Connor is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and Tim Minear for the television series Angel. The character is portrayed as an infant by the triplets Connor, Jake, and Trenton Tupen and as a teenager by Vincent Kartheiser. Connor has a recurring role in season 3, becomes a regular in season 4, and has his last television appearance in the series finale as a guest star. He continues his story in the canonical comic book series Angel: After the Fall.
Connor is the son of the title character Angel, who is a vampire. Of vampire descent, Connor's birth is a mystery even to Angel, as vampires typically cannot reproduce, and was born with their abilities, making him superhuman but not a vampire himself and having a human soul like his father, and thus, like him, he struggles with his own dark side and likelihood to become evil, as well as his guilt over his father's demonic alter-ego Angelus along his mother Darla's, who was his father's sire, wicked actions. Introduced in the third season as a newborn, Connor is kidnapped and taken to a hell dimension in an act of revenge against his father. He returns as a battle-hardened, disturbed teenager who has been raised to hate Angel. His consequent violent and estranged relationship with his father and increasing internal conflict make him shift alliances between protagonists and antagonists forms the storyline for his character. Towards the end of season 4, events take their toll on Connor's sanity, and his memories are rewritten to give him a normal life. The next time he appears in season 5, Connor is a well-adjusted person. At the return of his memories, Connor finally reconciles with Angel in the series finale. The comic book series follows Connor accepting his abilities and role of a hero in addition to maintaining a normal life as a college student.
Created to give Angel a paternal bond, the infant Connor was used to develop other characters. After he grows up, he initially becomes a tragic figure and foil for the protagonists before eventually evolving into a protagonist himself. Connor has received attention in academic texts related to family studies and masculinity in fiction. The character proved to be controversial among fans, while critics have given mixed views.
Appearances
Television
Season 3
In a seemingly impossible event, vampires Angel and Darla had a child, the end result being Connor, a human-like offspring of vampires and the first of his kind. Connor is introduced in the episode "Lullaby", when Darla sacrifices herself to give birth to him, by staking herself in the heart. Darla's sacrifice for their son allows Angel to make peace with her, and welcomes Connor into his life with hope for their family's future, especially since Angel is prophesied that he eventually become human again and thus one day a normal life as a father. However, Angel is apprehensive of what Connor might become, especially when he notices his son is not just healthy but also much stronger than human infants, which pains him to know that Connor is not normal (thus keeping him from being truly happy with his fatherhood, avoiding the risk of again losing his soul), yet loving him unconditionally. For the first few months of his life, Connor is jointly raised by Angel and his team, including Wesley and Cordelia. Different factions constantly target him. Connor is prophesied to destroy the time-shifting demon lord Sahjhan. In an attempt to negate the prophecy, he travels through time and rewrites the prophecy to read "The father will kill the son" in reference to Angel and Connor, and recruits Angelus's nemesis Daniel Holtz, whose family the vampire killed centuries ago with Darla. Wesley kidnaps the baby in a misguided effort to save his life from Angel, conveniently leading him into the hands of Holtz. Holtz steals the baby and is forced to escape to the hell dimension Quor'Toth: Darkest of the dark world.
Holtz raises Connor as his son and instills him with a deep hatred of Angel, although revealed later that he also occasionally abuses Connor when training him out of his hatred towards Connor's parents. As time runs more quickly in Quor'Toth, Connor ages at an accelerated rate in relation to time on Earth. Surviving the hell, a teenage Connor returns with the goal of avenging the Holtz family by killing Angel. After failing in his first attempt on Angel's life, Connor tentatively begins to reconcile with him. Fearful of the development, Holtz has himself killed by Justine Cooper in a manner that frames Angel for the action. In the finale "Tomorrow", an enraged Connor seals Angel in a metal box and sinks him to the bottom of the ocean.
