"Okay. You do remember that you're a vampire, right?" Spike I think that our interest in him based... on the very ambiguity of his character. We don't know what category to put him in. Yes, he's a killer. But is he completely evil? He's no Angelus. He's capable of love. He has a sense of honor (warped as it occasionally is). In other words, he's more "human" than most vamps (Mircalla, Mar 23 21:03 1999). Spike is a bigger example of moral ambiguity than Angel because there's no human soul lurking in his vamp body; that's gone. He's all demon. Yet, his devotion to Drusilla is obvious, and he's not particularly interested in destroying the world. We feel for him, we cheer on one of Buffy's enemies! Spike makes us wonder if all demons are truly evil in and of themselves or only evil because they are anti-human. With Spike, we begin to see that at least some evil is in the eye of the beholder. Examples of Spike's ambiguity: Spike's ability to love | Spike and the Slayer | Spike's finest moments | Other examples of Spike's ambiguity | SouledSpike Spike's ability to love: When William the Bloody was made into a vampire, he didn't lose his ability to love. He came to love his sire, Drusilla, and he continued to love his mortal mum. Highlights of the doting Spike: • turning his mother into a vampire so they could stay with each other. But when he saw that his mother had lost her ability to love, he was forced to kill her, or die himself. • bringing the weakened Dru to the Hellmouth to restore her predatory strength • saves Drusilla from Buffy • Dru tames Spike's normal nastiness in WML, and his jealousy of Angel as well • watching in pain as Dru enjoys Angelus' flirtation (Innocence-B2). His capacity for tenderness and suffering is especially telling in comparison to Dru's sadistic sire • Spike's Oedipal complex • returning to Sunnydale a broken shell of a vamp after Dru leaves him • being both an unrepentant soulless vampire and an expert on love. When Buffy and Giles try to convince themselves Willow is coping with Oz's departure, Spike can see she isn't Spike and the Slayer In the beginning... • The notorious "William the Bloody" had an obsession with Slayers. He'd already killed two of them. • When Spike first came to town, he thought he could dispatch the slayer rather quickly. When that didn't happen, their relationship got... interesting. • ...the original Buffy-Spike flirtations in B2: "Hello cutie!" and all that followed (jengod, 1:37 pm Oct 25, 2000). • Spike was down right "Buffy-whipped" in Lover's Walk. He got nasty again after that, • but when he was "neutered" by The Initiative, he was her starving lap-dog again (or at least he pretended to be). Kiss or kill? Spike's secret thing for the slayer: "Wasn't lurking. I was standing about. It's a whole different vibe." --William the Bloody, 2001 • At the beginning of ...Something Blue, when Buffy was feeding Spike in the bathtub, there was a vibe. It was vibey (Bob K, 1:19 pm Oct 25, 2000). • Spike shows almost genuine concern when Buffy is trapped in Lowell House. After calling her "sweet slayer" in Superstar, one might wonder what thoughts Faith put in his mind about Buffy in Who Are You. Faith ...came onto him with some very strong, seductive, bad-girl language, and Spike was not unaffected.... And, as I recall, no one ever bothered to tell Spike that the woman who flirted with him WAS NOT BUFFY (Dunlin, Oct 25 16:49 2000) • Spike realizes his feelings in Out of My Mind and becomes shy stalker-boy in NPLH....he might have walked away from Buffy sooner outside her house if she hadn't been so mean to him.... Do you think she has any idea the effect she has on him, every time she gives him a smack? (J. Hergert, 7:41 am Oct 25, 2000) • There's a part of Spike that wants the Slayer dead. But every time he heads off to kill her, something else stops him. Can Spike feel real love and compassion? • Riley had his own problems in his relationship with Buffy, but Spike's jabs at Riley's ego hastened the ex-Initiative soldier's exit. • Spike: bumbling suitor, or self-involved stalker? • Spike professes his love for Buffy in front of Drusilla--while both are bound in his crypt. ...I enjoy the fact that my character [Spike] is in love again because when we met him he was in love. That was the primary interesting thing about Spike, for me, that he was a psychopathic killer but at the same time he was the most gentle lover and the most gentlemanly lover that you could get...and how the hell is that? ...And I think that it can motivate him towards acts of heroism or villainy. Love will do that to you (J. Marsters [Spike], July 20, 2001). The morally ambiguous relationship of vampire and slayer • Is Spike becoming more like Buffy, or is Buffy