Darla (Buffyverse)

Vampire physiology:

* Superhuman strength
* Superhuman reflexes
* Superhuman speed
* Superhuman durability
* Superhuman senses
* Mind Manipulation
* Dream walking
* Nigh-Immortality
* Immense pain tolerance
* Enhanced aggression

“*Life's boring; you're full of surprises.*”
―Angelus to Darla[src]
**Darla** was a vampire sired in the early 17th century by the Master. She was also the former lover and sire of the infamous Angelus, and the mother of Connor.

**Darla** is a recurring antagonist in the Buffyverse. She is introduced in the *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* TV series as the secondary antagonist of Season 1, and a flashback character in Season 2 and 5. Her role is expanded upon in the spin-off *Angel*, appearing as a minor antagonist in Season 1, the main antagonist of Season 2, a supporting antagonist in Season 3, a posthumous antagonist in Seasons 4, and a flashback character in Season 5.

She was portrayed by Julie Benz, who also portrayed Dawn Sterling in *Law & Order*.

## Personality

As a human, Darla was a wealthy prostitute who seemingly thought poorly of humanity as a whole. She scoffed at religion and was displeased when the Master appeared disguised as a priest. Darla had little opinion of herself as a human saying her soul was beyond saving and willing to let Satan take her. Unlike most vampires, Darla became a vampire by choice, accepting the Master's gift and entering into his service. Darla appears to have had little attachment to who she was before becoming a vampire, even forgetting her birth name. As a vampire, Darla was cruel, manipulative and seductive. She appeared to view things from an immortal's perspective, seeing things from the point of view of someone who expects to live forever. She showed loyalty and dedication, though only to a certain point. She was faithful to the Master, but chose to leave his service to travel the world with Angelus, though she would periodically return to him and returning permanently after Angel was ensouled. She would place her own safety above others, as seen when she left Angelus with a murderous mob and fled with the only horse. Darla displayed pettiness and jealousy, becoming aggravated at the thought that Angel loved Buffy more than her. She also had a taste for luxury, classical music, and places with a view. Darla often used her beauty and sexuality to lure unsuspecting prey. Unlike the more aggressive Angelus and Spike, she was rarely seen hunting; her human victims willingly approached her, never suspecting their fate until it was too late. Despite her cruelty and evil nature, Darla genuinely loved Angelus and later their son Connor. But due to being a soulless vampire, she was disgusted by Angelus' soul and desperately tried to get rid of it and bring "her boy" back. When she was brought back as human and saw Angel risk everything to save her and cure her, Darla was overwhelmed saying she wasn't worth it. She was even willing to accept her death so long as she was with Angel. When turned into a vampire for a second time by Drusilla, Darla still retained some of the positive nature she gained in her short time as a human. She initially lashed out at Drusilla angrily for turning her back. When gathering vampires and told that Angel was nearby by Drusilla, she expressed the same love for him as she had as a human. Darla redeemed herself with the birth of her son Connor. Darla was already changed by the baby in her womb: she felt the guilt over the pain she had caused Holtz and expressed it to Angel. Knowing it was the only way to save her son, she staked herself, leaving Connor alive in her ashes. When she appeared again to Connor in spirit form, Darla was completely different, lamenting her past sins and trying to dissuade her son from the dark path he'd taken, but she was seemingly unsuccessful.

**Darla** (Julie Benz) was a recurring villainess that appeared in 25 episodes (1996-2000) of the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and then 20 episodes (2000-2004) in the TV series "Angel", which was an offshoot of Buffy. Darla was born in Britain in the late 16th century. She emigrated to the Virginia Colony where she became a prostitute. While she was dying of syphilis, she was turned into a vampire by The Master (Mark Metcalf). She quickly became one of his favorite henchwomen and he viewd her like a daughter. Over the years she killed many innocent people for fun before being intrigued by a boy named Liam. She sired him and he became the infamous Angelus (David Boreanaz). At her urging, Angelus murdered his family and everyone else in his village. The two became infamous together with Darla leaving The Master. Together, they killed Daniel Holtz's family because he was a famous vampire hunter. They were then joined by Spike (James Marster) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) becoming known as The Whirlwind. Darla brought Angelus a gypsy girl to feed on. This led them to curse Angelus with a soul. Darla noticed his odd behavior and figured it out causing her to abandon him. Darla then rejoined The Master and assisted with his plans in Sunnydale before running into the ensouled Angel who killed her after she attacked Buffy's mother, Joyce Summers (Christine Sutherland). Wolfram and Hart resurrected her a few years later to turn Angel back to his dark side. Angel encountered her and she claimed to be someone else. It turns out that she was revived as a human and she now had a soul also. The plan failed and they had Drusilla turn her back into a vampire. Darla and Drusilla went on a rampage across Los Angeles and attempted to attack Angel but failed. The two of them left with Darla returning and sleeping with him in an attempt to turn him evil again. Darla discovered that she was pregnant and south out help for this to figure out why. No one was able to tell her how it occurred so she returned to Los Angeles and told Angel what was going on. Darla shared a sould with her child prompting her to attack an innocent boy so she could share the blood wiht her unborn son. Darla appeared to be having difficulties giving birth an dher son would most likely not survive. Daniel Holtz had been put into suspended animation and awakened was seeking to take the child for himself. With this Darla staked herself in order to make sure her son survived. Darla turned to dust by her son survived. Later, Darla visited her son Connor when he was under the influence of Jasmine (who had possessed Cordelia) begging him not to help her kill an innocent girl. Connor ignored his mother when Jasmine told her that she was lying to him. He then dragged the girl to Jasmine and killed her. Darla then vanished after that because she had been unable to stop her son from helping Jasmine.

