Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Worst Things Spike Ever Did
Sunnydale's favourite blond vampire's most wicked misdeeds.
One of the Buffy universe’s most beloved and complex characters, Spike grows and evolves more than perhaps any other Joss Whedon creation over his time on TV. Starting off as a snotty, upstart vampire with delusions of grandeur, over six seasons of Buffy (and one of Angel) he develops into something far more rounded and interesting.
From killing for sport to losing his edge due to a behaviour-modulating chip in his head, to falling in love with Buffy and ultimately regaining his soul, it’s a rollercoaster for Spike, and one which sees him transition from big bad to genuine hero.
But while he spends much of the series in non-antagonistic roles, he still has a CV replete with deplorable acts. Some of these took place while he was a soulless killing machine, and can be explained, if not excused, accordingly. Others, however, took place when he was ostensibly a force for good, a changed man.
For all Spike’s noble intentions, his terrible past (and present) was never skirted around, which only added depth to his character. Here are William the Bloody’s true lowlights.
10. Killed His Mother (twice)
A major part in the mythology of Spike is his somewhat Freudian relationship with his mother, Anne. As the young William Pratt, the human Spike enjoyed a comfortable if frustrating life in Victorian London, struggling to permeate high society but coddled by a loving mother.
After one romantic frustration too many he was lured to the dark side by Drusilla, and one of his first acts as a vampire was to visit his consumptive mother and “cure” her of her tuberculosis by turning her into a bloodsucker.
Unfortunately but predictably, the change caused an abrupt personality shift in Anne. Spike’s vampiric mother made allusions to a latent incestuous desire in the young man; when he couldn’t take the taunting, he tearfully staked her, turning her to dust.
While both events were understandable and arguably noble-minded, the fact is that Spike killed his own mother twice. That’s a heavy weight to carry around, even for a member of the undead.