History Characters / BuffyverseAngel

* TheDreaded: Everyone's scared of Angelus, and for good reason; he's one of, if not ''the'' most dangerous vampires in the Buffyverse. Those around Angel have to live with the fact that, if just a few things go wrong, they might be facing "The Scourge of Europe", whose mere ''voice'' turns Cordelia into a whimpering, shaking mess. It's notable that Faith leaves prison and Willow leaves Sunnydale mid-cataclysm just to help re-ensoul (or failing that, kill) Angelus. Tellingly, Angel considers [[MercyKillArrangement a willingness to kill him]] a very good quality in his allies and friends, should Angelus ever resurface.

* JerkassToOne: He's considerably more childish and petty when he's interacting with Spike.

Angel is a vampire, one of the most evil and sadistic on record. Born "Liam" in Galway, {{Oireland}} during the 18th century, he was sired by Darla circa 1753. Adopting the name "Angelus," he wreaked havoc across Europe for almost 150 years until he angered a Roma clan by killing one of their beloved daughters. The Romani cursed him by returning his soul, filling him with immense remorse for the countless crimes he had committed.

* JerkassToOne: He's considerbaly more childish and petty when he's interacting with Spike.

** Also with Spike - though they're technically Bisexual Life Partners, having spent the night together at least once.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Angelus is a loner, but his relationships with both Wesley (whom he appears to somewhat respect and treat as an equal) and Spike (whom he tried to mold to be as evil as he was), carry over remnants of how he feels about them as Angel, namely his "closest friend" and his brother, respectively.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Creating the Twilight dimension by screwing Buffy, which let thousands of demons invade Earth, which resulted in the destruction of the Seed of Wonder and removed all magic from the world]].

* RealMenWearPink: He's a champion, a hero of the human race, scourge of the underworld and defender of the helpless. He also loves Barry Manilow, has excellent taste in clothing, is a very talented chef and enjoys the ballet.

* TookALevelInIdealism: He became a lot more upbeat and humorous in his own show, especially when he became a father.

[[folder:Tropes related to both Angel and Angelus]]

