History Characters / AngelInvestigations

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The other pages are:
!Buffy the Vampire Slayer Characters

* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerScoobyGang The Scooby Gang]][[note]]Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, Rupert Giles, Dawn Summers, Andrew Wells, Angel, Cordelia Chase, Anya Jenkins, Oz, Spike, Riley Finn, Tara Maclay[[/note]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerBigBads Big Bads]][[note]]Lothos, The Master, Angelus, The Mayor, Adam, Glory, The Trio, The First Evil[[/note]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerSunnydaleResidents Sunnydale Residents]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerVampires Vampires]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerDemonsAndMonsters Demons and Monsters]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerWatchersAndSlayers Watchers and Slayers]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerTwilightGroup The Twilight Group]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerOtherCharacters Other Characters]]
* [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerComic Dark Horse Comic Characters]]

!Angel Characters

* [[Characters/AngelWolframAndHart Wolfram and Hart]]
* [[Characters/AngelLosAngelesResidents Los Angeles Residents]]
* [[Characters/AngelBigBads Angel Big Bads]]
* [[Characters/AngelOtherCharacters Other Characters]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:In General]]

->''"Angel Investigations. We help the helpless."''
-->-'''Cordelia Chase'''

The main characters of ''Series/{{Angel}}''.
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* BadassCrew: The best example of this trope in any Whedon show. Anyone who joins is guaranteed to develop into a badass within one season.
%%* BadassAdorable: Fred and Connor.
%%* BadassAngster: Wesley and Angel both have their moments.
%%* BadassAndBaby: Angel and Baby!Connor in season 3.
%%* BadassBookworm: Fred and Wesley.
* BadassFamily: Not a blood-related family, but Angel has stated on more than one occasion that he considers them as such.
%%* BadassLongcoat: Angel and Spike.
* BadassNormal: Gunn, Fred, Wesley and Cordy start working with Angel on his baddie-busting without similar powers to his own. This changes over time as they get their own special abilities.
* BetterAsFriends: Cordelia and Wesley, whose smoldering UST when they met in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' came to a head with their first kiss — which quickly became their very awkward and physically uncomfortable ''last kiss''. Their friendship continued to grow in ''Angel'', but they aren't above playfully making fun of each other over which one's the worse kisser when recounting the story for others.
* BreakingTheFellowship:
** The team has more or less dissolved following [[ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Angel's actions as Twilight and subsequent relocation to London]], with Gunn continuing to fight demons in LA as a solo act, Connor returning to college, Spike returning to [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerScoobyGang the Scoobies]], Nina marrying and leaving LA, Kate returning to the LAPD, and [[spoiler: following Illyria's HeroicSacrifice, a newly-revived Fred joining Angel and Faith in London]].
** The Season 3 finale invokes this when Connor traps Angel at the bottom of the ocean, Cordelia is asked to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, Lorne heads out to Las Vegas to pursue a singing career, Groo leaves for parts unknown [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy after realizing]] [[RomanticFalseLead Cordelia is in love with Angel]], and Wesley remains estranged from the group after his betrayal earlier in the season. By the end, Fred and Gunn are left alone, wondering where everyone is. This is gradually rectified over the course of Season 4.
* CulturedBadass: Angel and Wes. [[HiddenDepths Gunn]] starts dipping into this territory from "[[Recap/AngelS03E13WaitingInTheWings Waiting in the Wings]]" onwards.
* FamilyOfChoice: Angel refers to Cordelia was 'family' half-way through the first season; Cordelia was left behind by her own family after they were accused of tax evasion, Wesley was estranged from his parents for his failure as a Watcher, Gunn was an orphan living on the streets who had to kill his sister when she was turned into a vampire, Lorne was never close to his family in his original dimension, and Connor's problems are too numerous to list.
** Fred had a fairly normal home life before spending five years in another dimension, but she still bonded with the team.
* FireForgedFriends: Pretty standard for the heroes, but Wesley and Gunn deserve special mention.
-->'''Gunn''': Come on, English! You know you my man!
-->'''Angel''': So, ah, I see you guys have bonded.
-->'''Gunn''': Happens when you fight shoulder to shoulder.
-->'''Wesley''': Or rather hip to shoulder these days.
-->'''Gunn''': This man took a bullet for me!
-->'''Wesley''': Ah, it was nothing!
* FiveManBand: In the seasons where there are five main members.
** TheHero: Angel, as the namesake of both the group and the show, whose quest to save souls and redeem himself drives the series' plot. Referred to in-series as the "champion."
** TheLancer: Wesley, who acts as second-in-command and takes over as leader for a while, and is most likely to make plans contra to Angel's or engage in IDidWhatIHadToDo.
** TheHeart: Cordelia, who keeps the group grounded in humanity and provides emotional support. Fred and Lorne take on more of this role in later seasons.
** TheBigGuy: Gunn, who is a BadassNormal and doesn't give up.
** TheSmartGuy: Shared between Wesley, who has knowledge of the occult, and Fred, who is a physicist and on-the-fly inventor.
* HardboiledDetective: They are certainly hardboiled, but it's lampshaded several times that they lack the skill set of real private detectives.
* HeroismWontPayTheBills: This comes up in the first season. Angel is in the business of saving souls. After pointing out the awkward truth that they need to make money, Cordelia starts sending out bills for being saved (but only to clients who can afford to pay; Angel Investigations is free for the homeless and really poor).
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Angelus and Spike were close friends at one point. When Angelus got a soul and became Angel they didn't see each other much for about a hundred years. Their mutual hatred of each other (and subsequent Ho Yay) was only escalated because they used to be this trope.
* KnightInSourArmor: All of the guys in the group express doubts about whether the world's worth fighting for (Angel, Wesley, and Spike most of all), but they all keep fighting regardless.
* LikeBrotherAndSister:
** Cordelia and Wesley bicker and taunt each other mercilessly, but they are good friends, and are always there to defend each other in times of danger. If it wasn't for the accent difference, they could almost be brother and sister.
** Cordelia and Angel were also like this for the first two seasons, which led to some viewers being displeased when their relationship changed to a romantic one from partway through the third.
* OccultDetective: They're more occult vigilantes masquerading as a private detective agency.
* PlatonicLifePartners: Wesley and Cordelia in the first few seasons. While initially attracted to each other when they first met in Sunnydale, they quickly discovered that they had no real romantic chemistry, agreed that they were better as friends, and parted on good terms. When they reconnect in LA and both start working for Angel, they develop a very strong but completely platonic bond. They bicker like siblings, but they always have each other backs in a fight, and they clearly adore each other.
* PopCulturedBadass: Cordy is fond of pop-culture-related quips, Doyle was a fan of ''Literature/AngelasAshes'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' (combining the two in a tragically off-screen drunken ramble), Wesley and Gunn trade movie-related quips (facing an army of demons, they share a moment over which action hero they're trying to think of themselves as), Lorne and Spike both spit out pop-culture references like it's going out of style, and even Angel is a big fan of Creator/CharltonHeston and Music/BarryManilow, and has seen enough vampire movies to judge the performances (Creator/FrankLangella's Dracula is apparently his favourite).
%%** TheKirk: Angel.
%%** TheSpock: Doyle/Wesley.
%%** TheMcCoy: Cordelia.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The team consists of a brooding vampire, an upbeat California girl, a sardonic Irish demon, an English ex-watcher turned rogue demon hunter, an ex-gangbanger, a talkative Texas girl who spent five years imprisoned in another dimension and a green-skinned demon who loves showtunes.
* SoleSurvivor: Angel's the only member of the original group still alive (well, undead).
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: The entire fourth season, with one exception — that brief period when they were all mind controlled into working together. The depths of distrust, resentment, and betrayal spread through the team meant that imminent apocalypse was pretty much the only thing that could get them in the same room. This was especially noticeable between Gunn and Wesley, due to the latter's betrayal over the Connor affair and his interest in Fred. Furthermore, when pressed, Gunn confesses he can never be friends with Angel, his natural enemy. In Season 5 this happens between Angel and Spike, usually PlayedForLaughs.
* TrueCompanions: Angel even describes them as family more than once.
* VitriolicBestBuds:
** Wes and Cordy spend their time snarking at each other in a very sibling-esque manner.
** Angel and Spike have very strong elements of this throughout their complicated hundred year old shared history. They are ''constantly ''fighting, whether it be over the smallest of things to the more serious issues, and are shown to find a lot of delight in watching the other experience (non-serious) injury. Yet by the end of Season 5, it's very clear that they care about each other a lot: They reminisce fondly over some of the better memories from their past, Angel reacts with horror when he watches Spike die (and "sacrifices" himself without thinking when the scene plays out again), a telepathic demon reveals that Spike thinks of Angel as an older brother, and they show mutual respect for each other during their final days. Angel has also been shown to feel a lot of remorse and responsibility for making Spike a monster.
%%* WeHelpTheHelpless: TropeNamer.
[[/folder]]

!!Current Members

[[folder:Angel]]
!!!See [[Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerAngel Angel]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gunn]]
!!Charles Gunn
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0fcb3ff3ddf5bf571ec611ef807e465c.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Notice no matter how uptown we go we always wind up at some stanky hole in the middle of the night?"'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/JAugustRichards

->''"The final score can't be rigged. I don't care how many players you grease, that last shot always comes up a question mark. But here's the thing, you never know when you're takin' it. It could be when your duking it out with the legion of doom, or just crossin' the street deciding where to have brunch. So you just treat it all like it was up to you, with the world in the balance, cause you never know when it is."''

Orphaned at a young age, Gunn finds himself living on the streets of LA and fighting vampires to survive, eventually forming his own crew of youths from similar backgrounds. After Angel helps the crew out in a turf war against a gang of vampires, Gunn in turn helps Angel and co. in a number of situations, slowly moving away from the streets and becoming a part of Angel Investigations. Street-wise and an accomplished fighter, Gunn nevertheless harbours insecurities that he is nothing more than 'dumb muscle.'
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* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: [[spoiler:Transformed into a vampire]] sometime between the TV series finale and ''After the Fall''. A ResetButtonEnding restores Gunn to human form - but he retains the memories of [[spoiler:the murders he committed as a vampire]].
* AngryBlackMan: Played straight and subverted. While he can have his angry moments there is a fantastic scene when he helps Angel break into Wolfram and Hart:
-->'''Gunn:''' Whoo-whoo! My god! They told me it was true, but I didn't believe them. Damn, here it is! Evil white folks really do have a Mecca. ''[holds up a hand to the security guards stepping out from behind their desk]'' [...] OW! Did you just step on my foot? ''[the nearest guard is still at least 8 feet away from him]'' Is that my foot you just stepped on? Are you assaulting me - up in this haven of justice? Somebody get me a lawyer - because my civil rights have seriously been violated. - Oh, I get it, I get it. You all can cater to the demon, cater to the dead man, but what about the black man?
** Gets turned up to eleven in "[[Recap/AngelS04E06SpinTheBottle Spin the Bottle]]". Teen!Gunn was REALLY militant.
** Most of the time, he's more concerned with fighting vamps than sticking it to the man.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Even Faith agrees.
* AnAxeToGrind: His trademark weapon in the early seasons is a makeshift axe built out of a sharpened hubcap. Ghetto fabulous.
* BadassNormal: He's a normal human with no supernatural abilities, but he had strength and street fighting expertise due to his years as a vampire hunter, often being described as "the muscle" of Angel Investigations; Angel has even stated once that Gunn could conceivably defeat him in a fight if he was angry enough (Although even when Angel was human and Gunn a vampire Gunn still only managed to defeat Angel in a straight fight — discounting when Gunn sabotaged the charms Angel was using to heal his injuries as he had an unfair advantage — when Angel ''wanted'' to lose).
* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: To his own gang. At Angel Investigations, he's more like "Bald Black Big Guy". Then he grows his hair out in the fifth season.
-->"Heh, [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder what'd you think, I was]] [[PrematurelyBald prematurely bald?]] (''beat'') I wasn't."
** He becomes one again in the comic-book continuation, ''After the Fall''. [[spoiler:Albeit an evil, vampire version]].
* BaldOfAwesome: Spends most of the series with a shaved head. Growing his hair out while at Wolfram & Hart acts as a visual sign of Gunn losing himself in his new role, and shaving it again proves that HesBack to his old self.
* TheBerserker: As a result of SurvivorGuilt and blaming himself for Alonna's death. Negated when he falls in love with Fred, giving him a new lease on life.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:In ''After the Fall''.]]
* TheBigGuy: Both he and Fred refer to himself as "the muscle" in a few episodes.
* BlackAndNerdy: He references ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' #181 as part of a PerpSweating and later [[PersonAsVerb name-drops]] several versions of Franchise/TheFlash. He has also been seen playing on a UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor on occasion.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: {{Averted}} - he makes it to the end of the series.
* ChildSoldier: He mentions that he's been fighting vampires since he was twelve. That's three years younger than Buffy when she became the Slayer.
* ClothingReflectsPersonality: He originally dressed casually, usually in hooded coats. Following his mental upgrade, he shed his street look for the sleek, professional suits of a legal powerhouse. Following Fred's demise, he came full circle, returning to his roots, taking back his street clothes, and reawakening his purpose as a soldier in the fight against evil. As a vampire and leader of his own crew, he took credit for coordinating the team's outfits.
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Both him and his sister.
* DeadpanSnarker: If there’s one thing Gunn is good at, it is making witty remarks.
* DealWithTheDevil: Sold his soul for [[MundaneWish a truck]]. Yep. And there were ''still'' strings attached.
** Repeated with his brain upgrade.
* DefendsAgainstTheirOwnKind: After joining Angel's investigative team, Gunn finds himself having to defend vampire Angel and demon Lorne against his former Vampire Hunting team.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossed it at age 17, to the extent that he [[DealWithTheDevil sold his soul]] to the demon Jenoff for a truck, believing that he had nothing to live for; at that time, Gunn was maybe a notch above homeless, in a city where the homeless are basically a vampire buffet:
-->'''Jenoff''': You will sell your future in exchange for present happiness?\\
'''Gunn''': ''What'' future?
* DumbMuscle: Fears being this, but it's mostly unfounded. Gunn's insecurity about his intelligence ends up having dire consequences in Season 5.
* TheEveryman: Like Xander, he stood out as the normal, grounded member of his team amidst the immortal and super-powered people.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Originally a BaldBlackLeaderGuy, he grew a short layer of hair once he got his lawyer smarts. It was not mentioned by a character until more than halfway through the season (shortly after which, ironically, Gunn returned to his original cut after the cost of keeping his new knowledge resulted in him unwittingly taking part in a conspiracy that led to the death of [[spoiler:Fred]]).
* FaceDeathWithDignity: In Season 3's "[[Recap/AngelS03E18DoubleOrNothing Double or Nothing]]", he willingly goes to Jenoff to pay back his end of the DealWithTheDevil of his own free will; Jenoff even lampshades this, remarking that most of the other people who owe him have to be forcibly dragged back by his {{mook}}s.
* FantasticRacism: At first, he's biased against vampires and demons alike, though that dies down over time. Even then, some of it remains. He states in "[[Recap/AngelS03E03ThatOldGangOfMine That Old Gang of Mine]]" that he can't just change his black-and-white views on the supernatural just like that, and he doesn't truly trust Angel or consider himself Angel's friend because he's a vampire; despite this, he knows and accepts that he and Angel are on the same side.
* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome: In the last season.
* GeniusBruiser: Even before his "brain-boost", Gunn showed himself to be extremely cunning, savvy and perceptive, sometimes bordering analytical. Perhaps the best example is in "Dear Boy" where he is the first to deduce that the only way Angel could have gotten into the house to kill Darla's "husband" would be if the original owners were already dead or if she invited him in.
* GoodIsNotNice: He's a hero and a good guy at heart, but he isn't very friendly or affable especially to strangers.
* HairTriggerTemper: He gets riled-up easily.
* HeCleansUpNicely: As part of his legal upgrade, he wears a smart suit. Creator/JossWhedon claimed that this was partly because J. August Richards looked good in a suit.
* HesBack: In Season 5, he spends most of the season as the head of Wolfram & Hart's legal division. By the time of "[[Recap/AngelS05E17Underneath Underneath]]", he goes back to his roots, wearing his street clothes and shaving his head again.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Before he joined the cast proper.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Angel suspects that Gunn's neural implant is corrupting him. He's half-right; it's not the implant that destroys Gunn, but the fear of losing it.
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: In "[[Recap/AngelS04E05Supersymmetry Supersymmetry]]", he argues against Fred killing Professor Seidel even after finding out he was responsible for banishing her to Pylea in the first place for this reason, believing that such a brutal act would ultimately destroy her. In the end, Gunn does it himself, snapping Seidel's neck before dropping him into a portal to a hell dimension Fred had opened up as poetic justice.
* IneffectualLoner: Although he liked to give the impression of a gruff loner, he valued his friendships and showed a sensitive side in his relationship with Fred. However, he was also plagued with insecurities regarding his role in the team, and began to resent being considered "the muscle".
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Gunn is fairly brusque, rude, and harsh but he is a friendly, nice guy to his friends and is always willing to help others.
* JustifiedCriminal: Before the show begins, Gunn has formulated a gang of homeless youths who swipe food and defend their ghetto from intruding vampires.
* LastNameBasis: Only Fred calls him "Charles." Others address him by that name during [[FullNameUltimatum serious moments]]. Though Spike does call him "Charlie boy" once or twice.
* LetMeGetThisStraight: As befitting him being a DeadpanSnarker, he does this a lot.
* MenAreUncultured: [[IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam Gets dragged kicking and screaming to the ballet...then discovers he absolutely adores it]]. Meanwhile, [[InvertedTrope Cordelia is snoring]].
** As part of his legal upgrade, Gunn has complete mastery of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan (to help with diction).
--->''(grumpily)'' "I was cool [[BadassDecay before I met y'all]]."
* MundaneWish: As revealed in "Double or Nothing," he sold his soul to Jenoff in exchange for the pickup truck he uses to fight vampires; as established, Gunn was young and thought [[DespairEventHorizon he had no future]].
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When he realizes that the form he signed in exchange for the return of his brain upgrade gave entry to Illyria's sarcophagus, which ultimately [[spoiler:killed Fred.]]
* NeuralImplanting: In Season 5, Wolfram & Hart implants him with absolute knowledge of human and demon legal codes and fluency in some demon languages, as well as knowledge of golf techniques and complete mastery of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In exchange for the return of his legal upgrade, he signs a Customs release form to have an object shipped to Wolfram & Hart. Said object turns out to be Illyria's sarcophagus, which tragically leads to [[spoiler:Fred's death.]]
* NonIndicativeName: Uses a gun maybe once in the entire run of the series (pistols were more Wesley's thing).
* PopCulturedBadass: Like Xander, he often displayed a detailed knowledge regarding comic books.
* PromotionToParent: He took care of his little sister from a very young age.
* PutOnABus: He remained in LA after Angel departed for London, and has consequently not joined the cast of the ''Angel & Faith'' comic, [[TheBusCameBack aside from a brief reappearance in Season 9]].
* ScarsAreForever: Gunn from the Skipverse has a prominent facial scar.
* ScaryBlackMan: The leader of a Vampire-killing street gang, who turns into someone even his Vampire boss considers "TheBigGuy", though most of the time he's friendly and loveable.
* ScrewLearningIHavePhlebotinum: Instantly upgraded to über-lawyer thanks for Wolfram & Hart's surgeon. The procedure makes him an expert on human and demonic law within a few hours.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: At first he's the Manly Man to Wesley's Sensitive Guy but as the show goes on this is played with. Gunn turns out to have HiddenDepths and later gets a brain upgrade to become smarter, while Wesley takes a level in badass and soon becomes every bit the formidable fighter that Gunn is.
* SharpDressedMan: After getting his brain upgrade -- he [[GoodCostumeSwitch stops wearing the suit]] after discovering what the upgrade cost him.
* StreetSmart: Due to literally growing up on the streets.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: When pressed, Gunn confesses he can never be friends with Angel, his natural enemy. Also with Wesley in Season 4, due to Wesley's betrayal over the Connor affair and [[LoveTriangle his interest in Fred]].
* TokenMinority: The only black person in Angel's team and the most prominent non-white character in either show.
* TookALevelInBadass: The reverse of Wesley. While Wesley becomes a tougher and more capable combatant, Gunn, already a BadassNormal, takes the reverse; [[spoiler:thanks to a Wolfram & Hart brain operation his head is filled with the knowledge of all laws, demonic and human (and the complete works of Music/GilbertAndSullivan). He becomes a point man in a tense demonic negotiation, not to mention heightened deductive abilities.]]
* TookALevelInIdealism: He was so convinced that he had nothing to live for that he sold his soul for a truck and believed that he would die young. Joining Angel Investigations gave him something worth living and fighting for
* VigilanteMan: In his youth, he acted as a kind of urban Myth/RobinHood to keep the streets in his neighborhood safe. In his teens, Gunn rose through the ranks to become the leader of a gang of street-fighters who protect their turf from vampires using guerrilla tactics.
* TheWatson: Gunn and Fred juggle between this role, with Gunn showing irritation whenever he meets another vampire he's not allowed to kill.
* WhatAPieceOfJunk: His pickup truck. "Don't you be dissin' my girl!"
-->'''Fred:''' Oh, Charles. Your soul wasn't worth air conditioning?
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: In Season 5, Gunn, losing his legal upgrade, makes a deal with Dr. Sparrow to permanently improve it in exchange for improving it, by signing a Customs release form to get something out of it. That something turns out to be [[SealedEvilInACan Illyria's sarcophagus]]; her essence escapes and [[spoiler:infects Fred, killing her and turning her body into Illyria's avatar.]] In the next episode, when he's found out by Wesley, Gunn confesses that he was fully prepared for something terrible to happen in exchange for Sparrow fixing the upgrade... as long as it wasn't to anyone he knew.
-->'''Gunn''': I didn't think it'd be one of us. I didn't think it'd be Fred.
* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Has a brief (but very satisfactory) dalliance with Gwen Raiden, who's been known to refer to him as "Denzel".
* WorkingClassHero: Unlike his colleagues, he has a poor background. He was born in the Badlands, a section of inner-city Los Angeles where the police would not go and led a gang of vampire hunters.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Why Did It Have To Be Rats?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fred]]
!!Winifred "Fred" Burkle
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9035a295f8014df82d00fce1df81255e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Can I say somethin' about destiny? Screw destiny!"'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/AmyAcker

->''"Handsome man saved me from the monsters."''

