MBTI Type: ISFP

Until Angel finds a purpose in his desire to help Buffy, he spends decades alone, wallowing in his deep depression and sense of guilt over his evil deeds as the demonic vampire Angelus. Though Angel continues to go through intense emotional experiences, he finds it difficult to talk about it with anyone, even Buffy. He is compassionate and advocates for forgiveness, even standing against Buffy to defend Faith when he believes in a possibility for Faith’s redemption. Though he can be tender and reassuring, he’s also not good at sensing others’ emotional awkwardness or in responding to it. He finds it hard to open up to clients, or respond to them in friendly ways; it takes him awhile to realize that his stoicism can be “off-putting” to his clients. Rather than develop a gentler emotional tone, he changes his shirt’s color from black to white. He tends to wing it in intense situations. Angel leaps in, punches flying, kicks people through windows, sets them on fire, snatches axes out of midair and hacks off evil limbs, and when no other solution seems forthcoming, kicks an evil vampire through an eleventh story window, so he will burn up before he hits the ground. He sometimes loses interest in meddling with the details of his cases, doing the heavy lifting and then leaving his henchmen (Doyle and Cordelia) to clean up the mess, box up the body parts, and bury them separately. Angel has “hunches” that plague him, but that are not always correct – sometimes his intuition is good, such as when he suspects there’s more going on with Doyle’s ex’s boyfriend than first meets the eye; when he knows there is “something up” with the demon-possessed child’s household, etc. His low Te can be blunt, stating the facts at times, and wanting a “plan.” He finds it hard to ask for financial compensation for his cases, which means his agency earns very little revenue. There are times also when he abandons all sense of humanity and compassion and deals with people ruthlessly, devoting himself entirely to their destruction and not caring how immoral he is in the process.

Enneagram: 9w8 sp/so

Angel spent centuries trying to numb his pain about all the bad things he did to people by avoiding people, wallowing in his pain, and punishing himself by isolation. It’s only when he saw the Slayer that he felt prompted to save and protect her, and that led him to want to help people in L.A. But he’s still withdrawn. Angel can be somewhat passive and forgiving, but also is prone to uncontrollable rages. He often refuses to charge people for his services, because he sees them as a service, a selfless act, an attempt to prove to everyone that he is no longer Angelus. He has a hard time turning people down, when he’s in a good place. Even in his darker, moody period when he was withdrawn and associated with no one, he wound up opening up his room to a total stranger, a girl in need of help, and defending her from the Private Investigator on her trail. He also finds it hard to turn down anyone who needs his help, even Faith – who has just tortured Wesley and is now trying to kill him (or provoke him to kill her). Most of the time, he is compassionate and generous, but at times, Angel goes into “dark mode.” He becomes ruthless, brutal, and unscrupulous, going after people expressly to kill them, firing his entire team when they refuse to go along with his decision to lock a room full of Wolfram & Hart employees into a basement where two vampires can murder them all, and even setting Darla and Drusilla on fire. He refuses to forgive Westley even though his intentions were good, once he steals Connor and sends him to a hell dimension, and tries to smother him in his hotel room, threatening to kill him, and even threatening to hurt Fred if she doesn’t get out of his way. He kidnaps a lawyer from Wolfram & Hart and threatens to torture him for information. Angel doesn’t like to apologize for being wrong, and it’s difficult for him to humble himself and ask if he can work for his friends again.