becoming more like Spike? • When Spike realizes he can physically harm Buffy, his ambivalent feelings clash. The consummation of love and hate • is Spike trying to seduce Buffy into darkness? Why is he tempting her away from her friends? • is it only a coincidence that Buffy dumps Spike after she discovers the deadly Suvolte eggs in his crypt? • Spike reaches an impasse: he isn't human, but he's no longer much of a demon. He journeys to Africa--ostensibly, to get rid of the chip. But that's not the wish the demon guide grants him. Unsouled Spike's good deeds • agrees to guard Buffy's family for an afternoon with only an idle threat to his un-life in exchange. • helps Dawn break into the Magic Box and later helps Buffy search for her run-away sister. • helping Dawn with a spell to raise Joyce. • doesn't spill the beans when Glory tortures him for Key-info • assures Dawn she isn't evil, 'cause Spike knows something about evil. • tries to fight (1) the Knights when they attack the camper and (2) Glory when she takes Dawn from the gas station. • swears to Buffy he will fight for Dawn to "the end of the world.". But when he tries to save Dawn from Doc, he fails. • is devastated when Buffy sacrifices herself instead Spike always wanted to slip in and have himself a good day, he finally got what he said he wanted only to find it the worst day and loss of his unlife...his reaction was extreme...his facade of the big bad finally dissolved in grief (Rufus, 19:13 5/23/01). • stands loyally by Dawn's side while he mourns the death of Buffy, but he is also a bit envious of the demons and their frolicking destruct-o-rama. • tells newly-risen Buffy that he has been haunted by his failure to protect Dawn--a failure that lead to Buffy's decision to jump into the portal. • pulls Dawn to safety after a demon attacks her in Wrecked. • helps fight the sword demon in Older and Far Away • helps capture and guard the GGK demon Other examples of Spike's ambiguity • changing his mind about the value of an apocalypse between Surprise and B2 • Would Spike have combusted if the Judge had touched him? Lots of the vamps we've seen use humor to render their sadism more... sadistic. ...But Spike, while his humor is dark and ungentle, doesn't always have a utilitarian purpose when he says something sarcastic or ironic or smartass. He just seems to like being witty, and to like amusing himself... [e.g.,] his hilarious mockery of Angel from the building above... And then there's Spike's pop culture proclivities. Angel mopes around reading Proust and "Sonnets from the Portuguese." Spike likes the Sex Pistols, and... watching tv... he moves with the times. He's got energy and vitality that Angel doesn't (Diajanwal, Dec 08 1999 02:59) • going from vicious predator to sensitive guy when he can't feed on Willow • Neutered Spike seems just a little intimidated when a taller-than-him ex-Initiative soldier threatens to kill him in BvD. • Since the flaccid vamp found out he could do violence to other demons in Doomed, he has made a reputation for himself among Sunnydale's inhuman population. He gets a fist in his face in Goodbye, Iowa and some nasty attitude in Real Me. • Is Spike joking when he says he would bite all the Scoobies but Anya if he had the chance? Remember, it ain't over until the inebriated British cancer-stick-inhaling, scorned, bleach bottle blond undead guy sings. What is the explanation for Spike's"humanity"? • pure, unadulterated self-interest. Spike will do good or evil if it gets him what he wants • the influence of the human soul that once inhabited the body--Vox on Spike's insecurity as mortal and vampire SouledSpike After brutally attacking Buffy in a desperate attempt to get her to admit her love for him, Spike decides there is only one way to truly win her love. He heads to Africa, where he asks a demon to make him the kind of man Buffy "deserves". The demon puts him through several torturous trials. Spike endures the trials, and in the end, is rewarded with his soul. Upon his return to Sunnydale, however, he captures the attention of the First Evil, who sees in Spike the same potential It once saw in Angel: the potential for malevolent vampiric evil. The presence of a soul should have empowered Spike, it should have given him the freedom to chose between good and evil, to become his own man, the "master of his fate." But due to the First's manipulations, Spike has become less his own man than ever. • crazy basement Spike • follows the trail of blood spatters left by Gnarl to a cave where the demon lives. • falls under the hypnotic thrall of the First Evil and goes on a killing spree, then later confesses his "transgression" to Buffy. • Spike's killing spree comes to an end with the help of