9 Famous TV Characters Who Were Originally Much Smaller Roles

7. Spike - Buffy The Vampire Slayer

The Character: Spike (James Marsters) is the punk rock, Billy Idol-looking vampire whom Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her gang have had numerous dealing with throughout their many adventures. He originally started out as a villain but soon became a casual and reluctant ally, and, eventually, a romantic interest for Buffy.

What Almost Happened? When describing his character's initial arc, Marsters said, "Spike was supposed to be dirty and evil, punk rock, and then dead". It seems Joss Whedon wasn't keen to have a second brooding vampire male to compete with Angel (David Boreanaz), so Spike was made to be only a minor inconvenience for the Scooby Gang.

However when the actor playing the Anointed One, who was meant to be the main villain of the season, became too old for the part, the character was killed off and Spike took his place. The character soon became a fan favorite and stayed around.

How'd It Turn Out? Spike was arguably the most popular character in the Buffyverse and Whedon himself said the character is likely the most developed one on the show. He became increasingly interesting the more we learned about his backstory and the more complexities were revealed.

While the show had many memorable characters, it was made better by having an antihero to butt heads with Buffy, as well as a good romantic replacement for Angel once he bit the dust (or just left for LA).