Spike Spiegel is the main protagonist of the anime series Cowboy Bebop. He is a former member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate who left the organization after falling in love with a woman called Julia. While circumstances forced the two to part ways, Spike would take up a career as a bounty hunter, joining up with former policeman Jet Black aboard the Bebop. Over the course of the series, Spike, Jet and their misfit companions Faye Valentine, Radical Edward and data-dog Ein, find themselves on numerous misadventures whilst trying (and usually failing) to score large bounties on criminals throughout the solar system.
Japanese Voice: Kōichi Yamadera
English Voice: Steve Blum
Personality[]
Spike is a slothful, nonchalant, indifferent, and lazy character. He passes the vast majority of his time on the Bebop lounging, watching TV, or sleeping. In a few rare occasions, he is also seen practicing Jeet Kune Do, a martial arts practice he is very skilled in, being among other things passionate of Bruce Lee and his philosophies (for example, he follows Lee's "water" analogy for his style of fighting). He is a hardened smoker, shown with a cigarette in his mouth in practically every shot. Although he rarely acknowledges it, Spike has very little patience. He repeatedly states he hates dogs, children, and women with attitudes, and is anything but happy when each one of the three joins the Bebop, but as the series progresses, he warms up to Edward, Ein, and Faye, all three of which fall in the category of the three things he particularly hates. He also claims to dislike cats. Spike is rarely seen excited about something and, even less frequently, says he likes something.
He usually behaves phlegmatically and walks slouching almost as if he is sleepwalking. He appears to be tormented by the ghosts of his past and has frequent nightmares of his life in the Red Dragon. He considers he already died once and therefore doesn't show the slightest fear of the possibility of being killed, often acting as if to challenge death, so to prove he is still alive. However, in a conversation with Faye, he admits to not wanting to die because of "the hate to."
Fate[]
During the two-part finale "The Real Folk Blues", Spike finds himself being hunted by the Red Dragon, which has been taken over by his nemesis Vicious. During this time, he is finally reunited with Julia after Faye tells him she met with her by chance near the Mars airport. Spike and Julia meet in a graveyard in Tharsis before heading to Annie's shop for supplies, but they find Annie to be dying from a gunshot wound. Vicious' men then arrive and pursue the pair, with Julia being shot and killed. Spike manages to escape and return to the Bebop, only to enjoy a last meal with Jet before leaving to confront Vicious one last time.
"Bang."
After battling his way to the top floor of the Red Dragon's headquarters, Spike confronts Vicious in a battle to the death, Spike using his Jericho pistol while Vicious fights with his trademark katana. Despite their difference in weaponry and the injuries he had sustained while fighting his way to the top floor, Spike ultimately accomplishes his goal. Though he sustains terrible injuries, he manages to fatally shoot Vicious and bring their long feud to an end. Moments later, an army of Red Dragon agents reach the top floor to find the chamber in shambles and Spike slowly descending the stairs. Weakly, Spike raises his hand with his finger pointed forward, making a gun gesture and uttering the word "Bang" before falling unconscious, presumably dead.
Despite the finality of the scene following Spike and Vicious' last battle, Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator of Cowboy Bebop, has never actually confirmed the character's death and has purposely made the ending ambiguous to let fans decide Spike's fate for themselves. An indication for Spike's death might be a fading star at the very end of the camera's upward movement in the end credits, though it could have also been Vicious' star.