Fred was attending college in Los Angeles when she was sucked into a portal and ended up in a demon dimension where humans are slaves. She's there for five years and rather insane before Angel and crew rescue her. Staying with them, she slowly re-adapts to life and becomes a valued member of the team, her incredible intelligence causing her to serve as the brains of the outfit.
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* ACupAngst: Fred is mildly annoyed that she doesn't have much in the way of boobage, as seen when the gang regress to their teenage selves.
-->'''Cordelia:''' I kind of have filled out even more.
-->'''Fred:''' And I ''[looks down, disappointed]'' apparently ain't gonna.
* AMFMCharacterization: Being a Texas native, she's a fan of the Music/DixieChicks. She has a poster in her lab and invites Harmony to catch a show.
* ActionGirl: She gradually becomes this, proving herself time and time again in combat situations with all kinds of weaponry. She's also skilled in unarmed combat and is good enough to take down trained security guards and even military personnel.
* AllLovingHero: Caring and compassionate, most notably her interactions with Spike. When he confided in her that he was being slowly dragged into Hell, Fred worked tirelessly to build a machine that would restore his corporeal body. She was the first to believe that Spike was "worth saving" and though her efforts ultimately failed, she nonetheless earned Spike's perpetual gratitude.
* AmbiguouslyBi: She seems infatuated with Willow to the point where Willow feels the need to tell her she's already seeing someone.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: "I swear I don't know how you all put up with me. I practically need flashcards to understand my-pretty crystals. Oh, look. They're everywhere".
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:In the ''Angel and Faith'' comic. It's explained as a side effect of Illyria's resurrection, with the two of them now co-inhibating Fred's body.]]
* BadassAdorable: Fred is cute as a button. She's also capable of taking down super-powered teenagers, frying demon eggs with a flamethrower, and single-handedly breaking Jasmine's hold on Angel and setting off the chain of events that ends her regime.
* BadassBookworm: Her scientific genius is a big part of what makes Fred an asset to Team Angel.
* BadassNormal: She acquired some moderate fighting skills, mainly using a crossbow as a weapon, but even sword and gun. Later, when Jasmine took over Los Angeles, she was forced to face down all of Los Angeles on her own and was also able to hold her own unarmed, taking out a few armed Jasmaniacs, including one armed SWAT member.
* BerserkButton: Don't betray her or her friends, ''ever''. In "[[Recap/AngelS04E01DeepDown Deep Down]]", the minute she finds out that Connor was behind Angel's disappearance, she furiously chews him out and subjects him to ElectricTorture with a stun gun. When she later discovers that her former college professor was the one who trapped her in Pylea, she embarks on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, vowing to kill him.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Just as she was willing to help others, she was also fairly vengeful against those who threatened her or her friends. When she and Gunn realized that Connor was responsible for Angel's three month disappearance, Fred berated him while repeatedly hitting him with a stun gun. Another example was when Fred pursued revenge against Professor Seidel, an act which nearly came to fruition, if not for Gunn's intervention.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Cordelia [[LampShadeHanging lampshades]] this in "[[Recap/AngelS03E03ThatOldGangOfMine That Old Gang of Mine]]", when Fred wrests control of a hostage situation from a violent killer with aid of a crossbow.
* BigEater: Fred is perfectly capable of eating her own body weight in waffles without gaining a single pound.
* BoredWithInsanity: She spends most of early Season 3 crazy and a bit of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, though she eventually recovers.
* BrainyBrunette: Fred has long, wavy brown hair, was a physics student, and is the resident SmartGirl of Angel Investigations. She also becomes the head of Wolfram & Hart's Science Division.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: When she first returns from Pylea, her sanity is not in the best condition due to the years of trauma she's endured.
-->'''Cordelia:''' What's not to like? She's sweet and adorable and seems to be laughing at something that shrub said.
* CoolBigSis: Tries to act as one to Connor. It works when he's in a good mood and she's not torturing him for going after Angel.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Hollowed out and turned into a shell for a gestating demon. All of her internal organs slowly and painfully liquify, including her brain.]]
* CunningLinguist: During her time in the demon dimension Pylea, Fred managed to learn their native language, and could speak to Lorne in his native language with remarkable fluency, although Lorne remarked that she was still not completely fluent.
* CuteAndPsycho: These tendencies are never completely gone -- just dormant.
* CuriosityKilledTheCast: [[spoiler:If she hadn't gotten so curious over Illyria's sarcophagus, she'd still be alive.]]
* DangerouslyShortSkirt: In contrast to her shy and innocent demeanor, but it does fit with the suggestion that she's NaughtyByNight.
* DeaderThanDead: In "Shells," it's stated that [[spoiler:Fred's soul was consumed by "the fires of resurrection" when Illyria possessed her body, meaning she's not only dead, but [[CessationOfExistence denied Heaven]].]] Subverted come the Season 10 comics, where [[spoiler: the new Seed of Wonder also resurrects her.]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Subverted with her death in "A Hole in the World." She ''tries'' to do this, as Illyria's infection progresses through her body, but it's obvious she's terrified and in pain as she goes.]]
* FormerTeenRebel: When the gang reverts to their teen selves, she repeatedly mentions wanting to score some weed.
* GeekyTurnOn: You have no idea.
-->'''Fred:''' My family used to go to ''Theatre/TheNutcracker'' every Christmas, and I had [[TooMuchInformation my first sexual dream about]] [[{{Yiff}} the Mouse King]]!
* GibberingGenius: Though she's good-natured enough to backpedal a bit in her speeches. Even when describing how she's about to kill someone!
* GirlWithPsychoWeapon: The writers seemed to be competing with each other to see what loony item Fred holds next. Crossbow? Automatic scythe trap? Sniper rifle? Flamethrower?
--> '''Fred:''' The halberd could work. Acting like I'm all addle-brained talking about other dimensions. (''mocking'') Pylea? Never heard of it! (''angry'') Right. How 'bout a flail-whipping? Would that [[ToThePain take a nice long time?]]\\
'''Angel''': Hours, if you do it right. -- [[OrSoIHeard Not that you should do it at all]]. (''takes whip from her'') Ever.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Feigenbaum, the "Master of Chaos"!
* GoodParents: Who doesn't love Roger and Trish? She herself also acts as one to Connor while Angel and Cordy are imprisoned by him and become a Higher Power, respectively.
* GoodWithNumbers: Which once almost resulted in her brain being stolen.
* TheHeart: Especially after [[spoiler:Cordelia is put in a coma]], Fred holds the crew together emotionally. It... eventually breaks her StepfordSmiler facade.
* HotLibrarian: She has this look down pat, particularly when she dons the glasses. It helps that she was an actual librarian.
* HotScientist: She's presented as more cute than sexy, although her wardrobe does receive more attention as episodes go on. Lilah parodies this when she dresses up as Fred to mess with Wesley - her outfit is more fetish-like.
* IconicSequelCharacter: One of the main characters, but doesn't appear until the last four episodes of season 2.
%%%%%* IllGirl: During "The Price" and "A Hole in the World".
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Downplayed, but her shooting skills were enough that she was able to shoot Angel ''through'' Jasmine. She's also been pretty handy with a crossbow in other appearances, but this takes the cake.
%%* TheIngenue
* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:The sweetest, most innocent member of Team Angel meets a horrifying end as she's hollowed out and possessed by an ancient god-king.]]
* LivingBodysuit: When she's taken over by an inter-dimensional slug in "The Price" and later when [[spoiler:Illyria takes her body.]]
* {{Meganekko}}: Whenever she puts on the glasses.
%%* MinoredInAssKicking
%%%% "See picture." is never acceptable context.
%%%%* MoeStare:
%%* MrFixit
* NaughtyByNight: According to Angelus, anyway.
--> '''Angelus:''' Ah, Fred. You look all fresh and sweet, but [[PowerPerversionPotential I hear you at night in your room with Gunn]]. The things you say. I'm lying there, listening, [[ADateWithRosiePalms hands under the covers... I can't help myself. It's so... gripping]].
* NeverGetsFat: She has a huge appetite for junk food while always remaining a tiny skinny waif.
* NiceGirl: A fairly kindhearted and sweet individual, perfectly willing to help others. Best shown in Season 3; after Wesley kidnaps Connor and loses him to Holtz, Fred is the only member of the team who offers him sympathy or is willing to understand his side of the story.
* NoSocialSkills: At least when we first meet her. She did live in Pylea for a few years, after all.
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: She's a physicist by trade; she just happens to also be good at anything else. In Season 5, she is elevated to TheCoroner, because why not?
* {{Robinsonade}}: "I've been trying to make an enchilada out of tree bark."
* RoomFullOfCrazy: The astrophysics formulas on her cave wall, and later hotel room. Lampshaded ever-after by Gunn and Wes, who never ''quite'' let Fred [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten live it down]].
* SanityStrengthening: When she first comes back from Pylea, she's a bit of an unhinged {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. Over the course of Season 3, she recovered, though she still has some CuteAndPsycho tendencies.
* ShipTease: She had a schoolgirl-crush on Angel when he [[RescueRomance first rescued her]], but that faded as her sanity readjusted itself. There were some sparks between her and Spike as well, but nothing came of it.
* ShrinkingViolet: Initially, thanks to living in Pylea and still finding her footing in the human world. She gets over it after reuniting with her parents.
* TheSmartGuy: As Wesley put it, she's smarter than all of Team Angel put together.
* SouthernFriedGenius: An OmnidisciplinaryScientist from Texas, complete with the occasional Southern twang when she starts talking science.
* StepfordSmiler: Cheery is her default mode, but after 5 years in Hell, her friends falling apart and all the responsibilities falling on her... she starts to break apart until she snaps in "Ground State" when Gunn almost dies and again in "Supersymmetry" when she finds the one responsible for her 5 years in Hell. She decides as soon as she finds out that he ''has to die''.
* TeamMom: After Cordelia and Angel go missing. She more or less stays in this role [[spoiler:until she dies.]] She later reclaims it when [[spoiler:she's resurrected in Magic Town in Season 9.]]
* TokenGoodTeammate: Team Angel are all good guys, but Fred stands out as the nicest and least anti-heroic of the group.
* TomboyishName: Her given name is Winifred, but mostly everyone just calls her Fred.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Aside from Cordelia and Lorne, she's easily the most gentle and purest member of Team Angel. [[spoiler:It makes it doubly hurtful when she dies only a few episodes after Cordelia does.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tacos. (One notable difference about Pylea is its conspicuous absence of Tex-Mex.)
-->'''Fred''': Are - are you sure about that?
-->'''Cordelia''': Trust me. Tacos ''everywhere''. ...And soap.
* UnkemptBeauty: It takes her a while to rediscover civilization, but her natural beauty shines through regardless.
* UnstoppableRage: When she found out who was responsible for five year stay in hell, she was out for blood.
* WeakButSkilled: Happens only rarely, but when Fred pulls a fast one, her ingenuity will leave you dizzy.
%%* WideEyedIdealist
%%* WrenchWench
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Illyria '''(MAJOR SPOILERS)''']]
!!Illyria
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4974b960d06d963f475ff321d82f8d93.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"I play this game. It's pointless, and annoys me. And yet I'm compelled to play on."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/AmyAcker

->''"I lived seven lives at once. I was power in the ecstasy of death. I was god to a god. Now... I'm trapped on a roof... just one roof, in this time and this place with an unstable human who drinks too much whiskey and called me a Smurf."''