Buffy, but the First Evil has other plans for Spike--like using his blood to open the Hellmouth. • Should Spike be staked now? • Spike wants to be a better man, the kind of man Buffy can respect. A worthy goal, but is Spike doing it for himself, or for Buffy? • [Principal] Wood has been saved ironically enough at least 6 times by Spike: 2 times in Him from Buffy herself, once in First Date sort of from the she demon, once in Get it Done (when the beast attacks), once in Storyteller - in the school from rampaging kids, and once in LMPTM from a vampire (shadowkat, 3/26/03 20:21). • After Wood tries to kill Spike to avenge the death of his mother, an angry Spike threatens to kill Wood. He stays his fangs in acknowledgement of the fact that he did, indeed kill Wood's mother, but he promises that he won't do it again if there any more threats from Principal Demon-fighter. • Spike sees Buffy and Angel kiss and gets jealous at how easily they seem to slip back into their former relationship with each other. • Spike's back, and straddling the crevice between Earth and hell. But why is he keeping this information from everyone but Fred? Is it fear? Pride? Or something else? • cat-fights with Angel to claim the cup he believes will erase his sins, make him mortal, and show-up his grand-sire (i.e., prove his worth). • Is Spike finally starting to see his treatment of Harmony from Harmony's point of view? • becomes "champion of the helpless" when he is recruited by a faux-Doyle to "work for" the Powers that Be. • Some things never change: Spike's rough-and-ready approach to doing good closely resembles his approach to doing evil. • is a little embarrassed when he finds out he's been duped into playing Champion for one of Angel's enemies • tortures the Wolfram and Hart doctor until he gets information about Illyria's temple. • Although Spike doesn't believe he has a shot with Buffy, he's still determined to "save" her from her new boyfriend, the Immortal. But he can't even save his leather duster. Spike needs to move on. Stop holding on to the past. And in a way he compromises - he gets the same jacket, but newer, cleaner, and no longer associated with old crimes or accomplishments. Just as Spike keeps the name Spike, yet isn't still Spike - the jacket looks the same but isn't (shadowkat, 2004-05-05 23:28). Souled Spike's finest moments The evil of Spike "Okay. You do remember that you're a vampire, right?" Spike I think that our interest in him based... on the very ambiguity of his character. We don't know what category to put him in. Yes, he's a killer. But is he completely evil? He's no Angelus. He's capable of love. He has a sense of honor (warped as it occasionally is). In other words, he's more "human" than most vamps (Mircalla, Mar 23 21:03 1999). Spike is a bigger example of moral ambiguity than Angel because there's no human soul lurking in his vamp body; that's gone. He's all demon. Yet, his devotion to Drusilla is obvious, and he's not particularly interested in destroying the world. We feel for him, we cheer on one of Buffy's enemies! Spike makes us wonder if all demons are truly evil in and of themselves or only evil because they are anti-human. With Spike, we begin to see that at least some evil is in the eye of the beholder. Examples of Spike's ambiguity: Spike's ability to love | Spike and the Slayer | Spike's finest moments | Other examples of Spike's ambiguity | SouledSpike Spike's ability to love: When William the Bloody was made into a vampire, he didn't lose his ability to love. He came to love his sire, Drusilla, and he continued to love his mortal mum. Highlights of the doting Spike: • turning his mother into a vampire so they could stay with each other. But when he saw that his mother had lost her ability to love, he was forced to kill her, or die himself. • bringing the weakened Dru to the Hellmouth to restore her predatory strength • saves Drusilla from Buffy • Dru tames Spike's normal nastiness in WML, and his jealousy of Angel as well • watching in pain as Dru enjoys Angelus' flirtation (Innocence-B2). His capacity for tenderness and suffering is especially telling in comparison to Dru's sadistic sire • Spike's Oedipal complex • returning to Sunnydale a broken shell of a vamp after Dru leaves him • being both an unrepentant soulless vampire and an expert on love. When Buffy and Giles try to convince themselves Willow is coping with Oz's departure, Spike can see she isn't Spike and the Slayer In the beginning... • The notorious "William the Bloody" had an obsession with Slayers. He'd already killed two of them. • When Spike first came to town, he thought he could dispatch the slayer rather quickly. When that didn't happen, their relationship got... interesting. • ...the