In honor of Twilight: New Moon opening this weekend, our Saturday Smackdown is vampire on vampire, bad boy on bad boy, angst on angst. It’s 20th century versus 21st with a whole new generation of teens to angst and swoon over the silken wickedness of these boys.
The Vampires in Question
Damon Salvatore is the creation of L.J. Smith in her trilogy of novels that began in 1991. Damon made the leap from novel to television this year with the debut of the CW’s The Vampire Diaries. He arrived in Mystic Falls with more than one fang to grind. Angelus, on the other hand, is a vindictive, cold hearted villain who debuted in Sunnyvale following a night of passion with Buffy.
Damon Salvatore
For the purposes of the smackdown, we’re going to focus on the Damon from the television series rather than the Damon from the novels. Damon and his brother Stefan loved a vampire named Katherine, They vied for her affections and they were, one after the other, turned into vampires by her. During the Civil War, Katherine and many other vampires were trapped and died. Since then Stefan and Damon have mourned in their own ways, but Damon’s usually involved cutting a bloody swath through anyone and everything that means something to Stefan.
His arrival in Mystic Falls began with the deaths of a couple driving home and including attacks on Caroline, Vicki (subsequently turning Vicki), Logan Fell and more. He attempted to enthrall Elena, but the vervain seems to be capable of blocking a vampire’s mesmerizing abilities. He killed Zach, a Salvatore descendent to escape his prison, set up Stefan’s friend Lexi to take the fall for his crimes, staking her in front of the sheriff and even attacked Bonnie after the ghost of Emily destroyed his key to freeing Katherine from the tomb.
Damon’s not quite into Elena as much as Stefan is, but he did help her brother Jeremy when she wanted to save him from his personal pain. He’s still vengeful, though, vindictive and quick to anger. Through manipulation, Damon’s earned the trust of the town’s council and their gratitude for killing a vampire. The irony is definitely not lost on him. His list of victims is long, colorful and growing by the day.
Angelus
Angelus is another product of the love of a woman – or in this case-the lust. A drunkard and a lout in life, he stumbled into an alley with for the promise of warm lips and found cold death instead. Young, feckless Liam became the bloodthirsty, violent Angelus who cut a bloody swath across Europe. He tortured a young dedicant by systematically murdering her family and on the night she was to take her vows, he killed her and turned her into vampire.
He made one critical error the night he killed a Romany girl and suffered a curse to return his soul, effectively neutering the demon for nearly a century. In Sunnydale, he became involved with Buffy and after a night of passion and true happiness, Angel’s soul was released and Angelus freed. His hatred for Buffy knew no bounds, particularly because he felt love for her. His bloody rampage resulted in the mental torture of Buffy, the death of Jenny Calendar, the vicious physical torture of Giles and by extension, the death of Kendra at Dru’s hands.
Loyalty to the Cause
Damon’s expressed very little loyalty, although he did kill Logan Fell to save Stefan – because he didn’t want anyone to kill Stefan that wasn’t him, He also be spelled Jeremy, although he may done it a little too well as Jeremy’s personal pain seems to have completely vanished. Angelus pretends no such loyalty, outside of a dark and twisted sense of devotion he gives to his victims.
Both vampires obsess on their passions. Damon’s devotion to Katherine stretches across the empty decades while Angelus’ feels no such ties, despite long years spent with Darla and Drusilla. Both are dark, handsome and vicious. But who is the most vicious? Who would you fear most in a dark alley? Who is the most dangerous?
You decide who wins this smack down for you. Comment to win a vampire book fo your own, Winner announced next Saturday. Please be sure to note if you have a preference for a future smack down!
Last week’s winner: Charles Cornick stole the lead from Clayton Danvers and is the first of our smackdown champions!
A lifelong writer turned author, Heather Long‘s first book Remembering Ashby is available for purchase at Sapphire Blue Publishing. Coming soon is the urban fantasy: Prime Evil. The Daily Dose explores books, television, writing and more — all topics that Heather enjoys.
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