Angel is referred to as a ‘puppy’ on a couple of occasions:
- In 3.09 The Wish, vampire Willow keeps Angel locked in a cage as her plaything, and refers to him as “Puppy”.
- In 4.03 The Harsh Light Of Day, when Parker asks Buffy about the scars on her neck, she replies that they they were caused by an “angry puppy”. They were actually from when Angel bit her in Graduation Day, Part Two.
Puppies are a recurring theme in Buffy and Angel:
- In 2.16 Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered, Giles tells Buffy that one Valentine’s Day, Angel nailed a puppy to something (we don’t find out as Buffy stops him before he can finish).
- In 4.15 Orpheus, we see that Angel saved a puppy from being killed in early 1920s Chicago.
- In Enemies, Faith says that as a child she suffered because her mother didn’t let her have a dog before she kisses Angel.
- In 1.06 The Pack Willow regrets that Xander is not possessed by a puppy instead of a hyena
- In 7.02 Beneath You the puppy’s death is the only thing that seems to move Anya (and also Spike later on).
Related episodes: 1.06 The Pack, 2.16 Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered, 3.09 The Wish, 3.17 Enemies, 4.03 The Harsh Light Of Day, 4.15 Orpheus, 7.02 Beneath You
Comments on this trivia
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lins11 on August 5th, 2005 at 1:26 pm
Buffy refers to Angel as an angry puppy but tells Dawn that Riley isn’t well enough to patrol in season 5 and describes him as being “weak and kitteney” (sp?!)I’ve always thought that puppies were cuter than kittens —maybe Buffy thought the same and started to realise that she didn’t care for Riley as much as she did for Angel!!
hailtothechimp on August 5th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
Haha, yes indeed. Angel was a puppy, Riley was a kitten, and Spike was…em…a ferrett.
tadpole on August 5th, 2005 at 11:42 pm
In the Angel episode “Orpheus” 4.15, ensouled Angel saves a puppy from being hit by a car.
Abby M. on August 6th, 2005 at 5:02 pm
Also in the Angel episode “Into the Dark” 1.03, Spike mocks Angel: “I’m just a big fluffy puppy with bad teeth.”
lydston on August 6th, 2005 at 6:40 pm
On Angel being a puppy, Riley a kitten/cat: in “Fool for Love”, Xander says: “You know what he’s like? He’s like a cat. You know, a big jungle cat. How come I’m not like that? It’s just so cool.”
Jess on August 6th, 2005 at 7:42 pm
Scary how it’s all coming together! Not related to Angel, but I love Xander’s “cancer of the puppy” line in The Freshman.
Mullsen on August 15th, 2005 at 2:12 pm
It’s a little related, since Buffy is also missing Angel a lot in that scene, as evidenced by that she thinks she sees him there just before Xander shows up.
Blondie-Bear on August 15th, 2005 at 11:43 pm
Maybe it has something to do with puppies are very dependsnt, adn want to be with you all teh time. Kittens are independant, and do what they want
Saintsaucey on August 22nd, 2005 at 10:06 am
holy s**t you all are friggen geniouses
MagicBone on October 24th, 2005 at 1:02 am
Also, in Enemies, Faith refers to Angel as a puppy, when she talking about how her drunk mom would never let her have a puppy.
AnyaRocks on December 30th, 2005 at 4:52 pm
Also, Willow says in Triangle “…like trying to hit a puppy by throwing a live bee at it… which is a weird image and you should all just forget it”
I think the Buffy writers like puppies.
Roonwalker on January 13th, 2006 at 6:00 am
In ‘Passion’, after Angelus kills her fish, Willow says “For the first time, I’m glad my parents didn’t let me have a puppy.” Maybe that’s why vampWill calls Angel ‘puppy.’
She always wanted one, and Angel would likely have killed it.
MagicBone on February 6th, 2006 at 7:39 am
Yeah, but in the alternate wish reality with Vampire Willow and Vampire Xander, Angel never went evil after he was ensouled because he turned evil from sleeping with Buffy and he had never met Buffy in that reality, let alone had sex with her. God, if there was ever a run on sentence…
somethingblue on February 6th, 2006 at 10:09 am
That’s a good point, about Angel not having met Buffy in the alternate universe of the Wish. But then how did it come to be that he was trying to work for the side of good, since I thought Buffy was his complete inspiration for coming out of the dank alley ways and feeding on rats?
beagle on February 6th, 2006 at 9:43 pm
3 years later? I’m a little confused. She was in high school in the movie, I guess she had to be a freshman and then she’s in sunnydale as a sophamore. I watched the movie yesterday, first time since it came out. There is so much conflicting mythology etc… between the movie and the series I guess the only thing we can take from the movie is, buffy was in LA, was called. Sometime between the movie and the tv series, she burnt down the gym and was kicked out of school?? i’m confused
somethingblue on February 6th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
onliman, that’s what I’m saying about the wish. Why was Angel in Sunnydale if (due to Cordelia’s Wish) Buffy had never moved to Sunnydale? That was my point, there seems to be a whole in continuity leading to the alternate universe of The Wish.
