Cordelia Chase

Cordelia Chase is a fictional character in the television shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Cordelia is played by Charisma Carpenter.

The Buffy Years

Cordelia was originally introduced as a cheerleader and popular student at Sunnydale High, who naturally looked down on Buffy Summers and her low-on-the-totem-pole friends Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris. But Cordelia turns to Buffy when she is in danger: "I know you're very strong, and you've got all those weapons... I was kind of hoping you were in a gang." Soon Cordelia learns Buffy's true calling and becomes a member of the Scooby Gang, with a corresponding fall in her social status.

In the second season, Cordelia falls briefly in love with Xander, terminating the relationship in the third season when she finds him kissing Willow. Shortly after, Xander discovers that Cordelia's family has lost all their money because "Daddy made a little mistake on his taxes - for the last twelve years." Cordelia was a regular character on Buffy for the first three seasons.

The Angel Years

Unable to go to college after graduation, Cordelia moves to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Her acting skills were not enough to break her out of commercials and small theatrical plays. (She did successfully bluff Angelus into believing a jar of water was actually holy water.)

Instead, she runs into a producer who is also a vampire, is rescued by Angel, and becomes a regular on the spinoff series, Angel. Angel, Cordelia, and the half-demon Doyle unite to form Angel Investigations, dedicated to helping people in trouble who are usually located by visions sent to Doyle by the mysterious and semi-divine Powers That Be. Cordelia's budding romance with Doyle is ended by Doyle's death, but Doyle leaves her his visions as a dangerous gift.

The visions give Cordelia a powerful ability to help others, but are intended only for demons, since humans are too weak to face them. Increasingly, Cordelia finds herself suffering physical damage from the visions which she struggles to hide from her friends. Ultimately, Cordelia refuses an offer from the Powers That Be to trade the visions and her life fighting evil for her original goal of being a successful actress, instead looking for a loophole, and the only one is becoming half-demon. As a demon, Cordelia can receive the visions uninjured, but what other consequences the change will have for her remain to be seen.

In the fourth season of Angel, Cordelia returned to Earth from a higher plane of existence as an amnesiac. Confused and growing suspicious of Angel Investigations, Cordelia grows closer to Connor. After being attacked by a vampire Cordelia, decides to move in with Connor who told her the truth about the supernatural in which they live. Angel hid the truth from Cordelia to protect her.

During her stay with Connor in his loft. She looks at labeled pictures and tries to remember her past, one thing that seems very familar is combat. During a fight, she mentions that fighting seemed familar. Connor assures her that this is because she is a champion, like Angel. Connor's budding feelings for Cordelia are more then obvious, and they share a stolen kiss. Cordelia obviously freaked. She decides that is best to move back in with Angel. Curious about thier relationship, one starry night Cordelia asks to Angel "Where we in love?"

However this night-time exchange is interupted by friendly, singing demon Krevlornswath of the Deathwa Clan. He believes that there might be a spell to return Cordelia's memories, which when attempted of course goes horribly bad. As all the Fang Gang revert to thier highschool personas. This is portrayer, Charisma Carpenter's last ode to the Cordelia of Sunnydale. She even remarks as Angel being a "Salty Goodness", the first thing Cordelia ever said about Angel. Eventually after much humor the spell is reversed. Cordelia remembers everything, however deep inside the spell to restore her memory woke up a sleeping beast. The higher being known later as "Jasmine" had merged itself with Cordelia, every cell, every fiber. And it is now controlling her.

While this is amoung dispute amoung fans, as no is for sure when Jasmine took driver seat. But it is after this episode "Spin the Bottle" that Cordelia begins a pattern of erratic behavior. Then slept with Angel's son, Connor, becoming pregnant. It was eventually revealed that her body was possessed by a powerful entity named Jasmine, who used Cordelia to create her own separate body. Once Cordelia gave birth, Jasmine was transferred into the child, leaving Cordelia in a coma. Much of this arc was due to Charisma Carpenter's actual pregnancy. For the final five episodes of Season Four, Cordelia was only seen as a comatose body, and after Angel joined the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart, Cordelia was transferred there in an effort to revive her. Cordelia made a triumphant return in the season five episode "You're Welcome" where she helped Angel get back on track. Alas, it was simply some form of Astral Projection facilitated by the Powers that Be, who owed her a favor. After finally kissing Angel, it is realized that Cordelia never *actually* woke up, and that she is now dead. Later in the season, we learn that Cordelia did much more than this, giving Angel one of her visions that pointed him in the direction of the real players in the upcoming apocalypse.

Evolution of Character

Like all continuing characters in the Buffy universe Cordelia is evolving: in her case changing from an egocentric fashion plate to a person whose life is increasingly centered in service to others. An interesting aspect to Cordelia's experience is that the changes have come to a substantial degree against her will. The Cordelia we met in the first episodes of Buffy certainly felt no burning desire to become a better or nobler person. The sacrifices she had to make, enduring significant rejection and even mockery from her original friends as she grew beyond their shallowness, were a powerful message for the younger viewers the show is primarily aimed at. Cordelia has now grown into adulthood, with a solid and grounded confidence replacing the arrogance and vanity of her adolescent self.