#This isn't anti Angel it's just appreciating how well written of a villain Angelus was

[redbone135]

BTVS has some really good villians, but in my mind, none will ever be as good as Angelus. I'd even venture that he's a scarier villian than most other shows have ever tried to create. He's not the most evil, or the most violent, but he's a level of crazy and petty that makes him unpredictable and terrifying. When he mentions, casually I might add, that he drove Dru insane before he turned her - I think most minds picture physical torture or the huge loss of all her loved ones... But then we see him start the process with Buffy and it's a lot more subtle and horrible than can be imagined. There are two scenes that live in my mind rent free that really exemplify this crazy, petty sadisticness.

Petty: When he confronts Joyce and pretends to be the stalker ex boyfriend... He is a centuries old monster, he has options there, and what he goes for, I think, is the worst in terms of hurting Buffy. I mean, he could have killed her mom, left a bloody reminder of his strength the way he did for Jenny and Giles, but he knows because of her slaying Buffy has an odd relationship with death - that pain is motivating for her. So he wants to emotionally abuse her? He could have told her mom about her slaying and vampires and forced the fight that Spike brings about later (Spike stans don't @ me... I know he didn't mean to) but Angel doesn't do that because as we see later, that's a breaking moment for the relationship and he wants her to live with the torture. So what DOES he do? The worst thing for a 17 year old girl, not the slayer, but a teenager going through her first real breakup. He tells her mom she isn't a virgin anymore. If that isn't the most petty and emotionally manipulative option in that situation, I don't know what is.

Crazy: This one only gets to you when you stop to really break it down into steps: Willow's fish. First, and I'm skipping breaking into her room since that's expected and not that difficult for him, first he has to catch the fish. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to get fish out of a tank that big, but it's not easy with a net and I personally didn't see one so I like to think he caught them with his hands. So first he has to spend, what... Ten, twenty minutes getting all those fish out of the tank? Second, he has to SEW the fish together. Broody Angelus spent a good chunk of time just sitting on Willow's bed sewing fish together? And he had to be careful or they wouldn't have been in a perfect line like Willow finds them. Which implies either more time spent on this OR practice sewing fish together... Both of which are kinda crazy. Last, he has to dry the fish and gently fold them into a pristine envelope. I mean we didn't know what was in the letter cause it wasn't wet or lumpy... Putting a folded letter neatly into an envelope is hard... But carefully drying and putting fish into an envelope... That's a level of dedication that's just crazy.

How do you fight a man like that? You don't... Anyone less than Buffy would have ended up just like Dru...