Cordelia Chase's History
Sunnydale High
Cordelia was the only daughter of a wealthy family in the small town of Sunnydale, California. She has a cousin named Timmy which she practiced cutting hair on. She was a popular girl whose fashionable clique was nicknamed the "Cordettes" and included Cordelia's best friend, Harmony Kendall. She was enjoyed ridiculing those she saw as inferior and dismissed her classmates Alexander Harris, Willow Rosenberg, and Jesse McNally as "losers." In ninth grade, she and Harmony took remedial Spanish together, where a boy named Donnie Wray developed a crush on her and wrote an embarrassing song about her. Cordelia was among the many students and teachers at Sunnydale High who ignored unpopular student Marcie Ross so completely that she literally faded out of sight. At one point, Cordelia had a crush on senior student Daryl Epps, an all-star champion football star, until his death in a rock-climbing accident.
In her sophomore year, Cordelia immediately befriended Buffy Summers, a new girl who transferred from Los Angeles. Cordelia, in a nutshell, was the embodiment of who Buffy was before becoming the Slayer, and became the chief foil at school for Buffy. Buffy could not stand Cordelia's snobby behavior towards her less popular classmates and instead became friends with Willow, Xander, Jesse, and the new librarian, Buffy's Watcher Rupert Giles. After Buffy mistakenly attacked Cordelia with a stake, Cordelia made it her mission to make Buffy as much of an outcast as possible, despite the fact that Buffy later saved her life on several occasions.
When Cordelia ran for May Queen, her boyfriend Mitch Fargo was beaten up, Harmony was pushed down a flight of stairs, and Cordelia's favorite teacher was nearly suffocated. Realizing the attacks must have been about her, Cordelia swallowed her pride and contacted Buffy for help. She discovered that invisible student Marcie Ross was responsible for terrorizing her, and Buffy saved her life when Marcie tried to mutilate her as revenge for ignoring her. Despite her tendency to rationalize strange events, Cordelia was forced to finally accept the existence of dark forces in Sunnydale when she was attacked by vampires on the night of the Spring Fling. Learning that Sunnydale was on a Hellmouth and that Buffy was the Slayer, Cordelia became a reluctant ally to the Scooby Gang
In high school, Cordelia found herself torn between the Scoobies and the Cordettes.
In her junior year, Cordelia continued her habit of falling into life-threatening situations. She was kidnapped by Chris Epps, who succeeded in resurrecting his brother Daryl and was building him a zombie mate using the dismembered bodies of teenage girls. She was later attacked by the vampire Spike at Parent Teacher Night, and nearly sacrificed to the demon Machida after deciding to date only college boys. She spent Halloween running away from kids who had been turned into their costumes, during which she remained ignorant of Angel's status as a vampire.
Through these experiences, she became a friend and regular member of the Scooby Gang. While hiding in Buffy's basement from the demonic assassin Norman Pfister, Cordelia and Xander shared a kiss and began dating in secret. When the Cordettes found out about her relationship with Xander, Cordelia was unable to withstand the peer pressure and dumped him on Valentine's Day. His later attempts to punish her through magic resulted in every woman in Sunnydale except Cordelia falling murderously in love with him. Cordelia was so moved by how Xander was going to use magic to make her fall in love with him that she made amends with him, giving up her popularity to be with him.
The two dated for the rest of their junior year going into the senior year. When Spike returned to Sunnydale and kidnapped Willow and Xander, Cordelia and Oz searched for the two, both falling witnesses to Xander and Willow's kiss. Running away, she fell through weak flooring and was impaled by a large piece of rebar. While in the hospital, a heartbroken Cordelia confronted Xander for his cheating and broke up with him.
When she returned to school, she attempted to regain her standing with the Cordettes but was rebuffed and insulted by Harmony. After being shunned by her friends and severing ties with the Scooby Gang, Cordelia befriended a new student, Anya. Blaming Buffy for everything that was wrong in her life, Cordelia wished that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. Anya, who was really Anyanka, a vengeance demon, granted this wish. At first, Cordelia was pleased with her circumstances, but soon came to realize that this alternative reality, was really worse off without Buffy upon discovering that the Master had risen and both Xander and Willow were vampires and her hometown, a wasteland overrun by bloodsuckers. She went to Giles for help but was killed by Willow and Xander, however Giles was able to destroy Anyanka's power and change things back to normal.
When her father's "little mistake on his taxes for the last twelve years" resulted in her family going bankrupt, she took a job at a local boutique, April Fool, to pay for a prom dress on layaway. Cordelia did not earn enough in time, but Xander found out and paid it off for her and they reluctantly resolved their differences. Her brief, mutual infatuation with Buffy's new Watcher Wesley Wyndam-Pryce ended with two bad kisses before graduation. Cordelia found herself helping the Scoobies one last time during Mayor Richard Wilkins' ascension with the aid of the rest of the Class of '99. She staked a vampire for the first time and helped other students during the battle. Afterward, she walked off with Buffy, Willow, Oz, and Xander and, more importantly, off to her future in Los Angeles.
Angel Investigations
Cordelia showing Angel the Angel Investigations business card.
