History Characters / BuffyTheVampireSlayerAngel

* HijackedByGanon: [[spoiler: Twice in the Angel season 4 and Buffy the Vampire Season 8 as Twilight.]]

-->"My friends, we're about to make history. End."

* HijackedByGanon: [[Twice in the Angel season 4 and Buffy the Vampire Season 8 as Twilight.]]

** HijackedByGanon: [[Twice in the Angel season 4 and Buffy the Vampire Season 8 as Twilight

* 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."

* FromNobodyToNightmare: He was just a [[LazyBum jobless, drunken, 18th-century Eurotrash lout]] before Darla sired him. It turns out that he had a huge capacity for depravity which surprises even his maker.

* DespairEventHorizon: Hits it in Season 2, which leads him to have sex with Darla in an attempt to shed his soul. Angel even outright describes this encounter as "perfect despair" rather than "perfect happiness."

* StalkingIsLove: In both his evil and not-evil incarnations. He met and fell in love with Buffy when she was 15. He then 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.) Spike thinks it's pathetic.

* 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.

* PapaWolf: Towards Connor. It took an entire episode before anybody was allowed to even ''approach'' him. As of Season 4, you would do well to avoid even implying his existence.

* TranquilFury: Uses it quite a bit. When he [[UnstoppableRage drops]] the "Tranquil" part, [[PunctuatedForEmphasis run. For. Your. Life.]]

* TheDreaded: Everyone's scared of Angelus.

* ForTheEvulz: Everything Angelus does is just for the sheer cruelty of it all. In a way, he's the purest character in all of the Buffyverse - both the Master and the First Evil have acknowledged how purely evil and vicious he is/was. Angel even mentions that he didn't even hate his victims.

* 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.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: It's hard for Boreanaz to maintain Angelus' Irish accent for more than half a minute.

* ThisIsUnforgivable: In Season 3, Wesley's actions lead to baby Connor being sent to a hell dimension with Holtz, albeit because Sahjhan had tricked him with a fake prophecy that claimed Angel would eventually kill Connor. Regardless, Angel is ''not'' happy with Wesley and tries to smother him with a pillow at the hospital, only to be stopped by Gunn and some orderlies and dragged away. All the while, Angel is screaming like a lunatic, angrily swearing to Wesley that he will ''never'' forgive him for what happened to Connor.

* EnemyWithin: He is the vampire-without-a-soul aspect of Angel's personality.

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

* WorfHadTheFlu: His loss to Spike in Angel Season 5, despite besting him in all their other fights, could be attributed to his self doubt over working with Wolfram and Hart and thus not fighting as hard as Spike, who was TheDeterminator in trying to prove himself worthy of the Shanshu Prophecy.

[[folder:A-F]]
* {{Adorkable}}: In the comic books. ''The reading glasses.'' His bumbling attempts to make a love confession to Cordelia also qualify.
--> '''Angel''': I was just thinking about things. People. You know, how they relate. Take you and me, for instance. We're very different. Very different. Obviously. ''[points at Cordy]'' Human, ''[points at self]'' vampire. ''[points at Cordy]'' Woman, ''[points at self]'' [[BuffySpeak man... pire]].
* AllGuysWantCheerleaders: Buffy and Cordelia, his two major love interests, are former cheerleaders.

** 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.

* AndYourLittleDogToo:
** He meant ''real'' dogs.
--->'''Buffy:''' Skip it. I don't have a puppy, so skip it.
** Giles' profile on Angelus suggests that he will lash out at everything that made him feel human. Buffy tops the list.
* TheAntiChrist: It's ambigious 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."
* AntiHero: Default state is Type II, but spends time as Type III on occasion. The presence of Darla can cause a change to Type IV, although that is very temporary.
* TheAntiNihilist: Angel's defining moment in ''Angel'' Season 2 is the revelation that life has no purpose or meaning, thus making even the tiniest act of kindness an end in itself. He carries this philosophy throughout the rest of the show, and it plays heavily into all of his actions.
-->"If nothing we do matters... then [[{{Koan}} all that matters is what we do]]."
* AppropriatedAppellation: Liam took his vampire name from his sister, who mistook her resurrected older brother for an angel.
* AscendedDemon: He's a vampire with a human soul, and TheChosenOne of the PowersThatBe.
* TheAtoner: Everything he does is to atone for his past crimes as Angelus. He starts out as Buffy's MysteriousProtector, and later becomes an AtonementDetective.
* AxCrazy: Angelus' first thought when told he could kill anyone he wanted was that he wanted to kill everyone in his hometown, and in the Season 2 final of ''Buffy'', he decides to try and suck the entire world into a hell dimension [[{{Pun}} just for the hell of it]].
* BackForTheFinale: Delivering a HeyYouHaymaker to Caleb in "End of Days." Unfortunately for Angel, he's back on the ''Buffy'' set now, which means Caleb lunges right back up and knocks him flat in "Chosen." [[TheWorfEffect Tradition, y'know]].

** In ''Buffy'' season two, 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 five, 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.
* 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:
-->"All those tattoos, all those new tricks you've learned just don't matter. Doesn't matter what you try. Doesn't matter where I am or how badass you think you've become. 'Cause you know what? I'm Angel. [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin I beat the bad guys]]."
* BadassInDistress: Frequently. Kendra nearly incinerated him in the cellar of Willie's bar, and he later spent an entire season hiatus in this state. ("Deep Down").
-->"So... how was ''[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall your]]'' summer? Mine was fun. Saw some fish. [[BreadEggsMilkSquick Went mad with hunger]]. Hallucinated a whole bunch."
* BadassLongcoat: Often wears a black leather duster.
* BadDreams: With such regularity, one wonders how he catches ''any'' winks without valium. Yet another downside to being undead: vampires share a PsychicLink with their kin. When a vampire he sired 100 years ago starts killing people locally, Angel feels it. In ''Angel'' Season Two, Angel starts having... erm, '[[NocturnalEmission dreams]]' about his maker. It is later revealed that Darla is dosing him with occult herbs to drive him into a frenzy.
* BatmanGambit: Near the end of ''After the Fall'', [[spoiler: Angel, realizing that the Senior Partners [[IWantThemAlive need him alive]] for their plans, provokes Gunn into killing him, forcing the Partners to hit the ResetButton so that the Fall of Los Angeles never happened and bringing back everyone who died since then in the process, which is exactly what Angel expected them to do.]]

* BeastAndBeauty: With Buffy and Cordelia, in that order, because he's a vampire and they're cute human girls.

* BeingGoodSucks: Atonement's a bitch.
* BerserkButton:
** Do ''not'' mention coffins -- or vampires sleeping in said coffins. It is an [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad offensive stereotype]] popularized by [[YourVampiresSuck hack writers and ignorant media]].
** Being called a eunuch is also a big one for him.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Even (or ''especially'') when he's ''not'' Angelus, it is ''not'' smart to piss him off. And God help you should you manage to genuinely enrage him. It particularly comes out whenever someone has put a person he cares about in harm's way.