Illyria is an Old One, one of the ancient demons that walked the earth before the coming of man. Killed millions of years ago, she is reincarnated in Fred's body and intends to rule once again... only to find her army long dead and her temple turned to dust. With nowhere else to go, she remains with the group, seeking to learn how to live in this strange, new world. Still incredibly powerful even in her diminished form, Illyria is a mighty ally to have; but she see human affairs as beneath her and the crew can never be quite sure that she's on their side.
----
* ActionGirl: Even after being de-powered, Illyria is an incredibly powerful fighter. She can steamroll over most opponents with a minimum of effort and before being de-powered she was no less than a PhysicalGod.
* AGodAmI: She's prone to making grand proclamations of her former Godhood.
-->''"I am Illyria, God-King of the Primordium!"''
* AloofAlly: One can never predict when she'll assist Team Angel, or why. At one point, Illyria rescues Gunn from a torture dimension just so she can throttle him in front of Wesley, apparently to play the YouOweMe card.
* BecomingTheMask: In the final episode she expresses attraction to Gunn, and comforts [[spoiler:Wesley in his dying moments by taking Fred's form]], plus the grief she experiences afterwards; all raise questions as to what extent she's influenced by Fred's memories.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The "blue" part is semi-literal. Illyria was an EldritchAbomination who experienced reality in ways that humans cannot imagine, and as such she holds zero value for human life, empathy or social conventions. But she is ''incredibly'' rigidly honorable - though even her code of honour is hard to grasp. It's also debatable as to whether she was ever genuinely evil, just apathetic and operating on an entirely different level. Even Fred's death isn't malicious on her part; Wesley likens it to a viral infection.
* BloodKnight: She's extremely fond of fighting and violence in general.
-->''"I enjoy hurting you."''
-->''"I've been hitting the half-breed. He makes noise."''
-->''"Wesley's dead. [[TearJerker I'm feeling grief for him. I can't seem to control it. I wish to do more violence]]."''
* BroughtDownToBadass: After being drained of the bulk of her power by Wesley's Mutari generator, she can no longer manipulate time, talk to plants or experience the world as she once did. It doesn't mean she isn't an intensely powerful warrior who is stronger than the rest of Team Angel.
* BroughtDownToNormal: As of Buffy Season 9, she has been completely drained of all her powers by [[MagicEater Severin]].
* CuriosityCausesConversion: One example being to take up Spike's offer to play ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' and her watching Drogyn play leads to her complain it's not galactic conquest, and how she would have, and did, back in the day.
* DefrostingIceQueen: She becomes less of a StrawVulcan as she acclimates to her new humanity.
* DemonicPossession: She not only took over Fred's body, but consumed her soul, too.
* {{Depower}}: She's less powerful than she was in her original form. [[spoiler:When Fred's body proves unable to contain her power, she gets depowered even further, and even after that she's still quite powerful.]]
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: "[[TemptingFate Take your best shot, little girl.]]"
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Armies of Doom. She used to have them.
* DoubleConsciousness: Fred's personality and memories (which, in a very real sense, is what humans are) are part of Illyria's "shell" as Illyria comments several times.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Referenced in the comic continuation; During her road trip with Gunn, Illyria asks for another turn at the wheel. Gunn flatly refuses, saying that the last time Illyria attempted to drive, she sent twelve cars flying off the freeway. Illyria states that if she can rule the Earth, she can learn to master driving.
* EldritchAbomination: One of the few (non-parodic) sympathetic unspeakable horrors from the beyond in fiction, along with [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Rei Ayanami]].
** HumanoidAbomination: As we see her in the series, due to her possession of Fred's body.
* TheEmpath: Can sense (and is disgusted by) Wesley's grief. In later episodes she also senses his desire for her when she takes Fred's form, and calls him on it when he rejects the idea of sleeping with Fred!Illyria.
* {{Expy}}: May possibly be coincidental, but she has some significant visual, backstory and personality similarities to Eldrad from the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E2TheHandOfFear The Hand of Fear]]".
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: By a few hundred thousand years.
* FlightStrengthHeart: She has SuperStrength, can [[TimeMaster manipulate time]], and ''can [[TalkingToPlants talk to plants]]''.
* {{Foil}}: To Glory; both are {{Physical God}}s, but while Glory is a DumbBlonde PsychopathicManchild willing to endanger the universe to get home and out of a human body, Illyria is a dark-haired NobleDemon willing to accept her time is gone and who is at peace with being in a shell.
* GhostMemory: She has Fred's memories, but not her soul.
* GlacierWaif: Fast enough to use WaifFu despite her size.
* GloryDays: Illyria often talked about the world of her time and how everyone was afraid of her and her kind.
* GodEmperor: Her role before the creation of the world. Coming down to blue-haired WaifFu wielder was an adjustment, to say the least.
* HairTriggerTemper: Her inhuman stoicism makes it hard to see the explosive, homicidal rage in time to steer clear.
* HeelFaceTurn: Though deeply, deeply unhappy about it.
* HeroWithAnFInGood: In the comics, her road to heroism hits a few roadblocks. To prevent a demon from leeching off of Jeremy's energy, she dutifully punches a hole clean through Jeremy's chest. Ouch. In the climax of ''After the Fall'', she reverts to her primordial demon form due to the machinations of Gunn and starts wrecking Los Angeles. The Senior Partners fix her so she returns to 'normal'.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: How she sees herself when she first comes back, when to the others she's still terrifyingly powerful. Then she gets depowered ''again'', to the degree that she can be defeated by Hamilton, a minion of entities she once considered barely worth noticing.
%%* HughMann
* HumanityIsInfectious: She begins to show signs of embracing her role as one of humanity's protectors due to the influence of the rest of the team, not to mention the memories of Fred inside of her. The series culminates in her grieving for Wesley's death, and the comics expand on her growing human emotions further by her wanting to do things like get to know Fred's parents, learn to drive, and even adopt a cat.
* IntercontinuityCrossover: In ''[[ComicBook/FallenAngel Fallen Angel: Reborn]]''.
* TheJuggernaut: Before having her powers sapped by Wesley's black hole gun.
* KickChick: Her fighting style as a human involves a lot of legwork.
* LackOfEmpathy: Wesley gets roped into becoming her instructor in this regard. In an ironic twist, Illyria discovers her sense of empathy all too well -- [[spoiler:with Wesley's death]].
* LivingRelic: She's a goddess who has outlived her worshipers.
* TheMagnificent: "I am Illyria, [[GodEmperor God-King of the Primordium]], Shaper of Things!"
* MarionetteMotion: When she first takes control of her new body.
* MeaninglessVillainVictory: At the end of "Shells," despite Angel and co.'s best efforts, Illyria successfully manages to enter the dimension where her temple and army reside... only to discover that in the intervening time, the temple collapsed and her army turned to nothing but dust.
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Ever since infecting Fred's body, Illyria finds herself repeatedly hounded by Fred's memories and emotions.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: Downplayed she can hold her own against weaker baddies, but on a level playing field, a bruiser like Hamilton spells trouble.
* MyBiologicalClockIsTicking: Revealed in the ''Angel'' comic series to have a once-in-a-millenium mating cycle, signaled by Illyria going 'into heat'.
* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat: She is able to detect Connor's attraction to her and Wesley's attraction to the form of Fred.
* NoSocialSkills: Can't talk to me during your meeting? Then I'll kill everyone at the meeting.
* NobleDemon: This is what makes her the TokenEvilTeammate rather than a BigBad; if she makes a promise, she ''will'' keep it, and more than that she absolutely refuses to hurt more than she needs to in order to get what she wants.
* PhysicalGod: Technically an archdemon, but "God-King" is a perfectly valid descrption of her.
* PitifulWorms: An Old One from when demons ruled the earth, used to being worshiped by millions or billions of beings, she was not especially impressed with the twenty-first century. Insects, vermin, and muck were all ways she described humanity.
* PowerIncontinence: Her physical form proves to unstable to contain her essence. She's forced to power down permanently, or else explode.
* PunyEarthlings: Her habit of likening people to vermin, apes, plankton, amoebas, slime...
* QuizzicalTilt: It usually means you're in for a beating.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Wesley is drawn to Illyria as she's all he has left of Fred.
* RelationshipUpgrade: [[spoiler: With Angel in the ''Season 11'' comics.]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Well, a coffin.
* SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan:
-->'''Illyria:''' This fate is [[FateWorseThanDeath worse than death]]. Condemned to live out existence in a vessel incapable of sustaining my true glory. How am I to function with such limitation?
-->'''Lorne:''' Have you ever tried a [[DrowningMySorrows Sea Breeze]]?
* SenseiForScoundrels: Can't believe Angel is ''wangsting'' over ''being the head of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate''. Illyria sets him straight with this speech.
-->'''Illyria:''' So much power here! And you quibble at its price. If you want to win a war, you must serve no master but your own ambition.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Illyria only appears in the final 8 episodes of the show's run (out of 110 total), and in one of those, it's only in the final scene. Yet she's one of the most significant characters in the series, and her entrance is one of the most infamous TearJerker moments in the Buffyverse.
** She ends up consuming Fred's soul and taking over her body, thereby removing one of Team Angel's [[TheHeart most good-hearted members]] and [[TheSmartGuy their top scientific expert]].
** Several of the final episodes become centered around dealing with the transformation, including the team's attempts [[HeelFaceTurn to get Illyria to become an ally to them]] as she is eventually BroughtDownToNormal.
** Additionally, Illyria's presence proves to have an enormous effect on Wesley for the final slate of episodes. Following Fred's death, he reverts permanently back to a morose and cynical state that he had only just escaped from over the first half of Season 5 (due to having his memories of Connor erased and [[RelationshipUpGrade engaging in a relationship with Fred]]). With Fred gone, he realizes that he has little else to live for and spends the remainder of his time fixated on advising Illyria while she acclimates to her surroundings, largely because she was all that remained of his significant other.
* SoulJar: Her sarcophagus, although closer to a [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Magic Jar]].
* SourSupporter: "The intricacies of your fates are meaningless."
%%* SpockSpeak
* SpyCatsuit: With an impressive range of movement. Maybe it's the bootlegs.
* StrawVulcan: Before she warmed up a bit, not having human emotions.
%%* SugarAndIcePersonality
* SuperPowerLottery: Before she got depowered, she was probably the single strongest character in the entire Buffyverse. And even afterwards, she was still way more powerful than any of the heroes and most of the villains.
* SuperpowerMeltdown: Fred's body is unable to contain all of Illyria's powers, and by "Time Bomb," she begins to break down, nearly leading to a self-destruct that would have destroyed all of North America... had Wesley not used a special device to drain most of her power so she could handle it.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Wes predicts that Illyria will ''never'' quit her pursuit of this.
* ThouShaltNotKill: In exchange for helping her navigate present-day Earth, Wesley makes her swear an oath not to kill people. The rest of Team Angel has a hard time digesting this, mostly assuming that she is somehow plotting instead of keeping her promise.
* TimeMaster: Shares Sahjan's ability to traverse other dimensions. In "Time Bomb", she starts tripping through our timestream, though it turns out to be a side-effect of her ''exploding'' in the near future. ''After the Fall'' shows her warping time erratically every so often.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Oh, the irony.
* VillainessesWantHeroes: Exploits her ability to morph into Fred to make failed advances at Wesley, who ironically replaced Knox as her right-hand man. It is kept vague whether she is purely interested in probing Wesley's brain, or if the remnants of Fred's psyche are manipulating her feelings toward Wes -- or both?
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Able to alter her physical appearance at will (she is capable of mimicking Fred's persona closely enough to fool Fred's parents, right down to the clothing she wears).
* WaifFu: Downplayed as Illyria certainly doesn't look like she should hit hard, but her fighting style is mostly MightyGlacier as opposed to ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon''.
* WalkingSpoiler: Illyria's role in the series is nearly impossible to discuss without spoiling Fred's death.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Illyria pushes the outer bounds of why immortality might not be all that great. Nearly every RequiredSecondaryPower imaginable including ''reincarnation'' -- and her main reward was outliving even her presumably immortal army and pocket dimension temple.
* TheWorfEffect: Subjected to this in "Power Play," showcasing how much she's been weakened by Wesley's Mutari generator. Marcus Hamilton, a minion of the Senior Partners, beings she [[FromNobodyToNightmare once considered barely above vampires]], easily overpowers her and beats her to a bloody pulp.
* WorfHadTheFlu: Hamilton curb-stomping her in "Power Play" happened only after she had been massively depowered, and it's probably telling that Hamilton didn't go anywhere near her until this had happened, and in fact gave Wesley a hint that led him to discover how to drain her powers. He even goes into an exaggerated SmugSnake routine to Illyria's face as he ponders why she can't beat him to a pulp.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: She debates the idea of traveling to her home dimension, or ''any'' world besides this one. In her human form, however, her old buddies would eat her alive.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Causing a [[DoNotTauntCthulhu drunken Wesley to call her a smurf]].
[[/folder]]

!!Former Members

[[folder:Cordelia]]
!!Cordelia Chase
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/97de62b53caf0730f46e1d3191f8e476.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Tact is just not saying true stuff. I'll pass."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/CharismaCarpenter

->''"I'm from Sunnydale — we had our own Hellmouth!"''

