his secretary in Wolfram and Hart, he had immediately threatened to kill her[174], but eventually didn't go through with it. He spend 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 knew she would, promptly causing her to flee.[55] 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. Reuniting with Harmony, Angel showed annoyance and distain at her unplanned visit, taking care to remind her of her betrayal and her fleeing during a apocalypse, but nonetheless agreed to help her with someone blackmailing her.[168]
Other
- Whistler -
- Rupert Giles — At first, Giles regards Angel with an even temper (even commenting that his relationship with Buffy was "rather poetic...in a maudlin sort of way")[175], regarding Angel almost as a peer, sharing books and prophecies with him. But when Angel lost his soul and murdered Jenny Calendar, Giles, 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,[17] yet he also attempted to help Angel with his hallucinations. Giles and Angel come together again,[42] by which time he seems to have lost some of his anger towards Angel, even suggesting that it would be less cruel if Buffy were allowed to see him, seemingly to somewhat bond given their equal protectiveness and care for Buffy. When he starts to work for Wolfram & Hart, Angel calls on Giles for help twice. The first time, when the insane Slayer Dana is on the loose, Giles sendsAndrew Wells.[176] The second time, when Angel and his crew need help to cure Fred of the infection that becomes Illyria, Giles tells them Willow is unavailable. Both times there are indications that because of Angel's association with the evil law firm, Giles, like the other Scoobies, no longer trusted Angel. 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
- Willow Rosenberg - Angel shared deep affection and mutual confidence with Willow, and not just because she restored his soul not once, but twice; in several occasions he asks for her help, looking at her as a reliable ally and friend. During his initial time in Sunnydale, after Buffy, Willow was probably Angel's closest friend in the Scooby Gang and most friendly towards him, although, as with all the team, his relationship with her was somewhat strained after he came back from Hell. After restoring Angel's soul for the second time, they hugged as old friends.[27] However, Willow showed open hostility toward Angel because of his actions as Twilight, momentarily turning him into a frog out of her fury. After Giles died, Faith stated that the entire Scooby Gang, aside from Buffy, wanted Angel dead.[165] Eventually, however, Willow seems to move past a little of her anger towards Angel, as after openly critizing his desire to resurrect Giles, she reluctantly agrees to help, as she needed Angel's help to bring magic back into the world. Willow, however, slapped him when he critized her of 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.[101] 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. Afterwards, Angel and Willow come to a resolution. She tells hims she understood that he was sorry, that he believed he was doing the right thing and that he it was necessary, but firmly reiterated that doesn't change that fact that what he did was wrong. She admited she hadn't forgiven him as of yet for his mistakes but reassured him that she in no way hated him. To prove her point, Willow hesitantly hugged him and left the a piece of Giles's soul from the scythe in his hands, before departing to continue her solo quest. [177]
- Oz - Angel and Oz rarely intereacted 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 Amarra 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 comradery, as both speak in brief sentences and are, in some ways, similar. They had humorously engaged in a very abreviated, pleasant conversation upon reuniting in L.A., Oz stating that him and Angel where usually "laconic".[3]
- Groosalugg- Angel and Groo have a complex relationship. Initally, 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[109].
- Illyria: Although his relationship with Illyria was initially adversarial, as she had killed Angel once during time slips[178] and then nearly again during the Fall of Los Angeles before being stopped by Spike[109], 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. Her respect for Angel is so great that, even in a possible future where their enemy James has conquered the world, the Illyria of that time swiftly agrees to work with a time-displaced Angel after he is brought to that time by Wolfram & Hart, noting that his motives are as noble as always.
- Harold Jones - Not much is known yet about this character but he is said to soon appear near the end of the series Angel and Faith Jones is said to be a former Watcher whom is said to be a potential Antagonist to Angel. It is revealed that the character is going to be tough, insane, brave and damaged. This encounter with Jones is going to revisit the regret Angel has for his previous actions before he was cursed with a soul by Gypsies. Angelus
Gallery
- See Angel/Gallery
Behind the Scenes
- He was portrayed by David Boreanaz
- Angel was supposed to be a one-time character until David Boreanaz was found.[179] David had already been cast at the time of the Unaired Buffy pilot, but did not appear.
