WYNDAM-PRYCE, wesley

[WESLEY WYNDAM-PRYCE]

WESLEY WYNDAM-PRYCE


IN-CHARACTER
•••••••••••••••••••••

FULL NAME: Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
NICKNAMES: Wes, plus a couple of other not to delightful names which Spike likes calling him
DATE OF BIRTH: February 25th
AGE: 32
SPECIES: human
ABILITIES: While he doesn't have any super powers in the proper meaning of the word, Wesley has superior knowledge of sorcery and the black arts. Wesley is skilled with handling pretty much every weapon present in Angel's cabinet. Having been a Watcher, he is the most skilled with stakes and crossbows but he learned to become an exquisite marksman with guns as well. Other than a gun, Wesley's weapon of soul is the collapsible sword. This is a wrist-mounted weapon which he can hide under his sleeve, consisting in two parts: a stake launcher and an extendable sword.
Other abilities include: superior knowledge of demonology
- genius level intellect
- wide range of knowledge in academic and occult fields
- talent in translating and interpreting human and non-human languages
- brilliant strategic skills
FANDOM: Angel

PERSONALITY:

The Wesley Wyndam-Pryce which few of the Sunnydale residents have had the pleasure to know used to be a less than pleasant person. Constantly acting and speaking by the book, arrogant about his knowledge and over-confidant in his deficient combat skills, he instantly pushed Faith and Buffy away. Against what the nature of his job would have required, Wesley completely lacked any trace of courage, the sight of a vampire being enough to make him tremble and babble incoherently.

As a result of his unhappy childhood and of his strict father's constant belittling, Wesley had constantly feared failure, which is why being fired from the Watcher's Council had shaken up his life completely. While initially he felt lost, he soon started on his own path, one at the end of which he arrived a completely different person. Slowly he gave up the strictness by which he ruled his life and it showed from the way he looked and acted, to his personality. By the time he arrived in Los Angeles, though still somewhat clumsy in his fighting, he was no longer the coward he used to be. Once he was welcome into Angel's team, Wesley began showing a warm, caring and compassionate side. At the same time, his fighting skills dramatically improved. By the time Angel fired them, Wesley had grown enough to be capable of assuming the position of leader of Angel Investigations. In his position of leader, he displayed good strategic skills and the fact that he no longer felt the need to hide from dangers, carrying on with the fight to protect the helpless, in Angel's place. He is loyal to his friends and would do anything to protect them, as he proved by taking a bullet for Gunn, saving Angel from the bottom of the ocean even as the vampire had threatened him and fired him months before, or by choosing to shoot a cyborg identical to his father just to save Fred.

Wesley's dominant trait is his ruthlessness - if there is a hard decision to take, he is the one to take it, even if he is completely alone in it. The finest example would be the way in which he acted upon the prophecy that foretold that the father would kill the son. As difficult as it had been to accept it and to take the decision, he didn't hesitate when it came to taking the baby away from his father - a decision which had a great impact on his life. Abandoned by his friends, his life threatened by Angel, Wesley turned to the glass as a means of forgetting that he had been denied even the smallest chance of explaining his motivation. From that, Wesley literally took a leap into the darkness, exploring a side of himself which did not abide by ethics and moral principles and that showed not only in the way in which he fought, but also in his relationship with Lilah Morgan or the fact that he held Justine prisoner in his closet for months.

One side of Wesley which hasn't really improved that much is his way of handling a relationship. Virginia has been the closest to a serious relationship he had, until he took one look at Fred, in Pylea, and fell completely in love with her. Constantly shy and hesitant to reveal his feelings, he had to watch as she chose Gunn over him. Even as his memories became altered by Wolfram and Hart, his love for her remained unchanged, including his reluctance to admit to it. As he finally admitted to his feelings, as a result of Fred making the first step, Wesley was finally capable of showing his soft, romantic side, that side of him that would have been capable of doing anything for the woman he loved. Having been unable to save her life hit him harder than anything ever did in his life, taking away any motivation of his to fight and carry on living. While he wouldn't go as far as to take his own life, the man wouldn't put a fight to protect it either. In regards to the one because of whom he lost Fred, Wesley's feelings are contradictory. On one hand, he hates her for having killed the woman he loved, for having destroyed her soul for ever. On the other hand, he can't get past the fact that she inhabits Fred's body, that she looks so much like her. It is why he is conflicted between the urge to protect her and help her adjust, and the one to find a way to banish Illyria and restore Fred's life.

