Connor

[The Ferg]

What's so bad about him?!? Everyone friggin hates him, and I don't see why? Ok, I'll give you that the actor does not fit the part, but once you get over that he's... cool. At least in S5, he's totally badass. He's, personally, one of my favorite characters.

[Crazy Flakes]

Why don't you think Vincent Kartheiser fit the part? Sure, he didn't look like David or Julie, but he was still a great actor.

I liked Connor a lot in season 5, too. In season 4, on the other hand, I can't stand him. I think the main reason why people get so annoyed with him is that he blames Angel for everything that goes wrong/has gone wrong in his life. He's seen what a good man(pire) he is, he knows he has a soul, and he knows he loves him with all his heart, and still, he constantly rags on him. I guess it was his upbringing, since Holtz was holding a serious grudge against the guy, but a lot of the time, you just want to slap him in the face. There are a lot of other reasons behind it, too (he complains constantly, he's ridiculously vain, and he has an incredibly dull personality), but I think that was the main one.

Oh, and he gets MAJOR points deducted for sleeping with his mother figure. That was just...eww.

[Superstar]

It may be dislike of not seeing Connor beyond the infant stage and feeling "cheated" with given the teenage overangsty version instead.
It may be dislike that he shows up, learns the truth and just can't relate.
It may be dislike that he just doesn't like the main character.
It may be dislike that he "steals" Cordelia away.
It may be dislike that Joss was too overt in his analogy between Angel/Batman and Connor/Robin the Boy Wonder.

[LorneyTunes]

Well i think its like this

Connor is the Dawn of Angel you hate them till the last few seasons then you go nah they ain't that annoyin i kinda like them now . Mainly because they ain't being so whiney full of teen angst, oh Angels my real father and vampire he killed lots of ppl he must die blah blah.

See kinda like Dawn oh Buffy doesn't care no one notices me , Hey Buffys got a world to save lil sis x

Then they deal and its all ok again x

[Bluebird]

Personally I liked Connor and I always enjoy the scenes he is in. He's not my favourite character by a long shot but I don't hate him as some do.

When he is talking to a comatose Cordy in Peace Out I really sympathised with him and I thought Vincent Kartheiser acted this scene brilliantly.

'I know she's a lie - Jasmine. My whole life's been built on them. I just... I guess I thought this one was better than the others.'

[The Ferg]

Why don't you think Vincent Kartheiser fit the part? Sure, he didn't look like David or Julie, but he was still a great actor.

I liked Connor a lot in season 5, too. In season 4, on the other hand, I can't stand him. I think the main reason why people get so annoyed with him is that he blames Angel for everything that goes wrong/has gone wrong in his life. He's seen what a good man(pire) he is, he knows he has a soul, and he knows he loves him with all his heart, and still, he constantly rags on him. I guess it was his upbringing, since Holtz was holding a serious grudge against the guy, but a lot of the time, you just want to slap him in the face. There are a lot of other reasons behind it, too (he complains constantly, he's ridiculously vain, and he has an incredibly dull personality), but I think that was the main one.

Oh, and he gets MAJOR points deducted for sleeping with his mother figure. That was just...eww.

That's kinda what I meant...

[Cangel]

Well I hate him for the sleeping with Cordy thing and also putting Cangel on hold with that.
Other than that, I just couldn't really relate to him, ALTHOUGH I'm about his age (I'm 18, so that's about Connor's age, right) I could never really understand him, imo he was just so overreacting all the time and doing crazy stuff. Like, remember how he tried to kill Angel in 'Spin the Bottle'?

[Aethra]

My main problem with Connor is his "woe is me" attitude. Obviously it was understandable, given what happened to him, but honestly, it got old. I could go on and on, but I don't have the time right now.

[Lyri]

*the boards' resident Connor fanatic steps up to the mic*

Ah, my little Connor, what can I say about him? Everyone who thinks they know me well will know that Connor is my all time favorite character. I just love how confused he is, how he has to learn to live in this world after almost two decades in Quor'Toth. I love his confusion about Angel. Seasons 3 and 4 are my favorite Angel seasons, because of Connor. It was so interesting watching him, in his early S3 eps, struggle to not like Angel because Holtz told him he was a bad guy, but liking him anyway because of how Angel acted with him and how he treated him. When Connor found Holtz apparently killed by a vampire, he assumed it was Angel, but you could see the internal struggle as he fought against what he thought was the truth. So many people lied to him in his life he didn't know what was the truth anymore, or what he should believe.

I think that's the reason he chose to go with Cordelia. She genuinely needed him at the start of her amnesia. When Evil!Cordy started to take over, he didn't really understand the difference, which is why he stayed with her, when the others were against her. Cordelia was different and Connor thought that everyone else was the enemy because they thought she was evil, even though she was, he couldn't see it. Even Darla came back to try and turn her son back to Angel's side, but he was too far gone by then, too far over that egde of 'I don't know what I should believe'. This is why he had all those hostages and threatened to kill them, because he thought death was better than being so confused about his feelings for good and evil, and Angel and Holtz.

When he returned in S5 he was a level headed young college goer. He had a stable home life and he was happy and well adjusted, just like what Angel wanted for him. When he got his memories back, he was able to deal with them better because of that fake life. He finally understood what both Angel and Holtz had done for him, and that they both loved him in their own way. He accepted that Angel was his true father, and allowed the vampire to know that he didn't hold him responsible for anything that happened to him. The fact that he came back to help Angel fight in the end shows how much Connor has grown since S3.

