Buffy and Angel - Gunn/JAR Appreciation #9: "Gunn, you have hair!"

**starryeyesxx** · 02-02-2021, 07:58 AM

Gunn is an activist, a renegade vampire hunter who leads his motley crew of fellow hunters
on a personal crusade of execution for reasons that the audience is not yet aware of.
He is a tormented soul and a lone ranger, much like Angel, but he has adopted a family of lost
and disenfranchised who he will protect at any cost. It's almost like he's two people in one,
a violent and aggressive warrior, but also someone who desires family and people close to him.
- J. August Richards

When I was doing Angel, I was very clear with myself every day when I went to work that this could be
the best job that I ever have as an actor. Because, every week, it was something completely different…
I got to be romantic, or comedic, or heroic, or villainous.
It was just something different every week.
- J. August Richards

Team Gunn
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2. MidnightzStorm
3. gunn/Heather
4. carrieanne77
5. *Rogue^Demon*
6. ~*Magical*~
7. -Mo-
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10. Living Dead Girl
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15. Karbear3916
16. Buffy&Angel4eva
17. QueenElessar
18. missy7280
19. Orton
20. elizas_dude
21. tootyfnfrooty
22. I_Love_JennaJameson
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Charles Gunn grew up on the streets of LA and had become leader of a group of homeless youths
battling against vampires every day. Determined not only to protect the lives of the family he had built,
but also his community, Gunn became emotionless and single-minded, his only focus
killing the vampires who had killed so many of his own over the years.

Then Gunn met a vampire unlike any other – Angel.
He was resistant to believe that any vampire could be good, let alone that he should
trust and possibly work with one. But with his crew facing ever tougher odds, Gunn knew that
he was getting desperate and would need help from somewhere.

When Gunn’s sister, Alonna, was kidnapped by the vampires
he had been fighting and turned into one, Gunn hit a low point
Alonna had been his reason, his purpose to keep going every day and,
without her, Gunn was at a turning point in his life that would change his fate forever.

Gunn started to work with Angel and his team more often and,
when Angel offered to pay him for his help, he was officialy part of Angel investigations.
He had quickly formed a mutual respect for Angel, as they were both leaders determined
to protect others, but he took longer to warm up to Cordelia and Wesley.
However unexpected it was, the four of them soon made a team
that was becoming more and more like the family Gunn had once had.

When Angel was caught in a downward spiral, Gunn found himself at another crossroads
when Angel fired him, along with Cordelia and Wesley. He had the chance to go back to his old life,
but realized that he was doing more good as a part of Angel Investigations – even if they had lost Angel.
Gunn, Wesley and Cordelia continued the mission without Angel, cementing Gunn’s place with his new family.

Divided loyalties continued to weigh on Gunn, as it was made clearer
that his old gang didn’t have the respect and need for him that they once did.
He tried to be part of both worlds, but his inability to give his whole focus to his
old gang cost the life of one of Gunn’s old friends.

The guilt weighed heavily on Gunn as he blamed himself for the death and it seemed
like his old crew did too. Feeling that they were still his responsibility, and with Angel having
returned to Angel Investigations, Gunn felt that he should quit and return to his old place.

But the truth was, Gunn was not the person he had been a year before.
He had a new mission, a new purpose – a new family.
With Cordelia in trouble and his friends facing possible death to rescue her,
Gunn was sure of where he belonged and finally chose between the two sides.

Despite Gunn having made his choice, Gunn still struggled to let go of his guilt over
abandoning his old friends. Having never really allowed himself to mourn the death
of his sister, he was haunted by her death and still felt that he was to blame.
Carrying the weight of so many lives on his shoulders, he tried to reach
out to his old gang, but found himself shut out.

Things came to a head when his old crew, now led by the savage and unpredictable Gio,
targeted Angel. Gunn had no doubt over which side is right and risked his life to protect Angel
and his friends, knowing that it would sever his ties with his old gang for once and for all.

Gunn continued to grow closer to Angel, Cordelia and Wesley, along with the new addition
to the gang, Fred. But it soon became clear that what Gunn felt for Fred was different to his
familial sentiments towards the rest of the gang. The two seemed completely different on the surface,
but having survived on her own in a hell dimension, Fred was more like Gunn than most people realized.
It didn’t take long to see that their feelings were mutual, and the two quickly became involved.

Gunn was falling in love for the first time, his friends were happy and safe and it
was surely the best time in his life. Having spent so many years just trying to survive,
he was finally enjoying life, basking in the things that he never
thought he’d have; family, friendship, stability and love.

