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NAME: Liam/Angelus/Angel AGE: 246 (± several thousand years spent in Hell) HEIGHT: 6'0" SKILLS: Brooding, Lurking, Kicking Serious Ass HAIR: Still good CASE HISTORY: David Boreanaz is Angel, the vampire cursed with a soul. Born a devilishly handsome Irish lout named Liam, he was "changed over" 240-something years ago by the vampire Darla, later his lover. Perhaps under her tutelage, perhaps on his own initiative, Angelus became renowned for his monstrously excessive cruelty. His vampiric exploits began with brutally murdering his entire family and reached a high point with the exquisitely choreographed torture and murder of an innocent young nun named Drusilla, whom he sired as a vampire. After more than a century of this unlife, Angelus made the mistake of feeding on an especially beloved gypsy princess, and her vengeful tribe cursed him with a soul so that he might never again be at peace with himself. Horrified by what he had done, Angel brooded in misery, nearly starving, for a hundred years before he was found by a demon named Whistler, and was taught how to do good. Angel moved to Sunnydale, California, and began giving aid to Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer, a magically enhanced young girl chosen to kill vampires. After working together for only a short period of time, they fell in love in spite of themselves, suffering a great deal of angst over the impossibility of any normal life together. After many attempts to deny the reality of their love, they consummated their relationship in a passionate night on Buffy's 17th birthday; but fate (or Joss) is cruel. It turned out that the gypsy curse was intended to make Angel suffer, and so a single moment of true happiness caused it to dissolve. Angel lost the curse-induced soul and once again became Angelus, the demonic killer. Angelus tormented the grief-stricken Buffy much as he had once tormented Drusilla, trying to drive her insane, taking advantage of the fact that she couldn't bear to kill him. He stalked, tortured and killed her friends, most importantly Jenny Calendar, before attempting to kill Buffy herself and send the world into Hell in one fell swoop. Buffy thwarted him and was about to kill him when suddenly his soul was magically returned; but even though Angel was good again, it was too late. He had opened the vortex and only his blood and body could close it; so Buffy stabbed him and sent him to Hell. Angel returned from Hell months later, but for him hundreds of years had passed in the fire and torment; and he was, understandably, massively disturbed, completely incoherant and animal-like. Proximity to Buffy helped him regain his sanity, but he still struggled with depression and self-hatred which culminated in an attempt to kill himself Christmas Day via sunlight, and even Buffy couldn't stop him; but in an ironic twist of fate, the sun was blocked by an unheard-of miracle in Southern California: snowfall. But despite all this, Angel's and Buffy's relationship was, as it always had been, ultimately doomed. With Buffy's graduation from high school, a brokenhearted Angel decided that it could never work and it was up to him to break it off; and so he made his decision to leave. SPECIAL NOTES: For more information on Angel's new series, visit our sister site,The City Of Angel. |
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It snowed because God hates him. That was my first reaction when I saw the snow coming down. Since then I've thought about it more, and I have come to the conclusion that Angel has a certain task to complete -- a task for the Forces of Good. Whistler, who belongs to a race of demons with visions of the future, thought this task was gonna be to stop Acathla, but clearly Whistler?s Magical Foresight tends to be a bit vague on the details. Maybe Angel has some power, or talent, or maybe simply destiny, that we don't know about, and he?s been marked for this destiny since the day he was born. Someday, he's going to save the world, in a situation where no one can do it but him. That's why the First Evil and a host of lesser evils are after him. But Evil will not be allowed to conquer Angel, no matter how hard it tries. Why do you think he is the only vampire among thousands and thousands to have regained his soul? Angel won't be allowed to die until the day he completes his destiny. He may suffer a lot in the meantime. He may suffer more than any normal human could bear. But he'll live. In short... God hates him. |
The following is an excerpt from the epilogue of What's Mine Is Yours, a fanfiction in which Angel and Xander switched bodies (like Amy and her mother from "The Witch"). We think it sums up the Angel-Buffy-Angelus dilemma pretty well... enjoy!Buffy put a hand on his arm. "Angel, tell me. What is it?" Angel just shook his head. "I don't want to tell you. I'm... I can't..." "There's nothing you can't tell me," Buffy said quietly. "You know that." Angel bit his lips, then capitulated. "It hurts, this aftermath. It's not just a normal post-slaying day." "Why is this different?" Buffy asked, already suspecting the answer. "Well... you know how you've wished... that we were just normal kids?" Angel questioned. "Angel, we've been through this. I've been known to wish, from time to time, that I wasn't the Slayer, that I could go through a normal day, week, and not save the world or risk my life or bring hurt and anguish and danger to the people I love. But I don't want you to change." "All right then." Angel braced himself. "I wish I was a normal kid. That I didn't have to live with a demon in my head. That I didn't get hungry at the smell of blood. That I wouldn't live forever, that I could go out in the sun. That I... could have children. I've wished for all those things many times. Was I wrong?" "I don't know," Buffy whispered. "I don't think it's wrong to wish for an easier life..." She stopped to consider. "But then again... perhaps it's wrong for you to wish you weren't who you are, when I love who you are." Angel just blinked. After a moment, he remarked with what was almost a smile, "I think I understood that, which is sort of disturbing, considering how tangled it was!" Buffy giggled, but Angel immediately sobered up again. "What I'm trying to say is... I wanted to keep Xander's body. For you, to make your life easier, more normal. So you wouldn't have to deal with the hypocrisy that's nearly killed our love again and again, that a Slayer loves a vampire. And I wanted it... for myself. For my own selfish wish." "Oh, Angel," Buffy said, beginning to form comforting words, but she stopped abruptly as a sob choked her throat. She tried to swallow it, startled at the sudden rush of emotion. This was touching the heart of Angel's pain, of his self-hatred. Nothing could ever take away what he'd done, the evil he'd committed, the memories that tormented him and fed his inner anguish. But the other half of the torment of his life -- the demon inside him that he could never escape, never destroy without killing himself, the alien being that he hated with heart and soul -- this was what he'd had a chance to escape. "You had a chance to escape," Buffy echoed her thoughts, as one wayward tear escaped her vigilant lashes. "You were tempted. But Angel, everyone is tempted. You came through. You always do." "I didn't," Angel insisted, and Buffy could hear the tears behind his voice, too. "I didn't come through. It wasn't a conscious decision -- but I told Willow the truth, even knowing that it might make the spell permanent. Xander tried to kill me because he thought I'd done it on purpose, and I felt, deep down, that he had a right." Buffy turned away for a moment, and put her hands over her face. When she turned back her features were under control. "I can't judge you, Angel," she said quietly. "It's not my place to forgive you, or to say if you need forgiveness. Only you can do that. But I love you." Angel shook his head, mouth open to raise more protests, more self-blame. Buffy stopped it with a very quick kiss. "I love you." Another tear escaped from the drops clinging to her lashes, but she was smiling slightly. "I love you." Angel looked at her. Buffy looked back. They stared at each other for a very long moment, tears and smiles, love and pain. "I love you," Buffy whispered again. "And it's enough." |
Buffy & the Slayerettes
Buffy ][ Xander ][ Willow ][ Oz ][ Giles ][ Spike
Gone But Not Forgotten
Angel ][ Angelus ][ Cordelia ][ Memorial Garden