HISTORY:

Wesley was born in London, as son of Roger Wyndam-Pryce, one of the most respected members of the Watcher's Council. With a father of such renown, it wasn't hard to guess what path young Wesley would be forced to follow in his life. He can't say that his childhood had been a happy one. Roger's cold and critical attitude towards him turned him into a very insecure person and had a great impact on the type of person Wesley would grow up to be. As a teenager, Wesley was enlisted into an all-boy school, in order to prepare to become a Watcher himself. He excelled in his studies and became Head Boy of the school and, upon graduating, he was welcome in the Watcher's Council.

Wesley's first big moment as a Watcher came when his older colleague, Rupert Giles, was fired from his position of Watcher for Sunnydale Slayers Buffy Summers and Faith Lehane. From the moment he introduced himself and showed his arrogance, he managed to make the girls rebel against him and show reluctance into following his ridiculously strict ways. Not even Giles took him too seriously or showed too much interest into backing him up in enforcing his leadership. His way of handling things made the Scoobies act behind his back on many occasions, specifically when Faith murdered a human. When Wesley found out, he managed the case poorly, informing the Council to take the appropriate measures, which lead to Faith falling even deeper into darkness. When Faith poisoned Angel with an arrow, Wesley was initially reluctant to offer his help, but eventually he gave in and asked the Council to assist. Their refusal cost Wesley the very Slayer he was meant to watch over. Even if Buffy was no longer in the Council and he had no more reasons to stay in town, Wesley chose to help her fight against the Mayor in the Ascension. Unfortunately he was knocked down quickly and an ambulance had to carry him away.

Following these events, the Watcher's Council fired Wesley over his incompetence. Forced to find something else to do with his life, the former Watcher embarked on a trip across country, on a bike, hunting demons. As he put it, he was now a rogue demon hunter. His roads led him to Los Angeles, on the trail of an empath demon and his path crossed with none other than Angel and Cordelia Chase. After aiding them fight this demon, he pretended to be ready to leave once more but when offered the chance to stay with them and fight, he accepted before anyone could blink. Thus, Wesley became part of Angel Investigations, helping out with research on demons and occasionally with fighting. Not long after he arrived in LA, so did his former Slayer Faith. In her wish to get to Angel, Faith captured him and brutally tortured him. Despite this, Wesley refused to help the Council trap her, supporting Angel's attempt to redeem her instead.

Things went rather smoothly after the incident with Faith. Wesley had managed to translate a prophecy that foretold that Angel would become human one day, he had a lover called Virginia (whom he conquered after an initial mix-up in which he pretended to be Angel). Then Wolfram & Hart's and their involvement in Darla's return went ahead and turned it all into a disaster. Wesley and the rest of the team were fired after Angel descended into darkness over Darla getting sired by Drusilla. It was a fear come true for the former Watcher but this time he took things into his own hands. He assumed leadership of the team as they set out their own Angel Investigations. A mission nearly had fatal consequences for Wesley when he took a bullet to save Gunn and his friends. That incident lost him Virginia, who decided that his lifestyle was too dangerous for her. Recovery had been slow but not in any way slower then it took for Wesley to regain trust in Angel, after the vampire had his epiphany and asked to work for Angel Investigations.

With Angel back, though Wesley remained leader, he started suffering from lack of confidence over the fact that the vampire continued to remain the team's strongest asset and that, at times, he tended to take the initiative and give the orders. Unfortunate circumstances lead to them being forced to go to a hell dimension called Pylea, in order to save Cordelia, who had been accidentaly sucked in there. That world was strange to say the least. While walking through the woods with Gunn, Wesley witnessed as a beast Angel attacked his friend and tried to kill him, only to be stopped by a strange wild girl, who lured the beast away with her blood-smeared hand. Something about the image of the girl showing so much bravery (nearly suicidal bravery) impressed him deeply. He had few time to think of it before him and Gunn were captured by rebels who wished to kill them, thinking they were spies from the palace. Wesley helped them fight the palace guards sent after them and earned himself the position of leader of the Pylean rebellion, leading the rebels in their assault against the palace.

