Angel's Story   

Upon arrival in the "City of Angels," a half-human half-demon named Doyle approached Angel and convinced him to help people through his visions. Doyle, like Whistler, received images of people in peril from The Powers That Be and would then employ Angel to rescue them. It didn't take long for Angel to run into Cordelia, who was struggling to make a living as an actress. Along with Doyle, Angel and Cordelia formed Angel Investigations in 1999 as an outlet for supernatural P.I. work and the rescue of the innocent.

When Angel dusted a rich and powerful vampire named Russell Winters, Angel Investigations made its first contact with what would become its most powerful nemesis. Russell Winters was a client of a law firm called Wolfram & Hart that catered to the demon community, and they immediately recognized Angel as a considerable threat to their depraved organization. Their long list of crimes against humanity included pimping vampires, organizing demon fight clubs and harvesting humans for body parts.

Although Wolfram & Hart kept Angel busy, his past love still haunted him. Angel would never fully recover from losing Buffy, but he did eventually find himself smitten by another heroic blonde. While hunting a Talamere demon, Angel crossed paths with a skilled and beautiful LAPD detective named Kate Lockley. Although Angel tried to pursue her romantically, the strong-willed detective was not able to give in to her feelings and fully accept Angel being a vampire.

Shortly after Kate entered Angel's life, another person was taken from it. During a daring rescue, Doyle heroically sacrificed himself to save Angel, Cordelia and a whole clan of half-demons. Before leaping to his death, Doyle kissed Cordelia and thereby passed on his connection to The Powers That Be. As Cordelia began to adapt to her new role as the Seer, an old ally from Sunnydale named Wesley showed up on their doorstep. Wesley was Faith's ex-Watcher and had since become a rogue demon-hunter in search of a team. With his extensive knowledge of demon lore and a bold ambition for battle, Wesley became a key addition to Angel Investigations.

As Angel entered his fourth century, Angel Investigations had developed into a well-oiled demon-slaying machine. To further broaden their scope, they found a new accomplice when Angel saved the sister of a young independent demon-hunter named Charles Gunn. Although his methods were unorthodox, Gunn was a battle-hardened veteran and became an essential ally to Angel Investigations.

It turned out Angel would need all the help he could get when Wolfram & Hart summoned a demon named Vocah, who stole the Scroll of Aberjian and performed a ritual that resurrected Darla. Angel's sire and first true love was returned as a mortal rather than a vampire, and with her return dormant feelings within Angel were awakened. Rather than attempting to kill Darla once again, Angel tried to return her to good and help her find salvation for her deviant past. He turned out to be unsuccessful, and she was re-sired by Drusilla when Wolfram & Hart reunited the two ex-cronies.

But as these dark forces were stacking up against Angel, he found yet another ally in the form of a flashy karaoke bar owner. Lorne is the anagogic green-skinned demon who runs The Caritas, which is a safe haven for demons. His ability to tell the future has helped Angel out of more than a few jams, and he soon became an integral part of the crew. Lorne accompanied the gang on a mission to save Cordelia in Pylea, his home-world in another dimension. Perhaps their most harrowing adventure to date, the gang not only rescued Cordelia and saved a kingdom, but also located a student physicist named Winifred who had been trapped there for five years. Angel and "Fred" connected instantly and she returned to Los Angeles with him to try to rebuild her life.

In season three, we learned that Angel's tortured centuries-long relationship with the beautiful vampire Darla resulted in the birth of a son, Connor. (No, vampires can't normally have children; Connor's birth fulfilled an ancient prophecy about a human child born to two vampires.) Relishing his new role as a father, Angel was devastated when Connor was kidnapped and raised in a dark dimension from which he returned as a teenager bent on destroying Angel.

Also in season three, though they both resisted it as long as possible, Angel and Cordelia were about to confess their love for each other when they were torn apart by Cordelia's sudden disappearance at the request of the mysterious "Powers that Be." The season ended with Angel sealed into a metal box and sunk into the ocean by his vengeful son.

In season four, Wesley saved Angel from the murky depths. Angel returned to the Hyperion and told Connor that he loves him, before kicking the boy out of his home. Angel fought hard to find Cordelia, but when he learned that she was safe in a higher plane, he knew it was best to leave her there. However, Cordelia was suddenly returned to the gang - with no memory of who she is. Seeing that she was frightened, the gang wasn't completely honest about who they are - and who she is. After learning that they lied to her, she decided to stay with Connor.

Meanwhile, signs everywhere seemed to indicate the end of the world, as well as the arrival of an unstoppable monster known only as The Beast. As the sky rained fire, Cordy and Connor were driven into each other's arms. The gang's search for information on the mysterious Beast led revealed that he knew Angelus; desperate to learn more, they hired a shaman to temporarily remove Angel's soul, so that they could learn more of the connection between Angelus and The Beast. However, when the gang went to restore his soul, the container that housed it was missing. To help them capture Angelus, Wesley went to break Faith out of prison, and Fred called in Willow to restore Angel's soul.

Later, as the team realized that The Beast was working for someone else, but they were stunned to learn that the master of The Beast was Cordelia! She was also pregnant with Connor's child, and with his help, the "child" arrived before Angel could stop them. Cordy's daughter, Jasmine, sprang from her stomach full grown - a process that left Cordelia in a coma.

Jasmine spoke of love and peace and nearly everyone that saw her fell under her spell. However, Fred could see the truth: Jasmine was a monster, who devoured people. Fred was able to break Jasmine's hold over the gang, and they tried to stop her before she could take over the world. Ultimately, it was Connor who killed Jasmine; he had protected her because he wanted to believe what she said, but finally he could no longer deny that she was a lie.

As a "reward for ending world peace" - whatever kind of peace Jasmine would have brought - the gang was offered control of the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram & Hart. Though they all agreed it was a bad idea, they all went to tour the facility. Angel was going to turn it down, until he was shown a distraught Connor holding a store full of people hostage across town. He made a deal: he would take over the LA branch if they would give Connor a new life with no memory of him. The season ended with Connor eating dinner with his very normal family and discussing his options for college.

Although Angel has suffered unspeakably in his past and lost lovers that most would never find in a lifetime, he can look to the future with optimism. The vampire with a soul has friends who have become family, and he has learned that The Powers That Be have prophesized his full return to mortality once he has saved enough innocent life. The Gates of Hell are in constant danger of being opened, but humanity at least has a fighting chance with Angel as its guardian.

This is a synopsis of the history of the character Angel. The characters are the property (copyright) of Joss Whedon. The words quoted are the property (copyright 2002) of the WB Television Network. All Angel episode images are the exclusive property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemies and 20th Century Fox. No copyright infringement of any kind is intended. No profit is being made. This information is not for distribution; it is being presented here solely for the enjoyment of the shows' fans.

I'd like to thank the Trinity at the Sanctuary web site for permission to use these screen caps; their link is available on the Angel Links page.

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