Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Angel's first appearance is in "Welcome to the Hellmouth", the first episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in 1997. In it, he meets the protagonist Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a young girl destined to fight evil in the small town of Sunnydale, California. For the first half of the season, Angel is an enigmatic love interest for Buffy, showing up only to offer her cryptic messages about upcoming threats. It isn't until the episode "Angel" that the character is revealed to be a benevolent vampire from Galway, Ireland, who immigrated to the United States to escape his past as the sadistic Angelus after his soul was restored by a vengeful gypsy clan. Although uneasy about trusting a vampire, Buffy and the Scooby Gang eventually come to view Angel as an ally. In the second season (1997–1998), Buffy and Angel's romantic relationship develops and the pair make love in the episode "Surprise". For experiencing a moment of pure happiness, however, the gypsy curse on Angel is revoked, unleashing his soulless alter-ego, who reunites with his old friends, vampires Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau), and begins terrorizing Buffy and her friends. Upon discovering gypsy descendent Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte), who is working to translate the text of a spell to restore Angel's soul, Angelus murders her by breaking her neck, and places her body in the bed of her boyfriend, Giles (Anthony Head), for him to discover. Angelus then attempts to destroy the world by awakening the demon Acathla. In the season finale, neophyte witch Willow (Alyson Hannigan) manages to restore Angel's soul at the last moment, but Buffy is forced to kill him to save the world from Acathla, and Angel is sent to hell. In season three (1998–1999), episode three, "Faith, Hope & Trick", Angel is inexplicably returned from hell by an unknown party and is soon found by Buffy. The Scooby Gang are outraged when they discover that Buffy has been secretly caring for him since his resurrection, but grudgingly accept him after he saves Willow's life in episode seven, "Revelations". In the episode "Amends", the primordial First Evil attempts to manipulate Angel to murder Buffy, but Angel chooses suicide instead by waiting for the sun to rise on Christmas morning. California's heatwave is suddenly interrupted by a freak snowstorm hiding the sun, sparing Angel's life, which he takes as a sign from above that he was brought back for a reason. Buffy and Angel initially attempt to be friends but eventually resume their romance. However, Angel becomes more and more aware of their limitations as a couple and breaks up with her in the hopes that she will be happier without him, leaving Sunnydale altogether after attending Buffy's prom and helping her in the battle against Mayor Wilkins (Harry Groener).
List of minor Angel characters
Anne Steele (first appearing as "Chanterelle", appearing again after changing her name to "Lily", returning in "Angel" as Anne) is a recurring character crossed over from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", portrayed by Julia Lee. Initially known as "Chanterelle", she first appeared in the "Buffy" season two episode "Lie to Me" as a member of the Sunset Club, a naïve cult that worships vampires, which they refer to as "The Lonely Ones". Chanterelle discovers the true nature of vampires when the club is raided by Spike's bloodthirsty gang, and her life is saved by Buffy Summers. The character reappears in the third season episode "Anne", now known as "Lily" and in love with a boy called Rickie. Buffy is working as a waitress at a diner under her middle name, "Anne", after running away to Los Angeles. Lily explains to Buffy that she always changes her identity and persona as she moves from place to place, admitting that she was born "Joan Appleby" and had briefly gone by the name "Sister Sunshine". When Rickie is killed by demons, Buffy and Lily are taken to a hell dimension where humans are worked as slaves. Lily helps Buffy defeat the demons, and afterwards Buffy decides to go home, leaving her job, apartment, and identity as "Anne" to Lily.