Spike

"I know you'll never love me. I know that I'm a monster. But you treat me like a man."

- Spike

Spike (born William Pratt) was a famous and widely feared vampire, well-known among both humans and demons for having faced and killed two Slayers throughout his unlife and for his history of torturing his victims with railroad spikes (which is what it is rumored the moniker of "Spike" is derived from); in fact, his reputation for evil and bloodshed was second only to that of his grandsire Angelus'. In his human life, William was an unsuccessful and unappreciated romantic poet known as William the Bloody, for his "bloody awful" poetry, though after he became a vampire, that moniker was repurposed to imply he was very violent. After being sired by Drusilla, he reinvented himself and terrorized Europe alongside Drusilla, Angel and Darla throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Spike first traveled to Sunnydale in 1997, accompanied by Drusilla. Though he quickly established himself as one of Buffy Summers' most dangerous enemies, he was eventually forced into multiple uneasy alliances with her and her team, the Scooby Gang, after he was captured by the Initative and implanted with a cerebral microchip that rendered him unable to harm humans. Eventually, Spike realized that he had fallen in love with Buffy and officially joined the Scooby Gang, later being motivated by his love for her to successfully fight to regain his soul.

Spike sacrificed his life in battle against the First Evil, both defeating its army of Turok-Han and permanently closing the Sunnydale Hellmouth, as well as the town of Sunnydale itself. However, bound to an ancient amulet, Spike became an incorporeal entity haunting the halls of the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram & Hart, then under the management of Team Angel. After becoming corporeal again, Spike struggled to find a place in the world, only to join Angel in his battle against the Senior Partners and become a champion in his own right.

Early History
"They call him "William the Bloody" because of his bloody awful poetry."

- unidentified woman (1880)

William Pratt was born circa 1850 to 1853 in London, England to Anne Pratt and her unidentified husband. By 1880, William had grown into a sentimental, yet ineffectual gentleman who still lived with his mother. He was a poet, and enjoyed a certain level of economic comfort. Struggling to make a place for himself in London's high society, he attended parties, and was nicknamed "William the Bloody" because his poetry was so "bloody awful". This moniker– with far deadlier connotations– would follow him into his future as a vampire. While he moved within elite circles, William found little in common with his contemporaries, who saw fit to treat him like a fool rather than a peer. Still, he showed a strong capacity for loyalty and was highly devoted to the prospect of love, two traits that would remain with him long after his siring. After his romantic overtures were rejected by the aristocrat Cecily Addams, a despondent William literally collided with Angelus, Darla and Drusilla, who had been terrorizing London. Drusilla followed him into an alley, where she found him in tears. She desired a playmate (a "knight") whom she could make hers forever with a kiss. After a brief talk with the young poet, Drusilla seduced him and turned him into a vampire.

After Drusilla sired William, she buried him and allowed him to be reborn; he crawled from the depths of his own grave. The pair partied for several days afterward, both draining human victims and drinking alcohol. They eventually decided to go back to William's mother's residence, where a live-in servant ignorantly invited them inside.

William's devotion for his mother remained with him after he became a vampire. Anne suffered from tuberculosis, and, not wanting to see his mother die while he was gifted with eternal life, William sired her so she could join him and Drusilla's afterlife.

Unfortunately, William's mother, as a vampire, changed dramatically. Without a soul, she taunted him, claiming that she had despised him all along, and insinuating that William had always had a sexual fascination with her. In the end, he staked her because he could not bear to see his mother in such a twisted light. The entire experience remained terribly traumatic for William; he would later write a poem about it entitled "The Wanton Folly of Me Mum". He would be haunted by the memory over a century later when The First Evil used it to control him.

After staking his mother, William chose to begin a new existence with Drusilla. Euphoric with his newfound vampiric abilities, he partly abandoned the genteel hypocrisy of Victorian life; however, he remained emotionally sensitive. He was eventually introduced to Drusilla's sire Angelus, who initially embraced him by expressing an interested in killing with another man. At first, the innocent William idolized Angelus, but was still quick to disagree when he insulted Drusilla in his presence. He preferred to think of her as childish than insane, and treated her with undying loyalty, an impressive feat considering he had no soul. After walking in on Angelus having sex with her he was once again denied in the area of romance; Drusilla was no more his than Cecily had been, and as a vampire, he would never truly own anything. This incident brought about the beginnings of a rivalry that would carry on through both William and Angelus's unlives. In order to keep Drusilla's attention, he was urged to give up his last drop of aristocracy, and became a rebel, adopting a working class North London accent and embracing impulsiveness and violence. He took on the nom de guerre "Spike" due to his habit of torturing people with railroad spikes, inspired by a detractor from his human days who had exclaimed he would rather "have a railroad spike driven through his head" than listen to William's poetry. It is even indicated that he was involved in criminal activities, as Spike later remarks that he spent "the better part of a century" in delinquency. In the company of Drusilla, Darla and Angelus, Spike tyrranized Europe and Asia for the better part of two decades. As time passed, he remained utterly devoted to Drusilla, and grew to hate and envy Angelus. Though Angelus did enjoy the company of another male vampire in their travels, he found Spike's eagerness for battle to be unnecessary. Angelus regarded killing as an art, not a sport, and brutalized for the sheer act of committing evil. He reveled in tearing apart his victims' minds and bodies, while Spike did it for amusement and to feel the "rush". Angelus avoided fights that he feared could result in his demise; Spike thought danger added to the thrill. Tension also arose around Angelus's sexual relationship with Drusilla, which continued despite Spike's strong disapproval. Spike at one point referred to Angel as both his "sire" and his "Yoda," likening Angelus to a mentor. Spike later notes that although Drusilla made him a vampire, it was Angelus's influence over him that made him a monster.

Spike also developed an intense obsession with the idea of the Slayer. He reveled in dangerous battles, and to him there was nothing more exciting than a life-and-death struggle with his greatest adversary, the chosen one. He first learned about the Slayer from Angelus, who used the term in an attempt to fighten him. It had a very different effect on the young vampire, who would from then on seek out Slayers to do battle with.

1890: Spike, Drusilla, Angelus, and Darla attend the ballet Giselle, in St Petersburg, Russia.

1894: The four vampires were in Rome, Italy and encountered the Immortal. He locked up Angelus and Spike whilst simultaneously bedding Darla and Drusilla. This sparked a rivalry with the Immortal that made him the enemy of both Spike and Angel.

October 1898: Spike & Dru were in Borsa, Romania with Angelus and Darla. Spike, however was oblivious that Angelus had regained his soul due to being cursed by gypsies. But he joined in the massacre of the gypsy clan Kalderash.

November 1898: In a London book store, Spike marveled at a copy of Dracula. He observed that the book contained detailed information on how to kill vampires. Drusilla remarked that it's convenient; Spike argued that it's very inconvenient for them. The shop owner demanded eleven pounds for the book, as it was signed by the author. Spike thought this price was ridiculous, but Drusilla asked for the book, so Spike paid.

November 28th, 1898: Spike tried to convince Drusilla to forget about Angelus; since the incident with the gypsies, he believed that they should consider him gone. Elsewhere, Darla was approached by Dracula. Dracula offered to remove Darla's pain if she'd come with him, and Darla, under Dracula's hypnotic thrall, agreed. Meanwhile Spike and Drusilla attended another performance of Giselle, which they saw 8 years previously in Russia. Darla took Dracula back to her townhouse. Dracula tried to convince Darla to be his bride, at which point Spike and Dru arrived. Spike confronted Dracula, who was amused by Spike's name. He announced his own name, and Spike produced the novel he had purchased, saying he had a bone to pick. Dracula called the novel "fabricated rubbish," and threw it into the fireplace. Darla interjected, telling Spike that accepting Dracula as their new leader was a good way to move on after the loss of Angelus. Spike resented the implication that he'd be an inadequate leader, and demanded his eleven pounds from Dracula. Dracula began to take Dru under his thrall, and Spike angrily attacked. Dracula effortlessly grabbed Spike by the throat and threw him into the fire. In flames, Spike leapt from the townhouse window and into the nearby Thames.

November 30th, 1898: Drusilla and Darla departed in a carriage bound for Whitby, Yorkshire, with Dracula, to be his brides, unaware that Spike was hiding beneath the coach. Dracula summoned his brides to him. When they arrived, Drusilla began to speak of a "party" and said that many people were coming with unpleasant gifts. Dracula presented the girls with gifts of his own: two wooden stakes. Using his hypnotic powers, he ordered them to pick them up, saying that it was the only way to end the pain of losing Angelus. Just as Dracula was ordering the girls to kill each other, a flaming arrow crashed through the window. A mob was raiding Dracula's mansion, and the girls were able to escape. Dracula found a letter from Spike left in their place, saying that he had attacked the village and led the angry mob to the mansion. He concluded the letter with, "P.S. You still owe me eleven pounds."

June 18th, 1900: in Beijing, China, Spike killed a slayer during the Boxer Rebellion. She gave him the scar on his left eyebrow, which remained a century later. Shortly afterward, he and Drusilla lost touch with Darla and Angelus, and the couple wandered the world seeking amusement and mayhem, occasionally separating to pursue separate interests but always reuniting.

1933: Spike and Drusilla were in Chicago, Illinois and attended the World's Fair, but the brothers of Chinese slayer Xin Rong attacked them seeking vengeance.

October 1934: Spike and Drusilla were in New York. They then headed to Los Angeles and watched Bela Lugosi perform as Dracula on stage. They soon encountered the real Dracula once again. Spike fought Dracula on a bi-plane that crashed into the Hollywoodland sign, destroying the last four letters. Spike presumed his rival was killed in the explosion.

1935: Back in Rome, Spike had apparently caused a Black Widower demon to be in debt to him. The demon had avoided it however and instead had sex with Pearl before attempting to eat her. Never being one to forget debts, Spike dropped in and became a accidental hero, decapitating the demon and inadvertently rescuing Pearl, causing her to proclaim him as her hero while Nash had been knocked out. Spike then lit up a cigarette and quickly left with Drusilla, his business finished.

World War II (sometime between 1939-1945): Spike and Drusilla accepted a commission from the ice demon Skrymir, and were tasked with the elimination of all potential Slayers, as well as the Slayer herself, in exchange for Freyja's Strand, a task at which they ultimately failed.

September 1943: Spike's feud with Dracula continued. Dracula made a deal with Hitler to hand over Spike, Nostroyev, and the Prince of Lies to Nazi agents in exchange for the release of gypsies. Dracula invited them to a virgin blood bath in Madrid which was where they were captured by Nazi forces for experimentation, and taken aboard a submarine which in turn was seized by Americans. However, Spike and the two other imprisoned vampires, Nostroyev and the Prince of Lies, broke free and killed most of the crew. The trio was stopped from killing everybody by Angelus, who arrived with instructions to deliver the submarine and the records of the Nazi experimentation with vampires to the United States military. While the submarine was delivered thanks to the help of the newly sired Sam Lawson, Spike, who had burned up the notes from the experiments, was forced by Angel to leave the submarine and swim back to land.

1947: Spike was in Los Angeles working as a bodyguard, where he encountered Número Cinco and was framed for the Black Dahlia murder.

1953: Spike and Drusilla were in Rome. At certain point, Spike play cards with a Black Widower demon who lost in the game. However, this demon don't paid his debt. A few days later, Spike kill him in a bedroom hostel and save indirectly the life of the twin half demons, Pearl and Nash. Pearl become fascinated by the vampire that she considers like his hero.

June, 1959: Spike had reunited with Drusilla and the pair spent some time in Rome, Italy. Their reunion was short lived as Comte De Saint - Germain kidnapped Drusilla as he required her company for his 200th birthday. Spike rescued Drusilla and as they left he noticed a statue of Dracula. As retribution, he knocked over the statue, not knowing that Comte De Saint - Germain turned Dracula to stone in 1947 and kept it as a victorious trophy. The imprisoned Dracula was released and he killed the Comte. At some point later, Spike spent time in prison for tax evasion because of the Immortal.

1963: Spike and Drusilla were caught in the middle of slaughtering an orphanage. Spike killed two members of the Watcher's Council before Roger Wyndam-Pryce escaped with his life.

At some point in a century or so of being his own boss, Spike employed a pair of Fyarl Demons as muscle, which is unusual because vampires and demons rarely get along; he continued this diversity in friendships and relationships throughout his unlife.

1969: Spike attended Woodstock, where he drank blood from a flower child and spent the next several hours watching his hand move a side effect from the psychoactive drugs in their bloodstream.

July 13, 1977: He fought and killed Nikki Wood, a Slayer in New York City aboard a subway train, and stole her black leather duster, which he continued to wear even decades later.

1997: Spike and Dru traveled to Prague, where the pair was attacked by an angry mob. Drusilla was also kidnapped and severely tortured as a warning sign for other vampires to stay away from the city. On their way to Sunnydale, Spike and Drusilla stopped off at St. Louis to try some riverboat gambling. The detour ended up less relaxing than they might have hoped.

Conflict With The Scoobies
"Once he starts something he doesn't stop, until everything in his path is dead. Stay away."

