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Passion... it lies in all of us. Sleeping, waiting, and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us, guides us... passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments; the joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank... without passion, we'd be truly dead.
~ Angelus about his obsession with Buffy.
Always so concerned with the human condition. It's no big mystery, man. They suffer, they die. That's what they're here for.
~ Angelus

Angelus is the original form of Angel and the main antagonist of the Buffyverse, serving as the secondary antagonist of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the main antagonist of Angel.

He was an Irish vampire and known to be one of the most sadistic and brutal creatures to exist. However, after having a Romanian curse placed on him, he was turned into Angel as retribution for over a century of tyranny as a soulless vampire, whenever Angel experiences true happiness, he loses his soul, thus reverting back to his original form. He is the archenemy of Buffy Summers.

As with his good counterpart, he was portrayed by David Boreanaz, who also portrayed Luc Crash in The Crow: Wicked Prayer and Jeremy Melton in Valentine.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Before becoming the vicious vampire Angelus, he was a human by the name of Liam, born in Galway, Ireland in 1727. His father was a linen and silk merchant of some wealth. One day, at the age of 26, after a night of his usual drunken debauchery, Liam got into a fight with his father, who declared that he was wasting his life and slapped him. Liam responded that he was what his father had made him, and left their household in a rage, his father doing little to stop him, despite his obvious grief at his son's harsh words. After a tavern brawl, he was kicked out, and followed the woman - the vampire, Darla - into an alleyway. She promised to fulfil his dreams, and show him a whole new world, and sired him, turning him into a vampire.

Liam and Darla went about killing every single inhabitant in his home town, until finally, Liam decided to move on, but not before killing his entire family. He took the name "Angelus", seemingly inspired by the fact that his little sister believed him to have returned to her as an angel, shortly before he killed her.

Angelus and Darla traveled the world for decades, wreaking havoc wherever they went, and creating a reputation as the most vicious and dangerous vampires in the world. Angelus had a gift for torture, both mental and physical, and enjoyed nothing more than using his dark talents to create works of "art", in the form of brutal murders and tortures.

21 years later in May 1764, Angelus and Darla killed the wife and son of Daniel Holtz, and turned his young daughter into a vampire, forcing him to kill her. Holtz then devoted himself to capturing them, and chased them across Europe, managing to kill almost 400 other vampires in the process.

In 1786, Angelus made the acquaintance of Penn, a young man who had a similar antagonistic relationship with his father like Liam did. Feeling a sense of kindship with Penn, Angelus sired him and Penn murdered his family like his sire did. Angelus, who had the time adopted an MO of murdering young women and carving crosses on their cheeks so as to spite God (which earned him the nickname of the "Pope"), took the young man under his tutelage and the two would frequently keep tracks of each other's travel destination.

In 1789, while he was in Prussia, Angelus came across a slaughter caused by the demon named The Beast, who sought his help in order to avoid imprisonment by magical priestesses, offering him an alliance. Angelus declined and was beaten by the demon for his refusal, before the latter was banished.

71 years later in 1860, a young woman by the name of Drusilla caught Angelus' eye. Pure, chaste and virgin, she possessed the "sight", an ability to see the future. Angelus became obsessed with her, and began torturing her by killing her loved ones in an attempt to drive her insane. She fled to a convent, and on the day she was to take her vows and become a nun, Angelus massacred the coven, killing everyone but her. He proceeded to have sex with Darla on top of her, which finally shattered what remained of Drusilla's sanity, driving her completely and utterly insane. Angelus then sired her, turning her into a vampire, so that his "masterpiece" would live on for eternity.

The two were now three, and would be for another twenty years, until in 1880, Drusilla desired a companion of her own. She took the mild-mannered and lovesick poet, William, who took the nom-de-guere "Spike" and turned him into a vampire, a new addition to their little "family". Spike and Angelus had a complicated relationship, with William both greatly admiring and resenting Angelus for his charisma and leadership, and especially resenting the fact that Angelus would regularly sleep with Drusilla.

The four became known as the "Whirlwind", the bloodiest vampires in history, Angelus chief among them.

The Gypsy Curse[]

18 years later in 1898, Angelus and Darla murdered the most beloved daughter of a tribe of gypsies. In revenge, the gypsies cursed Angelus by restoring to him his human soul, making him feel guilt for all the people he had slaughtered and the atrocities he had committed in the last 145 years, a curse that could only be broken by one moment of pure happiness. After realizing what had happened to him, Darla violently rejected him, disgusted by his new humanity. Angelus lived on his own for a while, unable to kill and feed on the innocent as he had, he turned to killing other murderers and wrong-doers, while searching for Darla.

He found her in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. He tried to convince her that he could still live as they had in the past, but despite her doubts, she gave him a chance. However she grew enraged at the fact that he protected innocents from her and would only feed on murderers, rapists and animals, and confronted him with an ultimatum; to kill and feed on a baby whose parents Darla had killed, or to leave them forever. Angelus couldn't, and saved the baby before fleeing.