* BigBad: For Season 2 of Buffy he is the main villain. He also took over the role for a short while in Angel's fourth season after [[KlingonPromotion killing The Beast]], until he was re-ensouled again by Willow. He once again becomes the role during his [[spoiler:stint as 'Twilight' in Season Eight]]
%%* BigBadDuumvirate: With Drusilla in Season 2.

* BlasphemousBoast: Part of Angelus's M.O. at one point was to carve the image of a crucifix into his victims' left cheek so as to spite God.
* BondVillainStupidity: Angelus prefers toying with his victims psychologically and tormenting them as opposed to actually killing them; throughout Season 2, [[PragmaticVillainy Spike]] repeatedly criticizes him for this and constantly urges him to just kill Buffy and be done with it before he does something to ''really'' piss her off. Spike proves right when Angelus kills Jenny Calendar, sending Giles on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge that leads to their hideout being burned down and Angelus beaten senseless with a flaming baseball bat.
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim:
** What he does to Buffy at the end of Season 3. Conversations with both the Mayor and Joyce force Angel to confront the fact that, for as much as the two love each other, Buffy would age through some of the most formative years of her life with someone who would remain ageless, potentially robbing her of some crucial experiences (particularly since Angel cannot go out in the daylight and would be unable to ever bear children with her). Buffy is heartbroken but comes to understand his reasoning. Nevertheless, since their break-up comes more from external factors than either falling out of love with the other, it leads to some awkward tension between the two (as shown in "Pangs" and "I Will Remember You") that lasts until the end of Season 4, when they reunite again after Buffy has officially started up a relationship with Riley.
** When he fires his staff and severs ties with them in ''Angel'' Season 2. In "Happy Anniversary," he explains to Lorne that he did that to keep them away from that kind of dark territory and his revenge plot against Wolfram & Hart, as it would do more damage to them than being fired, like getting darker themselves despite their best attempts to prevent Angel from doing such terrible things. Since he didn't believe he'd be coming back, he had no plans to reveal these to them and continued to stay away from them.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: While she's abrasive and snippy, his dynamic with Cordelia 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.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Is turned human by the Senior Partners in the ''After the Fall'' comics in order to hinder him. Using various charms and spells, he's still in the game and kicking ass.
* 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?
* BuyThemOff: In "Disharmony," after spending most of the episode trying to win back Cordelia's friendship to little avail, he does so easily by buying her a whole new wardrobe. Ironically, this is ''after'' Wesley stated Angel couldn't just buy Cordy's friendship back.
* ByronicHero: While he has all of the strengths of a vampire, his true power lies in his intimate understanding of evil.
* CelibateHero: Played with. He's had intimate moments (kissing or otherwise) with many women on-screen, including Buffy, Darla, Drusilla, Faith, Gwen, Jheira, Eve, Nina, and Cordelia, and it's implied he and Spike once had a night together. However, he can't share those moments with anyone who makes him truly happy (namely, Buffy and Cordelia), lest he release Angelus. So most of the people we see him involved with are those he can share good times or "acceptable happiness" with, but not ''true'' happiness.
-->'''Connor:''' Do you spend all your time making out with other vampires, like in Creator/AnneRice novels?\\
'''Angel:''' Uh, no. I used to, but...\\
'''Connor:''' You have a girlfriend at least?\\
'''Angel:''' Can't afford to.\\
'''Connor:''' Must be lonely.\\
'''Angel:''' ''(defensively)'' I keep busy!
* 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.
* TheChampion: He appointed himself as Buffy's guardian shortly after she was called as a Slayer.
* CharacterDevelopment: Over the course of both ''Buffy'' and his own show. Angel starts out as a MysteriousProtector, simply warning Buffy of an upcoming threat and departing. Over the course of both shows, he evolves into a badass ActionHero who actively seeks to [[TheAtoner atone for his sins]].
* ChickMagnet: Women are ''very'' attracted to Angel's [[TallDarkAndHandsome various]] [[TroubledButCute charming]] [[MrFanservice points]]. Over the course of two series, he's earned the affections (or at least interest) of, among others, Buffy, Cordelia, Fred, Darla, Drusilla, Faith, and Nina. Unfortunately, Angel himself has a rather bad track record when it comes to romance.
* ChronicallyCrashedCar: The Plymouth got totaled in the pilot, and later wound up in Lorne's basement club (via a wormhole), making it somewhat resemble a [[Film/PulpFiction Jackrabbit Slim's]]. (They never do explain how they removed the car.)
* ClosetGeek: ''Angel & Faith'' teaches us that Angel is a die-hard fan of Creator/DouglasAdams. It helped him through a [[NoodleIncident difficult period]] in TheEighties...
* CluelessDetective: While he's by no means stupid, a RunningGag is that he's better at fighting demons than he is at genuine detective work. On one occasion, he had to hire another detective agency with a FriendOnTheForce for help on a case.
* TheComicallySerious: The fact that he's periodically-evil while his companions are all Happy Meals with legs might have something to do with all the jokes at his expense, to keep him grounded.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Angelus' M.O. A perfect example: near the end of Season 2 of Buffy, he captures Giles for information on how to awaken the demon Acathla and destroy the world, and openly admits that he hopes that Giles ''won't'' tell him what he needs to know willingly because he doesn't want to be deprived of the opportunity to torture someone.
* ContrastingSequelProtagonist: ''Angel'' is a spin-off of ''Buffy'', not a sequel, but Angel fits the mold. Unlike the blonde, teenaged, very human Buffy, Angel is an adult ([[Really700YearsOld and then some]]), dark-haired vampire. Buffy's past is slightly shady due to masquerade-related behavior problems, but Angel's is soaked in innocent blood and a century of guilt. Buffy is sociable and mostly cheerful, while Angel is a brooding loner by nature.
* CoolCar:
** A black Plymouth convertible, mirroring Spike's muscle car. The only difference is, Angel's roof is detachable... in sunny LA. (He purchased it on the cheap.)
--->"Why not a [[VanityPlate personalized license plate]] that says "IRONY"?"
** A whole fleet of luxury cars (with necrotempered windows™) after he becomes Wolfram & Hart's CEO. [[spoiler:Also, a helicopter]].
* TheCorrupter: Spike specifically cites Angelus as his 'Yoda'. While Drusilla turned him, Angelus turned him into, arguably, the second most feared vampire in the West after Angelus himself.
* TheCowl: At one point, he leapt heroically into the wrong car. ("City Of...")