- Angel on Spike

Spike first appeared in Sunnydale accompanied by his longtime lover Drusilla, who had recently been wounded by an angry mob in Prague. He was a devoted caretaker to Drusilla in her weakened condition, and initially hoped the Hellmouth's powerful energy would help to restore her strength. The presence of a Slayer made the town an even more attractive retreat to Spike. He tracked Buffy down at The Bronze and observed her from afar. His interest in her immediately seemed more perverse than homicidal. He was quick to reveal that he had killed two Slayers throughout his life, and hoped to make Buffy his third victim. Ironically, his plans were thwarted by his grandsire Angelus, whom he greeted as an old friend before realizing he was cursed with a soul and allied with the new Slayer, Buffy Summers. Spike observed that it was very unusual for a Slayer to have family and friends so dedicated to her wellbeing– Buffy's way of life proved to be a direct affront to the duties of past Slayers. Still, Spike's impatience to fight Buffy had foiled the Order of Aurelius's plans for the Night of Saint Vigeous. He killed the Anointed One and took control of the then-defunct Order, planning to make things "a little less ritual and a little more fun."

Eventually, Spike discovered that Drusilla could only be healed by the the blood of her sire; he was more than happy to Angel to restore her, and kidnapped him with the help of Willy the Snitch. He subsequently hired the Order of Taraka to assassinate Buff, though he ultimately cancelled the bounty when she defeated the three assassins who had been sent. With the help of Kendra Young, a second Slayer activated when Buffy drowned the previous year, Buffy tracked down Spike and Drusilla to the church where the were going to perform the ritual to heal Drusilla. The ensueing fight ended when Spike was crushed under a collapsing pipe organ; he was left paralyzed fro the waist down for several months. Though Angel was saved, Spike's ritual succeeded, and Drusilla was restored to perfect health.

Despite being incapacitated in a wheelchair, Spike made huge preparations for Drusilla's birthday. He arranged a large party at the factory, dressed their vampire lackeys in Gothic attire, arranged flowers to Drusilla's insane standard and collected the pieces of the Judge's body. Meanwhile, Angel and Buffy had grown closer than ever– his curse was broken when he achieved a moment of pure happiness upon sleeping with her, and reverted to his soulless self. Angelus rejoined Spike and Drusilla, and plotted with Drusilla to destroy all of humanity. Spike initially celebrated their reunion with Angelus and demonstrated affection towards his grandsire, but their longtime rivalry was renewed over arguments about how to attack Buffy. Angelus, who was cruel and calculating, preferred playing mind-tricks with her, while Spike feared such actions would only anger her. Angelus also taunted the temporarily helpless Spike by pursuing Drusilla as a lover while Spike was unable to fulfill her needs as a result of his paralysis.

Spike continued to use his wheelchair even after he had recovered, feigning weakness to avoid suspicion while he plotted against Angelus. When Angelus decided to use the demon Acathla to such the entire world into Hell, Spike, having no desire to see the world end, decided to ally himself with Buffy Summers; he explained to Buffy that, in addition to wanting Drusilla back, he also wanted to "save the world". Despite Buffy opposing the idea to save Drusilla considering she had killed Kendra not hours earlier, they made an agreement when Rupert Giles's life was on the line. Spike promised Buffy that he and Drusilla would leave Sunnydale for good after the battle ended. He helped Buffy during her battle against Angelus and Drusilla, and knocked Angelus unconscious long enough for Buffy to kill his minions and rescue her Watcher. Spike briefly fought Drusilla, who resisted betraying Angelus; he managed to knock her out; ever loyal, Spike departed Sunnydale with his love once more, leaving Buffy to face Angelus alone.

It is later revealed that Spike and Drusilla traveled to Brazil, where she remained horrified by his alliance with the Slayer. Drusilla's abilities caused her to sense that Spike would come to develop romantic feelings for Buffy; she rejected him and cheated on him with a Chaos Demon, which sent the lovelorn Spike into an long drunken depression. He returned to Sunnydale, where he attempted to force Willow Rosenberg to cast a love spell on Drusilla. While in town he visited Buffy's mother, Joyce Summers, who listened sympathetically to his heartache, and recruited Buffy and Angel to help him gather spell ingredients for the spell. After reveling in the rush of an intense battle with his former minions, Spike cheerfully abandoned the idea of enchanting Drusilla, resolving instead to win her back by torturing her until she loved him again. He also told Buffy and Angel that no matter what happened, they would never be friends because of their eternal love for one another. Buffy later remarked to Angel "I can fool Giles, and I can fool my friends, but I can't fool myself–or Spike, for some reason". This final quote foreshadowed the pivotal role Spike would someday come to play in Buffy's group.

The Chip
"Hate to break it to you, O Impotent One, but you're not the "Big Bad" anymore. You're not even the "Kinda Naughty"! You're nothing but a waste of space. My space! And as much as I always got a big laugh watching Buffy kick your shiny, white bum, and as much as I know I can give you a little bum-kicking myself right now, I'm here to tell you something... you're not even worth it."

- Xander taunts Spike over his inability to harm humans.

The following year, Spike once again became estranged from Drusilla, prompting him to return to Sunnydale alone to search for the Gem of Amarra, a talisman that rendered a vampire completely immune to all of the conventional vampiric weaknesses. He had an entire crew mine for it; when he acquired it his first action was to do battle with Buffy, now a college freshman, under the sun. Buffy, however, took it from him mid-fight, causing him to flee from the sun. Buffy decided to give it to Angel. Spike later followed Scooby Daniel Osbourne to Los Angeles to retrieve it. He faced Angel and his new team, hiring a vampiric torturer who claimed he wasn't interested in the gem and had him torture Angel for its location. After arranging a trade with Cordelia Chase and Allen Francis Doyle, he was double crossed by the vampire and driven out of the city without the ring, which Angel subsequently destroyed. By then, he had become involved with Harmony Kendall, a shallow young vampire who was Cordelia's best friend at Sunnydale High. Despite her beauty and affection, Spike treated her as little more than a nuisance and sexual plaything. Spike's existence took a pivotal turn when he was captured by the The Initiative, a secret demon-fighting government organization, the members of which implanted whim with a cerebral microchip that rendered him unable to willingly harm or attempt to harm humans without experiecing crippling pain. This chip became Spike's surrogate soul, as it forced him to consider the consequences of "right" and "wrong". Unable to hunt for blood, and still pursued by The Iniative, he reluctantly made the decision to turn to the Scooby Gang for help. He was kept in Giles's apartment, where the Scoobies bound him to a chair with ropes. He bartered his knowledge of The Initiative for shelter and blood; after briefly being held captive, he moved to a crypt.

Spike and Buffy briefly became engaged after Willow accidentally performed an enchantment; although the spell only commanded them to get married, each expressed love for the other, comically foreshadowing the bond they would in time share.

Reduced to little more than an impotent prisoner of the Scoobies, Spike sank into a suicidal depression, and nearly staked himself in Xander's basement. He became ecstatic when Xander warned him of an upcoming apocalypse because he wanted the world to end. He nonetheless managed to cheer himself up by viciously tearing down Willow and Xander emotionally, remarking that they were both useless to Buffy, who as a Slayer, would be better off if she didn't have to constantly watch out for both of them. Willow and Xander were visibly forced to thought by his words despite their mutual denial.

"Come on! Vampires! Grrr! Nasty! Let’s annihilate them. For justice - and for - the safety of puppies – and Christmas, right? Let’s fight that evil! Let’s kill something! Oh, come on!"

- Spike discovers that he can hurt demons

Spike came to discover that the chip did not prevent him from hurting demons, much to his joy; he subsequently became a reluctant ally of the Scoobies, and provided then with assistance in exchange for cash or brawls. At this point, Spike was still interested in his own selfish well-being, and reminded the Scoobies of this constantly with one of his many catchphrases: "I'm Evil"! Upon learning that the unstable Slayer Faith was on the loose, he proclaimed that he would find her and tell her the Scoobies' exact whereabouts, and gleefully watch while she tore them apart.

Spike later allied with Adam, a monstrous bio-mechanical demonoid created by The Initiative as part of their super-soldier project, and helped him in his quest to destroy both The Initiative and the Scoobies once and for all. Spike's price was simple: he wanted The Initiative's chip removed for good so he could return to his "Big Bad" self. In accordance with Adam's plan, he managed to turn the Scoobies against each other by manipulating existing tensions within the group. Buffy, however, discovered the scheme and reconciled with the gang when Spike revealed too much information about his plot during an encounter in Adam's former lair. When Adam discovered that Spike had failed to split up the Scoobies, he made an attempt to kill him, but Spike managed to escape. After Buffy slew Adam, Spike saved Willow, Giles and Xander from an attacking demon in hope that they wouldn't kill him for his actions; indeed, they agreed to spare him out of fatigue and gratitude. Spike helped the Scoobies and Riley Finn battle the rampaging demon hordes within The Initiative's complex, rescuing most of the soldiers. The Initiative was then shut down by the U.S. government, as it had proved an unsuccessful operation.

Falling In Love With Buffy
"Oh God, no. Please, no."

- Spike realizes his feelings for Buffy.

Following the fall of The Initiative, Spike began offering more and more assistance to Buffy and the Scoobies. He told Riley about his old rivalry with Dracula and punched Tara to prove that her father's tales about her being a demon were untrue (his chip would have caused him pain when he struck her, thus confirming that she was purely human). Despite this, after a failed attempt to force a former Initiative member to remove his chip, Spike became justifiably sick of Buffy's near-constant presence in his unlife; an erotic dream sequence forced him to reconsider everything he had come to learn in his past hundred years of living. Initially, the dream featured Spike attempting to force Buffy to kill him in the hopes that he wouldn't have to exist in her world anymore; he even tore off his shirt in order to give her a clear shot with her stake. The dream concluded with them passionately kissing; this led Spike to realize (much to his horror and confusion) that he had fallen in love with a Slayer. Unsure how to proceed, he began keeping a nightly vigil outside her home, occasionally breaking in to collect items for his shrine to her beneath his crypt. Spike also became a much more active participant in the Scooby Gang, jumping into several fights to give Buffy assistance regardless of whether she wanted it. Buffy sometimes took out her anger and frustration on Spike; he went along with it, as it allowed him to spend time with her. His one-sided devotion soon culminated in Buffy confronting him about his past after being severely wounded by a vampire; the experience had caused her to become briefly obsessed with the deaths of past Slayers, and Spike, having been responsible for two of them, had the information she desired. They went to The Bronze, where Spike recounted the high and low points of his life, from poet William Pratt to rebellious vampire Spike (the night Drusilla turned him, his rivalry with Angelus and the day he first heard of the Slayer). His story revealed his fixation with Slayers to Buffy, who had him replay his battles with the two Slayers in great detail, fights he related to "dances". Buffy was disgusted by his desire to "dance" with her, and pushed him to the ground. Spike was visibly hurt when she told him that he was "beneath her", as this was first said to him when he was turned down by Cecily Addams as a human. He went to her house with the goal of killing her, but upon finding her on her back porch in tears about her mother's illness, cast aside his feelings of anger and humiliation and, for the first time, comforted her. Before his departure, Riley Finn rightfully assessed that Spike had fallen in love with his girlfriend after he caught him sniffing Buffy's clothes in her room. Spike took great pleasure in informing Riley about Joyce's illness, which Buffy had intentionally neglected to tell him about. Spike then took Buffy to an abandoned house and exposed Riley's scandalous activities with vampires. Riley confronted Spike soon afterward, but Spike only taunted him about his relationship with Buffy. They drank together and discussed their separate situations regarding the Slayer. Riley asked Spike if he really thought he had any chance with Buffy and Spike responded with self-deprication, stating that he knew he didn't but that he had to try anyway. Spike believed his situation better than Riley's, who was close to Buffy, but never had her completely. Riley left Buffy and Sunnydale behind soon afterward.

Later, when Dawn snuck out of the house on Buffy's birthday in order to go to the Magic Box, Spike, who was standing vigil, decided to go along in order to protect her from any possible threats. He helped her break into the store, but ended up partly responsible for Dawn discovering her identity as the Key. Upon learning of Spike's involvment, Buffy immediatly confronted him in his crypt. She attacked him, but Spike turned the tables on her by informing her that he only accompanied Dawn to keep her safe. He also remarked that they should have just told Dawn earlier because she was bound to find out sooner or later. When Dawn runs away again during her identity crisis, Spike was quick to join the search party. Buffy tearfully admitted to Spike that he had been right; Spike makes an awkward attempt to comfort her, stating that Dawn, being a "fourteen-year-old hormone bomb," would eventually have snuck out anyway. He assured Buffy that they would indeed find her little sister.

Dawn, who had developed a crush on Spike, perceived his feelings for Buffy. She casually mentioned it to Buffy, who confronted Spike. She quickly rejected his advances, and Spike, not willing to give up without a fight, kidnapped her to witness him killing Drusilla, his once forever love. His plan failed, however, and a furious and disgusted Buffy destroyed his shrine, had Willow revoke Spike's invitation into house house (something she had not bothered to do in the almost three years since their alliance against Angelus), and alienated him from the Scoobies.