But this happiness was soon cut short. Wesley also had feelings for Fred and Gunn’s
friendship with him suffered as the result. The group started to break down as Wesley
betrayed Angel in an attempt to save Connor’s life and Wesley was ostracized from the group.
Cordelia ascended to a higher plain Angel struggled to rebuild his relationship with his son
and the once close group was starting to fracture.

Through these trials and tribulations, Gunn and Fred’s relationship seemed to be the one thing
that remained strong. But when the man who sent Fred into a hell dimension returned to her life,
Gunn tried to keep her from doing something that would change her forever –
but when he couldn’t, he did the only thing he could to try and help share the burden and
guilt that he knew would come with revenge. He helped her to murder her old professor,
giving up a piece of himself in the hopes that it would prevent Fred from losing who she was.

Even though the two shared the guilt, it affected them both greatly and their
relationship started to break down. With the world falling apart around them and
Gunn feeling that Fred was pushing him away, he ended the relationship.

Without Fred, it seemed that Gunn had lost another piece of himself.
Losing her along with his self-esteem taking hit after hit, Gunn questioned his place
in the team. Continuously side-lined and slighted as ‘the muscle’, Gunn
became increasingly frustrated with the people who had once been his family.

When Gunn had the rare opportunity to take a time-out in the middle of an apocalypse,
he gladly took it to help Gwen Raiden on a mission. She clearly valued his skills as much
more than a fighter, and Gunn’s confidence came back as he charmed his way through the
assignment – and looked good while doing it. It was going to be a slow process,
but Gunn was beginning to find his way again.

Gunn was ready for something new, and when Angel was offered control of the law firm
Wolfram & Hart, Gunn was quick to accept the offer. Even though he knew on some level
that there would be a catch, Gunn’s yearning for a place of his own was too strong
and he seemed to completely hand himself over to Wolfram & Hart.

Feeling that he needed more value at Angel Investigations’ new home, Gunn allowed Wolfram & Hart
to alter his mind so that he had the abilities of a skilled lawyer. Even though the rest
of the gang were distrustful of what could have possibly been done to him, Gunn had no fear and
freely embraced his new skills that he simply saw as a new way to help innocent people.

Having finally gained respect and value from the people around him, Gunn started to
panic when it seemed like his brain upgrade was fading. Terrified of going
back to being the muscle, of not knowing where he fit in, Gunn made a deal with his doctor
to fix the imprint – this time knowing that there would be consequences.

But nothing could have prepared Gunn for what came next. He had signed a piece of a paper
in return for having the imprint fixed – an action that cost Fred’s life. Gunn was overcome with
guilt as he realized that he was responsible for her death and desperately tried to do anything to
bring her back, even offering to trade his life for hers, but nothing could be done.
The only woman Gunn had ever loved was gone and he could do nothing but live with it.

After a talk with Angel, Gunn realized that the only thing left for him to do was to try to
atone what he had done to Fred and to continue to fight the good fight.
He willingly went into a hell dimension to set Lindsey free so that he could
help Angel, where he was tortured had his heart cut out every day.

After he was rescued by Illyria, Gunn returned to work but with a very different attitude.
His illusions of trying to do good through Wolfram & Hart had been shattered and when
Angel gave the gang the chance to try and take them down, Gunn quickly volunteered
knowing it would likely cost him his life.

Gunn spent what he thought would be the last day of his life helping out at a homeless shelter,
having accepted that maybe his actions wouldn’t change the world – but that they could change the
lives of one or two people. Having been up against the odds all his life, he had realized that
maybe he can’t change the big picture, but he was still going to make the right choices and
fight like hell in the small hopes that maybe he could tip the odds towards the side that he knew was right.

Wounded after his fight, Gunn met with Angel, Spike and Illyria in an alleyway -
the last remaining survivors of Angel’s mission – but the battle was far from over.
The Senior Partner’s set their armies upon the four and Gunn, still bleeding
heavily, stood up to face them…

I personally loved it, because I thought that what it was saying – and I think
he said it very clearly through my character – really, is that regardless of the
amount of work that it appears ahead of you, you always stay in the fight.
You do not give up. No matter how outnumbered you are, the battle for
good continues. And I just thought it was such an optimistic and positive
and wonderful ending, with a lot of meaning, as far as who these characters
were. I thought it was beautiful. Just for me, that was the easiest moment
I ever had playing that character, because in that last scene, it was actually
my last shot as well. And I was just there, man. I knew I was saying goodbye
to the character in the story and in my life and it was so easy to play.
- J. August Richards