William "Spike" Pratt, William was an unsuccessful aspiring poet in the Victorian era who was mocked and called "William the Bloody" because of his "bloody awful" poetry. Sired by the vampire Drusilla, William became an unusually passionate and romantic vampire, being very violent and ready to battle, but not as cruel as his companions. Giles thinks he acquired the nickname Spike for his preferred method of torturing people with railroad spikes, but it's actually because his poetry was so bad.