My Favourite Characters - Spike Spiegel

Cowboy Bebop is one of the most stylistic and engaging animes of all time, it's without a doubt the coolest anime there is, but the ice cube of coolness is the protagonist Spike Spiegel. Set in the year 2071, Spike is part of a small team of bounty hunters, not looking for glory or a challenge, just enough money to get by. Spike is a very reluctant and lazy character, when he's not on the job he's taking a nap or complaining about his fellow crew members. But that's who Spike is, he's a laid back and very relaxed person in almost every scenario, whether he's sat around on the ship waiting for the next job or in a gun battle where the smallest mistake can lead to death, he takes it all without flinching or a hint of fear. He always has a witty line up his sleeve, a cigarette waiting to be lit and a kick with your name on in. Spike is a master in hand to hand combat in a similar style to Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, a flexible body with a feminine walk, he moves as fluidly as water with the force of a boulder. As well as an expert marksman with his pistol for when he's too impatient to fight them head to head. Not to mention his skills as a pilot are unmatched to the point where he could make Han Solo jealous of his manoeuvres. The final point to make on his coolness is the voice, famous voice actor Steve Blum has stated multiple times how he considers this the role that gave him his big break and it's no wonder why, very few people would have a voice cool enough to portray this character, almost every line of dialogue said by him could be stapled as his new coolest line.

*Spoilers Ahead*

But what would a cool character be without a tragic past? Spike was a promising gangster of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate, but after falling in love with a woman named Julia, he faked his death so he could leave the syndicate, but things didn't go as planned and he remains a wanted man by the syndicate. Spike lives by the philosophy of immediacy, he sees life and death as one and the same and he wouldn't be able to tell the difference until his time comes, thus he lives life by a day by day basis, never fears death and feels no obligation to anyone or anything. On one hand it could be seen as a tragic way to live, he doesn't consider his life to have any worth or see himself as anyone important, but on the other hand it also gives him a sense of freedom and joy knowing he only has the responsibilities he assigns himself. All coming to a head in the finale where he faces his old past and takes on the entire Red Dragon by himself, knowing he will be killed in the process, or as he puts it "i'm not going to die...i'm going to see if i was ever alive" and in his final few moments of life, rather than the show playing it out as tragic or sympathetic, Spike's in a state of bliss, having an answer to his philosophy and finally feeling catharsis for how he's lived his life.

Spike is without a doubt the coolest fictional character that I have ever seen, he's cooler than Han Solo, cooler than Tyler Durden, cooler than Batman. But on top of that he still has a unique philosophy and character arc to make him complex and worth analysing, and despite all this, he would still just call himself a humble bounty hunter. See you space cowboy...

-Danny