original Buffy-Spike flirtations in B2: "Hello cutie!" and all that followed (jengod, 1:37 pm Oct 25, 2000). • Spike was down right "Buffy-whipped" in Lover's Walk. He got nasty again after that, • but when he was "neutered" by The Initiative, he was her starving lap-dog again (or at least he pretended to be). Kiss or kill? Spike's secret thing for the slayer: "Wasn't lurking. I was standing about. It's a whole different vibe." --William the Bloody, 2001 • At the beginning of ...Something Blue, when Buffy was feeding Spike in the bathtub, there was a vibe. It was vibey (Bob K, 1:19 pm Oct 25, 2000). • Spike shows almost genuine concern when Buffy is trapped in Lowell House. After calling her "sweet slayer" in Superstar, one might wonder what thoughts Faith put in his mind about Buffy in Who Are You. Faith ...came onto him with some very strong, seductive, bad-girl language, and Spike was not unaffected.... And, as I recall, no one ever bothered to tell Spike that the woman who flirted with him WAS NOT BUFFY (Dunlin, Oct 25 16:49 2000) • Spike realizes his feelings in Out of My Mind and becomes shy stalker-boy in NPLH....he might have walked away from Buffy sooner outside her house if she hadn't been so mean to him.... Do you think she has any idea the effect she has on him, every time she gives him a smack? (J. Hergert, 7:41 am Oct 25, 2000) • There's a part of Spike that wants the Slayer dead. But every time he heads off to kill her, something else stops him. Can Spike feel real love and compassion? • Riley had his own problems in his relationship with Buffy, but Spike's jabs at Riley's ego hastened the ex-Initiative soldier's exit. • Spike: bumbling suitor, or self-involved stalker? • Spike professes his love for Buffy in front of Drusilla--while both are bound in his crypt. ...I enjoy the fact that my character [Spike] is in love again because when we met him he was in love. That was the primary interesting thing about Spike, for me, that he was a psychopathic killer but at the same time he was the most gentle lover and the most gentlemanly lover that you could get...and how the hell is that? ...And I think that it can motivate him towards acts of heroism or villainy. Love will do that to you (J. Marsters [Spike], July 20, 2001). The morally ambiguous relationship of vampire and slayer • Is Spike becoming more like Buffy, or is Buffy becoming more like Spike? • When Spike realizes he can physically harm Buffy, his ambivalent feelings clash. The consummation of love and hate • is Spike trying to seduce Buffy into darkness? Why is he tempting her away from her friends? • is it only a coincidence that Buffy dumps Spike after she discovers the deadly Suvolte eggs in his crypt? • Spike reaches an impasse: he isn't human, but he's no longer much of a demon. He journeys to Africa--ostensibly, to get rid of the chip. But that's not the wish the demon guide grants him. Unsouled Spike's good deeds • agrees to guard Buffy's family for an afternoon with only an idle threat to his un-life in exchange. • helps Dawn break into the Magic Box and later helps Buffy search for her run-away sister. • helping Dawn with a spell to raise Joyce. • doesn't spill the beans when Glory tortures him for Key-info • assures Dawn she isn't evil, 'cause Spike knows something about evil. • tries to fight (1) the Knights when they attack the camper and (2) Glory when she takes Dawn from the gas station. • swears to Buffy he will fight for Dawn to "the end of the world.". But when he tries to save Dawn from Doc, he fails. • is devastated when Buffy sacrifices herself instead Spike always wanted to slip in and have himself a good day, he finally got what he said he wanted only to find it the worst day and loss of his unlife...his reaction was extreme...his facade of the big bad finally dissolved in grief (Rufus, 19:13 5/23/01). • stands loyally by Dawn's side while he mourns the death of Buffy, but he is also a bit envious of the demons and their frolicking destruct-o-rama. • tells newly-risen Buffy that he has been haunted by his failure to protect Dawn--a failure that lead to Buffy's decision to jump into the portal. • pulls Dawn to safety after a demon attacks her in Wrecked. • helps fight the sword demon in Older and Far Away • helps capture and guard the GGK demon Other examples of Spike's ambiguity • changing his mind about the value of an apocalypse between Surprise and B2 • Would Spike have combusted if the Judge had touched him? Lots of the vamps we've seen use humor to render their sadism more... sadistic. ...But Spike, while his humor is dark and ungentle, doesn't always have a utilitarian purpose when he says something sarcastic or ironic or smartass. He just seems to like being witty, and to