Illyria is a fictional recurring character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Angel, portrayed by Amy Acker. She is credited as a main character in the last third of season 5.
Plot summary The character is introduced in a story where the main character, Fred Burkle, dies of a mysterious infection, after which her dead body becomes the host of an ancient demon, Illyria, who once ruled the world but now finds she has outlived her kingdom. Subsequent episodes featuring Illyria document her struggle with adapting to the human condition, Fred's memories, and the continuing grief of Fred's friends and loved ones, who make up the central cast of the show.
"Illyria raises significant questions about how essence and existence are related. This is central to understanding existentialism. Whedon raises many challenges to existentialism through Illyria's journey—from the point when she pops into existence at Fred's death, to when she 'performs Fred' as Wesley dies."Macnaughtan, Don (2011). The Buffyverse Catalog: A Complete Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel in Print, Film, Television, Comics, Games and Other Media, 1992–2010, 326p. McFarland. .
Though the character only appeared in the final episodes of Angels final season, Illyria appears heavily in various official and unofficial comic book continuations of the show, including licensed fictional crossover stories where Illyria is the only character from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television franchise to appear. The character has also been subject to analysis from academics, several of whom frame the story of Fred's death using feminist film theory.
Character history
Background Illyria is one of the legendary Old Ones, original pure demons from the Primordium Age, who ruled territory that included modern-day California. She ruled from her citadel, Vahla ha'nesh, which corresponds to modern-day Los Angeles. Illyria was eventually defeated and murdered.
Illyria had high status among the Old Ones, such that she still had followers and acolytes in the modern day. When the Old Ones became extinct, Illyria's essence was placed in a stone sarcophagus, which was kept in a mystical graveyard known as The Deeper Well along with the coffins of other Old Ones. A warrior of good was assigned to guard the Deeper Well to prevent anyone from extracting the coffins, as Old Ones are capable of resurrection. In the 20th century, the Keeper of the Deeper Well was Drogyn the Battlebrand.
Before falling, Illyria planned her resurrection. She hid her temple in a different time plane, rendering it untouchable, until she could return to open the gateway. Illyria's army was placed there as well. In the intervening centuries, the army was destroyed.
Resurrection As pre-ordained, Illyria's sarcophagus is teleported to the general area of Los Angeles, but due to continental shifting, it ends up outside the United States of America. Somehow, it is delivered to American soil, but is held up in Customs on its way to Wolfram & Hart. Dr. Sparrow manipulates Charles Gunn into releasing the sarcophagus. Knox, Illyria's self-fashioned high priest and the mastermind behind her resurrection, has the sarcophagus delivered to Fred Burkle at Wolfram & Hart's science lab. Curiosity draws Fred to the sarcophagus, and upon touching one of the embedded crystals, Illyria's essence is released into her body. Illyria's spirit acts as an infection, liquifying Fred's organs, hardening her skin, and allegedly consuming her soul. After hours of agony, and despite Angel and Spike's efforts, Fred's body is completely taken over by Illyria, who also absorbs her memories.
With the aid of Knox, Illyria attempts to bring about the destruction of humankind by resurrecting her ancient army. Despite the best efforts of Angel, Spike, and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, she fights off all three and opens the portal to her army, only to discover it long since destroyed. Lost and without purpose, Illyria agrees to adjust to the modern world with Wesley's help.
When Wesley mentions to her Gunn is trapped in a Wolfram & Hart-imposed pseudo-Hell, Illyria opens a portal and rescues Gunn without hesitation, later noting the debt the group owes to her. In the process, she destroys eleven torture units, two troop carriers, an ice cream truck, eight "beautifully maintained" lawns, and "rendered useless" dozens of Wolfram & Hart employees, according to Marcus Hamilton. At this point, her pastimes include talking to plants and training with Spike. Although she criticizes Spike's adaptability, declaring adaptation to be a compromise, Illyria enjoys their sparring; at one point, she expresses her desire to keep him as a pet, a strange but true sign of affection.
Eventually, Illyria's power becomes extremely unstable, and she is being thrown out of the linear progression of time, as her power seeks to escape its shell. She kills Spike, Wesley, Lorne, and Angel in confusion, but another time jump sees her drag Angel with her, who sees she will soon detonate, causing enough destruction to wipe out the continent. Angel, with foreknowledge of her outbursts, calms Illyria down, and Wesley uses a device to extract a large portion of her power, effectively ending the threat.
As a result of this intervention, Illyria is stripped of much of her strength, as well as her abilities to alter time and talk to plants. She grows bitter and withdrawn. Her primary emotional connection is with Wesley, who continues to help her adjust to the world. After recognizing Wesley's feelings for Fred, Illyria wishes to explore her relationship with Wesley in a more sexual or romantic direction; he rejects any possibility of accepting her in Fred's form. She also develops a connection with Spike, who treats her with acceptance and dignity.
