Does either Show (Buffy/Angel) Clearly illustrate if a vampire can love?

Riderofapocalypse

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just as the title asks. If the answer is yes, please direct me to/give me an example so I can check it out myself.
And i mean a vampire who doesn't have a soul, who's name isn't Spike.
 
Hmm, Spike is definitely the proof to me that vampires can love. But if it can't be Buffy and Spike, how about Spike and Dru, Angel and Darla, Darla and the master, Angel's love of Connor, Angel and Cordy, those two vampires on Angel that were in love and Holtz hated (can't remember their names). I think it is pretty clear a vampire can love. Dru said they can "love well if not wisely".
 
Yes. Best example:

Heartthrob

That said...I believe this was just invented to save Spike, that is, I think it originally had Spike coming to LA to get into a fight with Angel over Buffy (remember, this is right after season 5 Buffy) and Spike getting the chip out of his head but eventually killing himself over love as the show contrasted the "mature and immature" ways of dealing with the loss of love, but in a decision to save Spike they invented the couple featured here instead (so that instead of Spike, it was a new vampire we learned of named James), though if they could use the story to show Holtz then so much the better. That's my personal theory, anyway.
 
Season 2 Spike (so pre-soul) clearly demonstrates that vampires can love where his care and concern is for Drusilla getting better.
 
I think Dru taking care of Spike when he was crippled was also a sign of love. Most vampires seem to be hardcore Darwinian (even leaving their spawn to prove their worth by surviving on their own unless their sires have an immediate selfish use for them), but Dru isn't. Her feelings are also hurt by Spike's anger.

And so was Harmony, though she's so shallow and vapid that it's hard to say how much is vulnerability to another and how much is a self-esteem issue (vampires were supposed to overcome that, like with Jesse, but it didn't seem to work that way with Harmony).

Darla seemed torn between the Master and Angelus, similar to being torn between one's daddy and one's love interest. I'd hazard that she loved both fiends in the twisted way vampires can.

I think Vampire Willow & Xander showed mutual love (affection anyway) in the Wishverse.
 
I think that it probably depends on your definition of the word. Certainly, Spike loved Dru. I have little doubt that it was a strictly one way relationship, however. Granted, she took care of him after the Season 2 finale, but I can't help but wonder if she would have done so if Angelus had survived. Dru doesn't like to be alone. Given her mental state, I seriously doubt that she could survive very long without someone looking out for her, despite the fact that she seems to be doing so from one guest appearance to the next on the two shows. (O course, I feel he same way about Harmony, so I'm obviously missing something in the character of both wing nuts...I mean, vampires.

Angelus never loved anyone or anything, beyond the taste of hot, fresh blood, the younger and more innocent, the better. Angel, yes, but that might be cheating, since the possession of a soul seems to be what does it for him, and souls aren't standard vampire equipment.

Darla felt a certain amount of loyalty to the Master, and possessiveness of "her boy," but only to the point that it served her purposes. A choice between either one, and her own skin, and she would choose her skin, hands down.

Besides Spike, we had one example of a vampire who, apparently actually loved his mate (James?) so it obviously isn't totally beyond possibility for a vampire to actually feel love, it's obviously even more rare than straight talk from a politician.
 
I think that it probably depends on your definition of the word. Certainly, Spike loved Dru. I have little doubt that it was a strictly one way relationship, however. Granted, she took care of him after the Season 2 finale, but I can't help but wonder if she would have done so if Angelus had survived. Dru doesn't like to be alone. Given her mental state, I seriously doubt that she could survive very long without someone looking out for her, despite the fact that she seems to be doing so from one guest appearance to the next on the two shows.

I think Dru is a lot smarter than she makes out she is. She enjoys the attention she get from Spike so I think she does play up for effect sometimes eg when Spike snaps at her, she does the little whine to elicit sympathy from him. She has him wrapped around her little finger but I think she does love him as much as she is capable. Even with Angelus, she's asking Spike if he wants to come on their little hunting jaunts and it's Angelus who's turning around and saying no.

Dru doesn't love Angelus in the way she loves Spike, but there is a twisted relationship there where Angelus takes advantage of Drusilla because he can and Drusilla has been trained to let him. I think Spike's reaction to the situation supports this. When Dru cheats on him with the chaos demon, he's upset with her. He tries to rationalise it "she only did it to hurt me" but holds Dru accountable. He wants her back because he loves her but her actions are her own. With Angelus/Dru, Spike fully blames Angelus. When Buffy calls Dru "a big ho", Spike punches her. Spike's hurt in season 2 is more that he can't protect Dru from Angelus while he's in a wheelchair whereas in season 3 his hurt is that she doesn't love him anymore if that makes sense.

Angelus never loved anyone or anything, beyond the taste of hot, fresh blood, the younger and more innocent, the better. Angel, yes, but that might be cheating, since the possession of a soul seems to be what does it for him, and souls aren't standard vampire equipment.

I agree with this though he did seem to have a great level of affection for Darla.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll look at the examples and see what i think.
I should have mentioned that i was looking for love between a souless vampire (who isn't Spike) loving a human (super powered or not). This stemmed from talking about Spike's character change when he fell for Buffy.
But still good references. Thank you! (I completely forgot about James and his girlfriend)
 
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll look at the examples and see what i think.
I should have mentioned that i was looking for love between a souless vampire (who isn't Spike) loving a human (super powered or not). This stemmed from talking about Spike's character change when he fell for Buffy.
But still good references. Thank you! (I completely forgot about James and his girlfriend)

Spike got on very well with Joyce pre-chip. He was drinking hot chocolate with her and spilling his woes, though he was drunk at the time so that's kind of a non-romantic love plus apparently that continued up to Joyce's death. The only vampires the show really focusses on in great deal are Spike and Angel so I think you'll be hard pushed to find a soulless example that isn't Spike to be honest.
 
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