Drusilla's history unfolds in
flashbacks scattered among numerous episodes of both
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
Angel; they are not presented in chronological order. In "
Lie to Me",
Angel explains that, in 1860 when he was still Angelus, he became obsessed with Drusilla, a beautiful young
Catholic woman who lived with her parents and two sisters in
London. Angelus's sire
Darla first discovered Drusilla, and presented her to Angelus as a new possible victim to torment. At first, Angelus suspected Drusilla of being a burgeoning
saint, but he learned that she instead had psychic abilities (an uncommon but confirmed power of random humans in the Buffyverse), and was capable of occasionally foretelling the future, especially tragic situations. However, she believed this to be an evil affliction and wished to enter a
nunnery to cleanse herself. Angelus sensed her purity and became obsessed with destroying her, as Drusilla had the potential for sainthood. Angelus first made contact with her by murdering Drusilla's priest, and impersonating him when she went to confession. When she confessed that she believed her abilities were evil, Angelus toyed with her by suggesting she embrace the evil instead of rejecting it. At some later point Angelus tortured and killed Drusilla's entire family, causing her to flee to a
convent in
Prague. On the day she was to take her holy vows, Angelus made her watch as he killed every person in the convent and engaged in sexual relations with Darla. The trauma of Angelus's atrocities drove Drusilla insane, and Angelus chose to turn her into a
vampire, as he considered her a masterpiece, a testament to his talent. Believing death to be a mercy to her at this point, he chose to sire her to make her pain eternal as an immortal. After being sired, Drusilla, now a predator, joined Angelus and Darla on their murderous travels. In 1880, Drusilla sired the young poet William, (first mentioned in “School Hard”). William the Bloody joined Drusilla and Angelus. Drusilla and William, later known as
"Spike", shared an intimate relationship, though Angelus continued to engage in sexual relations with Dru as well. Shortly after Angelus is cursed with a soul, Spike and Drusilla (unaware of the ensoulment) go their separate ways from Darla and Angel. At some point before their arrival in
Sunnydale in late 1997, Drusilla is attacked and severely injured by an angry mob in
Prague, leaving her in a weakened and frail condition. Spike cares for her, and the couple decide to travel to the Hellmouth in hopes that its energy will help to restore Drusilla's strength and health. They arrive in Sunnydale in the episode "
School Hard", and Spike plots the downfall of the current
Slayer,
Buffy Summers. When he discovers that Drusilla can be cured by the blood of her sire, Spike captures Angel and allows Drusilla to torture him until it is time to perform the ritual. Although Buffy and her friends save Angel, the ritual is successful. Drusilla, fully restored, now takes care of Spike, who has been temporarily paralyzed by Buffy's attack. When Angel reverts to Angelus, he re-joins the couple. Drusilla soon kills
Kendra, another Slayer, by hypnotizing her and cutting her throat with a fingernail (which impresses Spike when he learns of it). Drusilla is delighted by Angelus's determination to destroy the world and encourages his ongoing sexual attention; both dynamics strongly disturb Spike, who wants Drusilla to himself again and does not particularly want the world to end. Spike decides to help Buffy save the world in exchange for his and Drusilla's safe passage from Sunnydale. Drusilla resists Spike's betrayal of Angelus, and he attacks her, ultimately carrying her unconscious body from the fray. Drusilla and Spike flee to
Brazil, where Drusilla becomes disillusioned with their relationship. Spike's alliance with the Slayer, combined with Dru's skills of foresight and perception, prove to her that Spike is now tainted (not "demon enough" for her) and that he is developing feelings for Buffy. Drusilla breaks up with Spike, and he rejects her offer to remain friends. Drusilla reappears on
Angel in 2000, when
Wolfram & Hart brings her to
Los Angeles to re-sire Darla, who had been resurrected as a human dying of
syphilis. Drusilla, who loves Darla like a "grandmum", and also more than that, over their 150-year-old complicated relationship, genuinely believes she is doing Darla a favor by siring her and is puzzled by Darla's brief rage before her renewed vampire nature kicks in. Reconciled, the two wreak havoc in the city until Angel sets them on fire. The two go underground to heal, but Drusilla leaves Darla, who is then protected by
Lindsey McDonald. Drusilla returns to
Sunnydale in the episode "
Crush" to persuade Spike to join Darla and herself in reforming their "family" unit, but instead, Spike seizes the opportunity to try to prove his love for Buffy by offering to stake Drusilla. Heartbroken by the actions of her former lover, Drusilla departs Sunnydale and remains at large. However, in season 7 of
Buffy, the
First Evil impersonates Drusilla in an unsuccessful attempt to break Spike's spirit. Spike claims that the First Evil's impersonation is not crazy enough to be Drusilla. In
Angel comics by
IDW Publishing set after the television series ended, Drusilla reappears, breaking out of a psychiatric institution, in the story arc
Drusilla (2009). Still mentally ill, her whereabouts since her last appearance in
Angel remain unexplained. After assault by a crowd, she awakens, still pallid-skinned, in what appears to be Georgian London, in broad daylight and enters what seems to be her parents’ home. She encounters a doll (which may or may not be "Miss Edith") and is called by a third party, possibly her parents. It is uncertain whether this is an elaborate hallucination,
time travel to her personal past or an alternate universe where she was never turned by Angelus. It is strongly implied, however, that the story actually takes place before Drusilla is sired, and the parts of it set in the modern day are actually a premonition in the human, 19th-century Drusilla's mind. She later reappears in the
Spike mini-series (2010–11) by IDW, where she encounters Spike in Las Vegas, having allied herself with a human who believes Spike stole his soul. Spike has Buffy's friend
Willow magically transfer his soul to Drusilla to give her a shot at redemption, but they are forced to reverse the spell when it drives her even madder than she already is. The character next appears in
Angel & Faith by
Dark Horse Comics in the story arc "Daddy Issues" (2012), in which Drusilla has become sane thanks to the Lorophage demon, popularly referred to as the Highgate vampire, which ate her trauma and pain. In her new role as "Mother Superior", she sought to perform similar treatments on the citizens of London, which Angel likened to lobotomies. When Angel killed the Lorophage, Drusilla becomes insane once more, and is free. Dark Horse intended to release the 5-issue miniseries
Drusilla: Run and Catch, examining what happened next for her, but it was delayed until the conclusion of
Season Nine. Later in the
Angel & Faith series, it transpires she went on to kill one of the London Slayers affiliated with Faith. She returns in the second series, in which she helps the demon Archaeus (the Master's sire) build an army of vampires to take over Magic Town. However she flees in the finale when Angel, Faith and their allies defeat Archaeus and his army in a battle. In the
Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book by
Boom! Studios, an alternate Drusilla appears as the villain "The Mistress". ==Powers and abilities==