Cordelia Chase

Birthday: May 22, 1981, Sunnydale, California

Siblings: None

Character History: Back in high school, Cordelia was...well, snobby. She was a rich, popular girl, a great cheerleader and a bit self-centered. She always spoke her mind. When Buffy Summers (the Vampire Slayer) first came to Sunnydale, Cordelia tried to get her to hang out with her and her friends. However, Buffy chose to hang out with Willow Rosenburg and Xander Harris (who were losers in Cordelia's opinion), and thus Cordelia and Buffy never really liked each other after that. Cordelia was, however, one of the only people to learn about Buffy's secret life of slaying vampires.

She wound up hanging around with the Scooby Gang (Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, and eventually Oz), and even ended up dating Xander, though they insulted each other on a regular basis. Xander, unfortunately, had always been in love with Buffy though the feelings weren't returned. Cordelia admitted to Buffy once that she loved Xander, but never got to tell him as not long after, Xander and Willow were kidnapped by vampire Spike and held hostage in a warehouse. She and Oz went to rescue their significant others, only to discover Xander and Willow making out. Devestated, she tried to run to get away from them, but wound up falling through the floor of the collapsed staircase and getting impaled through the abdomen by a rusty pole. She survived, and in the hospital warned Xander to stay away from her. She reverted back to her bitchy ways (which by now we had learned was her defense mechanism), and stopped hanging around with the Scoobies.

Cordelia's family lost everything they had, house included, when the IRS revealed that her father had cheated on their taxes for the past 12 years. Since they were broke, Cordelia lost all her chances to go to college even though she'd been accepted in several major schools including USC, Columbia and Duke. Cordelia was forced to get a job to try and afford a prom dress, and Xander found out what had happened and bought it for her as a sort of truce. They never wound up back together, however.

Cordelia graduated in the top 10% of her class, and left Sunnydale soon after to pursue a career in acting that so far hasn't done well. She was living in a roach-infested run-down apartment, and snatching food from Hollywood parties as a means of survival. At one of those said parties, she ran into Angel, whom she was shocked to learn was living in L.A. She was drawn in by Russell Winters, who offered to help her get her acting career off the ground. Cordelia quickly realized he was a vampire and that she was in big trouble. Angel, however, miraculously showed up and saved her from being Winters' next meal.

Cordelia decided to help Angel with his "mission" to atone for his past by saving lives. Angel, Cordelia and Doyle opened a detective agency called Angel Investigations.

Cordelia wound up getting a new apartment, and a ghostly roomate, Dennis, to boot. His mother had cemented him up alive behind the wall to keep him from leaving her. She had died soon after, and unbeknownst to Cordy, haunted the apartment and convinced the tenants to kill themselves. Angel and Doyle tried to get her to move but she refused to give up the apartment because it was nice and affordable. Though the ghost (whose name was Maude Pearson) tried to get her to kill herself, she wound up excorsizing her by standing up to her and now she and Dennis share the place, and though she can't see him, considers him to be a friend.

Cordelia and Doyle almost got together, but after sharing their first and only kiss, Doyle sacrificed his life to save a bunch of half-demons so that Angel wouldn't do it. Through that one kiss, Cordelia soon learned that Doyle had passed his gift of visions (Doyle got head-splitting visions from the Powers That Be of people that were in trouble that Angel was supposed to help), on to her. She was less than thrilled to begin with and even kissed Angel, a demon named Barney, and Wesley who had showed up in L.A., trying to get rid of the "gift." Needless to say, her attempts failed.

Cordelia began dating a guy named Wilson Christopher who was a fashion photographer. She really liked him, and after they'd been dating awhile they slept together. Cordelia woke up pregnant the next morning, horrified. Angel and Wesley came to her rescue and wound up killing the demon that had transferred its seed to his male human worshippers (one of which was Wilson), and Cordelia's demon pregnancy was terminated.

She was later forced to endure a coma of never-ending visions, thanks to a demon called Vocah, who was sent by Wolfram and Hart to cut off Angel's connection to the PTB. Angel came to her rescue again, and when she woke up, he was the first person she saw. In tears and pain from her ordeal, she told him that she had seen all the people who suffer, and that they had to help them. He smiled at her, touched her face gently, and told her they would. They later learned, via Wesley's translation of an ancient prophecy, that one day Angel would "shanshu," or, become human.

Picture: Cordelia, Wesley and Angel eating breakfast together at the end of the "Angel" episode, "Parting Gifts."

Some of my Favorite Cordelia Quotes From "Angel":

"So are you still...grrr?" -Cordy to Angel, "City Of."

"You don't know who he is, do you? Oh, boy. You're about to get your ass kicked!" -Cordelia to Russell Winters, "City Of."

"Oh, thank God. I thought I was going to faint while barfing." -Cordelia to Doyle and Angel, "City Of."

"The man doesn't even have a mirror. Like it would kill him to not see himself?" -Cordy to Doyle, "Room w/ a Vu."

"I get it. You're a ghost. You're dead! Big accomplishment! Move on! You see a light anywhere? Go towards it, okay?" -Cordy to Maude Pearson, Dennis' ghostly mother, "Room w/a Vu."

