Sam Lawson

[LondonDude]

I was watching "Why we fight" and the vampire Sam Lawson(Angel sired him) claimed he didn't enjoyed killing or torturing people. Was it because Angel had a soul when he sired him at the time or was it possible he "lacked a mission"?

 

[Harlan Phoenix]

I'm pretty sure it was the fact Angel sired him while ensouled, yes.

 

[Tranquillity]

I disagree, I think that Sam Lawson found the vampire life pointless and thats why he was dissatisfied with his lot in life. The episode showed us that Sam was a truly excellent young man prior to his death and I would think that this has much more bearing on his vampiric personality and satisfaction with life than the fact that Angel bit him while he had a soul.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I disagree, I think that Sam Lawson found the vampire life pointless and thats why he was dissatisfied with his lot in life. The episode showed us that Sam was a truly excellent young man prior to his death and I would think that this has much more bearing on his vampiric personality and satisfaction with life than the fact that Angel bit him while he had a soul.

I agree with this. I think how a vampire is after they're turned depends a lot on how they were in their human life. The demon inside them only has so much control over how they are as a vampire.
Look at Spike. I think a lot of the "evil" inside him stemmed from the anger and resentment he felt at being bullied and made fun of for his poetry. Even as a vampire he was deeply romantic and felt deep love for the objects of his affection.
In her human life, Drusilla was already crazy because her visions confused her, and then Angelus' torture only made it worse; the demon inside her after he turned her into a vampire only intensified this.
It makes sense that this man didn't enjoy killing and torturing that much as a vampire, because he was a wonderful person in human life.

 

[caritas08]

I don't know. Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander are shown to be pretty evil and they were good in their human lives. And Angelus and Angel couldn't be more different from each other. I think it had to do with the fact that Angel was ensouled when he sired him.

 

[Tranquillity]

I don't know. Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander are shown to be pretty evil and they were good in their human lives. And Angelus and Angel couldn't be more different from each other. I think it had to do with the fact that Angel was ensouled when he sired him.

I'm not saying that Sam Lawson wan't evil. VampWillow and VampXander were just vampires doing vampire stuff, just as Lawson presumably did when he was a vampire. The difference is that Lawson didn't find any satisfaction in it after 60 odd years of doing it as opposed to VampXander and VampWillow who had only been doing it for a really short time (one can assume). Besides for all we know Willow might enjoy some bondage fun just like VampWillow does, so maybe they are no so different after all 😉 And actually, the human Liam and Angelus share many a trait (which Angel fights daily to keep said traits under control) which suggests that the person you were prior to sireing is very influential on the vampire you become.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I don't know. Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander are shown to be pretty evil and they were good in their human lives. And Angelus and Angel couldn't be more different from each other. I think it had to do with the fact that Angel was ensouled when he sired him.

I don't think Vamp Xander and Willow count; that was an alternate reality, not the actual world they actually lived in on the show. And Angel/Liam wasn't all that good as a person. As was pointed out to him in "Amends" he was a "drunken, whoring layabout".

 

[caritas08]

It's true that Liam wasn't that good of a person, but he was young and it is the exact same soul as Angel who continually sacrifices and fights for the good of humanity even though he knows believes that there probably won't be any happy ending for him.

 

[Dagenspear]

I don't think Vamp Xander and Willow count; that was an alternate reality, not the actual world they actually lived in on the show. And Angel/Liam wasn't all that good as a person. As was pointed out to him in "Amends" he was a "drunken, whoring layabout".

It was only alternate in the way that Buffy never came there. That doesn't change who Xander and Willow were before she came. Liam was a drunken idiot. That doesn't neccesarily make him a bad person. Just immature.

It was because Angel was ensouled when he sired him AND because he didn't have a mission. He didn't enjoy killing and didn't have a purpose beyond that, so he developed a deep rooted hatred for Angel, blaming him for this.