Post originally by Bob R. Bobbington at 2005-01-06 14:06:58
Converted from Phorums BB System

There's one major character missing in the RPG, one whose presense is arguably the most pivotal to the series' themes, despite being only rarely seen. Peel away all the cast changes and new threats from season to season, and the series' all but invisible main villain should be here, but isn't.

Angelus. Where is he?

It's not like his stats should be identical to Angel's, with a few RP notes to play up the differences. It's known that he's more vicious by far than Angel could be, and that he's always there, lurking in the back of Angel's noggin. He has memories that Angel doesn't (most notably his encounters with the Beast), and, for all his evil, is much more personable to boot. This basically all adds up to the idea that Angel's stats should be lower - Angel's holding back, something Angelus rarely does. Thematically, too, his absence is noteworthy: aside from the number of flashbacks featuring him, Angelus' evil is something that made Angel feel like he deserved Holtz's retaliations. Without Angelus, Angel couldn't really strive for a redemption for sins he's arguably not responsible for (Angelus not having a soul and all).

Moreover, the presence and absence of souls is a major recurring theme of the series, even outside of Angel and his prophecy. It's strongly implied that Wolfram & Hart's contracts are often about souls, and Faith's soul is what prevented her from falling as far as Angelus did. It was Connor's soul that redeemed Darla. Angelus simply would have been a good illustrative example for a rules section on what souls are good for.

This isn't a fatal flaw, mind, but I can't imagine why it's unaddressed.