Spike A.K.A. William The Bloody

Portrayed by: James Marsters

William was born sometime in the 1800s. While growing up, he was a well brought up type of man. He wrote poetry- badly, which earned him the nickname 'William the Bloody' because his poetry was so 'bloody awful.' In 1880 and maybe some time long before that, William had a secret crush on a woman names Sicily. However, when he confronted her about it, she turned him down, saying, "You're beneath me."

In 1880, when he was turned down by Sicily, he ran into- literally- Angelus, Darla, and Drusilla. When Drusilla sought him out, she 'sired' or turned him into a vampire. From there, Angelus, Darla, Drusilla, and 'Spike' as he now called himself, roamed throughout Europe causing havoc.

Spike's way of killing slightly differed from Angelus. While Angelus preferred artistry to his kill, Spike loved the fighting and the pure action. This is when he learned about a Slayer. From then on, it became an obsession of his. He sought them out when most vampires would run from the slayer.

His first Slayer killing occurred during the Chinese Boxer Rebellion. He fought 1 on 1 against the Chinese slayer, eventually killing her.

Time went on, and he was always with Drusilla. Their numbers dropped to 3 once again when Angelus- cursed with his soul- eventually left the fang gang.

In the 1960s, Spike was at Wood stock. He "fed off a flower person, and spent the next six hours watchin' his hand move."

Many years later in the 1977, Spike managed to kill his 2nd slayer. It was in New York this time on a subway bus. This is also where he got his leather jacket that he wears in every episode today.

Spike came to Sunnydale in the 2nd season of Buffy for the first time. There, he and Drusilla worked together in bringing the Judge forth and killing the current Slayer, Buffy Summers. However, each time, everything failed. We incorrectly learned that Angel was his sire.

When Spike returned a couple years later, he was captured by the Initiative. They installed a chip into his membrane that would emit waves of pain if he harmed a human being, which meant he could no longer bite anyone. However, later he found out that he could harm demons. Spike started reluctantly helping the scooby gang in return for protection, blood, beer, and money.

While the Scoobies were dealing with Glory and Dawn being the key, Spike was developing feelings for Buffy- the one girl he was sworn to hate. However, he fell in love with her, telling her as she was chained to the wall of his crypt. Buffy was disgusted by this, uninviting him from her house and turning all of her friends against him.

However, he was slowly accepted once again. When the showdown came against Glory, Spike promised Buffy that he would protect Dawn since he was the only other possible one to do the job. And when he saw her body, thinking that he had let her down, he cried, showing emotions that the others had never seen Spike show.

When Buffy is brought back to life, Spike is the first person besides Dawn one to see her. He is also the first person to find out where Buffy really was when she died: heaven, and not hell.

At first, Spike treats Buffy as a friend, even though we all know that he'd want more from her. He helps her start to get her feet back on the ground after she is brought back. However, in "Once More With Feeling," Spike reveals his true feelings to her. Spike is fed up with Buffy coming to him just to get information from him or talk to him about things that she can't talk to her real friends about. The episode continues, ending with a heated kiss between the two.

Spike wants to talk about what's going on between the two of them, but Buffy refuses to comply. Very soon after, Buffy and Spike sleep together at the end of "Smashed," and the two don't stop there. Spike gets a little bit more of his edge back and becomes more demanding. Spike continues to tell Buffy that he does love her and he desperately wants Buffy to return that love.

However, Spike knows that Buffy is using him. He is tired of being used; nonetheless, when Buffy finally decides to end the relationship, Spike refuses to let go. He says that he will tell the Scooby Gang about the two of them if Buffy doesn't tell them first, which she refuses to do. Spike says that he will never move on from Buffy, but in a moment of "solace," as Anya referred to it, he slept with Anya. Furthermore, in the confrontation between Xander and Anya and Buffy and Spike, Spike gives away the secret to Xander and Anya.

Finally, in the last actual interaction scene between the two, in the bathroom at Buffy's house, Spike comes in, calm at first. However, his rage is released when he starts to become more forceful in making Buffy love him. What actually happens is attempted rape. Spike is horrified at what he's done, and leaves town. He travels to Africa and begins trials, hoping to get what was once his and get what Buffy deserved.

