Angel (played by David Boreanaz) was an Irish vampire first named Liam. He was born in 1727, in Galway, Ireland. After being turned into a vampire in 1753, he spent the next 145 year creating terror as "Angelus" (face of an angel). In 1898, he killed the daughter of gypsies. As punishment, the Gypsies returned Angelus human soul to him. This caused him to have to feel all the pain he had caused. Angel went to the United States and lived on the streets. He stopped killing people to drink their blood because with a soul he knew it was wrong. He lived a very poor life drinking the blood of rats until a messenger from the Powers That Be took him to California to show him Buffy. He fell in love with her and changed his life so he could help her. Buffy fell in love with Angel but he turned evil after she gave him one true moment of happiness (after they had sex). Then he turned into Angelus and when he was finally changed back (after months, by Willow), Buffy stabbed him in order to once again save the world by closing acaphla (against her feelings of love for him).
Cordelia "Cordy" Chase (played by Charisma Carpenter) went to Sunnydale High with Buffy. She was a cheerleader who only thought of herself. She would help Buffy every now and then, but most often was the one that needed help. During her senior year of high school, all the money Cordelia's parents had was taken away by the government because Cordy's dad had not fully paid his family's taxes. Cordy had to get a job at a dress store to pay for a dress for her senior prom.
Although Cordelia started off as a self-involved character, she grew throughout the first three seasons, learning to love others (spawning a relationship with Xander Harris, above). After Season 3 of "Buffy", Cordelia moves away to L.A. to become an actress. After having little luck, she meets Angel and they work together in the detective business- Angel Investigations. Cordelia's character grows even further throughout "Angel" as well, and by Season 4/5 of "Angel", she seems to be a completely different person.
Spike, or William the Bloody, (played by James Marsters) was an English vampire. He was born in London around 1853. He was turned into a vampire in 1880 by Drusilla, a pretty vampire created by Angelus. He spent the next 20 years with Angelus, Drusilla and Darla as they killed throughout Europe and Asia. After Angelus got his soul back and left, Spike and Drusilla continued for 100 years before going to Sunnydale to try and find him. Later, Spike fell in love with Buffy. He fought a demon (initially to get his chip removed) and got his soul back and helped save the world in the last episode ("Chosen"). He was sent, by the amulet he wore, to Angel. (Stars in the final season of "Angel").
Faith Lehane (played by Eliza Dushku) was a vampire slayer. Buffy's first death caused Kendra Young to be chosen as the Slayer. When Kendra died, Faith was chosen. Faith is in many ways the opposite of Buffy. While Buffy had family and friends for support, Faith was alone. Faith tried to fight evil, but later chose to be evil instead. In the end, Faith learns from her mistakes and helps Buffy in her fight.
Daniel "Oz" Osborne (played by Seth Green) was a musician and werewolf. He was Willow's first boyfriend. For three nights each month, Oz would change shape. If he was not put into a cage or locked up, he would roam Sunnydale from the time the sun set until it came up again in the morning. Being a werewolf gave him increased strength, endurance and healing. As a werewolf, his mind was similar to an animal and not a human.
Riley Finn was a member of a secret part of American military.
During the day, he was a helper to a professor at Sunnydale University. At night, he lead a military team that hunted and captured demons. He had increased strength and endurance, but he was not as strong as Buffy. He gave Buffy an ultimatum and at the last minute she decided on him. But when she got to his helicopter they had already taken off and he did not see her. When he comes back in a later episode Buffy finds out that he is married.
Tara Maclay
Tara was a member of the Wicca group Willow joined in her first year in college. Willow and Tara started as friends. Over time, they became lovers. When Tara is first introduced, she is very shy. Tara has a very obvious stutter in her first season. Through season five, Tara becomes more confident. Eventually, her family comes back to take Tara home, but she (with Buffy and the gang's help) stands up to them. She became more and more confident until Glory took her sanity. Willow got it back in the season five finale, and Tara was sane again.
In season 6, Willow used dark magic (magic that hurt other people) more and more. Eventually, she used it to make Tara forget a fight they had had. Tara broke up with Willow. Tara came back when Willow stopped using dark magic. A very short time later, Tara died after being hit by a bullet meant for Buffy.
Joss Whedon uses several themes throughout his works. These are often found in the writing done for "Buffy".
Vampire
Vampires are monsters in legends and stories. The first vampire stories were told in Eastern Europe, but much of how modern people see vampires was created by Bram Stoker in the famous novel, "Dracula". Few people believe that vampires are real, but they are still very popular in movies, television, and books.
Vampires were once people but have a supernatural curse. Some vampires must drink blood to survive. They do this by biting people or animals on the neck with their two long fangs. People who are killed by having their blood drunk by vampires may also become vampires. Others can live off the life energy of people. In many stories, vampires can change into other animals, usually bats, though also wolves, cats or rats.
Depending on the story, vampires may have some or all of these characteristics:
Dracula is the most famous vampire in fiction, and many movies have been made about him, often with Christopher Lee as Dracula himself. Bela Lugosi is another actor known for the role. "Nosferatu" is also a famous vampire movie.
There is a popular series of books by Anne Rice about vampires. Stephen King also wrote about vampires in the 1970s in "Salem's Lot". The television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" featured a young girl who fought vampires, but also befriended good ones. The series "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer is also about vampires. The movie "The Lost Boys" was about a band of vampires in California. Among many other stories about vampires are "The Southern Vampire Mysteries", which led to the television show "True Blood".
In stories, garlic is often used for keeping vampires away, but it does not actually affect them. Vervain is used to hurt vampires, and in Europe, Though this is not traditional, mirrors have been used to make vampires stay away (in some cultures, vampires do not have a reflection and sometimes do not have a shadow, perhaps as a way of showing that they do not have souls). Not all vampires in stories have this quality (the Greek "vrykolakas/tympanios" had both reflections and shadows), was used by Bram Stoker in "Dracula". In addition to this, in Bram Stoker's "Dracula", it is mentioned that wolf's-bane (or Aconitum) can be used to repel dracula. The reason for this in the novel it is explained dracula is the Wolfman, and can transform into one just as easily as a bat.
Some neurologists believe that rabies might lie at the base of the myth.
The problem with this is that rabid people, especially in advanced stages of the disease, will live for about ten days, at best. This does not account for them getting out of ditches and graves over weeks or months.