The first blonde woman of power that we see in Buffy the Vampire Slayer was not Buffy herself – but instead Darla the vampire queen. Buffy season one episode one starts with our first spooky view of Sunnydale High. We hear a crash and see a young rogue leading a VERY looking  innocent young woman through the science labs , past the skeletons. He tries to convince her that it is not as spooky as she thinks, and that he will protect her.

Once he is convinced her that it is safe, she learns what she needs to know – they are alone.

And then she shows her true face of evil, transforms into a vampire and attacks and kills him.

Darla was only slated to appear in one episode, but as a show fan, this happily changed. The Darla character made an appearance in two seasons (1st and 5th).  And she received such wide fan acclaim that she was even written into Angel. Actually she became one of the most significant  members of the series , and this article is just a brief introduction to her.

Learning about her letting you know a little about the ways vampires developed. You were not born a vampire , but you became a vampire by being sired. That means a vampire bit you, and then had you drink from their blood and then when you rose from the grave you would be one of the Undead.

Darla’s Birth as a Vampire

We never knew “Darla’s ” real name, instead she went by the name that was a pet name like “Darling,” or “Honey.” She was a young woman who migrated to the Virginia Colonies from early Europe in the 16th century.  She made her living in the oldest profession , and we saw her dying of  syphilis. The doctors were applying leeches and other ineffective methods of healing her body – when a heavily cloaked priest offered to try and save her soul.

It turned out that this was no priest – it was the Master – one of the oldest and strongest of the vampires. The Master bites her stating that she will be reborn and will serve him all her immortal life. However, this must have felt like exuberant and unbelievable power for her, from the most disrespected of women, to one to be feared.

Of course the only payment was her soul.

When Darla met her mate – Angel

Darla roams Europe for hundreds of years, doing the Master’s bidding but also living independently.

In a small village in Ireland, she was to meet the man who would end up changing her life.

We see the scene opening as Darla observes a handsome young man drinking and carouseling. Something in him leads her to believe that he could have cunning and strength enough to be her companion.

She lures  him – “Liam” into an alley. He found her irresistible, a stunningly beautiful young woman standing by herself. As with the young man in the first scene in Buffy in Sunnydale High, she brought out the  protective in Liam. She told him of adventures that they might have together – he said that he had not been anywhere.

Darla bit him, drained her and cut her breast with her nail. As she buried his head in it, he died and became vampire, and her companion.

Darla named him Angelus. 

They continued travelling through Europe and creating terror and destruction wherever they were. They loved to kill, and Angelus in particular took pleasure in being mean.

The Gypsy Curse that took Angelus away from Darla

beautiful Gypsy woman in white dress and two man standing in bright room

For centuries Angelus and Darla continued their evil bond , rampaging across the globe and killing as they did. Their tumultuous relationship continued until the night of an unfortunate birthday present. Birthdays are very eventual in Buffy and Angel,  so when we see  Darla give Angelus a beautiful young woman to eat and torture, we should have realized that  it was significant. They feasted and gave this poor beautiful young lady a horrible death.

The gypsy girl had been a favorite of the Kalderash Clan, and her people mourned her greatly.

They decided that the ultimate punishment for Angelus was for him to receive his soul. This turned out to be the ultimate punishment for  Angelus. Where the maiden had suffered for hours before she died ,  Angelus suffered for an eternity.  He was plagued with the realization of all that he had hurt, in excruciating detail.  He lost his swagger and pride, and began to shrink. And he both desired blood and the dark – and felt all the evil he had caused.

Before he did he tried to convince Darla that he was not changed, but she wasn’t having it.

Darla could smell his “filthy soul.”

Neither of them gave up on each other completely for a little while, they maintained the facade that things were just as normal. Darla even tried to bargain with the Kalderash gypsy elders, but they did  not release the curse.

She wanted to kill Angel and Angel wanted to kill her. Both could not do it. Gradually they drifted apart.

After more than 150 years, they both settled in Sunnydale at different times.

In her early days in the town of Sunnydale, Darla fed on Sunnydale high school students.  One student was killed by Darla – which let Buffy know that even if she left Hemery High in Los Angeles, she could not leave her fate as a vampire slayer. However, she sloppily left the student drained lying on the school grounds. It was this
victim that caught the attention of Buffy Summers (the “Slayer”) noting that vampires were in Sunnydale.,

Angel also settled in Sunnydale carrying a human soul which made Darla disgusted, yet she missed her Angelus and wanted him to turn back into being a vampire. Darla made a terrible mistake in her bloodthirst.
Unfortunately,Darla also bit Joyce Summers, Buffy’s mother. To cover her crime Darla blamed Angel for biting Buffy’s mother.

I think she was hoping that Buffy would kill Angel, or preferably  Angel would kill Buffy.

Back to Darla and Sunnydale – and the Final Meeting between Angel and Darla

A lot happened in episode seven of Buffy the Vampire “Angel.” Before this episode we thought of Angel as just as a handsome stranger that came in and out of Buffy’s life like a shadow.

And they were falling in love.

But Buffy learned in this episode that Angel wasn’t a man, he was instead the creature that she was destined to eliminate – a vampire.  She saw him with her mother who had her neck bleeding , and thought that he had attacked her. But actually it had been Darla.

The next scene pitted an enraged Buffy against Angel – who she thought was just evil, and had played her into falling in love with her. He told her the story of losing his soul and the gypsy curse. They began a dialogue about who he was – how he wasn’t a man , how he fought the evil because he had a soul but he still had evil urges. Their dialogue was abruptly interrupted as Darla appeared on the scene – literally gunning for Buffy, who she believed had taken her last chance with Angel away. Darla wounded Angel with her guns but came after Buffy with an intent to maim and kill.

They fought for their survival, and were helped when Giles, Xander and Willow distracted them.

But in the end it was Angel who came up behind Darla and staked her. She turned as she turned into dust – her eyes full of sadness as she said “Angel.”

We see the Master being outraged at the news saying “She was my favorite!” For 400 years they had stalked the world, and the Master had hoped that Angelus would sit at his right hand when the day came.

Julie Benz, the actress who played Darla in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later Angel  said in an interview with Paula Goldberg:

Two series I think you probably get the most buzz over are Dexter and Angel/Buffy. Darla was supposed to only be in the first episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Clearly you made an impact. What has been the impact on you of playing such a fun, dark, and tragic figure?

“Darla was epic! What a wonderful gift I was given to play her! I always say that playing Darla was like going to the best graduate school for acting. Joss and the writers challenged me on every level in every episode (emotionally, physically, spiritually). I had just graduated NYU with a BFA in acting, but I didn’t really learn to act until I was on set playing Darla.” source

We are currently glad that she played it too! It is hard to imagine anyone playing Darla but Julie Benz.

Darla was pivotal to the series, the first femme fatale we loved to hate.