Things seemed to be on the right path again, at least for a few hours or so, while they returned from Pylea to LA, with the "wild girl", Fred, in tow. An unexpected guest, Willow, waited for them at the Hyperion with very bad news: Buffy had died. Grief-struck, Angel left on a three month spiritual journey, leaving Wesley to run things all by himself once more. While Wesley was happy that Fred was staying with them at the hotel, the girl barely came out of her room and this saddened him. His attempts to coax her out, promising tacos, weren't too successful so the most he had to contend himself with was hearing her voice through the door. Angel returned again and things started getting better - including Fred, with whom Wesley found himself to be more in love by the day. Unfortunately, he became infected with the blood of the woman-hating Billy and tried to kill Fred, a deed which seemed to ruin any hope he might have had that she would be interested with him. Battling his jealousy towards the newly formed couple of Fred and Gunn, Wesley dedicated more of his time to researching a prophecy about Angel which, soon, displayed a very disturbing message: The father will kill the son. At first, Wesley refused to believe that it could be real but when all signs indicated that the prophecy would soon come true, plus the seeds of doubt planted by Daniel Holtz in his soul, forced Wesley to take the decision to kidnap Connor and keep him away from Angel, in safety. His plan seemed to go along smoothly until he made the first mistake: humming to soothe Connor in Lorne's presence. After fighting the anagog demon, so that he could get away, he was accosted by a wounded Justine, whom distracted him with the story that Holtz had hurt her, subsequently taking advantage of his attempt to help her in order to slit his throat and take Connor, leaving Wesley to bleed to death in a park.

For long hours Wesley laid in the grass, feeling life slip away from him slowly. He fought his best to keep alive so that he would be able to explain to his friends why he had taken Connor away. At one point he lost consciousness, waking up much later, on a hospital bed, all alone and unable to speak. He was happy when Angel came to visit but the happiness turned to horror as the ensouled vampire attempted to smother him with a pillow. As if that wasn't bad enough, a couple of days later he received a visit from Fred, who brought him his things and asked him never to return to the Hyperion again. It was all it took to completely crush Wesley. There was no one there for him when he was released, or to welcome him home and be happy that he had survived. Unemployed, barely able to speak, he sought refuge in alcohol, to help himself forget how badly he had failed this time. His life took a very interesting turn the day in which Lilah Morgan came knocking to his door, with every intent of making him join Wolfram and Hart, since he had managed to hurt Angel the way he did, by taking Connor away. Despite his refusal to consider the idea, she kept coming back and, somehow, one of these visits ended up with the two of them in bed. Wesley found that he liked his new development, so their non-relationship continued for months in a row. He started his own demon hunting business, stealing Angel Investigation's clients while business was slow because of the vampire's and Cordelia's sudden disappearance but he wasn't as indifferent about what happened to the two as he pretended to be. Wesley kept Justine prisoner in his closet until he was able to make her confess that she and Connor locked Angel on the bottom of the ocean. Wesley rescued Angel, offering him his own blood to help build up his strength, then offered the ensouled vampire helpful information to discover why had Cordelia vanished.

Despite saving Angel, the team was reluctant to accept him back, mostly Gunn. Fred, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to express her wish to have him back, going to him for help when she wanted to seek revenge against professor Seidel, the man because of whom she had been thrown into Pylea. Slowly, Wesley returned to form part of the team again, even if he was no longer the leader. He fought side by side with everyone once the Beast and Jasmine showed their faces in Los Angeles. This time, he didn't hesitate when it came down to stealing a kiss from Fred or openly defy Gunn by expressing his interest in the woman. Although Wesley had ceased to see Lilah once he returned to Angel Investigations, he rushed to save her from the claws of the Beast (literally), when it attacked Wolfram and Hart and sought her out in her hiding place in the sewers after she attempted to free Angelus. Wesley had hoped that she would be safe at the hotel. Little did he imagine that this would bring Lilah to meet her demise, stabbed in the throat by the possessed Cordelia, then drained by Angelus after she died. At Connor's suggestion that she might have been sired, it was Wesley whom offered to be the one to decapitate her. He found that it had been more difficult to do than he could have ever imagined, that there were feelings deeper than he had imagined, but it was much too late to do anything other than make sure that Lilah would get to have a peaceful rest and not return as a vampire. Perhaps she didn't return as a vampire, but her rest was anything but peaceful. Much to Wesley's shock, after the defeat of Jasmine, he saw her at the door, offering them to take over the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram and Hart. Initially, Wesley was reluctant to accept but, eventually, he agreed to take the tour of the building and see what they had to offer. Once there, Wesley decided to sneak away and he searched for the contract that bound Lilah to the firm, setting it on fire in an attempt to free her and grant her rest. It didn't work, but she was touched by his gesture.