Following the sudden death of Joyce Summers, Spike attempted to pay his respects by leaving flowers at Buffy's house, as he regarded her as the only person in Buffy's life who had ever treated him decdently. Xander immediately suspected he was merely attempting to take advantage of a painful situation to score points with Buffy, and couldn't be convinced otherwise until Willow discovered that Spike had left the card for Joyce completely anonymous. When Dawn attempted to resurrect Joyce, Spike helped her, but assured her that he didn't want any credit for it, as Buffy would "drive a redwood through his chest" if she found out he was involved. He was badly injured by a Ghora demon when they attempted to steal one of its eggs in order to perform the spell. Their efforts proved worthless when Dawn raised her mother as an assumed zombie; she ultimately broke the spell before the results were revealed. Still in the midst of his obsession, Spike had Warren Mears make Buffybot, a robot created in Buffy's likeness that was programmed to love and obey him. He briefly used the robot as a substitute for what he couldn't have with the real Buffy, but was soon captured by Glory's minions, who had mistaken him for the Key. Though still thoroughly disgusted, Buffy lost much of her disdain for Spike after learning that he had refused to reveal the true identity of the Key to Glory, even under intense torture. She realized that he had laid down his life to protect Dawn, something she wouldn't have thought possible of him. She was very moved by his unexpected sacrifice, and as a reward, kissed him and told him that she would never forget what he had done for her.

Buffy's trust in Spike grew immensely from there; a prime example being when she left Dawn with him in his crypt after Glory "brain-sucked" Tara. While there, Dawn tearfully blamed herself for Glory's attacks on he friends (including Spike's torture at Glory's hands) and believed herself a lightning rod for pain. Spike consoled her as best he could, telling her that as a vampire, he knew a thing or two about evil, and she wasn't it.

After Glory discovered that Dawn was the Key, Buffy allowed Spike to accompany the Scoobies when they fled from Sunnydale (much to the chagrin of Giles and Xander). Buffy knew that Spike was the only person besides herself who stood any chance at protecting Dawn against Glory. In the days and hours leading up to the final showdown with Glory, Spike fought bravely by Buffy's side, earning both her trust and a re-invitation into her home. Spike ultimately accepted that Buffy would never love him, and settled for having her trust; he said that though he knew he was a monster, she treated him like a human being. During the final battle, he tried desperately to save Dawn from Glory's minion, Doc, who was attempting to draw Dawn's blood as part of the ritual. Spike was easily outmaneuvered and fell off a thirty foot tower, where he was unable to assist Dawn further; this would remain one of his deepest regrets after Buffy's death in the battle. Upon setting eyes on her lifeless body, he collapsed in sorrow and wept openly. Ever faithful, he honored her memory by remaining loyal to her friends. He fought at their side and served as Dawn's protector/baby-sitter for months, and even helped Willow and Tara raise her in Buffy's absence. Deprived of purpose, he kept track of the number of days since her death until her resurrection. Spike remained unaware of the Scoobies' plan to resurrect Buffy until after the event; he returned to the Summers' residence in search of Dawn, only to discover Buffy alive-and-well 148 days after her death. He, like a few of the others, considered the possible drawbacks of doing something so extreme, but later expressed that, had the spell gone wrong, he wouldn't have let the others destroy the result if it retained even the slightest part of the real Buffy. Unable to guiltlessly confide in her friends about being torn from Heaven, Buffy began to go to Spike for comfort, who willingly accepted both the best and worst of her emotions. Their physical relationship began after the demon Sweet cast a spell that caused them to share their true feelings through song. Buffy had begun to crave the ability to "feel" again, and expressed that she wanted "the fire back". Meanwhile, Spike accused her of using him in the form of a serenade. Their mutual desires clashed in the alleyway behind The Bronze, where they kissed passionately. Though Buffy denied the act at first, their tension was finally consummated when Spike discovered that his chip no longer stopped him from harming the "resurrected" Buffy. He initially thought that it had stopped working, and attempted to feed on a woman, only to be shocked with pain. He then extorted a band of geeks to assess his chip, who told him that it was still completely functional; Spike came to the conclusion that it was Buffy who had changed, rather than the chip. He showed her, claiming that to Buffy that she had come back "wrong". Fighting back, she pushed Spike into an abandoned house (the first of several locations iconic to their developing relationship) where they exchanged both insults and blows until Buffy finally gave into her desires and they shared their first sexual encounter. Although the already dilapidated house crumbled down around them, they showed no notice, and allowed the moment to unfold. The was a metaphor for the near-future of their relationship, as Buffy initiated it partly as a way to punish herself, and partly as a means of connecting to life again. Buffy instituted both the violence and sex between them, and threatened to kill Spike if he ever told anyone about their relationship. Both members remained unsatisfied with their continued sexual acts; Buffy was very ashamed of her dark desires, while Spike pitifully craved the love, trust and affection that she refused to give him. When Buffy believed she had killed a human, Katrina Silber, Spike tried to fix the problem by dumping the body into a river before Buffy could confess. When he revealed what he did and attempted to prevent her from alerting the police, a guilt-ridden Buffy took out her frustration on Spike, and beat him thoroughly.

Shortly after Buffy's ex-boyfriend, Riley, returned to Sunnydale in search of a Suvolte Demon egg smuggler, Spike egotistically informed him of his relationship with Buffy. Though Riley pretended not to care, he did accuse Spike of being "The Doctor". His suspicions were confirmed when he found the Suvolte's eggs in Spike's crypt. Buffy ended things with Spike after Riley left, admitting that she had just been using him and that it was tearing her up inside with guilt. Spike subsequently tried to make her jealous by bringing a date to Xander and Anya Jenkins' wedding. After Xander left Anya at the alter, he got drunk with her. They were able to relate easily, as each had recently been abandoned by their loved ones, and sought brief solace in each others' arms. Xander tried to kill Spike in a jealous rage but Buffy stopped him in time and her secret relationship with Spike was revealed as a result. After witnessing Buffy's clear jealous reaction to his sexual liasion with Anya, he came to believe that he still had a change to win her back.

His attempts proved worthless, however, and he began to grow mad with frustration. After being lectured by Dawn, he lost control of his obsession and cornered an injured Buffy in her bathroom. He made aggressive sexual advances towards her, and when she refused him, he grew desperate and attempted to rape her. After Buffy fought him off, Spike was so disgusted with himself that he couldn't do so much as apologize; in the end, he was violently reminded that the "demon" portion of his being still existed, regardless of what he had done to help Buffy and her friends in the past. In tears, she dared him to ask why she could never love him, but he fled her house in shame before giving her an answer. He returned to his crypt, and, horrified by his own actions, left Sunnydale for the first time in nearly three years. He traveled to a remote location in Africa, where he underwent the Demon Trials, a series of brutal physical and mental tests, to prove his worth to the demon shaman. At first, it appeared as though he wanted to have his chip removed so he could return to his "Big Bad" self, but his intentions were in reality far more noble. His attack on Buffy had sparked a grand change within him. The culmination Spike's redemption came to fruition with the returning of his soul and human conscience. He once again would posess William the poet's capacities for love, loyalty and self-control, and would no longer require artificial understandings of "right" and "wrong" granted to him by the chip. The demon shaman granted his wish upon Spike's completion of the trials, and restored his soul.

Soul and Redemption
"The spark. The missing... the piece... that fit. That would make me fit."

- Spike reveals to Buffy that he has regained his soul

With the returning of Spike's soul came a conscience filled with guilt, both for the sins he had committed throughout his life and his more recent attack on Buffy. He couldn't bring himself to see her for some time, and took shelter in the basement of the newly constructed Sunnydale High School, where he presumably lived on rats. There, was tormented by the the First Evil as well as his new soul, and appeared to be losing his mind; he forced Buffy to leave when she discovered him, and sadly showed her that he had tried to cut out his own heart in contempt. During a moment of clarity, he helped Buffy to track down a Sluggoth Demon created by Anya, during which time Buffy came to realize what had happened to him during his missing weeks. Buffy, touched by his efforts, asked him why he had fought for his soul. Spike replied in partly incohesive mutters: "For her. To be hers. To be the kind of man who would never... to be a kind of man... and she shall look on him with forgiveness and everybody will forgive and love and he will be loved." Spike wanted not only redemption for his past, but for Buffy to forgive him for what he had done to her. Buffy agreed in compassion, and after enlisting his assistance for a while, brought him out of the basement and welcomed him back into her circle of close companions.

Because Buffy insisted and because he had nowhere else to go, Spike once more became reluctant roommates with Xander Harris. Thoguh Spike's mental and physical conditions rapidly improved, the arrangement backfired when he, under the influence of the First Evil, unwittingly killed innocent humans. Spike initially had no memory of his actions; after discovering what he had done, he begged Buffy to kill him, but Buffy refused to do so, and instead took him home to her house. She told him that he would live on because she saw him change. In the Summers' residence he suffered from human blood withdrawals, and remained vulnerable to the First's influence, and was willingly confined with ropes. Meanwhile, Buffy guarded and cared for Spike throughout his recovery. She told him that she believed in him, a statement that would sustain him later through his imprisonment and torture at the hands of the First.

After Buffy rescued him from the First, Spike helped her to train Potential Slayers by sparring with them. In the meantime, his chip began to malfunction, causing him intense pain and threatening to end his life if left untreated. To the dismay of Giles and her friends, Buffy showed her lasting trusted in Spike by ordering the Initiative's operatives to remove the chip from his head for good, telling him that he had the potential to be a good man. She also took Spike's side when Robin Wood attempted to kill in in retribution for the murder of his mother, Nikki Wood, the Slayer Spile killed in New York in the late 70's. Ironically, by trying to kill Spike while under the influence of the First, Wood freed Spike from his hypnotic trigger (a song called "Early One Morning" that Spike's mother once sang to him). The song evoked Spike's traumatic memories of his mother's abusive behavior after he turned her. Finally able to address these issues, Spike realized that his mother had always loved him, knowledge that freed him from the First's control for good. Afterward, he bit and brutally pulverized Wood, but let him live out of respect for Nikki. Spike assured Buffy that he had given Wood his last change, and that he would kill Robin without hesitation if he so much as looked at him the wrong way again. Buffy was more than supportive, stating that she would let him do it; both she and Spike knew that they had no more time for pointless vendetas.

From there, Spike and Buffy's relationship developed into emotional closeness, devotion and trust, a very different bond from the one she shared with Angel as an adolescent. Spike remained selflessly loyal to her when the other Scoobies and the Potentials abandoned her, and critized them for treating Buffy with so little respect after all she had done for them. He even brawled briefly with Slayer Faith Lehane leaving to find Buffy. He tracked her down in a house that had been left abandoned when its owner fled Sunnydale. The last time they were in a dilapidated house together they began a violent physical relationship, but this time, they remained steadfast in their ambitions. Spike and Buffy achieved a new level of trust in each other, and spent three nights together. During the first night, Spike bowed down to Buffy and told her that she was the only thing in his past one-hundred years that he had ever been sure about, and told her she was "the one" (paralleling both his love for her and her state as the true chosen one). Buffy had Spike hold her while they fell asleep, a night he would later declare as the best of his life. His words had also restored the depressed Buffy's self confidence, and allowed her to find the strength to continue fighting. She successfully won back her role as leader of the army when Faith accidentally led the Potentials into a near-fatal trap. Spike returned with her.

When Angel to help with the battle against the First, Buffy gave him a welcome kiss for saving her from Caleb; Spike witnessed this from a distance, and overheard Angel tell Buffy about the magical properties of a mystical amulet that was to be worn by a "Champion" during the final fight. After an argument with Angel, Buffy declared to him that Spike was "in her heart" whether he liked it or not, and sent him back to Los Angeles. Later, Spike was seen hitting a punching bag with a self-drawn picture of Angel on it. When Buffy came to see him Spike told her what he had seen, and proclaimed that he wanted to wear the amulet, as it was meant for a being who possessed a soul, but was more than human (thus, an ensouled vampire). Buffy made it very clear that the amulet was meant only to worn by a true "Champion" before handing it to Spike, wordlessly declaring her belief in him. They slept in each others' arms again during the second night, and unknown to him, Buffy left an encounter with the First inspired by the idea to abolish the entire Slayer line by creating an army of Slayers.

Buffy and Spike spend one last night together in her basement, though it is never revealed what occurred between them. The following day, Spike, wearing the amulet, fights alongisde Buffy, Faith and the newly awakened Slayers against the First Evil's army of Turok-Han. In the midst of battle, the amulet suddenly activates and begins emitting a channel of mystical sunlight through Spike's body. The sunlight destroys all of the Turok-Han, and collapses the cavern containing the Hellmouth, sealing it and creating a crater that swallowed up the entire town of. Buffy went to him and pled that he accompany her to the surface, telling him that he has done more than enough, but Spike remained true to his desire to die for love, honor and all the right reasons. He told her that he could feel his soul within him, and Buffy, devastated but accepting of his resolve, locked fingers with him in order to feel it too. She told him that she loved him (thus realizing the prophetic Cassie Newton's statement). Spike replied to Buffy, "No you don't, but thanks for saying it," in disbelief. He forced Buffy to leave his side then, and was slowly incinerated by the sunlight. As he burned and crumbled to dust, Spike reveled in the destruction before him, glad to be able to see the fight to its bare end. He died in the Hellmouth and saved the world, becoming a true Champion of The Powers That Be, and more importantly, Buffy's hero.

