A Friendly Angel, despite its name, is an especially dark and sinister type of Spectre seen in Orpheus. They usually serve as the cause and rallying point of another Spectre breed, the Lost Boys.
The term "Friendly Angel" was termed by a four-year old girl who watched one of these Spectres lead her older sister into a storm drain (and, eventually, to her death). These Spectres tend to operate in small towns and suburbs, with populations of 100,000 or less. They take up residence in a lair, usually a decrepit, uninhabited place, and observe the town's residents, especially the children. After much study, a Friendly Angel will then take a form that most of the children find appealing or comforting, such as a favorite TV personality, or a character from a popular book being read at school. Using this form, the Friendly Angel then lures these children away, kills them, and then tortures them into becoming Lost Boys. The actual appearance of a Friendly Angel when not shapechanging is unknown.
Once the Friendly Angel develops a pack of Lost Boys, they begin using their minions to create fear and discord among the town’s adults. Along with the trouble caused by the Lost Boys, the Friendly Angel uses its shapechanging skills to take on more sinister forms for the adults, such as childhood fears or representations of personal traumas. The adults become paranoid and violent, and usually end up destroying the town and murdering their former friends and neighbors. The Friendly Angel then harvests the adult spirits and takes them to a Spectral hive.
Background Information
The Friendly Angel is probably based on the Gorgan from Star Trek. The children under his sway would summon him by singing twice:
- Hail, hail, fire and snow
Call the angel we will go
Far away, for to see
Friendly Angel, come to me
- Orpheus: Crusade of Ashes, p. 131 -133