Gwen Raiden

Gwen Raiden's History

Early life

In 1985, when Gwen was a young girl, her parents had her bundled up in heavy winter clothing and took her to a boarding school in Gills Rock, Wisconsin, named Thorpe's Academy. She would describe her parents' decision as coming after "the second gardener and the fourth nanny."

While attending Thorpe's Academy, she was isolated from the other children. One day, while outside in the playground during recess, a boy asked Gwen if she was a "freak" and told her that she did not look like one. Gwen smiled, and the boy offered to share one of his toy cars with her. As she reached out to take it, an electrical shock traveled from Gwen to the classmate, knocking him unconscious.

Thief

In 2002, the 25-year-old Gwen was using her powers to facilitate her career as a successful and wealthy professional thief. She met Angel when she was hired to steal a valuable artifact called the Axis of Pythia, which he needed in order to find Cordelia Chase on her higher plane.

After finding the artifact, Gwen and Angel fought over its possession. During the course of the battle, Gwen tried to kill Angel with an electric shock. However, much to her surprise, he was undead and her attack actually served to make Angel's heart beat again for a few seconds. Caught in the moment, Angel kissed Gwen. Afterward, the man who had hired Gwen attempted to kill her with poisonous gas. Angel, however, managed to save Gwen from Elliot. In gratitude, Gwen allowed Angel to use the artifact. He returned it to her afterwards.

Weeks later, Gwen was hired by the mysterious Ashet to obtain protection amulets to ward off the Beast. He had been her client for six years, but he never had wanted to meet her before. After revealing to him that she did not want to take part in the job, she witnessed Ashet's death at the hands of the powerful demon. Afterward, Gwen joined Angel Investigations in their fight against the Beast. However, she escaped town after the sun was blotted out.

Days after the sun was restored she asked Charles Gunn to help her with a mission under the pretense of saving a kidnapped girl. In fact, she was trying to steal L.I.S.A., an experimental device which would allow her to touch others without killing them. After the two stole the device, the two had sex and Gwen's lost her virginity to him.

After the Fall

Gwen was at the beach with Nate in Santa Monica when Los Angeles was suddenly sent to Hell by the Senior Partners. The Fall of Los Angeles caused L.I.S.A. to malfunction, and Gwen accidentally fried her boyfriend. Angry, she walked off to find out what happened.

Gwen eventually joined Nina and Connor in rescuing and providing both humans and good demons with sanctuary in an abandoned hotel in Santa Monica. With Angel's aid, the group moved to the Hyperion Hotel. At this time, she also became romantically involved with Connor.

Gwen betrayed Team Angel to Gunn, who was then a vampire. He had already enlisted her before she started working with Connor. However, Gwen soon sacrificed herself to destroy some of the legions of dragons sent by Wolfram & Hart so Connor could escape.

Gwen was eventually restored due to the temporal fold Wolfram & Hart had created to undo the Fall of Los Angeles.