Angel was the brooding hero on the TV series Buffy: The Vampire Slayer but, a moment of pure happiness destroyed the curse placed on him by the gypsy's. Angelus lived once more.
Angel was born in the early 1700s in Ireland. He was a ne'er-do-well and preferred drinking over working. He was "made" by Darla when he was a young man after a drunken binge.
The next hundred years or so were spent traveling Europe and terrorizing its denizens this included the family of a woman named Drusilla. He was one of the most savage of the Vampire killers as recorded in the Watcher Diaries. But then, in Romania in 1898, he killed a gypsy girl and her clan cursed him--they restored his soul.
Angelus became just Angel, a vampire with his soul returned, and now a conscience, who could no longer justify killing a human for blood. He went into hiding from the other vampires. Angel was overcome with guilt for his actions, and so, he came to America and vowed never to feed on a human again. In the 1990s Angel was offered the chance to make something of himself and atone for his previous actions. He decided to help the Slayer.
Angel wants to help Buffy, but he is afraid of getting to closely involved. He falls for her eventually -- and, on Buffy's seventeenth birthday, they consumate their relationship. The result of this action was tragic--Angelus who had been gone for so long returned with a vengeance. The curse had a clause--one moment of joy and the curse would be lifted.
Once Angel feels that moment of happiness with Buffy, the curse is broken, and Angelus is reborn, as evil as ever before.
Angel is played by David Boreanaz.