## Powers and abilities

* Darla had the standard powers and vulnerabilities of a vampire. Additionally, she was stronger than most vampires because of her age and possessed a higher resistance to holy items. When Monsignor Rivalli tried to ward her off with his cross necklace, Darla tossed him aside without a care (she was around 200 years old at that point). It appeared that Darla did not suffer a reduction in her powers after being sired a second time, as she was able to easily overpower Angel moments after re-awakening as a vampire. Darla displayed the psychic connection vampires had with those they sire: she was able to sense Angel's presence when he was close and could even tell that he was in the same city. Somehow she retained this connection even as a human.[*citation needed*] She was also able to sense when Angelus was possessing a soul.

## Relationships

### Romantic

“*Imagine Bonnie and Clyde if they had a hundred and fifty years to get it right.*”
―Cordelia Chase[src]
* **Angel** - Finding a human Liam causing fights in taverns, Darla was fascinated with his rebelliousness and was strongly attracted to him. When Liam confessed to her he'd like to explore the world, Darla seduced him and took the opportunity to sire him as a vampire. Having turned Liam, who began calling himself Angelus, they were lovers for over a century; Darla even left the Master to live with her "dear boy." As Angelus, he was fond of Darla's ruthlessness and unpredictability, causing destruction and leaving countless dead in their wake. However, neither had any true loyalty towards each other, as they frequently left the other to die on many occasions if it would save themselves. Their twisted romance continued until Angelus was cursed with a soul by the Kalderash people. Darla was disgusted with him, and ended their relationship after threatening to kill him. Lost and confused, Angel had originally sought to earn himself back into her good graces since she was all he had ever known, but could not find it in him to kill innocents anymore. He had only killed murderers and criminals, utterly repulsing Darla with his sympathy for humanity. They would reunite years later in 1997 in Sunnydale after finding a path as a champion of the people due to his strong affection for the Slayer, Buffy Summers. Darla had attempted to twist him to give up on redemption and embrace his dark side, showing her disgust with his feelings for a slayer and taunting him by saying Buffy would never be able to fully accept him. Ultimately, Angel was forced to stake his sire in order to protect Buffy, though it was later indicated he had carried a degree of guilt over it. Darla was later resurrected as a human by Wolfram & Hart, intending to destroy Angel's high morals and drive him over the edge. Using a mystical powder to make her appear in his dreams, Darla and Angel had many dream encounters together. They were often depicted as sexual, but with a bizarre sense of affection between them. Darla also was able to manipulate the dreams into flashbacks of their past. Upon the realization that Darla was resurrected, Angel became obsessed with finding her. After attempting to frame him for the murder of a human, Angel and Darla had a confrontation near a convent. Angel's feelings for Darla were established as being ambivalent, as he had threatened to kill her if she killed another innocent, but also ended up kissing her. Darla did her utmost to manipulate him into losing his soul with her through a "moment of pure happiness." However, Angel mostly resisted and told her that while she had taught him many things, she never made him happy. When she referenced his relationship with Buffy and the happiness he felt with her, Angel was amused at her bitterness and told her that he could never have loved her during their relationship because he didn't have a soul. He informed her of the guilt she would feel eventually over her sins before Darla escaped him. Angel became increasingly obsessed over Darla, drawing several sketches of her in his room during his brooding. As he had predicted, Darla began to feel the burden of her soul and could not come to terms with her horrible past. She sought out Angel for help since he was the only one who knew what she was feeling. Angel accepted immediately, greatly sympathizing with his sire. However, when Darla begged him to turn her into a vampire again to remove the guilt, Angel objected. Darla was furious at his refusal, and told him to stay away from her. When Darla was revealed to be dying of syphilis, Angel went to extreme lengths to save her so that she would be given a second chance at life, trying to sway her from her desire to be a vampire again. Guided by Lorne, Angel took a dangerous life-or-death trial for her to be granted a second chance and was even willing to die himself if it meant Darla would live again. Ultimately, this noble act granted Darla a possible second chance, but it was too late for her since she had already been resurrected by supernatural means. Angel was furious and deeply distraught, blaming himself for her shortened life. After she had come to terms with her inevitable death, Angel comforted her and promised he would be with her so she would not be alone for her death. However, Lindsey suddenly appeared with Drusilla, who turned her back into a vampire to have them be a "family" again; Angel could only look on helplessly. He became determined to stake Darla before she rose into a vampire, but was distracted by Drusilla who briefly fought him. Darla became a vampire again, attacked him, and left. While they were on different sides again, Angel willingly locked in the Wolfram & Hart lawyers to be fed on by Darla and Drusilla. Alienating himself from his team, he continually trained and was obsessed with finding where Darla and Drusilla were. When he eventually did find them, Angel found he still wasn't able to stake Darla because he still remembered her brief moments of humanity and how much pain she had been through. Managing to harden himself, he rigged his location when he found them again and set both Darla and Drusilla on fire with a cigarette and gasoline. Some weeks later, a vengeful Darla would return to interfere with Angel's plan to fight the Senior Partners. At the peak of ultimate despair, he forced himself on her in a desperate attempt to escape his depression and relinquish his soul. After kissing him for a while, Darla pushed him away in anger and confusion. Angel threw her violently across the room and explained he was doing this because nothing mattered to him anymore. Darla stopped resisting and the two proceeded to have rough sex in his room. Angel would soon feel immense pain in his chest afterwards, echoing that of losing his soul the first time with Buffy. Darla realized he had not become Angelus after some hesitation and was infuriated. Angel explained that he had a "moment of perfect despair" and that's how it's always been with her. He also admitted that his earlier desperation to save her had more to do with himself than genuinely wanting to save Darla, believing that since she had turned him into a monster it would prove he could be redeemed. Finding himself again, Angel was grateful towards her and decided to spare her. However, he told Darla that if she stayed in Los Angeles he would have to kill her. When Darla became pregnant with his son, Connor, she told Angel that their son is "the only good thing" that they ever did together; she then staked herself in order to allow Connor to be born.

