Buffy The Vampire Slayer Vs. Angel: Which Show Is Better?

10. The Protagonist

Both Buffy and Angel take their names and the brunt of their drama from their eponymous characters. A poetic pair -- one a slayer destined to fight the forces of darkness, the other a vampire cursed with a soul and forced to atone for his past atrocities -- they each soar as compelling TV protagonists.

That being said, Angel is definitely the weak link here, despite his obvious strengths. Desperate to right his wrongs and combat the world he once relished as a remorseless killing machine, Angel is a complex, brooding figure who nonetheless becomes a touch boring after a while; his crusade veering into repetition.

Buffy Summers, on the other hand, never suffers such setbacks, instead grappling with her own demons (literally and figuratively) in a way that becomes all the deeper, more personal, and, despite the increasing darkness of her often traumatic life, incredibly entertaining.

Buffy has her own problems, of course, particularly during season six when the writing became too dark for its own good, but even then the Slayer's humour, resilience, and overall heroism makes her a much more engaging protagonist than her former undead boyfriend.

Winner: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.