* CurseEscapeClause: Angel is cursed with a soul [[CantHaveSexEver until he has a moment of perfect happiness]]. Buffy unwittingly helps break the curse (though the gypsies believed this was fated it happen), and then needs to find a way to repair it.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Just very, very broody.
* DeadpanSnarker: At times, though he's usually TheComicallySerious. Angelus is a lot snarkier.
* DeathSeeker: He shows such tendencies, though mostly during his time on ''Buffy''. He seems to be trying to get Buffy to kill him in "Angel", tries to get Spike to kill him in "What's My Line, Part 2", and is insistent on sacrificing his life in "The Zeppo". On his own show, when told he was going to die in "To Shanshu in L.A.", he's unfazed by hearing he was apparently going to die in the future.
* DefendsAgainstTheirOwnKind: A vampire who protects humans from other vampires.
* 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.
** At least, not until the season 4 finale when Angel retcons everyone's memories to give Connor a life with a normal, loving family. Even in season 5, when his original memories are restored, the experience has given him a much greater sense of stability and grounding, so by the end of the series he's patched things up with his real father.
* DespairEventHorizon: Hits it in season 2, which leads him to have sex with Darla in an attempt to shed his soul. Angel even outright describes this encounter as "perfect despair" rather than "perfect happiness."
* DeusAngstMachina: Mr. Whedon, don't make him happy. You wouldn't like him when he's happy.
* DeterminedDefeatist: Though there is the occasional reprieve, at heart, Angel suspects that he will [[DeusAngstMachina never stop paying]] for his crimes. He and Spike share a grumpy exchange about how they're both going to Hell, and thus will never be rid of each other.
* DoNotGoGentle: In the ''Angel'' TV finale, his plan is to take out the Circle of the Black Thorn, the Senior Partners' main instruments of evil on Earth, and go out in a blaze of glory.
* DoWithHimAsYouWill:
** 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.
* TheDreaded: Everyone's scared of Angelus.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: in the second and third seasons of ''Buffy.''
* DyingAsYourself: His death in the ''Buffy'' season 2 finale. Willow has successfully re-ensouled Angelus... but unfortunately, Acathla has already begun to awaken, and Buffy has no choice but to kill Angel, not Angelus, to save the world.
* EnemyWithin: Angelus is the vampire-without-a-soul aspect of his personality.
* EpiphanyTherapy: Having exhausted his resolve fighting Wolfram and Hart, Angel attempts to shed his soul by having sex with Darla, but instead of a moment of perfect happiness, he found perfect despair. An epiphany follows, and Angel realized that his purpose was still to do all the good he could, even if he couldn't do all the good he wanted to.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Doyle confesses that "maybe [he's] a little attracted" to Angel, much to his embarrassment.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: On Season 3 of his show, everyone in Angel Investigations is aware he loves Cordelia--except Cordelia. "Kyrumption" and "moira", anyone?

* EverythingButTheGirl:
** The Immortal called dibs.
--->'''Angel:''' [[ItMakesSenseInContext But she's not finished baking yet!]] I gotta wait till she's done baking! [[MotorMouth You know, till she finds herself, 'cause that's the drill, fine, I'm waitin' patiently and meanwhile]], '''THE IMMORTAL'S EATING COOKIE DOUGH'''!\\
'''Andrew''': Uhhh, Spike, is Angel crying?\\
'''Spike:''' No! ''(in the same defiant tone)'' [[OnSecondThought Not yet!]]
** He was slow on the draw with Cordelia. She packed off and left with the Groosalugg, another superhuman warrior who ''isn't'' allergic to sunlight.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Angelus is completely unable to understand why Angel does what he does or the "human condition," firmly believing that humans only exist to suffer and die. Similarly, in "Innocence," he boasts to Spike and Drusilla that he'll [[BreakTheCutie break Buffy overnight]]. He's wrong; after a brief HeroicBSOD, Buffy manages to pull herself together and stop his plan.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: In ''Buffy'' season 2, Angelus constantly wears [[EvilWearsBlack black]] [[HellBentForLeather leather pants]]
* EvilGloating: Angelus' FatalFlaw is this; he's constantly prone to bragging and excessive talking, often letting his opponents use the opportunity to either escape or fight back. Lampshaded:
-->'''Spike:''' You bloody well talk them to death before you kill them!
* EvilIsHammy: Angelus, particularly in his second appearance. Good lord, man, switch to decaf.
-->''"[[IncomingHam Uh-ohhh!]] [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter Vampire with a gun!]]"''
* 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.
* ExaltedTorturer: While certainly not as [[ColdBloodedTorture Angelus]], Angel fits the bill otherwise; when push comes to shove, he's perfectly willing to resort to the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique. There's also this gem from "Supersymmetry," when Fred is plotting a fatal revenge on her former physics professor for sending her to Pylea and grabs a whip:
-->'''Fred:''' How 'bout a flail-whipping? Would that take a nice long time?\\
'''Angel:''' Hours, if you do it right. Not that you should do it at all. (''takes whip from her'') Ever.

* 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]].
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Angelus, "the demon with the angelic face". Not just a soulless killer, but one who takes a sadistic pleasure in the psychological torment of his victims.
* FameThroughInfamy: A big part of the reason Angelus does what he does. Motivated by his human self's [[WellDoneSonGuy daddy issues]], he's determined to prove his father wrong and that he ''can'' be something great: in this case, the most sadistic, brutal vampire in history.
* FamedInStory: By the time of "Supersymmetry," Angel's acts of heroism have made him an urban legend; there are entire forums dedicated to him and his exploits in online chat rooms.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Angelus can occasionally be shown with a seemingly friendly and understanding approach (much like as Angel). The fact that most of it isn't really genuine at all, not to mention that later on it could also be using people's memories of Angel to his advantage makes it all the more terrifying.
* 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.
* FoeYay: With Spike. Joss himself has joked [-(sort of)-] that they're his [[OneTruePairing One True Bromance]]. [[invoked]]

* TheFogOfAges: By the time of "Not Fade Away", Angel has forgotten what it's like to be human.
* ForGreatJustice: He initially thinks that he does what he does in order to redeem himself and avoid going to Hell, but eventually realizes that he helps people simply because doing the right thing is an inherent part of his identity.
-->'''Angel:''' We live as though the world is as it should be, in order to show it what it can be.
* ForTheEvulz: Everything Angelus does is just for the sheer cruelty of it all. In a way, he's the purest character in all of the Buffyverse - both the Master and the First Evil have acknowledged how purely evil and vicious he is/was. During "Billy" he even mentions that he didn't even hate his victims.
* ForcedToWatch: After putting himself through hell to redeem Darla's soul in season 2, Lindsey [=McDonald=] shows up with Drusilla and an army of thugs, tasers Angel, and makes him watch as Drusilla turns Darla into a vampire again. This pushes Angel into complete HeWhoFightsMonsters territory for the next few episodes.
* FreudianExcuse: Wesley, of all people, chastises Angel for hiding behind his gypsy curse so he doesn't have to face having serious relationships with women. Angel acknowledges he is ''completely right''.
* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: TropeCodifier. Spike's the trope namer

