This is a geekish philosophical buffyverse question. Not sure if there's an answer. Assume it's been discussed ad infinitum. I've never quite understood how the buffy/angel writers would define a soul or a vampire. Is a soul a person's mind and true essence or merely his conscience?
Angel feels guilt, horror for the evil committed by Angelus. Intellectually, he knows he's not responsible. But he remembers everything and feels just like one would if one had performed the acts himself, I'm guessing. The demon called Angelus and Liam now inhabit the same body, yet they are two distinct beings, right?. Maybe not? Maybe the two beings kind of warp eachother's basic personalities, natures. Liam as such no longer exists, nor does a purely evil demon Angelus. Just don't know.
I was thinking of this because of Spike. This demon/vampire calling itself "Spike" seems more noble, or at least less evil than Angelus. The demon/vampire willingly reensouled the body it was inhabiting because it wanted Buffy. Spike/William went nuts for awhile thereafter but then recovered. Apparently, Spike willingly relinquished contol over this body to be just a vicarious witness to Willam's actions from that point on. Or are both somehow in charge simultaneously?
It's easy to distinguish who's behind the wheel when it comes to Angel vs Angelus. Spike the former soulless demon seems to be the same sarcastic cocky SOB before and after. I can't detect two distinct personalities there. Where's William, the sad sack loser? Did he decide he liked the personality of Spike the demon better than himself and decided to adopt that persona? And is the demon called Spike now buried within William, like Angelus is buried within Angel?
Angel feels guilt, horror for the evil committed by Angelus. Intellectually, he knows he's not responsible. But he remembers everything and feels just like one would if one had performed the acts himself, I'm guessing. The demon called Angelus and Liam now inhabit the same body, yet they are two distinct beings, right?. Maybe not? Maybe the two beings kind of warp eachother's basic personalities, natures. Liam as such no longer exists, nor does a purely evil demon Angelus. Just don't know.
I was thinking of this because of Spike. This demon/vampire calling itself "Spike" seems more noble, or at least less evil than Angelus. The demon/vampire willingly reensouled the body it was inhabiting because it wanted Buffy. Spike/William went nuts for awhile thereafter but then recovered. Apparently, Spike willingly relinquished contol over this body to be just a vicarious witness to Willam's actions from that point on. Or are both somehow in charge simultaneously?
It's easy to distinguish who's behind the wheel when it comes to Angel vs Angelus. Spike the former soulless demon seems to be the same sarcastic cocky SOB before and after. I can't detect two distinct personalities there. Where's William, the sad sack loser? Did he decide he liked the personality of Spike the demon better than himself and decided to adopt that persona? And is the demon called Spike now buried within William, like Angelus is buried within Angel?
C
Cookie Dough
One of the reasons I dislike Spike. The writers didn't write him very well.