One executive decision and a powerful memory wipe later, Wesley found himself working for Wolfram and Hart - and as in love with Fred as ever. Not even now did she have eyes for him, being more interested in Knox. One day, Wesley had the surprise of his father appearing at the law firm, as condescending and demanding as ever and with the intention of stealing Angel's free will. When Roger threatened Fred, Wesley didn't think twice about firing a gun repeatedly at him. This affected him greatly, even if it did turn out that he didn't kill his father, only a cyborg copy of him. Eventually, Wesley's dream came true and Fred revealed that she began seeing him in a different light, kissing him. It was a beautiful start for a their romance - a romance which ended much too quickly. After a mysterious sarcophagus was delivered to Fred's lab, she became infected with the essence of an Old One called Illyria. All the books he read told him the same thing: that Illyria was to use Fred's body as a shell to return to this world. Wesley helplessly had to watch as the woman he loved died in a terrifying agony. The memory of her heart stopping to beat would be one to haunt every second of his life. As soon as Illyria took over Fred's body, Wesley tried to kill her - only to find out that she was impervious. Devastated by Fred's death, the news that Angel and Spike had chosen not to save her and that her soul had been destroyed, Wesley sought revenge against those responsible for it, stabbing Gunn (who had signed for the sarcophagus to be released from customs) and Knox, Illyria's High Priest. When all attempts to harm Illyria failed, Wesley took it upon himself to be the one to help her adjust to the world which she no longer recognized, even if he was the one that needed to be reminded how to be alive. Alcohol became his best friend again, as a refuge from memories and dreams of Fred. When not catatonic over Fred's death, his only other preoccupation had become extensive research on Illirya, with hope that somehow, somewhere, something would allow him to reverse what had happened and bring the woman he loved back.

Hope finally seemed to present itself when Wesley started researching the sorcerer Cyvus Vail, discovering that upon the day when the members of Angel Investigations started working for Wolfram and Hart, he supervised a very powerful spell being cast, being paid by the evil law firm. The sight of a contract with Veil, signed in Angel's blood and Illyria mentioning the fact that Fred's memories had been altered, made Wesley follow Angel to the lair of the wizard where, with the aid of the Old One's time altering powers, he managed to grab hold of the Orlon Window. Despite Angel insisting that breaking it would make no difference in what happened to Fred, Wesley smashed it to the ground, thus recovering all of his memories related to Connor, his betrayal towards Angel and his leap into the darkness. In addition to Fred's death, Wesley was now also forced to cope with the memories of his darkest hour. Before he could even begin to adjust to this new reality, trouble ensued once more as Illyria's powers became highly unstable and she threatened to turn into a very literal bomb. Using the Mutari Generator, Wesley diminished her powers considerably, not after her died and returned back to life due to Illyria's constant leaps through time. Another difficult moment Wesley had to face was the unexpected visit of the Burkles. Before he even had the time to think how he could tell them that their daughter had died, Illyria appeared looking as Fred, making Wesley angry with her. Once the visitors left, despite Illyria's wish to keep that appearance and experiment more of the love which Wesley and Fred shared, he vehemently forbid her to use that appearance again.