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Spike, both as a hero and a villain. In "Just Rewards," Wesley and Angel outright state that Spike's reputation for evil and bloodshed is second only to Angelus's.
** Averted a few episodes later in "Destiny", where Spike becomes determined to prove that it might in fact be him, and not Angel, who is the "champion" featured in the Shanshu Prophecy. This culminates in an all-out brawl between the two over who should get to drink from the Cup of Perpetual Torment, and while both get in a good deal of damage (physically and verbally), Spike definitively wins the fight. Although the Cup proves to be a fake, the result is enough to shake Angel into wondering whether or not he truly is the subject of the Shanshu Prophecy, and he admits to Gunn later on that Spike was stronger and truly wanted to bear the burden more than he did.
** Subverted in the comics, where in Season 10, [[spoiler:Buffy makes it clear to Spike that she chooses him over Angel and Willow tells Angel she thinks Spike is more capable than Angel of being in a relationship with Buffy due to his greater capacity for change]].
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Liam always wanted to get out of Galway and see the world so naturally, he jumped at Darla's offer to see it together. Then he was vampirized but still didn't regret it until the Romani forced his soul back inside him.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: He was in China during the Boxer Rebellion, and apparently knew Elvis and The Creator/RatPack personally. He also implies at one point that Charles Baudelaire's poem "Le Vampire" may have been written about him.
* BigBad: [[spoiler: Angel unwittingly causes a time paradox and the birth of a powerful demon in Season 11 as he tries to change his past, a decision not helped by the past version of Angelus he runs into.]]
* BigFancyHouse: A creepy, art deco mansion on the edge of town. Angelus moves into the abandoned residence along with Drusilla and Spike. When he comes back from hell in Season 3, Angel stays there until the end of the season.
* CulturedBadass: A skilled artist, voracious reader, fluent in multiple languages (including demonic ones), and [[RealMenWearPink a ballet enthusiast]] -- even from his days as the evil Angelus.
-->[[RealMenWearPink "I cried like a baby]]. And I was '''evil'''!"
* DaddyIssues: As a human, Liam had serious problems with his father, who took a ToughLove approach that led to any relationship they might have had disintegrating. After becoming a vampire, Angelus decides to exceed his father's low expectations of him by becoming the most vicious, brutal, sadistic vampire he can be.
* ExpansionPackPast: Two hundred years leaves gaps to fill in. Angelus grumbles that it was mostly puppy rescues and Manilow concerts.
* FightingIrish: He is of Irish origin and is a very skilled fighter. Liam caught Darla's eye when he fought off several men in a bar brawl while drunk.
* FlashStep: When he wants to, he can and does move absurdly fast, crossing considerable distances in the blink of an eye. He often uses it for the purposes of intimidation.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He was just a [[LazyBum jobless, drunken, 18th-century Eurotrash lout]] before Darla sired him. It turned out that he had a huge capacity for depravity which surprised even his maker.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Smokes cigarettes as Angelus, as well as during his KnightTemplar phase in ''Angel'' Season 2.
* TheHedonist: Liam was a drunken womanizer before he was sired, and Angel is well aware that these human weaknesses are still part of him. Tasked with protecting Buffy by the Powers That Be, he romances her instead, despite Buffy being only sixteen at the time (seventeen on the day he sleeps with her). Angel's subsequent CelibateHero status isn't entirely due to a need to repress his evil side.
-->"It's not the demon that needs killing. It's the man."
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Angelus is a loner, but his relationships with both Wesley (whom he appears to somewhat respect and treat as an equal) and Spike (whom he tried to mold to be as evil as he was), carry over remnants of how he feels about them as Angel, namely his "closest friend" and his brother, respectively.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In every sense of the word. Buffy [[spoiler:runs him through with a replica of his own blessed sword, which in turns sucks him through his own hell portal]]. Putting a damper on this irony is the knowledge that [[spoiler:Angel suffers the fate reserved for Angelus, because he regained his soul moments beforehand and that brief vulnerability may well have been what allowed Buffy's victory]].
* {{Hunk}}: By 2004, he was essentially [[Series/{{Bones}} Seeley Booth]] looking like he belongs in ''Franchise/TheMatrix''. His attractiveness is part of how he got his nickname: A monster with "the face of an angel" (the other part being that his sister thought he was an angel returned to her).
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: He's done this more quite a bit, as both Angel and Angelus.
** In "Becoming," he tortures Giles for information on how to resurrect Acathla. It's a mix of both this and ColdBloodedTorture, since Angelus freely admits that he hopes Giles ''won't'' talk because he ''wants'' to torture him.
** In "Forgiving," he kidnaps Linwood Morrow to torture him for information on Sahjhan. All he has to do is take a spindle and threaten Linwood with an EyeScream, and Linwood caves.
* JekyllAndHyde: Angel (good guy) and Angelus (bad guy).
* LivingLegend: Angelus became renowned for his cruelty, spending a century terrorizing Europe. Angel, when he gets his soul back, spends a century keeping his head down and hating himself, only coming forward as a champion for good when Whistler gets him to help Buffy. By the fourth season of his own show he's become quietly famous among people who explore the strange and occult. The comic store guy in "Supersymmetry" is thrilled to meet ''the'' Angel; there are whole forums dedicated to the rumors of his exploits.
* MisplacedRetribution: The Romani didn't really think that through. ''Angel'' has to spend all of eternity suffering for the crimes of ''Angelus''? Liam was a womanizing jerk at worst, but Darla murdered him and a demon spent two centuries murdering and marauding with his face.
* TheNoseKnows: Vampiric super-senses, particularly centered around blood. The creepiness of this is [[LampshadeHanging frequently pointed out.]]
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Angelus' Irish accent tends to come and go in flashbacks. Furthermore, having lived in America for the past hundred years, Angel speaks with a flawless American accent, though he states that he ''could'' speak with an Irish accent again if he wanted to. When he loses his memory in "Spin the Bottle" and thinks he's a teenager, he still uses an American accent, and briefly [[DoIReallySoundLikeThat wonders why he lost his Irish brogue]].
* {{Omniglot}}: He's had a lot of time to practice, and after a while places run out of people to murder, so you move to the next one and learn another language there.
* OneSteveLimit: An interesting aversion: "Liam" is the Irish form of "William", meaning he and Spike technically have the same human name.
* PhotographicMemory: Most often showcased in his ability to quickly produce highly detailed sketches of people he's seen.
* RealMenWearPink: He's fond of ballet, [[{{Music/BarryManilow}} Barry Manilow]], and [[spoiler: Spike's poetry.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Blue to Spike's red. Spike's embrace of punk music, as opposed to quieter, more emotive music (Angel is a closet Fanilow as well as an ex-[=RatPack=] groupie) is indicative of his distaste for brooding intellectual types like Angel. Ironically, during his life he was one himself, which possibly explains why.
* RichesToRags: Angelus never had trouble maintaining a nice pad, expensive clothes, or box theater seats. ("I just ate the people who had 'em.") Once cursed and jilted by Darla, he spent years as a homeless bum living on [[ReducedToRatburgers rats]].
* RunningGag: His hair, his lousy singing, his "caveman brow", the leather pants he wore when he was evil and his occasional pettiness despite his advanced age.
* StalkingIsLove: Played With. He has the behaviour, in both his evil and not-evil incarnations - he saw and fell in love with Buffy when she was 15, stalked her for a year before revealing himself, and he's still up it on the fifth season of ''Angel'', despite being burdened with a desk job! (He has "a source" keeping tabs on her in Italy.) However, later seasons depict this more as a problem than as love (though not as seriously as it would be now), one that dates back to before he became Angelus, with Angel himself at one point remarking that the man inside him is as much of a problem as the demon, in his own way. Spike thinks it's pathetic.
* TortureTechnician:
** Angelus more so, but if pushed far enough, Angel can become one as well, likely a holdover from his days without a soul. Ask Linwood Murrow about the time he was a guest in Angel's home for proof of that.
** This trope also applies to more than just physicality - a big part of the reason Angelus is a sadistic jackass to everyone is because he gleefully revels in the psychological terror and agony he causes almost as much he loves the actual kill. His ability to cause psychological damage is a large part of why he's both dangerous and feared by anyone who knows well enough to stay the hell away from him. Similarly, Angel is fully capable of psychologically terrorizing someone (Wolfram & Hart's law team can attest to that), he just usually chooses not to because he's, well, Angel.
%%* TragicMonster
* VampiresAreSexGods: "[[FinishDialogueInUnison Mmm, Angel!]] ♥" Though [[SexGod the Immortal]] ended up out-performing in this regard, as usual.
* WellDoneSonGuy: As a human, Liam was held in contempt by his father, who believed that his son would never amount to anything but being a lazy, promiscuous drunk. When he became Angelus, he set out to prove his father wrong by making a name for himself, namely by becoming the most flamboyantly sadistic vampire ever recorded in human history.
[[/folder]]

* RealMenCook: According to Cordelia, he possessed remarkable cooking skills "for someone who's on a liquid diet".

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: He'd already had a bicentennial by the second season of ''Buffy''. Then, thanks to the events at the end of that season, he spent several centuries trapped in a hell dimension being tortured. So he's one of the oldest vampires "alive".