- Nathan Fillion, who played Caleb later on in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, auditioned for the role of Angel back in early 1996.
- In the Angel season three episode "Carpe Noctem", in which Angel was victim of a body-switch, he was played by Rance Howard.
- Throughout his time on Buffy, Angel was the only non-human member of the Scooby Gang, a role taken over sometime after his departure by Spike.
- Angel is the second and last vampiric Big Bad of Buffy.
- Angel was the first vampire to receive a soul and fall in love with a slayer, soon after followed by Spike ( Who, ironically, loves the same slayer he does).
Angel's tattoo
- Angel has a tattoo on his shoulder-blade of a griffin from The Book of Kells,[180] 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; however, Whedon would later come to state that David scared him in "Becoming, Part Two".
- David impressed Joss Whedon so much playing Angelus possessed by the spirit of Grace Newman, a woman, that he was given his own show.
- Angel is a "Fanilow" (a fan of Barry Manilow), particularly loving the song "Mandy". As he tells Lorne, "I think it's kinda pretty." He is also a fan of actor Charlton Heston.
- Angel has appeared in by far the most episodes in the Buffyverse, for a total of 167 episodes. Buffy and Willow are next, with 146 and 147 episodes respectively. He has also appeared in the most seasons of the Buffyverse (all seasons of Buffy and Angel except for Buffy season 6) for a total of 11. He is also the only character to appear in the pilots and finales of both Buffy and Angel.
- After Angel was revealed to be Twilight, he became the only character to be a Big Bad in two different seasons.
- 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's human name, Liam, is the Irish form of the name William.
- Though Twilight was introduced at the height of the popularity of Stephanie Meyers' Twilight vampire romance franchise, he is in no way a reference to it. Joss Whedon had never heard of Twilight when he chose the villain's name[181] (Although reference to Twilight was included when Twilight was unmasked, Buffy commenting that she had done the vampire thing first and that her vampire was better, Angel subsequently agreeing after his mask was removed).
- Twilight's secret identity was leaked on the Internet months prior to the publication of issue 33.
- Angel/Angelus was the first member of The Whirlwind to be ensouled (in 1898). Darla (in 2000), Spike (in 2002) and Drusilla (in 2010) were also ensouled.
- Angel holds the record of most deaths in the Buffyverse with 6 (However, 4 of them were in either alternate universes or dreams).
- Along with Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander, he is one of only five characters to appear in both the pilot and series finale of Buffy: "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "Chosen".
- Along with Lindsey McDonald, he is one of only two characters to appear in both the pilot and series finale of Angel: "City Of" and "Not Fade Away".
- Along with Cordelia, he is one of only two characters to appear in the pilot episodes of both Buffy and Angel: "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "City Of".
- Along with Spike, he is one of only two characters to appear in the series finales of both Buffy and Angel: "Chosen" and "Not Fade Away".
- Along with Cordelia and Wesley, he is one of only three characters to appear the 50th episodes of both Buffy and Angel: "Doppelgängland" and "Billy".
- Along with Cordelia, Darla and Harmony, he is one of only four characters to appear in both the first season of Buffy and the final season of Angel.
- Angelus being unaffected by reality altering spells (like the one that erased all knowledge of The Beast) while "dormant" raises questions in regards to his awareness of Dawn Summers, considering the circumstances of her existence (Although it may be that Angel had learned about her during a conversation 'off-screen' that granted that knowledge to Angelus as well).
