25 Greatest Characters Across The Entire Whedonverse

7. Angel

Appeared in: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel Anything but a fallen angel, David Boreanz's titular character in Buffy's first and only spin-off to date started life as a brooding love interest for the Slayer, and was frankly cardboard, wooden, and dull. Then something happened - the more the character developed, and the more he was given his own story away from Buffy herself, the more interesting he became. His backstory with Darla, the fact that he would turn back into the evil vampire Angelus were he to experience a moment of true happiness - these things began to establish Angel as something more than a love interest. Mutant Enemy (Whedon's production company) clearly saw potential in Angel, as they lined him up for his own show after Buffy's third season. And while the two would cross characters over now and then in the first few years (until Buffy moved to UPN), Angel really came into his own when he was completely free of Buffy, and Boreanz's knack for both the dramatic, action, and comedy began to really shine through. Angel in the end became a better show than the series it originated from, and Angel as a character wound up the stronger hero; Whedon and co. deserve a ton of credit for taking a character that seemed dull as drying paint in the first season of Buffy and turning him into a character capable of anchoring his own series. Oh, and there was that time he turned into a muppet...