[[folder:Tropes related to Angelus]]

* EveryoneLovesBlondes: A recurring joke was that he seemed to have a preference for small, blonde women, as the majority of his love interests were blondes, with the exceptions of Cordelia (who had blonde highlights at one point) and Rebecca Lowell. Spike was hinted at as well. When Angel is the victim of a GrandTheftMe in "[[Recap/AngelS03E04CarpeNoctem Carpe Noctem]]", Cordelia agrees he's NotHimself when Angel is caught making out with a brunette.

* AndIMustScream:
** He was DraggedOffToHell at the end of ''Buffy'' Season 2, and spent the hiatus between that season and Season 3 trapped there suffering horrific torture; due to the [[YearInsideHourOutside difference in the flow of time between dimensions]], what was only a few months on Earth was, at the very least, a hundred years for him. By the time he manages to escape, he's suffered major SanitySlippage and is little more than a feral animal, requiring Buffy to rehabilitate him.
** Spent the hiatus between Seasons 3 and 4 of his show locked in a metal coffin and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. He was fully conscious the whole time, and went mad from his bloodlust and isolation. He's suffering from nightmares and hallucinations by the time Wesley fishes him out.
** [[EnemyWithin Angelus]] describes his very existence as this in ''Angel'' Season 4. He reveals he's fully conscious and aware of what's going on while Angel is ensouled, and is essentially forced to spend eternity looking out through Angel's eyes; unable to harm anyone or taste human blood, forced to watch as Angel saves the world and [[WeHelpTheHelpless helps the helpless]], and listening to Angel's endless brooding and angst.
* BadBoss:
** As Angelus in ''Buffy'' Season 2, he constantly needles a wheelchair-bound Spike and outright flaunts his relationship with Spike's lover, Drusilla. Spike eventually turns on him out of both revenge and [[EvilVersusOblivion self-preservation]].
** Became this when he became [=CEO=] of Wolfram & Hart in ''Angel'' Season 5, though in his defense, most of the employees are bad guys in servitude to the Senior Partners, his sworn enemies; by the time of the sixth episode of the season, it's noted that Angel has killed several of the employees, as well as their clients, and that all of the other employees are terrified that Angel's going to off them next. In the episode "Harm's Way," he called a demon employee into his office and promptly chopped his head off with an axe because said employee violated the zero-tolerance policy on killing humans that Angel had instated.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Season 2 of ''Buffy'' sees "Angel" and "Angelus" be used interchangeably by friend and foe alike to refer to Angel's evil side. Later seasons are [[InsistentTerminology much more particular about differentiating the two names]], with "Angel" exclusively being the good half and "Angelus" the evil one.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: If you look at Angel's history, he has a taste for [[HugeGuyTinyGirl petite]] blondes - Darla in the Victorian era, Buffy throughout the show's run, and Nina Ash in the show's last season. This is lampshaded when Fred testifies she saw Angel having sex on his desk with Lilah Morgan, a sworn enemy.
-->'''Fred:''' Brunette. She was a cheap brunette.\\
'''Cordy:''' ''(alarmed)'' You're right. [[NotHimself This isn't like him]].

* SplitPersonality: The heroic Angel and the sociopathic Angelus. While ''Buffy'' initially just depicted Angelus as Angel with his RestrainingBolt removed, ''Angel'' establishes that the two are totally separate personas, and Angelus exists in an AndIMustScream state while Angel is ensouled. They even have a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind in "Orpheus."
* SplitPersonalityTakeover: Whenever Angelus is unleashed.

* AndIMustScream:
** This is implied to be his existence whenever Angel is in charge:

[[folder:Tropes related to both Angel and Angelus]]

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Spike, both as a hero and a villain. In "Just Rewards," Wesley and Angel outright state that Spike's reputation for evil and bloodshed is second only to Angelus's.
** Averted a few episodes later in "Destiny", where Spike becomes determined to prove that it might in fact be him, and not Angel, who is the "champion" featured in the Shanshu Prophecy. This culminates in an all-out brawl between the two over who should get to drink from the Cup of Perpetual Torment, and while both get in a good deal of damage (physically and verbally), Spike definitively wins the fight. Although the Cup proves to be a fake, the result is enough to shake Angel into wondering whether or not he truly is the subject of the Shanshu Prophecy, and he admits to Gunn later on that Spike was stronger and truly wanted to bear the burden more than he did.
** Subverted in the comics, where in Season 10, [[spoiler:Buffy makes it clear to Spike that she chooses him over Angel and Willow tells Angel she thinks Spike is more capable than Angel of being in a relationship with Buffy due to his greater capacity for change]].
* AndIMustScream:
** He was DraggedOffToHell at the end of ''Buffy'' Season 2, and spent the hiatus between that season and Season 3 trapped there suffering horrific torture; due to the [[YearInsideHourOutside difference in the flow of time between dimensions]], what was only a few months on Earth was, at the very least, a hundred years for him. By the time he manages to escape, he's suffered major SanitySlippage and is little more than a feral animal, requiring Buffy to rehabilitate him.
** Spent the hiatus between Seasons 3 and 4 of his show locked in a metal coffin and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. He was fully conscious the whole time, and went mad from his bloodlust and isolation. He's suffering from nightmares and hallucinations by the time Wesley fishes him out.
** [[EnemyWithin Angelus]] describes his very existence as this in ''Angel'' Season 4. He reveals he's fully conscious and aware of what's going on while Angel is ensouled, and is essentially forced to spend eternity looking out through Angel's eyes; unable to harm anyone or taste human blood, forced to watch as Angel saves the world and [[WeHelpTheHelpless helps the helpless]], and listening to Angel's endless brooding and angst.

