Spike, also known as William the Bloody, got his nickname due to his penchant for torturing victims with railroad spikes. However, his William the Bloody nickname has less glamorous origins — it turns out that he had the name before his vampire days, as a result of his "bloody awful poetry." William wasn't always a bad boy — prior to being vamped, he was a shy, sensitive, aspiring poet. After getting shot down by the girl who inspired his poetry, he was killed and then sired by Drusilla. Drusilla, of course, was the love of his un-life, until she left him — twice: first for a Chaos demon and then for a Fungus demon. Only 120 years old (using the most recent evidence, "Fool For Love"), Spike has already killed two Slayers. He tried multiple times to kill Buffy, but to no avail (but then again, she didn't kill him either). After being gone for all but one episode of season three ("Lovers Walk"), Spike became a regular in season four, and didn't have better luck in Sunnydale the second time around — thanks to the Initiative, he got a chip implanted in his head which renders him unable to kill or hurt anything other than another demon (which he does, leaving him unpopular in the demon world). Much to his chagrin, he then developed a major crush on the Slayer herself. This crush led him to reject both Drusilla and Harmony in favor of the non-reciprocating Buffy, and to have a Buffy sex-robot built to allow him to fulfill his kinky fantasies. Unfortunately for Spike, the real Buffy discovered the robot and took it from him. The combination of the chip and his love for Buffy seemed to have a positive effect on Spike, who became a helpful ally to the Scooby Gang. During Season 6, after Buffy came back from the dead emotionally screwed up, she began a secretive sexual (and violent) relationship with Spike. After she ended it, he tried to initiate sex with her again, and ended up attempting to rape her. Horrified, he went to Africa to get his soul back, which now appears to be driving him somewhat insane.

James Wesley Marsters, 62, grew up in Modesto, California (that's right, the accent is fake). He decided when he was just three years old that he wanted to be an actor. He studied at Juilliard and has done a lot of work in theater. He loves theater acting, but also loves his work on Buffy — especially the violent scenes and stuntwork. James listens to all kinds of music, from Radiohead to the Sex Pistols, and he likes his steaks very rare. The scar on his left eyebrow is from an attempted mugging in New York, but the more interesting one is the one on his left leg: he shredded it on a sprinkler head as a child ("My leg slid down my bone like a sock"), was off his feet for almost a year, and the hair there grows sideways due to the skin graft he had done. James is an admitted night owl, but not really a partier — he doesn't drink, and he takes joy in late night cable television. His hobbies include driving in the desert, playing guitar, singing, painting, and writing. James (who is left handed, by the way, like Jamie Marie) lives in Los Angeles.