Dangerous Characters: Spike Spiegel

Now here is a character that deserves to be called dangerous by default. Any character that starts off the anime financially broke because his crazy job has caused ungodly amounts of property damage and hospital bills for bystanders deserves such a reputation. (Let's have a drum roll please?) Hailing from Bandai's acclaimed science fiction anime series Cowboy Bebop, let's give it up for Spike Spiegel. Another veteran of Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" viewing block and a product of Sunrise, this well known space cowboy does not just have a tendency to leave a trail of destruction in his wake, it could be considered his trademark. More importantly, he's crazy enough that he may actually enjoy it.

In contrast to our last addition to the Dangerous Characters list, Vash the Stampede, who was often chased by bounty hunters, Spike actually is one. As such, in our triumvirate of reasons for being dangerous (occupational hazard, danger magnet, or just don't care), the main reason for him is largely that it's an occupational hazard, with probably a smattering of apathy. Just a little bit. As he roams the solar system with his companions on the spaceship Bebop, looking for bounties to collect, you can bet that death an destruction will follow in his wake. There is hardly an episode that features him where gun play or some other form of violence does not occur.  He's also the kind of character that makes being a violent badass look cool, whether he's punching some bounty head's lights out or shooting up another spaceship in the Swordfish (his personal spacecraft for localized travel), you can bet it's going to be explosive awesomeness. Even if he does pay for his bad habits by having to front the cost for the damage he inflicts, his exploits largely end up being a vicious cycle of being intermittently broke. Which definitely goes against his taste for good food, but in a high risk job such as this, it can't be helped. So if you ever see this fellow, make sure you've got the doors locked and no one in the building has a price on their head. In fact, it's probably better to just say "See you space cowboy" and head to the next town. The fireworks should be over eventually.

Image taken from Cowboy Bebop, The Movie (Knockin' on Heaven's Door)

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