[[/folder]]

[[folder:G-M]]
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Season three's "Birthday" depicts an alternate reality in which Cordelia never joined Angel Investigations. Doyle passed his visions on to Angel prior to his HeroicSacrifice, and Angel retreated into himself in his grief, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity with the visions only making things worse]]. Before long, Angel went completely insane from his own loneliness and his visions, to the extent that he would have visions of his victims. The worst of it all is that what Cordelia sees of that version of Angel, a babbling, incoherent mess who starts pounding his head on the wall while talking to her, is, according to that world's Wesley and Gunn, him on a good day.
* GoalInLife: To protect Buffy as she assumes the Slayer mantle and, later, to fulfill the Shanshu Prophecy and become human. Angel sometimes [[ZigZaggingTrope deviates from this]], for various reasons, among them a belief that his mission is being clouded by self-interest. By the fifth season, his faith wavers to the point of dismissing the Prophecy entirely. In the Series Finale, [[spoiler:Angel is forced to literally sign away his chances in the human sweepstakes, nullifying the prophecy]] with a signature in blood. In the comic continuation, the Senior Partners finally give him a glimpse of the Shanshu Prophecy: Himself [[BadFuture standing in an apocalyptic wasteland]], [[FutureMeScaresMe grinning like a maniac]]. Now, Angel's goal is to keep improving the world ''in spite'' of the Prophecy; with luck, the future can be altered. (Unless the Partners were just dicking with him again.)
* GollumMadeMeDoIt: On ''Angel'', Angelus is shown as a distinct personality, self-image, and memories of his own - though the latter was the result of a spell that affected Angel's memory of Angelus's experiences with the Beast. This is a slight departure from ''Buffy'', in which Angelus was just Angel with his RestrainingBolt removed.
* GoodIsNotSoft: He ''is'' a nice guy most of the time, but he can switch to ruthless at the drop of a hat and he has a hundred and fifty years of doing extremely horrible things to people for giggles to draw on. It is also not a good idea to go after people he cares about.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Smokes cigarettes as Angelus, as well as during his KnightTemplar phase in ''Angel'' season 2.
* GrapplingHookGun: Uses one twice in ''Angel'' season 1, once in "Lonely Hearts" and once in "She." The first time, his attempt caused the wooden beam he latched onto to collapse under his weight.
* GypsyCurse: Gypsies are responsible for returning his soul so he would be overwhelmed by 200 years of guilt. It's also the reason he can never be perfectly happy because he would lose his soul.
* HasAType: Angel loves heroes. He spends his time on Buffy in love with the eponymous heroine. Then on his own show he falls for Cordelia following her CharacterDevelopment into one of the biggest damn heroes of the Buffyverse. Then he gets a girlfriend named Nina who he's very fond of, but who doesn't give him that moment of true happiness.

* HellBentForLeather: Famous for his Leather Pants of Evil, which he never lived down.
* 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.
* HerosClassicCar: Noted for his '67 Plymouth GTX, which Spike dubbed the Angelmobile.
* HeroesLoveDogs: Lampshaded by Angelus, who offers to send Angel "to that big puppy pound in the sky" as revenge for all those puppies he's saved. PlayedForLaughs when Gunn assures him that he'll get along fine with The Conduit -- as long as he likes cats. Whoops.
* HeroicBSOD: Sometimes caused by remorse over his own actions, other times brought on by a century-long stay in Hell which leaves him [[ThousandYardStare a trembling mute]]. Lampshaded on ''Angel'', when Spike joins the cast.
-->"I spent ''a hundred years'' trying to come to terms with infinite remorse! You spent three weeks [[BasementDweller moaning in a basement]], '''AND THEN YOU WERE FINE'''! What's fair about that?!"
* HeroismWontPayTheBills: Becomes a theme 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.
* HiddenDepths: Despite his usual all-black attire, he has surprisingly good taste in clothing: when buying off Cordelia in ''Disharmony'', she notes, ecstatic, that he 'has a gay man's taste' in clothes.

* HollywoodToneDeaf: On his own show, which displays his more private foibles in a way the original show doesn't. Wang Chung will never recover.
* HopelessWithTech: Never really gets the hang of cell phones.
--> "They talk about me in the chatty rooms?"
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: In the past, he was ''the'' most evil and brutal vampire in recorded history... until his soul was restored by a GypsyCurse. From there, he began a downward spiral while WalkingTheEarth, until Whistler finds him on the streets of New York, living in the gutters and [[ReducedToRatburgers feeding on rats]]. Seeing Buffy and [[ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne her struggles as the Slayer]] inspires Angel to claw his way back up and make something of himself again.

* HunterOfHisOwnKind: The vampire community still can't believe their most revered hero is now gutting them in the shadows, for ''money''.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** He breaks up with Buffy because he wants her to be with a normal guy, but then the minute she is with one (aka Riley), behaves resentfully and practically provokes his fight with Riley by insinuating he "lost his soul again" (translation: "slept with Buffy") and then acts like he's entirely blameless.
** When Angel visits Sunnydale to protect Buffy, he keeps his a presence a secret from everyone but her, able to see her but she can't see him. This hypocrisy is called out by Giles and later Buffy herself, although Angel justifies it in both cases as "protecting her."
** Angel tries to kill Wesley and alienates him from the team for being responsible for Connor in Quor'toth and raised by Holtz even though it was a "mistake for the greater good" ... Something Angel continually does himself, which he does eventually acknowledge.
** He constantly makes decisions that affect others without consulting them first, such as his break-up with Buffy, wiping everyone's memories of Connor, rewinding his one human day with Buffy that only he remembers, and [[spoiler: his choice to become Twilight and the Twilight prophecy, which involved Buffy in a deep and intimate way.]]
** Angel gets jealous and pissy with Buffy over Spike, even though at this point in the series he had also fallen for Cordelia and even had a kid with Darla he may or may not have told her about...
* IAmAMonster: Shouted in Romanian while being dragged off into an alley to be beaten. This was in 1898, shortly after Angel was cursed.
* ICantDance: He proved quite adept at slow dancing in Sunnydale. But when invited to a party for hip twentysomethings, he [[ImagineSpot imagines]] himself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8fcH8I4bp0 flailing about like a spaz]].
* ILoveYouVampireSon:
** With Darla; Angel definitely holds some animosity toward her, yet maintains an almost filial devotion.
** With Connor, who is, ironically, human. (Mostly.)
** Spike has a cathartic moment when he confronts Angel for fashioning him into the monster he is; Drusilla was his sire but Angelus was his ''[[EvilMentor Yoda]]''. On another note, they were never intimate, "Except for that one time..."
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy:
** As of Season 10, he's trying to do this for Buffy, who's now dating Spike... but privately admits to Willow that he's still carrying a torch for her, and part of him is actually hoping that they break up.
** In Season 3 of his show, he didn't put up a fight for Cordelia against the Groosalug, even ''paying for their romantic vacation together'', because he wanted her to be happy.
* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: Angel in the [[TheSeventies '70s]]. There's a positive side to not being able to see your reflection sometimes.
* ImmortalImmaturity:
-->'''Angel''': You know, ''I'' started it. The whole "having a soul". Before it was all the cool new thing.\\
'''Buffy:''' Oh, my God. Are you ''twelve''?
* ImmortalLifeIsCheap: Spike doesn't bother aiming ''around'' Angel to hit a target; Spike just [[ShootTheHostage stabs right through him]]. In all fairness, that ''was'' Spike...
-->'''Spike:''' [[BlatantLies Heat of battle. Wasn't time]].\\
'''Angel:''' You just like stabbing me.\\
'''Spike:''' I'm shocked that you'd say that! [[DistinctionWithoutADifference I much prefer hitting you with blunt instruments.]]
* ImmortalityHurts: Try spending it at the bottom of the Pacific. Gives you some perspective. Kind of an M. C. Escher perspective.
* InASingleBound: when he wants to get up high, he can jump very, very high.
* InstantFanClub: Angelus' groupies, Karl and Paco.

