11 TV Characters Killed Off Far Too Soon

Played by Julie Benz and appearing as a minor antagonist in the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Darla really came into her own once she moved over to its spin-off show, Angel. There, she was able to grow massively, proving with time to be both an innocent victim and a dangerous adversary to Angel and his friends.

Returning to the Buffyverse in at the very end of Angel's first season, Darla spends Season Two attempting to bring Angel back to his evil ways. Sleeping with him in hope that he'll lose his soul, which fails, Darla flees and eventually learns that she is pregnant. During her Season Three arc, she proves to be a somehow likeable character, and her suicide, which allows her son to be born safely, remains one of Angel's most moving scenes.

Despite this, it's clear that Darla was only just coming into her own, ready to take the next step in her journey to appease for her past mistakes. With her gone, Season Four left the door open for Connor (her son) to take a major role on the show, and the series suffered because of it.

Perhaps if Darla had been allowed to stick around, she could have joined her old evil associates Angel and Spike in making up for their past sins, and opened the door some great moments of character development and fan service.