Darla

Lore & Background

Darla is born in the late 16th century in the British Isles. Her birth name is never revealed in either series, and Darla herself eventually forgets it. As a young prostitute, she emigrates to the Virginia Colony in North America and becomes independently wealthy but also contracts a fatal case of syphilis. By 1609, Darla lies dying in the luxurious house she owns. She scoffs at a "priest" who comes to her deathbed before he reveals his true identity: The Master, a very old and powerful vampire and the leader of an elite cult of vampires known as the Order of Aurelius. The Master turns her into a vampire and renames her "Darla", meaning "dear one" in early modern English ("darling"). Darla spends four centuries killing civilians, often accompanied by Angel (until his soul is restored), before appearing in Sunnydale. Her first appearance is in "Welcome to the Hellmouth", the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which aired in 1997. She breaks into Sunnydale High School with a student who goes there. Darla first toys with the youth, then her face morphs into that of a vampire and she bites the boy. Darla later appears in the episode "The Harvest", where she participates in the attempted ascension of the Master. Darla's role in the series is more prominent in the episode "Angel", where it is revealed that she is Angel's sire and former lover. Darla bites an unsuspecting Joyce Summers (Buffy's mother), making it...

In Their Own Story

Darla is first killed in the seventh episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In that episode, it is revealed that Darla was once romantically involved with Angel and that she turned him into a vampire. Angel stakes her through the heart. Benz was asked to return to the role three years later, but not on Buffy. Joss wanted her to appear on the spin-off Angel, which focused on Angel's adventures in Los Angeles. In Angel, she is resurrected by the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart in an attempt to weaken Angel. She later becomes intertwined in many of the story arcs in the second and third season. Darla becomes pregnant, a unique occurrence for a vampire. She sacrifices herself in order to give birth to her and Angel's human-like son Connor, ending her run on the series. However, Darla continues to appear in flashback episodes during the next two seasons.

Reader's Guide

Darla appears in twenty Angel episodes, as a minor antagonist and later as a love interest of Angel. The character is known for dying the most in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer franchise. Darla is presented in the series both as a human and as a vampire with, as Benz put it, generally "pure" intentions. In an interview with TheTVAddict, Benz said: "Darla's just misunderstood. Her intentions are pure, they're just kind of warped. From her perspective—first she has to eat—she just happens to eat people! Second, she was in love with Angel, and I always viewed Darla as the jilted ex-wife that could never get over being dumped. If you really look at her, you can have sympathy and empathy for her. In the beginning of her life she was a prostitute, Joss and I actually talked about that a lot, that she was probably abused growing up. She did what she needed to do to survive, she just lacked the people skills." Achieving Darla's look was a struggle for Benz. She said: "Taking that makeup off, it was like having six layers of skin ripped off your face every time. It was miserable and the contact lenses were terrible." The character's sense of fashion is vital to understanding her past. Benz says Darla is "dressed to the nines" in every time period in which she lives, and "she fully goes after a certain look."

Did You Know?

• Darla was originally supposed to die in the pilot episode, but Joss Whedon decided to give her a name and not kill her.
• Julie Benz originally auditioned for the role of Buffy Summers before being cast as Darla.
• Darla is known for dying the most in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise.
• The character's name 'Darla' means 'dear one' in early modern English, given to her by the Master after he turned her into a vampire.
• Darla becomes pregnant in the third season of Angel, a unique occurrence for a vampire, and sacrifices herself to give birth to her and Angel's son Connor.