Despite her intelligence and having been accepted to the likes of Columbia University, Cordelia found herself unable to afford college due to her family's sudden financial reversals, and therefore, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Meeting Angel at a Hollywood party, she pretended to be successful, when she was, in fact, nearly penniless, renting a dilapidated apartment and stealing food from such parties. Her agent was ignoring her calls, and she had no family to turn to, having severed ties. Desperate, Cordelia met with Russell Winters, believing that he would be able to relieve her of her meager financial situation. However, with her experience as a member of the Scooby Gang, Cordelia soon recognized that Winters was actually a vampire.
After being rescued by Angel and talking to his friend Allen Francis Doyle, who received visions of people in need of help from the Powers That Be, Cordelia charmed Angel into turning his fight against evil into a business. She became Angel Investigations' office manager while pursuing her acting career, but never broke out of commercials and plays. When she moved into her apartment, it was then haunted by the evil ghost of Maude Pearson who harassed and insulted her. After she was possessed by the ghost of Dennis Pearson, she tore off the wall as he destroys Maude. With Maude gone, Dennis and Cordelia became friends. She reached a turning point when her budding romance with Doyle ended with his sudden death. Cordelia attempted to carry on, but during an audition for a commercial, she received her first vision, a gift transferred to her from Doyle during their first and last kiss. It gave her a powerful ability to help others. Though initially wary of this gift due to the splitting headaches it caused, she was forced to see numerous terrible things happening to innocents and fully accepted her calling to help the helpless.
As Angel's link to the Powers That Be, Cordelia grew more sensitive to the feelings of others as she experienced the pain of the subjects of each vision. The visions became increasingly more frequent and intense, and began to physically damage her brain. For months, she secretly took powerful painkillers and underwent CAT scans and MRI'S that indicated the slow deterioration of her brain tissue. Yet, when presented with the opportunity to pass her visions to the heroic Groosalugg (through the act of sexual intercourse) during a short trip to the demonic dimension Pylea, Cordelia refused, stating that the visions were a part of her and made her who she was, a Champion.
Since the visions were intended for demons, not more fragile humans, Cordelia struggled to hide the effects from her friends. This continued until her 21st birthday, when she was rocked by a vision that sent her spirit into an astral plane. This opportunity was seized upon by Skip, a mercenary demon who sold his expertise to the highest bidder; in this case, a fallen member of the Powers That Be wanting to manifest on Earth. Skip masqueraded as Cordelia's guide from the Powers. To avoid dying from the visions, Cordelia accepted an offer from Skip, who altered history so that she never met Angel in Los Angeles, instead landing her big break as an actress. In her own TV show called Cordy!. However, even in this alternate timeline, Cordelia felt compelled to help others and eventually crossed paths with Angel, who received the visions in her place and was driven insane as a result. Unable to let her friend suffer, and realizing that fighting evil was her true calling, Cordelia had Skip return the timeline to normal, and accepted his offer to become a half-demon. Cordelia harbored the visions without pain, but mystical side-effects came as well, such as unknowingly floating and sometimes confusing visions with reality.
During this time, Cordelia developed romantic feelings for Angel as did he for her, but when the Groosalugg arrived in Los Angeles after being dethroned, Cordelia decided to put her feelings for Angel on hold and began a passionate relationship with Groo, going so far as to use a spell to allow the two to have sex without Cordelia losing her visions, and even giving him a makeover to resemble Angel right down to the hairstyle and wardrobe. Tormented by this, and gripped by a growing fear and jealousy that Groo would eventually replace him as the team's primary fighter, Angel gave the two money to take an extended vacation. Upon their return, they discovered that numerous horrific events had occurred, including the kidnapping of Angel's infant son, Connor, at the hands of vengeful vampire hunter Daniel Holtz. In response to this, Cordelia immediately shifted her attention to Angel, and Groo eventually realized that she truly loved Angel, proceeding to depart Los Angeles after a farewell.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Cordelia's transformation also set in motion a major chain of events: her body became suitable for use by powerful forces. Cordelia's transformation gave her the power, not entirely under her control, to cleanse evil influence with a white glowing light.
Skip reappeared to Cordelia while she was on her way to meet with Angel and declare her love for him. Skip told her that she had done so much good on Earth, she was ready to ascend to a higher plane to do more good as a higher being. Having been convinced by all she had seen and heard, Cordelia accepted the call to the higher plane, ascending into the sky surrounded by twinkling lights, eventually leaving this dimension.
Higher plane and possession
For three months, Cordelia was stuck on a higher plane and expressed boredom, unable to talk to her friends or do any good. She was, however, able to watch her friends on Earth as well as all of Angel's past deeds as an evil vampire. When Angel's destiny was stolen in Las Vegas, Cordelia used her power of divine intervention to help Angel out by making him win at a rigged slot machine so he could get into the right place at the right time.