Illyria is brutally beaten and humiliated by Hamilton, which fuels the Old One's rage and motivates her to join the final battle against the Senior Partners. In the Angel series finale, "Not Fade Away," Illyria, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, Lindsey, and Angel fight separate groups of demons from the Circle of the Black Thorn. After killing her targets, Illyria seeks out Wesley and finds him dying. Perceiving his imminent death, she comforts Wesley in Fred's form. Filled with unexpected and uncontrollable grief, Illyria violently dispatches his killer, Cyvus Vail, shattering his head with a single punch, before meeting the others and declaring a strong desire to "do more violence." The Senior Partners send their army against the surviving members of Angel's team; Illyria joins Angel, Gunn, and Spike in the final battle.
Interviews have revealed that had there been a sixth season of Angel, Illyria would have used Fred's appearance more often. This would have led to an identity crisis, according to Joss Whedon.
In the canonical comic Angel: After the Fall, it is confirmed Illyria survived the final battle against the Senior Partners.
Literature Illyria appears substantially in the comic books published by IDW Publishing following Angels series finale. Several titles featuring Illyria have nothing or very little to do with the larger Buffy and Angel franchise. Until the advent of the canonical comics of 2007, most Illyria stories were set during season 5 of Angel. The comic book Illyria: Spotlight (2006) by Peter David depicts Illyria's encounters with Fred's friends and family, and she begins to cry when she watches home movies of Fred's life; she later asserts to Wesley that she feels no regret. Peter David also published an Illyria crossover with his own comic book, Fallen Angel. In volume one of Fallen Angel Reborn (2009), set in season 5, Illyria is transported to the dimension of Bete Noire where she attempts to reclaim her lost power; flashbacks depict her battle with the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart as well as other Old Ones; in the present day, she faces the series' heroine Liandra. Illyria appears on the cover of each issue. In the miniseries Spike: Shadow Puppets, she appears in flashbacks and as puppet in the narrative of that story, a sequel to season 5 episode "Smile Time".
In canonical comics, she first appears in the second issue of Angel: After the Fall, the official Angel continuation. The spin-off miniseries Spike: After the Fall charts Illyria's journey between "Not Fade Away" and Angel: After the Fall. All After the Fall stories are written by Brian Lynch, who receives substantial input from creator Joss Whedon. In Angel: After the Fall, Los Angeles has been sent to hell by Wolfram & Hart. Illyria is established as the Demon Lord of Beverly Hills, and working with Spike saves innocents by placing them in Connor's care. Spike: After the Fall details their acquisition of Lord status. Throughout the series, Illyria features temporary reversions to her Fred state as the hell dimension causes her powers to go out of control. Later, when Gunn (now a vampire) kills the last of her memories of Fred, these stop, and she reverts to her primordial form and begins savaging Los Angeles. Telepathic fish Betta George is able to fill her with Spike and Wesley's memories of Fred, and Fred's humanity causes her to stop. Though Wolfram and Hart reverts time to before they destroyed Los Angeles, Illyria retains the memories of her experiences like everyone else. Illyria guards a hospitalized Gunn — human once more — in his hospital bed from angry demons, and her new memories of Fred make her crisis of humanity even more apparent. The two depart Los Angeles and encounter an Old One from her past. In IDW's ongoing Angel series, Illyria attempts to seduce Connor as part of her mating cycle. She fails due to Connor's reluctance. At one point she makes clear to Angel that while she's not and never will be Fred, like him, she's a formerly evil being trying to redeem their past sins.
In the comic Illyria: Haunted (2011), Illyria begins having nightmares consisting of Fred's memories. She reaches out to an emotionally unavailable Angel and finds no comfort. Illyria then seeks out Spike for advice. He believes she should return to the Deeper Well for answers and comfort. She then, in an unprecedented show of humility, formally asks Spike for help. Spike takes Illyria to Sally, a Frellian demon who grants favors for a price. She sends them to retrieve a charm from a potential suitor of hers, and then opens a portal for Illyria to the Deeper Well. Illyria quickly dispatches the Vastari demons guarding the entrance and enters to find the new guardian is a rare matriarchal demon. The new guardian sends two Yastigilian Hounds to attack Illyria, unaware that Illyria has the knowledge to control them. Illyria explains that they are kindred species. She is granted access to the Deeper Well but is warned not to touch anything. Illyria finds nothing but Gylphs on the wall where her coffin once was and begins smashing things in disappointment. Drawn to a gem on the wall, she touches it and is magically enlightened to her new place in the world, unaware that she has accidentally released a former rival old one, Arsgomor. Illyria attempts to both fight and reason with Arsgomor until he kills one of her new Yastigilian pets. Illyria commands the local plant life to subdue Arsgomor and then degenerates him to a fetal form. She releases this new baby Arsgomor to the new guardian and returns to L.A. with her pet Yastigilian hound, Pancakes. She then uses her restored powers to open a dimensional portal and go traveling.