Cordelia was the [[AlphaBitch rich and popular queen]] of Sunnydale High, until her parents were busted for tax evasion, subsequently losing everything. She moves to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career and joins up with Angel, encouraging him to set up a detective agency as a way to make ends meet (for her). Cordelia undergoes a huge amount of CharacterDevelopment during the series, going from a spoiled, selfish brat to [[TheFettered a kind-hearted, selfless individual]].
----
* AcademicAlphaBitch: She scores well on standardised tests as a gag. She also did well enough academically to get into top schools.
-->"What? I can't have layers?"
* ActionFashionista: She's able to kick plenty of ass and look damn good doing it. Her love of clothes (and Angel gifting her clothes that he picks out with what she calls "a gay man's taste") becomes a RunningGag.
* ActionGirl: Becomes an effective one in ''Angel'' for the vampire's detective biz. In ''Buffy'', she is not one, leaning more towards ActionSurvivor.
* AlliterativeName: Both character and actress alike.
* AllWomenLoveShoes: Her passion for footwear is noted on several occasions.
* AlphaBitch: Was definitely this while at Sunnydale during the first season. She eventually became the LovableAlphaBitch.
* AlwaysWithYou: [[spoiler:What she effectively promises Angel in "You're Welcome". ''Fall of Los Angeles'' shows she's still watching over him from on high, summoning slight breezes to announce her presence and appearing to Angel when he's dying]].
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In "[[Recap/AngelS02E17Disharmony Disharmony]]", when she's explaining exactly why she's been so harsh with Angel:
-->'''Cordy''': And you know, you didn't just betray me, Angel. You didn't just hurt me. You gave away my clothes.\\
'''Angel''': To the needy.\\
'''Cordy''': I ''am'' the needy!
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Cordelia ascends to becomes a higher being, but was only chosen for the job because she had proved that the power wouldn't go to her head, [[AGodIAmNot and not once does she call herself a god]]. However, she is promptly fired when she uses her [[DeusExMachina powers to help the gang]]. [[spoiler:It's worth noting that all of this may have been a plot orchestrated by the season's BigBad]].
-->'''Skip:''' Cordelia was chosen to become a higher being because she's such a pure, radiant saint. (scoffs) [[DidYouActuallyBelieve PLEASE!]]
** Despite Jasmine's manipulations, however, Cordelia's service was to the Powers was genuine and [[spoiler:when she dies in Season 5]], The Powers That Be make Cordelia a legitimate higher being in service to them.
* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler:She returns for a single appearance in Season 5 of ''Angel'' and is revealed to have been DeadAllAlong]].
* BackhandedCompliment: Any time Cordy tries to be relatively nice, this is the result.
* BadBadActing: Enough to make Angel nostalgic for Hell, especially in a risible performance in ''Theatre/ADollsHouse'', but improves markedly. Strangely, although she was shown as being a poor actress at first, she was always an excellent liar; capable of fooling even Angelus. Later, Cordelia evolves into a capable actress; unfortunately, her read-throughs are invariably spoiled by a vision.
* BadLiar: It's just as well that Cordy doesn't sugarcoat the truth, because she can't lie to save her life. The exceptions are "Homecoming", when she convinced a vampire she was Faith the Vampire Slayer and fooling Angelus. Presumably on those occasions she doesn't 'think' about acting, and therefore seems more natural.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The entire plot of the episode "The Wish." Cordelia, blaming Buffy for everything that was wrong with her life, wishes that she never came to Sunnydale... and ends up in an AlternateUniverse where, without Buffy, the Master and his vampires control the town. In a subversion of the usual formula, Cordelia end up ''dying'' before she can recant her wish, leaving the few human survivors in the "Wishverse" to work out what she did and undo it -- at which point [[ResetButton everything reverts back to normal]] and Cordelia, who remembers ''none'' of this, learns absolutely nothing.
* BigBreastPride: She certainly stood out on ''Angel'' alongside the more petite Fred.
* ABirthdayNotABreak: The ''Angel'' Season 3 episode, aptly titled "Birthday," depicted her having a vision that, combined with her accumulated brain damage, left her on the brink of death and on a spiritual journey that ultimately led her to become a half-demon in order to survive and keep the visions.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: During her time on ''Buffy''. In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E1WelcomeToTheHellmouth Welcome to the Hellmouth]]", Cordelia's nice to Buffy and looks out for her on the first day, but when she cruelly insults Willow's outfit, Buffy quickly sees her for the AlphaBitch she really is. She [[TookALevelInKindness gets better over the course of both shows]], but as seen in "Rm w/a Vu", she can still pull out the bitch card when she has to.
* BlessedWithSuck: The visions which show people in trouble at the cost of extreme migraines that [[spoiler:will eventually kill her.]]
* BoundAndGagged: Happens to Cordy quite a bit, unsurprisingly, does not keep her quiet.
* BrainlessBeauty: Was originally led to be this, but then she showed HiddenDepths. It was {{Lampshaded}} early in Season 3 when discussing the SAT:
--> "Actually, I'm looking forward to it. I do well on standardized tests." ({{beat}}) "What? I can't have layers?"
* BreakTheHaughty: A process that began on ''[=BtVS=]'', and continues from there.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: While she's abrasive and snippy, her dynamic with Angel still fits this. He's the brooding loner, she's TheHeart and encourages him to come out of his emotional shell. He even tells her he was "lost without you" in Season 5.
* BrutalHonesty: She does ''not'' mince her words, ''ever''. In "Earshot," when Buffy gains telepathic powers, she (and the audience) find out that Cordelia does in fact say exactly what she thinks.
-->'''Cordelia''': "Tact is just not saying true stuff. I'll pass."
* TheBully: In high school, she was a spoiled, stuck-up brat who enjoyed ridiculing those she saw as inferior. Buffy sees her true colours when she cruelly insults Willow's outfit. Several seasons and CharacterDevelopment later and she's a ReformedBully.
* BullyingADragon: Throughout the first season, she took every possible opportunity to pick on and insult Buffy despite full knowledge that she burned her last high school's gym down.
* BuxomIsBetter: She's rightly proud of her physical attributes, and frequently wears clothing and jewelry that emphasizes them.
* CastFromLifespan: After she took on Doyle's visions. Humans aren't strong enough to handle the visions, and they began to cause her extensive brain damage to the extent that she chose to become a half-demon to survive and keep them.
* CharacterDevelopment: Between the two series she goes from a shallow AlphaBitch to someone who can realistically be said to be deserving of becoming one of ThePowersThatBe ([[spoiler: GambitRoulette by Jasmine or not, she's proven herself time and time again]]) and it happened so gradually no one really noticed.
* TheCheerleader: Starts out playing this trope straight, but ends up subverting it over time.
%%* TheChick
* ClosetGeek: While working for Angel, she often made [[ShoutOut references]] to ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Franchise/StarTrek''. This could qualify as HiddenDepths, considering her treatment of outspoken nerds in high school.
* ClothingReflectsPersonality:
** During high school, she dressed very femininely, not so different from Buffy's style of clothing but rather more chic and high class opposed to some of the more natural clothes Buffy wore. Her wardrobe usually consisted of expensive dresses, short skirts, high heels, pumps and various designer hand bags. According to Cordelia: black, silk, chiffon and spandex were her "trademarks".
** A good example was the outfit she wore when returning to school after her injury, a burgundy skirt with a matching top, leather jacket and high heels along with a black Prada bag, symbolizing her confidence in trying to regain her popularity.
** After moving to Los Angeles, she put less significance on clothing, preferring simpler outfits with jeans along with frosted eyeshadow, probably due to her money situations. A few years later, Cordelia began wearing more mature clothing including grey suits. During her possession, she had a higher preference for comfy sweaters and long dark colored coats.
* TheCloudCuckoolanderWasRight: Cordelia might be a bit shallow (to begin with at least), but this means she sees things that others don't:
** She spotted the door to the basement dungeon in the house of Joyce's boyfriend in one episode of Buffy, simply because of a rug that was out of place
** She is the first to make the connection between wearing a tuxedo and being savaged by beasts, in an episode of Buffy where prom dates were being slaughtered
** She instantly spots that she is in the home of a vampire in Angel when she notices the heavy drapes and no mirrors. The vampire is somewhat taken aback
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: All too often, someone will make a remark and Cordelia will agree in some shallow, appearance-related fashion.
-->'''Xander:''' You're talking about messing with powerful magic, and you're weak.\\
'''Willow:''' I'm okay.\\
'''Xander:''' You don't ''look'' okay. ''(to Cordelia)'' Does she?\\
'''Cordelia:''' You should listen to him. The hair, it's so flat.
* CommutingOnABus: [[spoiler:She stops regularly appearing from Season 3, episode 14 of Angel to her final episode in Season 5. First she's on vacation with Groo, then she becomes a higher power, then she spends most of a season controlled by Jasmine until she gives "birth" to her, and then remains in a coma until she passes before the end of the series]].
* CoolBigSis: She acted as a sisterly figure towards Fred, having listened and helped her to reinvest in the human world after her exile in Pylea. Encouraged by Angel, Cordelia decided to spend time with Fred and get her to out in the real world, describing her as "sweet and adorable," but nonetheless admitting she did not quite understand her.
* DamselInDistress: Starts off needing to be saved by Buffy and co., before she TookALevelInBadass in ''Angel''.
* DeadpanSnarker: In a WorldOfSnark, Cordelia stands out for always packing a witty remark up her sleeve. She started out as the caustic, cruel type, but through CharacterDevelopment became friendlier.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Towards Xander and Doyle on their respective shows.
* DependingOnTheWriter: On ''Buffy'', her intelligence varies from episode to episode. Sometimes she's smarter than she appears and sometimes she's as dumb as a bag of hammers.
* TheDragAlong: In the earlier bits. Eventually, after moving to LA, she starts working for Angel and realizes that ''she likes fighting demons'', and even more interestingly, that she's not that bad at it.
* DynamicCharacter: She starts out as a typical AlphaBitch DefrostingIceQueen and ends up as TheHeart and the group's moral center. By season 3 of ''Angel'', she's practically unrecognizable.
* TheEponymousShow: ''Cordy!'', her sitcom in the Skipverse. Also an InJoke at Charisma Carpenter's resemblance to Creator/MaryTylerMoore.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: With Angel by Season 3 of their show; Lorne and Fred particularly like reminding them of their "kyrumption" and "moira" (Pylean terms for destined lovers).
* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:During Season 4 of ''Angel'', sort of. Jasmine hitched a ride in her body before Cordelia returned from a higher plane and was controlling Cordelia for most of the season to set the stage for her to enter our world. The rest of Team Angel didn't find out until it was too late.]]
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: In high school, she kept long, medium brown hair and had a notable fringe in the eleventh grade. In Los Angeles, Cordelia continued with the same hair length, though it appeared darker. She eventually cut her hair down to shoulder length. She then cut her hair further down into a graduated bob cut with blonde highlights after being fired. Months later, she then had short, brown chin-length hair but then changed to a blonde, layered bob cut up around the time of her ascension as higher being, but then changed brown again and short length when she was possessed. After her coma, she had a shoulder length, brown perm. As a spirit, her hair returned to its early stages as long, straight and brown.
* TheFace: Played with. She's the secretary for Angel's detective biz but she can't even use the phone properly. On the other hand, she's the only link to [[ThePowersThatBe the people he really needs to be in touch with.]]
* FallenPrincess: By the end of Season 3 of ''Buffy'', her family's wealth has been seized by tax fraud, leaving her nearly penniless. In early Season 1 of ''Angel'', she's seen living in a crappy, roach-infested apartment.
* FaintingSeer: Her visions are something akin to "having my skull cracked open and hot lava poured in." In fact, she's probably better described as a Shrieking, Twitching, Convulsing And ''Then'' Fainting Seer.
* FantasticRacism: Early on, she believes all demons barring Angel are bad. She starts moving past this in "Hero", especially after finding out that Doyle is a half-demon himself.
* TheFashionista: She has a love of fine clothes, best displayed in "Disharmony." She spends most of the episode scorning Angel for his KnightTemplar phase and betraying the team, telling him point-blank that she doesn't trust them and they're ''not'' friends. However, Cordy later admits that her main beef with him isn't because he betrayed and hurt her, but because he [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking gave away all her clothes]]. By the end of the episode, she happily reconciles with him when he buys her a whole new wardrobe as [[ApologyGift an apology]].
* FeminineWomenCanCook: InvertedTrope. Her brownies could qualify as nuclear waste.
* FindingJudas: [[spoiler:Unwittingly becomes Jasmine's corporeal agent on the Earth, gradually losing her entire personality in the process. It was so subtle that no one in Angel Investigations noticed until she was too far gone to save]].
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: She qualifies as this in the second and third seasons of ''Buffy'', hanging around only because she's "in the know" and because she's dating Xander at certain points.
* FriendsWithBenefits: She may or may not have had something casual going on with [[ILoveTheDead Dennis]]. He was seen helping her bathe, and she joked that the only action she got was with a ghost who was good with the loofa.
* GagBoobs: Her substantial bosom was the butt of many jokes on ''Angel''.
* GangOfBullies: The Cordettes. Angel would later liken them to the {{KGB}}, but with nicer shoes. Cordelia's "friends" give her a taste of her own medicine when she starts to date Xander.
* GeniusDitz: Is initially portrayed as a dippy moron in ''Buffy''. And then it's revealed that she was accepted at ''Ivy League schools'' and had very high marks on her SAT. Cordelia herself defends herself when the other Scoobies are shocked:
-->'''Cordy:''' "...what, I can't have layers?"
* GirlFriday: Though initially confined to the office, Cordelia becomes more proactive in cases after receiving the visions, which are often vague and require her to examine clues to make sense of it. She's also an awful secretary, but her MoneyFetish skills help keep Angel Investigations above water.
* GlobalIgnorance: "Oh, yesterday your cousin called, with one of those names from your part of England."
-->'''[[FightingIrish Doyle]]''': ... My part of '''''[[BerserkButton England]]'''''!?
* GoldDigger:
** Thwarted by Doyle's gallantry, which starts making her dating pool look rather pathetic. Her date (a stock broker) cannonballs into his Beamer and races off at first sight of a vamp without the slightest hesitation in leaving Cordy behind to be eaten.
-->"All I could think about was: if this wimp ever saw a monster he'd probably throw a shoe at it and run like a weasel! Turns out the shoe part was [[InsultToRocks giving him too much credit]]."
** Cordelia contemplates marrying incredibly rich and lonely geek David Nabbit, but accepts that even she has limits.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: After ascending she wears a angelic white ensemble.
* GoodIsNotNice: Not quite as tactless and rude as she was in her ''[[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]'' debut, but she can still be very sharp-tongued. She also makes it clear that she wouldn't hesitate to stake Angel if he ever lost his soul again, admits that she has no problem with Angel killing Holtz after the latter kidnapped Connor, and even suggests that Angel torture an uncooperative Eve for information.
* GratuitousPrincess: She ascends the throne of Pylea within 48 hours. "Off with their heads", indeed.
* TheHeart: Increasingly so as time passes, especially after the first-season finale "[[Recap/AngelS01E22ToShanshuInLA To Shanshu in L.A.]]" Fred explicitly calls her this at one point.
* HeroicFatigue: As a human, Cordelia was not meant to shoulder the responsibility of Doyle's visions ("a big [[TheGodsMustBeLazy cosmic whoops]]", as Skip calls it). She secretly takes powerful painkillers and undergoes CAT scans that indicate [[spoiler:the slow deterioration of her brain]]. Yet when presented with the opportunity to pass her visions onto someone else (the gallant Groosalugg, and later Angel in an alternate reality), Cordelia refuses, stating that the visions [[IAmWhatIAm are a part of her and make her who she is]].
* HiddenDepths: Even prior to CharacterDevelopment, Cordelia was much more than the stereotypical AlphaBitch she appeared to be. She frequently showed herself to be an intelligent and begrudgingly compassionate person.
-->''"You think I'm never lonely because I'm so cute and popular? I can be surrounded by people and be completely alone. It's not like any of them really know me. I don't even know if they like me half the time. People just want to be in a popular zone. Sometimes when I talk, everyone's so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a word I say."''
* HolyBacklight: Whilst twiddling her thumbs in the afterlife.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Two examples while working with Angel:
** When Harmony comes to town, Cordelia continues to trust her and demand that her friends give her a fair chance even after discovering she is a vampire, dismissing Angel's warnings that vampires are AlwaysChaoticEvil and can't be trusted. He's proven right when she sides with the vampire cult she was supposed to be helping A.I. investigate.
** Then, when Darla shows up pregnant with Angel's child, Cordelia readily defends her from Angel and tries to keep her comfortable, which comes back to bite her (literally) when Darla attacks her. After Angel [[BigDamnHeroes comes in and saves her]], Cordelia [[LampshadeHanging even acknowledges]] that she blew it.
* ImportantHaircut: Several. The most notable one is her [[DyeingForYourArt blonde makeover]], which remains even after her return from the afterlife (possibly a CallBack to Buffy's return from heaven on ''[=BtVS=]'') -- soon to darken back to its original color when [[spoiler:Jasmine possesses her]].
* IntimateMarks: She has a tattoo on her back, right directly above her rear. It's the actress's real tattoo, but we've seen it onscreen on the shows a few times.
* ItsAllAboutMe: This is her whole schtick throughout her appearances on ''Buffy'', whether she's complaining about the trauma of hitting a cyclist with her car (and the cyclist wanting it to be all about ''their'' leg), shushing her companion as a motormouth for ''almost'' getting a word in edgewise, or (as above) realizing that the MonsterOfTheWeek is [[{{Karma}} targeting her.]] (All this is even funnier when considering what happens to her on the [[Series/{{Angel}} spinoff]].) Even as late as ''Buffy's'' third season, there are shades of this. When Buffy temporarily gains the ability to read minds, Cordelia's first thought, which she immediately says out loud, is, "I don't see what this has to do with me."
* JerkassToOne: While she was an AlphaBitch in general during Season 1 of ''Buffy'', she was ''especially'' a bitch to the titular character, doing everything she could to make her a social outcast at Sunnydale High. To be fair, Buffy ''did'' mistake her for a vampire in the pilot and nearly stake her.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She started out a a classic IceQueen and AlphaBitch, picking on nerds and being an all around bully. After Buffy saves her, she starts to hang out with them and even help them with demons, but was even then mostly a complete bitch. Eventually, on ''Angel'', Cordelia gets a severe dose of character development and leaves this trope behind in favor of being all nice rather than a {{Jerkass}}.
* LadyOfWar: Following a few lessons in swordsmanship by Angel.
%%* LawOfInverseFertility:
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Wesley. At one point, Angel tries (and fails) to intervene in an argument between them by taking the role of a beleaguered dad, addressing them as "children".
* LivingBodysuit: [[spoiler:Revealed in Season 4 to be acting under the control of Jasmine]].
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Becomes this to Angel over the course of the series. In "[[Recap/AngelS03E11Birthday Birthday]]", it's shown in an AlternateTimeline that he would [[DespairEventHorizon lose his freaking mind]] without Cordy's humanizing influence, and in "You're Welcome," Angel comes right out and admits he's lost without her.
* LovableAlphaBitch: She starts as a regular AlphaBitch but becomes this through CharacterDevelopment and HiddenDepths. Eventually, she also becomes a FallenPrincess, but even when she becomes a regular on the Spinoff, Angel, she still retains some of the Alpha Bitchy qualities she had to begin with.
* MandatoryLine: On ''Buffy'', most of the time her role in Seasons One & Three was just to appear, act bitchy, then leave.
%%* TheMole [[spoiler: In Season 4 of ''Angel''.]]
* MoneyFetish:
** She can ''smell'' money. "Hide some in the office sometime, and watch her. It's uncanny."
** She feels herself getting warm by a software geek peddling financial advice.
* MoralityChain:
** A peek into an alternate timeline shows what would happen to Angel if he didn't have Cordy around. He ''[[DespairEventHorizon goes insane]]''.
** It's lampshaded when TheBusCameBack in Season 5, to give Angel a WhatTheHellHero speech over being corrupted by Wolfram & Hart.
-->'''Cordelia:''' I knew you'd be lost without me but--
-->'''Angel:''' I ''am'' lost without you.
* MostCommonSuperPower: She certainly stands out among her more petite female co-stars like Buffy, Willow and Fred. This is frequently commented on. Even Amy Acker's screen test has Fred refer to her as "your friend with the giganimous boobs."
* MsFanservice: And she knows it. When Angel gives her a necklace, she proudly talks of how it emphasizes her breasts.
-->'''Cordelia:''' [[AllMenArePerverts You know you were all thinking it.]]
* NoBadassToHisValet: The only person Angel can't intimidate is his secretary.
* NotSoDifferent:
** Like Buffy, she matured after being put in a position of being a hero. Similarly, while Buffy matured after caring for her sister Dawn, Cordelia became more nurturing while caring for the infant Connor. In actuality, despite never being very close to Buffy, Cordelia was actually a lot like her in personality (which may have been partly the reason Angel loved her as well).
** From Lilah Morgan, to the point that she knew ''exactly'' which buttons to push to get Lilah to help her against Billy Blim. She even coolly lampshades it in their argument when she calls Lilah a "vicious bitch":
-->'''Lilah''': So you know me.
-->'''Cordelia''': Please, I ''was'' you, [[TakeThat with better shoes]].
* ParentalSubstitute: She generally served as a mother figure to Connor while he was a baby and when he returned from Quor'toth as a teenager. Shortly after, she accepted Skip's offer to become a higher being, leaving Earth for another plane. She and Connor bonded after she returned to Earth with amnesia, as he was the only one who didn't lie to her. He developed romantic feelings for her, but she was reluctant to pursue any such avenues until her memories were restored. After being possessed by Jasmine, it used Cordelia's body to seduce Connor. Later in the series, Connor noted their relationship was fundamentally oedipal.
* PetTheDog: During her AlphaBitch phase on ''Buffy'', particularly during Season 3.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E2DeadMansParty Dead Man's Party]]", Cordelia is the ''only'' Scooby who actually sympathizes with Buffy over why she ran away to mourn Angel, whereas the other Scoobies only focused on the worry and misery she caused her for running out on them, and tries to defend her against Xander's criticism. Of course, she does so with her usual BrutalHonesty, leading Buffy to snap at her to [[UnwantedAssistance stop helping]].
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E12Helpless Helpless]]", she defends Buffy while BroughtDownToNormal, and even agrees to give Buffy a ride home without question.
* ProudBeauty: She is ''extremely'' proud of her good looks, and she takes every opportunity to flaunt them to other people, especially her boobs.
* PutOnABus: To L.A.! She then gets put on a bus several times over the course of ''Angel''.
* ReplacementFlatCharacter: In a slightly meta sense, she was this for Buffy in the earliest episodes. The shallow, fashion obsessed, airheaded (at least on the surface) Cordelia as first introduced closely resembles Buffy as she was in the movie and in a couple of flashbacks to her Hemry high days in the show proper.
-->'''Buffy''': Before I was the Slayer, I was... Well, I, I don't wanna say shallow, but... Let's say a certain person, who will remain nameless—we'll just call her Spordelia—looked like a classical philosopher next to me.
* RichBitch: Until her parents go down for tax evasion. She starts the spin-off series as an impoverished wannabe actress.
* RichesToRags: When her father loses all his money to the IRS. Come the first season of ''Angel'', she's nearly penniless, renting a dilapidated apartment and stealing food from Hollywood parties.
* TheRival: She competes with Buffy over boys and the Homecoming Dance. This develops into a FriendlyRivalry of sorts - they'll argue and insult each other, but they've occasionally helped each other out.
* RomanticFalseLead: Angel immediately ends up in her crosshairs. Luckily, Angel later confesses that he always found the noblewomen of his era (for whom Cordelia is the modern avatar) to be a horrific bore. [[spoiler:Subverted when the two actually ''do'' become attracted to each other years later during their time working in Los Angeles]].
%%* SamaritanSyndrome
* SarcasticDevotee: Cordelia's unshakable loyalty to Angel doesn't stop her from snarking at him.
* SassySecretary: She appointed herself as secretary for Angel Enterprises. She wasn't qualified to do the monster hunting (at first anyway) but was more than able to sit behind the desk and dish out wisecracks.
* SecondLove: [[spoiler:Ironically, despite Cordelia initially being presented as the exact type of person whom Angel finds boring, she becomes this to him after Buffy. By Season 3 of ''Angel'', the two become extremely protective of each other and form a genuine romantic connection. It's hobbled by Jasmine's machinations in Season 4, but reaches its culmination in Cordelia's final appearance in "You're Welcome"]].
* SecretlyDying: [[spoiler: Since the visions were intended for demons, they begin to physically damage her brain. She hides this from the rest of Team Angel until "Birthday", where her latest vision leaves her comatose, and it's made clear the next one she has ''will'' kill her. Skip circumvents this by turning her half-demon]].
* ServileSnarker: She'd give you a tongue-lashing if you ever called her servile, but she is initially working for Angel as his secretary, and later as his seer. This does not stop her from dishing out the snark to him in the slightest.
* ShipTease: With Wesley, which ends abruptly and hilariously upon their first kiss, when they realize their complete lack of sexual chemistry. And with Angel in the spin-off series. Tragically [[spoiler:their first kiss (that can't be put down to magical influence) is their last one]].
* ShipperOnDeck: She was the most conscious of Fred's strong crush on Angel, and frequently encouraged him to address the issue despite his belief it would blow over by itself.
* SitcomArchnemesis: To Buffy, who used to have the AlphaBitch role before she became the Slayer and was forced to develop some character. Sometimes however (e.g. "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E5Homecoming Homecoming]]") their rivalry in this area comes out into the open.
* SkewedPriorities: Though they become less skewed over the years.
* SpicyLatina: Her actress is actually of European Spanish descent but she still fits the trope almost perfectly. She certainly has the look and attitude down.
* StarCrossedLovers: With Angel. The Powers ''literally'' intervene to separate them at one point.
-->'''Cordelia''': Do you ever wonder...do you ever think about [[{{Recap/AngelS03E22Tomorrow}} if we'd met up that night]] and had a chance to --\\
'''Angel''': All the time.\\
'''Cordelia''': Guess we missed our moment, huh?\\
'''Angel''': Maybe we were meant to. Maybe people like us just don't get to...have that.\\
'''Cordelia''': Angel, there ''are'' no people like us.
* TeamMom: In a far cry from her Sunnydale days, she becomes this for Angel Investigations being the emotional anchor and glue that keeps the guys together, and she even becomes a surrogate mother for baby Connor in Season 3. Her absence is also certainly a factor in causing everything to go wrong in the third season.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: In "[[Recap/AngelS01E05RmWAVu Rm w/a Vu]]". Within a few hours, Angel's basement is covered wall-to-wall with Cordelia's trophies, there's peanut butter on his bed, his leather chair is ruined, and Cordelia is busily cutting up his linoleum floor to examine the hardwood. By morning, Angel is ''begging'' Doyle to help find Cordy a place to stay.
* ThresholdGuardians: Provides an example of a non-adversarial Threshold Guardian; when she invites Buffy to join the popular girls' clique, she forces Buffy to choose between her calling as the Slayer and her desire to be a popular girl.
* TookALevelInBadass: Being involved in the supernatural for years will do this to you: when she started out on ''Buffy'', she was an athletic but untrained human, and remained relatively on the sidelines for those first three seasons and in her first on Angel. By the time the second season of Angel rolled around, she was competent enough in a battle for Angel, Wes, and Gunn to have no problem with her coming along for fights. By the [[spoiler:end of her life]], she was able to fight alongside Angel and Spike with no issues.
* TookALevelInKindness: Zig Zagged in Season 3 of ''Buffy'' when Xander cheats on her, effectively ousting her from the Gang. Cordelia attempts to return to her old ways, but Harmony has usurped her position and shut the door. Cordelia returns to aid the Scoobies in the finale. Her move to ''Angel'' cements her growth as a caring person.
* TookALevelInSmartass: While "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E11OutOfMindOutOfSight Out of Mind, Out of Sight]]" revealed Cordelia wasn't quite the airhead she seemed, she still seemed of relatively average intelligence. It was only in season three that she was officially established (or retconned) as being very bright (see the quote under BrainlessBeauty above.)
%%* TrashOfTheTitans: Her first apartment.
* TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: The Venerable Monarch of Pylea, General of the Ravenous Legions, Eater of Our Enemy's Flesh, Prelate of the Sacrificial Blood Rites, and Sovereign Proconsul of Death.
* UptownGirl: She kept her torrid love affair with Xander secret out of fear of what her peers would think.
* UltimateJobSecurity: You can't fire her. She's Vision Girl. *sticks out tongue*. Angel is rudely awakened to this fact after he ''does'' fire her.
-->'''Angel:''' Well, I know she can't type or file. Until today, I had some hope regarding the phone.
* UngratefulBitch: When Buffy mistakenly attacked her with a stake, Cordelia made it her mission to make her as much of an outcast as possible, despite the fact that Buffy later saved her life on several occasions.
%%* TheVamp: [[spoiler:While under Jasmine's control]], Cordy
* VanityLicensePlate: Cordelia's car has "QUEEN C" for its plates.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Wesley after he joins Angel Investigations. Not unlike a [[LikeBrotherAndSister brother/sister pair]], they bicker and snark at each other, but have a strong bond of trust and friendship.
* WaitingForABreak: In the first and second seasons of ''Angel''.
-->'''Doyle:''' I think it's refreshing to see a woman living like this, you know. It means you're not so uptight, you live for the moment-- ''(steps in a bowl of oatmeal)'' [[HypocriticalHumor You're disgusting]].
* WeaknessTurnsHerOn: The possibility of intimacy with Angel doesn't comes up until Cordelia glimpses a world in which she never joined the agency. This resulted in Angel inheriting Doyle's visions instead, causing him to go mad.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Possibly caught the condition living in Sunnydale.
* WomenPreferStrongMen: Hanging around Angel and Doyle has ruined her for preening, rich day trader types. (No comment on [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Wesley.]])
* YouAreWorthHell: Literally, and on multiple occasions.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Doyle]]
!!Allen Francis Doyle
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7b1de0d914f177a4bc6c95fa642e723f.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"The good fight, yeah? You never know until you've been tested."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/GlennQuinn

->''"One of us has been drinking, and I'm sorry to say it's not me."''

