The thing is, I am one of the people who say that until Spike got a soul, all his actions were fundamentally selfish at their core. "Getting into Buffy's pants" might be part of it, but feeding and maintaining his own self-image was even more important. And yes, part of his self-image was that he always kept his promises.
Does that make me one of these "Spike-haters"? I don't hate him. I think he's a fascinating and complex character.
And part of that fascination is seeing how Spike's actions - motivated by the desire to get what he wanted - could end up being more heroic than the humans with actual souls. And how, as he fought alongside Buffy and spent time looking after Dawn and all the rest of it, the conflict between his essential nature and the things he learned to find fulfilment in became so intense, that eventually the only way to resolve it was to go and get a soul - to break out of the trap he'd described a year earlier, that he could be neither a monster nor a man.
Once he had a soul, he was capable of actual altruism. I think pre-souled Spike might still have sacrificed himself in the Hellmouth, out of sheer bloody-minded pride and stubborness; but I can't see him giving Buffy the strength and affirmation she needed to be strong on her own without him.
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Date: 2009-01-27 12:05 am (UTC)Does that make me one of these "Spike-haters"? I don't hate him. I think he's a fascinating and complex character.
And part of that fascination is seeing how Spike's actions - motivated by the desire to get what he wanted - could end up being more heroic than the humans with actual souls. And how, as he fought alongside Buffy and spent time looking after Dawn and all the rest of it, the conflict between his essential nature and the things he learned to find fulfilment in became so intense, that eventually the only way to resolve it was to go and get a soul - to break out of the trap he'd described a year earlier, that he could be neither a monster nor a man.
Once he had a soul, he was capable of actual altruism. I think pre-souled Spike might still have sacrificed himself in the Hellmouth, out of sheer bloody-minded pride and stubborness; but I can't see him giving Buffy the strength and affirmation she needed to be strong on her own without him.