Spike (Born ??) is a modern day bounty hunter in the futuristic world of Cowboy Bebop.
Spike was born on Mars, is 27 years-old and has a tall and thin body type. He has fluffy dark green hair and reddish-brown eyes, one of which is an artificial eye, characterized by the lightness in contrast to the other. A flashback in Session 6 revealed it was his fully functioning right eye which was surgically replaced by the cybernetic one (Spike claims to have lost his natural eye in an "accident", whether he states this due to loss of memory or by choice is undetermined.). He is usually dressed in a blue leisure suit, with a yellow shirt and brown boots. Spike is often seen with a cigarette between his lips, despite "No Smoking" signs or even rain. Spike has many special talents and abilities, including very sharp eyesight (possibly due to his artificial eye), abnormally acute perception, and extraordinary luck. Spike is extremely talented in the use of sleight-of-hand techniques to win card games, pick pockets, and even to slip things onto other people unnoticed. He is highly experienced in weaponry of all manner and hand-to-hand combat skills. He follows Jeet Kune Do, the mindset developed by Bruce Lee, though he has a penchant for high kicks of French Boxing. Spike is also an exceptional pilot, and flies a converted Asteroid racer called Swordfish II which is armed with four machine guns, multiple missile launchers, and a single plasma cannon.
Demeanor
When he is not shown working or practicing martial arts, Spike is very laid back and lackadaisical, often a source of balance for his crew mates. Members of the Bebop crew occasionally refer to him as a "lunkhead" due to his attitude. He also is shown to enjoy sleeping, and that may tie into his mantra of 'living a dream'. Spike's philosophy seems to be based on the ancient samurai ideals of immediacy, such as considering oneself as dead and the idea of death being an awakening from a dream, which are both elements of bushido illustrated in the Hagakure. Shinichiro Watanabe has admitted that Spike has a habit of being very indirect with his emotions, for example behaving antagonistically towards someone he actually likes. He says that this could apply to Spike's relationship with Faye. Spike has stated that the three things he hates most are "kids, animals, and women with attitudes." He then asks his friend Jet why all three are aboard the Bebop. Some years prior to Session 1, Spike had been a rising member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate where he was partnered as an enforcer along with his then best friend, Vicious. Badly injured after a shoot-out in the slums on Mars, Spike stumbled to the home of Julia, who was at that time Vicious' girlfriend. The two fell in love while she nursed him back to health. Spike decided to leave the syndicate and elope with Julia. Realizing that his best friend had essentially gone soft and fallen for his girlfriend, Vicious gave Julia an ultimatum: either murder Spike or Spike and Julia would both face death for her betrayal. Although the specifics are never truly covered, Spike apparently managed to fake his own death by engaging in a lone gunfight in a church against a rival syndicate; this allowed him to drop out of the Red Dragons' sights. He waited for Julia so they could escape and be free, but she never showed. One of the recurring themes surrounding Spike's character is how he views himself and his life. He claims that one eye - his prosthetic right one - can only see the present, and the other - his real left one - can only see the past. This is revisited by a close-up on Spike's left eye every time he has a flashback of his life before coming aboard the Bebop. He seems to regard his false death as real in some way, saying that after that day, he had "merely been living a dream". (During Session 25 when Spike has a flashback of the last time he saw Julia, the close-up shows both Spike's eyes, perhaps implying that his future and past are now the same.) Spike's attitude of living in a "dream-like" existence is displayed by his careless behavior and his nonchalant attitude towards dangerous or outright fatal situations. One quote that exemplifies this is in Session 1, when Katerina Solensan tells Spike that she is not sure if he is joking or not, to which he responds that he "gets that a lot". Some time after his "death", Spike met the former ISSP cop turned bounty hunter Jet Black, and the two men became bounty partners. Spike moved onto Jet's ship,a converted fishing vessel called the Bebop and the two men worked together for about three years before being joined by the other crew members.
Spike's fate
Spike is generally thought to have died of wounds sustained in his final duel with Vicious, and the fading star in the ending theme of the finale is thought to support this claim. In an interview, Watanabe stated "I've never officially said that he died. At this point, I can tell you that I'm not sure if he's alive or dead." However, he also believes that fans would be upset if there was a continuation. The later Cowboy Bebop movie Knockin' on Heaven's Door was set between episodes 22 and 23 of the original TV series. |