* **The Immortal** — Darla, along with Drusilla, had been seduced by the Immortal and he had slept with both of them at the same time. Angelus and Spike were outraged with this betrayal, as neither of them had ever let them do that. Darla seemed greatly amused by their jealousy, and further antagonized both of them by reminding the two it had been "concurrent."

* **Lindsey McDonald** — Lindsey aided in the resurrection of Angel's old lover by taking over chanting during the ritual to bring her back. When Darla was returned to life as a human, Lindsey immediately became attached to her, struggling with CDs to play her music at his office. He helped her mess with Angel's mind, providing Darla with a fake identity and a hired actor to play her husband, to frame Angel for murdering him. When she failed to persuade Angel to the dark side, thus stunting her mentality, Lindsey discovered he was in love with her, despite her desire to become a vampire. When she seemingly killed a security guard which put her on the run, Lindsey tried to contact Angel, but he was already there and hung Lindsey's neck by a string, wanting to know where she was, but Lindsey explained that she would die if Angel didn't save her. When he did, Lindsey discovered the manslaughter was a hoax to get Darla to Angel, and hopefully take his soul. Failing to do so, Darla was diagnosed with syphilis, the disease that she had before becoming a vampire. Lindsey was eager to have Angel sire Darla, thus saving her. Since he wouldn't do it, Lindsey stormed into her hotel with armed men, with Lindsey personally having Angel tasered and forcing him to watch as Drusilla entered the room and re-sired Darla. Due to his and Lilah's achievements, they were congratulated at Holland's wine tasting party where Darla and Drusilla came and massacred everyone there, save for Lindsey and Lilah, as payback for being used as pawns. Darla did this with the intent to keep both lawyers as their liaison to the Senior Partners, because though angry for being used by Wolfram & Hart, she desired power. After Angel violently burnt Darla and Drusilla, Lindsey, still very infatuated with Darla, let her recuperate at his apartment. Darla, however, secretly used his feelings to gain information from Wolfram & Hart to obtain a mystical ring from the Senior Partners during the Review. Angel fought Darla for it at the event and Lindsey tried to protect her from Wolfram & Hart, which tried to kill her. Lindsey then discovered that Darla had slept with Angel. Lindsey responded by changing into his casual clothes, getting into his truck, and brutally beating Angel with it and a sledgehammer, demanding to know what happened with Darla. Leaving Angel briefly to get his stake, Angel in that time recovered and turned the tables on Lindsey. Beating him down with his bare hands while apologizing for the fact Darla didn't love him and that he made the right choices, Angel used the sledgehammer to smash Lindsey's prosthetic hand, noting that Lindsey should be grateful he recently had an epiphany, as Angel could have easily destroyed Lindsey's remaining real hand instead. Knocking him out with a kick to the head, Angel borrowed his truck to save Cordelia from a group of demons before returning it the next morning heavily damaged. Returning to his apartment, Lindsey found that Darla had left town, taking all her clothes with her. Lindsey was left alone, beaten both physically and emotionally.

