William was a shy, mild mannered man who loved his mother dearly. He was also completely in love with a woman called Cecily. He was a poet, but not a very good one and that earned him the rather unlikely nickname of 'William the Bloody' due to his 'bloody awful poetry'.

The night he professed his love to Cecily, she had realised that his writing was all for her and she rejected him callously, saying he was beneath her. Utterly crushed, he left the party he was attending and immediately fell into the clutches of insane vampire, Drusilla, who turned him.

Revelling in his newfound power, he got his revenge on the people who berated him and soon earned himself another nickname - Spike. This came about through his penchant for torturing victims with railroad spikes.

During the following years, Spike and the love of his unlife, Drusilla, were the scourge of Europe. Initially, they were accompanied by Angelus and his sire, Darla. Angelus wasn't happy about Dru siring Spike and the two soon settled into a bitter rivalry that never stopped even though Angelus was cursed with a soul and left them.

Spike and Drusilla eventually turned up in Sunnydale where, at 120 years old, Spike, the killer of two Slayers was after his third - Buffy.

Unfortunately, Buffy had friends, family and the ensouled vampire, Angel, that loved her all helping her fight the good fight and she and Spike just never seemed to be able to kill each other.

Then, Angel lost his soul and returned to his Angelus ways and much to Spike's dismay, teamed up with him and Drusilla again. Fearing that he was losing Drusilla to the older vampire, Spike formed an alliance with Buffy to help her get rid of Angelus and in return she would let Drusilla and he go free.

That was the beginning of the end of Spike and Drusilla as she eventually cheated on him. Firstly with a Chaos demon and then with a Fungus demon citing that the Slayer was all around Spike and she couldn't bear to be near him anymore.

Spike returned to Sunnydale alone and was captured almost immediately by a covert government body called, The Initiative, who were using demons for experiments. Before he managed to escape, Spike had a chip implanted in his head that made him unable to kill or hurt anything other than another demon.

Being unpopular in the demon world, he started to hang around with the Scoobies, helping out when they paid him. Slowly though, he realised that he'd fallen in love with Buffy and began to try and become a better man. Unfortunately, when he professed his love, Buffy wasn't exactly very reciprocating and rejected him even though he spurned both Drusilla and ex-girlfriend, Harmony, in favour of her.

Not welcome around the her and gang anymore, he had a sex robot made in her likeness which made him a target for the Hellgod, Glory, as she thought he was the Key, she was looking for. Knowing the Key was Buffy's younger sister, Dawn, Spike endured terrible torture but didn't reveal anything and when the Scoobies saved him, he earned a little bit of respect from the gang especially Buffy who began to rely on his help in fighting the Hellgod, even going so far as to entrust the life of her sister to him.

After Buffy died, Spike kept his promise to look after Dawn and became a helpful ally to the Scoobies. When Buffy came back confused and unhappy after dragged out of heaven, Spike was the one she turned to and they eventually started a secret, and often violent, affair.

When Buffy ended it, Spike was heartbroken and attempted to initiate their sexual relationship once more but only succeeded in virtually forcing himself on her. When she stopped him, he realsied what he'd done and left Sunnydale and went to Africa in search of a demon that could enable him to give her want she deserved.

Many trials later, he was rewarded and got his soul back. Unfortunately, this sent him slightly insane and he tried to cut it out of his chest. He managed to get back to Sunnydale where he resided in the school basement until Buffy found him.

Not wanting to admit that he had a soul, Spike, in his lucid moments, tried to pretend he was still the same but he eventually told Buffy that he had regained his soul and he'd done it because of her.

In the meantime, the First was rearing its evil head once more and the Scoobies found themselves in the battle of their lives. The First had set up a trigger in Spike's head so that he'd start killing again when ever he heard a certain song from his human past.

Despite everything they'd been through, Buffy stood by Spike telling the others that she needed all the fighters they could get and refusing any suggestions that the vampire should be staked. Spike's chip then began to disintergrate and Buffy had to make the decision whether to have it patched up or removed completely. Much to the other's horror, she had it removed having already told Spike that she believed in him and had seen the man he'd become despite everything.

Their bond seemed to strengthen over time until he was practically the only one she trusted to guard her back anymore. As the day of the final battle drew near, Buffy even hinted that after it was all over they could be together but Spike had already reached a place within himself where he was happy to be in love with her without wanting anything in return. He had found true love.

A couple of days before the battle, Angel turned up with an amulet that was meant to be worn by a champion to help with the final battle. He expected it to be him but Buffy told him that he was to be her second front in L.A. in case they lost. Angel sensed Spike around her and asked if she loved him and Buffy admitted that he was in her heart but refused to say anything more.

Meanwhile, Spike had seen the two of them kiss and had jealously gone back to Buffy's basement. When she turned up he made a few sarcastic comments then asked for the amulet. Buffy said it was to be worn by a champion and his face fell but then she handed it to him, leaving him speechless.

The day of the battle arrived and when the amulet came into play, Spike realised he wasn't going to get out of it alive. Sunlight shone down on him and the amulet directed it outwards destroying the First's vampiric army but also destrying the Hellmouth itself.

Buffy tried to make him leave but Spike knew he had to stay to the end. She reached out and entwined her fingers in his and then told him she loved him. Spike seemed stunned but then told her that she didn't, although he thanked her for saying it.

Buffy finally left and Spike laughed as the sunlight consumed him from the inside out.

So, dusty end…that's it, right? Well, no, actually. Nineteen days later, the amulet mysteriously arrives at evil law firm, Wolfram and Hart. Angel and his friends are now running the branch trying to do good and the last thing they expect is to see, Spike rising back from the dead right out of the middle of the amulet.

Naturally, he's a ghost, but he's linked to the amulet and can't leave. He eventually becomes corporeal again and now there are two vampires with a soul around and that's going to add an interesting slant on the Shanshu prophecy, not to mention what's going to happen if Buffy ever turns up there!

Personally, I'd like to see Buffy pick Spike but I doubt that'd ever happen, just as I doubt that Spike will be the one in Shanshu prophecy either but a girl can dream, right?

I just hope that whatever they decide to do with Spike, they let him have a happy ending. He's a great character and very endearing because underneath all that cocky sarcasm he's still, William, the shy, warm hearted, poet. It'd be a shame to have his journey end sadly, albeit heroically, again.