"You know, this really is just a place to live." -Angel
"No. It's more. It's beautiful...and if it goes away, it's like..." -Cordy
"Like what?" -Angel
"Like I'm still getting punished." -Cordy
"Punished? For what?" -Angel
"I don't know. For what I was? For everything I said in high school just because I could get away with it. And then it all ended, and I had to pay. Oh, but this apartment...I could be me again. Punishment over, welcome back to your life! Like...like I couldn't be that awful if I get to have a place like that..." -Cordy to Angel, "Room w/a Vu."

"Little old lady ghost. How come Patrick Swayze is never dead when you need him?" -Cordelia, "Room w/a Vu."

"You better be sorry, you stupid little bitch." -Maude Pearson
"I'm a bitch." -Cordelia
"Take off the bed sheets, make a noose. Go on, it'll all be over soon." -Maude
"I'm not a sniveling whiny little Cry-Buffy. I'm the nastiest girl in Sunnydale history. I take crap from *no* one." -Cordelia
"You are going to make yourself a noose and put it around--" -Maude
"Back off, Polygrip! You think *you're* bad? Being all mean and haunty? Picking on poor pathetic Cordy? Well, get ready to haul your wrinkly, translucent ass out of this place, because, lady, the bitch is back!" -Cordelia to Dennis' mother, "Room w/a Vu."

"You look half-dead. Which for someone who's completely dead, would be...kind of neat?" -Cordelia to Angel, "Somnambulist."

"I don't care how many files you have on all the horrible things he did back in the powdered wig days! He's good now. And he's my friend. And nothing you or anyone else can say will make me turn on a friend!" -Cordelia to Wesley, "Somnambulist."

"Not exactly the confidence inspiring denial I was looking for." -Cordelia to Angel, "Somnambulist."

"My glamourous LA life. I get to make coffee and chain the boss to the bed. I've got to join a union!" -Cordelia, "Somnabulist."

"If you're wondering why this vein on my temple is doing the cha-cha, it's because I just had one of those bone-crunching, mind-splitting vision headaches. New job." -Cordelia
"I was just thinking about how much this place is like where I grew up." -Angel
"Right. Yeah. I could see that...except for the cars, and the buildings, and the...you know, everything else." -Cordelia, "Somnabulist."

"The name I got in my vision, the message didn't come for Angelus, it came for you. Angel. And you have to trust that whoever that The Powers That Be be...are...is...anyway...they know the difference." -Cordelia
"Yeah." -Angel
"People really do change." -Cordelia
"Yes they do. And sometimes they change back. If the day ever comes that I--" Angel
"Oh, I'll kill you dead." -Cordelia
"Thanks." -Angel
"What are friends for?" -Cordelia, "Somnabulist."

"I really hate dating." -Cordelia to Wesley and Angel, "Expecting."

"He is so sweet! He says that all I have to do is let him impregnate me with his demon master's seed and I've got the part!" -Cordelia to Angel and Wesley, "Expecting."

"I learned something, too. I learned, um...men are evil? Oh, wait. I knew that. Mmm. I learned that L.A. is filled with a bunch of self-serving phonies? Nope, had that one down too. Um...sex is bad?" -Cordelia
"We all knew that." -Angel
"Okay. I learned that I have two people I trust absolutely with my life. And that part's new." -Cordelia to Angel and Wesley, "Expecting."

"Enough with the scratch and sniff visions! If I ever meet those Powers That Be, I'm gonna punch 'em in the nose!....you think they have a nose?" -Cordelia to Wesley, "Shanshu in L.A."

"Well, it's just a prophecy. It's not like it came from on high." -Cordelia to Wesley, "Shanshu in L.A."

"What are you saying, Wesley? That Angel has nothing to look forward to? That he's just going to go on forever the same in the world but always cut off from it?" -Cordelia
"Yes." -Wesley
"Well that sucks. We've gotta do something. We've got to help him." -Cordelia
"I'm not sure we can." -Wesley
"What is your deal? You go around boring everyone with your musty scrolls and then you say there's nothing we can do?" -Cordelia
"He is what he is." -Wesley
"He's Angel. He's good. And he helps the helpless and now...he's one of them. Well, he's gonna have to start wanting things from life whether he wants to or not!" -Cordelia to Wesley, "Shanshu in L.A."

"You're cut off from life. But don't worry, I'm gonna help you with that." -Cordelia
"Oh, good." -Angel
"We'll start small, keep it simple. How would you like a puppy? Right. A fitkus? They're low maintenance. Ant farm?" -Cordelia to Angel, "Shanshu in L.A."

"I saw them all. And they're in so much pain. We have to help them." -Cordelia to Angel, "Shanshu in L.A."

"I know what's out there now. We have a lot of evil to fight, a lot of people to help." -Cordelia to Angel, "Shanshu in L.A."

"You can't see everything. You're just a vampire like everyone else--that didn't come out right." -Cordelia to Angel, "Judgement."

"It's gonna be a long while til you work you way out. But I know you well enough to know you will. And I'll be with you until you do." -Cordelia to Angel, "Judgement."

The character of Cordelia Chase is played by the extremely talented Charisma Carpenter.

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