- ⤷ Note: This article is about the Angel from the 2022 comic series. For other uses, see Angel.
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The subject of this article is of alternative canonicity. While created as part of licensed material, it is not part of the original Buffyverse, but its own developed story. |
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Angel was a vampire cursed with a soul who lived in Los Angeles in 2022 in a universe parallel to the universe without shrimp. He worked as an actor as the title character of the TV series Angel for Hire and had the supernatural detective agency Angel Investigations.[1]
Biography[]
Angel used to be known as Angelus, one of the most murderous and dangerous vampires, which made him an enemy of vampire hunter Daniel Holtz[2], and at one point in the 1890s killing the Hapsburg governor while spending time with undead strigoi.[3] He also sired Drusilla.[4] However, Angelus was eventually cursed to have a soul, which caused him to feel guilt for his crimes and a desire to atone.[2]
At some point, Angel moved to Sunnydale, where every Thursday he would secretly play Dungeons & Dragons with a red-headed witch and her girlfriend, who was also a witch. Angel's character died during one session, and they had a funeral for it, which caused him to cry.[4]
Angel eventually moved to Los Angeles, though his witch friend still occasionally fixed his laptop for him.[4] He founded the Angel Investigations agency with his teammates Cordelia, Andrew, fellow vampire Spike, the vampire hunter Gunn, the Slayer Fred, her Watcher Wesley, and the demon Lorne.[1] During their adventures, they traveled to Pylea, where they met the Groosalugg, who became a friend of the group, and fought the demon Lanugo.[5]
Cordelia's acting career took off with her show Cordi, and she convinced Angel to have a go as an actor, which he did partly to spend time with her.[3] This led to him starring as the title role of Angel for Hire, a TV series in which he played a vampire detective, while Gunn became his manager and Andrew his assistant. However, his new career caused Angel to neglect his original mission and his real detective agency.[1]
In 2022, after finishing filming an episode and attending a party, Angel returned to the Hyperion Hotel to learn from Spike that Wesley had been fatally wounded during a mission. Angel was later trapped within a spirit house, which contained a sorrow demon and left Angel miniaturized due to its different physical dimensions. Meanwhile, Wesley became a zombie, and the Oz of another universe arrived at the Hyperion, revealing that, in an alternate reality, a still soulless Angelus had killed his friends.[1][6]
The demon escaped the spirit house and, while Andrew restored Angel to his normal size, the team discovered the demon was their old friend Groo, who had been killed in battle and came to hate Champions.[5] Contacting Riley Finn for support, Angel Investigations stopped Groo from destroying the world, with Lorne helping to convince him to stand down and return to the spirit house.[7]
Shortly after, the Daniel Holtz of another reality arrived in the Hyperion Hotel, hunting Angel's and Spike's counterparts. During the fight, the team stopped Holtz, but Wesley was further harmed while saving Spike, causing an argument within the group. Later Angel attempted to reason with Holtz, who was dismissive of his attempts and explained that he had seen many heroic versions of Angel be killed by the evil Angelus he knew. Due to stress caused by the show and an argument with Spike, who had reunited with Drusilla, Angel accepted an offer to play Abraham Van Helsing in a film being shot in Romania, quitting the show and wanting to put some distance between him and his friends.[2]
Filming did not go well, with the producers finding Angel's attempt at an Irish accent difficult to listen to, and Angel found himself disliking his co-star Mike. Angelus eventually attacked them, having arrived in this universe, and killed Mike before heading back to Los Angeles, with Angel following him.[3] Once back in the Hyperion, Angel's friends attacked him until he convinced them of his true identity, and he learned that Angelus had been creating a vampire horde, Spike had replaced him on Angel for Hire, and Oz had escaped while in werewolf form with Lorne trying to find him.[4]
After finding Spike, who had killed his counterpart, the team discovered he was almost soulless, having been tricked by Dr. Daedalus when he came to him for help in saving Wesley. This led to a fight between Daedalus and his henchman Nathan to get Spike's soul back, which was interrupted by the arrival of Drusilla, who destroyed a vial containing Spike's soul, and Angelus with his horde.[4] The group managed to escape, with Daedalus coming up with the plan to resurrect the dead Slayer Buffy Summers. Despite Daedalus revealing himself to be a vampire himself, Spike arrived in time to kill him and informed the others that Wesley had sacrificed his life to return Spike's soul. Angel and Cordelia took a moment to admit their feelings for each other in a kiss before he fought Angelus. After Angel killed Angelus, he and the rest of Angel Investigations prepared to fight off what was left of the vampire army.[8]