User:Paul730/Spike

For the unproduced film, see Spike (film).

"I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."

- Spike

Spike was a famous and widely feared vampire. His evil reputation is second only to Angelus', however Angelus was so vicious it would be nearly impossible for anyone to be considered as evil as he was. Spike first appears in Sunnydale in Buffy's second season, in the episode "School Hard", accompanied by his longtime love Drusilla. Though initially starting out as one of Buffy's most dangerous enemies, he eventually reformed, becoming a member of the Scooby Gang and Buffy's primary love interest after being implanted with a cerebral microchip and later regaining his soul.

Spike has the strengths and vulnerabilities of any vampire, although due to his age and lineage he is more powerful than regular vampires, yet he remains weaker than those that are older than him in his bloodline, such as Drusilla, Darla and Angel and other older members of the Order of Aurelius. Also, like other members of his bloodline, he is able to resist sunlight longer than regular vampires. However, his resistance is again less than that of Angel's who is older and more durable. Like Angel, Spike is one of the most notorious vampires in history, successfully killing two vampire slayers single-handedly. Under the name William the Bloody, Spike terrorized Europe alongside Drusilla, Angel and Darla throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the factors making Spike so deadly an opponent in battle is his complete disregard for tradition and rules. In his human life, William was an unsuccessful and unappreciated poet; as Spike, he is a passionate fighter and one of precious few vampires to profess love, first for Drusilla and later for Buffy (the only other two vampires represented as capable of love appear in the episode "Heartthrob," from the third season of Angel).

Early life
William Pratt was born in the 1850s in London to Anne Pratt. His mother sang the song "Early One Morning" to him when he was a baby, and he continued to live with her into his twenties. William took little interest in local scandal and preferred writing poetry declaring his love for the aristocratic Cecily Addams. However, he was mocked by his peers, who nicknamed him "William the Bloody" because his poetry was so "bloody awful." After being cruelly rejected by Cecily at a party in 1880, William accepted comfort in the arms of a mysterious woman named Drusilla. She seemed to understand his pain, but soon revealed herself to be an insane, psychic vampire who sired him to become his playmate. Retaining much of his human personality as a vampire, William continued to love his mother and sired her to save her from illness. However, his mother as a vampire was a truly evil monster who taunted him, insinuating he had always had a sexual fascination with her. Unable to stand his mother in such an unnatural form, William reluctantly staked her and moved on with Drusilla. However, he did channel the trauma of these events into a poem entitled The Wanton Folly of Me Mum.

Drusilla introduced William to her sire, Angelus, who was pleased to finally have a male companion. When he realised how much William loved Drusilla, the sadistic Angelus taught him a harsh lesson about being a vampire by having sex with her just to torture him. Although Spike never forgave this, he continued to idolise the older vampire and even came to refer to him as his sire. Euphoric with his new-found vampire abilties and hoping to prove himself to Drusilla, William became a rebel, adopting a working class accent and becoming prone to impulsiveness and violence. He began calling himself "Spike", after his habit of torturing his victims with railroad spikes. William travelled in the company of Angelus, Drusilla, and Darla, and together the four vampires wreaked havoc across Europe. When Spike's eagerness for battle began to irritate Angelus and Darla, they warned him about the Slayer; one girl in each generation who possessed the strength and skill to hunt vampires. Spike became fascinated with the Slayer, and sought to kill one.

Killing Slayers
In 1894, Spike and Angelus were held prisoner by their rival the Immortal while he made love to both Drusilla and Darla. The Immortal later had Spike imprisoned for tax evasion. In 1898, Spike and Dru helped Darla massacre the Kalderash clan of gypsies, who, unbeknownst to Spike, had cursed Angelus with a soul. The four vampires travelled to Asia, and in June 1900, Spike managed to locate Xin Rong, a Chinese Slayer, during the Boxer Rebellion. He faced her alone and killed her, although she did manage to leave him with a permanent scar on his left eyebrow. Spike and Drusilla then made love in celebration of the kill. Shortly afterward, Angelus left the group after a dispute with Darla, and Spike and Dru lost touch with both of them. Xin Rong's grandfather managed to track Spike and Dru down, but he was unable to stop them and they escaped. In 1933, the couple were attacked by more relatives of Rong's, but managed to defeat them before stumbling across a scientist who had invented a power generator which drew energy from a powerful demon in a hell dimension. Spike and Dru stopped the demon from returning the Old Ones to Earth, and Drusilla sired the scientist for her amusement.

In 1944, Spike was captured by Nazis for experimentation and transported aboard a submarine which was seized by Americans. On the submarine, he was reunited with Angelus, who forced him to leave the sub and swim to the surface. Arriving in America, Spike travelled to Los Angeles and worked for corupt movie producer Norris Lawrence. After some time in Italy during the fifties with Drusilla, Spike attended the Woodstock festival in New York, 1969 where he fed on a flower child. In 1977, he arrived in New York City to see the Ramones and murder current Slayer Nikki Wood. Drusilla came to New York looking for Spike, but was kidnapped by local vampire boss Reet Weldon who was trying to blackmail Spike into working for him. Instead, Spike infiltrated his headquarters during a city-wide blackout and dusted him, reuniting with Drusilla. Nikki attacked the two vampires in Central Park, but Spike was able to chase her into the subway and snap her neck after a long and impressive fight. He decided not to drain her out of respect, but took her leather duster as a souvenir of their fight.