Test of Strength: Angelus and Faith
by Slay Candy

These two characters are symbols of great strength within the show: a vampire and a slayer. This essay will take a look at each character and how to make this relationship believable within a fan fiction.

Angelus being Angel’s soulless state – is when all bets are off, his character is a dark and sinister version of Angel, he still has Angel’s memories, but none of his feelings, remorse or cares. Faith’s strength and darker personality leans her toward a relationship with Angelus, her character is constantly grappling with the pull of the kill tempting her. These two characters differ in the sense that Faith has to control her two differing sides: evil or good.

Having killed in the past Faith took a darker turn in season three of Buffy where she killed and tortured, and enjoyed it. She fought with Buffy and attacked her. Faith in season three was too far-gone to get help – she couldn’t see anything beyond what she was doing and couldn’t help herself out of this state. As a human, with a soul, this was taking a serious toll on her character, it made her unpredictable, violent, and he actions were usually ones to try and prove how bad she is. Faith’s character at this stage was all about being evil, revelling in this state and becoming it, because she felt she had no other choice.

However when you look at season four of Buffy when Faith returns we see her in a new light – taking Buffy’s body for a spin, she realises that what she really wanted was to be the good person, the one with the friends, the one with the boyfriend and the one who gets all of the attention and help. We realise here what Faith really needed: a friend and help. This shows us that Faith, although appearing to like being ‘bad ass’ was actually just lacking the self confidence to be good and needed someone to help her, and make sure she willed herself to do good. When Angel stepped in and helped her in LA and even fought with Buffy, Faith knew that she had a friend and had a chance to do good by everyone, and it was here that she went into prison.

Looking at Angelus at this point in time – he has been trapped, unable to inflict pain, or be evil, and his frustration has been building up over the years, he finally got to be free in Buffy Season Two, but being forced away again, his frustration is building. He longs to kill. He longs for human blood, the taste of pigs blood makes his skin crawl. The memories of flirting with Buffy and being in love with her, make his skin crawl even more. Angelus has no soul, he has no conscience and nor regret. Which means when it comes to evil he has a one-way mind: kill. This is the main difference between these characters. Angelus is just evil, he has no feelings of remorse, whereas Faith does have these feelings within her but she has to repress them. Angelus is a strong character with a domineering background. Angelus has always been the one in charge, when it was Darla, Drusilla and Spike it was always Angelus who took the leading role. His superiority complex mean that in a relationship he would desire the driving seat to make sure things go his way. In his past, Angelus never really loved, he was with Darla and Drusilla, but never did her form a serious love for anyone. His character appears to be devoid of these emotions of love. However it is not impossible for a vampire to love, we saw the vampire Penn in love, and Spike and Drusilla’s love was real and long lasting. One could even believe Harmony’s love for Spike was real. However Angelus never shows affection or feelings of love, he shows jealousy (toward the immortal) but no real love. When writing him in a ship, one must remember that while a love could exist his character has never showed the emotion and perhaps actions of jealousy or possession are more realistic to his nature.

If you were considering a relationship between Angelus and Faith in these early stages, her will power is not as secure and his influence would certainly be enough to drag her down to the dark side again. Looking to Angel as a figure of strength and authority in her life, Faith would be very much won over to the dark side once again. Faith’s character is very unstable – constantly changing from where she feels strong and she has these powers, to feeling totally weak to the power of them. Having these differing feelings kicking around inside of her means that her character will constantly be at a loss when it comes to a relationship. Faith, having a soul, will have her conscience fighting with her and she’ll have feelings of guilt and fear suppressed within her. Writing Faith when she is dark means understanding how she feels to have done what she has, and to try and not care, to pull that brave face over your character. Shipping her with Angelus means that she will have a character dragging her down, almost like the role of the Mayor. Faith will latch onto Angelus and form a relationship with him where she would do almost anything for him – as we saw with the Mayor, Faith wants to feel cared for, and as a sexual being, who uses it to her advantage (as we saw with Xander in the Zeppo) she will be flaunting her sexuality with Angelus and enjoying it. This pairing leads to a highly sexually charged, violent relationship, where the two enjoy sex, flaunt it, use it, and the two enjoy their strengths and relish in them. Faith being more of a submissive character when she is in her vulnerable state allows for Angelus to feel in charge – which suits his character’s more dominating traits. These two work, believably as a couple like this and one has to try and make it realistic in their fan fiction. Considering these factors may make a relationship between the two easier to understand and give a basis for a relationship.

Looking at later on, when we arrive at Angel Season four, Faith’s character has changed yet again. In prison, she is still haunted by the murders of her past – however she has grown to accept what she has done and can now move on with her life. Her vulnerable feelings are not apparent as she keeps her cool and manages to avoid getting into a prison fight, her character is stronger now and her independence and will power has obviously increased. Being in prison appears to have made Faith a lot more self reliant and dominant. When she arrives back at Angel Investigations, Connor points out that she strolls in and takes over everything. Faith’s leadership qualities come through as she commands people into action – being a very strong and independent character. Her weakness however is still that one person who kept her balanced, and helped her to where she is: Angel. The second Wesley informs her Angelus is back, she breaks out of prison and goes with Wesley to help him. At this stage we see that Faith doesn’t really consider her actions, she forgets everything to help Angel. Again her weakness can be seen when Connor is irritating her and she informs him that she is a murderer and if it came to Connor or Angelus, she would be siding with Angelus. Taking this fact on board a relationship between Faith and Angelus here would need to have serious grounds for Faith being with him. Whether it was a ploy to get Angel back, or whether Faith genuinely wants to be with Angelus your story must explain why – otherwise it would seem out of character of Faith to have this relationship in this time period.

Angelus in season four is free again and in LA, he is as usual, himself – playing with people’s minds and playing games with people, Angelus is back to his old tricks. His character hasn’t exactly grown as he hasn’t had a chance to change, the only difference is his interest – instead of focussing on Buffy and wanting to kill her for making him feel, his focus here is on Faith – fighting her, and playing with her. This relationship with Faith that he forms in this season is a game to Angelus, a way to play about with her head and to bring her down.

To Ship this couple in this later time period, Faith has become a lot steadier and isn’t the immature and easily led character as before. She cares deeply for Angel though and if it meant saving Angelus she would do it – with the hope of keeping Angel alive. Faith’s loyalty remains with Angel here. To have a relationship one must understand that Faith is nothing more than a game to Angelus. The two strong characters are opponents and fighting constantly, the way to form a relationship here would be one through their desires to use sex as a weapon and as a release – fighting can certainly build up sexual tension and a relationship between the two here could be very much based on sex. Faith’s loyalty to Angel and longing for his return met with Angelus playing Faith as his game gives the combining factor holding them together being sexual tension, fighting, and sex. How lead to a relationship must be believable – and therefore any rush into feelings or emotions would be seriously misplaced – Angelus for one is not the type of character to express either of these; not to mention that Faith would never admit any feelings toward him unless through sexual innuendo. It is not within her character to be open with her feelings: she has learned to deal with them, but not to share them. Both as solitary characters at this point in time bringing them together could show a reliance on each other – Angel needing Faith for the fighting, the feeling that he is being evil and playing with her; and Faith feeling like she needs him, to keep Angel. Whatever one decides to do in a fan fiction in this time period, one must remember to stay true to character and give a true basis for a relationship, other wise the fan fiction will not be as good as it could be.

I hope this essay has helped you understand the characters of Faith and Angelus and the factors that would join them together in a relationship. Please remember to consider the characterisation of each character and remain true to this – it will give a true reflection of how their relationship would be within your story.