Very little is known about Darla’s human origins. By 1609 she’s dying of a heart condition brought in by syphilis. She lived in the Virginia Colony as a prostitute. In her last moments she‘s resigned, not caring for the state of her mortal soul. Sharp tongue and witty even in her deathbed, she’s sired by the Master, who’ve come into her house in the guise of a priest. He later names her ‘Darla’, her real name unknown.

In 1753 a young lad by the name of Liam catches her eye. She sires him and the Angelus/Darla era begins. In 1760, Angelus causes a strain in Darla’s relationship with the Master, as she has to choose ‘whose face she’d rather see for eternity’. She chooses her childe.

Together they start a path of destruction around the world. Drusilla joins them in early 1800’s and then Spike in 1880. In 1898 Darla brings a gypsy girl to Angelus as a birthday present. The killing of the girl brings forth the wrath of her tribe, who then curses Angelus with a soul. Darla rejects him at first, but later tries to force the gypsies to bring her boy back, with no luck.

They eventually meet again and try to make their relationship work. This ends in 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion. Angel is incapable of being the man Darla once knew and he leaves her again.

At some point in the following years, Darla goes back to the Master. By the time we meet her in Sunnydale, she’s once again the favorite one, the one whose mistakes are forgiven more easily than the rest and is given some of the cooler tasks (like killing the Three). Still, there was something missing in her life, and she was ready to do whatever it took to get it back. She came once again to Angel, mocking his attempts to be a good boy, taunting him and telling him that Buffy would never accept him. She went as far as put Angel against the Slayer he now loved by making him look guilty of attacking Buffy’s Mom. Her plan backfired when, given the choice, Angel staked Darla to save Buffy’s life.

We learn a little bit about Darla in flashbacks. But didn’t see her again in the flesh until Wolfram and Hart brings her back in the first season finale of Angel’s own show ‘To Shanshu in LA’. Brought back as a human, she started to get back at Angel in her own way: with wet dreams and trips down memory lane. When she comes out in the open, Angel is more than obsessed already. Darla’s happiness doesn’t last long. First she starts feeling the guilt for her past crimes. And then she’s given the news that she’s dying. Angel shows his true desire to save her as he goes through many painful and hard trials to grant her more chance... to later discover she’s already been given that chance. Angel’s sacrifices are not in vain for Darla, however, and she’s ready to accept her destiny. That is, until Wolfram and Hart bring Dru along.

A newly vamped Darla, and her new sire Drusilla, decide to go paint the town red, Angelus or not. They start by killing some of the big names in Wolfram and Hart, minus Lindsey and Lilah. and then go on recruiting demons to start a new order of chaos and destruction. Rogue, Dark Angel puts a stop to it with a bag full of weapons and some gasoline.

Darla spends her first wounded moments in the sewers, until Lindsey comes to her rescue, thanks to Dru. He tends to her, not suspecting she’s actually healing very fast. She finally reveals herself_ first by stabbing Angel and stealing a glove needed to kill a senior partner. Angel exposes her and steals the glove back. Lindsey once again risk his job for her and helps her escape. She goes to Angel’s hotel, ready to finish him off for good. She finds a man who’s lost all hope and doesn’t care whether he’s good or evil. She’s all game for it and they ended up spending a passionate night together. Things seem to be going well now...

And then Angel wakes up. With an epiphany and the wish to kick Darla out. Broken, she leaves and it’s later confronted by Lindsey, who doesn’t take very well the news. He goes and takes all his anger and frustration on Angel, getting a broken prosthetic and some big kicking of his ass. Plus, when he goes back to his place, Darla is gone.

Next time we see Darla, she’s bitter, tired... and very pregnant. She can’t get rid of whatever is inside of her, so she goes to Angel. He’s confused, but willing to help, then Darla attacks Cordelia and Angel goes after his sire ready to stake. In the end he doesn’t, realizing their baby has both a heartbeat and a soul, the source of Darla’s growing madness. She tries to deny any attachment to her child, but she finally confesses to Angel she loves the life inside of her, and fear that might change once it leaves her. Unable to bring the child to this world, and unable to let her die, she asks Angel to tell their son ‘he was the one good thing they ever did together’ before staking herself, leaving a crying newborn behind.

Next time we see her, sent to help her son(?), she encounters Connor, now a teenager, about to sacrifice a girl. Darla’s sweet and sad at the same time, unable to believe her boy would do something like that. Connor’s love for Cordelia blinds him, making him reject the woman he sees as his mother and letting Cordelia sacrifice the girl. The last time Connor sees his mother’s face is on the girl Cordelia kills.

And that’s the story so far...