As days passed by, Wesley ignored Illyria's presence but he couldn't ignore the fact that Angel was acting weirder and weirder, visibly more and more corrupted by the power of his position at Wolfram and Hart. Above that, Drogyn, the Guardian of the Well, was found in a very bad state, claiming that Angel had tried to kill him so that he could not reveal that the vampire had been the one behind Illyria's sarcophagus disappearing from the Well, to be brought to Los Angeles, so that Fred could die. The revelation shocked Wesley so he confronted the vampire, along with the rest of the team, only to learn that his behavior was caused by his attempts to infiltrate the Circle of Black Thorn, the Senior Partners' instruments on Earth. After the plan was revealed, Wesley agreed to part take into the plot to strike down the Circle and declare war on the Senior Partners. He was to go to Cyvus Vail, since the sorcerer considered Wesley to be weak and easily to influence into betrayal. Before that, he had another mission set out by Angel: to go out and live the day at its fullest, because it could very well be the last. He left the meeting place in a pensive mood, trying to think what could possibly make the day beautiful for him. He didn't even immediately realize when the setting around him changed and he entered the new world.

ROLEPLAY SAMPLE:

Wesley had never imagined that, in his case, the saying “sleeping would the enemy” could ever become quite so literal. No, that would have been impossible because good old Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, proud descendant of Roger Wyndam-Pryce, Watcher extraordinaire, had been inoculated with the finest in terms of ethics and moral principles from an age when he was barely capable of talking into coherent sentences. He knew the right from wrong before he could even tell colors apart and that was hardly as much of an exaggerate as it seemed to be. People could make their choices in life but in Wesley's case, his father had done the choosing for him. The only way for his son to go was to be the path of good. If he was shown what was evil, if he was told what was the lowest in terms of moral decay, it was purely because he had to be shown what he was fighting against, what he needed to abhor with every fiber of his being. Not for a second was it even considered that young Wesley should be allowed to take a small taste of both sides before deciding, no. Decisions of the kind were not allowed when the sole purpose for which you were born seemed to have been to fill your father's shoes and give him an ego boost by becoming pride of the Academy, pride of the Council... never pride of his father though, because the man's standards were too high up for everyone to reach. Wesley tried though. It was why he blindly swallowed everything he was being fed, following the path without as much as stealing sideways glances or stepping even an inch aside. Darkness was at the sides and darkness was what he had to avoid. That was the rules: he had to just walk ahead on the bright, lean path, only thinking of what laid at its sides when he needed a reminder as to why he was on this particular road in his life.

Having been fired from the Council had probably been the best thing which could have happened to Wesley, now that he was looking back on it. Of course, it was just the first in a series of monumental failures, but it had served to open his eyes and to sway him from his glorious path of moral and ethics. Hesitant at the beginning, he would thread the ground from the side, small steps at first, then wider, bolder ones. Darkness wasn't as dark as he had been told it would be, no. It was more like gray and it wasn't even as degrading as he had been made believe. There were less rules, there was less strictness, but it wasn't chaos, it wasn't hell. Life taught Wesley that there were many times when the only way to save the day in the name of good was leaving moral aside for just enough as to take those decisions which no one would dare take. He found it in himself to do that. If others faltered and hesitated, he could step forward and cast aside ethics, so that he could voice those plans which others dared not think of. It was why he did it – why he took away Connor with every intention of keeping him safe until the ominous prophecy would prove to have been nothing but a false threat. It was why he didn't tell anyone about it. They would have never understood him. They would have just laughed it off and said that such a thing couldn't happen, that Angel loved his son too much to do a thing like that. Wesley knew that Angel loved Connor but he also knew that stranger things had happened. He had seen what Wolfram & Hart were capable of doing to Angel and there was no guarantee that they wouldn't manage to find something else to get to him more than they did with Darla. Sure enough the prophecy had proved to be nothing by a fake, or so Fred claimed, but that was beside the point. The intention had been noble. The result...

Wesley had never imagined that a good deed could be what it took to push someone into taking that leap into the deepest abysses of their soul, to strip it of rules and principles and leave it barren for darkness to take over. He had never imagined what laid inside him, scraping just beneath the surface, hiding behind the well-groomed look and the designer glasses. He had never imagined what friends' betrayal could do to a man. Perhaps it was the alcohol that constantly flowed through his veins that was switching his perspective but,in the grand scheme of things, Wesley didn't consider himself to be the traitor – not the biggest of them at any rate. No, traitors were Angel, Fred, Gunn and Lorne. Traitors were the ones that rushed to point the accusatory finger and even try to murder him, instead of showing an ounce of relief over the fact that he was still alive. They weren't relieved though, were they? No, they would have rather found his lifeless body in that park, all of his blood staining the grass beside him. They would have probably claimed it was divine justice for what he had done and they would have probably never even cared if he got a decent burial or if his grave was tended to. Since their hopes had been shattered and he lived, since Angel hadn't managed to take him out himself, they just chose to act as if he was really dead, as if he was their mortal enemy. In this case, it only felt so natural that he would side with the enemy.