Cordelia somehow finally returned to Earth, though with a fallen power piggy backing right along with her. Because of this, the Powers That Be's safeguard was triggered and Cordelia's memories were wiped clean and the fallen power made dormant. When the amnesiac Cordelia found herself at Angel Investigations, Angel and the others hid the bizarre reality of their situation from Cordelia, fearing it would be too much for her to handle. Confused and suspicious of Angel Investigations and those who worked there, Cordelia sought the truth and was horrified by what she discovered about her life as a Champion. After being attacked by a violent demon and several Wolfram & Hart operatives, Cordelia was rescued by Connor, Angel's now teenage son and, feeling safe with him, decided to live in his loft because she appreciated Connor's honesty about the supernatural.
During her stay, Cordelia felt lost and alone, becoming frustrated with her inability to remember her past. She realized that she needed to learn to defend herself again. As his father did a year earlier, Connor offered to train Cordelia in combat. During one session, a victory hug from Cordelia to Connor became a stolen kiss. To Connor's dismay, Cordelia could not let anything happen until she knew who she really was.
After a spell gone awry caused her to revert to her teenage self, Cordelia's memories were finally restored through a spell by Lorne, but the spell awoke the fallen power too. The entity later known as Jasmine had merged itself with Cordelia's body and submerged her consciousness. Jasmine's possession of Cordelia became apparent as she used Cordelia's body to have sex with Connor, and she set terrible things in motion in order to hide the fact she had become pregnant in order to give birth to herself.
While pregnant and under Jasmine's possession, "Cordelia" murdered the last sun totem, Manjet, as well as Lilah Morgan and the Svear family to serve Jasmine's plans. Along with these things, she brought forth a nearly invincible demon known as the Beast and convinced Angel and his team to take away Angel's soul to distract them, keep her plans secret, and attempt to have Angelus be her minion. Cordelia stole Angel's soul so that he could not return and continually told Connor that they were special, deceiving him into believing that the rest of the group hated them and would kill their baby.
Eventually, she was discovered and Angel's team interrogated Skip, who revealed Jasmine's plan. He claimed that a confluence of the events of the past four years had been nudged into place. Skip also said that Jasmine could not be removed from Cordelia without killing her or putting her into a permanent vegetative state. Before Angel could kill the woman he loved, Cordelia performed a ritual with Connor's help to bring Jasmine out and manifest on the mortal plane at last. Afterward, Cordelia fell into a coma, her life-force having been drained into Jasmine. After Angel joined Wolfram & Hart, Cordelia was transferred to their hospital and was given both physical and metaphysical treatment in order to wake her.
Death and afterlife
Cordelia uses her last day on Earth to put Angel back on his heroic path.
After several months in the hospital, Cordelia seemingly awoke from her coma and was shocked by the events that had transpired in her absence. What apparently woke her was a vision from the Powers That Be. She learned that Angel Investigations no longer worked as a detective agency at the Hyperion Hotel, but had taken over the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram & Hart with Angel as CEO. Angel explained that the team was attempting to use Wolfram & Hart's near-infinite resources to fight against evil, but Cordelia was unconvinced, describing what he had done as a "deal with the devil." She learned that the real reason for Angel's decision was that Wolfram & Hart agreed to erase Connor's memories so he could live a normal, happy life with another family; the rest of the team's memories of Connor had been similarly erased. Cordelia apologized to Wesley for killing Lilah, but he assured her he did not hold her responsible for Jasmine's actions.
When Angel learned that their old foe Lindsey McDonald had returned and was planning to activate Wolfram & Hart's failsafe to eliminate him, Cordelia helped him defeat Lindsey, being enraged to discover that Lindsey had taken Doyle's identity. Afterwards, she confessed to Angel that her return was only temporary and that it was time for her to leave much to his chagrin. They shared a kiss before Angel received a phone call telling him Cordelia had died in her coma, having never awoken. He turned to look at Cordelia, since he just kissed her, but she was gone. Later that night, Angel received a vision — given to him via Cordelia's kiss — that granted him the knowledge he needed to bring down the Circle of the Black Thorn and prevent the apocalypse. Upon her death, Cordelia became a legitimate higher power.
Angel succeeded in defeating the Circle, but the Senior Partners led the fall of Los Angeles banishing the city to hell as a result. In the ensuing chaos, Angel was rendered human and Charles Gunn was turned into a vampire. Wesley, who had died in the battle against the Circle and was a ghost, attempted to contact Cordelia in the hopes of getting the assistance of the Powers That Be, but they were unable to help as they had no influence in the Senior Partners' hell dimension. However, Cordelia managed to muster a slight breeze to let Wesley know she was listening.
Later, when Angel was fatally injured by Gunn, Cordelia was able to appear to him to help ease his transition into death. She was heartbroken by what had become of her friends, but was nevertheless amused to learn that Angel had accidentally named his dragon after her. Angel and Cordelia watched from another plane as Wesley revealed that Angel's role in the Shanshu Prophecy would be one where he would massacre many people. As Angel chose to succumb to death, not wanting such events to transpire, Connor appeared and inspired his father to keep fighting. Cordelia urged Angel to go back to his son before fading away, assuring him before she left that he could never be what he saw in the vision. After the restoration of Los Angeles, Angel came to recognize Cordelia's presence in the gentle breeze, often trying to dissuade his pessimism, such as when he was brooding about whether Wesley and Fred would be united in the afterlife