Los Angeles
Despite his apparent death, Spike returns. The amulet he wore at the Hellmouth mysteriously returns to the law-firm Wolfram & Hart by mail; Spike materializes from a whirlwind after Angel opens the envelope. Spike initially intends to leave Wolfram & Hart and find Buffy, who is now in Europe; however, he discovers that he is mystically bound to Los Angeles and unable to leave the city limits.

Spike is an incorporeal being akin to a ghost with a connection to the human world that is unstable, causing him to disappear at random (but increasingly frequent) intervals. As his disappearances become more frequent and intense, Spike, terrified, confides only to the briliant Winifred Burkle that every time he disappears, he is being transported to Hell. He asks her to help save him, and she promises to find a way to make him corporeal again. Later, it is discovered that Spike's disappearances are being caused by another ghost, Matthias Pavayne aka The Reaper, who toys with the many souls trapped at Wolfram & Hart in order to delay his own sentence to Hell. Fred successfully creates a machine to recorporealize Spike, but when Pavayne threatens Fred's life, Spike chooses to use the machine to save her, throwing away his opportunity to become corporeal but successfully stopping Pavayne; Spike's heroic actions reinforce Fred's belief that he is "worth saving." Spike finds himself able to affect the world around him if he wants to badly enough, so he is able to assist in fighting before he is actually recorporealized.

Later, Spike receives a mysterious package in the mail. When he opens it, he sees a flash of light and discovers that he has become corporeal again. Chaos concurrently erupts in Wolfram & Hart, and Eve arrives with information that the existence of two corporeal ensouled vampire champions is complicating the Shanshu Prophecy and destroying the fabric of reality (although it was later implied that Angel's old foe Lindsey McDonald made the situation worse than it would have been). She tells them that a new translation of the Prophecy reveals that, in order to restore the balance, Spike and Angel must compete to drink from the Cup of Perpetual Torment, which will bestow upon the winner great responsibilities and pain before ultimately washing his past clean and allowing him to live as human again. In their extended physical and verbal battle, each tries to assert himself as the better man. Although Angel tells Spike that he is a monster just like him, Spike denies any similarities: "You had a soul forced on you. As a curse.

Make you suffer for all the horrible things you've done. Me, I fought for my soul, went through the demon trials, almost did me in a dozen times over, but I kept fighting. Because I knew it was the right thing to do. It's my destiny." Their battle culminates with Angel unable to touch a giant cross, which Spike, contemptuously ignoring the pain, holds and wields with ease. During the fight, he also reveals his hate and resentment towards Angel for making him into the monster he became. Spike defeats Angel for the first time in their long history despite the fact that Angel is physically stronger than his younger rival. Spike, however, had a greater desire for the cup than Angel and so despite the latter's efforts with increasing aggression, Spike succeeds in getting to it and drinks from the Cup, but the prophecy turns out to be a sham (the liquid in the Cup was merely Mountain Dew).

Even though being corporeal (and therefore no longer bound to Los Angeles), Spike decides not to go to Europe in search of Buffy; he wants her to remember him as the hero who died to save the world, and later mentions to Andrew Wells that it would be pretty stupid to go to Europe after that, mockingly simulating a phone call between the two by stating "Hello, Buffy, it's Spike. I didn't burn up like you thought I did. How are things?" Lindsey McDonald, using the name of Angel's friend, the late half-demon Doyle with a connection to The Powers That Be, persuades Spike that he is destined to "help the helpless," in much the same way as the real Doyle persuaded Angel of the same thing. Alienated by Angel's corporate, bureaucratic approach to fighting evil, Spike steps into his role as hero. He takes on Dana, a psychotic Slayer who had, until recently, been locked in a mental institution, but, misjudging the threat she poses- initially assuming that she is the victim of possession and then assuming that her madness makes her relatively ineffective- Dana captures him, drugs him, and cuts off his hands. This experience causes Spike to more deeply examine the nature of the evil inside him, and he tells Angel that Dana thought that he had killed her whole family, and says: "And I'm supposed to, what, complain, because hers wasn't one of the hundreds of families I did kill?" Spike believes that Dana has become a monster like them, but Angel responds that the girl is an innocent victim, and Spike points out that he and Angel were innocent victims at one point. Spike's hands are reattached at Wolfram & Hart, and he is instructed to play video games for physical therapy, including Donkey Kong and Crash Bandicoot.

Eventually, Spike learns that "Doyle" is actually Lindsey, who has been manipulating him the whole time. His relationship with Angel becomes increasingly acrimonious, and they contemplate the possibility of Spike leaving L.A. after a particularly bitter argument over whether cavemen or astronauts would win in a fight. When Fred becomes infected with the essence of the Old One known as Illyria, Spike works alongside Angel and the rest of the crew to find a cure, and mourns for Fred when they fail. He abandons the idea of leaving L.A. after Fred's death, deciding to stay because that is what Fred would have wanted, and officially joins Team Angel in her honor. Spike is put in charge of "testing" the newly-awakened Illyria's abilities, which generally involves fighting with her and recording details on his clipboard though the two develop a bond. Although Spike and Angel make it clear that they still do not like each other, they are a lethally effective fighting team thanks to their long history of experience with each other, and get along far better than they did earlier by the time Spike officially joins Angel's crew.

At some point, Spike was tricked into admitting himself to the Mosaic Wellness Center, a rehabilitation clinic where supernatural beings could be cured of their demonic nature, by the parents of one of Spike's victims; in reality, Mosaic was a maximum security prison from which inmates were unable to leave. As it turned out, Spike had a reputation as a "boogeyman" at Mosaic, with inmates telling stories about him to scare each other. During his time in Mosaic, Spike befriended Beck, a pyrokinetic teenager, and Betta George, a telepathic fish; this friendship nearly killed Beck when the vampire Wiseau stabbed her with a stake as a message to Spike. Spike eventually rebelled against Mosaic's oppressive regime and, along with Beck and George, transformed Mosaic into an actual sanctuary for the supernatural.

Spike is the first to vote for Angel's plan to wound the Senior Partners by taking out the Circle of the Black Thorn and going out in a blaze of glory, despite his grim assessment of the plan as being a strategem to "burn the house down while we're still in it." Before Angel's team enters what may be their final battle, Angel gives them the day off, to spend as though it was going to be their last. Spike, returning to his mortal roots as a frustrated poet, triumphantly knocks them dead (figuratively) in an open mic poetry slam at a bar after having some drinks to gather "Dutch courage," reciting his completed version of a poem he had begun over a century earlier before being sired by Drusilla. The poem reads as follows:

My soul is wrapped in harsh repose

Midnight decends in raven coloured clothes

''But soft, behold! A sunlight beam''

Cutting a swath of glimmering gleam

My heart expands, 'tis grown a bulge in it,

Inspired by your beauty effulgent.

After single-handedly rescuing an infant and destroying the Fell Brethren, Spike joins Angel, Illyria, and a badly-wounded Charles Gunn in the alley behind the Hyperion Hotel, preparing to incur the apocalyptic wrath of the Senior Partners, as a way of going out in a blaze of glory. Spike however, survived the battle.

Becoming the Lord of Beverly Hills
After the Fall of Los Angeles, Spike and Illyria separated from Angel and began watching over a group of human and demon survivors. One such civilian, Jeremy Johns, became Spike's right hand man. Illyria soon began randomly changing back into Fred, and Spike was forced to urge her to remain as Illyria in order to protect her. Hee briefly considered the prospect that he had developed feelings for Fred.

While wandering the city, Spike encountered a dragon, and considered killing it until it telepathically told him that he should mount it. The dragon took Spike to the ruins of Wolfram & Hart, where he found a figure suspended inside a field of energy, writing in pain. Meanwhile, in Spike's absence, the civilians were left at the mercy of a group of strange demon women. After leaving the law firm, he encountered one of the women, and commandeered her truck in order to rescue the hostages. He tries to run down the leader of the group, who throws Illyria, who had transformed into Fred once more, into the front of the truck; she reverted to Illyria on impact. Together, Spike and Illyria meleed with the demon women; their leader, used a life-draining magic on the hostages to turn them into zombies, and knocked Illyria and Spike unconscious. Spike woke up in chains in a dark room filled with his then-zombified wards; the demon leader, who introduced herself as Non, told him she was keeping him alive for his connections. Spike remains chained in the dungeon for quite some time, where he was tortured and forced to live on rat blood. He kept himself entertained with daydreams, one of which involved him shopping in a supermarket with Fred. He was also approached by one of Non's lackeys, a spider-like girl named Spider, whom he had previously met when he took her truck. She kissed him while he was tied up, and according to Non, the two also had a short-lived sexual relationship.

Non attempted to bargain with Charles Gunn to return Spike to him; however, the newly turned Gunn beat her instead, leading her to decide to kill Spike, Illyria and their remaining survivors; her power was revealed during her fight with Gunn: she could absorb powers from humans by "feeding" on their energy. Non brought Illyria and Spike to be executed the following day; when Spider tried to intervene, she was easily able to conclude that Spide had betrayed her because she could smell Spike all over her. Non then attempted to behead Illyria– Spike couldn't watch– but the axe shattered on impact with her skin. Illyria broke free and started killing members Non's army. As the battle broke out, Illyria remarked to Spike that he had slept with Spider. As he tried to explain, she forcefully kissed him. Non then prepared to kill the last human hostage but Angel's son, Connor, appeared suddenly and stopped her. Spike initially goaded Connor for talking too much in battle, but "Angel Jr", as Spike called him, proved a useful warrior in the battle against Non. In the midst of the fight, Non attempted to feed on Connor, but realized that because he was the child of two vampires and thus couldn't. Spike then discovered that Non's Sadecki demon, Noelle, was controlling her flock of female warriers; he instructed that Illyria kill it. During her confrontation with the demon, she once more reverted between Fred and Illyria, but after much encouragement was able to gather herself and kill the Sadecki. The girls were free, and realizing that his plan had worked, Spike brutally attacked Non. After taking a beating from Spike, Non began to use Jeremy to regain some of her power. Illyria realized this and horrified Spike by mercillessly killing Jeremy; though upset, Spike took advantage of the situation to kill Non.

Spike then became the lord of Beverly Hills. Illyria and several members of Non's army, Spider included, joined him. Spike partly chose to keep the girls with him in hopes that they would cause Illyria to remain on guard, thus making sure she wouldn't transform into Fred so often. He buried Jeremy's body, and told the other lords of Los Angeles to stay away from him. Later, Spike and Connor met up again and began their crusade to save the remaining humans in Los Angeles.

Reuniting with Angel
Spike eventually adjusted to Los Angeles' new status as a literal hell on Earth. He and Illyria both served together as demon Lords of Beverly hills, during which time it appeared as though both of them had returned to their evil roots. It was eventually revealed that their position was a facade; Spike and Illyria were secretly rescuing humans and benevolent demons and evacuating them into the care of Connor, Nina Ash, and Gwen Raiden. Spike was given the opportunity to return to the side of evil again, but as always he remained loyal to the good fight, and helped Angel to bring down the other Lords' champions. Spike rallied with the rest of the gang against the machinations of Charles Gunn, who had unfortunately become a soulless vampire, and was unknowinginly working under visions from the Senior Partners. He also struggled to control Illyria's increasinly unstable powers in the hell dimension; she had continued to periodically revert to Fred's form and gentle personality, leaving Spike with the duty of protecting her.

During Gunn's attack on the Hyperion Hotel, Spike fought three of Gunn's enslaved Slayers, but was unable to defeat them all at once and was staked; however, Illyria's manipulation of time saved him. After Gunn managed to unleash Illyria's truest form by killing the only remnants of Fred's personality, a gravely-wounded, now-human Angel, Connor and Spike were the only surviving members of the team. After Illyria was defeated and Connor was killed by Gunn, Angel went on a rampage and began killing everything in sight. Spike prevented the others from interfering in his grief, stating that they must let him get it out of his system. As Angel realized what needed to be done for them to return Los Angeles to Earth, Spike was asked by Wesley to watch over Illyria, who's shell still contained essences of Fred. After time was reset to before the Fall, Spike kept his distance from Illyria, but finally made peace with Angel after more than a century of hating him.

Back to Earth
In the non-official comics following Los Angeles' return to Earth, Spike maintained a loosley-affiliated relationship with the newly-reopened Angel Investigations, often collaborating with Angel and his assiciates while maintaining some degree of independence. At the premiere of Last Angel in Hell&mdash; a film based on Los Angeles' time in hell, Spike noted that his movie counterpart, who was a woman, was at least attractive.&mdash;temporarily transformed into a version of Angel at a comic book convention as a result of a spell, attempting to implement a plan to coordinate the "good" costumes against the "bad" but lacking Angel's tactical mentality. After Angel's disappearance&mdash;during which Connor took charge of Angel Investigations&mdash;Spike loses his leg while fighting alongside Gunn in an alley (Although they are able to restore his leg with various healing spells and a supply of blood), his thoughts revealing that he doesn't trust Gunn due to his actions as a vampire. Having learned that an organization is claiming that Angel has begun to aid them in providing immortality to their clients, the first subject being an actress who goes on to attack a talk show host, Spike suggests that he seduce the actress to learn where Angel is. Following James' betrayal of the group, Spike attempts to contact movie writers to write a film about him in order to increase his image in comparison to Angel's current fame. However, his image suffers drastic upheaval when Liss&mdash;a soul-eating demon James had summoned to eliminate Spike and Angel&mdash;attacks Angel Investigations, only to angrily proclaim that Spike does not have a soul.