- David Boreanaz later starred one of the principal roles on Bones with T.J. Thyne (a lawyer in Angel Season Five). This show include also many actors of Buffyverse like Robin Riker (Catherine Madison), Geoff Meed (Andrew Borba/Mag), Brian Gross (Tor Hauer), David Brisbin (Mr. Anderson), Terry Cain (Mrs. Tishler), Clea DuVall (Marcie Ross), Ryan Bittle (Mitch Fargo), Denise Dowse (Ms. Miller), Brent Jennings (Absalom), Gregory Scott Cummins (Big Ugly), Wendy Way (Dierdre Page), Carlease Burke (Winslow), Bianca Lawson (Kendra Young), James Parks (Tector Gorch), Wendy Worthington (Lunch Lady), Chad Todhunter (Rickie Thomas), Harry Groener (Richard Wilkins), Nathan Anderson (John Lee Walker), Edward Edwards (Travis), Channon Roe (Jack O'Toole), Michael Cudltiz (Big Bob), Andy Umberger (D'Hoffryn/Ronald Meltzer), Bonita Friedericy (Mrs. Finkle/Patience), Tracy Middendorf (Tina), Michael Mantell (Oliver Simon), Garikayi Mutambirwa (Intern), Bryan Cuprill (Roy), Stephen M. Porter (Jack), Beth Grant (Maude Pearson), Ron Marasco (Allen Lloyd), Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates), Chris Tallman (Nick Straley), Brett Gilbert (Reptilian Demon), Colby French (Tay), P.J. Marino (Peter Wilkers), Jesse James (Ryan Anderson), Henri Lubatti (Head vampire), Justina Machado (Jo), Melissa Marsala (Judy Kovacs), J.P. Manoux (Frank Gilnitz), Edwin Hodge (Keenan), Cheryl White (Claire Jeakins), Kevin Rankin (Donald Maclay), Kali Rocha (Halfrek), Tom Kiesche (Detective Broomfield), Evan Arnold (Shempire), Katherine Ann McGregor (Catherine Manners), Abraham Benrubi (Olaf the Troll), Oliver Muirhead (Phillip), Darby Stanchfield (Denise), Eric Lange (a Lubber Demon), Kyle Davis (Kenny), Thomas Kopache (old Denver), Mik Scriba (Sam), Pete Gardner (Joseph Kramer), Wade Andrew Williams (Gregor), Tom McCleister (Lorne's mother), Kate Norby (Elisabeth), John Rubinstein (Linwood Murrow), Khalil Kain (Gio), Alice Lo (Chinese demon woman), David Denman (Skip), Marcia Ann Burrs (Bellamy), Christopher May (Male Customer), David J. Miller (Rat-faced demon, Kavan Reece (Justin), Charles Duckworth (Glenn), Adam Gordon (Carl), Kristoffer Polaha (Dylan Blim), Jim Ortlieb (the translator in Lullaby), Jordan Belfi (Ryan (Smashed)), Jessa French (Cleo), Aimee Garcia (Cynthia York), Tony Pasqualini (Harlan Elster), Pat Crawford Brown (Wig Lady), Mark Harellik (Kurskov), Steven Hack (Lionel), Susan Santiago (Mrs. Ferguson), Troy Brenna (Nezzla Demon/Avilas), Nichole Hiltz (Diana (Seeing Red), Deborah Zoe (Mistress Meerna), Michael Medico (Mr. Raiden), Clayton Rohner (Lee DeMarco), Azura Skye (Cassie Newton), Glenn Morshower (Phillip Newton), Rick Gonzalez (Tomas), Kevin Christy (Josh), Randy Oglesby (Oliver Seidel), Riki Lindhome (Cheryl), Jack Kehler (Manjet), Amanda Fuller (Eve), Joel David Moore (Karl), Christopher Neiman (Francis), K.D. Aubert (Nikki Wood), Gina Torres (Jasmine), Sam Witwer (John Stoler), Patrick Fischler (Ted), Danny Woodburn (Finger eating demon), Rodney Rowland (Corbin Fries), Ryan Alvarez (Pee Pee demon), Eyal Podell (Sam Lawson), Joel Polis (Captain Franklin), Mark Colson (Izzerial) and Adam Baldwin (Marcus Hamilton).
Appearances
External links
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