### Familial

* **Master** — Darla was sired by the Master, and they had something of a father/daughter relationship. Despite respecting him, Darla wanted to see the world with Angelus. After Darla parted from the re-ensouled Angel over a century later, she returned to the Master. By 1996, Darla was one of the Master's acolytes. The Master was markedly upset by Darla's death at the hands of Angel, in stark contrast to his indifference to the deaths of his other acolytes at various times. Darla in turn displayed reverence and respect for the Master.[*citation needed*]

* **Drusilla** — Angel was Drusilla's sire. When he proposed that she joined the "family," Darla showed a reluctance to accept Drusilla, considering her raving. However, when Drusilla became a vampire, Darla accepted her more or less, and was not averse to the idea of sharing Angel with her. Drusilla in turn liked Darla, developing a daughterly affection for her. Although Darla often showed annoyance with Drusilla, who nicknamed her "grandmother,"[*citation needed*] they developed a strong relationship. After Darla was sired a second time, they fought violently then made a long embrace. In Rome, the Immortal slept with both vampires at the same time. They also then bathed together where Drusilla requested that Darla hold her underwater.

* **Connor** — She killed herself to allow her son to be born, and thus they never met. Some time later, she appeared to him and tried to convince him not to sacrifice a girl. He knew her appearance by the many drawings of her Angel made.

### Antagonistic

* **Buffy Summers** — Darla and Buffy were enemies in Sunnydale when she served the Master. Darla was also very disgusted by Angel's obvious affection for the slayer, remarking that he loved someone who despised vampires. She had attempted to kill Buffy after nearly draining her mother, but was stopped by Angel when he staked her. Three and a half years later, Darla was still bitter over Angel's feelings for Buffy and could not believe she had been able to make him happy. She expressed her established dislike of Buffy and claimed Angel had only felt so strongly for her because she had been something new.

* **Cordelia Chase** — Though they deeply hated each other, they became relatives of sort with the births of Connor and then Jasmine.[*citation needed*]

* **Lilah Morgan** — Although both were allied with Wolfram & Hart, Darla and Lilah had a mutual disdain for each other. This antagonism was demonstrated acutely when Darla was human. After Darla became a vampire again and, despite sparing her at an office party massacre, Lilah became openly hostile and displayed a malicious delight at imagining Darla being dissected while pregnant with Connor. When facing the vampire hunter Daniel Holtz, Darla's old nemesis, Lilah had no hesitation in explaining to him that, contrary to Angel, Darla wasn't ensouled; ironically, because of Connor's influence, Darla was.[*citation needed*]

### Other

* **Spike** — When first seeing Spike when he was a human, she jokingly suggested that Drusilla sire him as her companion and described him as "the first drooling idiot that comes along." Darla seemed to find Spike largely an annoyance as his rebellious antics led to the Whirlwind getting into trouble, endangering them constantly. Spike further disappointed Darla when he killed the family of the Elder of the clan that ensouled Angel as Darla had tried to offer their protection in exchange for undoing the curse.

## Biography

### Human life and siring

“*My soul is well past saving. Let the devil take me if he'll have me. It doesn't matter. Either way, I die.*”
―The prostitute who was to become Darla, moments before becoming a vampire[src]
Darla was born under a different name in the late 16th century. As a young prostitute, she became independently wealthy in the Virginia Colony in North America, but she also contracted a fatal case of syphilis. By 1609, the prostitute was dying in her luxurious house. Because of her dislike of religion, she scoffed at a priest who came to her deathbed, despite having called for one the previous night in her delirium. When asked to beg for God's forgiveness, she claimed her soul was well past saving and that the Devil may take it. The priest then revealed his true identity: the Master, leader of the elite cult of vampires known as the Order of Aurelius. Believing he was Death, she was corrected by the Master who told her that he was in fact her savior. He sired her and at some point gave her the name "Darla," Gaelic for "dear one." In time, she eventually forgot her original name.