* {{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).
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Angel has been prone to doing this, such as his KnightTemplar phase in Season 2 and his actions as Twilight in the Season 8 comics. He even admits as such, which is why he asks Faith to act as his MoralityPet in ''Angel & Faith''.
* KindRestraints: Voluntarily chained up or thrown behind bars whenever he feels the bad side coming on, similar to Oz. Although Cordelia seemed to enjoy it a little too much.
* KnightOfCerebus: The previous villains certainly weren't harmless, but ''[[Series/{{BuffyTheVampireSlayer}} Buffy]]'' became much darker once Angelus was unleashed.
* KnightTemplar: Turns against his friends for a few months as he goes on a crusade of punishing the guilty (Wolfram & Hart), rather than helping the helpless.
-->"Let them fight 'the good fight'. Someone's gotta fight the war."
* KnightInSourArmor: Even if the world sucks and the fight will never end in his favor, someone has to keep it going. He even states at least once that he doesn't really believe that he'll ''ever'' be redeemed for his crimes, but keeps trying anyway.
* LargeAndInCharge: Angel's a pretty big guy and TheLeader of Angel Investigations.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: In Season 1, the revelation that Angel is a vampire was supposed to be a twist back in the day. If you were to tell that to someone with even a tiny amount of knowledge about the series now they would probably laugh at you. This is also the case with his first FaceHeelTurn.
* {{Leitmotif}}: A heroic sounding anthem, later phased out in the third season. Brought back intentionally for a moment in Season 5 when Angel is in desperate need to rediscover his original mission statement of helping the helpless.
* LighterAndSofter: Angel is very much this as a character: around Buffy, the love of his life, she makes him very jittery and on edge causing him to act off kilter. When she's away from him Angel is still taciturn, at first, but quickly grows more personable and can joke, even at himself.
* LimitedWardrobe: Even after becoming incredibly wealthy and having access to a limitless wardrobe, he still wears black all the time.
* LoveInterest: He is one for Buffy, starting out as her MysteriousProtector and the moving into a StarCrossedLovers thing.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: Literally; "perfect happiness" turns him into Angelus.
* MadArtist: Angelus was very protective of his 'work', considering it art. Drusilla was what you might call an extended performance piece. This was a major contrasting (and contentious) point between Angelus and Spike; Angelus was a SerialKiller who revelled in the "artistry" of his kills, while Spike was just a BloodKnight who loved violence as an end in and of itself.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Angelus was always coiffed in the old days.
* ManipulativeBastard: Angelus's talent for (often sadistic) mind games and deception are legendary. Though he rarely makes use of it, Angel is still dangerously capable in this regard.
* MartyrWithoutACause: If there's no evil around to throw himself in front of protecting innocents, he will either run out and find some more or he will wind up defending ''lesser'' evils while tormenting himself for doing so. It's a complex.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Part of the reason he leaves Buffy, the other, of course, being his CurseEscapeClause.
* MercyKillArrangement: When Angelus is intentionally summoned, via removal of Angel's soul, to get information about the Beast, Angel makes his team promise to kill him if Angelus gets out of his cage. He does cause more trouble than they thought, but they don't have to do it.
* MisplacedRetribution: The gypsies didn't really think that through. ''Angel'' has to spend all of eternity suffering for the crimes of ''Angelus''? Liam was a womanising jerk at worst, but Darla murdered him and a demon spent two centuries murdering and marauding with his face.
* 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.
-->'''Angel:''' When I do, I'll let you know.
* TheMovieBuff: A fan of Charlton Heston movies, particularly ''{{Film/The Omega Man}}''. What a surprise. He's also seen enough vampire flicks to formulate opinions on which ones are more accurate. [[spoiler:(Frank Langella nailed it.)]]
* MundaneSolution: In "Double or Nothing," he attempts this with Jenoff, who seeks to collect Gunn's soul in accordance with a DealWithTheDevil he made years later. After failing a game for his own soul, he has Cordelia [[ImpaledPalm stake Jenoff's hand to the table]] and lops off his head. It's then subverted, as Jenoff [[LosingYourHead simply grows a new head]]; Gunn even points out to Angel that if killing Jenoff were that easy, he would have done it himself.
* MrFanservice: Shirtless often. The man likes his tai chi. He really is something to look at, and he's often chained up and tortured. He's even been bound by a vampire dominatrix more than once.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Thanks to his gypsy curse, Angel is in a perpetual state of horror, shame, and remorse over the century of carnage he wrought as Angelus. It was especially pronounced immediately after the curse was first inflicted; he spent quite some time afterwards lurking in the shadows, muttering about how horrible the things he did were.
* MysteriousProtector: [[BuffySpeak Cryptic Guy]] -- in the first season he'd turn up, warn Buffy of some danger, then vanish. It takes a while for Angel to evolve into the badass hero he is now.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:N-Y]]
* NeverMyFault: In the comics, both Xander and Nadira outright accuse him of always having an excuse for why something isn't his fault, from [[spoiler: killing Giles at the end of Season 8]] to Drusilla killing one of Nadira's fellow Slayers after Angel let her escape:
-->'''Nadira:''' You kill demons and monsters and elder gods like you're swatting bloody flies, but one vampire keeps getting away from you. One vampire you "sired," isn't that what you leeches call it? One vampire you shagged. One vampire you spent a hundred years slaughtering people with. Now another girl's dead. One more body on the pile. And here you are, full of excuses, reasons why it's not your damn fault.
* 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]].