A human-demon hybrid, Doyle is chosen as the messenger of the PowersThatBe, and sent to help Angel in LA. Doyle receives "visions" from the Powers, described as splitting great migraines with pictures that warn of people in trouble. Doyle has a shady past and is seemingly a coward, but the visions and his numerous underworld sources make him a valuable asset, and he becomes good friends with Angel. Together with Cordelia, the three of them form the nucleus of Angel Investigations.
----
* AllGenesAreCodominant: He didn't even know about his father's demonic lineage until he turned twenty -- presumably because of the spikes ejecting from his face. He prefers to pass as human, something pure-blood Brachen demons can't do.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Confesses half-jokingly to being "a little attracted" to Angel. And in the alternate reality of "Birthday", he passed the visions to Angel instead of Cordelia (which is done by kissing).
* TheAtoner: Prior to meeting Angel, he largely lived as a hustler and con artist as a means to cover up his guilt over failing to save Lucas and his clan from the Scourge.
* BlessedWithSuck: The visions Doyle gets include severe headaches.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: While complaining that the Chosen One doesn't stock beer in the fridge.
* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler:Turns out he's The Promised One, saving a group of Lister Demons from The Scourge.]]
* ContagiousHeroism: In the first episode, he is reluctant to help Angel in any way other than getting the visions and passing on the message; after Angel forces him to come along to Russel's place, Doyle almost bails when he hears gun shots. Fast forward to "Hero", where he [[spoiler:decides to make a HeroicSacrifice instead of Angel.]]
* CowardlyLion: He's not a warrior, but he rises to the occasion when his friends are in danger.
* DeadpanSnarker: He's always quick with a witty remark.
* DisappearedDad: He never knew his Brachean demon father or anyone on that side of his family, and his own demonic genes didn't physically manifest themselves until he was 21 years old.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: He received prophetic visions from The Powers That Be, which includes images of people in peril, names, places in which evil was present or threats the Powers wanted to be dealt with. These visions also caused him great pain, though his half-demon physiology prevented his brain from suffering any long-term physical damage.
* FaintingSeer: Due to the extreme pain the visions cause.
* FootDraggingDivorcee: Inverted; Doyle finally comes around to blessing the new union, only for Harry's fiancé to try to [[BrainFood eat his brains]].
* FreakOut: He didn't take the news of his demonic heritage well, and ended up boarding himself up in an apartment and [[CigaretteOfAnxiety chain-smoking]] all day.
* GlamourFailure: He tends to involuntarily morph to his demon form when he sneezes.
* HalfHumanHybrid[=/=]HumanMomNonhumanDad: "As it happens, I'm very ''much'' human... (''[[HypocriticalHumor sneezes and turns green with spikes]]'') ...on my mother's side."
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:In "Hero", he sacrifices himself to stop a mystical [=WMD=] from wiping out everything in L.A.]]
* HiddenDepths: He used to be a school teacher and volunteer at a soup kitchen. Lampshaded by Cordelia.
* HypocriticalHumor: Preaches the importance of reaching people on a personal level and inspiring moral good to Angel just before telling a homeless woman asking for change to "Get a job, you lazy sow".
* IconicItem: A brown (or black) leather jacket.
* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacguffin: Transfers his visions to Cordelia via their LastKiss.
** Echoed in Season Five, when Cordelia's visions pass on to Angel.
* LastNameBasis: To the extent that Angel and Cordelia are surprised to learn his name is Allen.
* LineageComesFromTheFather: In his case because his father was a Brachen demon.
* MyGreatestFailure: Refusing to lend aid to a group of pacifist Brachen demons who were trying to escape The Scourge. Later that night, Doyle experienced his very first vision -- that of the entire Brachen clan being slaughtered.
* NiceGuy: Doyle is a very friendly and good-natured, albeit flawed, individual.
* NiceHat: A porkpie hat, similar to the one worn by Whistler in Season 2 of ''[=BtVS=]'' (on whose character Doyle is based).
* ObiWanMoment: [[spoiler:Just before he sacrifices himself. "'[[ArcWords You never know until you're tested.]]' I get that now".]]
* {{Oireland}}: Averted. Unlike Angel, Glenn Quinn's accent is genuinely and refreshingly Irish.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Though Doyle's Irish accent was the genuine article, Glenn Quinn had to "Americanize" his accent every once in a while so the audience could understand him.
* OopsIForgotIWasMarried: To Harriet Doyle, a demonologist. They eventually [[AmicablyDivorced parted ways amicably]], though Harry called off her new engagement, probably because her Ano-Movic demon fiancé's family would only approve of their marriage if he performed an obscure ritual that involved eating her ex-husband's brain.
* PercussivePrevention: [[spoiler:When he knocked Angel off a platform so that Angel wouldn't have to sacrifice himself to disarm The Scourge's weapon.]]
* PluckyComicRelief: To contrast Angel's more serious "straight" guy.
* PresentAbsence: [[spoiler:Despite his early death, Doyle remains a presence in Angel's life through both the impact he himself left on Angel (convincing him to rejoin the world) and the visions that he passed on to Cordelia before his death.]]
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: [[spoiler:Doyle was killed after just nine episodes]] due to Quinn's drug addiction.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:He sacrifices himself to stop the Scourge's weapon and atone for the MyGreatestFailure tragedy listed above.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:As pointed out by Cordelia, he was Angel Investigations' "first soldier down".]]
* SadClown: Beneath his humor lies a deeply sensitive man haunted by the suffering he's witnessed through his visions, and that denying help to a group of fellow Brachen led to their deaths.
* TheSoCalledCoward: Turns out he can be quite brave when he must protect his friends.
* StagesOfMonsterGrief: Doyle coped poorly with the revelation of his demon side, and his marriage to Harriet soon crumbled. However, the point is made that his demonic heritage probably wasn't the only reason their marriage broke up. Upon learning about demons, Harriet found the thought of studying an entirely new set of cultures and pastimes intriguing, whereas Doyle just wanted to pretend his demonic side didn't exist.
* StupidSexyFlanders: Remarks in one episode that he may be "a little attracted" to Angel.
* SuperMode: Brachen demon mode.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute[=/=]{{Expy}}: In a way. He was in the cast from the beginning, but was originally intended to be the demon Whistler; the character Doyle was created with very similar traits when Max Perlich, who played Whistler on ''Buffy'', turned out to be unavailable. In "City Of", Doyle even wears a hat similar to Whistler's iconic hat.
* ThatManIsDead: "It's Doyle now. Just Doyle."
* WeHardlyKnewYe: In part due to ActorExistenceFailure. [[spoiler:Doyle was written out after 9 episodes, as Joss had always wanted to have a SacrificialLion]], though RealLifeWritesThePlot was also in play due to Glenn Quinn's drug addiction. Whedon wanted to bring him back later, but Quinn died of a drug overdose in 2002.
* WillfullyWeak: He hardly ever used his demon form because of his discomfort with it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wesley]]
!!Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/94ee9498c9042f8ee857a46712703649.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Sorry. I think my sense of humor is trapped in a jar somewhere."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/AlexisDenisof

->''"You know, back in my days as a rogue demon hunter, I once used that very spear to pin down what I thought was a small Rodentius demon. Of course, the poodle's owners weren't very happy."''

A replacement sent by the Watcher's Council following Giles' termination. Clean-cut, by the book, and not without an inflated sense of self, Wesley is immediately detested by both Buffy and Faith. Most of his decisions (though well-intentioned) fail spectacularly, such as his attempt to "rehabilitate" Faith when she goes rogue. Like Giles before him, the Council eventually tires of Wesley and lets him go. At a loose end, he becomes a "rogue demon hunter" himself, his travels eventually leading him to LA, where he joins Angel Investigations. As a former Watcher, Wesley is the resident demon expert. He's also a brilliant linguist and a fairly skilled sorcerer. As the series progresses, he slowly becomes more assertive and confident. In spite of the drastic changes he goes through over the course of both series, Wesley's most noteworthy personality traits remain the same--he is dangerously pragmatic, incredibly ruthless, generally unapologetic of even his worst decisions, and more loyal to his own moral compass than to any single person. At his core, though, Wesley is a good man.
----
* AbusiveParents: His father used to lock him in the cellar and generally belittled his son in every single way one can imagine. In addition, the way Wesley was easily able to deduce a girl was being sexually abused implies that his own abuse was sexual.
* TheAlcoholic: Of the functioning variety after his betrayal in Season 3. He takes up drinking again in Season 5 after [[spoiler:Fred's death]], only this time he's considerably less functional.
* AloofAlly: After he's thrown out of Angel Investigations, he becomes this to them for the rest of Season 3 and the early part of Season 4. He rescues Angel from the bottom of the ocean, and even allows Angel to feed on him when he realizes that pig's blood is not enough for the severely malnourished vampire. Wesley's motive in all of this is not to earn Angel's forgiveness and get back on the team; he simply does it because he recognizes Angel's importance as a force for good in their ongoing struggle against evil. Angel actually ''does'' forgive him and offers to let him back on the team, but Wesley responds coldly and still stays the hell away for a while. When he does eventually rejoin Angel Investigations, it's more out of mutual necessity than anything else, and there's still a lot of tension between him and the rest of the group, especially Gunn.
* AnArmAndALeg: His counterpart in the Skipverse is missing an arm, likely from the same demon who appeared in "Parting Gifts" (but without Angel to help him in this timeline). His fencing skills [[WithMyHandsTied are still formidable]].
--> '''Wesley:''' Ah, [[EveryScarHasAStory Kungai demon]]. Couple of years ago.
* AuthorityInNameOnly: When he first appears in ''Buffy'' season 3, he's meant to replace Giles as Buffy and Faith's Watcher. Of course, Wesley also proves to be a bumbling, cowardly idiot who's no use in a ''real'' fight; thus, Buffy and Faith routinely overruled him, and when a Watcher's advice was needed, they asked Giles instead. He [[TookALevelInBadass Takes a Level in Badass]] in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'', even taking over leadership of Angel Investigations for a brief time; of course, even during that time of leadership, Angel himself was often in charge and led several of their missions over him.
* BadassBiker: Only in his first episode. Those leather pants really chafe his...[[LastSecondWordSwap legs.]]
* BadassBookworm: Book-smart and a total badass.
* BadassNormal: Due to the lifestyle he led, he had developed above-average strength, reaction time and endurance and was somewhat athletic. Over time, Wesley developed exceptional physical abilities, as he led his own demon hunting militia against string demonic creatures and had bested them. He was able to take on vampires with success and subdued Justine Cooper single-handedly on two occasions. Wesley gained experience during his time with Angel, as his personality hardened, and he became an incredibly skilled martial artist, as well as being proficient with weapons.
* BeardOfSorrow: Wesley seems to stop shaving regularly halfway through Season 3 of ''Angel'', as he struggles with agonizing moral choices and his estrangement from the rest of the team.
* BetterAsFriends: He and Cordelia come to this conclusion after the Mother of All Awkward Kisses.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: He has a folding sword that pops out of his sleeve. He appears to hold it like a normal sword once its extended, though.
* BrainsAndBondage: Eek.
-->'''Angel:''' Who do we know that has handcuffs?\\
'''Wes:''' Well, I -- ! ...[-[[LastSecondWordSwap wouldn't know]]-].
* BreakThemByTalking: Wesley is very, ''very'' good at psychological warfare. Throughout ''Angel'''s entire five year run, there are only two people who are shown to be capable of matching his skill at it: Angelus and Lilah. And even against them he still holds his own. He's also not above using it on his friends if he thinks it's necessary. In fact, Wesley has engaged everyone in psychological warfare at one time or another--enemies, allies, enemies turned into allies, half-insane skittering bug-demons, cyborgs, innocent victims, evil lawyers, ancient demon kings... you name it, and Wesley has probably gone toe-to-toe with it in a war of words, and won.
* BritishStuffiness: At first, although he loosens up a lot after joining Angel Investigations, mostly due to Cordelia's influence.
%%* CaptainObvious
* CharacterDevelopment: One of the best examples on either show. Wesley goes from a totally useless MilesGloriosus and general target for mockery to [[TheGunslinger a sharpshooting]], [[TheUnfettered utterly]] [[GoodIsNotSoft ruthless]] ManipulativeBastard, ExaltedTorturer and - to bad guys at least - a borderline SoftSpokenSadist. By Season 5 of ''Angel'', it's almost hard to believe he's the same character.
* ChekhovsSkill: Specifically, darts.
* ClothingReflectsPersonality: When he first appeared in Sunnydale, he most often dressed in prim suits, vests and overshirts, and had a manner of dress and attitude somewhat reminiscent of Giles. Upon joining Angel Investigations, he maintained his style and mannerisms; however, as his character progressed Wesley took on a more casual appearance, mostly wearing black or white t-shirts under a short sleeve button shirt, light colored pullovers, khaki pants and a wool pea coat. As he slowly regressed into darkness and depression his attire came to match (black t-shirts, darker ill fitting button shirts, jeans, work/cargo pants, sweaters and a stained brown leather coat); all his clothes were often stained or unwashed in appearance. He also left his hair unstyled, no longer wore glasses (despite his heavy use of firearms around that time) and even allowed himself some light stubble, which added to his air of melancholy. Even after he rejoined Angel and his friends at Wolfram & Hart, he retained his more casual clothing style, albeit with a more groomed appearance rather than his previously disheveled look and slightly more work place friendly clothing. He returned to his suit and tie when he became Angel's Liaison to the Senior Partners, but this was explicitly identified as part of their torment of him, forcing Wesley to regress back to an appearance and time that he had grown apart from.
* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: He initially replaced Doyle. Whereas Doyle was a cynical and sardonic working-class Irish half-demon, Wesley was a bumbling and optimistic upper-class English human ex-watcher. At first, anyway.
* CruelToBeKind: Wesley can be surprisingly ruthless, willingly sacrificing his allies or sending men to their deaths as part of a grand design. In his own words:
-->'''Wesley:''' You try not to get anybody killed, you wind up getting ''everybody'' killed.
* CunningLinguist: With mixed results. ''You'' try arguing prophecy [[ItMakesSenseInContext with a giant hamburger]].
* DaddyIssues: He has a strained relationship with his father, who had always been disappointed in him as a child, an attitude that was worsened when Wesley was fired from the Watchers Council.
* DatingCatwoman: Lilah Morgan, [[spoiler:whom he later beheaded]]. Ah, love.
* DeadpanSnarker: Very Britishly so.
-->'''Client:''' ''(upon learning she's not alone in having superpowers, turns to Cordelia)'' So what's wrong with ''you''?\\
'''Wesley:''' Where to begin?
* DeathSeeker: Whenever he's morally conflicted, Wesley is uncomfortably reckless with his own life. Triggered by the prophecy that Angel would kill Connor and partly because Fred chose Gunn over him, he apparently wishes to die, as the Loa points out. Interestingly, by the end of Season 5, after ''much'' more suffering, he nonetheless claims he intends to live through the final battle. His half-assed plan suggests otherwise, though, [[spoiler:and he does in fact die.]]
-->'''Loa''': You risk your life, human, calling on the loa. Perhaps what you really seek is death. The pain in your heart begs for it.\\
'''Wesley''': Then do it and be done. Nothing else will stop me.
* DespairEventHorizon: He crosses it in late Season 5 upon [[spoiler:Fred's death]], freely admitting as such to Illyria in a DespairSpeech during the GrandFinale. At the climax of the ''After the Fall'' continuation, when he finds out that the Senior Partners hitting the ResetButton on the Fall of Los Angeles would not reverse [[spoiler:his death, he's resigned to being in servitude to the Senior Partners for all eternity, believing he has nothing to live for with Fred gone as well.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:In the final raid on the Senior Partners, Wesley is assigned to take out Vail, the sorcerer of the group. Vail runs him through with a knife, and Illyria is left to tearfully cradle his body.]]
* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:His eyes remain open staring at "Fred" as he dies.]]
* DrowningMySorrows: Develops an obsessive need for the juice to counter the melancholy of [[spoiler:Fred's death.]] He is seldom entirely sober, as Spike sniffs out.
** Maybe not drowning, but he certainly takes his sorrows for a swim after his split from AI.
* DynamicCharacter: We see glimpses of his dark side in Pylea (Season 2) and in an alternate universe where the team soldiers on without Cordelia (Season 3). His near-death experience changes him for the worse.
* EmbarrassingNickname: He was "[[AccidentalInnuendo Head Boy]]" at Academy.
** Wesley seems [[InvertedTrope blissfully unaware]] of the connotations - which is understandable, as Head Boy (and Head Girl) is an extremely normal title in British schools. This is something that Spike, who mainly brings it up, is entirely aware of considering his background, but thinks it's funnier to pretend otherwise.
* EmergencyImpersonation: In the episode "Guise Will Be Guise", where he is forced to impersonate Angel. Right down to quaffing a glass of blood.
* EnsignNewbie: Wesley's only encounters with vampires prior to appearing on ''Buffy'' were under "controlled circumstances"; basically, he's in over his head from the get-go.
* EurekaMoment: Lampshaded by Angel.
-->'''Lorne:''' You mean he ''actually says'' "Eureka"?
* ExaltedTorturer: He's awfully handy with a knife. Or scalpel. Or arrowhead.
-->'''Wesley:''' I avoided the major organs. He'll probably live.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: When he goes through his darker phases, he grows a layer of stubble. Seasons 1 and 2 Wes have no facial hair at all, while seasons 3-5 have Wes with varying degrees of facial hair.
* ExtravertedNerd: The script for "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E14BadGirls Bad Girls]]" says that he, "Thinks he's Creator/SeanConnery when he's pretty much Creator/GeorgeLazenby". By Season 5, particularly after [[spoiler: Fred's death]], he's probably more like Creator/DanielCraig.
* FanservicePack
* FatalFlaw: Mistrust of others, and compulsively hoarding every secret to himself, convinced that only he can know or do what's best.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:His ghost is still stuck working for the Senior Partners in Hell.]]
* FireForgedFriends With Gunn. It makes their friendship later coming apart all the sadder.
* {{Foil}}: To Giles. The curmudgeonly Watcher never forgot the grief he suffered under Wesley, as Andrew later reports in Season 5 of ''Angel''.
* FunctionalAddict: After being cast out of the team in Season 3, he starts drinking heavily, and again in Season 5 [[spoiler:after Fred's death]]; in the latter case, Spike himself sniffs out that Wesley's been getting hammered constantly. Despite this, he's still able to keep fighting the good fight on both occasions.
* GameBreakingInjury: During the episode "The Thin Dead Line," he's shot in the gut by a zombie cop and spends the next two episodes in a wheelchair. Though he's out of the chair by "Disharmony," any strenuous activity still causes him visible pain.
* GeekPhysiques: Averted. He's quite Pierce Brosnan-y, after all.
* GeniusBruiser: An intelligent man who eventually becomes the show's biggest badass after Angel himself.
* TheGlassesGottaGo: Ditches his glasses after the events of ''Angel'' Season 3.
* GoodIsDumb: The least trustworthy member on Angel's team is also the smartest. What are the odds?
