Darla=Vampire Buffy?

[scarybunny97]

Okay, I posted this over in the thread for S2 Angel, and I'd really love to discuss this thought with people. I may be totally off-base and I'm not married to the idea by any means. But, well, me likey good debate! So here's the thought:

Just today I had a thought that I'd love some feedback on: I've been considering the thought of Darla as the vampire version of Buffy. Now, I know there was that one nightmare ep. of Buffy in S1 where she *is* a vampire and she's nothing like Darla at all--but that whole thing was an illusion, so Buffy never actually lost her soul the way a real vampire would. So I started watching Darla in S2 and S3 of Angel, and it occurred to me . . . Darla follows her impulses/heart (which is a trait that Giles both chides and admires in Buffy), Darla is powerful, determined, but also possesses a great sense of fun (albeit an evil one). Darla the vampire threw herself into any challenge with confidence . . . take away the "evil" part and, well . . . you've kinda got Buffy, no?

Questions? Comments? Throwing of rotten food items?

 

[Blondie Bear]

*tosses a rotten tomato, missing on purpose*

I'm kidding. I think one of the books I read for my thesis mentioned that Darla was a (probably) purposeful foil/shadow for Buffy. It makes sense.

 

[palabravampiress]

^ I agree. I think Drusilla played that role in Buffy season 2 and Faith played that role in Buffy season 3. In Angel, though, I do think it is very likely that Darla played that role, albeit in a very Angel-centric sort of way.

 

[Lou]

And, poor Angel. Darla won't be with him because he's got a soul and Buffy won't be with him because he can lose the soul. He's just crap out of luck!

 

[scarybunny97]

So here's another question to build on the topic---do you think Angel's taste in women would have been the same after he got his soul back if he had been sired by and spent a century hunting and bonding with a vampire who was nothing at all like Darla? Example: lets say his sire had been some nervous, timid, smart, full-of-goofy-mannerisms type of vamp. Would he have felt the same overwhelming pull toward Buffy, or only followed her to Sunnydale to help her fight evil and be all good and stuff--and then been overpoweringly drawn to Willow? (I know it's a bizarre mental image for so many reasons, but think about it for a minute). Did the seeds of the Buffy/Angel bond actually begin waaaaaay back when Darla sired him? Because comparing Darla and Buffy's core characteristics, not to mention physical appearance, Angle clearly gravitated toward a type whether good or evil. And I seriously have to wonder if that "love at first sight" thing he experienced with Buffy really was based on a big cosmic "fated love" type thing, or if he felt connected to her so deeply right away because, well, he'd spent a century and change with her evil equivalent!

 

[palabravampiress]

^ Yes. Just yes. I think Angel clearly has a type, and I think that his time with Darla heavily influenced his ideas about how love and companionship should be and/or feel.

Of course, then you have to consider the fact that the writers clearly envisioned Buffy/Angel long before they fleshed out the Darla/Angelus backstory. I would argue that Buffy and Angel were, from the beginning, fated to be a Romeo and Juliet type of relationship and that the Darla flashbacks were written later to inform, expand, and reflect on the Angel/Buffy pairing.

I have always seen not only character foils in the Buffyverse, but also relationship or subplot foils. I don't think Darla and Buffy are foils so much as Darla/Angelus and Buffy/Angel and their respective relationship arcs are foils. I mean, the two women are foils, yes, but I think it applies to the relationships, as well. I think certain aspects of the Darla/Angel relationship were highlighted in order to throw certain aspects of the Buffy/Angel relationship into sharper relief.

 

[Kana]

So here's another question to build on the topic---do you think Angel's taste in women would have been the same after he got his soul back if he had been sired by and spent a century hunting and bonding with a vampire who was nothing at all like Darla? Example: lets say his sire had been some nervous, timid, smart, full-of-goofy-mannerisms type of vamp. Would he have felt the same overwhelming pull toward Buffy, or only followed her to Sunnydale to help her fight evil and be all good and stuff--and then been overpoweringly drawn to Willow? (I know it's a bizarre mental image for so many reasons, but think about it for a minute). Did the seeds of the Buffy/Angel bond actually begin waaaaaay back when Darla sired him? Because comparing Darla and Buffy's core characteristics, not to mention physical appearance, Angle clearly gravitated toward a type whether good or evil. And I seriously have to wonder if that "love at first sight" thing he experienced with Buffy really was based on a big cosmic "fated love" type thing, or if he felt connected to her so deeply right away because, well, he'd spent a century and change with her evil equivalent!

To be honest I do see the parallel but I think it has to do with Angel/Liam/Angelus wanting someone exciting and interesting to show him something new about what existence had to offer, both Darla and Buffy did that. He saw both women as guide, in a way, destiny presenting itself as sort of salvation from either the nauseatingly mundane or from the depths of nihilism. Funnily enough Cordy became that role in You're Welcome.

I think Angel does have a thing for blondes but he's not limited to that specifically.

Interestingly enough Darla's influence of corruption and impiety did a number on Angelus which is why she had a clear handle on his strengths and weaknesses. While Angelus was clearly more skilled in the art of sadism than she was, she certainly helped nuture it.

Darla's power over Angel truly ended in Epiphany. Angel learnt that existence has to defined by self not through others. Loving Buffy or saving/killing Darla isn't going to give him his purpose, all it did is bring out his dark side.

Another nice little parallel is Darla and Buffy the morning after. Both girl are surprised by his behaviour and wonder if it's them and whether they were "Not good". Angelus sought to perpetuate the mind games with Buffy that he shared with Darla but with Darla, he realises that the mere engagement in such a mental rivalry is part of what Darla holds over him. He also gives up on this whole idea of "It's fated, it's destiny". Angel finds inner strength independent of 'his women' or the higher powers above.

 

[scarybunny97]

Darla's power over Angel truly ended in Epiphany. Angel learnt that existence has to defined by self not through others. Loving Buffy or saving/killing Darla isn't going to give him his purpose, all it did is bring out his dark side.

Another nice little parallel is Darla and Buffy the morning after. Both girl are surprised by his behaviour and wonder if it's them and whether they were "Not good". Angelus sought to perpetuate the mind games with Buffy that he shared with Darla but with Darla, he realises that the mere engagement in such a mental rivalry is part of what Darla holds over him. He also gives up on this whole idea of "It's fated, it's destiny". Angel finds inner strength independent of 'his women' or the higher powers above.

Regarding Darla's power over Angel: Yes, that specific dynamic ends in Epiphany . . . but then they become connected again in S3 because of the pregnancy. And for THE FIRST time in the history of their relationship, it is symbiotic. He needs her to survive and give birth, and she needs him to protect both her and their child.

As for more Buffy/Darla parallels, your mention of their "morning after" reactions made me realize there is another common reaction between them. The willingness to die for family. Sure, both of them are in danger all the time by nature of what they are respectively--but in S5 of Buffy, Buffy throws herself off that tower knowing that it will kill her in order to save Dawn. Likewise, Darla with her borrowed soul stakes herself to save her son. Facing death to protect family is a biological imperative, yes, but flat-out suicide is a step beyond that, IMO. Everyone likes to think they would do it to protect family, but in reality not everyone has the fortitude. Both Buffy and Darla proved that they did.

This whole conversation is making me think of Darla differently than I ever had before. If the birth of Conner was foretold in prophecy . . . then doesn't it stand to reason that whatever her name was before she became a vampire--becoming a vampire was also part of her destiny as the one-day mother of Conner? Drat. Now my head hurts!