* NotGoodWithPeople:
-->"I have two modes with people: Bite and avoid."
** Ironically, as is seen in later episodes, Angel [[GoMadFromTheIsolation does not cope well under solitude]].
* NotSoStoic: He has his moments, such as his UnstoppableRage moment at the end of "Forgiving," and his angry rant at Buffy at the end of "Sanctuary." He even lampshades it in the latter:
-->'''Angel:''' For a taciturn, shadowy guy, I've got a big mouth.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Angel is fond of playing this role, often as a HawaiianShirtedTourist. On set, the shorthand for this became "Herb Saunders" (Angel's alias in "Sense & Sensitivity").
* OfCorpseHesAlive: Any idiot can eat somebody. Angelus likes to make artistic statements with the bodies afterward. He infamously posed Jenny Calender like a doll in Giles' bed (staging the scene to resemble a romantic interlude), and tricked a man into thinking his slain sons were still "asleep".
* OffingTheOffspring: An ancient scroll prophesied that Angel is doomed to do this. [[spoiler:It's half-correct; Angel slays Connor in one timeline, but he survives in another reality.]]
* OmnicidalManiac: Angelus' endgame in season 2. After spending most of the season just screwing with Buffy's head, when Acathla shows up, he decides to revive the demon in order to suck the entire world into Hell ForTheEvulz.
-->"My friends, we're about to make history. End."

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: He is rarely called Liam. Lilah once called it a "wussy name".
* OnlyOneName: Fred had to lie and say "Angel" is Connor's last name, with Angel using the alias "Geraldo Angel." His original surname has also never been revealed.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Usually it's a sign of Angelus returning. [[spoiler: It can also be a sign of TranquilFury, as Wesley finds out.]]
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: It's hard for Boreanaz to maintain Angelus' Irish accent for more than half a minute.
* OpenHeartDentistry: Angel has shown himself able to dig bullets out of his own body when pressed for time.
* OpenSaysMe: Angel fights the good fight -- against doors.
* OpportunisticBastard: Angelus in Season 2 has no real plan beyond "screw with Buffy". It isn't until the last few episodes that Acathla arrives and gives him an actual goal to work towards, and even that falls into his general attitude of "[[ForTheEvulz I will be as big a dick as I can]]."
* PapaWolf: Towards Connor. It took an entire episode before anybody was allowed to even ''approach'' him. As of Season 4, you would do well to avoid even implying his existence.
* PatrickStewartSpeech:
** Often lampooned. Jasmine keeps turning his own ultimatums against him (like ''you've'' never eaten people!), and Lindsey confesses he just zones out when the yapping starts.
** In season 5, while he's in full flow of preaching to Illyria about the sanctity of all human life, including her flunky Knox despite the fact that Knox was the one who brought Illyria back and killed Fred, Wesley promptly cuts him short by gunning Knox down right then and there. Angel's response:
--->'''Angel:''' Were you even listening?
** Even [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Angelus]] has a turn mocking them.
--->'''Angelus:''' Oh, don't tell me; the "rousing-stiff-upper-lip speech". [[BlahBlahBlah Rah-Rah]], good over evil, do what must be done, hang in there it's almost Friday!
* PerversePuppet: Briefly becomes one in Season 5 of Angel
* PsychoticSmirk: Angelus always wears one because he's basically Psycho!Angel.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain:
** Angelus and his constant jibes at the wheelchair-bound Spike. He's got a million of 'em, ladies and gentlemen.
** When Angelus appears in season 4 of Series/{{Angel}}, he uses the word "retarded" often.
* PowerLossMakesYouStrong: The Senior Partners, upon sending L.A. to Hell (''After the Fall''), simultaneously [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor turn Angel human at the least convenient time possible]].
* PowerPerversionPotential: Angelus mentions his superhearing picking up on Fred and Gunn having sex in an adjacent hotel room, and indulging in {{A Date with Rosie Palms}}.
* ThePunishment: Two hundred years of guilt and a prohibition against perfect happiness...Man can those gypsies hold a grudge.
* 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.
-->'''The Judge:''' This one cannot be burned. He is clean.\\
'''Spike:''' "Clean"? You mean, he's...\\
'''The Judge:''' There's no humanity in him.\\
'''Angelus:''' I couldn't have said it better myself.
* PutOnABus: In ''Buffy''. At the end of "Graduation Day, Part 2," Angel, forced to accept that his relationship with Buffy is doomed, makes the decision to leave Sunnydale for good, becoming the protagonist of [[Series/{{Angel}} his own spin-off show in Los Angeles]]. However, he [[TheBusCameBack returns to Sunnydale]] at least OnceASeason, with the exception of ''Buffy'' Season 6.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Among his many, many other crimes, Angelus also has a number of rapes to his name. During his re-emergence in Season 4 of ''Angel'', he explicitly threatens to rape Cordelia and Fred.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Just as he casts off the Angelus persona, Buffy runs him through with a sword and he gets pulled into {{Hell}} by Acathla. He comes back later.]]
* ReducedToRatburgers: By the time Whistler found him, Angel was homeless and scrounging off of rat blood. (To add insult to injury, he has difficulty catching one.)
* 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.
* RelationshipUpgrade: With Illyria in the Season 11 comics and throughout ''Buffy'' Season 12.
* RescueRomance: Strikes one up with Buffy, in Season One, their romance kicking into gear when he intervened to help her against the Three.

