Connor (Buffyverse)
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| Image:Connor Angel.jpg Vincent Kartheiser as Connor | ||||||||||||||
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Connor, also known as Connor Angel, Steven Franklin Thomas Holtz and Connor Reilly, is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television program Angel. The character is portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser and earlier by Connor, Jake and Trenton Tupen.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Character history
Connor is born in November 2001 in Los Angeles, California, a "miracle" human child of two vampires, Angel and Darla.
Connor is introduced in season three's "Lullaby". His vampire mother, Darla, unable to physically give birth, stakes herself in order for him to be born (as a vampire, staking herself causes her body to turn to a fine ash immediately, leaving the newborn Connor more or less unscathed and out of the womb.) For the first few months of his life, Connor becomes a part of the Angel Investigations family; jointly raised by the entire group at The Hyperion Hotel. Connor is prophesied to murder the time-shifting demon Sahjhan. In an effort to negate the prophesy and save his own life, Sahjhan travels back and forth through time and rewrites the prophecy to read: "The father will kill the son". Shocked and worried for the baby's safety with his own father, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce kidnaps the baby and plans on taking him away from Angel permanently, in order to save his life. However, before he has the chance to leave Los Angeles, the vampire hunter Daniel Holtz orders his lackey Justine to slit Wesley's throat and take Connor as vengeance for Angel's murder of his own family. After complications involving the lawyers at Wolfram & Hart, who want the miracle baby to dissect it, Holtz runs into a dimensional portal into the hellish world of Quor-Toth with Connor in his arms.
Time runs more quickly in Quor-Toth and Connor ages at an accelerated rate; forced to constantly fight for his life in a violent, demonic dimension. Holtz tells him tales about 'Angelus'; Angel's soulless vampiric persona. This effectively turns Connor against his true father and Connor grows to despise him. Mere days have passed since his disappearance in Los Angeles when Connor (called "The Destroyer" by beings in Quor-Toth) suddenly returns, now nearly eighteen years old. He had discovered a rift in the dimension and is transported into the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel with one goal: to kill Angel. Conflict and confusion are abundant as Connor adjusts to L.A. and is further manipulated by Holtz, who had followed him back into this reality. Eventually, under his own plan, Holtz is killed by Justine in a manner that frames Angel. Enraged, Connor (with help from Justine) seals Angel in a box and sinks him to the bottom of the ocean.
Meanwhile, Connor lives on his own, slowly learning to fight the good fight under Fred and Gunn's supervision. Upon Angel's return, relations are still shaky, yet slowly improved. Due to his difficult upbringing, Connor finds it hard to develop emotional attachments to people, yet he forms a close bond with Cordelia. When a demon known as The Beast rises from the ground in the very same place that he had been born, Connor feels responsible, and as fire rains from the sky, he seeks solace in Cordelia's arms. Unknown to him, and to everyone else, is the fact that Cordelia is under the control of a powerful entity who seeks dominion over the human race, and who for years has been orchestrating events in order to be fully brought forth into the world. Their night of passion, then, has serious repercussions as it allows the arrival of Jasmine, an ambiguously evil goddess from another dimension who brings joy and hope to all she encounters. Unfortunately, whilst everyone basks in the glory of Jasmine, Connor does not feel the same inner peace and is left with untold loneliness and isolation, struggling with his inner demons and weary of the constant fight against demons and vampires; all he wants is to rest. This ultimately leads him into a desperate situation where he is willing to hurt not only himself but to take others with him. In a final act of love, Angel agrees to take over Wolfram & Hart in exchange for his son's life: Connor will have a whole new existence as an ordinary boy raised in a happy family. Connor dies, killed by Angel's own hand, so that he can be "reborn" into his new life. Other than Angel (and Cordelia, and "for some reason, Eve,") everyone's memories are rewritten to accommodate this new reality.
He becomes Connor Reilly, the eighteen-year old son of Lawrence and Colleen Reilly. However, Connor is destined to cross Angel's path again. One day at Wolfram & Hart, Angel has a pair of new clients: Mr. and Mrs. Reilly. They comes to Angel because Connor was hit by a van and had no injuries whatsoever. Soon after, Connor's family is attacked by demons. Having no other choice, Angel informs Connor of his special abilities, but leaves out that he is his father. As fate designed it, the attacks were not random occurrences. Cyvus Vail, the demon architect of Connor's new life, drew Connor out on purpose. Under threat of returning Connor's memories, Vail forces Angel to have Connor fight one of his enemies: Sahjhan. Connor agrees to the fight, but is outmatched. Meanwhile, Wesley discovers Angel's deception and encounters him at Vail's. No longer trusting Angel, he shatters the Orlon Window, an artifact holding Connor's original memories, which upon breaking restores the memories of everyone in near range and enables Connor to kill Sahjhan. Angel's world no longer being his, Connor says goodbye and returns to his family. On the eve of Angel's final battle with the Circle of the Black Thorn, he visits Connor for coffee, where Connor reveals that he knows Angel is his father and is grateful for all he has done for him. Later, when Angel fights Hamilton, Connor shows up to fight by his father's side. As the Senior Partners begin to exact their vengeance, Angel tells him to go home and that as long as Connor is all right, the Partners can never destroy him.
[edit] Powers & Abilities
Connor possesses the typical abilities of a Buffyverse vampire without any of their weaknesses: superhuman strength, speed, durability, recuperation, and senses. He has been bested in battle by both Faith Lehane and his father, however, he was stronger than most vampires.
In addition to his native powers, Connor was trained by his foster father, Holtz, in hunting and in both unarmed and armed combat.
[edit] Romantic Relationships
- Sunny: A runaway teenager addicted to drugs, the first female Connor had ever met since being taken to Quor-Toth and with whom he shared his first kiss after protecting her from the drug dealer Tyke.
- Cordelia Chase: Connor developed an affection for Cordelia when they lived together after Cordelia returned from the higher planes with total amnesia. After she regained her memories, a possessed Cordelia seduced Connor, and the pair became the 'parents' of the being known as Jasmine.
- Faith Lehane: Connor was instantly attracted by Faith's toughness and fighting skills
- Illyria: When the two met, Illyria sensed that Connor was lusting after her, prompting Connor to claim he'd always had a thing for older women.
[edit] Appearances
Connor has appeared in:
Angel
Connor became a series regular for the show's fourth season. He appeared in 36 episodes overall. He has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Series 3 (2001, 2002) - "Lullaby", "Dad", "Birthday", "Provider", "Waiting in the Wings", "Couplet", "Loyalty", "Sleep Tight", "The Price", "A New World", "Benediction", "Tomorrow".
Series 5 (2003, 2004) - "Origin", "Not Fade Away".
