Kinktober William "spike" the bloody

Spike (born William Pratt)[13][14][15][16] was a famous and widely feared vampire turned in 1880.[17] He was well-known among both humans and demons for having faced and killed two Slayers during his unlife, as well as his history of torturing his victims with railroad spikes.[18] His reputation for evil and bloodshed was second only to that of his grandsire, Angelus.[19] In his human life, William was an unappreciated romantic poet known as William the Bloody for his "bloody awful" poetry; though, after he became a vampire, that moniker was repurposed to imply his violence. After being sired by Drusilla, he reinvented himself and terrorized Europe alongside Drusilla, Angel, and Darla throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.[17]

Spike first traveled to Sunnydale in 1997, accompanied by Drusilla,[18] where he quickly established himself as one of Buffy Summers' most dangerous enemies. However, Spike was forced into a series of uneasy alliances with her[20] and her team, the Scooby Gang,[21] after being captured by the Initiative and implanted with a cerebral microchip that rendered him unable to harm humans.[2] Eventually, Spike realized he had fallen for Buffy[22] and officially joined the Scoobies as a devoted protector of Buffy's sister, Dawn.[23][24] After recognizing he could be neither monster nor man, Spike's love for Buffy motivated him to fight successfully to regain his soul.[3]

Spike sacrificed himself in battle against the First Evil, defeating its horde of Turok-Han, permanently closing the Hellmouth, and destroying the town of Sunnydale.[8] However, bound to an amulet, Spike became an incorporeal entity haunting the halls of the Wolfram & Hart Los Angeles branch, then under the management of Angel and his team.[6] After becoming corporeal again, Spike struggled to find a place in the world and his status as a Champion,[1][25] only to join Angel in his battle against the Senior Partners.[26] With Illyria by his side, Spike acted as co-Lord of Beverly Hills during the Fall of Los Angeles.[27]

After rescuing a ship and a bug crew of his own from Wolfram & Hart,[28] Spike reunited with Buffy and the Scoobies in the battle against Twilight.[29] He went to San Francisco to continue supporting Buffy during the end of magic[30] but left in the hopes of "finding himself"[31] before returning to San Francisco when he heard that Dawn was sick.[32] He then established himself in the city alongside the Scooby Gang,[33] sharing an apartment with Xander Harris and working as a supernatural consultant for S.F.P.D.[34] With this new life, he and the Slayer gave a chance for a serious relationship,[35] staying by her side even during their breakup to fight in the Reckoning as a member of the Scooby Gang.[16]