Spike of All Trades
In fiction, there are some names that just show up again and again. Jack is probably the best known one, but Spike also has this as well. It's usually a nickname of some sort and not the character's given name. Most of the time it has connotations of being an outsider, a loner, a Bad Boy or an Anti-Hero (though how much of one is debatable). He, or, very occasionally, she, tends to be a Badass, and sometimes a Badass Longcoat, if it's not an Ironic Nickname. The nickname "Spike" is more common in fiction than in Real Life, but it may still show up.
"Spike" is also a very common name for pets (and occasionally objects), especially dogs since it denotes toughness (but it can work for male cats as well). It could function as an Ironic Nickname for a small pet, like a hamster or a turtle. If there is a bulldog in a piece of fiction, chances are better than even that it will be named Spike.
Compare Alice Allusion. A subtrope of Name's the Same.
Examples of Spike of All Trades include:
Advertising
- "Yo Spike, I got the Motts!" From a commercial for Motts applesauce; the quoted kid has received a lunchbox-sized package of it from his mother, and is calling Spike to do a deal. It seems he does a brisk business in lunch trading. Spike is an unseen character.
Anime and Manga
- Cowboy Bebop: Bounty Hunter Spike Spiegel.
Comic Books
- Spike was the codename of one of the members of X-Statix.
Literature
- Discworld: Adora Belle Dearheart uses the nickname Spike.
- Thursday Next: Subversion—Spike Stoker the demon hunter. He actually doesn't fit any of the traits above—he's really a pretty normal guy aside from what he does for a living.
- The Doctor Who spin-off novel Vampire Science had a vampire character named Spike—before Buffy did.
- Jeanette Winterson's The Stone Gods features several characters named Spike in different timelines, two of which are female. And also robots.
Live-Action TV
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sexy Vampire Spike. His real name is William Pratt. The name "Spike" is said to be taken from what he enjoyed torturing people with (railroad spikes).
- Spike was the Troubled but Cute friend of Robbie on Dinosaurs. I think he was also a Stegosaurus.
- Spike was Fonzie's cousin on Happy Days (pre-Chachi). He was very much a Fonzie Mini-Me.
- Christine "Spike" Nelson, from the whole Degrassi series (Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High/Degrassi the Next Generation) a rare female example. (She even puts it on her wedding invitations!)
- There's a Spike in Power Rangers Samurai, son of Skull from the Zordon era.
- There is a Spike on Flashpoint...nickname for Michaelangelo Scarlatti (I think I'd go by Spike, too, with that name...). Kind of an Ironic Nickname, because despite his bad ass job, he's pretty much a lovable geek.
- Murderous club-owner and all-around sleaze-bag Herbert "Spike" Lester on Passions.
Newspaper Comics
- In Peanuts, one of Snoopy's brothers is a drifter named Spike.
Professional Wrestling
- Spike Dudley of the Dudley Boyz in pre-revival ECW.
Tabletop Games
- "Spike" is a nickname for the highly competitive demographic of players in Magic: The Gathering.
Video Games
- One of the partners you gain in Paper Mario is a Lakitu whose real name is Lakilester,[1] and apparently was trying out Michael, but by the time you meet him, he wants to be called "Spike", for image reasons. (Not that his girlfriend can ever remember that.) At the time, he was working for Bowser, and you do have to beat him in a battle, but once you get him on your crew, you have a valuable ally. (Don't expect "Spike" to show up in menus, though.)
- Spike, the rowdy main character of the first Ape Escape game.
Western Animation
- Rugrats: Tommy Pickles's dog, Spike, who is Tommy's completely loyal companion.
- Land Before Time: Spike the Stegosaurus. His name simply comes from the fact that the characters refer to Stegosaurus as "Spike Tail". He's the outsider of the group since he doesn't talk, so he basically functions as the Team Pet.
- In the Tom and Jerry Kids Show, Spike is the big and rowdy bulldog who acts as Papa Wolf to the cute little Tyke.
- Spike Witwicky from the first-gen Transformers.
- Spyke from X-Men: Evolution.
- Pretty much every My Little Pony series (including My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic) will have a baby dragon named Spike. His personality depends on the series.
Real Life
- African-American movie director Spike Lee (real name: Sheldon).
- Indian-born, UK-resident Irish comedian Spike Milligan (real name: Terence Alan).
- American movie and music video director Spike Jonze, born Adam Spiegel, took pseudonym as Shout-Out to...[2]
- Bandleader and comic music genius Spike Jones.
- Spike TV, a rebranding of former The Nashville Network as a channel pandering to particularly stupid guys.
- Voice actor Spike Spencer, who ironically tends to be typecast as timid characters ("I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away...").
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