history

The character of Faith was first introduced to Buffy in the season three episode, "Faith, Hope, and Trick". She first appeared as someone who didn't take herself too seriously and liked to have fun. But as we learned further into the season, there was a lot more to be discovered about this sultry new slayer.

Faith and Angel first met in the episode Revelations, when she tried to kill him because she thought he had come back without a soul, which of course, was a mishappen. She was thwarted in her plans by Buffy Summers. After her first attempt on Angel's life, Faith backed off and resumed somewhat of an uneasy relationship with him. Although, as time went on, we began to see that Faith and Angel are a lot alike.

Not many details have been given about Faith's childhood or what she went through before she came to Sunnydale, but it has been given that she had a rough childhood, similar to Angel's upbringing. Her past had obviously caused her recklessness and her strong belief that she had the power to do anything she wanted without consequences, as it also had in Angel.

Even though Faith was living a reckless life, it all came apart when she accidentally took a human life. The knowledge that she could kill without remorse forced her into a whole new world. She no longer had to fight her conscience, instead she submitted to any urge she had. She was not unlike a vampire, who kills for pleasure and survival.

Faith soon became involved with the Mayor, who pushed her further into a life full of murder and other crimes, which led her to betraying Buffy and the others. Faith felt the strongest contempt of Buffy, being jealous of her for having the life she wanted, and in turn, tried to seduce Angel.

Angel admitted that he didn't have those kinds of feelings for Faith, which caused her to enlist a shaman to steal Angel's soul from him. She believed she had succeeded in bringing Angelus forth again, and tried to torture Buffy and kill her, but was mistaken. Buffy and Angel knew that Faith was involved with the Mayor and doing crimes, and they had set up a plan to trap her.

After these events, it was evident that Buffy and Faith had become enemies, and Faith no longer needed to pretend she was good. She was willing to do anything for the Mayor, because he gave her things she never had growing up, like love. She considered him like family, sort of a father figure. As the Mayor's ascension became closer and closer, Faith needed to get Buffy out of the way, and to do so, she shot Angel with a poisoned arrow. The poison was loosely translated as "killer of the dead", and the only cure known was for the victim to drink the blood of the Slayer. Faced with the possible death of Angel, Buffy contronted Faith, with intentions of killing her and bringing her to Angel, which led to a fight to the death. In the last few moments of the big fight scene, they were on the roof, and Buffy managed to stab Faith with the very own knife the mayor had given Faith. Faith was aware of the cure, and in order to save her life and make sure Angel would have no chance at survival, she jumped off the roof, landing on a moving truck. When Faith was found, she was in a coma from the fall she had taken, but not dead.

Faith stayed in that coma for eight months, and when she awoke, the world had changed, and she was alone again. She found out that she was wanted for murder, and the mayor was dead, due to the actions of Buffy and her friends. Faith wanted revenge for all the wrongs she believed Buffy had done to her, and soon found the means to do so. The Mayor had left her behind a device that allowed her to switch bodies with someone, and of course, she chose Buffy as the person to become.

After taking Buffy's body, Faith soon began to feel what it was like to have people care about her for about the first time in her life. She had the chance to run away with Buffy's body, but she changed her mind when she found out that some people were being held hostage by vampires inside a church. She gave in to the urge to do good and went to help them.

She arrived at the church, only to find that Buffy was there too. They succeeded in killing the vampires together, but when Faith saw the body she used to inhibit, she lost control and attacked Buffy. During the fight, Faith revealed how much she hated herself. Before Faith could do anymore damage, Buffy was able to reverse the body switch, and Faith ran off.

Faith travelled all the way to LA, deciding to cause more trouble. A firm of evil lawyers, Wolfram & Hart, hired her to kill a vampire with a soul. She immediately knew it was Angel, and agreed with no hesitation. She confronted the crew of Angel Investigations, letting them know her prescence, then ran off, only to kidnap her old watcher, Wesley.

She tortured Wesley, telling him that if he had been a better Watcher, she might have been a better role model. She inflicted as much pain as possible in Wesley, and she enjoyed doing it, until the door suddenly burst open, revealing Angel. They began to fight, when Faith jumped out the window, into the alley wet with rain, followed by Angel, and the fight ensued once again. Angel soon discovered what Faith was trying to do. She was trying to trick him into killing her, and he refused to submit to her death wish. When she heard Angel's words, she broke down, screaming and pleading for him to kill her, causing Angel to finally cradle her in his arms.

Angel took her back to his home, much to the dislike of the other employees. He began to help her face her mistakes she had made, and was beginning to break her protective shell, just as an assassin broke into the home, intent on killing the vampire. Faith killed the intruder, and when she looked down at the blood on her hands, broke down again. Angel comforted her, and at the very moment they hugged each other, Buffy appeared.

Wanting to seek revenge on Faith for stealing her life and body, Buffy instantly tried to attack her, but was stopped in her path by Angel. He told Buffy that she had no business being there, and that he was trying to save Faith from falling back into her old life of murder. Faith tried to apologize to Buffy, only to have Buffy retort with a threat to kill her. While this went on, Wesley came in and reported there was a plot to kidnap Faith.

Buffy and Faith went up to the roof to find an escape and started arguing. Faith told Buffy what it was like to live her life, but Buffy refused to hear it. Soon a helicopter started flying over them and a gunman began shooting. The Slayers ran for cover as Angel jumped the helicopter and threw off the gunman. While the fight ensued, Faith took off again, leaving Buffy alone.

Angel made the pilot land the plane, but was arrested as soon as it was on the ground. Wesley and Buffy followed Angel into the police department to protest his arrest, but when they arrived, they found that Faith had turned herself in.

The last scene currently seen of Faith is her in the jail cell, at long last finding some kind of peace.

During the few months she has been in jail, Angel has visited her often, and continues to encourage her to find redemption, and it's obvious that his just being there will help her all the way.