### Escapades with Angelus

By 1753, Darla was out exploring the world and wreaking havoc, during which time she visited a village in Galway, Ireland. There she found a handsome young man named Liam, who was drinking and whoring his way through a rather uneventful life. Admiring him from afar, Darla lured Liam into an alley where she seduced him by offering to show him things he had never imagined. She sired Liam and chose to make him her mate, naming him Angelus, inspired by his sister's belief that he was an angel come back to her. In 1760, after cutting a bloody swath across Wales and England, Darla brought her new consort back to the Master in London. However, Angelus had no interest in the Order of Aurelius and its tenets of underground dwelling and tribute to the Old Ones. Being told to choose between her sire and the pleasures Angelus offered her, Darla chose her lover and left with him. In 1764, Angelus and Darla were back in York, where they were hunted down by Daniel Holtz, a vampire hunter. The lovers decided to punish Holtz by luring him to an empty cottage, leaving behind the message "How do you hope to save others, when you can't save your own?" While Holtz was on this chase, Angelus and Darla raped and killed Holtz's wife, Caroline; Darla sired his daughter, Sarah; and they killed his infant son, Daniel Holtz Jr. After being forced to slay his own daughter, Holtz swore revenge, and began a crusade to eliminate the two vampires that would last nearly an entire decade. By 1765, Darla and Angelus fled from Italy to France with Holtz hot on their heels. Holtz managed to trap the pair within a burning barn, at which point Darla hit Angelus with a shovel and escaped on the only horse left. Angelus followed Darla all the way to Vienna, where he made her "pay for [Darla's] sins. Again and again." In 1767, Darla and Angelus joined a couple of young vampire lovers, James and Elisabeth, in Marseilles. The couples burned the village of Comte de Leon to the ground, which attracted the attention of Holtz. While Darla and Elisabeth escaped to the ship that would take the four vampires to Morocco, James and Angelus stayed behind to face the vampire hunter. Angelus revealed his lover's whereabouts to save his own life, just as Darla had previously acted to save herself. Darla reunited with Angelus as the two traveled through North Africa trying to escape Holtz. The pair were in Rome when the relentless Holtz found them in 1771. Holtz managed to capture Angelus with the aid of a traditionalist Catholic sect known as Inquisitore, although with the aid of a group of local vampires, Darla saved her lover from Holtz's torture. Angelus wondered if they should kill Holtz, but Darla answered that it was much more fun to continue to ruin his life. Sometime in the early 19th century, time-traveling Angel, Fred, and Illyria met Darla and Angelus on a voyage from Australia to England. Aboard the ship Galene, Darla had been trying to take a jewelled beetle for her collection, seducing the owner into discovering its hiding place, only to be interrupted by a jealous Angelus. Future Angel explained to Fred he remembered the voyage had been odd, with rumors that someone had brought a real treasure on-board, a mystical cursed piece of jewelry. Fred then discovered where the owner had been hiding it, but was found by Darla and Angelus, who attacked her in an attempt to take the beetle. Angel arrived in time to rescue Fred, but a demonic beetle infestation was inadvertently set off over all sailors aboard, causing the destruction of the ship. Darla and Angelus escaped under a flipped boat, protected from the sun, until they arrived at a Pacific island. There, facing Angel, Fred, and Illyria once again, Darla confronted the time-travelers and questioned their identity, but the interrogation was interrupted by the attack of the infected sailors, and Illyria sent the couple to a safe place before anything was revealed.

### The Whirlwind

Back in London, the "family" of Darla and Angelus grew in 1860, when Darla showed him Drusilla, a young, pious girl blessed with visions, whom Angelus stalked and tortured into insanity before siring her. The trio remained unchanged until 1880, when Drusilla began to desire a mate of her own. She then sired William, a romantic, heartbroken poet. Around the same time William was turned, Darla had a fight with Angelus and returned to the side of the Master. Nonetheless, the couple reconciled shortly thereafter, only to be forced to leave London because William's attacks were drawing unnecessary attention. The foursome fled all the way to Yorkshire where they were forced to hide in abandoned mines, much to Darla's dismay. Around this time, Darla referred to herself, Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike as the Whirlwind. By 1894, the foursome had traveled to Rome where they crossed paths with the Immortal, a mysterious being who had already met the vampires in Frankfurt and saved a group of nuns from Angelus. While Angelus and Spike were kidnapped on the Immortal's orders, he seduced Darla and Drusilla and "violated" the two willing vampires in a ménage à trois, a privilege they had never allowed Spike or Angel. A few years later, the four vampires traveled to Budapest, enjoying the chaos during an earthquake. In 1898, the Whirlwind traveled to Borsa, Romania. There, Darla gave Angelus a gift that would alter their lives forever — the favorite daughter of the Kalderash, a tribe of Roma. Angelus had his way with the girl for a night while Darla watched. His actions incurred the wrath of the Kalderash elders, however, and one of their women performed a curse to restore Angelus' human soul. Angelus sought Darla's help, only to be rejected for having a "filthy soul."

