Highlights
- Spike, originally a villain in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, undergoes a transformation and becomes an ally to the Scooby Gang.
- Spike's change of heart occurs when he is captured by the Initiative and implanted with a painful microchip that prevents harm to humans.
- Spike's journey culminates in his sacrificing himself to save the world, ultimately gaining redemption and becoming the ultimate good guy.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer featured a slew of good and bad characters who fought against each other over the course of seven epic seasons, and while many good characters turned bad over the years, not many went from bad to good. This is exactly what happened to the character of Spike in the show. James Marsters originally popped up in the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the villainous vampire, Spike, with his equally evil lover, Drusilla to wreak havoc on the town of Sunnydale. Spike was known to have already killed two slayers but had his work cut out attempting to kill his third, Buffy. He ended up fleeing the town before he turned up again later in the series.
Originally known as William the Bloody in the Victorian era, he was a failed poet who was sired by Drusilla, and would become one of the strongest vampires to walk the earth. Spike and Drusilla would stalk the streets as the gang known as the whirlwind, alongside Angelus and Darla. So what happened to turn Spike into one of the good characters in Buffy?
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Why Does Willow Turn Evil?
Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a classic show, but some newer fans getting into the series may not know why Willow eventually turns evil.
When and why does Spike turn good?
The beginning of the end for Spike as a bad guy was when he re-appeared in season 4 of the show. In the episode 'A Harsh Light of Day', he is in Sunnydale looking for the Gem of Amarra which is supposed to make vampires invulnerable. He finds it and attacks Buffy, but she takes the ring from him and sends it to Angel.
Spike heads to Los Angeles to retrieve it from his former vampire friend, in his first appearance in the spin-off, Angel. Spike is still very much a bad guy at this point, but this all leads to his eventual turn to the good side, as he is captured by the Initiative later in season 4 of Buffy, and implanted with a microchip that gives him pain every time he harms humans. This leads him to approach the Scooby Gang for protection, and in return, he will give them knowledge about the Initiative.
This is the beginning of Spike joining forces with the Scooby Gang and becoming an ally instead of a threat. Turns out he can fight and harm demons which gives him a new sense of purpose. It's not difficult to understand why Joss Whedon turned Spike into a good character, as he's such an entertaining presence. Spike provides a comedic and slightly antagonistic aspect to proceedings, by constantly calling out the group for their stupid ideas.
Spike ends up falling in love with the strongest slayer of all, Buffy in season 5. This proceeds to having a love affair with her, and in turn, he becomes an even bigger presence in the Scooby Gang, helping them fight some of the creepiest monsters they've ever faced. By this point, all memories of Spike as a bad guy have faded, and he is very much on the side of the good guys for the remainder of the show's run.
What happens at the end of the show and beyond?
The final season sees Spike with a soul after it was returned to him in the previous season. He has to come to terms with the bad things he has done in his past, and ends up getting very close to Buffy, and always has her back, even when the Scooby Gang turn on her.
The end of the show sees Spike front and center of the final battle inside the Hellmouth. He sacrifices himself to destroy the Turok-Han and close the Hellmouth forever. He tells Buffy he loves her while being slowly incinerated. Spike goes out laughing and seems to revel in what is happening around him. Dying in order to save the world sees Spike become the ultimate good guy, getting redemption from his previous evil ways.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended, but this wasn't the end of Spike's story by a long mile. The spin-off, Angel continued and was in its fifth season, and the punk rock vampire was resurrected in the first episode of what turned out to be Angel's final season, after it was canceled. Spike is resurrected by the amulet in the law firm, Wolfram & Hart, which Angel and his gang had recently taken over. He starts out as essentially a ghost before he eventually regains his body thanks to a mysterious gift that arrives at the supernatural law firm.
Spike and Angel sparring with each other makes the fifth season an absolute joy to watch, and it would've been great to see where their rivalry would've headed, had the show not been canceled. However, Spike lives to fight another day in a totally different form, in the upcoming audio series, Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, which sees him undercover in LA, and pretending to be evil in order to keep the dark forces at bay. James Marsters returns to lend his voice to the iconic character, and Anthony Head and Charisma Carpenter also return.