After Spike and Illyria managed to subdue Liss, he discussed the possibility that he may indeed be soulless again with Angel. Though Spike admitted to having been feeling "off his game" as of late, he was still adamant that he was on A.I.'s side. Though Angel expressed a belief that Spike may be going insane again as he had when he was first ensouled, he nonetheless agreed to allow Spike to stay. While Angel and Illyria searched for the recently-abducted Connor, Laura Kay Weathermill, a former watcher and member of the new Angel Investigations, attempted to deduce what had happened to Spike, eventually concluding that he had been infected by a rare spiritual parasite during his "ghost" phase that was now "feeding" on his soul&mdash;possibly explaining some of his recently morally ambiguous actions such as sleeping with vampires. As such, Liss may not have registered his soul's presence as the parasite was "corrupting'" it; Laura subsequently removed the parasite. Despite being cured of the "soul flu," Spike nevertheless decided to take a leave of absence to figure out who he really was without trying to beat Angel, realizing that, even without the "soul flu," he had been trying to make up prophecies about himself simply to escape Angel's shadow, with Angel's complete understanding of his situation.

Las Vegas
Spike relocates to Las Vegas with his associates, the telepathic fish Betta George and pyrokinetic Beck, attempting to create "Team Spike" and keep it small. Spike learned about Wolfram & Hart's presence in the city, but his attempts at stopping them were hampered when a confrontation with Jeremy who is possessed by the liaison to the Senior Partners for this branch, and a man called John - who is involved with Drusilla, and is convinced that Spike "stole" his soul&mdash;resulted in Spike being thrown out of a high office window, requiring Groosalug and his dragon to rescue him. When John took Beck hostage, he attempted to extract Spike's soul with a ritual, but Spike revealed that he was still good even without the soul due to the changes he had undergone in his time with the Buffy. Although a visiting Willow offered to restore his soul to him, Spike&mdash;reasoning that John would kill Beck whether he or Spike got the soul&mdash;had Willow send the soul into Drusilla instead, although he took it back after Drusilla killed John because he understood that she couldn't cope with it. He later met with Lilah Morgan&mdash;who had returned to Earth to evaluate the Las Vegas branch of Wolfram & Hart, subsequently executing them for their failure to recruit or eliminate Spike&mdash;who revealed that reality was about to experience an elaborate upheaval that the Senior Partners were preparing to try to escape. Spike then takes command of a ship that Wolfram & Hart were planning on using to escape, a pod-like apparatus piloted by a crew of bug-like beings, and decides to follow the Senior Partners out of this dimension in order to figure out why they're running.

Twilight Crisis
Spike returned from a different dimension with his ship and crew after discovering why the Senior Partners fled this dimension. After having been out of action for a long time, Spike took to a coffee shop in London when he got up to speed on the new anti-Slayer, pro-vampire world due to Harmony exposing Slayers and vampires to the world. Spike was quick to get up to speed with rumors of "Twilight," the leader of an anti-Slayer cabal, and was quick to ascertain that Twilight was, in fact, Angel. During this time, he chased leads and pulled together a cogent theory of the prophecy which Buffy and Angel both pertain to, and later sought out Buffy and her friends, arriving at the climax of their confrontation with Twilight, appearing to the Scooby Gang as they and Angel fought off a mass of extra-dimensional demons, claiming that he alone could stop the current crisis as reality's "evolution" was thwarted by Buffy rejecting her role.

Reunited, Buffy thanks Spike for destroying the Turok-Han and closing the Hellmouth and also revealed that she had known he was still alive for a time, but merely could not find the time to get in contact with him. Spike explained the nature of the prophecy she was party to, and informed her that the Seed of Wonder (the source of magic and "heart of the world") currently resided in Sunnydale and had the power to end all of the chaos of Twilight. Though Buffy still had romantic feelings for Spike, she did not give in to them. Together, they delved into the heart of the Hellmouth where they found the Seed and its protector, the Master. When Angel returned, possessed now by the Twilight entity, he attempted to kill Spike, forcing Spike to retreat to his ship and recover from the sunlight. From there, he watched as Willow&mdash;in full connection to the Earth through the Seed&mdash;led a charge against the military and new dimension demons, and then witnessed magic suddenly disappear from the world as a result of Buffy destroying the Seed. Spike witnessed demons disappearing into the sky, and immediately gave chase to one that escaped.

San Francisco
Four months after the battle for the Seed, Spike went to visit Spike on the fire escape of Xander and Dawn's apartment in San Francisco. In direct contrast to Willow, Spike emphatically supported Buffy's decision to destroy the Seed, and gave her a stirring pep talk about always making the hard decisions before flying off in his ship. Eventually, he settled down in San Fransisco with the remaining Scoobies. After attending Buffy's apartment warming party, Spike joined her and Willow on patrol and tried to warn her that something was coming after her.

When Buffy was mistakenly held responsible for a string of murders in which the victims had no apparent cause of death by the San Francisco Police Department, Spike met with her on the top of a skyscraper. Spike told her that he was still investigating the demon that was pursuing Buffy. Subsequently, Spike was called along with the other Scoobies to discuss one of the consequences of destroying the Seed: all new vampires that have been sired since then have risen mindless and feral. Buffy also introduced an apparent new ally: Severin. Spike finally tracked down the demon who had been tracking Buffy at Alcatraz. After a brief skirmish, the demon, Koh, explained that he was freed from a mystical prison when Buffy destroyed the Seed and, by the laws of his people, he was now bound to serve Buffy. Spike didn't buy it and attacked Koh with rumors he heard about someone or something trying to assassinate Buffy. Koh explained that the rumors were actually about the prophesied "Siphon," a being with the power to drain mystical energy from anyone he touches, who may very well be targeting Buffy.

Spike and Koh quickly tracked Buffy and Severin to an abandoned warehouse, where they discovered the area surrounded by cops, along with SFPD detective Robert Dowling. Entering the warehouse, they caught Severin, revealed to be the Siphon, in the midst of draining Buffy's powers. Severin effortlessly knocked out Koh and seized the opportunity to drain Spike's powers as well, but the two were saved when Detective Dowling entered the warehouse and shot Severin in the chest. With Severin exposed as the real murderer, Buffy was then cleared of all charges. Though Koh insisted that Buffy would want to talk to Spike for risking his life for her, Spike chose to keep his distance.

Spike went for a police ride along with Dowling, teaching him the basics of demon hunting. Dowling got Spike to explain his complicated relationship with Buffy in a brief, succinct way, and encouraged Dowling to pursue Buffy if he was interested. Dowling saw through Spike's ruse and encouraged Spike to tell Buffy how he felt before it was too late. Buffy texted Spike, alerting him that she needed him and Spike went to Buffy's apartment complex to find Buffy dangling her feet in the pool while looking distressed. Spike said he had something to tell Buffy, presumably to admit his feelings, but Buffy asked to go first - she informed Spike that was pregnant and wanted an abortion.. After listing the reasons why she could not have a baby, Buffy asked Spike if he would go with her and he agreed.

However, a zompire came and ripped off Buffy's arm, revealing her to be a robot. It had turned out Andrew was the one who put Buffy's mind in a robot, but forgot to install periods or food consumtion, which had turned out Buffy was not pregnant. Her real body being elsewhere, Spike and Buffy confronted Andrew. Once the event was over, Spike decided to leave Buffy, admitting that he still loved her but could never figure her heart out, and departed on his bug ship.

Finding Himself
Wanting to come to terms with himself, Spike left San Francisco and the Slayer residing there, and subsequently underwent a state of highly uncharacteristic brooding. His bugs began to fear that he was unfit to lead them, but with encouragement from them and himself, Spike slowly recovered enough to restate his position. Soon afterward, Spike and his crew were ambushed by lunar demons. He fought them off only to get attacked and captured by those same demons.

Spike was soon faced with Angel's bitter enemies Pearl and Nash, who were seeking the remaining shards of the Seed. Quickly catching on to their desires, Spike somehow convinced them that he was a valuable asset to them and led them back to the former residence of Sunnydale, where they could gather as much shards of the Seed as they could. He reminsced about his time in Sunnydale and Buffy until they eventually reach the place were the remains of the Seed would be. He explained to the demons that someone had beat them to it and is proved right by a sultry demon named Morgan, explaining that she was trying to find a way back to her homeworld.

A fight quickly broke out Spike and the siblings but it was brief and they soon enough escape, thanks to the help of Sebastian and his other bugs. Morgan and Spike discuss things, her elaborating on wanting to find her way back to her homeworld and that she was indeed a succubus but a more "classier one", better known as a "higher-up courtesan demon". However, she remained evasive and of questionable intent, not going unnoticed by the bugs and to an extent, Spike. Despite this shadiness, Spike nevertheless agreed to help her and they shared some sort of flirtatious, intimate moment. He even admitted to her that he felt like he was noboby's expectation of a hero and that he wasn't as confident and sure of himself as once was (indirectly refering to his soulless self). Sebastian began to worry even more by this, fearing that his leader was falling for her charms.

Spike and Morgan travel to her home, an unknown Hellmouth. While on the way, he was in the solariam with Morgan. She started up conversation with him, seemingly very friendly and supportive. Morgan quickly began to question him about Buffy, attempting to want to comfort him while he wallowed in his sorrows. However, it was interrupted when the reached Easter Island, where the Hellmouth resided. She once again began to come on to him but Spike rejected her, coming to an epiphany that he now understood why Buffy rejected him offer to come with her on his Bug ship and that what he did was unfair to her. However, she did not stop and in a moment of weakness, he kissed her. He pulled away though and rejected her once more, claiming that any relationship they shared wouldn't be "real". He went on to describe his love for Buffy, with whom he shared something "genuine". Furious, Morgan slapped him and her true motives were revealed. Morgan had the shard with her the whole time. Consequently, he fought with her, the bugs almost succeeding in capturing her but she escaped.

When Angel needed assistance to fight the resurrected Eyghon the Sleepwalker, he contacted Spike for back-up, reasoning that, as vampires with souls, he and Spike are the only two beings immune to Eyghon's ability to possess and control the dead or unconscious.

Slayers
"Death is your art. You make it with your hands day after day. That final gasp, that look of peace. And part of you is desperate to know: What's it like? Where does it lead you? And now you see, that's the secret. Not the punch you didn't throw or the kicks you didn't land. She really wanted it. Every Slayer has a death Wish. Even you."

- Spike to Buffy

Spike's reputation is perhaps most unique because he has fought and killed two Slayers in his lifetime. He was once very proud of his conquests, and admitted to Buffy that he was able to overcome the Slayers because he perceived their desire to be free of their burden. He believed that all Slayers possessed an obsession with death, Buffy included. Ironically, Spike seemed to have some sort of obsession with Slayers. He did not fear them as other vampires did, but sought them out with the sole intention of fighting them to the death. He told Buffy how he first learned about the Slayer from Angelus, who spoke of her in an attempt to scare Spike. Spike, however, became haunted by the thought of fighting Slayers, and pursued them. His first victim was Xin Rong, a Slayer active in China during the Boxer Rebellion. She managed to cut him above his left eye with her sword, giving Spike his trademark scar. He overpowered her and fed on her special blood, which he revealed is an aphrodisiac to vampires. Later, in the 1970's, he tracked down Nikki Wood in New York City. They had two heated battles, the second of which resulted in her death by having her neck snapped. Spike stripped her body of her leather duster, which he wore from then on as a symbol of victory.

Before joining Buffy and her friends in Sunnydale and fighting to regain his soul, Spike attempted many times to make Buffy his third victim. His fixation with the Slayer eventually evolved into a perverse obsession with Buffy herself, and later, genuine love. His devotion to her has become a driving motivation for him and his actions. After gaining a soul, Spike's perspectives have also changed dramatically. He no longer has any desire to kill Slayers, a prime example being Dana, a Slayer he encountered during his time with Angel Investigations. Also, he had previously met the estranged son of the second Slayer he killed while preparing for the fight against the First Evil in Sunnydale. When confronted by a grownup Robin Wood, Spike did not apologize for murdering his mother, but threatened him for his pointless vendetta; the monster that killed Xin Rong and Nikki Wood ceased to exist when Spike regained his soul. Spike no longer wears Nikki Wood's coat, but an identical one he received from the Italian Branch of Wolfram & Hart.