Was Lilah his enemy, he had to wonder whenever he was lucid enough to formulate theories which didn't spawn out of bitterness and hatred. If she was Angel's mortal enemy and he was Angel's mortal enemy, what did that make him and Lilah? They were on the same side, or so it seemed. Lilah knew it too well. It had to be why she showed up at his door, ready to pull out a contract from her purse and offer the pen for him to sign away his soul to Wolfram and Hart. Too bad he didn't really have a soul to give up. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was dead, hadn't she heard? When people died, souls moved on to a better or to a worst place, depending on the deeds they had done in life. His flew away too. Only that Wesley was no longer sure where. For a while he was sure it was hell, some hell which he got to have a sneak preview of before his heart even stopped beating into his chest. The more time passed, though, and the more Lilah returned at his door, alluring and tempting, the more Wesley began to wonder if she had done something to claim his soul for herself. There used to be only a woman on his mind, the woman which would have never spared a look at him not even when he was only good old Wesley – good at researching Wesley, good at pretending that he made a good boss Wesley, good at not stealing babies Wesley... He had been convinced that the love he carried for Fred was the kind that would make him unable of thinking of anyone else, even if she had been the one to let him know that he was no longer welcome into their lives. Oddly enough, that little conviction of his had been shattered, along with many others, when Lilah Morgan barged into his life uninvited.

She was on his mind more than he ever would have wanted to admit to anyone, even to himself when his mind wasn't numbed by alcohol. From wondering when she'll be rid of her meetings to come and see her, to wondering what revealing skirt would she wear this time, to the things they might do when they would both be out of their clothes. Lilah Morgan was suddenly the center of his drunken pathetic universe and it didn't even bother Wesley as much as it did when it all began. They had the most amazing sex he ever had and they did things which could count as anything but tender and affectionate but something had changed. Deep inside there was something more than just the sex why Wesley looked forward for her to show up. And if he no longer hated Lilah, he sure hated the fact that he didn't hate her and that the something more was there, because feelings were the last things he needed in this. To deny those feelings he had no qualms about the way he acted with her: rough, borderline cruel, just to show her and mostly himself that he didn't care the slightest about her. His kisses, his touches, they all showed his desire to possess her, to get Lilah Morgan to be his in every meaning of the word. They were meant for each other after all, in the sense that no one else would have wanted to get close to two being which had long lost their soul to the devil. They only had each other for companionship – in the twisted sense they gave to the word. ”Perhaps some other time”, he answered, his hand still on her thigh, lingering in the touch, teasing as a retaliation to the chosen answer of the day.

It wasn't hard for the bottle to catch his undivided attention. Lilah would get a very special reward for thinking of it. He was running kind of low on alcohol as it was and this was finest than anything which he would have bought anyway. Wesley made quick work of opening the bottle, letting it down momentarily to retrieve another glass which he filled for himself, before going over to Lilah to fill hers as well. After that was accomplished, he turned to retrieve his glass, leaning against the table as he watched Lilah, lust in his eyes as they skimmed over her bare thigh. Slowly he sipped from the glass, enjoying the taste, the burn down his neck, the warmth that settled in his stomach... Ah, the finest indeed. Soon enough he would feel that sweet numbness which he longed for so much and that was all he needed. That and Lilah around him. ”Finest of the finest”, he commented. ”Still a waste of money, Lilah. I'm not going to work for you. How long are you going to keep trying if you know the answer is never going to be different?”

OUT-OF-CHARACTER
•••••••••••••••••••••

NAME/ALIAS: kmy
AGE: 24
ROLEPLAY EXPERIENCE: 2 years
CONTACT: PM
FUN FACT! I studied Rusian for two years. Not that fun but I don't know what to say.[/BLOCKQUOTE]

[LIZARDBREATH]

ACCEPTED

[/b]

Woo for Wesley! As you know I am not overly
familiar with the Angel fandom, but Wesley
seems like a fun character and I'm excited to
have him here at B&H. Go ahead and get
posting![/center]