Angel/Allen Francis Doyle

Allen Francis Doyle
Angel
Actor	Glenn Quinn
First Appearance	1x01 - City Of
Last Appearance	5x12 - You're Welcome
Series Billing	1x01 to 1x10: Billed 5x12: Uncredited
Episode Count	10
Notable Episodes	1x07 - The Bachelor Party 1x09 - Hero

Allen Francis Doyle, commonly referred to as just Doyle, was Angel's orignal link to "The Powers That Be." He is credited as series regular for the first ten episodes, seen in a previously in Parting Gifts, and on videotape in the series's centennial episode, You're Welcome. Doyle plays a pivotal role in the show even after his death, as his powers of premonition are transferred over to Cordelia in Hero, and later on to Angel in You're Welcome. Doyle is portrayed by the late Glenn Quinn.

Basic Information

The product of a demon and human, Doyle is a half-breed Brachen demon. But, because his demonic side didn't manifest until his 21st birthday and his demon father was never in his life, Doyle didn't know about this other side to his life. For a while, he was a 3rd grade teacher (presumably in Los Angeles) and was a frequent volunteer at a food bank. He met his wife, Harry, and married her just before he turned 20.

When his demon side arose on his 21st birthday, he instantly rejected the idea of being a demon due to being raised as a human. After learning to accept it, Harry pushed him to embrace his demonhood, but the matter eventually split them apart because he couldn't accept who he was.

Shortly after Harry fled from their marriage, Doyle was faced with another Brachen demon, hoping to seek sanctuary with Doyle for his clan, who was being hunted by the Scourage, a militant group of pure-blood demons that ethnicly cleanse half-breeds like the Brachens. When Doyle sent the demon on his way, he had his first vision; he saw the Brachens slaughtered by the Scourge.

From that point on, Doyle lent his precognitive abilities to Angel, presumably after confering with the Powers That Be. When Doyle received a vision, he would direct Angel to the problem. While working for Angel Investigations, he developed a crush on Cordelia, but was stuck worrying about what she would think about his demon side. This went on for a while, until the Scourge resurfaced in his life, hunting Lister demons in Los Angeles. Doyle gave his life to save the lives of the Listers from the Scourge when he lept into the Scourge's human destroying beacon to disconnect its power source.

Just before his death, he came to terms with his half-demonhood and passed on his ability to see visions to Cordelia.

Episode Appearances

Allen Francis Doyle appeared in 9 episodes of Angel. Archive footage was used for three later episodes:

1. 1x01 - City Of
2. 1x02 - Lonely Hearts
3. 1x03 - In the Dark
4. 1x04 - I Fall to Pieces
5. 1x05 - Rm w/a Vu
6. 1x06 - Sense and Sensitivity
7. 1x07 - Bachelor Party
8. 1x08 - I Will Remember You
9. 1x09 - Hero
10. 1x10 - Parting Gifts (archive footage)
11. 3x11 - Birthday (archive footage)
12. 5x12 - You're Welcome (archive footage)

Character History

• 1x09 - Hero: Doyle sacrifices his life to save innocent demons in Los Angeles and willingly transfers his power to Cordelia.
• 5x12 - You're Welcome: Cordelia watches the video Doyle originally taped to promote Angel Investigations.

Memorable Moments

• 1x07 - Bachelor Party: Doyle's wife comes back into his life, but at the Bachelor Party of her fiancé, he is nearly killed in a ritual involving the eating of the first husband's brains.

• 1x09 - Hero: When the Scourge attempts to eradicate all the part-demons in the Los Angeles area, Doyle sacrifices himself to save the innocent demons in the city. Moments before his death, he tranfers his gift of the visions to Cordelia.

Trivia

• The original scripts for the series featured Whistler, the man who turned Angel to the side of good, instead of Doyle.
• The character's accent is actually Glenn Quinn's natural Irish accent. Quinn commented that it was the first time that he was allowed to use his normal voice, but also mentioned that occasionally he had to "Americanize" it because his accent was too thick to understand the dialogue.
• Contrary to popular myth, Doyle's death was planned in advance, and actor Glenn Quinn knew that his character was not long for the world.
• Doyle's telephone number is 555-0189.

Quotes

• 1x02 - Lonely Hearts: "When you’re talking me up to her, don’t let her in on that me being half demon. Because, you know, women can be a little funny about that."
• 1x09 - Hero: "The good fight, yeah? - You never know until you've been tested. - I get that now."