Season 4
The opening episode "Deep Down" picks up three months after last season. Angel returns, and Holtz' deception is revealed. Relations are shaky as Angel kicks Connor out of the house in punishment for sinking him, but secretly keeps a protective eye on him from afar. Stricken by the betrayal of his adoptive father and the apparent abandonment by his real one, Connor seeks solace in Cordelia's arms. When an all-powerful demon lord The Beast rises from the ground at the place he was born, Connor feels responsible. As The Beast causes fire to rain from the sky in an apparent apocalypse, Cordelia sleeps with Connor to give him some happiness before the end. While an apocalypse does not occur, Angel (also in love with Cordelia) doesn't take kindly to the development, causing another rift between him and Connor. Unbeknownst to all, Cordelia is possessed to be with Connor by a cosmic entity, Jasmine, looking to give herself birth in this world through their union. As Cordelia becomes pregnant and manipulates Connor into helping her sacrifice an innocent girl for their child, his inhuman actions begin conflicting with his inner good, accelerating his already deteriorating mental health.
Jasmine arrives as a grown woman and immediately bewitches everyone to bask in immense joy and do her bidding. Connor is the only one left in misery because of sharing a blood link with her, which results in his further isolation. As Jasmine enacts her plans for world domination, Angel and his team break free from her spell. Caught between his father and daughter, Connor initially supports Jasmine against Angel, but this conflict, combined with the belief that neither truly cares about him, eventually makes him completely snap. Connor kills Jasmine after Angel manages to break her hold over the city but fails to kill her. An emotional wreck and attempting suicide, Connor wires himself, a comatose Cordelia, and shop full of innocent people to explosives. The season finale ("Home") shows Angel desperate to save his son. Angel agrees to take over Wolfram & Hart in exchange for Connor's life. As per the agreement, Connor is to have a whole new existence as an ordinary boy who is raised in a happy family. Other than Angel, everyone's memories are rewritten to accommodate this new reality.
Season 5
A few months after the events of season 4, episode "Origin" shows Connor as the son of Laurence and Colleen Reilly. Connor crosses paths with Angel when the demon warlock Cyvus Vail draws him out to make him fulfill his destiny of killing Sahjhan. Angel informs Connor of his special abilities and helps prepare him for the fight, but he does not reveal that he is Connor's real father. As the duel with Sahjhan begins, Connor is outmatched due to having forgotten his formidable fighting skills. Meanwhile, Wesley discovers Angel's deception of altering reality. Distrusting Angel, Wesley shatters the Orlon Window, which restores Connor's, Wesley's, and Illyria's memories. Remembering his old self and discovering that Sahjhan is directly responsible for all the pain he has endured, Connor slips to his original persona of 'demon-killer' and dispatches Sahjhan with ease.
In "Not Fade Away" the finale of the series, Angel visits Connor for coffee on the eve of his final battle with the Circle of the Black Thorn. Connor reveals that he remembers that Angel is his father. He tells Angel he is grateful for all he has done for him, but he prefers to leave it at that. When Angel fights Marcus Hamilton, Connor shows up to fight by his father's side (knowing that Angel wouldn't do something so innocuous unless the world were about to end), saving Angel from being staked by Hamilton and helping him gain the upper hand. As the Senior Partners begin to exact their vengeance, Angel tells Connor to go home to his foster parents and assures him that as long as Connor is safe, the Partners can never destroy Angel.
Comics
thumb|upright|In the 13th issue of the comic book After the Fall, Connor mourns a dying Angel.
The comic series Angel: After the Fall picks up immediately after the events of the television series. Connor is shown sprinting home as ordered by Angel. He debates going back but gets drawn into the battle when the whole city is sent to hell by the Senior Partners. A veteran of hell, Connor takes it upon himself to provide sanctuary to humans and good demons. Along to help him are the benevolent werewolf Nina Ash, the mutant Gwen Raiden, and the vampire Spike. Connor also becomes much closer to Angel as he joins his newest battle to wrestle back control of the city from Demon Lords. Part of the story centers on Connor and Gwen's romance, which ends when he discovers Gwen has betrayed the team.