* BadBoss:
** As Angelus in ''Buffy'' Season 2, he constantly needles a wheelchair-bound Spike and outright flaunts his relationship with Spike's lover, Drusilla. Spike eventually turns on him out of both revenge and [[EvilVersusOblivion self-preservation]].
** Became this when he became [=CEO=] of Wolfram & Hart in ''Angel'' Season 5, though in his defense, most of the employees are bad guys in servitude to the Senior Partners, his sworn enemies; by the time of the sixth episode of the season, it's noted that Angel has killed several of the employees, as well as their clients, and that all of the other employees are terrified that Angel's going to off them next. In the episode "Harm's Way," he called a demon employee into his office and promptly chopped his head off with an axe because said employee violated the zero-tolerance policy on killing humans that Angel had instated.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Liam always wanted to get out of Galway and see the world so naturally, he jumped at Darla's offer to see it together. Then he was vampirized but still didn't regret it until the Romani forced his soul back inside him.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: He was in China during the Boxer Rebellion, and apparently knew Elvis and The Creator/RatPack personally. He also implies at one point that Charles Baudelaire's poem "Le Vampire" may have been written about him.
* BigBad: [[spoiler: Angel unwittingly causes a time paradox and the birth of a powerful demon in Season 11 as he tries to change his past, a decision not helped by the past version of Angelus he runs into.]]
* BigFancyHouse: A creepy, art deco mansion on the edge of town. Angelus moves into the abandoned residence along with Drusilla and Spike. When he comes back from hell in Season 3, Angel stays there until the end of the season.
* CulturedBadass: A skilled artist, voracious reader, fluent in multiple languages (including demonic ones), and [[RealMenWearPink a ballet enthusiast]] -- even from his days as the evil Angelus.
-->[[RealMenWearPink "I cried like a baby]]. And I was '''evil'''!"
* DaddyIssues: As a human, Liam had serious problems with his father, who took a ToughLove approach that led to any relationship they might have had disintegrating. After becoming a vampire, Angelus decides to exceed his father's low expectations of him by becoming the most vicious, brutal, sadistic vampire he can be.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Season 2 of ''Buffy'' sees "Angel" and "Angelus" be used interchangeably by friend and foe alike to refer to Angel's evil side. Later seasons are [[InsistentTerminology much more particular about differentiating the two names]], with "Angel" exclusively being the good half and "Angelus" the evil one.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: If you look at Angel's history, he has a taste for [[HugeGuyTinyGirl petite]] blondes - Darla in the Victorian era, Buffy throughout the show's run, and Nina Ash in the show's last season. This is lampshaded when Fred testifies she saw Angel having sex on his desk with Lilah Morgan, a sworn enemy.
-->'''Fred:''' Brunette. She was a cheap brunette.\\
'''Cordy:''' ''(alarmed)'' You're right. [[NotHimself This isn't like him]].
* ExpansionPackPast: Two hundred years leaves gaps to fill in. Angelus grumbles that it was mostly puppy rescues and Manilow concerts.
* FightingIrish: He is of Irish origin and is a very skilled fighter. Liam caught Darla's eye when he fought off several men in a bar brawl while drunk.
* FlashStep: When he wants to, he can and does move absurdly fast, crossing considerable distances in the blink of an eye. He often uses it for the purposes of intimidation.
* {{Foil}}: For Buffy (see ContrastingSequelProtagonist), Spike, and [[SplitPersonality himself]].
** Like Spike, Angel is a vampire with a blood-soaked past who gets a soul and becomes a champion. They also share a love for Buffy and a certain childishness (especially around each other), and a desire for a purpose in life. They contrast in their demeanors (Angel's dark-haired brooding melancholy vs. Spike's platinum blond extroversion) and tastes (Angel likes classical literature and Music/BarryManilow, while Spike prefers poetry and punk rock). Even as evil vampires, they stood out as polar opposites, with Angelus being a sadistic SerialKiller who drew out his victims' deaths for as long as possible and relished the experience afterwards, while Spike was a feckless BloodKnight who just loved to fight and kill for the fun of it. As they themselves put it in "Damage", Angelus couldn't stop looking at his victims, while Spike never looked twice at them.
** Angel and [[EnemyWithin Angelus]], despite technically being the same person, stand out as complete opposites. Angel is endlessly brooding, deprives himself, and dwells on the human condition, while Angelus is a gleeful sadist who indulges every whim and considers the only purpose of humanity to be suffering and death. Angelus also despises some of Angel's habits, such as drinking pig's blood, listening to Barry Manilow (and especially going to his concerts), and saving puppies (Angelus, by contrast, once [[KickTheDog nailed a puppy to a tree]]), while Angel regrets and abhors Angelus' shameless cruelty.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He was just a [[LazyBum jobless, drunken, 18th-century Eurotrash lout]] before Darla sired him. It turned out that he had a huge capacity for depravity which surprised even his maker.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Smokes cigarettes as Angelus, as well as during his KnightTemplar phase in ''Angel'' Season 2.
* TheHedonist: Liam was a drunken womanizer before he was sired, and Angel is well aware that these human weaknesses are still part of him. Tasked with protecting Buffy by the Powers That Be, he romances her instead, despite Buffy being only sixteen at the time (seventeen on the day he sleeps with her). Angel's subsequent CelibateHero status isn't entirely due to a need to repress his evil side.
-->"It's not the demon that needs killing. It's the man."
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Angelus is a loner, but his relationships with both Wesley (whom he appears to somewhat respect and treat as an equal) and Spike (whom he tried to mold to be as evil as he was), carry over remnants of how he feels about them as Angel, namely his "closest friend" and his brother, respectively.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In every sense of the word. Buffy [[spoiler:runs him through with a replica of his own blessed sword, which in turns sucks him through his own hell portal]]. Putting a damper on this irony is the knowledge that [[spoiler:Angel suffers the fate reserved for Angelus, because he regained his soul moments beforehand and that brief vulnerability may well have been what allowed Buffy's victory]].
