Question Angel: If Buffy Never Came To Sunnydale

[Summerlilly]

In the Wish how could Angel have died so easily if Buffy never lived in Sunnydale? He gets dusted during the fight...and Buffy doesn't even care because she doesn't know him. Personally, I'm suprised they didn't give Angels character more credit. He gets tortured by Willow and the Master....and then he just gets dusted. I think Angel would have still been a champion even if he never loved Buffy. He had much more of a destiny than to get himself killed like he didn't even matter. He's still ANGEL and he deserved better.

 

[crazysoulless]

But he wasn't ANGEL. He wasn't a "Champion" when he met Buffy. It was two demons (Whistler & Doyle) and the Slayer (Buffy) that helped transform him into who he was by S1 of AtS. What did he do the first 98 years after regaining his soul? He tried to rejoin the Fang Gang for two years. Was a drifter for another seventy-six years. And then he lived in alleyways feeding on rats for twenty years.

It wasn't until 1996 that the Powers That Be decided to try to convince him he should be doing more with his soul and his immortality. And they did that by showing him Buffy. She was his catalyst for change. He found someone that he could truly connect with, someone for whom he experienced love for the time in his lengthy life, a hero that inspired him to be heroic and selfless, a reason to believe in the good of humanity again, etc.

 

[Skytteflickan88]

I'm not sure the writers thought about what a champion he could be in season 3. Plans for his own show might have been in the work, but I doubt they saw him as a epic hero yet. But that's kind of beside the point. Xander grew to be a great man and Willow a uber-witch, and they all got staked too. Not because of who they were, but to show the audience how the world and the characters would have been like if Buffy hadn't moved to the "right" town.

And like crazysoulless said, Angel (and the others) didn't become great until Buffy came along. Not that it didn't hurt inside me, and still does, seeing the soon-to-be-champion-and-father giving up his life for a woman who would never love him back (at least not in that verse).

And let's also remember that even tough the other characters have their own arcs, they're all there to help tell Buffy's story, and to sometime work as catalysts to propel Buffy's story forward. I don't think that mattered that much when deciding to stake Angel, but that he was a smaller character on Buffy always mattered. The more "main" you are (specially if your name is in the titlel) the more likely the story will be about your journey, not anyone elses.

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

Angel waited for Buffy. He belived she'll come. They couldn't give him more credit, because he wasn't champion back then. He was just a vampire with a soul who wanted to change things. But he didn't knew how to change them. Buffy changed Angel. She showed him to be a champion, how to fight for the things you love, and she did that only by loving him.

That episode was a harsh picture of reality if Buffy never came to Sunnydale. We saw our favourite characters die, and they wanted to show us that one person can make a difference.

 

[Eleftheria]

I very much agree with what crazysoulless and PB said.

Certainly Angel is someone special. A vampire with a soul. But old habits die hard. Even with a soul, he couldn't go away from Darla right away. She was his security. She was his life until they gave him a soul and all the emotions and the conscience came back. It's like a father sending away a child. The child will try to come back, that's how the child used to live. But sometime in the future the child will learn to survive on its own.

Buffy was his hope. His light. Whistler showed him how a young, innocent girl is Called for a greater destiny. She lost her innocence in a young age fighting vampires but she did sth great. Saving innocent people. So, Angel is motivated to use his soul and great strength as a vampire to help the Slayer. Buffy is a great factor in Angel's life. In Amends she prepared him to become a champion. When he was ready to give up, her love brought him back to his purpose.

 

[Summerlilly]

But he wasn't ANGEL. He wasn't a "Champion" when he met Buffy. It was two demons (Whistler & Doyle) and the Slayer (Buffy) that helped transform him into who he was by S1 of AtS. What did he do the first 98 years after regaining his soul? He tried to rejoin the Fang Gang for two years. Was a drifter for another seventy-six years. And then he lived in alleyways feeding on rats for twenty years.

It wasn't until 1996 that the Powers That Be decided to try to convince him he should be doing more with his soul and his immortality. And they did that by showing him Buffy. She was his catalyst for change. He found someone that he could truly connect with, someone for whom he experienced love for the time in his lengthy life, a hero that inspired him to be heroic and selfless, a reason to believe in the good of humanity again, etc.

Good points... I guess I just still don't feel convinced. A vampire with a soul is something unique, right? Was there ever one before Angel? I just think Angel deserves more credit. Maybe he wasn't a true champion yet or a bigger character than anyone else at that point....but shouldn't the powers that be known he was something important even from the begining? Maybe he wasn't who he really was without meeting Buffy.....but I want to believe one day he would have started fighting for redemption and defending good even without Buffy. Don't get me wrong, I love what you just described about Buffy inspiring him and I'm a big Bangel lover but....I thought a vampire with a soul was something special.

 

[Giantevilhead]

It was an alternate universe of unfulfilled potential. Even the Master's potential was unfulfilled. Sure the Master took over the town and built a factory that harvest human blood but in the regular 'verse, his plan was to open the Hellmouth to unleash the Old Ones and bring doom upon the earth.