Following the event, Gunn reverts Illyria to her demonic form, after which, Illyria decides to wholly collapse time and all existence. In an attempt to prevent Angel and his team from stopping Illyria, Gunn mortally wounds Connor. Connor pleads with Angel not to let the Senior Partners win and assures him that he is a good person despite being a vampire. Connor then dies in Angel's arms. He is restored to life when Angel provokes Gunn into killing him, forcing the Senior Partners to turn back time to the moment of the original alleyway fight in the television finale. All those who died in the time since the city was sent to hell come back to life, and all who experienced that time retain their memories.
Spike: After the Fall, a companion piece to Angel: After the Fall, shows how Connor came to form his alliance with Spike shortly after Los Angeles went to hell. Connor appears when Spike and Illyria are in a violent showdown with a group of demonic women. Catching the demon leader off-guard, he rescues the last human hostage and then has to be rescued by Spike. On their second encounter, the two strike up a connection immediately, leading to their joint crusade of saving the remaining humans. Connor is set to appear in the arcs of Angel and Faith.
Connor appears in the Family Reunion arc of Angel & Faith. Willow, on a quest to restore magic to herself and the world asks Angel and Faith to travel from London to LA with her so she can use the residual magic in Buffy's scythe and Connor's connection to Quor'toth to reopen the tear in reality at the Hyperion Hotel to get to a dimension that has magic. Angel and Faith agree to this in order to gain the piece of Giles's soul in the scythe, but will only help reopen the tear and go to Quor'toth if Connor agrees to it. Connor is living a normal life as a college student studying social work with a girlfriend. Though initially disappointed Angel ignored his attempts to contact his father, Connor is glad to have Angel in his life and realizes that his normal life is precious, but he still wants Angel to be a part of it. Angel is genuinely proud of the man his son has become. Connor agrees that magic needs to be returned to the world as the most vulnerable in society are already starting to lose hope without it.
Once in Quor'toth, Connor briefly falls back into more aggressive behavior before he is able to shake off the negative influences of the dimension. His fake magical memories of the childhood Wolfram & Hart created for him have faded since magic was taken from the world, but he has made enough real memories of a happy life to not fall back into his unstable behavior. Dog-like demons of Quor'toth came to fear and respect "The Destroyer" and overheard Holtz telling Connor about love. Generations of these demons expressed love and compassion in Connor's name and were slaughtered for it. Connor, Angel, Faith, and Willow are able to rescue the last few of these demons while fighting off the Old One that rules Quor'toth, and Willow sends the dog demons to a peaceful dimension.
Angel obtains the piece of Giles's soul. Angel, Faith, and Connor return to the hotel just as the tear closes while Willow goes off on her own to find a new source of magic for Earth. Connor accepts Angel has important business to do in England, and wishes his father well. Angel agrees to spend a week in LA with his son before going back to London.
Character development
Creation and casting
The intent for Connor's character was to put "Angel in an emotional space." He was meant to give Angel more to live for than just the usual "day to day" living he was experiencing. "Plus, I just love the idea of this embarrassing effect of a one-night stand,” Joss Whedon explained in his decision to introduce Angel's son. Three different babies, triplets Connor, Jake, and Trenton Tupen, were chosen to portray Connor so that none of them had to remain on the set for very long.
Vincent Kartheiser, then 23, was looking for something more stable than the usual feature movies. He decided to audition after his agent sent him the role and tapes of all previous seasons. The producers wanted the character to be a surprise to audiences, so not even Kartheiser was informed that he was trying out for Angel's son. Instead he auditioned for a character created for the purpose of audition, ‘the Street Kid’, a normal teenager who had Angel as his guardian. "Right away everyone kind of had a good feeling about me joining the cast," Vincent says. "It seemed that I just fit right in." Kartheiser was excited after learning that his real role was 'Angel's son, a demon killer from Quor'toth.’ He was confused about his portrayal, thinking that the character was to have a "living-in-the-brush kind of ‘failed being’ attitude." Instead, he was told to just "stand up straight, [use a] normal voice," and let a regular boy come on. Vincent Kartheiser was initially contracted for three episodes with an option to pick him up further. He is attracted to women older than him, which becomes a running gag in the series. Kartheiser called him a "happy" person and enjoyed the contrast with the previous "brooding" version.