** Played with. For one thing he's only the smartest if you don't count Fred, for another the reason he's untrustworthy is because he follows his own moral compass even when it conflicts with his loyalty to the team. In some ways he's actually the most moral and selfless of anyone on the team, including Angel.
* GoodIsNotNice: This is one of his defining characteristics since his early days on ''Buffy'', although it becomes a lot more noticeable after he [[TookALevelInBadass takes a few levels in badass]]. When things are quiet, he can be perfectly amiable, but when there's something bigger at stake, he's more interested in getting results than being nice. Long-term solutions are much more important to Wesley than short-term politeness.
** A prime example is the second season episode "Untouched", where Team Angel is attempting to help Bethany, a young woman who has telepathic powers she can't seem to control. Angel and Cordelia are both very gentle with Bethany, doing their best to help her keep calm and to make sure she feels safe with them. Wesley, on the other hand, after figuring out that her powers were the result of intense psychic trauma from her childhood, intentionally provokes her by mentioning the person who hurt her. She's extremely upset by it, and Angel and Cordelia both berate Wesley for being so harsh, but Angel later admits that it was a useful thing for them to know, because it allowed them to help Bethany in the long run.
* GoodIsNotSoft: He was "one to make the hard decisions even if he has to make them alone". He would rather have allowed Willow to die than to give the Mayor back an object which would allow him to complete his Ascension. He is immediately dismissed by the Scoobies as lacking in compassion, though his logic is sound. Later examples include his plans to storm the Pylean Royal Palace, sending numbers of rebels to certain death to allow the rest to infiltrate the palace; taking baby Connor away from Angel; and shooting what he thought was his own father to protect Angel and Fred.
* TheGunslinger: Type C: [[GunFu The Woo]]. Wes is generally the guy with guns, though Gunn and Fred occasionally use them. The [[GunsAkimbo showy]] [[LeapAndFire moves]] are strictly his department.
** Lampshaded in "Lineage". We cut from slow-mo Wesley firing two pistols in mid-air to Fred, in real time, sarcastically sighing, "Yes, thank you, Wesley, I'd love a gun."
* GutturalGrowler: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the aftermath of his throat-slitting. He adopts a sotto voice for the remainder of the show, and the scar remains visible for a long time.
* HandicappedBadass: A zombified cop's bullet lands Wesley in a wheelchair for a while, but you don't need legs to load a shotgun! Then there's his Skipverse counterpart, who's a good fighter and formidable fencer with only one arm.
* HazyFeelTurn: Stealing Angel's baby, then going solo for a while.[[note]]Also, being an accessory to murder and keeping Justine chained in his closet.[[/note]]
* HeartbrokenBadass: [[spoiler:Fred's death]] utterly breaks Wesley, and he spends the rest of the series as a walking, talking, [[DrowningMySorrows drinking]] pile of heartache while still helping his team fight evil.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He actually trusts Holtz, Angel's old ArchEnemy who is obsessed with getting revenge on Angel however he can, to help him take Connor away. As a result, Connor ends up trapped in a hell dimension, whereas Wesley gets a SlashedThroat from Holtz's right-hand and thrown out of Angel Investigations for his stupidity.
* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: Collapsible wrist-mounted swords.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: He kills [[spoiler: Skip]] by shooting a bullet into a tiny hole in his armor, said hole having been created when Angel broke one of his horns.
* InsistentTerminology: In his first appearance on ''Angel'', wants to make sure everyone knows that he's a ''rogue'' demon hunter.
-->'''Cordelia:''' What's a rogue demon?
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: Wesley has a tendency to separate himself from the rest of the group whenever he's conflicted. It eventually came back to bite him, big time.
* {{Irony}}: In "Disharmony," he tells Angel that he can't simply buy Cordelia's friendship back... only to be left [[DeathGlare Death Glaring]] at the end of the episode, when Angel has succeeded in doing exactly that by buying her a new wardrobe.
* JacobMarleyApparel: [[spoiler:In the comic, he is permanently bound to one of his old ''Buffy''-era suits. Wesley surmises the Senior Partners are just finding new ways to torment him some more, since the suit and glasses are a reminder of his past self that he left behind.]]
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Becomes fond of these after his CharacterDevelopment sets in.
* JadedWashout: In slow-motion. Wesley is basically the same guy from before the Watcher's Council fired him. On the other hand, he's not eager to rejoin those officious windbags, even when bribed. Over the course of years, he grows so detached from his old values that the demolition of the Council building doesn't even upset him.
* KlingonPromotion: Became Illyria's de facto consort after shooting the first one.
* TheKlutz: In his early post-Buffy appearances. For the love of God, don't let him near an ax.
* TheLancer: When Fred is playing the SmartGuy role.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Cordelia.
* MilesGloriosus: During his time on ''Buffy''. He gloats to Giles that he can handle himself in a fight, having managed to defeat vampires "under controlled circumstances." When he gets into a ''real'' fight, however, he proves totally useless and has to be bailed out by Giles. During his time on ''Angel'', he gets steadily more and more dangerous, to the point where he's probably the most dangerous BadassNormal in the ''Buffyverse'' [[spoiler:by the time of his death.]]
* MoralMyopia: In Season 4, he's bitter and angry after being booted from the team in Season 3; when asked what happened to him by Gunn, Wesley replies, matter-of-factly, "I had my throat cut and all my friends abandoned me". The reason his friends abandoned him is because when he was reading a prophecy of how Angel might end up killing Connor, he kept it from them and didn't discuss it with any of them - mainly because he was jealous of Fred and Gunn's relationship (having had a thing for Fred that she was oblivious to). Rather than getting help from his friends, Wesley made the poor decision to consult with Holtz, their enemy... who was the one that ended up kidnapping Connor to Quor'toth. In fact, when Lorne discovered Wesley's plan to steal the baby, Wesley merely knocked him unconscious rather than explain things.
* MoralityChain: Fred is this to him. [[spoiler:When she gets infected by Illyria's sarcophagus, Wesley nonchalantly kneecaps a lawyer not working on her case. After Fred dies, Wesley ignores Angel's speech about how all life is precious and guns down Knox, the man responsible, without so much as a hint of remorse.]]
** Ironically, Wes also resigns himself to helping Illyria be a good citizen, despite being a pretty lousy role model himself.
* MrExposition: As an ex-Watcher, it seems to come with the territory.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Two big examples:
** When Faith begins to go rogue after accidentally killing a man, Wesley calls in a special ops team and arrests her, unfortunately ruining Buffy's plan just as Angel was beginning to get through to her and kicking off a series of events which leads to Faith becoming [[CorruptPolitician Mayor Wilkins]]' [[TheDragon second-in-command]]. Buffy and the Scoobies already disliked him before, and he only further cements their hatred of him with this screw-up.
** Then, on ''Angel'', he's fooled by a fake prophecy that claims that Angel will murder his own son, and makes a deal with Angel's enemy Holtz to take him to safety, only for Holtz's enforcer Justine to [[SlashedThroat slit his throat]] and steal the baby herself, resulting in a sequence of events that led to Connor being trapped in the hell dimension Quor'toth, where he undergoes TrainingFromHell and emerges as an AxCrazy AntagonisticOffspring. Fake prophecy or not, Angel was [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge understandably displeased with Wesley]].
** Angelus summed it up best:
-->'''Angelus:''' Good old Wes. Always count on him to tackle a bad situation and make it worse.
* NothingUpMySleeve: Again -- '''[[BladeBelowTheShoulder Collapsible wrist-mounted swords]]'''.
** He's even got room for a {{grappling hook|pistol}} under there.
* NotSoDifferent: While initially he and Giles were polar opposites, they began to mirror each other through their willingness to commit "lesser evils" for the greater good. Both either attempted or succeeded in murdering people with the aims of saving the world. For instance, just as Giles killed Ben Wilkinson to prevent the eventual resurgence of Glory, Wesley tried to kill the newly arisen Illyria, without hesitation or attempting to find a way to separate her from her shell, Fred. Both were also willing to let innocents die (such as Dawn, Willow, and arguably Spike) for the same cause.
* {{Omniglot}}: His proficiency with languages is expanded upon even further once he makes the transition from ''Buffy'' to ''Angel''. It's extremely rare to come across a language (human or demon) that he doesn't know. Even when he encounters the most ancient and obscure texts, he's still capable of recognizing enough words to determine the context and decipher the meaning.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: [[spoiler:Brought back in ''After the Fall'' by the Senior Partners. This is doubly ironic, as Wesley is bound to a "standard perpetuity clause" in his contract, the same as Holland Manners and Lilah. Furthermore, he now serves as liaison to the Senior Partners, taking over from Hamilton (whom Angel killed in the series finale).]]
* PermaStubble: After he TookALevelInBadass.
-->'''Willow:''' Oh, and it's [[LampshadeHanging the Marlboro man]].
* PoorCommunicationKills: In ''Angel'' season 3, Wesley translates a prophecy that Angel will kill his son, Connor. Instead of telling the others, Wesley kidnaps Connor and loses him to Holtz, which results in Connor being raised in a Hell dimension and growing up to hate Angel fiercely. While the urge to protect baby Connor is understandable, Wesley is booted from Angel Investigations, with Fred flat-out telling him that if he had bothered to ''talk'' to the people he ostensibly loved and trusted ''before'' giving his trust to someone like Holtz, it never would have happened. On top of it all, it turns out the prophecy was a fake the whole time, meaning Wesley's actions were AllForNothing.
* PragmaticHero: He is willing to delve into some morally grey areas to get the job done.
* ProperlyParanoid: Wesley is never entirely at ease with a vampire boss, and is always preparing countermeasures against Angel's FaceHeelTurn. His background as a former Watcher ensures this kind of thinking.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In "[[Recap/AngelS02E16Epiphany Epiphany]]". When Angel returns to the team and starts acting like he knows what they've been going through without him, being skeptical of Cordelia being out working on a Friday night, Wesley promptly shuts him down calmly and quietly.
-->'''Angel''': Knowing her...\\
'''Wesley''': But you don't. You don't know her at all. For months now, you haven't cared to. Otherwise you might have realized that our Cordelia has become a very solitary girl. She's not the vain, carefree creature she once was. [[VerbalBackspace Well, certainly not carefree]]. It's the visions, you see. The visions that were meant to guide you. You could turn away from them. She doesn't have that luxury. She knows and experiences the pain in this city, and because of who she is, she feels compelled to do something about it. It's left her little time for anything else. You'd have known that, if you hadn't had your head firmly up your... [[LastSecondWordSwap place that isn't on top of your neck]].
* RefusedByTheCall: One of Wesley's greatest flaws is that he considers himself TheHero of the piece. From as early as his appearances on ''Buffy'' to as late as the final season of ''Angel'', Wes has trouble conceiving the basic notion that the story does not revolve around ''him''. He takes it upon himself to make hard choices, and to make what he thinks are the right plays regardless of what others tell him, because at a fundamental level, he's certain that that burden of responsibility for saving the world and protecting everyone falls only upon him. Basically every mistake he made through his entire character history has been rooted in this one flaw, from abducting Faith to stealing Angel's son.
* ReplacementFlatCharacter: Giles became steadily more relaxed, funny, confident, modern and so on, so in time, Wesley was brought in with the intention of being worse than Giles ever was. Interestingly, Wesley then underwent a similar transformation as he transitioned from ''Buffy'' to ''Angel'', becoming a fully rounded character in time.
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:He is the only official member of Team Angel to die in the finale.]]
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Buffy even lampshades it:
-->'''Buffy''': If we need someone to scream like a woman, we'll give you a call.
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: His trusty Mossberg 12-gauge. Manages to land only one hit with it, alas.
* ShippingTorpedo: Due to his own feelings for Fred, isn't particularly fond of her relationship with Gunn, and even less so of her semi-flirtation with Knox. [[spoiler: He gets the girl in the end.]]
* SlashedThroat: By Justine on Holtz's orders in ''Angel'' Season 3. He survives, but adopts a sotto voice for the rest of the series.
* TheSmartGuy: The smartest member of Angel Investigations until Fred joins in Season 3.
* SpotOfTea: "You know, there's something about brewed tea you simply cannot replicate with a bag."
* StalkerWithACrush: Even during his absence from Angel Investigations, he secretly attends one of Fred's lectures.
* StalkingIsLove: [[spoiler:Fred goes for him in the end. It doesn't last.]]
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Especially post-Season 3.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:In her final scene with Wesley, Illyria allows one selfless gesture by taking Fred's shape, then consoling Wesley that they will be together in the afterlife. Given the non-existence nature of Fred at that moment, which both of them knew about, it slips into LetThemDieHappy]]. ''After the Fall'' shows that this is not the case for a different reason: [[spoiler:Fred is in Heaven whereas Wesley is stuck working for the Senior Partners in Hell for all eternity.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: In his first appearances on ''Buffy'', he was an arrogant, cowardly dork who has constantly ignored and mocked by the Scooby Gang. Over the course of ''Angel'', he becomes a competent demon slayer who even manages to take over leadership of Angel Investigations for a time.
* TookALevelInCynic: A significant change in his persona came about shortly after he kidnapped Connor and had his throat slit by Justine Cooper (as well as his looks, as he started going unshaven and without his glasses). While he ultimately still fought the good fight, his emotional attachment to the friends he once fought with were completely severed, the only exception being Fred, to a certain degree. He developed a pessimistic views, a self-loathing view of himself and a more darker sense of humor. He also become much more serious and focused and lost a great deal of his former cowardice. He began to work on his own and form his own group, and showed little interest in rejoining Angel even after he forgave him for kidnapping Connor.
* TookALevelInKindness: He began as a "by-the-book" Watcher, characterized as an "annoying version of Giles," demonstrating an arrogance in his knowledge and an over-confidence in his lackluster combat skills, but he gradually matured to show a more caring, compassionate side through his friendship with Angel and his temporary position as team leader.
* TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: In Season 3 of ''Angel'', Wesley is manipulated into kidnapping Angel's son, Connor, believing Angel was going to kill Connor. This act of betrayal causes a big schism between the two and other members of the team. Not even having Wesley being in the hospital with his throat slit stopped Angel in attacking him. In "The Price," Cordelia and Gunn state outright they don't ''care'' what Wesley's feelings are or his side of the story in regards to kidnapping Connor; he betrayed their trust, and that's all there is to it.
* TheUnfettered: Wesley does what is right. It doesn't matter if he has to betray his friends, torture witnesses, sacrifice his chances with the woman he loves, [[spoiler: shoot what he thought was his father dead in cold blood]], [[spoiler: resurrect his friend's evil alter ego]] or [[spoiler: risk his life and sacrifice his chance at a career to protect a woman who was sadistically torturing him hours before]]. If Wesley thinks he knows what is needed for the greater good, there is no emotional attachment he won't sacrifice, no anguish he won't suffer, no underhanded method he will not use to achieve it.
-->'''Angel:''' You do what you have to do to protect the people around you. To do what you know is right, regardless of the cost. You know, I never really understood that. You're the guy who makes all the hard decisions, even if you have to make 'em alone.
* UnscrupulousHero: On his bad days, which he unfortunately tends to have a lot of.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E15Consequences Consequences]]", he overheard that Faith accidentally killed someone. The rest of the team is already on board with helping her deal with her issues and giving her the support and acceptance she needs in order to not fall to TheDarkSide. Wesley's response, on the other hand, is to call in some goons and try to ship her to England to be locked away forever. By the end of the episode, she doesn't trust any of them, resents all of them (because she thinks they aren't trustworthy), and has taken a job as the Mayor's [[TheDragon number two]].
* VocalEvolution: Discussing the way his English accent softens over the course of ''Angel'', Denisof says:
-->[The modified accent] just sits on him better. As an actor, it just felt that organically the way he was changing, and it also seemed to be accurate when you consider the amount of time he's spent in Los Angeles that the accent could have softened. And since he isn't surrounded by upper-crust academics as he was as a young Watcher in the Academy in England, it's understandable that he is changing the way he speaks and changing his voice, his delivery, as a result of his environment.
* WeakButSkilled: A normal human, but Wesley's sharp mind, skill with weapons, and cold-blooded pragmatism make him an absolute nightmare for more than a few demons.
-->'''Wesley, to Gunn''': Not all of us have muscle to fall back on.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: After his betrayal in Season 3, Wesley's friendship with the rest of the Angel Investigations team is more or less dead. It's most deeply felt with Angel, who attempts to smother Wesley with a pillow while he's in the hospital and (according to Fred) was more or less willing to kill him on sight if they ever ran into each other again. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], however, in that Wesley can't quite shake the loyalty he has for his old team (in the quoted dialogue below, Wesley has actually been searching for Angel ever since his disappearance), rescuing Angel from the bottom of the ocean at the start of season 4. Even then, tensions between him and Gunn were consistently high due to the LoveTriangle between them and Fred. It takes until the end of the season for the wounds to heal more fully.
-->'''Wesley''': I have no idea where Angel is, Lilah, or what happened to him. And I really couldn't care.
-->'''Lilah''': Wow. That was cold. I think we're finally making progress. Come on. Doesn't it bother you just a little bit? The not knowing?
-->'''Wesley''': That part of my life is dead. Doesn't concern me now.
* WelcomeBackTraitor: After betraying Angel in Season 3, he's begrudgingly welcomed back into the team during Season 4.
* WellDoneSonGuy: When he becomes the leader of Angel Investigations during ''Angel'' Season 2, he calls his father up in the hopes on getting his approval... only to discover that dear ol' Dad is more concerned with when, what, and how he'll screw up next.
* WellTrainedButInexperienced: When Giles is fired as Buffy's Watcher, he's less than impressed when his replacement, Wesley Wyndam-Price, boasts about his training.
-->'''Wesley:''' I have, in fact, faced two vampires myself. Under controlled circumstances, of course.\\
'''Giles:''' No danger of finding those here.\\
'''Wesley:''' Vampires?\\
'''Giles:''' Controlled circumstances.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'':
* ZenSurvivor: His new, grizzled look in Season 4 is a perfect fit for Los Angeles under permanent midnight. He gets even more philosophical when he's deep into the whiskey.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lorne]]
!!Krevlornswath "Lorne" of the Deathwok Clan, also known as The Host
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a8c1cce350d44e8324f2e50b40ac813f.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Always leave 'em wanting more, kiddo. That's the rule."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/AndyHallett

