Angelus
Without a doubt, Angelus is the most important vampire in the world of "Buffy". He is both Buffy's great love and her worst enemy, the source of her greatest happiness and her deepest despair. As we learn in the first part of the second season finale, in 1753, in Galway, Ireland, Angel was a drunken young man intent upon fliching some of his father's silver to buy himself a night of love at the local brothal. He is distracted in his purpose by the appearance of Darla, to whom he boasts: "My lady, you will find that, with the exception of an honest day's work, there is no challenge I am not prepared to face." Darla, amused, takes him at his word and not only invites him into her vampiric embrace, but sires him into eternal life as a vampire. There is an interesting parallel between Angel's initiation into his new world and Buffy's, when, as a shallow fifteen-year-old, she meets her Watcher, Merrick. But while Buffy becomes the heroic Slayer, the Irish lad Angel becomes Angelus, "the one with the angelic face," the scourge of Europe. The Master calls him: "the most vicious creature I ever met." One of his many evil deeds revealed thus far was his insidious manipulation of Drusilla, a young English girl who is plagued by visions. The year is 1860. Her mother has told her that her clairvoyance is the work of the Devil, and the sadistic Angelus, posing as a priest in the confessional, takes full advantage of her confusion. He tells her to give in, and that she is "a spawn of Satan." Angelus drives Drusilla mad, exploiting her troubled mental state and killing everybody she loves. In desperation, she flees to a convent, and on the day she takes the veil, he turns her into a vampire.
Angelus had also earlier killed his own family, and for over a century thereafter offers an ugly death to everyone he meets. "And I did it with a song in my heart." Eventuallu, Angelus leaves England-apparently in the company of his sire, Darla, with whom he is at least occaisionally romantically involved-and they wreak havoc throughout Europe. In Budapest, they pluck human beings "like fruit off the vine." He delights in torturing both animals and people as when he tells the captive Giles in "Becoming, Part 2". Angelus would have probably continued his career as a "vicious, violent animal"-to quote Giles-except that one fatal night, Darla brings him a Gypsy girl to feed upon. Upon discovering her dead body, her clan, the Romany, decides to take its revenge against Angelus by returning his soul to him. As Angel explains to Buffy: "When you become a vampire, the demon takes your body. But it doesn't get your soul. That's gone. No conscience, no remorse....it's an easy way to live. You have no idea what's it's like to have done the things I've done, and to care".("Angel") From that time until now, the Romay send clan members to spy on him, ensuring that their vengeance curse makes Angel's life Hell on Earth. But what Angel did not know that if he was ever completely happy, even for one second, his soul would once more be lost and he would revert to his evil state. After his night of passion with Buffy in "Surprise", the curse lifted, and Angelus howls into the night with pain as his soul leaves his body. His first act as the newly restored Angelus is to feed upon a living human being-something he has not done in a century-and then he seeks out Drusilla and Spike to reassert his dominance over them. Angelus reverts to his old ways quickly, tormenting Buffy and everyone around her. He tries to end the world by opening Acathla, but is stopped by Buffy, and sent into the portal to Hell, right after Willow restores his soul, as Buffy had to close to portal in order to save the world. Angel spent torturing and vicious times in Hell, as with his soul, he was sent back to Earth, as his blood was not worthy and his life of eternal torture in Hell was spared. Angel is now back to his normal self, back with Buffy, and back fighting evil as a member of the Slayerettes.
Spike aka William the Bloody
Spike first appears in "School Hard", when he drives his car into the Welcome to Sunnydale sign on the outskirts of town. His first words as he reaches the Hellmouth "home sweet home", are apparently reference only to the idea that the Hellmouth is, de facto, home to all vampires, rather than any implication that he has never been to Sunnydale before. As the episode continues, the Anointed One holds court, and his followers argue over who willtake the place of the Master, who will actually lead. A pair of vampires, referred to in the script only as "Big Ugly" and "Lean Boy", are argueing when Spike enters the factory, wherein the Anointed One has set up shop. Spike goes on to brag that he has killed two Slayers in his life, one during the Boxer Rebellion. Then he brings Drusilla into the room. The two are obviously a couple, though Drusilla seems less than sane. She is a sicly vampire who also has prescient visions, and Spike's entire world seems to be about caring for her. That and his thirst for power. To prove himself, he vows to kill the Slayer.
Shortly, we see Spike and Big Ugly visit the Bronze. According to Spike's plan, Big ?Ugly draws Buffy out into combat. Despite his bragging, he is easily dispatched by the Slayer as Spike watches, taking her measure. Later, Buffy and crew are discussing the arrival of Spike, and Angel reveals that he is familiar with the vampire. "Once he starts something, he doesn't stop until everything in his path is dead," Angel explains. Later, Giles finds references to Spike in the Watcher diaries, and it states that sPike is barely 200 years old. On Parent-Teacher Night, Spike and his hordes are defeated, Spike himself is hit with an ax by Joyce Summers. He withdraws toi consider an alternate plan. However, the Anointed One is less than pleased. Spike solves this problem quite simply: he kills the Anointed One. The next time Spike appears is in "Halloween", when it is revealed that he has been videotaping Buffy fighting other vampires to watch her technique. Later that night, he makes his second attempt on Buffy's life, but once again, he is overpowered and forced to flee. In "Lie to Me", Spike has yet another shot at the Slayer, but this time Buffy fends him off threatening the weakened Drusilla's life. In the same episode, Spike begins to show the jealousyhe feels over Drusilla's involvement with Angel, a topic that later takes on a new significance. In the two parter "What's My Line?", Spike finally manages to return Drusilla's strength, only to become invalid himself. After he is wheelchair-bound, Spike becomes quieter, almost morose. Even when he and Drusilla put the Judge together in "Surprise", Spike seems merely to be playing along because of his love for Dru. However, when Buffy and Angel make love at the end of that episode, causing Angel to lose his soul and revert to the demonic Angelus once more, the fire begins to burn in Spike again. For when Angel comes to stay with Spike and Dru, Spike's jealousy grows even more. Of course, Angel's taunting doesn't help much. In fact, Angel's taunting, and Spike's anger continue to feed each other, and Spike presseshim time and time agian to kill Buffy and be done with it. However, in "I Only Have Eyes for You," we begin to realize that Spike isn't as docile as he has seemed. William the Bloody is up to something, for certain. In the last moments of that episode, when nobody is around, Spike stands up from his wheelchair, obviously strong again. In the two part season finale "Becoming", his deceit takes on an entirely new meaning. Spike has decided that Angel's plan to destroy the world isn't exactly good for the vampire race. He's also realized that the only thing that really matters is that he gets Dru back. In order for that to happen, he allies himself with the Slayer, an unthinkable act for a vampire. He vows to Buffy that he will betray the others if she lets Drusilla live, that the two of them will leave Sunnydale and Buffy will never see them again. Though events do not unfoild as planned, Spike and Dru manage to get out of the country and move to Brazil, where Dru left him. Spike came back in Season three in "Lovers Walk", only to find angel alive and back to his soulfull self. He manages to make Buffy and Angel realize that they can never be friends because they're love for each other is eternal. Spike then returned to find Drusilla and make her love him again. Spike will be back.....
More vamps to come: Drusilla, The Master, Darla, The Anointed One, Luke, Thomas, Dalton, Claw, The Three, Lyle and Tector Gorch, Absalom, St. Vigeous, Kokistos, Mr. Trick, and more
