Lorne (Buffyverse)
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| Image:Lorne.jpg Andy Hallett as Lorne | ||||||||||||||
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Krevlornswath "Lorne" Of The Deathwok Clan (born in Pylea), also known as "The Host", is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the cult television program, Angel. The character is portrayed by Andy Hallett.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Character history
Krevlornswath of The Deathwok Clan was born in the demonic dimension of Pylea. Lorne, as he preferred to be called, wasn't like his fellow Deathwok clan demons; bloodthirsty "champions" constantly undertaking quests against evil. He was a gentle soul who did not share his kin's prejudice against humans (or "cows" as they were called in his world). Lorne would rather flirt with the female demons and enjoy life than train to be a "fighter". Lorne also enjoyed beauty, art, and even music, which was difficult considering his world had no music. He refused to train his innate mystical senses to learn to hunt beasts and was considered the shame of his clan.
In 1996, he happened upon a dimensional portal and was sucked through it. He landed in Los Angeles and discovered music and culture like he never imagined. He learned to hone his mystical senses to read people's auras, but found it easiest to do so when they sang, baring their souls. He decided to open up a karaoke bar on the spot he arrived on Earth, an old abandoned building. He contracted the Transuding Furies to cast a sanctuary spell on the spot, which stopped any demon violence from occurring on it. He named the bar Caritas, the Latin word for mercy. The bar became a success from the ambiguously evil Los Angeles underground scene. To most who visited the bar, he was simply called "The Host". He later states that he didn't use the name "Lorne" in this dimension, because his striking green skin prompted people to make Lorne Greene jokes.
Lorne is always reluctant to help Angel and the other heroes of the series, but his essential goodness usually wins out over his reticence. Lorne starts off by giving the characters advice and encouragement, but as time goes on he becomes more directly involved in the cases of Angel Investigations and his many contacts in L.A.'s magical underworld prove useful. He somewhat reluctantly joins the team in their mission to Pylea to rescue Cordelia, discovering that he could incapacitate the natives by singing songs and causing them to cower from "the strange noise". On leaving, he decides that returning to Pylea had been good for him as it had reaffirmed that he did not belong there and was right to stay away.
In Season 3, Caritas is raided by Charles Gunn's old gang and it is temporarily put out of action, finally being completely destroyed by Daniel Holtz. After that, Lorne finds himself becoming far more attached to the Angel Investigations team, and he often looks after the infant Connor while Angel is on business. Eventually he leaves to start a singing career in Las Vegas, but leaves after a crimelord forces him into using his empathic abilities to locate audience members with promising futures so he can steal them. Back in L.A., Lorne helps restore Cordelia Chase's lost memories and is part of the fight against the resulting Jasmine crisis.
In the show's fifth and final season, Lorne finds himself the new head of Wolfram & Hart's Entertainment Division, fitting into the job with ease. However, as time goes on, Lorne's kindness is slowly replaced by a growing cynicism and self-loathing of his position of positive "cheerleader" for Angel and friends, particularly when Gunn is abandoned in a hell dimension to recover Lindsey McDonald; Lorne had always assumed that they didn't leave men behind.
When Lorne's close friend Fred is murdered and her body usurped by Illyria, Lorne becomes filled with despair which he keeps secret from the rest of his equally heartbroken friends. By the conclusion of the series, Lorne announces he is leaving Los Angeles after carrying out his part in Angel's scheme to destroy the Circle of the Black Thorn. When Lorne knows what his part was, he tells Angel 'This is the end for me. You won't find me in that alley, and don't try to look for me'. This includes betraying and murdering long time enemy turned ally Lindsey, who in his final words mutters at the unfairness of being killed by Lorne, a 'flunky', and not his longtime rival Angel.
In his final scene, after shooting Lindsey with a silenced pistol, a disgusted and broken Lorne walks off into the darkness. Lorne drops the gun and simply says 'Goodnight folks' as he leaves.
[edit] Powers & Abilities
Lorne can read people's auras, and their futures. He uses this power to set them on their path in life. He can also read their thoughts and emotions when he does this. He has excellent hearing, and can hear outside the normal human range. Lorne seems to be immune to the intoxicating effects of normal alcohol, but is affected by certain magical brews. He can also generate tones painful to human hearing, and at the right frequency to cause light bulbs to shatter and spark. Unique to his clan is the ability to survive the complete removal of his limbs and even beheading, unless his body is mutilated after the fact.
In the episode "Life of the Party", Lorne's lack of sleep caused his subconscious to use his powers differently. Instead of "reading destinies" he was "creating destinies", granting him a sort of mind control/suggestion power. He transformed Spike into a super positive person, made Wesley and Fred behave drunk, Gunn urinate all over the Wolfram & Hart building (He told Gunn to 'stake out his territory', and Gunn responded by marking his territory in a manner similar to animals), and influenced Angel to have sex with Eve. His subconscious, unable to cope with the conflicts Lorne usually handled in his sleep, then manifested as an astral projection which possessed super strength, and appeared like a Hulked out version of Lorne. These powers were lost when Lorne's ability to sleep was returned to him.
[edit] Romantic Relationships
Lorne never embarked on any notable romantic relationships during his time on the show. Despite the character's flirting with Angel (and nearly every main character on the show), the series never made any explicit claims about Lorne's sexuality, and Hallett himself intentionally left it vague, saying that Lorne loved "all humans". However, because Lorne is from an alternate dimension where even his own mother has a beard, the traditional norms of gender and sexuality cannot really apply.
[edit] Appearances
Lorne has appeared in:
Angel
Lorne became a series regular in the show's fourth and fifth seasons. He appeared in the opening credits from the season four episode, "Release". He appeared in 76 episodes overall. He has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Season 2 (2000, 2001) - "Judgment", "First Impressions", "Dear Boy", "Guise Will Be Guise", "The Trial", "Redefinition", "Happy Anniversary", "Reprise", "Epiphany, Disharmony", "Dead End", "Belonging", "Over the Rainbow", "Through the Looking Glass", "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb".
Season 3 (2001, 2002) - "Heartthrob", "That Vision Thing", "That Old Gang of Mine", "Fredless", "Offspring", "Lullaby", "Dad", "Birthday", "Provider", "Waiting in the Wings", "Couplet", "Sleep Tight", "Forgiving", "Double or Nothing", "The Price", "A New World", "Benediction", "Tomorrow".
Season 4 (2002, 2003) - "Deep Down", "The House Always Wins", "Slouching Toward Bethlehem", "Supersymmetry", "Spin the Bottle", "Apocalypse, Nowish", "Habeas Corpses", "Long Day's Journey", "Awakening", "Soulless", "Calvary", "Salvage".
Season 5 (2003, 2004) All Episodes