Life With a Soul[]

During the next 90 or so years, Angelus lived a solitary life, trying to keep to himself in order to avoid the urge to feed on humans. He moved to America and took the name "Angel". Angel maintained some limited contact with humanity, but after finding himself unable to resist feeding on a dying store clerk in the '70's, he exiled himself to a life of homelessness, living on the streets and drinking the blood of rats.

He was sought out in the 1990s by the demon Whistler, who persuaded him to fight against the evil that he had once embodied in an effort to redeem himself. He pointed Angel towards the newly-activated Slayer, Buffy Summers. Angel resolved to help her in any way possible.

He followed her to Sunnydale, and made his identity known to her. The two quickly began to develop romantic feelings for each other. During this time, he met Darla once again, who had come to Sunnydale to serve the Master, her own sire, who was magically trapped underneath Sunnydale. Darla attempted to turn Angel against the Slayer, and to bring him back to their side, but she failed, and Angel killed her.

Buffy and Angel's relationship would grow complicated once again with the arrival of Spike and Drusilla in Sunnydale. Spike was initially oblivious to Angel's condition, and sought him out. Meanwhile, Angel sought out Drusilla and told her to leave town. Spike would soon find out where Angel's true allegiances lay, and instead decided to use him in a ritual to rejuvenate the sick and weakened Drusilla. Angel was captured, and Drusilla tortured him as he had once tortured her. Spike planned to sacrifice Angel in a ritual to restore Drusilla to health, but Buffy managed to intervene, saving Angel's life and temporarily crippling Spike, but not before Drusilla was restored to full health.

Spike and Drusilla planned to unleash a demon named "the Judge", who would kill all non-demonic life on Earth. Meanwhile, Angel and Buffy finally had sex after a heated battle. This would serve as Angel's moment of pure happiness, breaking the gypsy curse and removing his soul.

Soulless Once Again[]

Unleashed once again, Angelus joined Spike and Drusilla in their plot to unleash the Judge. Buffy managed to stop them however, and Angelus resolved to completely and utterly destroy her, having a personal vendetta against her for making him love her. He began to torture her and her friends by threatening their loved ones, and taking away things they loved-such as making necklace out of Willow's fish he killed. Learning of a plot by a the gypsy woman Jenny Calendar, who had been sent by the Kalderash to ensure Angelus kept his soul, Angelus found her, destroyed the ritutal, and brutally murdered her. He then put her on display in Giles' bed as if she were waiting for him. This act prompted Giles to attempt to kill Angelus, which would have costed him his life if not for Buffy's intervention.

Angelus kills Jenny Calnder

Angelus killing Jenny Calendar.

Angelus began to form a plan to unleash Hell on Earth, but meanwhile, Spike was growing increasingly resentful of Angelus for usurping his leadership of the gang, annoyed that he would not kill the Slayer, and jealous that he had resumed his sexual relationship with Drusilla, all while Spike was still crippled by his injuries.

Angelus got all the necessary components to open a gate to Hell, but Spike and Buffy teamed up in order to stop him. Meanwhile, Buffy's friend Willow began an incantation to restore Angelus' soul. She was successful, but not before Angelus managed to open the gate. Requiring his death to close it, Buffy ran him through with a sword, and kicked him through the portal.

Angel would return from the hell dimension, his soul once again restored, and would continue to fight for good to redeem himself. However, his true nature would never be far, always whispering in his ear, and occasionally emerging on the rare occasions when Angel lost his soul.

Angelus and Angel Face to Face for the First and Final Time

Angelus and Angel face to face for the first and final time.

When Angel moved to Los Angeles, he once met a woman named Rebecca Lowell, an actress who wanted to be eternally young. She snuck a drug that simulates bliss into Angel's drink, suppressing his soul and causing him to try to torture and kill her. Although Angelus was knocked out and reverted to Angel without causing casualties this time, years later in 2003, a very powerful demon known only as the Beast arrived and began an attempt to bring forth an apocalypse. Angel 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. As Angelus, he lures Faith to the Beast, only to betray and kill him, not knowing it would bring back the sun. Angelus was eventually recaptured and re-ensouled after a battle with Faith. He has never been featured in the series again.

Legacy[]

Spike after his disastrous encounter with a psychotic vampire slayer, Dana, called her a monster. He likened her to himself and Angelus. After Angel called her a victim, Spike stated "So were we, once upon a time."

During the time when Los Angeles was pulled into Hell by The Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart after Angel betrayed them, he would find himself in conflict with a newly sired Charles Gunn. When Gunn once turned his back on Angel, Angel knew that had Angelus saw Angel commit this betrayal, that he would be proud of him. This disgusted him and though later it proved to be ill-advised, he didn't go through with killing Gunn.

Personality[]

I want to torture you. I used to love it, and it's been a long time. I mean, the last time I tortured someone, they didn't even have chainsaws.
~ Angelus.

