Background Illyria is one of the legendary
Old Ones, original pure demons from the Primordium Age, who ruled territory that included modern-day
California. She ruled from her citadel, Vahla ha'nesh, which corresponds to modern-day
Los Angeles. Illyria was eventually defeated and murdered. Illyria had high status among the Old Ones, such that she still had followers and acolytes in the modern day. When the Old Ones became extinct, Illyria's essence was placed in a stone
sarcophagus, which was kept in a mystical graveyard known as
The Deeper Well along with the coffins of other Old Ones. A warrior of good was assigned to guard the Deeper Well to prevent anyone from extracting the coffins, as Old Ones are capable of
resurrection. In the 20th century, the Keeper of the Deeper Well was
Drogyn the Battlebrand. Before falling, Illyria planned her resurrection. She hid her temple in a different time plane, rendering it untouchable, until she could return to open the gateway. Illyria's army was placed there as well. In the intervening centuries, the army was destroyed.
Resurrection As pre-ordained, Illyria's
sarcophagus is teleported to the general area of
Los Angeles, but due to continental shifting, it ends up outside the
United States of America. Somehow, it is delivered to American soil, but is held up in Customs on its way to
Wolfram & Hart. Dr. Sparrow manipulates
Charles Gunn into releasing the sarcophagus.
Knox, Illyria's self-fashioned high priest and the mastermind behind her resurrection, has the sarcophagus delivered to
Fred Burkle at Wolfram & Hart's science lab. Curiosity draws Fred to the sarcophagus, and upon touching one of the embedded crystals, Illyria's essence is released into her body. Illyria's spirit acts as an
infection, liquifying Fred's organs, hardening her skin, and allegedly consuming her soul. After hours of agony, and despite
Angel and
Spike's efforts, Fred's body is completely taken over by Illyria, who also absorbs her memories. With the aid of Knox, Illyria attempts to bring about the destruction of humankind by resurrecting her ancient army. Despite the best efforts of Angel, Spike, and
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, she fights off all three and opens the portal to her army, only to discover it long since destroyed. Lost and without purpose, Illyria agrees to adjust to the modern world with Wesley's help. When Wesley mentions to her Gunn is trapped in a Wolfram & Hart-imposed pseudo-
Hell, Illyria opens a portal and rescues Gunn without hesitation, later noting the debt the group owes to her. In the process, she destroys eleven torture units, two troop carriers, an ice cream truck, eight "beautifully maintained" lawns, and "rendered useless" dozens of Wolfram & Hart employees, according to
Marcus Hamilton. At this point, her pastimes include talking to plants and training with Spike. Although she criticizes Spike's adaptability, declaring adaptation to be a compromise, Illyria enjoys their sparring; at one point, she expresses her desire to keep him as a pet, a strange but true sign of affection. Eventually, Illyria's power becomes extremely unstable, and she is being thrown out of the linear progression of time, as her power seeks to escape its shell. She kills Spike, Wesley,
Lorne, and Angel in confusion, but another time jump sees her drag Angel with her, who sees she will soon detonate, causing enough destruction to wipe out the continent. Angel, with foreknowledge of her outbursts, calms Illyria down, and Wesley uses a device to extract a large portion of her power, effectively ending the threat. As a result of this intervention, Illyria is stripped of much of her strength, as well as her abilities to alter time and talk to plants. She grows bitter and withdrawn. Her primary emotional connection is with Wesley, who continues to help her adjust to the world. After recognizing Wesley's feelings for Fred, Illyria wishes to explore her relationship with Wesley in a more sexual or romantic direction; he rejects any possibility of accepting her in Fred's form. She also develops a connection with Spike, who treats her with acceptance and dignity. Illyria is brutally beaten and humiliated by Hamilton, which fuels the Old One's rage and motivates her to join the final battle against the Senior Partners. In the
Angel series finale, "
Not Fade Away," Illyria, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne,
Lindsey, and Angel fight separate groups of demons from the Circle of the Black Thorn. After killing her targets, Illyria seeks out Wesley and finds him dying. Perceiving his imminent death, she comforts Wesley in Fred's form. Filled with unexpected and uncontrollable grief, Illyria violently dispatches his killer,
Cyvus Vail, shattering his head with a single punch, before meeting the others and declaring a strong desire to "do more violence." The Senior Partners send their army against the surviving members of Angel's team; Illyria joins Angel, Gunn, and Spike in the final battle. Interviews have revealed that had there been a sixth season of Angel, Illyria would have used Fred's appearance more often. This would have led to an identity crisis, according to Joss Whedon. In the canonical comic
Angel: After the Fall, it is confirmed Illyria survived the final battle against the Senior Partners.