Personality
Spike can be seen as something of a paradox amongst vampires, and frequently challenges his kinds' conventions and limitations. He embraces certain elements of humanity, such as love and loyalty, that would be considered too human (and therefore offensive) by other vampires. If anything, Spike can be considered proof that someone needn't a soul in order to develop a conscience. With or without a soul, Spike displays a strong sense of honor and devotion: leaving anonymous flowers to show respect for Joyce Summers's death, enduring torture at the hands of Glory rather than reveal Dawn's identity as the Key, continuing to aid the Scooby Gang after Buffy's death while assusting Willow and Tara in taking care of Dawn, keeping his promise to leave Sunnydale after helping buffy to stop Angelus, and choosing to remain in Los Angeles with Angel's crew after Fred's death because "it's what she would have wanted." Many of Spike's actions, good or evil, are seen to be motivated by love for either Drusilla or Buffy. His loyalties lie in the same place as his passions, and unlike Angel or Angelus he is not much for philosophizing about good and evil. Spike honestly likes Joyce and Dawn and has never seriously threatened either one, even before he got his chip. He also has great respect for Willow and Tara and had a friendly relationship with both. However, he seems to have a constant hatred of Xander, once calling him "a glorified bricklayer," and even slapped him in the back of the head once, stating that his chip-induced headache was "worth it." Despite all of this, he is able to put differences aside in certain situations and later for the greater good.

One of Spike's most notable personality traits is his lust for violence and his love of brawling, making him quite a thrill-seeker and adrenaline junkie. He has noted that he finds the very act of violence therapeutic: he responds to a lackey's incompetence by snapping the neck of a hostage that he considers to be "too old to eat" and notes that he feels better afterward. Similarly, during his drunken pining for Drusilla, he notes that getting pent-up aggression out of his system by staking and driving off several vampires "put(s) things in perspective' for him." After a prolonged period of being unable to bite or hurt humans, Spike is delighted to discover that he is able to fight demons and gladly accompanies the Scooby Gang on patrol, proving that it does not much matter to him what he is fighting for so long as he can fight. Even when Spike is a protector and pseudo-big-brother for Dawn, they look outside to see demons destroying the town and Spike smiles, remarking that it "just looked like fun." Despite his love of violence and mindless destruction, Spike is highly intelligent. He has displayed excellent skills of insight and analysis, particularly on relationships. However, despite this, he was often delusional about his relationship with Drusilla and refused to acknowledge her acts of infidelity. Additionally, despite his love of violence, Spike claims that he does not enjoy pain, whereas Angelus does.

In contrast to the brooding Angel, Spike has a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. A polar opposite to his callow and simpering human nature, Spike, as a vampire, possesses a swaggering posture and enjoys living by nobody's rules save his own. He has a habit of making pithy remarks and glib insults, even toward the few he does not view as antagonists. Among his favorite targets are Angel, Xander, Giles, and (to a lesser extent) Buffy. Whenever he is sickened, injured, frightened, angered, or overall disgusted, Spike typically shouts the phrase, "bloody hell," which is more or less his catchphrase.

After Buffy's resurrection, Spike became a full-fledged member of the Scooby Gang, but was still prone to murderous impulses and performing unethical activities due to his lack of a soul. For example, when he believed his chip had stopped working, he tried to attack an innocent woman with only a slight hesitation and a pep talk to himself to overcome performance anxiety, and when he tried to earn money by selling Suvolte Demon eggs on the black market, even with the knowledge that such eggs could wipe out Sunnydale. However, he hesitated before feeding off of the fresh corpse of a young girl that Drusilla killed.

Spike often nicknames people, both as insults and as terms of endearment. Referring to Dawn, for instance, as "Little Bit," "Nibblet," and "Platelet;" to Drusilla and Buffy as "Pet;" he also calls Willow "Red;" has nicknamed Angel "Poof," "Peaches," and "Captain Forehead;" Gunn "Charlie Boy;" and Illyria "Little Shiva," "Smurf," and "Blue Meanie." He also once called Buffy "Slutty the Vampire Slayer." He has given himself the nickname "Big Bad," a reference to the nickname for the major enemies faced by the Scooby Gang.

Spike speaks with a strong lower class English accent and slang; while suffering from amnesia, he labels Giles as a "nancy boy" for being English, before realizing "Bloody hell! Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks, oh God! I'm English!" However, Spike also retains something of his literary intellect from his human side, routinely referencing poetry, songs, and literature; he on occasion even waxes poetic on the nature of love and life (and unlife) as being driven by blood, reasoning that blood is more powerful than any supernatural force because it is what separates the living from the dead.

Spike often treats his vulnerability to the sun as simply an annoying inconvenience, rather than a limitation; he drives in broad daylight in vehicles with blacked-out windows, and he regularly travels outside during the day, using a blanket for cover. He also has a taste for normal food and drink, such as beer, whiskey, cookies, hot chocolate (even asking Joyce Summers if she has any of "those little marshmallows"), chocolates, Buffalo wings, and onion blossoms, constituting the most varied diet of any vampire on the show. Sometimes he adds extra ingredients into his blood, such as Weetabix (for texture), and spices and burba weed (for flavor). He also smokes cigarettes (as do many vampires); preferring the brand Morley, which he lights with a trademark silver Zippo lighter.

Spike appears to be a fan of pop culture; when held captive by the Scooby Gang, his biggest concern was missing his favorite soap opera, Passions. He makes references to movies and shows such as Star Trek, Star Wars, Dawson's Creek, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Ghostbusters, Knight Rider, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. After his hands were cut off by Dana and subsequently reattached at Wolfram & Hart, he is instructed to play video games for physical therapy, including Donkey Kong and Crash Bandicoot, and played a Game Boy Advance.

Spike also appears to have somewhat of a dislike for Halloween, much like most vampires and demons, who largely avoid hunting on Halloween because they believe it to be an idiotic cliché, to the extent that he took personal offense when a teenage group of self-proclaimed vampire rebels hunted on Halloween and constantly criticized Wolfram & Hart's Halloween Bash.

In contrast to Angel, whose alter ego Angelus is starkly different in character, Spike's personality remains relatively the same whether he has a soul or not, the difference being that Spike is now a (jaded) genuine hero at heart rather than an evildoer trying to do good for Buffy's sake. Additionally, Spike also has complete respect for human life to the extent that he was unwilling to sacrifice thousands of innocent people just to save Fred and was horrified when Illyria killed Jeremy Johns to help him defeat Non.

Appearance
Spike has a punk look which strongly resembles that of English rock musician Billy Idol. His hair is platinum blonde and combed back, although previously it was a natural medium brown (unstyled) as well as dyed black. Spike received a scar on his eyebrow from the sword of the Slayer he killed in 1900. Angel once sarcastically asked him, "What color is your hair? Radioactive?" He has been called "Captain Peroxide" by both Xander and Angel. His nails are also painted black.

Spike usually wears long black leather coats, including one that he took from a Nazi officer and another that he took as a trophy from Nikki Wood, the second Slayer he killed. He wore the Slayer's black duster for over twenty-five years. When the coat was destroyed by a bomb planted by the Immortal in Italy, Spike heartbrokenly declared it to be irreplaceable. However, the Italy branch of Wolfram & Hart quickly supplied him with a whole wardrobe of new, nearly identical ones which he happily began wearing. His trademark look includes the leather duster, a black t-shirt or v-neck shirt and black denim pants, usually with heavy boots. He also wore a red long-sleeved shirt fairly often. Spike has also occasionally worn black or blue button-up shirts, black wifebeaters, and a black long-sleeved shirt which was torn apart during the demon trials that won Spike his soul.

On rare occasions, Spike deviates from his trademark look, wearing a stolen tweed suit while on the run from a demonic loan shark, a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of shorts belonging to Xander after he accidentally shrunk his normal clothes in the wash, and a blue sweatshirt that he described as a "costume."

Powers and Abilities
In addition to the the standard powers and vulnerabilities of a vampire (albeit substantially enhanced due to his age), Spike is famous for having killed two Slayers. His skill is so great that after re-gaining his soul, Buffy even once went as far as referring to him as the strongest fighter the Scoobies have during their fight against the First. Spike is a highly skilled, and versatile fighter in both armed and unarmed combat. For example, he is able to briefly overcome Illyria during a testing of her abilities when she is at the height of her powers, however he had been training with her for months and had adapted to her abilities so others could have achieved this as well if given the time Spike had. Illyria criticizes his (and others') ability to adapt, calling it "compromise." He is able to withstand excessive amounts of pain for extended periods of time, particularly when properly motivated, however Angel has shown this same trait. While not as skilled or as sadistic as Angelus, Spike also proves himself to be effective at torture, noting that he had gained "screams, various fluids, and a name" from Doctor Sparrow. Much like Angel, he is proficient in various forms of martial arts, and his typical fighting style blends karate, kung fu, and others.

Spike often displays insight and skills in perception and observation, especially with regard to relationships and personalities, so long as the relationship in question doesn't concern him personally. This ability allows him to wield powerful psychological weapons as easily and effectively as physical ones. For example, when he wants to create disharmony among the Scoobies, Spike divides-and-conquers with exploiting tensions that exist under the surface to turn Buffy and her friends against each other. He explains to Buffy that he was able to defeat two Slayers because he sensed and exploited their secret desires to be free of their burden. Spike's skills of analysis allowed him to be the first to see through Tara's abusive and controlling family, forced Buffy and Angel to admit that they were more than "just friends," and identify when and why some relationships, such as that between Buffy and Riley, are not meant to last, feeding Riley's insecurities in an effort to sabotage his relationship with Buffy so that Spike can pursue her. His analytical skills also help him in battle from time to time; for example, he identified Illyria's fighting style as a Tae Kwon Do/Brazilian Ninjitsu hybrid.

Although capable of developing sound battle strategies, Spike (particularly in the days before receiving his chip and being ensouled) often loses patience with anything more complicated than outright attack:

He is also impatient to fight the Slayer upon his initial arrival in Sunnydale; the attack is supposed to coincide with the Night of Saint Vigeous, but he "couldn't wait" to go after the Slayer and attacks the night before, which results in the deaths of many vampires of the Order of Aurelius. However, Spike did exercise patience when he was confined to a wheelchair after a brutal battle with the Scoobies left him paraplegic for several months. Feigning weakness, he endured tortuous weeks watching Angelus sexually pursue Drusilla as he waited for the right time to strike against his rival.

Much like Angel, Spike, presumably due to his long lifetime, often displays in-depth knowledge of different demon species and other supernatural beings, being aware of Rack and surprised at Willow's trips to his place and also knowing that Wolfram & Hart represents "the worst evil in the universe." Spike has also proven to be far more intelligent than others give him credit for; for example, he quickly realizes that Angel and Twilight are one and the same.

Spike's "vampire constitution" provides him with an extremely high tolerance for alcohol (which he regularly consumes in copious quantities). Due to his experience in criminal activities, he is skilled at picking locks, hotwiring cars, and pick-pocketing. He is also capable of easily operating various vehicles, such as various cars, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and a Winnebago. He has also been shown using video game systems and a computer, treating injuries, and playing poker and pool. Spike is also seen speaking Latin, Luganda (a language of Uganda, where he meets the demon shaman), and the language of Fyarl Demons. Spike has shown to be significantly more competent and comfortable with modern technology than Angel; his knowledge allowed him to turn an old crypt in a Sunnydale cemetery into a comfortable home with electricity and cable television.

When Spike was transformed into a ghost-like intangible state following the destruction of Sunnydale and the Hellmouth and his subsequent materialization at Wolfram & Hart, he was capable of walking through solid objects. He was initially unable to make contact with objects around him until he learned how to focus his abilities through desire, allowing him to make brief contact with people and things if he concentrated enough. However, this ability was relatively useless in a fight, as he was unable to pick up a wooden bar to hit the demon Tezcatcatl, and required a few moments to properly punch a cyborg that was strangling Gunn. Naturally, he lost the capabilities he had as a spectre after being recorporealized, as seen when he attempted to phase through Angel's office door and comically bounced right off.

Romantic

 * Drusilla- Drusilla is Spike's initial love interest. Spike referred to his century-long lover as "the face of his salvaton," praising her for delivering him from "mediocrity." It could be said that Spike's doting devotion to and co-dependancy on his mother transferred to Drusilla after he was forced to kill his mother. Upon ariving to Sunnydale, Spike's main motivation was to help Dru recover from having been nearly killed by a mob in Prague. However, Drusilla began to cheat on him with Angelus while Spike was stuck in a wheelchair, prompting him to betray Angelus and escape Sunnydale with Drusilla against her will. Drusilla cheated on him with a chaos demon, prompting Spike to return to Sunnydale to create a love potion. He later changes his mind and decides that torturing her will win her back, though this too fails. After Spike gets the chip in his head, Drusilla returns to Sunnydale in hopes of reforming their "family." However, Drusilla's conquest was short lived when Spike threatened to stake her as a symbol of his love for Buffy, Drusilla revealing that she had known that he was in love with the Slayer long before he knew thanks to her precognitive abilities. After escaping, Drusilla gave up on Spike and fled. The two were briefly reunited when Drusilla was hired by Wolfram & Hart to assist her new lover, John, who went after Spike in his warped belief that the vampire stole his soul, Spike briefly transferring his soul to Drusilla to protect it before he takes it back as he recognises that her mental state cannot cope with the guilt that his soul is causing her. Spike then had Willow admit Dru to the Mosaic Wellness Center.


 * Cecily Addams- A woman that William was in love with during his life as a human. However, she was completely insensitive to his feelings, considering him "beneath [her]." Years and years later, Cecily became Halfrek, a vengence demon, and instantly recognized Spike. Spike recognized her too but both denied that they know each other, too embarassed to reveal it.