->''"So I am covered in cherries. The police are just pounding on the door, and Judi Dench starts screaming, "Oh, that's way too much to pay for a pair of pants!""''

Demonic nightclub owner with the face of Creator/QuentinTarantino, and the dress sense of [[CampGay Liberace]]. Born in another dimension, Lorne rejected its ProudWarriorRaceGuy culture, becoming a pariah. He was overjoyed, then, when he fell into a portal and found himself in Los Angeles. Setting up a karaoke bar on the spot, he brands it a sanctuary, where violence between demons is impossible. Lorne is an [[TheEmpath empath]], who can read people's destinies when they bare their souls -- that is, when they sing. He uses this to help people by setting them on their true path. Lorne tries to maintain a neutral stance, but finds himself being drawn into Angel Investigations and eventually becomes a full-fledged member of the team.
----
* ActualPacifist: To the extent that killing [[spoiler:Lindsey [=McDonald=]]] under Angel's orders, an act the complete opposite of his pacifistic nature, is one of the implied reasons he developed cancer in the comics.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Green skin with red horns. He ''is'' from another dimension.
* AmbiguouslyBi: He flirts shamelessly with guys and girls alike; is fond of the thought of Angel in leather pants; freely refers to Angel as "lover", "sweetie" and scores of other romantic endearments; is interested in fashion, culture, art, music, Music/EltonJohn; and also has a somewhat flamboyantly, stereotypically gay personality. That said, he never appears to have a genuine romantic or sexual attraction to anyone, and Andy Hallett considered the character [[{{Asexuality}} asexual]].
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: When he disappeared from Pylea, everyone feasted for weeks because they assumed he had committed ritual suicide.
-->'''Landok''': Your mother's burden is terrible.\\
'''Lorne''': Misses her little green boo, does she?\\
'''Landok''': She rips your images into tiny pieces, [[FedToPigs feeds them to the swine]], [[NoKillLikeOverkill butchers the pigs and has their remains scattered for the dogs]].\\
'''Lorne:''' ''(disheartened)'' Sounds like ma.
* TheBard: Sings all the time, has a bit of magic to help guide others and acts as moral support
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He may be a NiceGuy and prefer not to fight, but Lorne can be scary when he wants to be. In "A Hole in the World," with Fred infected by Illyria's essence and dying, Lorne personally punches Eve out, tells her to sing so she can determine whether or not she's guilty, warning her [[DissonantSerenity with a bright smile]] and a [[TranquilFury very calm voice]] that if she had ''any'' involvement whatsoever, he'll kill her before Angel and Spike get a chance to.
* BizarreAlienBiology: Mentions that his heart is located in his rear.
* BrownNote: His impressive vocal cords provide this NonActionGuy with an ability that is useful in fights: in the music-less Pylea, he can incapacitate his enemies by singing normally; on Earth, he resorts to loud ear-piercingly high-pitched vocalizations to the same effect. The latter is also great for breaking glass or making lightbulbs explode.
* TheConfidant: Especially in Season 2, when as Host of Caritas he used his empath powers to TheConfidant to the entire demon underworld of Los Angeles, both good and evil, as well as giving advice to Angel.
* TheDandy: To paraphrase Mayor Wilkins on ''Buffy'': That is one ''exciting'' suit!
* ADayInTheLimelight: "Life of the Party" focuses on the consequences of him having his sleep surgically removed so he can work all the time. He had mostly been OutOfFocus in Season 5, but this episode focuses a lot on his character and how difficult he finds working for Wolfram and Hart.
* DarkIsNotEvil: He's a green-skinned, red-eyed interdimensional demon from a ProudWarriorRace... and the WhiteSheep of his clan.
* DeadpanSnarker: Lorne always has a snarky comment.
-->''[to Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn]'': I was *very* impressed with your musical recitation of pain earlier. [[HollywoodToneDeaf And when I say pain, I mean mine.]]
-->''[to Angel]'': Between you and me, if it had taken you much longer to hit your bottom, [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan I was gonna kick it.]]
-->I think [[HollywoodToneDeaf your friend]] should reconsider the name Harmony.
* DeFictionalization: Lorne headlines a Las Vegas show in one episode. This was done by having Hallett headline a show in Las Vegas in full costume and makeup, and filming it.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: His full name is "Krevlornswath" in his native dimension, and even he isn't too fond of the shortened nickname. (He has green skin, which apparently made some people think of Lorne Greene from ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'', though out of the members of Angel Investigations, [[PopculturalOsmosisFailure only Angel gets the reference]]).
* TheEmpath: His powers allow him to sense people's feelings, secrets, and glimpses of their futures when they sing. Exactly how much he can predict varies: his empathy seems to be stronger than his precognition. He can also occasionally sense things when people aren't singing, if their emotions are strong enough or he knows them very well.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: He was originally just called "The Host," stating that he preferred not to go by Lorne because his green skin would cause people to crack Lorne Greene jokes.
* EveryoneHasStandards: While Caritas was open to everyone, good, evil, or morally ambiguous, Lorne still had his limits. He mentions in one episode that he banned a group of demons because they were selling the [[DrugsAreBad mystical drug Orpheus]], the ''only'' time he ever felt obligated to ban ''anyone''.
* FakeGuestStar: He becomes the team's unofficial SixthRanger by the end of Season 2 and appears in almost every episode in Seasons 3 and 4 before finally being PromotedToOpeningTitles.
* FunPersonified: Starts out as this, having a lot of funny lines, a flamboyant personality, being a NiceGuy and happy most of the time in an otherwise dark and serious setting. He ran a karaoke bar and wasn't a fighter, instead spending most of his time making pop culture references, singing, and generally being fun. However, by Season 5, [[spoiler: Fred's death]] completely [[BreakTheCutie breaks him]] and he becomes a SadClown and, if not quite TheAlcoholic, at least DrowningHisSorrows far too much.
* GratuitousForeignLanguage: He tends to throw random foreign words into his sentences, including French, Spanish, Italian, and on one occasion German.
* HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight: Inverted. As head of the W&H Entertainment Division, Lorne is bogged down with so much work that he has to ''surgically remove his sleep'' -- and even then he still can't catch up. It becomes clear that it's Lorne's way of assuming his old Caritas role and bringing people together, even at great self-sacrifice.
* HaveIMentionedIAmADwarfToday: Averted; Lorne doesn't mind it at all if people mistake his green skin for makeup. Especially if it gets him into Caesar's Palace. The first time this happens, he accidentally runs into a librarian who stammers, "You're--...you're--!!" before sighing, "...[[WeirdnessCensor from the children's reading program!]]" At this, Lorne considers dropping by and reading some ''Literature/HarryPotter''.
* HealingFactor: When his horns were damaged or removed, they regenerated back within a matter of days. Additionally, he seemed to heal faster than humans, and could also reattach detached body parts without any surgical assistance.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Sacrifices his corporeal body by leaping into the Music of the Spheres, thereby restoring balance to the universe]]. At least he went out singing.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Our Lady of the Perpetual Sea Breeze.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Is introduced in season 2 and isn't promoted to the main cast until halfway through season 4, even though he appears in nearly every episode since his debut.
* ImmigrantPatriotism: As soon as he heard Music/ArethaFranklin's voice, he knew he was home.
* IncrediblyLongNote: Once claimed he can hold a note literally ''forever''.
* InnocenceLost: He, a NiceGuy and ActualPacifist, is ordered by Angel to [[spoiler:[[DirtyBusiness assassinate Lindsey]]]] in the series finale. Lorne goes through with it, but bows out of Angel Investigations after doing so; his last scene in the episode, and thus the show, is of him dropping the gun he used to [[spoiler:kill Lindsey]] and walking into the night, disgusted and broken.
-->'''Lorne''': Goodnight, folks.
* LosingYourHead: He can survive decapitation and being cut apart, but only if his body parts aren't then mutilated. Lorne keeps this small detail about himself secret, apparently so as to gauge his friends' [[AttendingYourOwnFuneral grief-stricken reactions]] to his 'death'. (He isn't impressed with any of them.)
* LoungeLizard: Subverted. The karaoke bar he performs in, his colourful clothes, and his choice of music make him seem like this trope, but he's not a DreadfulMusician at all, getting a lot of fans in Las Vegas and releasing at least one album. He's also a NiceGuy, not remotely sleazy, and more intelligent than first impressions might suggest.
* LoveYouAndEverybody: His actor stated that Lorne loves "all humans," thus explaining his [[AmbiguouslyBi ambiguous sexuality]].
* MeaningfulName: On Lorne's homeworld, [[SpaceWestern they drink "Flib liquor," humans are "cows", and they clean out "flehegna" stables]]. Maybe his nickname was apt.
%%* MentorArchetype :
%%* MrExposition
* MusicalAssassin: He can make [[StuffBlowingUp stuff explode]] by hitting just the [[BrownNote right note]].
-->"[[BondOneLiner Slays 'em every time.]]"
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: As a whole, his species are warriors. Lorne is an ActualPacifist who hates violence.
* NeverGetsDrunk: Like the rest of his species, he was immune to the intoxicating effects of normal alcohol, but could be affected by certain magical brews. Nonetheless, he regularly consumed alcohol to the point of being an alcoholic, favoring Sea Breeze cocktails.
* NiceGuy: Lorne is, almost without fail, friendly, helpful, and fun to be around.
* TheNicknamer: Habitually. Angel arguably gets the most.
--> '''Angel''': Stop naming me pastries.
* NobleDemon: There's plenty of benign demons in the Buffyverse, but Lorne goes above and beyond the call of duty. His club, Caritas (Latin for "sanctuary") was specifically designed to bring human and demonkind together peacefully.
* NonActionGuy: In direct contrast to his Deathwok brethren, he was a peaceful being and preferred to simply relax and enjoy life rather than fight.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Lorne's the smiling, happy, carefree member of the team. When he begins to crack in Season 5, it's a sign that everything's about to fall apart. He never really recovers.
* OptOut: In the series finale; after being told his part in Angel's take-down-the-Black-Thorns plan, he tells Angel that he would do it for the sake of their friendship, but after that, he was done and they would most likely never see him again.
-->''''Lorne''': I'll do this last thing for you, for us... but then I'm out, and you won't find me in [[LastStand the alley]] afterwards. Hell, you won't find me at all. Do me a favor. Don't try.
* OutOfFocus: In Season 5, Andy Hallett probably spent more time in the makeup chair than he did in front of the camera. On the upside, Lorne did get his own episode (see above) and is featured prominently in the final stretch.
* ThePaladin: Of all the characters in either Buffy or Angel, it is Lorne who is the most morally pure, and the most morally inspirational.
* PaperThinDisguise: An [[CoatHatMask overcoat and a trilby]], which looks dashing in a Humphrey Bogart-sort of way, but about as inconspicuous as a Ninja Turtle. A baseball cap and sunglasses are enough to disguise him in broad daylight.
* PersonAsVerb: Originally known simply as "The Host."
* PluckyComicRelief: As befitting him being a NonActionGuy, Lorne is quick to provide humor in even the most dire situations. At least until [[spoiler:Fred dies.]]
* ThePowerOfRock: Karaoke is the only way to put things right!
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: At long last partway into Season 4.
* PsychicPowers: He can read people's futures. Allegedly only when they sing, but there have been plenty of occasions when he's read people who aren't singing. Each time he brushes it off as them broadcasting unusually strongly because of their emotional state. It happens frequently. He can also mystically sense when Cordelia is about to receive a vision and has the ability to surf her connection to the Powers That Be and tap into her visions as a result. He needs to be touching Cordelia to do this latter but he's even able to tell when Cordelia's being sent fake visions from an earth-based psychic and indicates that it requires genuine skill to be able to work that out as the fakes were very convincing.
* RedBaron: Ends up becoming one the more benign demon "lords" of L.A. after it is [[spoiler:banished to Hell]]. Lorne is elected the Lord of Silver Lake, and does his very best to make his territory "a Heaven in Hell". (''After the Fall'')
* RedEyesTakeWarning: He's got red eyes because he's a demon, but he's a gentle soul who's pretty sweet and fun company.
* SadClown: His perpetual comic persona starts turning into this in Season Five, mostly after [[spoiler: Fred dies]]. He even gets a whole scene talking about this in "Underneath."
%%* SensorCharacter
* ShipperOnDeck: Leads the movement to pair off Angel and Cordelia. You can't fight love, Cinnamon Buns!
* SomeCallMeTim: Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan. Lorne for short.
* SpikyHair: the degree of spikiness varies, but at times it's even spikier than Angel's. Especially noticeable [[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KwBhtMIO8e0/XGVsCwP3-1I/AAAAAAAAWHI/S2zzTLDbU24gcesjIla5z5SEgk9-HwVvwCLcBGAs/s320/life.png here.]] Even more noticeable since it's [[MulticolouredHair partly reddish-brown and partly black, with the exact quantity of each also quite variable]]: it looks dyed, but it's natural if the rest of his species are anything to go by. It doesn't get commented on as much as Angel's hair, though. Probably because it's the ''most'' [[AmazingTechnicolourPopulation normal aspect]][[HornedHumanoid of his appearance.]]
* SuperHearing: He had excellent hearing, and could hear outside the normal human range, going as far as to tune into transmission frequencies.
* TookALevelInBadass: He learns to fight when he must, but is still an ActionSurvivor at best. [[spoiler:In his last scene, he pulls a BodyguardBetrayal and kills Lindsey with two shots to the chest, but is so disgusted by the act that he walks out on the team without so much as a goodbye.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteDrink: Seabreeze, a mixture of cranberry and grapefruit juices with vodka. He insisted that the ones sold in Caritas always be made with freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice rather than canned.
* TheUnfavorite: His cousins use their empathic powers to hunt. Lorne used his to read peoples' destinies, and was considered a freak. He preferred music over hunting, even though music doesn't really exist in his dimension.
* VerbalTic: Whenever Lorne finishes a sentence he refers to the person he's talking to as some kind of endearment, often a foodstuff: Pumpkin, [[{{Pun}} Angel-cakes]], Kiwi, Sweet potato, Muffin.
** "And stop calling me pastries!
** This extends to curses, as well. "Aw, [[GoshDarnItToHeck fudgesicle!]]"
** Back on Pylea they used to call him "[[ExpospeakGag fragrant tuber]]".
** Backfires when Lorne telephones a coded message for help ("[[OutOfCharacterAlert Say 'hi' to Fluffy for me!"]]), which Fred interprets as just another nickname for someone in Angel's group.
--->''(to Gunn)'' Who's Fluffy? [[IronicNickname Are you Fluffy?]]
** Or Harmonica/Harmonita, in Harmony's case.
* WhiteSheep: To the rest of his clan, on Pylea, for not wanting to be a warrior.
* WideEyedIdealist: While running Caritas, he firmly believed that anyone, human or demon, could turn their lives around if given sufficient guidance, and thus allowed everyone, even [[EatsBabies baby-eating demons]], entry.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Parodied when Angel drags him kicking and screaming to Pylea. Learns nothing, accomplishes nothing, goes back home. The end.
-->"I had to come back here to find out I '''didn't''' have to come back here. I don't ''belong'' here, I ''hate'' it here! [[StaticCharacter You know where I belong? L.A.]] You know why? ''Nobody'' belongs there. It's the perfect place for guys like us."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kate]]
!!!See Characters/AngelLosAngelesResidents
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Spike]]
!!!See Characters/BuffyTheVampireSlayerScoobyGang
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Groosalugg]]
!!The Groosalugg
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/40727ab67c04186960d50f87ad69bac9.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Hail to you potential client!"'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/MarkLutz

->''"Angel, you and I have fought side by side on more than one occasion. Fellow warriors, shoulder to shoulder. By now, my counsel must assuredly hold weight, so I beseech you to heed my words: [[NotSoDire Pomegranate Mist is the wrong color for this room]]''."

A battle-hardened champion of Pylea and other-world equivalent of Angel. Though technically of Lorne's species, his mixed bloodline has manifested in "Cow" (read: humanoid) traits, making him an outcast among his kind. Once Cordelia ascends the throne, the Groosalugg (or "Groo" for short) is assigned as her mate. However, Cordelia does not want to consummate their relationship because she fears losing her visions, which Groo would immediately inherit. At Cordy's urging, rulership of Pylea passes to Groo, who installs a set of sweeping reforms. He is soon dethroned, however, and ends up in Los Angeles -- unknowingly edging out Angel as the city's hero.
----
* TheAce: Aside from being a bit dim, he really is [[TheCape Just That Good]]. That's how he got the title of Groosalugg ("brave and undefeated.")
* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: After Cordelia is told that her mate has arrived, a hunchback horrible creature enters the throne room, a few moments later the handsome actual Groosalugg enteres the room telling the creature he can put his luggage anywhere
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Can do everything Angel can, and in the ''daylight''.
* AllGenesAreCodominant: He's basically a pink-skinned variant of Lorne's species, with navy blue eyes.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: His "cow blood" ensured a lifetime of loathing.
* AwesomeMcCoolName: Groosalugg means "brave and undefeated." That's right, his name advertises the fact that ''he never loses''.
%%* BarbarianHero
* BashBrothers: With Angel, and once with Gunn.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Probably the nicest guy after Doyle, yet just as badass as Angel.
* BungledSuicide: Shunned by his people, Groo left to fight monsters until one would inevitably kill him. He laments that he couldn't even do ''that'' right, as he won every time.
* TheBusCameBack: He returns in ''After the Fall'', long hair and all.
* TheCape: Angel grumps about how he's better at being one than Angel himself.
%%* TheCutie:
* CostumeCopycat: Cordelia giving him an L.A.-style makeover, right down to the...spiky hair... -- Hey, wait a minute...!
-->'''Angel:''' He's wearing ''my'' clothes!
%%* DeathIsCheap
* DeathSeeker: Played for laughs, after a lifetime of being ostracized by his people he fought the greatest warriors and fiercest beasts in hopes of them ending his miserable existence, but was so skillful that he defeated them all.
* DeathbringerTheAdorable: Cordelia is initially horrified that she's expected to mate with a "Groosalugg."
* DumbIsGood: He eventually wises up to this and lets the rest of the team do the planning.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Upon following Cordy to Los Angeles.
* HopelessSuitor: As madly as Groo is in love with Cordelia, her heart ultimately belongs to Angel, which Groo takes quite well.
%%* {{Hunk}}
* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: Summoned from "the Scum Pits of Ur."
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: After realizing that Cordelia truly loved Angel and not him, he chivalrously stepped aside to let Cordelia pursue him.
%%* KnightInShiningArmor: Except for the armor part.
* LeeroyJenkins: At first. He realizes it and gets better.
* LightningBruiser: He's much stronger and faster than a vampire of Angel's age.
* MadeOfIron:
-->'''Angel:''' (Watching the Groosalugg stick his hand in open flame to prepare for battle) This guy - [[FeelNoPain he doesn't feel pain]]?
-->'''Fred:''' Oh, he feels it, but - he's the Groosalugg. He overcomes all things. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Good luck!]]
%%* MasterSwordsman
* NiceGuy: ''Impossibly'' nice and polite to everyone, almost to a fault.
* OccultBlueEyes: His only obvious non-human trait, a pair of unnaturally dark blue eyes that seem to lack pupils.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Groosalugg is a title that means "brave and undefeated" [[NoNameGiven his actual name is never revealed.]]
* ReluctantRuler: About the only thing Groo fails at is running a country; he became bored with the committees, and was deposed pretty quick.
* ShoutOut: A mighty, good-hearted and rather dumb warrior nicknamed [[ComicBook/GrooTheWanderer Groo]]?
* SpellMyNameWithAThe: He's known as "The Groosalugg", although he's eventually given the nickname of "Groo".
* SpockSpeak: "Hail, potential client!"
** This is subverted in one (cut) scene, where he's trying to record a message for the team's answering machine.
-->'''Groosalugg:''' Hello. We welcome your telephonic -- (''hangs up, picks up'') Hello. Many thanks for telephoning -- (''hangs up, looks around, picks up'') Hi. This is Groo. I can't make it to the phone right now, but if you'll leave a message, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. (''shakes his head, hangs up again'') Their speaking path is so odd.
* TheWorfEffect: Built up as an absolute badass, rivaling even Angel. Sure enough, he actually ''does'' back up most of it, but Connor ends up tossing him around like a rag doll.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Connor]]
!!Connor
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/42c48df33cb8a59ad9ccc19f22bb1f31.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"You gotta do what you can to protect your family. I learned that from my father."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/VincentKartheiser

