Portent

“Something's happening. I've seen portents.”

―Angel

Portent or harbinger was an incident that signaled the coming of an apocalypse.

History

1997

“I'm not stupid. This is apocalypse stuff.”

―Jennifer Calendar

Prior to the rise of the Master and the opening of the Hellmouth, several events happened in a radius of three miles around Sunnydale. These events included:

• A cat gave birth to a litter of snakes and then was devoured by them.
• Whisper Lake suddenly began to boil, killing two members of a family swimming in the it.
• At Mercy Hospital, a boy was born with his eyes facing inwards.
• An earthquake, possibly 5.1 Richter.
• Stones rained from the sky.
• The water supply of Sunnydale turned into blood.

1999

When the Sisterhood of Jhe attempted to open the Hellmouth, Angel claimed to have seen portents which convinced him that the apocalypse was due to happen.

2002

“This thing caught you by surprise, too. You had no idea it was coming.”

―Angel

In late 2002, several events heralded the coming of the Beast. The night of his ascension, Wolfram & Hart registered a 300% increase of unexplained events in the Los Angeles area. All these disturbances formed a square shape. These portents included:

• Hundreds of rats emerged from pipes and drains.
• Swarms of insects.
• A cat tried to devour its owner.
• Sparrows committed suicide en-masse.
• An earthquake struck Los Angeles.