James Marsters was originally bought in as a season big bad¹. However, his character turned out to be so popular that Joss Whedon decided to write him back in and the rest is history.

Birth of a rebel

Approximately 120 years old, Spike's name came about due to his fondness of killing his victims by driving a railway spike through their heads. His other name, William the bloody, was not so menacing. During his mortal existence William was an aspiring poet and it was because of his 'bloody awful poems' that he received the name.

It was after the inspiration behind his poetry - namely a young woman called Cecily - shunned his affections towards her, that William's life ended and Spike's life began. He was approached by an enchanting young woman by the name of Drusilla, who seemed to have the ability to see into his soul and who it turned out was also a vampire. Drusilla sired Spike and the pair soon became inseparable.

Obsession

Soon after becoming a vampire Spike learned about the Slayer and became completely obsessed. It's some 20 years later before Spike came face to face with his first Slayer and she soon became Spike's first Slayer kill. It was not to long after this that he and Drusilla broke from Angelus and Darla.

It was some 70+ years before Spike reappeared, this time in New York. It was here that Spike faced his second Slayer by the name of Nikki Wood. After some initial attempts by Spike to kill her, he finally succeeds in doing so by breaking her neck.

Sunnydale & The Slayer

From the moment Spike arrived in Sunnydale, his life took a massive turn. His first attempt to kill Buffy ended badly and he soon realised that killing Buffy was going to be a lot harder than any other slayer he had faced. This eventually took its toll on Spike and before to long Spike's character started to change.

Spike's life took a turn for the worse when he was injured during a ritual to restore Drusilla. His injury was so severe that it left Spike confined to a wheelchair for several months. With his physical self in tatters, Spike's mental self was given a battering when Angelus returned. He saw that Drusilla was starting to bond with Angelus and he soon became jealous of their relationship. It was due to his jealousy of Angelus that he kept his revival a secret and after Angelus found Acathla, which threatened to end the world, Spike decided that it was time to put an end to Angelus. He made a deal with Buffy that would see the two working together to stop Angelus.

Once the ritual began and Buffy arrived, Spike revealed his betrayal and after incapacitating Drusilla, they leave Buffy and Angelus in the grips of a deadly fight, fleeing to Mexico.

Spike did briefly return to Sunnydale after he and Drusilla broke up the first time, but soon returns and wins Drusilla back. But things are never the same the second time around and Drusilla finally finished with Spike.

Spike's return

The next time Spike returned to Sunnydale, he had a new mission and a new girlfriend. The mission was to seek a mythical gem called 'the gem of Amara²', his new girlfriend was ex-Sunnydale high brat Harmony. He tried to keep his return a secret, but due to the constant whining of his new girlfriend he was soon found out and Buffy, once again, beats Spike in another face off.

Life changing events

It's after this point that Spike's life as a vampire changes dramatically. A group of government agents known as the Initiative kidnapped Spike and implanted a behaviour modification chip in his head. This rendered Spike harmless, as every time he went to harm a living being he experienced intense neurological pain. He eventually escaped his captors, but unable to feed he sought help from the very people he had tried to kill, namely the Scoobies.

Even though they initially turn him away, the scoobies do take Spike in, although they do keep him restrained and they never really trust him. For several months Spike managed to get through life and was even able to vent his natural anger when he discovered that he could hurt and kill other demons, a fact that didn't go down well with the demon community. As he was only able to kill demons, Spike found himself fighting alongside the Scoobies more and more.

Fool for love

Then, just as he was starting to settle into his new life, Spike had another revelation. He realised that he was in love with Buffy and Spike's life was once again thrown into turmoil. His initial approach towards Buffy was such that it could be compared to that of a school boy asking out his first girl. He seemed unable to vocalise his feelings towards Buffy and instead choose to visualise his affections, only managing to make himself look a fool in the process.

This teenage like behaviour continues for several months, even after Buffy finds out that Spike loved her. Then tragedy hit everyone when Buffy was killed during the fight against a powerful god called Glory. Spike took her death badly and as a kind of redemption he took on the role of Dawn's³ protector.