 * Harmony Kendall- After becoming a vampire, Harmony began a relationship with Spike. However, he saw her as nothing more than a sexual plaything and a nuisance rather than a true girlfriend. Spike expressed extreme impatience at Harmony while trying to find the Gem of Amarra, often violently threatening her and yelling at her. When Harmony complained about him loving the tunnels (where the gem was) more than her, he had bluntly replied " I love syphillis more than you."  His anger had reached the point where had had even staked her with a stake, trying to kill her. However, she had survived thanks to the Gem of Amara; Spike seemed unregretful of his attempted killing of her.  They broke up when Spike was captured by the Initiative though they reunited when Harmony's plan to kill Buffy failed. Their relationship ended when Spike dumped her to reunite with Drusilla and Harmony later left town after trying to kill him because of it. The two are reunited at Wolfram and Hart where they have a brief but disastrous sexual fling, because Spike's soul, conscience and devotion to Buffy prevented him from wavering. Later on, they are able to have a civil, humorously heart-to-heart conversation in which Spike alleviates some of Harmony's insecurities. A year and a half later, when Buffy mockingly calls him "Blondie Bear", Spike told her to not call him that, as it reminded him of Harmony who, according to him, completely ruined Dancing with the Stars and was a "moron".


 * Buffy Summers- Spike's interest in Buffy began as a one-sided, stalker-like obsession and Buffy cut him out of her life and alienated him from the Scoobies when she discovered his feelings. However, Buffy was moved when he endured torture at the hands of Glory to protect Dawn's identity as the Key and accepted him back into the fold. Their relationship evolved after Buffy was ripped out of Heaven and began a reluctant sexual relationship with him. Ashamed, Buffy made several failed attempts to end their relationship before finally revealing it to her friends. When she finally managed to say no to Spike, he made an aborted attempt to rape her. Ashamed, he left Sunnydale and underwent several dangerous trials to restore his soul, earning Buffy's trust. As Spike prepared to sacrifice himself to close the Hellmouth, Buffy said that she loved him, much to his disbelief. He subsequently declined to tell her about his survival and return to life in Los Angeles as he felt that it would cheapen his sacrifice, but she found out on her own anyway. After reuniting with her during the Twilight crisis, he followed her to San Francisco, living in his Bug ship while assisting Buffy any way he could, giving her pep talks on the fire escape and being a welcomed guest at Buffy's housewarming party. Both Eldre Koh and Detective Dowling of the San Francisco Police Department got Spike to admit he still had feelings for Buffy and both encouraged him to tell her. Right when he was about to confess how he felt, Buffy threw him for a loop and announced that she was pregnant and intended to have an abortion. She asked Spike to come with her, and he agreed. However, Buffy was revealed to be a robot which Andrew had caused, the real Buffy's body somewhere else. Afterwards, once the robot crisis was solved, Spike resolved to leave her, stating that he loved her but he was never sure where her heart's at and he was sick of being "jerked around". However, he reassured her that he didn't blame her and that he believed in her, knowing that she'll always do the right thing and that he still had her back. He then left on his Bug ship, much to the sadness of Buffy. Following his departure, Spike went through a lost and depressed state of mind, saying in his inner monlogue that there would always be darkness for him and that his sort can't take the light. While leading Pearl and Nash in Sunnydale, he had many reminsces of her and seemed to become once again depressed. Through his conversations with the succubus Morgan, Spike realized that leaving Buffy the way he did in San Francisco was wrong and unfair to her, given the cirumstances. He would also mention to her that he would rather be miserable through love that was real than in something that was happy but fake.


 * Buffybot- After Buffy rejected him, Spike arranged for Warren Mears to create the Buffybot for him as a sex toy. Though he initially enjoyed it, it resulted in him being captured by Glory's minions under the belief that he was the Key. Buffy later posed as the inactive Buffybot to see whether or not Spike had betrayed Dawn's identity as the Key, presenting him with a kiss when she discovered the lengths he went in order to protect them. After Buffy's death, the Buffybot was reprogrammed to perform Slayer duties, but its original programming resurfaced at times, much to Spike's dismay.


 * Anya Jenkins- While both were grieving over their failed relationships, Spike and Anya drowned their sorrows in alcohol and had sex in the Magic Box. This became complicated due to the cameras The Trio inserted in the Magic Box, and their liaison was found out by the entire Scooby Gang. They never interacted romantically again. Nonetheless, they shared a certain bond due to their then-states of powerlessness, namely Spike's anti-human aggression chip and Anya's human status.


 * Fred Burkle- Spike initially flirted with Fred after he materialized at Wolfram & Hart, and his feelings later evolved into affection and esteem. Fred was the first person in Angel's team to believe that Spike was worth saving and she worked tirelessly to recorporealize him (while denying being taken in by his charm, saying that she simply wants to use Wolfram & Hart's resources for the good that Angel promised). When fighting the demented ghost Matthias Pavayne, Spike sacrifices a chance at becoming corporeal to save Fred's life, and ultimately chooses to stay in Los Angeles with the Angel Investigations team in honor of her memory when she is killed by Illyria usurping her body, later remarking to Illyria in a nonchalant, matter-of-fact manner that he did indeed love Fred. In fact, after Illyria took over Fred, Spike expressed visible concern to Angel that Fred may very well be gone, which is very uncharacteristic of him showing weaknesses or vulnerability before his former nemesis. This signifies how close Spike must have gotten emotionally with Fred . In After the Fall, Spike questions himself, debating over the idea that he had romantic feelings towards Fred. Spike's memories of Fred were used, along with Wesley's, to make a monstrous Illyria hesitate to destroy all things, Betta George telepathically sending their memories of Fred into Illyria to make her realize that what she was doing was not something Fred would want. Spike later admitted to Illyria that he loved Fred, but not the same way that Wesley did.


 * Laura Kay Weathermill- Spike and Laura had sex together, while undergoing the side effects of Illyria being in "heat." Once Illyria's influences wore off, Spike and Laura agreed that they had no physical attraction to one another at all.

Antagonistic

 * Angel- Though often allies, Spike and Angel always had a tense relationship and rivalry whether they were on the side of good or evil. Angel reflected that part of their hostility towards each other is because Spike has always wanted to be Angel, noting that every action Spike takes is something Angel has done first; Drusilla turned Spike as a substitute for what she couldn't have with Angelus, Spike tried to take Angelus's reputation after Angel dropped off the map, and the chip was initially Spike's equivalent of a soul before he actually received his own again. The most direct cause of their conflict is often because their romantic attentions are focused on the same woman, either Drusilla or Buffy, with their antagonistic relationship only strengthening when Angel and Spike realize that they both are in love with Buffy, causing more animosity directed towards each other. Many people say that they are alike, being ensouled vampires, but both Angel and Spike deny it, always saying that they are nothing alike. Once, in anger, Spike declared that he blames Angel in part for the murders he committed without a soul. Though both eventually come to fight together on the side of good, their personalities clash with Spike taking their missions far less seriously, although the two make an effective team against such foes as the guardians of the Deeper Well or their later fight against Illyria. Despite their constant antagonism, there does seem to be some affection between them, as Spike appears genuinely happy to see Angel and even hugs him in "School Hard," and Angelus greets Spike with a kiss on the forehead in "Innocence." He and Angel had some sort of sexual history. Spike later left Los Angeles because he recognized that Angel had been accurate when he accused Spike of wanting to be him, acknowledging that his interest in the Shanshu Prophecy was mainly based around beating Angel rather than wanting to be human himself.


 * Robin Wood- The son of Nikki Wood, a Slayer killed by Spike. Robin spent his life searching for the vampire that killed his mother in hopes of vengeance. With the help of Rupert Giles, he manages to trap the ensouled Spike in a room filled with crosses. Playing a song that the First Evil used as Spike's trigger, Robin turned Spike from his rational self to a murderous beast. Though Spike eventually turned the tables on him, he spared him out of respect for Nikki, but vowed to kill him should Robin attempt to try something again.


 * Xander Harris- One of Spike's most volatile relationships is with Xander. On two occasions, Xander was forced to accept Spike into his home, which he did with extreme reluctance and open disgust. Even when Spike was ensouled, Xander remained distrustful of him, certain for some time that he would attempt to rape Buffy again at the first opportunity. Despite this, they are capable of working together when the situation calls for it, most notably when the girls of the Scooby Gang were all the victims of a love spell.


 * Rupert Giles- Aside from watching episodes of Passions together, Spike and Giles had somewhat of a bad relationship. When his feelings for Buffy became known to the Scoobies at large, Giles' reaction was the most volatile; when Spike appeared at the Magic Box, the other Scoobies limited themselves to verbally attacking him, but Giles shoved him back into a wall before informing him that the Scoobies were neither his friends nor his way to Buffy and ordered him to get over his feelings for her. Nonetheless, Giles eventually softened his attitude towards him when he saw Spike's commitment to the good fight. However, during the First's campaign, Giles conspired with Robin Wood to kill Spike, believing him to be a distraction for Buffy, straining their relationship after Robin failed.


 * Wesley Wyndam-Pryce- When Spike joins Angel Investigations, Wesley is the only member which interacts least with the vampire. Possibly because the former Watcher has difficulty in believing that the arch-nemesis of the council became a kind person. Spike has for this last, the same consideration as he had for Rupert Giles, considering him stuck, too sensitive and old british (ironically, before meeting Drusilla, Spike had a similar personality). However, while Illyria abused Fred's appearance, the vampire demonstrated certain respect for Wesley in mourning, by limiting interaction with the Old One so that she teams up with him on the ground.

Parental

 * Anne Pratt- Spike's mother. Some time in his adulthood, William's mother became ill and he took care of her, often reading her his poetry. His focus on her detracted from his social life and, despite his mother's urgings, he had no interest in finding a romantic partner and considered her as the woman in his life. After being sired by Drusilla, Spike sired his mother with the intention of saving her life and bringing her with them. However, becoming a vampire brought out the darker aspects of Anne's personality. She tells him that she had hoped a girlfriend would remove his smothering presence from her life and that she resented being a captive audience to his doting presence and terrible poetry. She then implied that he had always had sort of an Oedipal complex with her, wanting to have her in a sexual way. Grieved by this change, William killed his mother.


 * Joyce Summers- After his breakup with Drusilla, Joyce gives Spike hot chocolate and advice. The two also shared a love of the soap opera Passions. Spike was greatly saddened by her death because he felt she was the only one who treated him decently.

Other

 * Faith Lehane - While temporarily inhabiting Buffy's body, Faith mercilessly flirted with Spike which visibly affected him. When she later returned to Sunnydale to help the Scoobies fight against the First Evil, they revisited that conversation, with Spike remembering every word ("It's not the kind of thing a man forgets"). The two conversed easily, relating to each other on a personal level. They discussed how they have both been "dangerous" in the past, and acknowledged each other's efforts toward redemption. This connection did not go unnoticed by Buffy, who was visibly jealous of the pair's chemistry and fledgling friendship. Faith's complicity in the mutiny against Buffy led her and Spike to fight before he left the Summers' home, although they ultimately became allies once more in the final battle against the First.


 * Willow Rosenberg - Spike had great affection and respect for Willow, who was one of the few members of the Scooby Gang who was genuinely friendly to him throughout his time in the group. When Spike kidnapped her in an attempt to force her to do a love spell, he confided with her his sorrows, and she awkwardly comforted him. Later, Spike offered to sire her when he attacked her; though Willow responded by smashing a lamp over his head, she nonetheless seemed flattered by his offer. Willow treated the "neutered" Spike with sympathy and kindness when Buffy and Xander were completely unsympathetic and even delighted in tormenting him. Though she joined in the Scoobies in ostracizing him after his feelings for Buffy become known, she, like Buffy, softened toward him when he endures torture at Glory's hands to protect Dawn. Spike was also respectful of her relationship with Tara, and even defends her decision to attack Glory, and Willow personally apologized to him when Tara's insane behavior gets him injured. Following Buffy's death, Spike helped Willow and Tara to raise Dawn, later showing concern over Willow's magic addiction and intervening on her behalf when Anya attempted to peer-pressure Willow into using a spell during her recovery. While Spike was investigating the Wolfram & Hart Las Vegas branch a long while after his resurrection, Spike contacted Willow, reasoning that his enemies would expect him to look to the Angel Investigations team for help. Willow helped him and his team, also re-ensouling Spike in the process after the soul was given to Drusilla. The two later decided that they would keep this team-up between themselves so as to leave Buffy out of the loop for obvious reasons. Spike occasionally called Willow "Red" in an affectionate manner. During Willow's time in Vegas with Spike, he often referred to her by her shortened name, "Will."


 * Dawn Summers - Dawn initially had a crush on Spike, though it faded when she realized that he was in love with Buffy. Their relationship soon evolves into that of a big brother and little sister. Their relationship is briefly strained when Spike attempts to rape Buffy, leading Dawn to threaten to set Spike on fire should he hurt Buffy in any way, though they began to repair their relationship when they discovered Spike's ensoulment, with Dawn being quick to defend Spike when Andrew asked why Buffy was so desperate to save him.