* 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.
* {{Sadist}}: Angelus is renowned for being ''incredibly'' sadistic in his killings.
-->'''Angelus:''' I mean, the last time I tortured somebody, they didn't even ''have'' chainsaws!
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Not only can Angel [[TheNoseKnows sniff the air]] and tell if the soil beneath him has been disturbed, he can glance at a spot of blood and immediately determine ''who and what it belongs to''. This sort of blood hyper-analysis appears to be common to vamps. Spike mentions that you can tell if someone's evil by [[SniffSniffNom tasting their blood]] (it tastes like pennies).
* ScrewDestiny: States something to this effect in the Season 12 comics, when told that nothing can stop the Reckoning.
-->'''Angel:''' Nothing’s final! Not fate, not prophecies, not what's in history books.
* SelfMadeOrphan: "My parents were great. [[BaitAndSwitchComment Tasted a lot like chicken]]."
* SenseiForScoundrels: Angelus served as such for Spike. Spike even states that while Drusilla was the one who sired him, Angel was the one who ''actually'' made him a monster.
* SerialKiller: Unlike most vampires, Angelus didn't just kill for food or to raise other vampires, he went above and beyond, elaborately staging death scenes for both entertainment and [[MadArtist artistic]] value.
* TheSociopath: Angelus fits the criteria: he's brutally sadistic, violent, highly intelligent, manipulative, ruthless, and ''only'' cares about making people suffer. In the very episode where he first returns, "Innocence," the Judge, a demon with the power to incinerate any being who has humanity (more specifically human emotions) tried to fry him, only for Angelus to NoSell it; as stated by Giles, only "true creatures of evil" could survive the Judge's TouchOfDeath.
* SoleSurvivor: With the deaths of Doyle, Cordelia, and Wesley, Angel is the last (un)living member of the first iteration of Angel Investigations, which operated in the offices that got blown up by Vocah in the Season 1 finale.
* ShooOutTheClowns: Poor Spike is left to rot in a wheelchair while the significantly less cuddly Angelus steals the spotlight.
%%* SidekickGraduationsStick
* SpikyHair: Lampshaded on more than one occasion. Angel seems shocked when he views his reflection for the first time in Pylea, implying that his hairstyle is some sort of tragic accident.
-->''(examining head)'' "Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"

* StagesOfMonsterGrief: ''Buffy'' previously flashed back to Angelus getting re-ensouled; ''Angel'' covers everything that happened before and after. It should be noted that this is [[InvertedTrope an inversion]] of the trope as well, since Angel identifies more with Angelus than with with his original self, Liam - who, by the end of the show, he barely remembers being. It could be said that his grief was more over losing his freedom as a vampire by regaining his humanity than having been a human who was turned into a vampire. With his stages being:
** Denial: His attempts to continue his life as a vampire despite his re-ensoulment.
** Defiance: Angel never got to properly experience this stage, since Darla killed all the gypsies who re-ensouled him. He instead took it out on himself during his self-imposed 100 year exile from humanity and vampirekind. Angelus, however, did get to kill Jenny Calendar and an older male relative, both descendants of the gypsies who re-ensouled him.
** Acceptance: After he met Whistler and Buffy.
** Betrayal: Either after making love to Buffy and losing his soul, or.... [[FutureMeScaresMe stay tuned]]...
* StalkingIsLove: Angel in both his evil and not-evil incarnations. He met and fell in love with Buffy when she was 15. He then 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.) Spike thinks it's pathetic.
* StarCrossedLovers:
** Angel, vampire. Buffy, slayer thereof. Add that to his curse and its consequences if broken, and we have two crazy kids who aren't ever sorting it out.
** Also with Cordelia. The Powers themselves seem to enjoy interfering (literally, in one case) and stopping them from having a relationship. [[{{Recap/AngelS05E12YoureWelcome}} Their final episode together]] has them comment on this.
--->'''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.
* StealthHiBye: Lampshaded repeatedly.
-->'''Xander:''' Okay, that's ''it''. I'm putting a collar with a little bell around that guy.
* StrawNihilist: Angelus, unlike [[TheAntiNihilist Angel]] considers humans to only exist so that they can suffer and die. [[{{Sadist}} Not that Angelus minds, of course]].
* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: PhotographicMemory, SuperReflexes, ultra-sensitive hearing and sense of smell in the later seasons. When you re-watch the earlier seasons, you can't help but notice countless situations where, in retrospect, they inexplicably fail to help him. Angel mentioned that he can't control his photographic memory; it just [[HandWave "kicks in on instinct"]].
* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: Near the end of ''Buffy'' season 2, he decides to awaken Acathla and destroy the world, with him in it. [[GenericDoomsdayVillain Why exactly is unclear]].
* SuicideBySunlight: Attempted in "Amends", but he gets saved by a ChristmasMiracle.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Despite some initial belligerence, Buffy can't help noting this after their first meeting. Though he's often dubbed Tall, Dark and Broody instead.
* TeamDad: Lampshaded early on, in which Angel addresses a bickering Cordelia and Wesley as "children."
* TheTeetotaler: After a fashion. WordOfGod states that Angel's abstinence from human blood is a metaphor for this.
* 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]].
* ThisIsUnforgivable: In season 3, Wesley's actions lead to baby Connor being sent to a hell dimension with Holtz, albeit because Sahjhan had tricked him with a fake prophecy that claimed Angel would eventually kill Connor. Regardless, Angel is ''not'' happy with Wesley and tries to smother him with a pillow at the hospital, only to be stopped by Gunn and some orderlies and dragged away. All the while, Angel is screaming like a lunatic, angrily swearing to Wesley that he will ''never'' forgive him for what happened to Connor.
-->'''Angel:''' You'd think I'd forgive you?! ''[[BigNever NEVER]]!!''
* ToHellAndBack: Not only did he get paroled from Hell, he was willing to travel ''back'' into it and take out the Senior Partners.
* TokenHeroicOrc: Until Spike's HeelFaceTurn, he's the only real heroic vampire in existence; all other vampires are explicitly described as AlwaysChaoticEvil.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Angel Season 2. He gets over it in the appropriately titled "Epiphany."
* TranquilFury: Uses it quite a bit. When he [[UnstoppableRage drops]] the "Tranquil" part, [[PunctuatedForEmphasis run. For. Your. Life.]]
* TermsOfEndangerment: Angelus calls Buffy "lover" and "Buff" numerous times, just to remind her how it happened.
* 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.
* ThinkNothingOfIt: Much-ridiculed by Spike, who sees it as a cheap act to impress women.
* TortureForFunAndInformation: Why he captures Giles in "Becoming." Angelus brought him in to torture him for information on how to resurrect Acathla, but freely admits he ''hopes'' Giles resists because he doesn't want to be deprived of an opportunity to torture someone.
-->'''Angelus''': I wanna torture you. I used to love it, and it's been such a long time. I mean, the last time I tortured someone, they didn't even have chainsaws! [...] Acathla. He's an even harder guy to wake up than you are. I mean, I performed the rituals, said all the right phrases, blood on my hand. Got nothing. Big doughnut hole for my troubles. I figure you know the ritual. You're pretty up on these things. You could probably tell me what I'm doing wrong. But honestly, I sorta hope you don't...'Cause I '''really''' wanna torture you.
* TortureTechnician: He has some experience in this area. The mere threat is enough make people talk.