Confidant

Several months after Buffy's death, Willow along with Xander, Tara and Anya cast a powerful spell to bring Buffy back from the grave and of course Spike was overjoyed by her return. It soon became clear that Buffy was not entirely herself and it was Spike who became her confidant. Unable to tell her friends the truth, she approached Spike with the revelation that she had actually been in heaven and not in some hell dimension as her friends had believed.

Sex & violence

Soon after this Spike's and Buffy's relationship took a huge turn when they kissed for the first time, but Buffy was seemingly disgusted with herself and turned Spike away. However, they are soon caught in an embrace again, but yet again Buffy shuns Spike's advances. Then, purely by accident, Spike realised that he was able to hurt Buffy without activating his behaviour modification chip, he confronted Buffy with this revelation and they started to fight, a fight that soon took a differing turn and they were soon having sex.

Spike continued this violent sexual relationship with Buffy for several weeks, totally oblivious to the fact that Buffy was disgusted with herself. Then Buffy had a sudden revelation and decided to break off the relationship with Spike. Spike found it hard to deal with the break up, trying desperately on several occasions to get Buffy back, but every advance was turned away. Feeling more and more frustrated Spike had a moment of pure madness and attempted to rape Buffy, but she was able to stop him.

Birth of a hero

Realising that he would never get Buffy back, Spike decided to leave Sunnydale in search of a demon that was able to restore Spike to his former self. He finds this demon in a remote area of Africa and pleaded to have his former self restored. The demon agreed, but only after Spike endured 3 painful tests. Spike completed these tests and the demon kept his promise and restored Spike's soul.

Under control

Spike disappeared for some time after this, suddenly appearing in the basement of the new Sunnydale High school, in a mental state that could be considered less than sane. He remained in this state for several weeks.

Then, Spike suddenly appeared in Buffy's home, seemingly his normal self. But after a fight with a demon, he reverted back into his insanity and it was at this point that Buffy discovered that Spike had a soul.

Soon after this discovery, it became clear that something was controlling Spike after he was caught feeding on humans, but Spike was completely oblivious to what had been happening. Buffy took pity on him and moved him out of the school basement and tried to find out what it was that was making Spike kill again. However, before she was able to even start the investigation, Spike was kidnapped and not to long after this Buffy discovered what was controlling Spike, The First.

The First used Spike to bring forth an ancient vampire, commonly referred to as an Uber-vamp⁴. Once The First had used Spike for this ritual, it kept Spike in an underground cavern, torturing him for what appeared to be its own entertainment.

Buffy eventually defeated this Uber-vamp and rescued Spike from the First and as the First was incorporeal, it was unable to stop her. With Spike back at Buffy's house, she was able to find out what was triggering Spike and with the help of a mystical stone provided by Giles, they soon discovered the secret, an old song that Spike's mother used to sing to him when he was still a human. Spike had sired his mother and within a day, he had killed her, as he was unable to deal with what his mother had become. It was this memory, along with the song that was making Spike insane.

The past catches up

During this time, Spike made another discovery. The new school principal turned out to be the son of Nikki Wood's, the slayer that Spike had killed in New York. Bent on revenge, Robyn Wood's conned Spike to his home and used the song to trigger the demon within him, he then attempted to kill Spike, but failed and instead of killing Spike, he actually ends up curing him.

Champion

Spike was back to himself again and was able to help Buffy prepare for the inevitable face off with the First, they started to grow close again and Spike took on the role of Buffy's confidant once again, but this time Buffy choose to confide in Spike because she wanted to, rather than because she had to. She even slept in Spike's bed, but they never actually had sex. Buffy was becoming more and more concerned that she and the others would not make it through this fight and it was Spike that eventually gave her the strength to continue.

With time running short, Buffy was visited by Angel who had bought a mystical gem that had the power to stop the First's army of vampires. The gem was to be worn by somebody ensouled, but more than human, a champion. Angel believed that the champion was himself, but Buffy decided otherwise and sent him away, giving the gem to Spike instead.

The final fight began and Spike was fighting alongside Buffy and the others. Then just as it seemed that the First would win, the gem's power kicked in and using sunlight to power it, the gem reflected the rays of sun towards the Uber-vamps, killing them all. However, as Spike was also a vampire, the sunlight soon affected him and after a teary goodbye with Buffy, Spike died a heroic death.

For more information - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The TV Series

Angel - the TV Series

Photo of James Marsters as Spike