Spike, played by James Marsters, is a fictional vampire character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel..Within the series' narrative,William was originally an unsuccessful aspiring poet in the Victorian era.Sired by the vampire Drusilla (Juliet Landau),William became"William the Bloody",an unusually passionate and romantic vampire. Alongside Drusilla and Angelus (David Boreanaz),William acquired the nickname Spike for his method of killing;in time he became noted for killing two vampire Slayers.In the 1970s,Spike acquired his trademark bleached blond Billy Idol haircut and leather duster. In 1997 Spike comes to Sunnydale hoping to kill a third Slayer, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), with whom he later forges an uneasy alliance. Over the course of Buffy, Spike falls in love with the Slayer and acquires a soul to prove himself to her, dying a hero in the Buffy series finale before being resurrected in the fifth season of spin-off series Angel.Considered a 'breakout character',Spike proved immensely popular with fans of Buffy.