like amusing himself... [e.g.,] his hilarious mockery of Angel from the building above... And then there's Spike's pop culture proclivities. Angel mopes around reading Proust and "Sonnets from the Portuguese." Spike likes the Sex Pistols, and... watching tv... he moves with the times. He's got energy and vitality that Angel doesn't (Diajanwal, Dec 08 1999 02:59) • going from vicious predator to sensitive guy when he can't feed on Willow • Neutered Spike seems just a little intimidated when a taller-than-him ex-Initiative soldier threatens to kill him in BvD. • Since the flaccid vamp found out he could do violence to other demons in Doomed, he has made a reputation for himself among Sunnydale's inhuman population. He gets a fist in his face in Goodbye, Iowa and some nasty attitude in Real Me. • Is Spike joking when he says he would bite all the Scoobies but Anya if he had the chance? Remember, it ain't over until the inebriated British cancer-stick-inhaling, scorned, bleach bottle blond undead guy sings. What is the explanation for Spike's"humanity"? • pure, unadulterated self-interest. Spike will do good or evil if it gets him what he wants • the influence of the human soul that once inhabited the body--Vox on Spike's insecurity as mortal and vampire SouledSpike After brutally attacking Buffy in a desperate attempt to get her to admit her love for him, Spike decides there is only one way to truly win her love. He heads to Africa, where he asks a demon to make him the kind of man Buffy "deserves". The demon puts him through several torturous trials. Spike endures the trials, and in the end, is rewarded with his soul. Upon his return to Sunnydale, however, he captures the attention of the First Evil, who sees in Spike the same potential It once saw in Angel: the potential for malevolent vampiric evil. The presence of a soul should have empowered Spike, it should have given him the freedom to chose between good and evil, to become his own man, the "master of his fate." But due to the First's manipulations, Spike has become less his own man than ever. • crazy basement Spike • follows the trail of blood spatters left by Gnarl to a cave where the demon lives. • falls under the hypnotic thrall of the First Evil and goes on a killing spree, then later confesses his "transgression" to Buffy. • Spike's killing spree comes to an end with the help of Buffy, but the First Evil has other plans for Spike--like using his blood to open the Hellmouth. • Should Spike be staked now? • Spike wants to be a better man, the kind of man Buffy can respect. A worthy goal, but is Spike doing it for himself, or for Buffy? • [Principal] Wood has been saved ironically enough at least 6 times by Spike: 2 times in Him from Buffy herself, once in First Date sort of from the she demon, once in Get it Done (when the beast attacks), once in Storyteller - in the school from rampaging kids, and once in LMPTM from a vampire (shadowkat, 3/26/03 20:21). • After Wood tries to kill Spike to avenge the death of his mother, an angry Spike threatens to kill Wood. He stays his fangs in acknowledgement of the fact that he did, indeed kill Wood's mother, but he promises that he won't do it again if there any more threats from Principal Demon-fighter. • Spike sees Buffy and Angel kiss and gets jealous at how easily they seem to slip back into their former relationship with each other. • Spike's back, and straddling the crevice between Earth and hell. But why is he keeping this information from everyone but Fred? Is it fear? Pride? Or something else? • cat-fights with Angel to claim the cup he believes will erase his sins, make him mortal, and show-up his grand-sire (i.e., prove his worth). • Is Spike finally starting to see his treatment of Harmony from Harmony's point of view? • becomes "champion of the helpless" when he is recruited by a faux-Doyle to "work for" the Powers that Be. • Some things never change: Spike's rough-and-ready approach to doing good closely resembles his approach to doing evil. • is a little embarrassed when he finds out he's been duped into playing Champion for one of Angel's enemies • tortures the Wolfram and Hart doctor until he gets information about Illyria's temple. • Although Spike doesn't believe he has a shot with Buffy, he's still determined to "save" her from her new boyfriend, the Immortal. But he can't even save his leather duster. Spike needs to move on. Stop holding on to the past. And in a way he compromises - he gets the same jacket, but newer, cleaner, and no longer associated with old crimes or accomplishments. Just as Spike keeps the name Spike, yet isn't still Spike - the jacket looks the same but isn't (shadowkat, 2004-05-05 23:28). Souled Spike's finest moments The evil of Spike