Literature Illyria appears substantially in the comic books published by
IDW Publishing following
Angels series finale. Several titles featuring Illyria have nothing or very little to do with the larger
Buffy and Angel franchise. Until the advent of the
canonical comics of 2007, most Illyria stories were set during season 5 of
Angel. The comic book
Illyria: Spotlight (2006) by
Peter David depicts Illyria's encounters with Fred's friends and family, and she begins to cry when she watches home movies of Fred's life; she later asserts to Wesley that she feels no regret. Peter David also published an
Illyria crossover with his own comic book,
Fallen Angel. In volume one of
Fallen Angel Reborn (2009), set in season 5, Illyria is transported to the dimension of Bete Noire where she attempts to reclaim her lost power; flashbacks depict her battle with the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart as well as other Old Ones; in the present day, she faces the series' heroine Liandra. Illyria appears on the cover of each issue. In the miniseries
Spike: Shadow Puppets, she appears in
flashbacks and as puppet in the narrative of that story, a sequel to season 5 episode "
Smile Time". In canonical comics, she first appears in the second issue of
Angel: After the Fall, the official
Angel continuation. The spin-off miniseries
Spike: After the Fall charts Illyria's journey between "Not Fade Away" and
Angel: After the Fall. All
After the Fall stories are written by
Brian Lynch, who receives substantial input from creator Joss Whedon. In
Angel: After the Fall, Los Angeles has been sent to hell by Wolfram & Hart. Illyria is established as the Demon Lord of Beverly Hills, and working with Spike saves innocents by placing them in Connor's care.
Spike: After the Fall details their acquisition of Lord status. Throughout the series, Illyria features temporary reversions to her Fred state as the hell dimension causes her powers to go out of control. Later, when Gunn (now a vampire) kills the last of her memories of Fred, these stop, and she reverts to her primordial form and begins savaging Los Angeles. Telepathic fish
Betta George is able to fill her with Spike and Wesley's memories of Fred, and Fred's humanity causes her to stop. Though Wolfram and Hart reverts time to before they destroyed Los Angeles, Illyria retains the memories of her experiences like everyone else. Illyria guards a hospitalized Gunn — human once more — in his hospital bed from angry demons, and her new memories of Fred make her crisis of humanity even more apparent. The two depart Los Angeles and encounter an Old One from her past. In IDW's ongoing
Angel series, Illyria attempts to seduce Connor as part of her mating cycle. She fails due to Connor's reluctance. At one point she makes clear to Angel that while she's not and never will be Fred, like him, she's a formerly evil being trying to redeem their past sins. In the comic
Illyria: Haunted (2011), Illyria begins having nightmares consisting of Fred's memories. She reaches out to an emotionally unavailable Angel and finds no comfort. Illyria then seeks out Spike for advice. He believes she should return to the Deeper Well for answers and comfort. She then, in an unprecedented show of humility, formally asks Spike for help. Spike takes Illyria to Sally, a Frellian demon who grants favors for a price. She sends them to retrieve a charm from a potential suitor of hers, and then opens a portal for Illyria to the Deeper Well. Illyria quickly dispatches the Vastari demons guarding the entrance and enters to find the new guardian is a rare matriarchal demon. The new guardian sends two Yastigilian Hounds to attack Illyria, unaware that Illyria has the knowledge to control them. Illyria explains that they are kindred species. She is granted access to the Deeper Well but is warned not to touch anything. Illyria finds nothing but Gylphs on the wall where her coffin once was and begins smashing things in disappointment. Drawn to a gem on the wall, she touches it and is magically enlightened to her new place in the world, unaware that she has accidentally released a former rival old one, Arsgomor. Illyria attempts to both fight and reason with Arsgomor until he kills one of her new Yastigilian pets. Illyria commands the local plant life to subdue Arsgomor and then degenerates him to a fetal form. She releases this new baby Arsgomor to the new guardian and returns to L.A. with her pet Yastigilian hound, Pancakes. She then uses her restored powers to open a dimensional portal and go traveling. Subsequent to the above story, the rights to
Angel characters were transferred from IDW to
Dark Horse Comics, which publishes
Buffy. In
Angel and Faith (2012), Gunn tells Angel that Illyria is missing but presumed to be safe. She later debuts in
Buffy in issue sixteen, as part of the "Welcome to the Team" story arc. Mid-battle, Buffy finds herself teleported to Los Angeles, where Illyria introduces herself as part of a council which needs Buffy's help due to the consequences of Buffy
destroying the seed and stripping the universe of its ambient magic. In a confrontation with the season's villain,
Severin, Illyria is stripped of her powers—including her ability to time travel—leaving her mortal and stuck in Fred's physical appearance. She assists Buffy's quest into its final arc, travelling into the Deeper Well alongside Buffy,
Willow and
Xander. Drawing on her personal experiences in
Angel, she convinces Severin—whose powers threaten to rip a hole in time itself—to create a new seed, which will restore magic to the universe. Willow points out to Illyria that she is showing very human compassion, which Illyria herself recognizes. The creation of the new seed creates a powerful discharge, vaporizing Illyria and Severin both. In the follow-up series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten, Buffy expresses regret for Illyria's death to the demon Eldre Koh. Koh is surprised by this, and tells Buffy that she does not understand Old Ones, suggesting Illyria may yet survive in some form. Later, in the
Angel & Faith book, Angel encounters Fred walking the streets of London. They surmise the recreated Seed attempted to bring Illyria back, and in the event, also brought back Fred. Now both Fred and Illyria are alive and cohabit Fred's body. == Powers and abilities ==