### Breaking up with Angelus

“*They gave you a soul… a filthy soul. You're disgusting. Get away from me. Get away from me!*”
―Darla to Angelus[src]
Nevertheless, Darla took Spike and Drusilla to massacre the Kalderash. As the two lovers slaughtered everyone they found, Darla tried to reason with a Kalderash elder and convince him to have Angelus' soul removed in exchange for sparing the lives of his wife and daughters. Darla's leverage was lost when they saw that Spike had already killed the Elder's family. Without further hope, Darla snapped the Elder's neck and ordered the two to massacre the entire tribe. Darla, who had developed a taste for religious wars, took Spike and Drusilla to China in 1900 where the trio found themselves in the midst of the Boxer Rebellion. Angelus, who had followed them, begged Darla to accept him again, hoping to prove to his former lover and himself that he could still be part of the Whirlwind. However, Angelus limited himself to killing thieves, murderers, and rapists. He even tried to save a missionary family. Darla discovered the family — a father, mother, daughter, and infant child — killing all but the baby, whom she kept as a test for Angelus. Incapable of killing an innocent, Angelus fled with the baby, forever renouncing Darla. In 1901, Darla and Angelus crossed paths once more in Budapest. By October 1934, Darla was living in Berlin, Germany. In September 1943, Darla had moved to England. By 1959, Darla had moved to the Hellmouth, Sunnydale, California to be with the Master.[*citation needed*]

### Sunnydale

“*What's with the Catholic schoolgirl look. Last time I saw you it was kimonos.*”
―Angel[src]
After so many centuries, Darla still lured her victims by pretending to be a timid, innocent young woman, even adding a schoolgirl uniform to her act. One of those she killed was Chris Boal, an ex-student that she drained on the grounds of Sunnydale High School. It was the inadvertent warning sign for Buffy Summers — the Slayer — that vampires were active in Sunnydale. Darla came face to face with Buffy the night prior to the Harvest, when she seduced Sunnydale High student Jesse McNally. Even though Jesse was intended to be an offering to the Master, Darla bit Jesse, for which she would be reprimanded. Despite facing Buffy, however, Darla managed to take Jesse underground thanks to the intervention of Luke, the Master's leading acolyte. The following night, Darla joined Luke, the newly sired Jesse, and other vampires in their attack against the Bronze, where Luke intended to perform the Harvest in order to release the Master from his mystical prison. While Luke, Jesse, and other vampires were dusted by Buffy and the Scooby Gang, Willow Rosenberg threw holy water at Darla's face to repel her from Rupert Giles. For weeks, Darla laid low while several members of the Order — including Zachary — fell to Buffy's stake. She offered to kill the Slayer as an offering for her sire, but he sent The Three, a trio of ancient vampire warriors, instead. However, the Three failed due to the intervention of Darla's former lover Angelus, who had renamed himself "Angel" and allied himself with the Slayer. As penance, the Three offered their lives to the Master, and he allowed Darla to dust them, a task she gladly carried out. Understanding that brute force wouldn't be enough to kill Buffy, Darla devised a plan to turn her against Angel, and force one to kill the other, though she hoped Angel would kill Buffy in self-defense and, having experienced killing once again, return to her side. Darla pretended to be a classmate of Buffy's in order to be invited into the Summers residence. Once inside, she attacked Joyce Summers, Buffy's mother, biting her and leaving her in Angel's arms. As Darla had planned, Buffy arrived to see her injured mother held by Angel in vampire face, and concluded that Angel was drinking from her mother. The vampire and the Slayer faced each other in the Bronze, but Buffy eventually realized that Angel was not responsible. Darla, carrying a pair of pistols with her, arrived to ensure Buffy would die. However, Darla's plan turned against her, as Angel staked her in order to protect Buffy.

