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The Vampire with a Soul Amy Kind Tohellwithyouandyoursouls!...Whydoyouplaguemeabout souls? Haven’t I got enough to worry, and pain, and distract me already without thinking of souls? —R. M. Renfield to Dr. John Seward, Dracula Perhaps no creature is more commonplace in horror fiction—both on the page and on the screen—than the vampire. As typically depicted, the vampire rises from the grave to a potentially immortal undead existence, sustaining himself by drinking the blood of the innocent. With the kind of charisma and cunning that is born only of evil, the garden-variety vampire takes special pleasure in his actions, delighting in his wanton destruction of human life. Recently, however, the ingenious imagination of writer Joss Whedon has given the classic vampire tale a new spin. What if a vampire had a conscience? What if he could feel remorse? How could he live with what he has done? Answers to these intriguing questions are explored through the character Angel (David Boreanaz), initially introduced in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then given an eponymous spin-off series.1 The vampire Angelus had prided himself on the creativity he brought to the sadistic seduction—and destruction—of his victims. But after a gypsy curse restores his soul, everything changes. Tormented by his past evil deeds, he enters a hell of his own making. Ultimately, renouncing his past identity, he renames himself “Angel.” Like an unhappy addict who wishes he could put an end to his insatiable compulsion, Angel is repelled by his own unquenchable thirst for blood. Neither comfortable nor welcome in either human or vampire society, he struggles to find meaning in his continued existence and to make his way in the world. In addition to making for compelling television, the depiction of Angel/ Angelus presents an interesting test case for philosophical theories of 86 Angel and the Quest for Identity The Vampire with a Soul 87 identity and moral responsibility. The people with whom he interacts are conflicted about what to make of his dual identity. His friends who reassure him that he’s not Angelus nonetheless remind themselves not to forget who he really is. While some hold Angel accountable for the actions of Angelus , others convince themselves that they should think of those horrors as perpetrated by someone else. In this essay I explore how we should think about the identity of a vampire with a soul and what this means about the identity of us all. Metaphysical Misfits Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) may look like a typical teenage girl, but she’s not. She’s really a vampire slayer. The opening narration of Buffy the Vampire Slayer provides some background: “In every generation, there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.” Among other superhuman powers , a slayer has extraordinary strength and agility, heightened perceptual awareness, and the ability to heal far more quickly than a normal human. Each Slayer is also assigned a Watcher—a sort of mentor/adviser/coach on all matters relating to her special mission. Buffy’s Watcher, Rupert Giles (Anthony Head), works by day as a librarian at Buffy’s high school. Along with Giles and a group of friends referred to as the “Scooby Gang,” Buffy saves the world, again and again, from the forces of evil. (Because her hometown of Sunnydale, California, is built on a hellmouth, it is a particular magnet for such forces.) The show, which ran for seven seasons, featured Angel as Buffy’s love interest during the first three seasons. When it becomes clear that a relationship between a vampire slayer and a vampire—even a vampire with a soul—is hopeless, Angel leaves Sunnydale for Los Angeles and gets a television series of his own. In Angel, which ran for five seasons (the first four concurrent with the final four seasons of Buffy), Angel opens a supernatural detective agency and continues the fight for good along with a motley assortment of supporting characters, including Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), formerly an occasional member of the Scooby Gang. The fight morphs into a personal crusade for Angel once he learns that he may have a special destiny. Contained in the ancient Scrolls of Aberjian, the Shanshu Prophecy predicts that the vampire with a soul, after enduring numerous trials and playing a key role in the apocalypse, will be rewarded with the gift of human life. Much of...

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