Winifred Burkle
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| Winifred "Fred" Burkle | ||||||||||||||
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 Amy Acker as Winifred "Fred" Burkle |
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Winifred "Fred" Burkle (born in Texas, died in 2004 in Los Angeles, California) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Shawn Ryan for the cult television program, Angel. The character is portrayed by Amy Acker.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Character history
Winifred Burkle was born in 1978 in Dallas, Texas to Roger and Trish Burkle. When she reached adulthood and graduated from high school, Fred moved to Los Angeles for college. Originally majoring in history, Fred took a physics class with Professor Seidel which inspired her to take another path. Around this time, Fred began working at Stewart Brunell Public Library. In 1996, while shelving a demon language book, a curious Fred recited the cryptic text out loud and was accidentally sucked into a dimensional portal to Lorne's homeland, Pylea. It was later discovered that it was actually opened by Fred's jealous college professor, Professor Seidel, who had sent every promising student to it; essentially sending them to their death.
For five years, Fred spent an arduous life as a "cow" - the Pylean equivalent of a slave. The harsh life of solitude and serfdom took a serious toll on her social skills, as well as her mental health. However, her salvation came when Angel and his crew arrived in Pylea to find Cordelia Chase, who had become trapped there. When Pylea was liberated, Fred accompanied Angel and the rest of the gang back to Los Angeles and stayed in his hotel to readjust to life on Earth and regain her mental stability. Despite several traumatic instances, Fred adjusted quite well to “normal” life. Her knowledge of physics and mathematics make her an excellent asset when researching and developing strategies. She quickly developed a romantic relationship with Charles Gunn, which lasted roughly one year. She was also the object of affection of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, who attempted to step aside, but was still drawn to her. Near the end of her relationship with Gunn, Fred and Wes shared a kiss, but after discovering that Wes had been in a relationship with Lilah, her feelings for Wes cooled.
Eventually, Fred discovered that it was actually her former professor's fault that she had been trapped in Pylea---indeed, Professor Seidel had attempted to trap her in another world again---and Fred, furious, plotted to kill him, with Wesley's help. Gunn, however, felt that such a brutal act, even against Seidel, would ultimately destroy her, and as a result, in a battle where she was trying to kill him and he was trying to trap her in a hell dimension, Gunn snaped his neck himself and dropped the body into the portal. This ultimately caused a rift between the two and ended their relationship.
However, everything changed for Fred upon joining Wolfram & Hart. Her memory was altered by a spell and it is unclear how much of Season 3 and 4 she remembered or remembered differently. She received her own laboratory and became the head of the Science Division. A major asset to the team, Angel consistently relied on her department to quickly and efficiently solve problems. After going on a few dates with co-worker Knox, she began to have feelings for Wesley again. The two paired for about week, but the couple's happiness was not to last. A mysterious sarcophagus, allowed through customs by a signature from Gunn, appeared in the lab. As Fred examined it, a hole opened in the cover and a breath of wind blew into her face. The sarcophagus was a holding cell for Illyria, one of the original, purebreed demons known as Old Ones, which was predestined to rise again. The air Fred inhaled was actually Illyria's essence, which immediately began a parasitic-like existence in her body, eating away at it and making her a shell. Worse still, Knox had worshipped Illyria for years and worked at Wolfram & Hart for the sole purpose of bringing her back. Because of his affections for Fred, he "chose" her as the only one worthy to house his god.
As Angel and Spike traveled to England to find a cure, Wesley remained in Fred's bedroom with her, comforting her as she fought bravely, but slowly began to die. Angel learned that the only way to save Fred would be to draw Illyria back to the Deeper Well in England by using her sarcophagus as a beacon. However, thousands of others would die as Illyria's essence cut across the world back to the Well. Thus, Angel and Spike were forced to do nothing. As Fred lay dying, Fred's mind began to give way. Nearing the end, she panicked, stating that Feigenbaum, a stuffed rabbit named for a mathematical physicist who studied chaos theory, should be there. When Wesley asked her who Feigenbaum was, Fred replied that she didn't know. Cradling her in his arms, Wesley stayed with Fred until the moment she died, after which her body was taken over by Illyria. "Why can't I stay?" were Fred's last words.
Fred's soul was supposedly consumed making it impossible for her to return from the dead or enjoy an afterlife. Illyria stated sometime later that there were remnants of Fred in the form of her memories, which was a source of confusion for Illyria. On occasion Illyria would take on the appearance of Fred in order to go about unnoticed and to deal with Fred's parents.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Fred was a normal mortal with no supernatural powers. However, her brilliant mathematical mind, immense knowledge of quantum physics and science, and a natural ability in designing inventions made her an important asset of Angel's team. (Wesley once said, while addressing most of Angel's crew, "She's smarter than all of us put together.") During this time, Fred also acquired some reasonably good fighting skills (mainly with weapons - stakes, guns, swords, knives, etc).
[edit] Romantic relationships
- Angel: After he rescued her from the Pyleans, Fred developed a childlike crush on Angel for a time; she got over it after learning more about the curse, but later kissed Angel as part of a ruse to escape Jasmine's followers.
- Charles Gunn: the two had a relationship for about a year, breaking up after Gunn had to kill one of Fred's old college professors and it is implied that feelings continued to linger afterwords.
- Knox: Dated briefly; apparently had a bizarre obsession with Fred, thus his actions to her vis-a-vis Illyria.
- Wesley Wyndam-Pryce: Dated shortly after a long build-up, a relationship that could have lasted indefinitely but for her death and possession by Illyria.
[edit] Appearances
Fred has appeared in:
Angel
Fred became a series regular for the show's third, fourth and fifth seasons. She appeared in 63 episodes. She has made guest appearances in the episodes:
Series 2 (2000, 2001) - "Belonging", "Over The Rainbow", "Through The Looking Glass", "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb".