* {{Hunk}}: By 2004, he was essentially [[Series/{{Bones}} Seeley Booth]] looking like he belongs in ''Franchise/TheMatrix''. His attractiveness is part of how he got his nickname: A monster with "the face of an angel" (the other part being that his sister thought he was an angel returned to her).
* IfItsYouItsOk: Angel only shows attraction to women onscreen, but Spike admits the two of them slept together once.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: He's done this more quite a bit, as both Angel and Angelus.
** In "Becoming," he tortures Giles for information on how to resurrect Acathla. It's a mix of both this and ColdBloodedTorture, since Angelus freely admits that he hopes Giles ''won't'' talk because he ''wants'' to torture him.
** In "Forgiving," he kidnaps Linwood Morrow to torture him for information on Sahjhan. All he has to do is take a spindle and threaten Linwood with an EyeScream, and Linwood caves.
* JekyllAndHyde: Angel (good guy) and Angelus (bad guy).
* LivingLegend: Angelus became renowned for his cruelty, spending a century terrorizing Europe. Angel, when he gets his soul back, spends a century keeping his head down and hating himself, only coming forward as a champion for good when Whistler gets him to help Buffy. By the fourth season of his own show he's become quietly famous among people who explore the strange and occult. The comic store guy in "Supersymmetry" is thrilled to meet ''the'' Angel; there are whole forums dedicated to the rumors of his exploits.
* MisplacedRetribution: The Romani didn't really think that through. ''Angel'' has to spend all of eternity suffering for the crimes of ''Angelus''? Liam was a womanizing jerk at worst, but Darla murdered him and a demon spent two centuries murdering and marauding with his face.
* TheNoseKnows: Vampiric super-senses, particularly centered around blood. The creepiness of this is [[LampshadeHanging frequently pointed out.]]
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Angelus' Irish accent tends to come and go in flashbacks. Furthermore, having lived in America for the past hundred years, Angel speaks with a flawless American accent, though he states that he ''could'' speak with an Irish accent again if he wanted to. When he loses his memory in "Spin the Bottle" and thinks he's a teenager, he still uses an American accent, and briefly [[DoIReallySoundLikeThat wonders why he lost his Irish brogue]].
* {{Omniglot}}: He's had a lot of time to practice, and after a while places run out of people to murder, so you move to the next one and learn another language there.
* OneSteveLimit: An interesting aversion: "Liam" is the Irish form of "William", meaning he and Spike technically have the same human name.
* PhotographicMemory: Most often showcased in his ability to quickly produce highly detailed sketches of people he's seen.
* RealMenWearPink: He's fond of ballet, [[{{Music/BarryManilow}} Barry Manilow]], and [[spoiler: Spike's poetry.]]
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: He'd already had a bicentennial by the second season of ''Buffy''. Then, thanks to the events at the end of that season, he spent several centuries trapped in a hell dimension being tortured. So he's one of the oldest vampires "alive".
* RedOniBlueOni: Blue to Spike's red. Spike's embrace of punk music, as opposed to quieter, more emotive music (Angel is a closet Fanilow as well as an ex-[=RatPack=] groupie) is indicative of his distaste for brooding intellectual types like Angel. Ironically, during his life he was one himself, which possibly explains why.
* RichesToRags: Angelus never had trouble maintaining a nice pad, expensive clothes, or box theater seats. ("I just ate the people who had 'em.") Once cursed and jilted by Darla, he spent years as a homeless bum living on [[ReducedToRatburgers rats]].
* RunningGag: His hair, his lousy singing, his "caveman brow", the leather pants he wore [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer when he was evil]] and his occasional pettiness despite his advanced age.
* SplitPersonality: The heroic Angel and the sociopathic Angelus. While ''Buffy'' initially just depicted Angelus as Angel with his RestrainingBolt removed, ''Angel'' establishes that the two are totally separate personas, and Angelus exists in an AndIMustScream state while Angel is ensouled. They even have a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind in "Orpheus."
* SplitPersonalityTakeover: Whenever Angelus is unleashed.
* StalkingIsLove: Played With. He has the behaviour, in both his evil and not-evil incarnations - he saw and fell in love with Buffy when she was 15, stalked her for a year before revealing himself, and he's still up it on the fifth season of ''Angel'', despite being burdened with a desk job! (He has "a source" keeping tabs on her in Italy.) However, later seasons depict this more as a problem than as love (though not as seriously as it would be now), one that dates back to before he became Angelus, with Angel himself at one point remarking that the man inside him is as much of a problem as the demon, in his own way. Spike thinks it's pathetic.
* TortureTechnician:
** Angelus more so, but if pushed far enough, Angel can become one as well, likely a holdover from his days without a soul. Ask Linwood Murrow about the time he was a guest in Angel's home for proof of that.
** This trope also applies to more than just physicality - a big part of the reason Angelus is a sadistic jackass to everyone is because he gleefully revels in the psychological terror and agony he causes almost as much he loves the actual kill. His ability to cause psychological damage is a large part of why he's both dangerous and feared by anyone who knows well enough to stay the hell away from him. Similarly, Angel is fully capable of psychologically terrorizing someone (Wolfram & Hart's law team can attest to that), he just usually chooses not to because he's, well, Angel.
%%* TragicMonster
* VampiresAreSexGods: "[[FinishDialogueInUnison Mmm, Angel!]] ♥" Though [[SexGod the Immortal]] ended up out-performing in this regard, as usual.
* WellDoneSonGuy: As a human, Liam was held in contempt by his father, who believed that his son would never amount to anything but being a lazy, promiscuous drunk. When he became Angelus, he set out to prove his father wrong by making a name for himself, namely by becoming the most flamboyantly sadistic vampire ever recorded in human history.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes related to Angel]]

