Spiegel, Spike

スパイク・スピーゲル

Spike Spiegel is a tall, lean 27-year-old bounty hunter born on Mars. His inspiration is martial artist Bruce Lee, who uses the Jeet Kune Do style as depicted in Session 8, "Waltz For Venus". He has fluffy, dark green hair (inspired by Yusaku Matsuda's) and reddish brown eyes; one is artificial and lighter than the other. He usually wears a blue leisure suit, a yellow shirt, and Lupin III-inspired boots. A flashback in Session 6 revealed that his fully functioning right eye was surgically replaced by the cybernetic one (although Spike may not consciously remember the procedure, since he claims to have lost his natural eye in an "accident"). One theory is that his natural eye was lost during the pre-series massacre in which he supposedly "died". The purpose of this cybernetic eye is never explicitly stated, though it apparently gives him exceptional hand-eye coordination - particularly with firearms (Spike's gun of choice is a Jericho 941, as seen throughout the series). In the first episode, when facing a bounty-head using Red Eye, Spike mocks him, calling his moves "too slow". At first, this seems like posturing on Spike's part, but even with his senses and reflexes accelerated to superhuman levels by the drug, the bounty cannot even touch Spike. A recurring device throughout the entire show is a closeup on Spike's fully-natural left eye before dissolving to a flashback of his life as part of the syndicate. As said by Spike himself in the last episode, his right eye "only sees the present" and his left eye "only sees the past." Spike often has a bent cigarette between his lips, sometimes despite rain or "No Smoking" signs.