William "Spike" Pratt, played by James Marsters, is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

During the second season of the series, Spike comes to Sunnydale hoping to kill a third Slayer, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), with whom he later forges an uneasy alliance.

The first flashback occurs in Buffy season 5's "Fool for Love", and reveals William as in fact a meek, effete young man of aristocratic background[5] (and an aspiring poet) who lived in London with his mother, Anne.

Euphoric with his newfound vampiric abilities, he adopted the poses and trappings of a cultural rebel, affecting a working class East London accent and embracing impulsiveness and extreme violence.

[8] Spike and Dru were modeled on Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen; punk, "badass" vampires to contrast sharply with the more ceremonial tradition of the Master and the Order of Aurelius from season 1.

The excitement of a brawl with the Mayor's vampires helps him see that Drusilla left him because he had begun to go soft; he resolves to win her back by torturing her until she likes him again, and tells Buffy where to find Willow and Xander.

Occasionally helping the Scooby Gang by providing them with information and/or combat assistance in exchange for cash[19] or for the joy of fighting, but having no qualms about betraying them to such enemies as Faith[20] and Adam.

[26] He honors her memory by remaining loyal to the Scoobies, fighting at their side and serving the role of babysitter / older brother / protector to Dawn, helping Willow and Tara to raise her in Buffy's absence.

[36] It is unclear whether they resume their sexual intimacy during the third night; creator Joss Whedon says on the DVD commentary for "Chosen" that he intentionally left it to the viewers to decide how they felt the relationship progressed.

Resurrected by the amulet in the Los Angeles branch of supernatural law firm Wolfram & Hart, he spends seven episodes as an incorporeal being akin to a ghost; he starts to understand being one when he battles "the Reaper" Matthias Pavayne.

(The blonde glimpsed in Rome is later revealed to be a decoy Buffy, set up by Andrew Wells, who had researched the history between Angel, Spike and The Immortal, and thought the idea would be "hilarious".

He then spends what might be his last hours on Earth returning to his mortal roots as a frustrated poet, triumphantly knocking them dead (figuratively) in an open mic poetry slam at a bar.

After single-handedly (literally, he held the baby in one hand and a sword in the other) rescuing an infant and destroying the Fell Brethren, Spike joins Angel, Illyria, and a badly wounded Charles Gunn in the alley behind the Hyperion as the series draws to an end, preparing to incur the apocalyptic wrath of the Senior Partners, as a way of going out in a blaze of glory that will probably cost their lives.

Spike appears significantly in a number of canonical Expanded Universe literature concurrent with and subsequent to the television series, including both Buffy and Angel comic books.

Tipton's Spike: Lost and Found in 2006 is a season 5 story that acts as a sequel to the 1999 Buffy/Angel crossover episodes "The Harsh Light of Day" and "In the Dark", featuring the immortality-bestowing Gem of Amarra in 2005 Los Angeles.

[48][49] In the Dark Horse Presents #24 Season Eight tie-in, "Always Darkest", Spike and Angel appear (again in a dream sequence) at Buffy's side when she is fighting Caleb, but to her dismay the two start flirting with and kissing one another.

The arc serves to divest Spike of the ship and crew, and sets up his 2013 crossover stint in Angel & Faith ahead of an eventual return to the main Buffy series.

In the final fight against White House Press Secretary Johanna Wise, who spearheaded the conspiracy, he and Buffy sustain serious magical burns–though both are nearly fully recovered soon after due to augmented supernatural healing abilities.

While his most fervent aspiration was to achieve recognition and acceptance by his peers, romantic interests, and literary community, his pervasive fear of rejection held him back from taking risks; as such, most of his contemporaries regarded him as a timid object of ridicule.

[56] Upon becoming a vampire, his newfound romance with Drusilla, acceptance into a new peer group with Angel and Darla, mixed with the radical changes to his physiology (particularly physical strength), completely dissolved his fears in an experience he considered to be "profound."

The sudden erosion of his societal and emotional barriers created dramatic shifts in his attitude and behaviors, allowing him to craft an entirely new persona that was enthusiastic to the point of recklessness, fearless in confrontation, and which reveled in having the power to flout laws and traditional morality.

"Quick wit is one of the character's hallmarks, as Spike enjoys verbal sparring as much as physical fighting; in all his appearances, he has a habit of pithy remarks and glib insults, even toward the few he does not view as antagonists.

His pain tolerance, in particular, is exceptionally high due to his willingness to disregard physical discomfort in favor of his goals, interpersonal attachments, and general defiance of any limitation.

Recognizing that his affection for her gave her power over him caused him a great deal of self-doubt; seeing no other means to reconcile the dissonance, he chose instead to 'rebel' against his vampire nature itself, and eventually seek to be re-ensouled and purify his passions.

When the coat was destroyed by a bomb from the Immortal in Italy, Spike heartbrokenly declared it to be irreplaceable; but the Italian branch of Wolfram & Hart quickly supplied him with a whole wardrobe of new ones, nearly identical, which he happily began wearing.

In addition to possessing the common powers and weaknesses of vampires, Spike's age and experience makes him a highly effective, skilled, and versatile fighter in both armed and unarmed combat.

While many vampires cling to the mannerisms and speech patterns prevalent at the time they were sired, Spike has been shown to easily adjust to changing fashions and styles over the decades and displays an impressive knowledge of both British and American popular culture, demonstrating another aspect of his potential for analysis and adaptability.

He is also shown to be capable of recognizing literature; in the last episode of season 5, he paraphrases a line from the St. Crispin's Day Speech while in conversation with Giles after Buffy tells them her plan of attack on Glory.

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.

This ability was relatively useless in a fight; he was unable to pick up a wooden bar to hit the demon Tezcatcatl in "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco", and required a few moments to properly punch a cyborg strangling Gunn in "Lineage".