One of the most dynamic characters in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, Spike begins as a punk rock vampire looking to raise a little chaos and becomes the second vampire with a soul (after Angel) and the champion of Sunnydale. Whether you love or hate him, Spike is a foundational character to the series.
While he never loses his leather duster, it’s a long path to redemption for the blond demon and he makes a lot of mistakes along the way. From killing Slayers to messing with the Scooby gang, here are some of the most shameless things Spike has ever done.
Pretending To Be Handicapped
After a run-in with the Scoobies (and newly minted replacement Slayer, Kendra), Spike becomes temporarily paralyzed thanks to falling underneath a pile of rubble. While the peroxide vampire is legitimately wheelchair-bound for a while, it’s important to remember that vampires can heal from virtually everything. And the once again soulless Angelus is more than happy to rub Spike’s impotence in his face. So it isn’t long before Spike reveals that he had pretended to still be paralyzed to team up with Buffy against his old friend.
Sleeping With Anya
While Spike and Anya always have an odd kinsmanship as the “reformed” former demons of the group, they are always just friends–that is until Xander unexpectedly leaves Anya at the altar. Stricken and devastated, Anya is heartbroken and looking for consolation anywhere she can find it. And Spike is feeling jilted himself after receiving constant (secret) mixed signals from Buffy. While their one-night stand is comforting for them both, and not meant to hurt anyone else, it ultimately spurns both Buffy and Xander and shocks all of the Scoobies.
His Relationship With Harmony
At the height of his evil days, Spike uses a lot of people to hatch a lot of plots and get what he wants. However, new vampire Harmony is bound to be in permanent arrested development.
The former Sunnydale High School “it girl” is not the brightest vamp on the block when she was alive, and falls right into Spike’s arms, despite his abusive behavior. However, even though she is terrible to Buffy, she doesn’t deserve to be blatantly used by Spike as a means to an end.
Kidnapping Buffy
After a microchipped Spike learns he can still get joy out of life by hunting demons and vampires, he forms a tentative alliance with the Scooby Gang. However, the afterlife keeps throwing curveballs at Spike when he finds himself falling in love with Buffy. When his longtime flame Drusilla returns to town, Spike is desperate to prove himself to Buffy, by kidnapping her to make her watch him hurt Drusilla. While this repels Buffy, it is the first of many things Spike does in an attempt to show his true feelings for Buffy.
The Buffy Bot
Overwhelmed by his very human feelings for Buffy, Spike doesn’t know what to do since he has no way to channel them. After meninist-in-training Warren Mears creates a sexbot in the flesh, Spike commissions one for himself, modeled to be identical to Buffy. When Buffy discovers it, and what Spike has been doing with it, she is, of course, disgusted, but the Buffy Bot later comes in handy when used as a doppelganger to draw attention from Buffy in fights (and later serve as her double entirely when she’s dead).
Telling Buffy She’s Wrong
When Buffy comes back from the dead (the second time), it’s not long before she and Spike are throwing punches. However, Spike, who still has the chip in his head, is shocked to learn he can hurt Buffy without feeling pain himself.
After conducting his research, Spike concludes that the chip is still working, and therefore Buffy somehow came back wrong. It’s a horrifying thing to tell a person, especially after everything Buffy’s been through, but Spike takes delight in hurting Buffy when she has, at this point, been using him.
Kidnapping Willow And Xander
A heartbroken Spike returns to Sunnydale after being driven out of town, leading to the end of his relationship with Drusilla. Meanwhile, Willow and Xander are having an affair while dating Oz and Cordelia respectively. Spike kidnaps them to help him cast a love spell on Drusilla, leading Oz and Cordelia to chase after them when they don’t show up for their double date. In the excitement of the chase, Oz and Cordelia discover the heartbreaking truth about Willow and Xander’s cheating, and Cordelia nearly dies after falling through an old wooden staircase.
Turning His Mother Into A Vampire
As a human, Spike, formerly known as William, was pretty much the opposite of the menacing vampire audiences were originally introduced to, a terrible poet who was singularly devoted to his mother. After Drusilla turned him, William decided to save his beloved mother from a horrible death by tuberculosis and sired her as well. But his loving mother soon changed from the sweet doting woman he once knew into a vicious monster, leaving him with no choice other than to kill her in turn, forging the vampire he would become.
Killing Nikki Wood
Spike killed two Slayers, and for most of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aimed to make Buffy his third, but killing Nikki Wood is one of the greater Slayer tragedies. While Buffy is one of the only Slayers not to live in isolation and to have friends and family, Nikki was the only Slayer with a son (that we know of). When Spike killed Nikki, he orphaned Robin Wood, who would grow up to later hunt him down. At least their deathly duel gave Spike his legendary leather duster.
Assaulting Buffy
The worst thing by far that Spike ever did isn’t just shameless, it’s soulless. After everyone learns about Spike and Anya, Spike goes to find Buffy and reconcile. However, when Spike finds Buffy about to take a bath, all she wants is to be left alone. In one of the most visceral scenes of the entire series, Spike forces himself on Buffy, even as she says no until she finally gets the upper hand. When Spike realizes what he’s done, he leaves on a quest for his soul, propelling the journey that changes him forever.
