Angel (1999 TV series)
Several years before the Angel first showed on television, writer Joss Whedon created the idea behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer to change the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie." Whedon was not happy with the way that the Buffy idea was first done in the 1992 movie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,. He was given the chance to do the story better with the television series of the same name. The early years of the series were about the life of Buffy Summers, a high-school aged vampire slayer, and her group of friends in Sunnydale (a fictional small town in California). The supernatural parts in the series took the place of the real problems that are a part of adolescence and young adulthood. The character Angel was first seen in the first episode. He became a regular cast member during the second/third seasons.  In the fictional universe created by Buffy (the Buffyverse), Angel was born in 18th century Ireland. After being turned into a soulless immortal vampire, he became very well known for the evil things he did. Over 100 years later, Angel killed a gypsy girl. Her family punished him by returning his soul. He felt a very large amount of guilt for what he had done over all those years. Angel eventually began on a path of redemption. He hoped that he might make up for his past by doing good deeds. In the Buffy third season final episode, Angel leaves Sunnydale for Los Angeles to continue his path of redemption without Buffy. Whedon believed that "Angel was the one character who was bigger than life in the same way that Buffy was, a kind of superhero."