The Difference between Angel and Spike

Angel and Spike. Both vampires. We see them both with and without souls. And the two are completely different. What makes them so different?

Angel is the vampire that we're introduced to first. He's quiet, withdrawn and guilt-ridden when he has a soul, and lives off human helplessness without one. So we learn a few things... that a soul makes you a reasonably good guy, that vampires are totally different from their origins, and that a soul is just completely crushing in terms of the guilt it lays on.

Then we meet Spike. Spike, though rough at first, is capable of love. And loyalty. And furthermore, he has no soul while attaining these states. And he's not as cruel as Angelus; in fact, he's not cruel at all. While not appalled by torture, he appears to have little interest in it. He actually becomes a moderately good guy, even without a soul, and then when he gets a soul, he seems largely unchanged. Weird.

Here's the difference that I propose. Angel hates himself, completely and truly. Spike does not.

A soul appears only to create the possibility of guilt. Angel, as Liam, it becomes apparent very early on, loathes himself. His father rides him mercilessly, and Angel cannot ever shake the feeling that he's a complete disappointment. He feeds into his own self-hatred by becoming a worthless drunk, confirming his father's opinion of him, and reinforcing the cycle. When he becomes a vampire, he loses his guilt and restraint. And the first thing he does? Massacres everyone that he associated with himself before, including and especially his father. As a vampire, his primary pleasure is gained from the suffering of others. Note, he doesn't actually seem to enjoy anything that isn't the suffering of others. He needs others for happiness, because he's incapable of happiness himself. Comparably, he does not love darla, or anyone. And when Angel goes evil in Season 2, he goes after the people that made him even somewhat happy.

When he has a soul, Angel is constantly depressed and morose. The happier he becomes with Buffy, the more convinced that it needs to end. And I think that it's at least a little representative that Angel can't have a moment of true happiness without becoming evil. His guilt when he has a soul isn't from the things he did (well, maybe a little), it's from realizing what he does when he has no restraint. What he does as a vampire is a confirmation of what he fears about himself.

Spike, on the other hand, is almost always at peace with himself. I mean, he's a loser, but he doesn't hate himself. If anything, he comes off more innocent and confused as to why nobody likes him, but his stubborn insistence on his poetry in the face of all of it may seem pathetic, but it doesn't occur to him to think that there's something wrong with him. As a vampire, he pursues himself unrepentantly. He finds that fighting is what satisfies him and he does, without restraint or thought. Even when he can only fight evil, he's reasonably happy with that. The thing is, Spike doesn't give a rats ass who he's fighting, as long as he's fighting; although there is one exception. Spike has a perverse incentive to pursue slayers. The thing about slayers is, on some level, they need... love i guess. I mean, one thing that becomes more apparent the farther you get in Buffy is that the Slayer is alienated from everyone; even the scoobies slowly grow farther and farther from Buffy. Spike sees exactly what lies at the heart of all slayers; the death wish. In a perverse way, every slayer suffers from loneliness, and Spike is one of the few that can actually reach out and touch that. He's needed, in a sense, and I think that compels him. The same could be said for Drusilla, who certainly needed someone to care for her.

Spike, when he gets a soul, doesn't seem affected by any of the things he did. Spike doesn't doubt; he might not do what he did again, but he doesn't think he's a bad person for doing it. His time without a soul only showed that he's a badass, but not that he's evil or anything.

Spike losing his soul empowered him, but gaining it back didn't cost him anything because he doesn't question his own value. Angelus, on the other hand, losing his soul empowers him, but gaining his soul only confirms to him his own horrific lack of value or purpose.

Sansterre