Angel (vampire)

Angel, Angelus

species: Human, vampire

Vampire, detective, wastrel

from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel

Character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series), who became the lead character of a spin-off titled after him: Angel.

Played by David Boreanaz.

The character was originally a human named Liam, who lived in Ireland in the 1800s. He was turned into a vampire by Darla, and became known as Angelus, and infamous for his cruelty (see what he did to Drusilla for a particularly brutal example), until a clan of Gypsies cursed him for killing their favourite daughter.

The curse restored his soul, and tormented him with the conscience of the evil he had committed. Rejected by Darla and his vampire family, he proceeded to brood alone, eating rats and living in squalor for decades, until he eventually began to try to redeem himself, and became known as Angel.

He fell in love with Buffy Summers, the vampire Slayer, and acted first as a mysterious ally to her, then entered into a relatonship with her as her boyfriend, until a moment of pure happiness (ie, having sex with her for the first time, on her 17th birthday) undid the curse. He lost his soul and became the evil Angelus once more. This turn of events was intended as a portrayal of the metaphor of the boyfriend transforming into a different man once he has sex with a girl, made literal within the fantasy universe of the series.

The age difference between Buffy and Angel was initially romanticised, as seen through Buffy's perspective, and its implications largely glossed over, while the emphasis on their incompatibility rested in the opposition between their respective natures as Slayer and vampire. In "Halloween", for instance, Buffy sees herself as competing with the upper-class ladies whom Angel might have known in previous centuries, in terms of beauty and manners. When she finally talks about this with Angel, he expresses contempt for them:

"I hated the girls back then. Especially the noble women (...) They were just incredibly dull. Simpering morons, the lot of them. I always wished I could meet someone... exciting. Interesting."

This does not paint Angel as a character sympathetic to women; rather, it gives a male character the voice of authority through experience, only praising one female character by putting down others, thus contributing to Buffy's exceptionalism, which is one of the recurring problematic aspects of the Buffy series as it relates to women's empowerment.

Following his return to evil, Angelus became the main antagonist for Season 2 of Buffy, but subsequent plot twists eventually restored Angel, although the consequences of his actions as Angelus, and the impossibility of his staying involved with Buffy for fear of another moment of true happiness, led to their parting.

Angel moved to Los Angeles, to pursue his quest for redemption, and the spin-off series followed him there.

Quotes about Angel

"What's My Line? Part 1":

Buffy: "I wish we could be regular kids."

Angel: "Yeah. I'll never be a kid."

Buffy: "Okay, then a regular kid and her cradle-robbing, creature-of-the-night boyfriend."

External Links

• Wikipedia entry for Angel