Spike's story (contains various Buffy/Angel spoilers from past seasons)

Posted by Bitscape on 2004-02-29 20:53:18

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Most of Spike's story was revealed on Buffy.

He started off as a pure villian in Buffy Season 2, when he and Drusilla came to Sunnydale to wreak general havoc, raise demons that would bring about the end of the world, etc.

Spike's gradual journey to becoming "good" could be traced as far back as Buffy Season 3, when he returned to Sunnydale (still a villian) after having been dumped by Drusilla. He kidnappend Willow and Xander, and attempted to coerce Willow into casting a love spell to make Drusilla like him again. This attempt didn't succeed (Willow was rescued), but it did bring about an epiphany in which he realized he should go back to doing what had made Drusilla fall in love with him in the first place: Tie her up and torture her until she fell in love with him again. (It's funny, laugh.)

Spike then disappeared for nearly an entire season. When he re-appeared early in Season 4, he had found a new girlfriend (Harmony, a former Sunnydale High student who had turned vampire during the mayor's ascension). Together, they searched for the Gem of Amara, which would make a vampire invincible. Buffy managed to take the Gem from Spike after he found it, and sent Oz to give it to Angel.

Spike followed Oz to L.A., and hired a pedophile vampire to torture Angel into letting them have the Gem of Amara. (This would be Spike's first appearance on Angel, in Season 1 of that show, which coincided with Buffy Season 4.) Angel eventually got the gem back, but decided to destroy it rather than walk in daylight.

A few weeks later, when Spike returned to Sunnydale, his plans were foiled by The Initiative (a secret government operation with the mission of capturing and studying supernatural and demon life forms). They captured him, and implanted a chip into his brain which caused him to suffer severe pain whenever he tried to hurt humans. Although he later escaped, the procedure had effectively defanged him.

In his new harmless form, he was able to become a grudgingly accepted part of the Scooby Gang, and acted as their informant. Since he couldn't hurt people, he started taking out his violent tendencies on other vampires and demons. Thus, he became one of the "good guys", even if the change wasn't exactly voluntary.

In Season 5 of Buffy, Spike's story took another twist when he discovered that he was starting to have feelings for Buffy. This plot culminated when Spike commissioned a genius wiz kid to make him a Buffy look-alike robot, which he could use for his pleasure. When the robot went wrong and started causing havoc (initially being mistaken by others for the real Buffy), Spike was found out, and again became persona non grata.

This situation pretty much persisted until Season 6. After Buffy was brought back from the dead by her friends, she was suffering some serious emotional dissatisfaction. Coming back to the mundane "real world" after experiencing pure bliss can do that, I suppose. Feeling alienated from her friends, she turned to Spike, and ended up spending many secret guilty nights in his dilapidated shack.

Eventually, they were found out, and Buffy declared that it was over. Spike didn't accept this. After a battle with other vampires during which Buffy had been injured, she returned home to find Spike in the bathroom. When she refused to talk to him, he pushed her down on the floor and attempted to rape her (unsuccessfully). Spike fled town.

(Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. In season 6, Spike had discovered that he could harm Buffy without invoking the chip, presumably because when she returned from the dead, she wasn't fully human.)

At the end of the season, Spike went to a demon who claimed to have the power to give him what he needed to win Buffy over. After Spike endured several tests that involved fighting and intense torture, the demon bestowed Spike with a soul.

In Season 7 (Buffy), Spike returned to Sunnydale, where, to make an understatement, he apologized profusely to Buffy, and declared his undying love for her.

Part way through Season 7, I pretty much stopped watching due to scheduling conflicts with work. But at this point, Spike was ostensibly "good", so I hope that answers your question.

After Buffy concluded, Spike joined the cast of Angel in season 5 (so I hear), and that's how things are now.