As Angelus, Angel is devoid of humanity, and only lives for the pain he inflicts on innocent victims, Giles' watcher diaries qualifying him as "one of the most sadistic vampires in all of history". Originally, Angelus was simply a particularly zealous vampire, slaughtering his entire village on the night of his creation, and was motivated by the desire to get back at his father for emotionally mistreating him all his human life. However, over the years and under Darla's influence, and much to her surprise, Angelus showed an unique capacity for cruelty that even Darla was taken aback from, as after a while he wasn't content with simply killing his victims but became passionate about causing them suffering and dragging it for as long as he could, devising means of psychological torture in order to do so, deeming killing "an art". His passion for causing his victims pain was so great that he remembers every single one of them and as revealed in the episode "Billy", this evolution, from a boy angry at his father to a psychopathic torturer, transpired in the fact that Angelus stopped experiencing personal anger towards his victims at some point in his life and hurt them purely for pleasure onward.

While vampires are frequently shown to display either codes of conducts, loyalty or even love for closed ones (as Spike, Drusilla, Darla and even The Master have demonstrated), Angelus only ever showed superficial care for his companions in the Whirlwind and Penn, once giving away Darla's location to Holtz to save himself, showing he only ever cared about himself which marked him as one of the most evil vampire the race has produced. He was disgusted by love, describing Buffy as someone that made him "feel like a human being", and intended to punish her for it.

Besides his sadism, another major component of Angelus' personality is his ego. Angelus has high opinion of himself and often antagonizes people who are stronger than he is. This arrogance led him to be beaten by both The Master and The Beast when he declined to work with them and insulted the former. That same arrogance also made him overconfident in his skills to control situations such as when he was tormenting Buffy and his friends, which backfired when Giles went after him and Buffy eventually gained the resolve to fight him to the death.

Appearance[]

Angelus Season Two

Angelus's appearance is basically identical to that of Angel, being a ruggedly handsome, Caucasian man in his mid twenties with thick, dark brown hair and matching eyes, when engaged in combat however his vampire form would emerge giving him an almost cat-like face with flat features and fangs, his eyes also turned yellow at this point. In the past he had long flowing hair and a moustache and would wear regal and formal attire before eventually having his clothes more ruined and raggedy during his 100 year travels between regaining his soul and meeting Buffy.

In the present Angelus's fashion sense is essentially the same as Angel's, his hair is a shorter style which is flicked up (apparently unintentionally) and he has an elegant and somewhat punkish fashion sense, usually wearing Angel's suits, sweatshirts and either Angel's black trench coat or his leather overcoat. The biggest difference between Angelus and Angel's clothes would be Angelus having a preference for tight leather trousers.

The raw demon form of Angelus which appeared briefly is a hideous beast which has greyish blue skin, wispy black hair, fangs and red eyes. His body texture overall was much rougher as well and he appeared to be covered in bony spikes, he also had prominent claws in this form.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Vampiric Capabilities: Angelus has the standard abilities of all vampires; superhuman strength, durability, regeneration and senses, all of which are amplified by his advanced age.
  • Skilled Combatant: Angelus is a highly competent hand-to-hand fighter, with a proficiency in various martial arts, allowing him to trade blows with foes who are physically stronger than him like Buffy and Faith.
  • Eidetic Memory: Angelus has a photographic memory, and possesses a psychic connection with the vampires he has sired, such as Drusilla and Penn, able to sense when they are near.
  • Various mundane Skills: He is also a gifted visual artist, skilled motorist, and speaks at least eleven languages.
  • Occult Knowledge: Angelus has vast knowledge of demonology and the occult. He is capable of using magic, and performing magic rituals.
  • Psychological Manipulation: Angelus is a master in psychological manipulation, and torture. He has honed his skills over centuries, and can get the most loyal of friends to fight each other, and the most stalwart to divulge their secrets.
  • Skilled Torturer: Having physically tortured a great number of his victims, Angelus is more than capable of inflicting pain as part of an interrogation.
  • Strategic Leadership: Angelus is a competent leader and tactician, keeping himself and those around him alive for centuries, despite constant persecution. He is charismatic and charming, owning to both his self-confidence and his physical appearance.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Angelus is the only vampire of the show whose soulless self is portrayed as being an entirely separated person from his ensouled one, rather than being the person sired without his empathy or guilt. "Angel" is used to refer to the altruistic ensouled vampire and "Angelus" to refer to the soulless evil one, hence why the two characters have two different pages on the Villains and Heroes wikis. This dichotomy wasn't apparent during Angelus' appearences in Buffy where the two are treated as the same person (with characters using both aliases interchangeably to refer to Angelus), but in Angel, Angel and Angelus are treated as two different characters with different personality and level intelligence. The difference is emphasize by the fact that other characters never call the soulless Angel as anything else than "Angelus". This situation is never explained and the only other vampire with a soul, Spike, doesn't display the same drastic difference in personality. This has led fans to speculate on both the nature of the soul in the Buffyverse, and the character development of Angel over the course of his life.
  • He is one of the few named vampires appearing in Buffy and Angel who has fought the heroes but wasn't killed by them, sharing his trait with Drusilla and Spike.
  • He is the only character of the Buffyverse to be a main antagonist in both Buffy and Angel. While Spike does appear on both shows, he was only a one-time antagonist in Angel.

External Links[]

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