And Beags, don’t take the movie seriously, Joss left mid-production because it was straying so very far away from his original intentions and vision. In fact, he did not want Marti Noxon to see it because he did not want her to think that was what he was expecting from the writing. So, I guess you’re right, just take the facts that she was in LA, she was called there and met her first watcher and got kicked out of school.
beagle on February 7th, 2006 at 1:09 am
Yes, the movie is whack. But, it was neat to watch and try to picture the kristy s. character as buffy. A couple times I could almost feel it.
Also, it made me appreciate dusting sooo much. I never realized what a beautiful/brilliant idea that was til I watched the movie again.
One possible excuse for Angel in The Wish is: With the master gaining absolute power he could afford the resources to track down Angel just for the amusement. They did have a history and the master was hurt by Angels turn to the good side.
Sunnydalehigh on February 7th, 2006 at 1:27 am
If I may jump in here, The Wish takes place in season 3, when Buffy is a senior, which is 3 years after her time in L.A. The episode takes them to an alternate universe, not back in time. Angel would have seen her for the first time right before she was called, during her freshman year.
Also, has anyone else read any of the related comic books? Many of the comics are written by Buffy writers like Jane Espensen or Joss himself. They tend to fill in the holes a little bit. There’s one comic (sorry, I can’t remember the name of it now, but I can find out if anyone is interested) that fills in the time between L.A. and Sunnydale. During that time, Giles is interviewing for the librarian job and getting ready in Sunnydale even while Joyce and Buffy are pulling names out of a hat to decide where to begin a new life. It implies that Angel could have come to Sunnydale before Buffy in anticipation of her arrival there, but then she never showed up. Does that make sense?
Also, I never noticed the puppy/kitten Angel/Riley thing before. This show is so deep you could study it forever and learn something new every day.
beagle on February 7th, 2006 at 2:06 am
oh, three years…. i see what you meant now.
onlimain on February 8th, 2006 at 8:20 am
That’s exactly what I meant, Sunnydalehigh. :-) What you said makes perfect sense. Angel went to Sunnydale to prepare for Buffy’s arrival because that was where she was supposed to go. However, due to Cordelia’s wish, she was made to go to another town instead.
This means Angel is already committed to fighting the good fight. I’m sure a part of him continued to wait for Buffy, but when he realized she wasn’t going to get there in time, he tried to stop the Master himself. Thus, he got captured and kept alive as punishment.
MagicBone on February 8th, 2006 at 8:45 am
Eureka! (”He really says ‘eureka?’”)
HarFang on April 14th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
What about Fred having “the big puppy love” for Angel ? I know that Cordelia means Fred as the puppy, but…
(And while we’re at it, how far is it from puppy to puppet??) Riiiight I’ll stop doing that, now.
mymostbeautiful on April 16th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Also, in the Angel ep Soulless they are discussing what Angelus has done in the past:
WESLEY: […] you all know his history.
FRED: Killing, maiming, torture…
LORNE: Puppies nailed to walls. Thank you, Cordelia, for that lovely image.
HarFang on April 23rd, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Okay, here are some other references to puppies !
- In 3.17 Enemies, Faith says that as a child she suffered because her mother didn’t let her have a dog… and then she kisses Angel, who definitely has that effect on girls (the comparison with dogs, I mean ; well, the other part too)
- In 1.06 The Pack Willow regrets that Xander is not possessed by a puppy instead of a hyena
- In 7.02 Beneath You the puppy’s death is the only thing that seems to move Anya (and also Spike later on)
ormaybemidgets on April 25th, 2008 at 3:34 am
This should be phrased differently:
Puppies are a recurring theme with Angel:
* In 1.06 The Pack Willow regrets that Xander is not possessed by a puppy instead of a hyena
* In 7.02 Beneath You the puppy’s death is the only thing that seems to move Anya (and also Spike later on).
They are recurring puppy themes, but they aren’t related to Angel.
insaneinthebasement on April 28th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Spike also refers to himself and vampires in general as puppies in the Buffy episode 4.08 Pangs when he says:
“I’m saying that Spike had a little trip to the vet, and now he doesn’t chase the other puppies anymore.”
HarFang on April 28th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I think that Spike is referring to humans and not vampires there. (Buffy & co wouldn’t be interested to learn that he can’t hurt other vampires).
insaneinthebasement on April 28th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Maybe, but I didn’t take it to mean kill the other puppies, I took it to mean kill with them. Because earlier we’d seen him looking through a window at a family of happy vamps, and Harmony had just kicked him out. I reckon when he says he can’t play with the other puppies he was feeling ousted from the vampire community. And I use that word loosely.
HarFang on April 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
That makes sense ; I guess I was being too literal.
insaneinthebasement on April 30th, 2008 at 8:54 am
I guess he could mean either.
And hey, let’s not forget Spike’s For-The-Safety-of Puppies-and-Christmas Speech.
HarFang on May 17th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Another one, by Angel himself this time. It’s in 5.04 Hellsbound. Gunn and Angel are looking for the new conduit :
HarFang on June 6th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Well, once again this quotation is not really about Angel himself, but… in the Price, Cordy repeatedly calls Groo “a puppy” while apologizing for how bad it sounds. She might as well, since by then everybody realises that he’s more her pet than her lover.
Btw, should we start a “characters’ animal selves” thread, rather than cram this one with details about characters other than Angel ?