However, Spike winds up getting his soul returned to him.

Spike returns to Sunnydale at the start of season 7 with his new soul, living in the basement of the high school, and a crazy attitude at first. In a very moving, and beautifully written scene, he reveals to Buffy that he now has a soul and he got it for her, so he could be a better man for her.

After Buffy realizes that the basement might be the very thing that is driving him crazy, she invites him to Xander's apartment to stay. After that, they realize that Spike is being controlled by the First, using a trigger to "activate" him into killing people. Spike has no knowledge of doing this, but knows something is wrong. The First is haunting him, telling him to kill Buffy, and only Spike can see it. In the end, after Buffy sees what the First is doing to him, she agrees to help him.

Spike moves into Buffy's basement, where they try to keep him under control incase the trigger goes off again.  It is there that Buffy tells Spike that she believes in him, and believes that he can change, he already has changed from what he used to be. However, before anything else can be said, the First's priests break in and kidnap Spike. They take him back to the school basement where they use his blood to open up the portal and release the first Turok-Han. There, the First's priests also torture him, but Spike remains adamant, knowing that Buffy will come and save him.

And she does. 

Now, back at Buffy's house, he helps Buffy and the potentials start to train and prepare for the battle. He helps show them the clubs and haunts that demons would lurk at.

But Spike can never seem to get a break. One night, the chip goes off without warning. And then it goes off again. Buffy and Spike know that something is malfunctioning with the chip and the two go into the Initiative to see if they can find anything out. It's up to Buffy, and she chooses to have the chip removed. Following that, Buffy accepts a date with Robin Wood, the son of the Slayer that Spike killed in the 70s. Spike suggests that maybe he should leave, but Buffy says no, saying she's not ready for him to not be there.

Then, while Buffy is giving a speech to the group of Potentials, Spike gets involved. She  tells him he is no longer a good fighter, that the soul has made him hold back. Furious, Spike grabs his leather jacket and goes out to kill the beast that the gang released.

In order to try and figure out what the trigger is, Giles suggest using a stone to go inside Spike's brain and figure out what the trigger might be. They find out that it's a song that Spike's mother used to sing to him when he was William. William loved his mother, who was suffering from consumption, and after being sired by Drusilla, he goes back to sire his mother. However, he is torn apart when his mother is no longer the same caring woman as a vampire and he is forced to stake her. Robin uses this knowledge to trap Spike (along with Giles keeping Buffy diverted in the graveyard) and activate Spike's trigger so he can kill him. However, Spike doesn't die; instead, he breaks through the trigger and comes close to killing Wood. When Buffy gets there, she tells Wood that she'll let Spike kill him next time if he tries something like that again.

Spike is sent on a trip to the Vineyard with Andrew and they find out that there's something there that Caleb is after. However, he isn't there when Buffy gets kicked out. When Spike gets back into town, he heads out to find Buffy, angry at her friends for doing what they did. He finds her at a deserted house and comforts her, giving her strength to go back out and fight Caleb.

Buffy tells him that when they get a chance to talk before she goes out to fight Caleb. It is there that Spike admits that they time they spent together in the house was the best night of his life. However, they leave the conversation unfinished, going out as heroes instead. Without Buffy knowing, Spike follows her to the crypt and watched Buffy and Angel kiss, his anger evident. But when Buffy comes back to the basement, she hands him the amulet that is meant for a champion, and the two fall asleep in the same bed, like they did in the house the night before.

When they all head out to the school, Spike is wearing the amulet that Buffy gave him. At first, nothing happens, but suddenly, a bright beam of light comes out around him and turns all the vampires to dust. The Potentials, now slayers, run out, leaving just Buffy and Spike. He orders her to get out but Buffy, at first, refuses. The two hold hands and Spike looks at her as she says "I love you," to which Spike replies, "No you don't. But thanks for saying it. It's your world up there. Now GO! I wanna see how it ends."

    And with that, Spike turns to dust.

But is that really the end?

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