 * Tara Maclay- Much like Willow, Spike had great affection and respect for Tara. When Tara's family attempted to take her home with them, Spike, realizing that their tale about Tara's "demonic heritage" was a lie, proved it by punching Tara in the nose, which caused his chip to go off. When his feelings for Buffy became known, Tara was the only one of the Scoobies to speak civilly to him in a subsequent encounter at the Magic Box, calmly telling him to leave as apposed to the others, who openly criticized and insulted him. When Tara was brain-sucked by Glory, Spike defended Willow's decision to attack Glory, and later attempted to comfort an insane Tara when she accidentally exposed him to sunlight and was reduced to tears when Willow snapped at her. After Buffy's death, Spike helped Willow and Tara raise Dawn, and this, along with his remaining loyal to the Scoobies in the months before Buffy's resurrection, caused Tara to respect him. Tara was one of the few members of the Scooby Gang who was genuinely friendly towards Spike, to the extent that she was the only Scooby who believed that his feelings for Buffy were genuine and not just a twisted obsession. When Buffy confides to Tara about her and Spike's dangerous sexual relationship, Tara attempts, multiple times, to stop him from flirting with her. Spike's reaction to her death was never revealed.


 * Charles Gunn- When Spike first materialized in Wolfram & Hart, Gunn, having apparently heard tales of the infamous William the Bloody, initially viewed him as an enemy, but relented upon discovering that he had a soul and saved the world. When Spike was recorporealized, he presented Gunn with a hug while reveling in his restored physical body, and later offered him a drink. The two eventually became good friends, with Spike being one of the few members of Team Angel to refer to him by his given name. However, after the Fall was reversed and Gunn rejoined Angel Investigations, Spike held a degree of distrust for him and regarded him as a traitor due to his actions in Hell, even though Gunn was a vampire and thus not in control of himself at the time.


 * Illyria- After her resurrection, Illyria shared an emerging bond with Spike. Each was on a path from murderous demon to hero, and they shared a love of violence. Their sparring sessions were mutually satisfactory; Spike honed his fighting techniques and Illyria was able to regularly inflict pain and dominate Spike in combat. She, at one point, expressed a desire to keep Spike as a pet. After Illyria's powers were diminished, Spike helpd her regain confidence and venture into the world again. They developed mutual respect for one another. In After the Fall, Illyria still considered Spike a pet and came to his defense when Angel attacked him. Spike became very protective of Illyria once she started randomly transforming into Fred. Illyria possibly felt romantic feelings for Spike, as she forcefully kissed him out of jealousy after hearing of his physical relationship with Spider. Spike is asked by Wesley to continue to look over Illyria, as he cannot do so himself. Spike keeps this promise, and assists Illyria during her existential crisis (although she also comes to see Angel as a more direct 'mentor').
 * Connor - During Los Angeles' time in hell, Spike worked with Angel's son in saving people, and they built what Connor describes as a relationship between a boy and a weird uncle. Spike often spoke to Connor about his battles, seemingly having had trained him, as well as became someone who Connor went to about relationship advice. When Connor was killed by a vampiric Gunn, Spike held his body and grieved.

Behind the Scenes

 * James Marsters was added to the main cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel for the same reason: to replace Cordelia. Joss Whedon felt that the main characters during the fourth season of Buffy were without a source of conflict (usually present in Cordelia), and Seth Green's departure from the show clinched his decision to bring in Marsters. After Charisma Carpenter left the cast of Angel, Spike was brought in to provide comic relief.


 * While Drusilla has been shown as Spike's sire, in "School Hard", Spike's first appearance on the show, he says that Angel was his sire. The apparent contradiction was solved by Joss Whedon in an interview in which he states that the term sire refers to anyone prior to them in their "line".


 * Spike was originally intended to die in "What's My Line, Part Two", at which time Drusilla would become the main villain along with Angelus. However, due to the immense popularity of the character and Marsters' performance, the character was given a reprieve and placed temporarily into a wheelchair instead.


 * It was after Marsters' guest appearance in one episode of Season 3, and Marsters' immediate chemistry with the cast, when Joss Whedon decided that he wanted Spike to return as part of the permanent cast and devised the chip storyline.


 * Joss Whedon credits this antipathy as what convinced him in the episode "Lovers Walk" to bring Spike back as a cast regular. As James Marsters put it, "I was supposed to be the one who stood at the side and said, 'Buffy, you're stupid, and we're all gonna die'."


 * James Marsters auditioned for the role with both a Cajun accent and the eventually-chosen Cockney accent.


 * Spike's present-day resemblance to British punk rocker Billy Idol was mentioned in "Sleeper". The bouncer refers to Spike as "a Billy Idol wannabe" and Buffy starts to say that Billy Idol actually stole his look from Spike. In fact, Spike's resemblance to Billy Idol was previously shown (though not said) during his flashback fight with Nikki Wood, at which time Spike's attire and hair mimicked Idol almost perfectly while still taking place several years before Idol's fame.


 * Spike has a resemblance and a similar personality with David, the vampire leader, played by Kiefer Sutherland, in the horror movie The Lost Boys, realized by Joel Schumacher in 1987.


 * Though it is frequently made clear that soulless vampires are incapable of being benign, Spike has apparently proven that theory wrong, having managed to become a faithful ally, and later full-fledged member, of the Scooby Gang after being experimented on by the Initiative.


 * Marsters' V/Y-shaped scar on his left eyebrow, which he received during a mugging, was worked into the show; make-up artist Todd McIntosh decided to shave out his eyebrow in order to make it more prominent. He also included the scar on Spike's "vamp face" prosthetic, albeit slightly altered as though the skin has stretched. In Spike's first appearance in the series, the wound still looks fresh, but it gradually blends in over the course of the series, eventually to the point where it is barely visible.


 * K. Todd Freeman was in the running for the role of Spike.


 * A running gag is Spike knocking over the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign at the city's limits. He first does this deliberately with his car in "School Hard" and again while drunk in "Lovers Walk", both times saying "Home sweet home." He knocks the sign over one final time by closing the Hellmouth in "Chosen".


 * Spike is one of three characters to be a main character on both Buffy and Angel, the other two being Angel and Cordelia (Wesley and Harmony were only ever guest stars in Buffy). He was also the only character with this distinction that was not a main character for the first season of one of the shows.


 * Along with Angel, he is one of only two characters to appear in the series finales of both Buffy and Angel: "Chosen" and "Not Fade Away".


 * He is the only character to appear in the 100th episodes of both Buffy and Angel: "The Gift" and "You're Welcome".


 * Spike appeared in a total of 120 episodes of the Buffyverse. The only characters to appear in more episodes are Angel (167), Willow (147), Buffy (146), Xander (143), Cordelia (140) and Giles (121).


 * Spike is the only Buffyverse regular character to have met all of the others on screen at least once.


 * Spike had met los Hermanos Número when he was in L.A. in 1947.


 * Spike is a fan of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones.


 * Spike is also the only vampire after Angel to recieve a soul and fall in love with a slayer. And also the only one so far to have re-acquired it out his own volition.


 * The name "William" is the English counterpart of the Irish "Liam", giving him, ironically, the same human name as Angel.


 * Spike was the third member of Whirlwind to be ensouled. Angel was first, Darla second, and just recently, Drusilla was ensouled with Spike's soul for a little while before it was given back to him.
 * He is one of the last characters to die on Buffy.
 * Spike's birth name was William Pratt. Which is also the birth name of iconic horror actor, Boris Karloff.


 * James Marsters later starred with Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Julie Benz (Darla), Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall), Harry Groener (Richard Wilkins), Jack Plotnick (Allan Finch), Amber Benson (Tara Maclay), Amy Acker (Winifred Burkle/Illyria), John Rubinstein (Linwood Murrow) and Felicia Day (Violet) on Supernatural. Additionally, Chad Lindberg (David Kirby), Jack Conley (Gib Cain/Sahjhan), Jeff Kober (Zachary Kralik/Rack), Aldis Hodge (Masked Teen), Rob Benedict (Jape), Todd Stashwick (M'Fashnik Demon), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Sam Ryan) who guest-starred an episode of Buffy or Angel, also starred in Supernatural.

Appearances
Spike has appeared in 120 episodes: 96 on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 24 on Angel. {{Scroll box
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Buffy Season 2

 * "School Hard"
 * "Halloween"
 * "Lie to Me"
 * "What's My Line, Part One"
 * "What's My Line, Part Two"
 * "Surprise"
 * "Innocence"
 * "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"
 * "Passion"
 * "I Only Have Eyes for You"
 * "Becoming, Part One"
 * "Becoming, Part Two"

Buffy Season 3

 * "Lovers Walk"

Buffy Season 4/Angel Season 1

 * "The Harsh Light of Day"
 * "In the Dark"
 * "Wild at Heart"
 * "The Initiative"
 * "Pangs"
 * "Something Blue"
 * "Hush"
 * "Doomed"
 * "A New Man"
 * "The I in Team"
 * "Goodbye Iowa"
 * "This Year's Girl"
 * "Who Are You"
 * "Superstar"
 * "Where the Wild Things Are"
 * "New Moon Rising"
 * "The Yoko Factor"
 * "Primeval"
 * "Restless" (In dreams)

Buffy Season 5/Angel Season 2

 * "Buffy vs. Dracula"
 * "Real Me"
 * "The Replacement"
 * "Out of My Mind"
 * "No Place Like Home"
 * "Family"
 * "Fool for Love"
 * "Darla"
 * "Shadow"
 * "Listening to Fear"
 * "Into the Woods"
 * "Triangle"
 * "Checkpoint"
 * "Blood Ties"
 * "Crush"
 * "I Was Made to Love You"
 * "Forever"
 * "Intervention"
 * "Tough Love"
 * "Spiral"
 * "The Weight of the World"
 * "The Gift"

Buffy Season 6

 * "Bargaining, Part One"
 * "Bargaining, Part Two"
 * "After Life"
 * "Flooded"
 * "Life Serial"
 * "All the Way"
 * "Once More, with Feeling"
 * "Tabula Rasa"
 * "Smashed"
 * "Wrecked"
 * "Gone"
 * "Doublemeat Palace"
 * "Dead Things"
 * "Older and Far Away"
 * "As You Were"
 * "Hell's Bells"
 * "Normal Again"
 * "Entropy"
 * "Seeing Red"
 * "Villains"
 * "Two to Go"
 * "Grave"

Buffy Season 7

 * "Lessons"
 * "Beneath You"
 * "Same Time, Same Place"
 * "Help"
 * "Selfless"
 * "Him"
 * "Conversations with Dead People"
 * "Sleeper"
 * "Never Leave Me"
 * "Bring on the Night"
 * "Showtime"
 * "Potential"
 * "The Killer in Me"
 * "First Date"
 * "Get It Done"
 * "Storyteller"
 * "Lies My Parents Told Me"
 * "Dirty Girls"
 * "Empty Places"
 * "Touched"
 * "End of Days"
 * "Chosen" (Killed)

Angel Season 5

 * "Conviction" (Resurrected)
 * "Just Rewards"
 * "Unleashed"
 * "Hell Bound"
 * "Life of the Party"
 * "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco"
 * "Lineage"
 * "Destiny"
 * "Harm's Way"
 * "Soul Purpose"
 * "Damage"
 * "You're Welcome"
 * "Why We Fight"
 * "Smile Time"
 * "A Hole in the World"
 * "Shells"
 * "Underneath"
 * "Origin"
 * "Time Bomb"
 * "The Girl in Question"
 * "Power Play"
 * "Not Fade Away"

Angel: After the Fall/Angel IDW ongoing

 * "After the Fall, Part Two"
 * "After the Fall, Part Three"
 * "After the Fall, Part Four"
 * "After the Fall, Part Five"
 * "After the Fall, Part Six" (aka "First Night Part I")
 * "After the Fall, Part Nine"
 * "After the Fall, Part Ten"
 * "After the Fall, Part Eleven"
 * "After the Fall, Part Twelve"
 * "After the Fall, Part Thirteen"
 * "After the Fall, Part Fourteen"
 * "After the Fall, Part Fifteen"
 * "After the Fall, Part Sixteen"
 * "After the Fall, Part Seventeen"
 * Aftermath
 * Boys and Their Toys
 * Immortality for Dummies
 * Crown Prince Syndrome
 * Illyria: Haunted

Spike: After the Fall

 * "Spike: After the Fall, Part One"
 * "Spike: After the Fall, Part Two"
 * "Spike: After the Fall, Part Three"
 * "Spike: After the Fall, Part Four"

Spike: The Devil You Know

 * "The Devil You Know, Part One"
 * "The Devil You Know, Part Two"
 * "The Devil You Know, Part Three"
 * "The Devil You Know, Part Four"

Spike: Ongoing Series

 * Spike #1-8

Buffy Season 8

 * The Long Way Home
 * Always Darkest
 * Twilight
 * Last Gleaming

Buffy Season 9

 * Freefall
 * On Your Own
 * Apart (of Me)

Spike: A Dark Place

 * All five issues

Angel & Faith
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 * Death and Consequences, Part Three
 * Death and Consequences, Part Four

Gallery
See Spike/Gallery