I'll have to admit, I really wasn't much of a Connor fan until last May, when I met Vincent. Listening to him explain Connor in his own words was something I've never forgotten. I've never heard someone talk about their character that way. I think Vinnie was perfect for the part. He's a fantastic actor, and he portrayed Connor perfectly. Granted, he doesn't look much like Julie or David, but then again, Sarah doesn't look much like Kristine.

Plus, Vinnie's just hott. He was fun to look at week after week! lol

[Joyce Summers]

Wow, that was a rather impressive defence of Connor. And all of them were excellent points- while the character himself still rubs me up the wrong way a little, I totally understood all your explanations, in that I understand where Connor is coming from. After all, he had been through hell. Literally. When he came back from Quor'Toth he kinda made me think of Mowgli-esque character.
I especially agree with your paragraph about season 5 Connor. It was all those good experiences that allowed him to maturely deal with the bad. You need a balance, but in season 3 and 4 he had never had that balance, only the bad and so I suppose it sent him a little overly.

So, yes, I agree with you, but as Crazy Flakes said- there is one thing I disagree with. I think Sarah and Kristine did look quite alike- their are some scenes where it's a bit uncanny. It was actually stated that it was part of the reason why Kristine got the job. But TV-Parents-and-Children in general tend not to look alike at all beyond hair color or eye color so I never thought it mattered that much that Vincent looked nothing like either David or Julie.

And interestingly enough I don't look very much like either my Mom or Dad. I seem to have taken too many different snippets from them and other family members to share any distinct likeness...so it's possible, haha.

[littlewilly]

I loved the concept of Connor. But unfortunatly, ireally didnt think he suited the part. Vk is a pussy.

[MSchett]

i just personally disliked Conner beyond belief... practically the whole time hes in Angel hes just a puppet for someone else or their cause(cept s5), also i have no idea how he could be so in love with Holtz when even after stealing him he ties him to trees and runs away for a week while in a hell demision. I loved baby conner that was awesome, but teenage Conner was a whiny kid, only time i liked teenage Conner was when he punched Hamilton in the face

[white avenger]

I think that if we were told more about how Holtz raised Connor and what his life was like growing up on Quor'Toth more people would be able to sympathize with and better understand just why he was the way he was. Certainly a lot of why he was so messed up mentally in Seasons 3 and 4 are the result of where and how he grew up and who raised him, all factors that we can only imagine. The very fact that he survived a childhood in such a place was a miracle in itself.

The man who raised him, the only (presumably) other human he ever knew in the formative years of his life was a fanatic whose stability could most charitably be described as unstable and he was taught from infancy to hate and despise the "monster" Angel. Then suddenly, he finds himself somehow thrown back into a world completely alien to anything he has ever known, probably more frightening in its strangeness than anything he had ever faced before. The fact that he was able to hang on to even a part of his sanity is amazing.

As for his relationship with Cordy, well, he's not the first young man to find himself in that sort of situation. What was that Xander said? "I'm a teenager. Looking at linoleum gets me aroused." And as far as her being his mother figure, that was something he never knew about until after the fact. The perfect Oedipus, and we all know how that turned out.

[bufsum]

Okay… I like Connor, and think he is the “purest” of all the characters. I have quotes around the word, because of the subjectiveness of the word in the Buffyverse.

However—we have to remember that Connor got like the shortest stick, ever! He was first born to Darla and Angel. Then he was stolen away by an immortal enemy of Angel’s, so that all he knew was to hate his father. I mean, really! Imagine someone stealing you away from your family, and telling you that they are all evil, and want nothing but harm to come to you. That would really mess you up, big time!

Plus, let’s not forget the whole secret plot he was a part of before he was even created. He was just a pawn on the board, with the least amount of control over his own existence. Even when Angel killed him so that he could go to live with a new family, and forget his old life, that never Connor’s decision.

He finally came into his own at the end, and decided to fight the good fight. I think he’s heroic, and quite fantastic!

[MSchett]

Sure he his whole life was manipulated but he never put any fight against the manipulation first it was Holtz i can understand howd he stick by Holtz after 16 years with him but then Cordy i mean come on Cordy hardly had to try and she got him to try to kill angel while they were reensouling him, then Jasmine he saw her true form yet continued to follow her and even try to bring down the gang again after that with no one to follow he just went crazy and tried to kill himself and like dozen other ppl of course he had no choice in him getting a family cuz he had lost his mind!!!! i wasnt cool until S5 and then hes rarely on the show at all ;)

[Dlou444]

I don't really dislike Connor, I just didn't "get it".

I get him being weird when he first comes back.
I get him being mad at Angel for thinking he killed Holtz.
I only kind of get him being mad enough to put Angel in the ocean.

What I DON'T get is why he hangs around after that.
I don't get why he doesn't want to make amends after he finds out the truth.
Pretty much, from the truth until Angel gives him up, I just DON'T get.

He seems to kind of wishy wash from one side to another without much reason, mooches off Angel and his friend's kindness when he feels like it, and then blindy follows Evil Cordy and even Jasmine when he SHOULD know better since he claims he can tell Angel's BAD and BAD is apparently intolerable.

It just irks me.
I like him in S5 though!

[Buffanator]

Connor was a whiney bratty bitch, just like Dawn. ICK. (I hate whiney brats.)

BUT...

I loved the whole 2-vampires have a child story. And I loved the arc of Sahjahn being the one who screwed it all together - and Jasmine doing all those things to bring about her birth. And as always, I never hate "the actor" - just the character - I thought VK was awesome as Connor. Which proves to me that an actor is really doing their job when they make you HATE them.

And I really enjoyed the scenes when Connor and Angel were fighting TOGETHER as opposed to fighting each other (bar scene, vamps in the alley, etc.)

But overall, no, I didn't like Connor. And I LOVED IT when Angel kicked him out of the hotel. :hehe: