The character motivations of The Fanged Four
Darla: to be empowered. Darla is controlled by her desire for control. She has a tendency to latch on whoever is the most powerful at any given time; for example, she is quick to abandon The Master once Angelus proves a more attractive prospect. However, when Angelus is ensouled- and consequently much less effectual- she disowns him in favor of The Master. Additionally, her ultimate plan in the second season of Angel turned out to be ruling LA, though this does not turn out well for her.
Angel: to be forgiven. Redemption. Atonement. Penance. Angel’s semantic field throughout the series is littered with references to righting past wrongs. He seems obsessed with the idea of making amends for his sins whilst soulless, forming Angel Investigations as a means of giving back to a world he once ravished. When The Shanshu Prophecy predicts that a vampire with a soul will become human and be granted a clean slate if he helps enough people, this becomes a recurring symbol of the forgiveness Angel spends his character arc chasing.
Drusilla: to be understood. Dru is a character suffering from severe mental illness. This causes her speech to be almost incomprehensible, something Angelus and Darla take great joy in mocking. At the same time, her speech is essentially poetry, her dialogue being made up of metaphors and imagery and similes, an ongoing surrealist stanza of sorts. It would take a poet to understand her, so that’s who she sired. A bloody awful poet, perhaps, but a poet none the less.
Spike: to be loved. self-described as “love’s bitch”, Spike dedicates his unlife to earning the approval of women. Case-in-point; he tried to destroy the world for one woman’s affection, and saved it for another’s. This demonstrates how Spike would do just about anything to be loved, even if this love is unhealthy. He drastically changes himself in hopes of being someone worth loving, becoming a monster for Drusilla, and arguably a hero for Buffy.
The saddest part? In spite of having centuries to achieve their character motivations- more than any other character in the series - none of them do. Darla is disempowered and has her bodily autonomy stolen from her when she is magically impregnated. She is forced to carry to term against her wishes, dying in the process. Angel generally accepts that the atrocities he committed are beyond atonement, explaining to Spike; “You think any of it matters? The things we did? The lives we destroyed. That’s all that’s ever gonna count.” (Hellbound). And when Darla tells him that they can never make up for all the harm they caused, all Angel can say is a resigned “yeah” (Lullaby). Not only did he never achieve Shanshu, but it’s implied that the prophecy might not even be about him, Spike also being a contender. Drusilla is never understood; even Spike, the man who was suppose to, remarks that he regarded her as “completely sack of hammers” (Selfless), and talks about her mental illness in a rather derogatory light post-break up (Entropy, Bring on the Night, Damage). And while whether his two main love interests ever truly loved him is a matter of fierce debate, Spike seems to take the stance that neither Dru nor Buffy ever did. In the series finale, Buffy says “I love you”. His response? “No, you don’t. But thanks for saying it.”
They literally had centuries to achieve their character motivations. And none of them even came close.
stormborns
yousharknotpass
jimmyeatworldofficial
amandla
2087
gummygunk