* AllGuysWantCheerleaders: Buffy and Cordelia, his two major love interests, are former cheerleaders.
* AMFMCharacterization: He's a huge Music/BarryManilow fan and has been known to sing "Mandy".
* AntiHero: Angel is a genuinely good person, but he has made some morally questionable choices, such as leaving Wolfram & Hart employees to be killed by Darla and Drusilla, and then joining the law firm in Season 5.

-->"If nothing we do matters... then [[{{Koan}} all that matters is what we do]]."

* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Ah, Angel. Brooding, angsty vampire trying to fight the good fight, within LA and himself. Who'd ever think that he dug ''Mandy'' and Barry Manilow, or had a fear of dancing (yet a secret desire to, despite how awful he is at it) or go on about how much he loves [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] when pretending to be drunk?

* TheMovieBuff: A fan of Creator/CharltonHeston movies, particularly ''Film/TheOmegaMan''. What a surprise. He's also seen enough vampire flicks to formulate opinions on which ones are more accurate. [[spoiler:(Creator/FrankLangella nailed it.)]]

** Even [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Angelus]] has a turn mocking them.

--->'''Xander:''' ''[referring to Angel, who has just exited stealthily]'' One of these days I'm going to put a ''bell'' on that guy!

* YouNeedToGetLaid: Constantly told to do so while constantly reminded that he can't, or rather, shouldn't. He's not an eunuch, but it would have worse results. In "Reprise", however, he crosses the DespairEventHorizon and tries to shed his soul by having sex with Darla, only to have an [[EpiphanyTheory epiphany]].

[[folder:Tropes related to Angelus]]

!!Angelus

->''"She made me feel like a human being. That's not the kinda thing you just forgive."''

Angel's evil alter-ego.
----

* {{Expy}}: With his [[{{Sadist}} unspeakable sadism]], [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor sick sense of humor]], and [[TheDreaded feared reputation among the supernatural community]], [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Angelus]] is essentially a Vampire version of ComicBook/TheJoker.

* TheHedonist: A horrifying example - since Liam was a drunken hedonist in life and Vampires are by nature sadists, Angelus revels in the torture of his prey, both physical and mental.

* {{Expy}}:
** Angel to Franchise/{{Batman}}, with his [[ByronicHero endless brooding]], [[PragmaticHero morally grey methods]], and [[TheCowl status as a nightly-defender of the innocent]].

* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Doyle confesses that "maybe [he's] a little attracted" to Angel, much to his embarrassment.

* EvenTheGuysWantHim: He has even caught the attraction of males. Xander, though in anguish, commented that Angel was "buff" and a very attractive man when first seeing him, Lorne had a tendency to affectionately call him "angelcakes", Oliver Simon openly stated Angel was a "beautiful man" without even being properly acquainted, while a rude television commercial director assumed he was a male-model. Even Doyle admits to being "a little attracted" to him.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: A recurring joke was that he seemed to have a preference for small, blonde women, as the majority of his love interests were blondes, with the exceptions of Cordelia (who had blonde highlights at one point) and Rebecca Lowell. Spike was hinted at as well. When Angel is the victim of a GrandTheftMe in "[[Recap/AngelS03E04CarpeNoctem Carpe Noctem]]", Cordelia agrees he's NotHimself when Angel is caught making out with a brunette.
* EvilMeScaresMe: Angel is horrified of Angelus and the atrocities he's committed, to the extent he regularly encourages his teammates in Angel Investigations to [[StakingTheLovedOne kill]] [[MercyKillArrangement him]] should he lose his soul again.

** Subverted in the comics, where in season 10, [[spoiler:Buffy makes it clear to Spike that she chooses him over Angel and Willow tells Angel she thinks Spike is more capable than Angel of being in a relationship with Buffy due to his greater capacity for change]].

** He was DraggedOffToHell at the end of ''Buffy'' Season 2, and spent the hiatus between that season and season 3 trapped there suffering horrific torture; due to the [[YearInsideHourOutside difference in the flow of time between dimensions]], what was only a few months on Earth was, at the very least, a hundred years for him. By the time he manages to escape, he's suffered major SanitySlippage and is little more than a feral animal, requiring Buffy to rehabilitate him.
** Spent the hiatus between seasons 3 and 4 of his show locked in a metal coffin and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. He was fully conscious the whole time, and went mad from his bloodlust and isolation. He's suffering from nightmares and hallucinations by the time Wesley fishes him out.
** [[EnemyWithin Angelus]] describes his very existence as this in ''Angel'' season 4. He reveals he's fully conscious and aware of what's going on while Angel is ensouled, and is essentially forced to spend eternity looking out through Angel's eyes; unable to harm anyone or taste human blood, forced to watch as Angel saves the world and [[WeHelpTheHelpless helps the helpless]], and listening to Angel's endless brooding and angst.
* TheAntiChrist: It's ambiguous whether he's this or the AntiAntiChrist. The Shanshu Prophecy was not explicit on which side Angel would be fighting on during the end times. At the start of ''Angel'', the idea of Angel willingly cooperating with the Senior Partners seems unthinkable. By the end of Season Four, Angel has darkened enough and his circumstances have gotten hazy to the point where he joins them. According to the comics, the jury's still out on whether the Shanshu prophecy spells doom for mankind in general. Wesley's father, Roger Wyndam-Pryce (or at least [[spoiler:a close facsimile thereof]]) warned that Angel is "more dangerous than you realize."