### Resurrection

Nearly three years later, the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart performed the Raising ritual from the Scrolls of Aberjian to resurrect Darla as a human to torment Angel and/or to turn him evil. During her short time as a human, Darla found it increasingly difficult to live with a soul and desperately wished to be a vampire again. She also became close to Wolfram & Hart lawyer Lindsey McDonald, though whether this was a ploy or not is uncertain. Soon she learned that she was dying of the disease that had almost killed her before she was sired; syphilis. Though it was then easily cured when diagnosed early enough, Wolfram & Hart was, as Lindsey said, about a month and 400 years too late. It made her even more desperate to be turned into a vampire, but instead, Angel, through acts of bravery and nobility, finally convinced her to live out her remaining days as human. Angel then went through the trials to win Darla a new chance at life. Though he endured, it was for naught as Darla had already gotten her second chance at life, and Angel reassured her that he would be there for her. Once she had fully accepted and embraced her humanity and soul, Wolfram & Hart, angry that their plans were going awry, brought in Drusilla to sire Darla. After Darla rose again, she was initially upset over becoming a vampire again and attacked Drusilla. However, she quickly embraced it once more. She and Dru then celebrated Darla's raising by attending a Wolfram & Hart function at the home of Holland Manners. Darla and Drusilla massacred most of the staff attending the party out of revenge for being used as pawns. The only two survivors were Lindsey McDonald and Lilah Morgan, who the two vampires wanted to use as means to get what they want. Afterward, Darla and Drusilla attempted to recruit a gang of demons in order to take over Los Angeles, though they were all slaughtered by Angel. Shortly afterwards, Angel, descending into darkness due to having failed to rescue Darla, set both women on fire, though they did not die but were severely injured. As Drusilla went to Sunnydale to unsuccessfully try to bring Spike back into the fold, Darla hid in Lindsey's apartment to recover and hide from Wolfram & Hart, exploiting Lindsey's romantic interest in her. Angel's perspective grew even darker when Holland Manners informed him that Wolfram & Hart's power came from the evil within humanity itself and that none of his good deeds would ever make a difference. Returning home, he realized Darla was laying in wait for him. Desperate to end his pain by losing his soul, he roughed her up and they had sex, with Darla gleefully expecting him to lose his soul, as the curse breaks when Angel experiences a moment of perfect happiness such as when he made love to Buffy Summers. The next morning, Angel still had his soul; sex with Darla made him experience perfect despair, rather than perfect happiness. Apologizing to Darla for his 'failure' to save her, Angel admitted that a part of him had seen it as part of his efforts to save himself — since she had created him, he had hoped that redeeming her would prove him worthy of redemption — but he then recognized that she was nothing to him, unable to even hate her. Surprised, angry, and upset, Darla attempted to stake Angel after he rejected her offer of a "repeat performance" to "get it right," only for Angel to grab the stake, informing Darla that he would allow her to live in gratitude for what she had done for him, but vowing that he would kill her next time he met her. As a result, Darla left Los Angeles.

### Motherhood

“*This child, Angel… It's the one good thing we've ever done together. The only good thing. You make sure to tell him that.*”
―Darla about their son Connor[src]
However, the unthinkable had happened: Darla had become pregnant as a result of Angel winning a life by enduring the trials in an attempt to save her when she was dying. Darla visited every shaman in the Western Hemisphere, all of whom told her that her pregnancy was inherently impossible, but also impossible to abort. With nowhere else to turn, Darla went to Angel. Various theories emerged about the child; from a cult of vampires who worshiped it as a miracle, to the fear that it was the evil spoken of in the Tro-Clon prophesies. It turned out the child was simply a healthy human baby with whom the pregnant Darla was sharing a soul, allowing her to feel genuine love for the child and prompting her to seek innocent blood to feed it. This did not matter to Daniel Holtz, who had been brought through time by the demon Sahjhan to kill Angel and Darla. Darla realized that she would lose her soul after giving birth and would be unable to love her child. She feared that she would kill the child eventually as her vampiric nature re-asserted itself once the child's soul was gone from her body. Additionally, her undead body was becoming increasingly unable to sustain the life of her unborn child in time for it to be born. When Darla went into labor, things did not look well, and it appeared that she would lose the baby. Adding to the difficulties of birth, Darla and Angel were being pursued by the murderous Holtz, who chased them into the alley behind Caritas during a violent rainstorm. Darla realized that the baby would die in the alley, just as the human Liam had died in an alley in order to birth the vampire Angelus. After telling Angel to make sure that their son would know that he was the one good thing the two vampires had ever done together, Darla staked herself, leaving behind a pile of dust and a crying and healthy infant — a final act of redemption to ensure the life of their son, Connor.

### Legacy

Sometime later, Darla's spirit appeared to a teenager Connor when he was being tempted by Cordelia Chase (possessed by the higher power later known as Jasmine) to murder an innocent teenage girl, so that her blood could anoint a pregnant Cordelia and give birth to Jasmine. Sent by The Powers That Be, Darla pleaded with her son to not commit murder. Seemingly moved by his mother's words, Connor began to untie the girl, but "Cordelia" chastised him for allowing himself to be swayed by Darla's spirit, whose presence she could sense. "Cordelia" and Darla competed for Connor's soul, with Darla telling Connor to listen to his heart and "Cordelia" telling him that Darla was just an illusion created by Angel's team using magic in order to trick him. Cordelia's words combined with Connor's anxiety for the life of the "baby" (Jasmine), ultimately won out and Connor exclaimed to Darla: "You are not my mother!," and dragged the terrified innocent girl to "Cordelia." Connor saw the girl take on Darla's form for a moment though "Cordelia" promptly killed her. The girl's corpse remained as Darla for a brief moment. Connor never mentioned what he saw to anybody. When Spike went up against Wolfram & Hart in Las Vegas, the liaison to the Senior Partners, possessing human Jeremy Johns, told him that they were planning on creating a fake Darla in order to get to Connor. While visiting Galway, Fred and Angel discovered that the murders of 1753 committed by Angelus and Darla had became a tourist attraction.

