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Can Demons love? Case in point: Spike
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One point of constant debate among Spuffy and Bangel shippers alike is whether Spike was in love with Buffy before he got in soul (and if this was the reason he got his soul in the first place). Did Spike truly love Buffy? Did Spike even have the ability to love without a soul? This in my mind leads to a larger question that pertains to the whole Buffyverse: Can demons love? In the series, the soulless demons that have important relationships are Angelus, Spike, Darla, Drusilla, and Harmony. Spike has the advantage of having a complex character, and also being the demon with the greatest number of serious relationships in the series. That is why I choose Spike to illustrate that demons can love. William and Cecily
Let's start at the beginning, with William the Bloody, writer of bloody awful poetry. He's the typical unpopular, sensitive kid, a mommy's boy and completely socially inept. Sensitive is probably the key word to describe his character, since he spends his time writing poetry to beautiful women instead of growing a mustache, going out hunting, and drinking with the guys. Right before he was turned into a vampire, the object of his affections was a woman named Cecily. Whether he truly loved her (or any other women who may have come before her), is not the issue. The point is he was a silly, passionate, soulful young man, completely in love with the idea of love, ready to give his heart away, and fully capable of falling in love. Drusilla
Next comes his long-lasting relationship with Drusilla. There's an interesting correlation here between Drusilla and Spike's own mother. Spike loved his own mother deeply, and Drusilla, in siring him, in a sense became his new mother. This Oedipal situation fits in nicely with the episode "Lies My Parents Told Me" in Season 7 (where we learn that out of love for his mother, Spike turns his mother into a vampire, and she, then evil, tries to shag him, so he stakes her). "Our love was eternal! Literally!" - "Lovers Walk", Season 3 Spike often professes his love for Drusilla throughout the series. The other characters never doubt that he is in love with Drusilla, and Spike was never anything but caring and well, loving, in his behavior towards her. In Season 2, "The Judge" wants to kill Spike and Drusilla because he can sense their love for each other, and is only dissuaded when Spike tells him they they are the ones responsible for bringing him to life. Harmony
I don't know of anybody who thinks Spike truly loved Harmony. Spike uses Harmony as a rebound for Drusilla and an outlet for his lust for Buffy. In fact, his relationship with Harmony is quite similar to his relationship with Warren's Buffy-bot in Season 5. He treats them much the same way--without much care or consideration. Buffy Now. Did Spike love Buffy? This has been argued over so much, that I will not bother to spend much time on it, and simply mention some main points in support:
1. Spike got his soul for Buffy. The only argument that I have found against this is that the writers were inconsistent with Spike's character, and the true Spike would never want to get his soul. I am not going to bring bad writing into this, and in general I tend to dismiss it in any case. The writers created the show--they pretty much have the last word on what would or would not happen. 2. Spike understands Buffy. He knows what she goes through when she comes back from the dead in Season 6, and he helps her get through it. He appeals to and encourages her dark side, but that darkness was always there to begin with. There was something besides the sex that makes her stay with him in Season 6, and in Season 7 they are not offically together but still are very close friends. 3. Buffy and Spike both believe that he loves her. This is clearly emphasized throughout Seasons 5, 6, and 7. Spike's acts of "love" for Buffy have little or no self-interest in them. He does not expect anything from Buffy in return, except her company. Buffy: I'm using you. I can't love you. I'm just being weak and selfish... Spike: Really not complaining here. Buffy: ...and it's killing me. I have to be strong about this. I'm sorry... William. - "As You Were", Season 6 Other Demon Lovers In the Angel episode "Heartthrob", the plot centers around the vampire couple James & Elisabeth, a couple who teamed up with Angelus&Darla in the 1700s. Angel kills Elisabeth, and James seeks revenge. James is willing, almost begging, to die for his beloved. Is this the behavior of a self-serving loveless demon? James is not an unusual vampire--he never got a soul, or was particularly powerful, or tried to rise above his vampire self. And yet, he holds high notions of true love and ultimate sacrifice. In a Nutshell Although Spike goes through many transformations of character throughout the series, he is the same person, and that person will always have part of the passionate, sensitive personality that William the Bloody did originally. It is my hypothesis that because William was such a sensitive and romantic human, it made it easier for him to love as a vampire. But any vampire is capable of falling in love, just like a human is. It's just less likely for the majority of them to manage it, because they're evil blood-sucking fiends.
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Again, great article! Well written and well argued...5 stars!!!
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