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Angel unwittingly causes a time paradox and the birth of a powerful demon in Season Eleven as he tries to change his past, a decision not helped by the past version of Angelus he runs into.]]

** On the flip-side, with his [[{{Sadist}} unspeakable sadism]], [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor sick sense of humor]], and [[TheDreaded feared reputation among the supernatural community]], [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Angelus]] is essentially a Vampire version of ComicBook/TheJoker.

* {{Hunk}}: By 2004, he was essentially [[Series/{{Bones}} Seeley Booth]] looking like he belongs in ''Franchise/TheMatrix''. (Because he ''is'' [[ActorAllusion Seeley Booth!]]) His attractiveness is part of how he got his nickname: A monster with "the face of an angel" (the other part being that his sister thought he was an angel returned to her).

* LivingLegend: Angelus became renowned for his cruelty, spending a century terrorizing Europe. Angel, when he gets his soul back, spends a century keeping his head down and hating himself, only coming forward as a champion for good when Whistler gets him to help Buffy. By the fourth season of his own show he's become quietly famous among people who explore the strange and occult. The comic store guy in ''Supersymmetry'' is thrilled to meet ''the'' Angel; there are whole forums dedicated to the rumors of his exploits.

* BadassBoast: Gives one to Lindsey in Season Five. As he had also regained his self-confidence as a hero and champion, it also counts as a HesBack moment:

* DefusingTheTykeBomb: He spends all of season 4 trying to do this for Connor, with some success. However, Connor quickly develops other reasons for them not to get along, and in any case never fully gets over his prejudice against Angel.

* {{Deuteragonist}}: In the second season of ''Buffy''.

** In season 2's "Reunion," Holland Manners, having had Drusilla re-sire a resurrected Darla, gives them full backing for whatever massacre they intend to carry out and organizes a wine tasting at his house for Wolfram & Hart employees to celebrate his success, only for Drusilla and Darla to crash the party, intending to kill Holland and the W&H employees there as revenge for being used as pawns. Angel shows up, apparently planning to SaveTheVillain... but instead, Angel also wants them dead and locks them all in the wine cellar with Darla and Drusilla before leaving them to die.

** In season 3's "Double or Nothing," Jenoff, a paranormal crime boss/casino owner, comes to collect Gunn's soul in accordance with a DealWithTheDevil Gunn made years ago. In the climax, Angel chops off Jenoff's head. It quickly becomes apparent that this will only temporarily incapacitate him, so Angel asks who else in the casino owes him, and takes the opportunity to sneak out with his crew as the entire casino descends on Jenoff en masse.

** One of the main themes of ''Angel'' is his character struggling AGAINST this trope. Throughout the show, Angel is clearly a hero, doing good and rescuing those in need. But from the very start of the pilot episode we see him wanting to cut himself off from people, because he worries about hurting those that gets too close. In the pilot he is told quite clearly that if he doesn't learn to be more empathetic, then not only will he fail to truly save people, it's also only a matter of time until he himself becomes corrupted. This becomes a reoccurring conflict for Angel's character, in the following five seasons. Season 2 in particular had a major arc about this, with Angel deciding to become more ruthless and cold in order to be a more "effective" champion for good, and this temptation was a major part of his character throughout the series. Ultimately he would always come around to the realization that just punching the bad guy in the face was not enough and that "being nice" was actually the more important factor in being able to save people. This is summed up nicely with his so called "epiphany speech" in season 2, which ends with him saying: "the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world."

* GrapplingHookGun: Uses one twice in ''Angel'' season 1, once in "[[Recap/AngelS01E02LonelyHearts Lonely Hearts]]" and once in "[[Recap/AngelS01E13She She]]". The first time, his attempt caused the wooden beam he latched onto to collapse under his weight.

* TheMourningAfter: After moving to LA, Angel continues to pine after Buffy. Even after trying to move on with Cordelia, he still carries a torch for her and, by the time of ''Angel'' season 5, is having her followed by Wolfram & Hart spies, which Spike finds pathetic. In ''Angel & Faith'', Spike vents to Angel that he's always been jealous of Angel for his ability to seemingly move on from Buffy and demands to know how he got over her... only for Angel to reveal that he never has.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: An exhaustive display in ''Angel'' season 2, in reaction to Darla being resurrected, tormented and then re-vamped by Wolfram and Hart suits. This culminated with Angel tossing the firm's entire senior staff to the wolves in the form of Drusilla and Darla.

* ThickerThanWater: Like it or not, Darla is the closest thing to family he has. Even his team comes second. In the Season Four finale, Angel agrees to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia mind wipe]] his team (and, in fact, the world) [[spoiler:in exchange for saving Connor's life]]. Wesley is rightly steamed when he uncovers this.

* UnexplainedRecovery: It's never officially explained ''how'' he managed to escape from Acathla's hell dimension in ''Buffy'' season 3; even years later, by the time of ''Angel'' season 5, Angel himself doesn't know. While the First Evil claims to have been the one who busted him out, knowing [[{{Troll}} its personality]], it may very well have been lying.

* EvilCostumeSwitch: In ''Buffy'' season 2, Angelus constantly wears [[EvilWearsBlack black]] [[HellBentForLeather leather pants]].

* EvilIsHammy: He uses those vampire teeth to chew all the scenery he can find. Particularly in his second appearance. Good lord, man, switch to decaf.