## History

### Becoming a Vampire

Darla was born in late 16th century Britain. She emigrated to Virginia Colony in North America where she became a prostitute. She was dying of syphilis when The Master sired her into a vampire. Darla was rarely with him however, even though he viewed her as though she was his daughter. In her earlier life she was intrigued by a boy named Liam. She sired him and he became the infamous Angelus. At her urging, Angelus murdered his family and everyone else in his village. Throughout the years, they killed many people in specific sections of the U.K. before separately immigrating to the U.S. The two of became infamous together with Darla leaving The Master for now. Together they killed Daniel Holtz's family because he was the vampire hunter that was pursuing them. Darla and Angelus were joined by Spike and Drusilla becoming known as The Whirlwind. Darla brought Angelus a gypsy girl to feed on. This led them to curse Angelus with a soul. Darla noticed his odd behavior and realized what was happening, causing her to abandon him.

### TV Series

She rejoined The Master and assisted with his plans in Sunnydale before running into the ensouled Angel who temporarily killed her after she attacked Buffy's mother. Wolfram and Hart resurrected her a few years later to transform Angel back to a vampire. Angel encounters her and she claimed to be someone else. It was later revealed that she was revived as a human and she now has a soul. The plan failed and they had Drusilla transformed her back into a vampire. Darla and Drusilla killed several people throughout Los Angeles and tried to attack Angel but failed. The two of them left with Darla returning and sleeping with him in an attempt to transform him into a vampire again. Darla discovered that she was pregnant and sought out help for this to realize why. No one was able to tell her how it occurred so she returned to Los Angeles and told Angel what was going on. Darla shared a soul with her child prompting her to attack a young boy so she could share the blood with her unborn son. Darla appeared to be having difficulties giving birth and her son would most likely not survive. Plus, Daniel Holtz who had been put into suspended animation and awakened was seeking to take the child for himself. With this Darla staked herself in order to ensure that her son survived. Darla became a cloud of dust but her son survived. Darla visited her son Connor when he was under the influence of Jasmine (who had possessed Cordelia) dissuading him not to help her kill a girl. Connor ignored his mother when Jasmine told her that she was lying to him. He then dragged the girl to Jasmine and killed her. Darla then vanished after that because she had been unable to stop her son from helping Jasmine.

## Behind the scenes

* She was portrayed by Julie Benz.
* Darla was the first seen vampire in *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* and spoke the first line of dialogue in the series: "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
* Darla has the record of most real deaths in the Buffyverse with 4: sired by the Master in 1609, staked by Angel in 1997, re-sired by Drusilla in 2000, and staked herself in 2001.
* In the *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* pilot, Darla dies when Willow throws holy water on her, contrary to her survival from the attack aired in "The Harvest." Julie Benz described: "I was a big fan of the movie, so when I was offered the role of Vampire Girl #1 in the pilot presentation, I took it even though I knew I was gonna die right away. I remember once the show went to series and we reshot the pilot, Vampire Girl #1 was given a name... but I was still supposed to die. We were filming my death scene on set when Joss [Whedon] came up to me and said, 'We decided not to kill you. You're gonna be back next episode. And then we're gonna kill you.' This went on for a few episodes. It was exciting and fun for me as an actress, but I never thought Darla would develop and become such a pivotal part of the story line."
* Along with Angel, Cordelia, and Harmony, she is one of only four characters to appear in both the first season of *Buffy* and the final season of *Angel*. Out of the four, she is the only one who was never a main cast member.
* According to Julie Benz, she was used to test the vampire makeup at the start of the show where she initially had an allergic reaction towards the prosthetic. Benz has also stated that "taking that makeup off, it was like having six layers of skin ripped off your face every time. It was miserable and the contact lenses were terrible. I don't wear contacts and I don't know how people do it, sticking things in their eyeballs all the time."
* Benz has pointed out that in the *Buffy* pilot episode, Darla — attempting to dress like a high school student — exaggerates it with a "little twist," wearing a Catholic schoolgirl uniform instead. "I think I influenced Darla fashion-wise in the second season of Angel where she was a little more classic-looking and tailored," Benz says, explaining she collaborated with the costume designer to transition Darla into a "hipper look" when she became a vampire again.

## Trivia

* Julie Benz appeared as Julie Miller in the 1996 episode "Murder on Thin Ice" for the TV series "Diagnosis Murder".
* Julie Benz appeared as Satanic villainess Alison Kingsley in the 2000 film, "Satan's School For Girls".
* Julie Benz appeared as Danielle in the 2005 film "Bad Girls From Valley High.
* Julie Benz appeared as the evil Dawn Sterling on "Law & Order".