Spike

Alex

## Personality

Spike projects an aura of being the biggest, baddest, meanest thing on the planet. He's cocksure, mouthy and entirely sarcastic. He's also a lot smarter than he lets on. Usually he can afford his attitude, because he's thought things through ahead of times. It's when he gets ahead of himself that he falls on his face, which can lead to severe ego bruising, and much less convincing bravado. Despite being a self professed monster, he does have a sense of loyalty and lines he won't cross, at least until his ego or his temper push him past those boundaries. Still, he's more restrained than most of his brand of vampires, if only in that he prefers a more deliberate brand of mayhem.

## Powers

Being a vampire, Spike is faster, tougher and stronger than a normal human by a significant margin. Jumping a story or three, lifting a car, bending a crowbar, all well within his range. He heals extremely quickly, and has excellent senses, particularly when it comes to seeing in the dark. And all those abilities become further enhanced when he "vamps out", revealing the bumpy-faced monster under the smirking pretty boy. And he can basically only be properly killed by getting his head chopped off, being burned or getting a stake through the heart.

The vampire gig does come with problems though: Spike will literally catch fire if exposed to sun light, and even exposure through thick clothing will make him smoke and hurt. He can tolerate sunlight for a short time, depending entirely on how much blood he's drunk recently. Oh yeah, blood drinking is a thing, Spike needs a pint of it every few days, even if he isn't exerting himself. Crosses and holy places can also repel him, and there are forms of magic that work particularly well on someone who doesn't have a soul.

Technically speaking, Spike is a mutant, even from back before he was turned. He doesn't talk about it though, and certainly won't admit it freely. Not considering his power is the ability to change hair color. That's it. The bleached blond look is not in fact bleach. Since that is not exactly in keeping with being a badass, Spike doesn't talk about it. But he does have an active X-gene for the people able to detect that.

## Talents

Spike has picked up a lot of skills in his long life, mostly around inflicting violence and breaking into places he shouldn't be. He does have a pretty good rock singing voice and some reasonably good dance moves too though. He's also acquired a theoretical familiarity with magic (though he doesn't really practice himself), and is familiar with all sorts of creatures that go bump in the night in the magic zones. From his time in London he's familiar with steampunk concepts, though the effect of the disharmony between the different zones means that it feels uncomfortably like speaking a half remembered foreign language.

## Interests:

He'd say Sex, Blood and Rock n'Roll, but that's not all there really is. Spike likes a good hand of poker and is a bit of a couch potato for TV shows if he's not raising hell anywhere.

## History

William Pratt was probably the worst poet in all of Victorian England before Angelus and his little mob of psychos came along and turned him from William the Bloody (Awful Poet) into William the Bloody (Terror of the Night). Spike doesn't think about his pre-transformation days and the insecure fop he used to be often, and prefers to dwell on the time after his turning.

And it's been quite the ride, given that he's fought (and hired, and bedded) demons, killed several Watchers and even bagged the heads (and coat) of a pair of Slayers. Whether in the wake of his grandsire Angelus (whom he acknowledges grudgingly as the one who actually made him what he is, even if Drusilla turned him) or tag teaming with his insane sire Drusilla, Spike has been across the world in his time and generally left places bloody and on fire when he left.

Spike initially came to Sunnydale to try and get himself his Slayer hat-trick (or threepeat if you're going to be a yank about it). Things.... didn't go according to plan. Sunnydale was a wilder ride than most anywhere else Spike had been. He lost Drusilla, got beaten up by a cheerleader, punched several things that were all but gods, and got a chip implanted in his head that neutered him down to kitten levels. Plus he was made the semi-willing protector of a teenage brat. Now THAT was a chore. In any case, Sunnydale was the harshest experience he'd had in all his years.

Which meant that when the Slayer got herself killed by a bitch called Glorificus and Spike realized his chip had malfunctioned, he made sure to get the hell out of the Hellmouth at his earliest opportunity. Sunnydale (and Buffy's too-preppy-to-live friends) were taking his edge off. Even now with the chip gone and people theoretically back on the menu, Spike has found that his taste for mayhem just isn't quite as developed as it used to be. He's not sure how to feel about that.