Against all laws of the universe, [[spoiler:Angel and his sire Darla conceive a son]] and the result is Connor, who is super-strong, agile, has enhanced senses and healing and is, by all appearances, human. Taken away to another dimension, the Quor-Toth, as a baby, Connor returns a few months later. Due to [[YearInsideHourOutside time flowing differently there]], he is now seventeen years old, and an incredible fighter. Harboring a deep hatred for Angel's true nature, Connor is at odds with Angel Investigation just as often as he is fighting alongside them.
----
* AbusiveParents: It wouldn't be a stretch to say Holtz wasn't sweet and gentle while fashioning Connor into a weapon. And when it looked like Connor might have a happy life with Angel, Holtz [[spoiler: killed himself]] to set Connor against his real father, thus abandoning him in a world he knew nothing about with nothing left to live for except revenge.
* AdultFear: If there's anything you don't want to happen to your child, it's happened to Connor:[[spoiler: Before he was even born he was wanted by an assortment of evil people, kidnappers, and a very angry demon. When he was only a few months old he was kidnapped and taken into the worst of all hell dimensions; he returned a few weeks later (in Angel's time) all grown up and wanting to kill his father; eventually went fairly insane and murderous, forcing Angel to cut his throat. Was saved by a [[Series/DoctorWho timey]]-[[BuffySpeak wimey]] [[DealWithTheDevil Deal With The]] [[BigBad Evil Law Firm]] and given a normal life in which he had no memory of Angel, and just when Angel was coming to terms with that returned to Angel's life, having no idea who Angel is and then being forced to fight an extremely powerful demon while having no idea ''how'' to fight.]] That's just the big things.
* AntagonisticOffspring: Towards Angel and especially Angelus. Being raised by Holtz will do that to a guy. Even after his HeelFaceTurn in season 4, he had some traits of this; when they had to bring Angelus back to take down the Beast, Connor openly supported dusting Angelus over re-ensouling him, even going so far as to try and stake him while Willow was in the middle of [[GypsyCurse cursing]] Angelus again.
* AntiAntichrist: It was touch and go there for a while. [[spoiler:But he ultimately rebels against Jasmine. The only problem is that doing so leaves the poor kid mired in nihilistic, homicidal despair]].
* AvengingTheVillain: When [[spoiler:Holtz]] kills himself in such a way as to implicate Angel.
* AxCrazy: Was there ever any doubt it would come to this?
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: For a bit.
* BackForTheFinale: "You stop by for a cup of coffee and the world's ''not'' ending? Please."
* BackstoryInvader: Connor inverts the trope by being given fake memories of a normal life, so that no one except Angel and Cordelia remembered his true identity.
* BadassAdorable: As Connor Reilly. A polite, good-natured and boyishly handsome young man, but shy, innocent and somewhat awkward. And also he could pull your spine out through your mouth.
* BerserkButton:
** For reasons that are easily grasped (being tossed into a giant hell portal as an infant), he really doesn't like magic.
** Bad parenting. He talks a suicidal cop [[InterruptedSuicide off a ledge]], only to discover a [[FatalFamilyPhoto family photo]] in his wallet. He then proceeds to turn the cop's face into hamburger.
* TheBerserker: He tries to commit SuicideByCop after Jasmine's defeat, and doesn't care if the Cop has to be Angel.
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: The sad fact is that Connor never really adjusts to our world. Angel is a killer; therefore, he should die. The world is harsh and cruel; Jasmine made it a paradise, so she must be good.
** He considers himself ''above'' Angel Investigations in this respect, accusing them of fighting empty battles and helping to maintain the status quo.
* BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood: The Senior Partners offer to do this when he becomes too crazed to control. It comes [[DealWithTheDevil at a price]]: Angel has to go join Wolfram & Hart.
* BrattyHalfPint: He's like Dawn only even more {{Wangst}}y and with super-powers.
* CreepySouvenir: His starter outfit is a patchwork of animal hides, or as he elegantly put it, "Things I've killed." And then there was that time he ripped a drug dealer's ear off.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He may have picked up the condition from Holtz.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Having spent most of his life in a DeathWorld and put through TrainingFromHell by Holtz, Connor is so used to horrible things that the sight of Jasmine's [[NightmareFace true]] [[FacialHorror face]] doesn't even faze him.
* CuteBruiser: All the strength of a vampire, packed into a skinny-ass teen.
* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Holtz is perfectly plain about Connor's origins -- almost sinisterly so. Although Connor has been drilled to think of his parents as monsters, he is, at heart, angry at them for abandoning him. Angel is obviously torn up about it, and makes a final attempt to reason with him, but Connor is too far gone to hear it.
* DeadpanSnarker: Not as much as his parents, but he does have a few great one-liners.
* DeusAngstMachina
* {{Dhampyr}}: Though he was born to two vampires. He's only ''mostly'' human, whatever he is. A good description would be, he has all the strengths of a vampire and all the weaknesses of a human.
** They get to play around with the implications of a vampire with a human son. Connor isn't averse to many uniquely vampiric weaknesses, and so can go places and do things that Angel can't, but he can die from things that won't kill a vampire, like suffocation or loss of blood. In one of his first episodes back from Quor-toth, Angel loses Connor when he can't follow him into the sunlight, and later has to shield him from a hail of gunfire.
* TheDragon: To the Beastmaster (AKA [[spoiler:Cordelia]]) and later Jasmine.
** DragonAscendant: Bitterly played with. After all, he's [[spoiler:the one who iced Jasmine]], and there's no longer any pod people to rule. He acts as an extension of [[spoiler:Jasmine]]'s MotiveRant, claiming that the human race was undeserving of her love.
* DoesNotLikeMagic: He considers it a crutch, and one that he hardly ever sees work as advertised.
-->'''Connor''': I've pretty much concluded that magic sucks.
* DoubleConsciousness: After Wesley inadvertently restores his old memories.
* TheDreaded: The demons of Quor-Toth were ''terrified'' of him. They called him things like "the Destroyer" and "the bringer of torment".
* EasilyForgiven: Let's count the number of times this happened shall we?
* EmoTeen: Gets accused of this often. To be fair, the only happy moments in his life were the two weeks after his birth and the reunion with his father that Holtz destroyed.
* EscapedFromHell: He terrifies the beasts of Quor-toth so much, they flee to Earth just to be rid of him. After that, it's as easy as following the bread crumbs...
* FakeMemories: [[spoiler:Angel has Wolfram & Hart change his memories and give him a new life to make him better adjusted]]. Even once his original memories are restored, he's a lot more grounded.
* FantasticRacism: Being raised by Holtz has caused him to be prejudiced against demons. At one point, he openly referred to Lorne as a "filthy demon". Kartheiser even likened him to a kid who was raised by a racist. This includes half-demons as well, which also gives him a dash of BoomerangBigot: he attacked Cordelia with a knife when he discovered she was half demon. Later, he discovered he was also part demon because the sanctuary spell worked against him (and logically he would be, since he's the child of two vampires and vampires are half demon).
* FinalBoss: Of [[spoiler: Season 4.]]
* FlashStep: Appears to have inherited this from his father when he is seen suddenly moving in and out of frame.
* GiveHimANormalLife: Connor at the end of season four. (Jesus, they ran the gamut with baby tropes and this kid, didn't they?)
* GoodIsDumb: As a conflicted character, he was constantly switching sides; when fighting at his father's side, he was a bit slower than Angel and not as agile, but when he fought against the good guys, he was like ComicBook/SpiderMan with a cause, decking multiple foes with each blow and always one step ahead.
* HealingFactor: Due to his vampiric heritage, he possess a vampire's regenerative healing factor. After his first encounter with the Beast, the Jasmine-possessed Cordelia discovered a large bruise on his upper torso and assumed it to be broken ribs, to which Connor remarked that he had never broken a bone before and didn't even know he could, and he healed from such injuries at a rapid pace.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: And around and around and around he goes.
* HeroicBastard: Angel and Darla certainly weren't married when Connor was conceived. Connor himself bounces back and forth between ally and antagonist like a Ping-Pong ball, but at the end of the day, he's on the side of the [[{{Pun}} angels]].
* IHaveManyNames: Connor Angel (name given him by Team Angel at the hospital), Steven Franklin Thomas Holtz (by Holtz), Connor Reilly (with his new family).
* IJustWantToBeLoved: Angel? Gave him up and let him be sucked into a Hell portal. Darla? Staked herself because she couldn't give birth. Holtz? Raving maniac who used him as a tool to punish Angel. [[spoiler:Cordelia]]? Completely and utterly mind-screws him into committing betrayals, patricide, and murder. Jasmine? [[spoiler:Was the one possessing Cordelia to do that.]] ...You get the picture.
* ItRunsInTheFamily: "A weakness for Slayers. You're ''definitely'' his son."
* JumpedAtTheCall: Wheter his usual or alternate self, he seems pretty enthusiastic about being a superhuman.
* TheLancer
* LaserGuidedTykebomb: Jasmine, who requires a paradox of sorts to birth herself into our world, is responsible for Darla's pregnancy and Connor's later romantic interlude with [[spoiler:Cordelia]].
* LeeroyJenkins: Good luck trying to control him.
* LightningBruiser: In his first appearance alone, he was practically running circles around Angel, Gunn and the Groosalugg.
* LikesOlderWomen: Self-confessed. Targets of his LongingLook include Cordelia, Faith, and ''[[UpToEleven Illyria]]''.
--> '''Connor''': Sorry, I guess I've just always had this thing for older women.\\
'''Angel''': ''[under his breath]'' They were supposed to fix that.
* LossOfIdentity: Not only does [[spoiler:Angel wipe Connor's memory, but he changes reality so that he's happy and well-adjusted]].
* MadeOfIron: He is able to shrug off getting hit by a van and slammed into a building with little to no problem.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: Looking at the picture, you'd be forgiven for not thinking he could kick your ass. You're wrong; he could kick your ass and then hand it to you on a silver platter with a singing telegram.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: In Quor-Toth, he was called "the Destroyer."
* NobleBigot: Connor was brought up to hate demons and magic by the ObliviouslyEvil Holtz, but has no intention of hurting humans (at first). Wesley even uses this as an excuse in "Deep Down" for not having clued Fred and Gunn, who worked with him over the summer, in on the fact he was responsible for Angel's disappearance, since they would be safe around him that way.
* NoManOfWomanBorn: The prophecy said, "There will be no birth." What it meant was that Darla can't deliver a baby, so the only alternative is to stake herself and turn to ash. Hence, no birth.
* TheNoseKnows: He either has a better version than the average vampire or was given a lot more incentive to practice.
* NotBrainwashed: Due to their blood relation, Jasmine's powers never worked on him. He was just so jaded and messed up by that point that her "peace at the cost of free will" plan seemed like a good deal, even if he never felt the same bliss everyone else did.
--> "I knew she was a lie. Jasmine. My whole life's been built on them. I just - I guess I thought this one was better than the others."
* OnlyICanKillHim: Which is why [[spoiler:Sahjhan]] is so anxious to be rid of him.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: The reason he defended Angel from Linwood's commandos in "Tomorrow".
* PlotRelevantAgeUp: He goes into the hell dimension as a baby and comes back as a sixteen-year-old.
* PsychoSupporter: To the Jasmaniacs.
* SanitySlippage: With every emotional disaster dumped on him, his stability goes down a tick.
* SanityStrengthening: He starts out a warped LaserGuidedTykebomb raised in a hell dimension by a vengeful KnightTemplar and [[SanitySlippage gets worse]]. Angel then uses a DealWithTheDevil to rewrite reality to give Connor a happy life and fake memories. Even after Connor regains his true memories, the knowledge of what Angel did for him keeps him stable.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: You can thank Holtz for tying Connor to a tree in the middle of nowhere, then leaving him to [[TrainingFromHell escape his ropes and find his way home]] all on his own. "One time, it only took me five days."
* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: After already getting a PlotRelevantAgeUp, Connor was later also a victim of SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome when they changed his age from sixteen to eighteen to make his relationship with [[spoiler:22-year-old Cordelia]] less squicky. It didn't help much, considering [[spoiler:she views herself as his ''[[ParentalIncest mother]]'']].
** This is especially amusing considering that, due to the [[YearInsideHourOutside circumstances]] of Connor's rapid aging, nobody, including Connor himself, can really be sure of exactly how old he is. That doesn't stop several characters from explicitly stating that he's "eighteen", for the first time, in that very same episode, all apparently just to keep the {{media watchdog}}s at bay.
** Given that he's stated to be sixteen the previous season they could simply have made Connor seventeen, the same age Buffy was when she lost her virginity with 243-year old Angel, [[DoubleStandard but, well...]]
* SonOfAWhore: His mother was one before being sired.
* StrawNihilist: He's not overly fond of human reality. Considering he grew up in a hell dimension, that's really something.
* SuperSenses: Due to his vampiric heritage, he possessed acute senses superior to humans. He noted that he can track people by scent, and was able to hear Cordelia whispering from a distance of several meters. sitting by a window still several meters away a few seconds ago.
* SuperStrength: He possessed strength far superior to that of an average human. He had been bested in battle by both Faith and Angel, but he was still stronger than most vampires and many kinds of demons, even those from Quor'toth. An example of his strength was when he was able to land a hit on Marcus Hamilton that momentarily stunned him, albeit after he caught him off-guard when Hamilton was shown to be very hard to injure in any way. However, Connor was no match for him when he was expecting his attacks even with his strength. Furthermore, he shattered Jasmine's head with a single punch whereas Angel was unable to cause her any long-term damage, though it is likely that his connection to Jasmine enabled him to do so. Connor killed a powerful demon by effortlessly ripping its heart out of its stomach. Shortly after he returned from Quor'toth, he managed to easily lift a snack machine and smash it to the ground with great force, breaking it.
* SuperToughness: Though stab and gunshot wounds could prove life-threatening, he was still notably resistant to blunt force trauma. Later, when the Beast threw him out of a sixth-story window while the sun was being blocked out by the Ra-Tet eclipse spell, Connor asked Cordelia if things were supposed to go dark when someone loses consciousness, implying that he had never done so before. (At least not gradually, anyway).
* SuperSpeed: Like all vampires, he possessed superhuman speed and reflexes. He saved Fred from a thrown axe by showing up out of nowhere and catching it, He also surprised Cordelia by handing her a towel despitees consciousness, implying that he had never done so before. (At least not gradually, anyway).
* TangledFamilyTree: Like a ball of rubber bands. Angel conceived him with Darla, who was able to carry him to term with Jasmine's influence. Connor was kidnapped and "adopted" by Holtz. Connor then impregnated [[spoiler:Cordelia]] so she could give birth to Jasmine. And if you include members of his parents' vampire bloodline, then it's even more convoluted (not least because Darla was both Drusilla's "grandmother" and her "daughter").
* TookALevelInIdealism[=/=]TookALevelInKindness: [[spoiler:Having his memories rewritten of living a far more normal, healtheir life]] ends up being one of the best things to ever happen to him. By the time he returns in the fifth season he's shown to be much happier and nicer, and even after [[spoiler:he recovers his original memories]] he realizes just how much Angel sacrificed for him now and subseqently continues to have a far better relationship with him than he did before.
* TrainingFromHell: A rather literal case. Angel is horrified to hear him casually explain what Holtz put him through, which included tying him, then only five or six, to a tree and then leaving him to free himself and search for him in the wilderness of a demon dimension with a ''very'' bad reputation.
* {{Tykebomb}}: Angel spends the end of season three and all of season four trying in vain to [[DefusingTheTykeBomb defuse]] him.
* UnexplainedAccent: Having been raised in Quor'toth by Holtz since he was a baby, you would expect him to have an English accent. Yet he sounds American.
* UngratefulBastard: No matter how many times Angel saves him or shows him kindness, he'll throw it back in his face and lash out at the people who cared for him. It took erasing his mind to make him grow out of this.
* UnskilledButStrong: In contrast to Buffy and Angel's more technical approach to fighting, Connor is shown relying more on brute force, hitting hard and fast and beating his opponents into submission. On one occasion, he lost to Angel when the latter had [[LaserGuidedAmnesia amnesia]] and was mentally a teenager fighting purely on instinct.
* UnwittingPawn: For both Holtz (who ends up taking his own life to turn Connor against Angel) and Jasmine (who exploits Connor to bring herself into the world).
* WalkingSpoiler: Even a vague description of Connor stands the risk of spoiling a great deal of Seasons 3 and 4.
* WellDoneSonGuy: With Holtz, not Angel.
* WelcomeBackTraitor
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nina]]
!!!See Characters/AngelLosAngelesResidents
[[/folder]]
----

* AuthorityInNameOnly: When he first appears in ''Buffy'' season 3, he's meant to replace Giles as Buffy and Faith's Watcher. Of course, Wesley also proves to be a bumbling, cowardly idiot who's no use in a ''real'' fight; thus, Buffy and Faith routinely overruled him, when a Watcher's advice was needed, they asked Giles instead. He [[TookALevelInBadass Takes a Level in Badass]] in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'', even taking over leadership of Angel Investigations for a brief time; of course, even during that time of leadership, Angel himself was often in charge and led several of their missions over him.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: When his actions result in baby Connor getting trapped in Quor'toth during ''Angel'' season 3. After the damage is done, Fred flat-out tells him that if he had bothered to ''talk'' to the people he ostensibly loved and trusted ''before'' giving his trust to someone like Holtz, it never would have happened.

* JerkassToOne: While she was an AlphaBitch in general during Season 1 of ''Buffy'', she was ''especially'' a bitch to the titular character, doing everything she could to make her a social outcast at Sunnydale High. To be fair, Buffy ''did'' mistake her for a vampire and nearly stake her.

%%* PowerTrio: In Season 1.

* EveryoneHasStandards: While Caritas was open to everyone, good, evil, or morally ambiguous, Lorne still had his limits. He mentions in one episode that he banned a group of demons because they were selling the [[DrugsAreBad the mystical drug Orpheus]], the ''only'' time he ever felt obligated to ban ''anyone''.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Back in ''Buffy'', he overheard that Faith accidentally killed someone. The rest of the team is already on board with helping her deal with her issues and giving her the support and acceptance she needs in order to not fall to TheDarkSide. Wesley's response, on the other hand, is to call in some goons and try to ship her to England to be locked away forever. By the end of the episode, she doesn't trust any of them, resents all of them (because she thinks they aren't trustworthy), and has taken a job as the Mayor's [[TheDragon number two]].

%%* ResignedToTheCall

* ReplacementFlatCharacter: To Giles, who groans that Wes has "the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone." Subverted as Wesley later becomes a ''much'' different character on ''Angel''.

* SuperSenses: He had excellent hearing, and could hear outside the normal human range, going as far as to tune into transmission frequencies.

* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: He initially replaced Doyle. Whereas Doyle was a cynical and sardonic Irish half-demon, Wesley was a bumbling and optimistic English human ex-watcher. At first, anyway.

** After moving to Los Angeles, she put less significance on clothing, preferring simpler outfits with jeans along with frosted eyeshadow, probably due to her money situations. A few years later, Cordelia began wearing more mature clothing including grey suits. During her possession, she had a higher preference for comfy sweaters and long dark colored coats.[citation needed]
* ClosetGeek: While working for Angel, she often made [[ShoutOut references]] to ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Franchise/StarTrek''. This could qualify as HiddenDepths, considering her treatment of outspoken nerds in high school.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: {{Averted}} - he makes it to the end of the series/

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Back in ''Buffy'', he overheard that Faith accidentally killed someone. The rest of the team is already on board with helping her deal with her issues and giving her the support and acceptance she needs in order to not fall to TheDarkSide. Wesley's response, on the other hand, is to call in some goons and try to ship her to England to be locked away forever. By the end of the episode, she doesn't trust any of them, resents all of them (because she thinks they aren't trustworthy), and has taken a job as the BigBad's [[TheDragon number two]].

* IJustWantToBeNormal

* TookALevelInBadass: Being involved in the supernatural for years will do this to you: when she started out on Buffy, she was an athletic but untrained human, and remained relatively on the sidelines for those first three seasons and in her first on Angel. By the time the second season of Angel rolled around, she was competent enough in a battle for Angel, Wes, and Gunn to have no problem with her coming along for fights. By the [[spoiler:end of her life]], she was able to fight alongside Angel and Spike with no issues.

* BrownNote: His impressive vocal cords provide this NonActionGuy with an ability that is useful in fights: in the music-less Pylea, he can incapacitate his enemies by singing normally; on Earth, he resorts to loud ear-piercing vocalizations to the same effect.

* BlackAndNerdy: He references ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' #181 as part of a PerpSweating and later [[PersonAsVerb name-drops]] several versions of Franchise/TheFlash.

!! Tropes that apply to Team Angel as a whole:

** Angel and Spike have very strong elements of this throughout their complicated hundred year old shared history. They are ''constantly ''fighting, whether it be over the smallest of things to the more serious issues, and are shown to find a lot of delight in watching the other experience (non-serious) injury. Yet by the end season 5, it's very clear that they care about each other a lot: They reminisce fondly over some of the better memories from their past, Angel reacts with horror when he watches Spike die (and "sacrifices" himself without thinking when the scene plays out again), a telepathic demon reveals that Spike thinks of Angel as an older brother, and they show mutual respect for each other during their final days. Angel has also been shown to feel a lot of remorse and responsibility for making Spike a monster.

!Current Members

!Former Members

->'''Played By:''' Creator/JAugustRichards

-->''"The final score can't be rigged. I don't care how many players you grease, that last shot always comes up a question mark. But here's the thing, you never know when you're takin' it. It could be when your duking it out with the legion of doom, or just crossin' the street deciding where to have brunch. So you just treat it all like it was up to you, with the world in the balance, cause you never know when it is."''

->'''Played By:''' Creator/AmyAcker

-->''"Handsome man saved me from the monsters."''

->'''Played By:''' Creator/AmyAcker

-->''"I lived seven lives at once. I was power in the ecstasy of death. I was god to a god. Now... I'm trapped on a roof... just one roof, in this time and this place with an unstable human who drinks too much whiskey and called me a Smurf."''

->'''Played By:''' Creator/CharismaCarpenter

-->''"I'm from Sunnydale — we had our own Hellmouth!"''

->'''Played By:''' Creator/GlennQuinn

-->''"One of us has been drinking, and I'm sorry to say it's not me."''

->'''Played By:''' Creator/AlexisDenisof

-->''"You know, back in my days as a rogue demon hunter, I once used that very spear to pin down what I thought was a small Rodentius demon. Of course, the poodle's owners weren't very happy."''

->'''Played By:''' Creator/AndyHallett

-->''"So I am covered in cherries. The police are just pounding on the door, and Judi Dench starts screaming, "Oh, that's way too much to pay for a pair of pants!""''

->'''Played By:''' Creator/MarkLutz

-->''"Angel, you and I have fought side by side on more than one occasion. Fellow warriors, shoulder to shoulder. By now, my counsel must assuredly hold weight, so I beseech you to heed my words: [[NotSoDire Pomegranate Mist is the wrong color for this room]]''."

->'''Played By:''' Creator/VincentKartheiser

->'''Played By:''' Glenn Quinn

->'''Played By:''' Andy Hallett

->'''Played By:''' Mark Lutz

->'''Played By:''' Vincent Kartheiser

* BewareTheNiceOnes: He did have a vicious side rarely shown; when Fred was dying from her infection with Illyria's essence, while he, Angel, and Spike were investigating Lindsey's home for any evidence connecting him to the incident and found Eve, Lorne punched her in the face and warned her that if she was involved in any way, he would personally kill her before Angel and Spike could have a chance to.
* BizarreAlienBiology: Mentions that his heart is located in his rear.

* OptOut: In the series finale.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After being told his part in Angel's take-down-the-Black-Thorns plan, he tells Angel that he would do it for the sake of their friendship, but after that, he was done and they would most likely never see him again.

* ThePaladin: Of all the characters in either Buffy or Angel, it is Lorne who is the most morally pure, and the most morally inspirational. If you don't sort of wish you could be a little bit more like him, you have no soul in you at all.

* TokenMinority: The only black person in Angel's team.

%%* TheConsigliere: To Angel in the spinoff.

* TeamMom: Lampshaded once a baby enters the picture.

* AdultFear: If there's anything you don't want to happen to your child, it's happened to Connor:[[spoiler: Before he was even born he was wanted by an assortment of evil people, kidnappers, and a very angry demon. When he was only a few months old he was kidnapped and taken into the worst of all hell dimensions; he returned a few weeks later (in Angel's time) all grown up and wanting to kill his father; eventually went fairly insane and murderous, forcing Angel to cut his throat. Was saved by a [[Series/DoctorWho timey]]-[[BuffySpeak wimey]] [[DealWithTheDevil Deal With The]] [[BigBad Evil Law Firm]] and given a normal life in which he had not memory of Angel, and just when Angel was coming to terms with that returned to Angel's life, having no idea who Angel is and then being forced to fight an extremely powerful demon while having no idea ''how'' to fight.]] That's just the big things.

* TheDreaded: The demons of Quor-Toth were ''terrified'' of him. They called him things like "the bringer of torment".