Question Why is Angel the most sadistic vampire of all time?

[affrosponge88]

Hello all.

I've gotten a friend started on Buffy (yay!) and he posed a question to me that I believe you all are better suited to answer since it's been awhile since I've watched the series in depth. My friend is having a hard time with the justification behind why Angelus is so much more sadistic than any other vampire. If he lost his soul, he should just be like any other vampire. So what makes him the most horrible vampire of all? I don't mean specific acts, like 'he did this and he did that', but specifically "why" is he worse than any other vampire?

Is this ever explained (if it's explained in a future episode, and I'm forgetting, feel free to post that here since I'm going to be reading the question, not him).

Thanks.

 

[Kean]

I don't think he is that worse than any vampire, at least in terms of body count etc. The reason the show gives is that he enjoyed it, that he made an art of it. It wasn't enough to kill someone, he had to destroy them first.

 

[affrosponge88]

I don't think he is that worse than any vampire, at least in terms of body count etc. The reason the show gives is that he enjoyed it, that he made an art of it. It wasn't enough to kill someone, he had to destroy them first.

Right, so if this is true, then why don't other vampires enjoy this as much as he does? Basically, the show clearly tries to make him out as the "worst" vampire, and I'm wondering if they ever justify why it is that he turned out that way.

 

[Kean]

Right, so if this is true, then why don't other vampires enjoy this as much as he does? Basically, the show clearly tries to make him out as the "worst" vampire, and I'm wondering if they ever justify why it is that he turned out that way.

Well, if we look at them, I think other vampires do enjoy it just as much. Spike certainly enjoyed killing, Darla has often expressed enjoying pain and destruction, the Master, the Gorches, even Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander reveled in it. We often hear vamps talk about "the hunt" and the thrill of blood. None of these vamps kill people just to feed, they do it because they get off on it. Sometimes they kill people without ever drinking their blood.

I think maybe because Angel feels so guilty about Angelus that his actions her held above other vamp characters, but when you actually look at them there isn't anything that separates him from other soulless vamps.

 

[fredthe3rd]

I think he went above and beyond to impress/please Darla.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

It is only said what he was, it cannot be said or described because of the ratings for the shows, I'm sure if there was a highest possible rating rating for the show it could be shown, but really, why bother.

 

[Tome]

Honestly, I always thought that was just a hyperbole. How can they know he's the most sadistic vampire of all time, lol? Have they known every single vampire who ever existed? It's overblown just to give us the impression that Angelus is very dangerous.

 

[white avenger]

Angel is considered, or at least considers himself, the worst vampire, not because of the killing that he did, because all vampires are predators, and killing is what they do to survive. Angel considers himself the worst because he added torture, both physical and psychological, to his list of sins. He drove Drusilla insane before turning her, and it was hinted on several occasions, both by himself and Spike, that his greatest pleasure was in breaking his victims before killing them. As far as we know, based on the way that other vampires act in the Buffyverse, this is an unusual trait, though not entirely unheard of. Apparently, Angel was better at that than any other vampire in history, surpassing even Vlad the Impaler (Dracula).