Spike

“Love isn’t brains, children. It’s blood. Blood screamin’ inside you to work its will.”

Also known as William Pratt; William the Bloody
Played by James Marsters

First Appearance: School Hard

William Pratt was a gentle‑hearted, painfully earnest poet in 1880 London, mocked for his sentimentality and rejected by the woman he adored. His unravelling caught the attention of Drusilla, a mad seer turned vampire, who sired him and delivered him to Angelus — “Daddy” — and Darla. William shed his old life and became Spike, a brutal, swaggering killer who revelled in violence and infamy. For over a century he travelled with the Scourge of Europe, carving a bloody path across continents. But everything changed in 1998, when he and Drusilla arrived in Sunnydale and Spike encountered something he had never known: a Slayer who fascinated him more than death itself.

Spike’s obsession with Buffy Summers cost him Drusilla, his status and his purpose. Captured by the Initiative and implanted with a behavioural chip that prevented him from harming humans, he became a reluctant ally of the Scoobies. Over time, his fixation deepened into love — raw, unrequited and self‑destructive. Seeking redemption on his own terms, Spike endured a series of brutal trials to restore his soul, not for prophecy or forgiveness, but because he wanted to be worthy of Buffy. In the final battle beneath Sunnydale, he sacrificed himself to close the Hellmouth, burning in cleansing fire as the amulet channelled his soul’s light.

Spike awoke in Los Angeles as a ghost bound to Wolfram & Hart, drifting between worlds until he regained corporeal form. He joined Angel’s team, fought beside them after Fred’s death, and stood with Angel in the alley as the apocalypse descended. When Los Angeles was dragged into hell, Spike survived the Fall by sheer stubbornness, carving out territory, battling demon lords and refusing to let the city die. He fought alongside Angel, Illyria, Connor and the others, proving again and again that he was no one’s second choice — a champion in his own right.

After the Fall, Spike struck out on his own. He travelled the world, hunted threats that slipped through the cracks, and even found himself aboard a spaceship crewed by giant alien bugs who revered him as their captain. In this strange chapter of his unlife, Spike confronted his loneliness, his lingering guilt and his complicated feelings for Buffy. He faced Morgan, a time‑bending sorceress, and protected Earth from cosmic dangers that few even knew existed. His adventures were wild, irreverent and often ridiculous — but they revealed a man trying to define himself outside Buffy’s shadow.

When magic collapsed on Earth, Spike returned to help Buffy navigate the chaos. He fought zompires, protected Dawn, and stood by Buffy even when their relationship faltered under the weight of unspoken history. As magic was restored and rewritten, Spike became a stabilising force — a warrior who understood the new supernatural order instinctively. He battled rewritten vampires, new demonic hierarchies and threats born from the unstable magic of the new Seed. Through it all, he remained Buffy’s constant: sometimes partner, sometimes friend, always the one who showed up when the world went sideways.

Across continents, dimensions, apocalypses and heartbreaks, Spike evolved from a swaggering killer into one of the Buffyverse’s most complex heroes. He loved fiercely, fought brutally, and changed more profoundly than almost any other character. Spike’s journey was never about destiny — it was about choice. Again and again, he chose the hard path, the human path, the path toward the light. And in doing so, he became something rare: a monster who earned his soul, and a man who kept fighting to deserve it.

Buffy SEASON 2