Spike Spiegel

Spike Spiegel is the main character from the manga and anime  Cowboy Bebop. 

Spiegel is a bounty hunter and he pilots the spaceship Bebop. He smokes cigarettes and was born on Mars. His main rival is Vicious, a former partner of Spiegel's in the Red Dragon Syndicate.

In his former life, Spiegel was a member of the triad Red Dragon Syndicate. During his time with them, he fell in love with Julia, Vicious's girlfriend and they tried to leave together. Spiegel ended up faking his own death to escape with her but she went into hiding instead. During the finale, Spike reunites with Julia but she is killed by the Red Dragon Syndicate. Spike faces them and Vicious at their headquarters. Spike fights his way to the top and shoots Vicious before collapsing from gunshot wounds. When asked, Cowboy Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe said that he can't say if Spike actually died or not.

Spike was voiced by Kōichi Yamadera in Japanese and by Steve Blum in English. John Cho played Spike in the Netflix live-action version.

Spike has been well liked by critics with IGN putting him on their Top 25 Greatest Anime List, ranking him #4 in 2009 and #2 in 2014. Animage named him Best Male Character at their Anime Grand Prix in both 1998 and 1999.

References

Category:Anime characters
Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1997