* TroubledButCute: he's MrFanservice and his default status is angst.
* UndeadTaxExemption: He has a driver's license, and successfully rents property in L.A. It's been lampshaded more than once; Kate Lockley points out to him that ''real'' detectives have licenses and surnames, and Gavin Park realizes at one point that they can shut Angel Investigations down by simply informing the government of Angel's ID issues (of course, soon after he does so, Lilah gives Angel all the documents he needs just to spite him).
* 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.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Darla. Cordelia compares them to an undead Bonnie and Clyde.
* UniquenessDecay: His famed status as the singular "Vampire with a Soul" gets hit with this when Spike is re-ensouled at the end of Season 6 of ''Buffy''. It's [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] several times afterwards, with Angel whining that ''he'' started the whole "having a soul" thing in the ''Buffy'' series finale and Spike (upon first showing up in Season 5 of ''Angel'') rubbing it in that Angel didn't share the news of Spike's accomplishment with his team because it made him feel less special. It's to the point where people start questioning if Angel is even the actual subject of the Shanshu Prophecy, since the text described a "Vampire with a Soul" without labeling Angel by name.
* UptightLovesWild: His blossoming feelings toward Cordy - Cordy's relatively wild, Angel is exceptionally tightly wound.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Wolfram & Hart's stated mission of bringing Angel to their side. Sound pretty far-fetched? The road to Hell is paved with good intentions...

* VampireDetective: Once he starts up Angel Investigations, he is a vampire taking cases.
* VampireRefugee: It's pointed out to him early on that he must do this out of necessity. Even if you're a fighter against evil, you can't afford to isolate yourself from the people you're trying to protect as you'll eventually stop caring and revert back to a monster. Angel thus gathers his RagtagBunchOfMisfits so he'll have some FireForgedFriends keeping him grounded.
* VegetarianVampire: Exclusively drinks [[MessyPig pig's blood]], which turns off some people. [[note]]Especially if you do the whole kosher thing.[[/note]] As Wolfram and Hart's CEO, he can afford to keep himself in otter blood.
* VillainCred: Even the Master held Angelus in high regard, intending to appoint him [[TheDragon Dragon]]. The Mayor was keen to have Angelus on his team, as well.
-->'''Nostoyev:''' Used to be quite the terror back in the day. Haven't heard much of you lately, though.\\
'''Angel:''' Haven't heard much of you, ''ever''.
* VillainousBSOD: Angel's curse was designed to invoked this by returning his soul and crushing him with guilt.
* WarriorPoet: Angel gives Buffy a copy of ''Literature/SonnetsFromThePortuguese'' for her eighteenth birthday. The moment highlights their MayflyDecemberRomance, as PopCulturedBadass Buffy has trouble appreciating the gift.
* WeCanRuleTogether: The protracted war between Angel Investigations and Wolfram & Hart LLC comes to an apparent close in [=A4=], when the firm suffers huge losses at the hands of Jasmine and her pet Beast. The firm magically rematerialized with a new office building, but with a worker shortage: Impressed by Angel's ingenuity and ideas, they offer him an ever-increasing suitcase of money -- essentially corporate head-hunting -- until he finally caves and unilaterally merges his agency into the firm (admittedly to save his son). This leads us into [=S5=] where most of Angel's ideas for reform end up in the conference room wastebasket.
* WeakButSkilled: As far as credible villains go, Angelus is not on the same scale as the ascended Mayor but he's a Master Vampire who has been in the game for over two hundred years and is powerful enough to stalemate Buffy, an unusually strong Slayer. His greatest asset, however, (aside from a meticulous brand of viciousness that would make ComicBook/TheJoker proud) is his inside knowledge of the Scoobies, which he uses to full effect.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Everything he did as Twilight was apparently to prevent anything like the Fall of Los Angeles from ever happening again.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Unlike Buffy, who flatly refuses to kill humans as she believes they're out of the Slayer's jurisdiction except in the most dire of circumstances, Angel is perfectly capable of and willing to take a human life if he feels the need arises. Case in point: he kills Vanessa Brewer, an AxCrazy PsychoForHire with a DisabilitySuperpower who, thanks to Wolfram & Hart, constantly got off [[KarmaHoudini totally scot-free]] before then.
* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:After he gets exposed as Twilight, everybody has this reaction to him, especially after it is revealed he was an UnwittingPawn to a evil dimension trying to end the world. After he gets possessed by the real Twilight and kills Giles and Buffy is forced to destroy the Seed of Wonder to stop the destruction of the world, the only ones willing to associate with Angel and not try to kill him are Buffy and Faith, and Buffy can't even ''look'' at him. Willow, however, has grown past this somewhat, but she still states that she hasn't forgiven him for his actions yet.]]
* WhenHeSmiles: [[{{Series/Firefly}} He makes everything]] [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0zu6nxQOS1qaimf2o4_250.gif shiny]]. Cordelia even lampshades it:
-->'''Cordelia:''' And you ought to do that more often.\\
'''Angel:''' Buy you food?\\
'''Cordelia:''' Smile.
* WhereIWasBornAndRazed: "I thought I'd take the village."
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Angel would rather be mortal again.
* WickedCultured: Angelus considers himself an [[MadArtist artist]], and declares destroying people physically and mentally to be artwork. He also has a liking for ballet, and freely admits in "Waiting in the Wings" that when he first saw the ballet ''Giselle'' in 1890, it moved him to tears.
-->'''Angelus:''' I cried like a baby. And I was ''evil''!
* TheWorfEffect: If someone's going to get punched across the room by the latest big nasty, it will be the immortal, super-powered vampire.
* WorfHadTheFlu: His loss to Spike in Angel Season 5, despite besting him in all their other fights, could be attributed to his self doubt over working with Wolfram and Hart and thus not fighting as hard as Spike, who was TheDeterminator in trying to prove himself worthy of the shanshu prophecy.
* YouNeedToGetLaid: Constantly told to do so while constantly reminded that he can't, or rather, ''shouldn't. He's not an eunch, but it would have worse results.
* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: Inverted. You really wouldn't like Angel when he's happy.

** Spike has a cathartic moment when he confronts Angel for fashioning him into the monster he is; Drusilla was his sire but Angelus was his ''[[EvilMentor Yoda]]''. On another note, they were never intimiate, "Except for that one time..."

* HiddenDepths: despite his usual all-black attire, he has surprisingly good taste in clothing: when buying off Cordelia in ''Disharmony'', she notes, ecstatic, that he 'has a gay man's taste' in clothes.

* TheAntiChrist: It's ambigious 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 Senor 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."

* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: When he fires his staff and severs ties with them in ''Angel'' Season 2. In "Happy Anniversary," he explains to Lorne that he did that to keep them away from that kind of dark territory and his revenge plot against Wolfram & Hart, as it would do more damage to them than being fired, like getting darker themselves despite their best attempts to prevent Angel from doing such terrible things. Since he didn't believe he'd be coming back, he had no plans to reveal these to them and continued to stay away from them.

* OneTrueLove: For Buffy and vice versa. Despite their efforts to move on, they retain feelings for one another throughout both characters' shows. Angel states outright in Season 8 that he and Buffy have such a connection that no matter how hard they try, they could ''never'' be truly happy with anyone else.

* TheAntiNihilist: