Spike

Keeping with the current Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme I have going, I have decided to write about one of my favourite characters and one of the main reasons I watch the show.  Spike, played by James Marsters, first appeared in the third episode of the second season alongside his vampire lover, Drusilla (played by Juliet Landau).  Spike was introduced as the major antagonist of the first half of the second season and is by far one of the best villains.  Joss Whedon originally intended on killing off the character but decided against it after he proved so popular with fans, in no small part due to James Masters' stellar performance in the role (admittedly his English accent was a little shaky to begin with, but no where near as bad as Juliet Landau's).

The character revisited Sunnydale, the fictional home of Buffy, a few times over the course of the next couple of years, having been dumped by Drusilla.  When captured by the shady government agency known as the initiative and implanted with a behavioural inhibitor in season four, the character takes on the comic relief role.  In season five the character starts getting some serious development as we witness the personal journey from self-asserted monster to heroic champion.  Spike's path is one of the hardest out of all the characters.

Alongside this character development (in my opinion the best in the show) the character himself is a joy to watch.  A very down to earth, wise and to the point personality, he juxtaposes against the chirpy and insipidly deluded optimism the rest of the cast often suffer from.  Because of this, I would say Spike provides the best conflict in the group dynamic than any other character, villain or hero and becomes more dangerous to them when he ceases in being a main bad guy just due to his ability to cut through all the rubbish and get to the heart of things.

Oh, and he looks like Billy Idol.