* EvilIsPetty: Angelus' primary motivation in ''Buffy'' season 2 is just to cause Buffy and her friends as much grief as possible because he's disgusted that Buffy made him feel human ("That's not the kinda thing you just forgive."). It isn't until Acathla enters the picture that he finally finds a concrete goal to work towards, and even ''that'' is centered around making people suffer just for the hell of it.

* FaceHeelTurn: Causes special problems during his tenure as BigBad, considering his intimate knowledge of all the Scoobies, not to mention [[ParanoiaFuel standing invitations to most of their homes]].

* HeroKiller: [[spoiler:Infamous for causing the first death of a major character in the franchise - in this case, Jenny. And then laying her body in Giles's bed in the guise of a romantic liaison just to fuck with him.]] This was meant to show that the stakes (no pun intended) were raised because, no, he's not just a villain or Angel in a bad mood, he's pure evil and needs to be killed.
* HijackedByGanon: [[spoiler:Twice, in ''Angel'' season 4 and ''Buffy'' Season 8 as Twilight.]]

* KnightOfCerebus: The previous villains certainly weren't harmless, but ''[[Series/{{BuffyTheVampireSlayer}} Buffy]]'' became much darker once Angelus was unleashed.

** When Angelus appears in Season 4 of Series/{{Angel}}, he uses the word "retarded" often.

* PureIsNotGood: In ''Buffy'' season 2, Spike and Drusilla unleash the Judge, a demon sent to destroy everyone that isn't pure evil. It's a pretty demanding requirement -- Spike and Drusilla themselves were vulnerable because of their love for each other, and their minion Dalton died because of his love for ''learning.'' The only one confirmed to be immune was the newly released Angelus.

* CantHaveSexEver: Played with. A common misconception of his CurseEscapeClause is that having ''any'' kind of sexual intercourse will cause Angel to lose his soul; in "Guise Will Be Guise," Magnus Bryce refers to him as a eunuch for this reason, and in "Enemies," Faith outright tries to seduce him with the intent of breaking the curse. Of course, Angel ''does'' have sex in episodes like "Reprise"[[note]]With Darla, which was "[[DespairEventHorizon perfect despair]]"[[/note]], "Life of the Party"[[note]]With Eve, which was due to [[ItMakesSenseInContext a sleep-deprived Lorne's mind control]][[/note]], and "Power Play"[[note]]With Nina[[/note]]. As Wesley points out, the escape clause is "''perfect'' happiness," so it's not that he can't have sex period; he just can't have it with the women he regards as his true loves (and the ones he truly wanted to be with): Buffy and Cordelia.

* ThemeSerialKiller: As Angelus he was fond of making twisted little "valentines" for his victims, and was famous for his Valentine's Day "pranks". In Season 2, he does by [[spoiler: setting up a romantic getaway for Giles, supposedly from his love interest Jenny... whose dead body Rupert discovers waiting for him in the upstairs bedroom]].

** He let a demon continue to prey on the people at the Hyperion aftrr they lynched him. Arguably this is worse than what he did to the lawyers as the hotel residents were not in full control of their actions.

** Also with Spike, to both their disgust.

* TortureTechnician: Angelus more so, but if pushed far enough, Angel can become one as well, likely a holdover from his days without a soul. Ask Linwood Murrow about the time he was a guest in Angel's home for proof of that.

* PayEviluntoEvil: After he was first cursed he spent time killing again with Darla but limited it to those he felt deserved it.

* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: Near the end of ''Buffy'' Season 2, he decides to awaken Acathla and destroy the world, with him in it. Why exactly is unclear.

* TheHero: In his [[Series/{{Angel}} own spin-off show]], where his journey for redemption at times involves him actively taking on the aspect of the Hero.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: After the end of magic. Due in part to the various atrocities he committed as Twilight, he's even more loathed and feared by the magical community than Buffy, the one who ''caused'' the end of magic.

!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/DavidBoreanaz
!!!'''Dubbed by:''' Creator/PatrickBorg (European French)

* {{Jerkass}}: Angelus isn't just a pure evil psychopath, he's a major dick to boot. Special mention goes to his gleeful torment of Buffy immediately after losing his soul and flaunting his sexual relationship with Drusilla in front of Spike (along with his endless stream of [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain wheelchair-related gibes]] at Spike).

* SmugSnake: Angelus is incredibly smug and full of himself and while he's smart and brutal enough to back it up most of the time, he does have quite a few instances where he badly overestimates his own skill or underestimates someone else and it comes back to bite him.

* StupidEvil: He can be guilty of some really moronic acts. Lashing out at allies and preferring torture ForTheEvulz instead of just killing those in his way is Tuesday for him. Killing the demon that would have allowed him to win for keeps, on the other hand, is just ChaoticStupid. A big part of ''Buffy'' Season 2 essentially centers on him going above and beyond to antagonize and torture Buffy and the Scoobies, blowing off multiple chances at killing them in favor of MindRape; Spike repeatedly [[PragmaticVillainy criticizes him]] for this, insisting that he just kill Buffy already before his BondVillainStupidity pisses her off and gives her ''real'' cause to come after them.

** He is a surprisingly good sketch artist.

* ReformedButRejected: Throughout ''Buffy'' Season 3. After the events of Angel's FaceHeelTurn in the previous season, his relations with the Scoobies are now heavily strained. It doesn't matter that all his actions during that phase were from the Hyde part of his JekyllAndHyde personality and he now has his soul back; after all the torment Angel's evil personality put them through, they've lost any and all trust they previously had for him. Even after he proves he's one of the good guys again by saving Willow's life, that doesn't automatically dispel all the distrust; Giles, for example, now keeps a crossbow nearby whenever Angel shows up just in case anything goes wrong.