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What I don't appreciate is being called a freak.

That's my word. And I get cranky when people like you use it.

This journal may contain adult concepts.

Created on 2008-08-08 22:45:45 (#16320018), last updated 2009-08-30

12 comments received, 1,248 comments posted

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Basic Info

Name:	Gwen Raiden (AtS)
Location:	Los Angeles, United States

Bio

Gwen Raiden

I'm a freak.

Name: Gwen Raiden
Age: 25ish
Height: 5'8"
Occupation: Thief

"Technically? I'm exciting the subatomic particles with electrical energy and then bouncing them off each other before they hit ground state." - Gwen Raiden, on her abilities.

Abilities: Gwen has the power to generate and manipulate electricity, with the tendency to also attract lightning. This renders her unable to touch any human being without harming them. However, the prototype L.I.S.A regulates her natural body electricity, letting her to touch others and things without frying them.

History: Gwen was told that at a very young age, she was struck by lightning. Whether or not this freak incident caused or activated her abilities is unknown to her, and to the doctors who worked on her.

In 1985, she was left at a boarding school in Wisconsin by her anxious parents. Bundled up in a thick red winter coat and mittens, she accidentally electrocuted a boy with a small toy car on the playground when she took off one mitten to eat.

Gwen is next seen twenty or so years later in Los Angeles, using her powers to her advantage as a highly professional and successful cat burglar. She was hired to steal the expensive and mystical Axis of Pythia, during which she met Angel, the vampire with a soul who intended to use the device to find and save Cordelia Chase. Gwen and Angel fought, and to her surprise the electric shock made his dead heart start beating for a few seconds rather than harming him. The man who hired Gwen to steal the Axis interrupted the intense moment, however, and tried to kill Gwen with poison gas. She was saved by the ensouled vampire and allowed him to borrow the artifact (which he later returned to her for 33 million dollars) to find his love.

Gwen later helped Angel’s team fight against The Beast, a powerful demon who easily defeated them and blotted out the sun. Not eager to stick around for the looming apocalypse, Gwen took the opportunity to leave town while the city went to hell.

Soon after, she returns after The Beast is defeated and asks Charles Gunn for help on a mission to rescue “Lisa.” Under the pretense of Lisa being a kidnapped girl, Gunn agrees to help and they break into a private party owned by a powerful company owner for the mission. However, Gwen reveals that was simply using Gunn to pass through the metal detectors (surely enlisting the vampire Angel’s help would set off some warning bells) and steal L.I.S.A (Localised Ionic Sesnory Activator), a prototype device that would render Gwen’s electronic body normal while worn. In her last appearance on the show, she slept with Gunn in her first physical act of intimacy.

Psychology/Personality: One of the most obvious facets to Gwen’s personality is her self-proclaimed status as a “freak.” The fact that she loathes the word yet still uses it to describe herself is a complexity not many will figure out. It is a label given to her by peers, by educators, even by her parents, and most importantly, by society. She is different, and has learned to relish that fact. Her decision to use her powers to steal is one she doesn't regret. As she matter-of-factly states in the episode “Players,” “[she’s] a freak. Being a thief makes [her] a part of something and not a part at the same time.” She is a thief, inside and out, and makes no apologies for her line of work. Her treatment as a child by her family and society has much to do with her dreary and jaded outlook on life. At an early age when her powers manifested, she was cast off by her parents and thrust into the cold arms of a boarding school. The looks, stares and whispered mutterings of “freak,” especially following her accidental electrocution of a young boy there, are among her first memories of the place and something she is, to this day, haunted by. “Freak” is a word she rarely lets anyone get away with saying, as an adult. It’ll set her off, if directed at her.

When looking for a team-player, Gwen is not usually your first choice, despite her abilities. The reason being, of course, that she tries to walk this world alone. However, much of this stems from her obvious inability to have any kind of physical relationship with any human being. It’s hard to be a team player when you can’t even shake hands when you win. Her most important drive is the need to survive, and nothing more. She learned at an early age how to effectively take what she wants, and her abilities are no hindrance to that task. She is not selfless, and has no qualms about manipulating others in order to gain, and while she doesn’t use her electronic powers to harm people, if she feels threatened or cornered, she will rely on them.

For all her faults, for all her selfishness and jadedness and way of life, Gwen Raiden contains a spark of kindness in her that many people fail to see, for her walls are strong. She has a tiny soft spot where love is concerned, as seen when she let’s Angel borrow the Axis of Pythia to rescue his love, Cordelia, in the episode “Ground State.” She reluctantly helps track down the Beast and prevent an apocalypse in “Long Day’s Journey,” though she escapes to Tahiti to await the aftermath. In conversation, she can be sarcastic and playful and a smart-ass, but rarely cruel or aggressive unless someone provokes her. Somewhere inside, underneath the attention-grabbing leather outfits, under the long gloves, under the thinly veiled sarcasm and condescension, there is a girl. Not a freak, not a thief, but a girl who had her chance of normalcy taken away from her and is just forced to make due. She may tell you this, with a sad, charming smile and blue, mournful eyes. But when she leaves, you might find your wallet missing.

What did you think?

Canon point: The character Gwen Raiden was featured in three episodes of Angel ("Ground State, “Long Day’s Journey” and “Players”). This Gwen exists after "Players." She doesn't follow the Angel: After the Fall comic canon.

Lastly, this is a fictional character journal used primarily for entertainment, from which no profit is made. I am not Alexa Davalos and this journal is not affiliated with the creators of the character.

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