Spike (Friendship is Magic)

Spike the Dragon, usually just referred to as Spike, affectionately referred to as "Spikey-Wikey" by some of his friends and sometimes formally referred to as "Mr. The Dragon" is 's number one assistant' and very best friend. The youngest of the heroes, Spike pines for 's heart and will do anything to help his friends, even if he can act mean-spirited or abrasive at times.

Spike was born in the Era of Princess Celestia when a young Twilight Sparkle grew supercharged due to Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom. He was initially raised by Princess Celestia, but after a few months, the responsibility was passed to the young Twilight Sparkle. At first, Twilight didn't care for the dragon but over time, she grew to love him as if he were family. Spike stood by Twilight's side through thick and thin no matter what happened, and continues to do so after he hit puberty. Spike doesn't just care about Twilight, he loves her so much so that his biggest fear in life is being no longer loved by her.

Spike tends to be a jolly and altruistic individual with a love for life. He rarely hates and tends to get along quite well with nearly everyone he meets. Spike is brave and caring, but can still be cowardly and selfish. Due to his persistent friendliness, he managed to aid in becoming the new Dragon lord and helped usher in a new golden age of peace for the Changelings. A forgiving soul, Spike managed to forgive for his wrongdoings, and even became good friends with the lord of chaos.

Spike is destined to outlive his friends and potential outlines of his future have been shown, with the most recent depiction of his adult self being the same good-natured and loving dragon with a strong sense of humor everypony has grown to love.

History
Spike was born in Canterlot in the Era of Princess Celestia, though whenever his egg was laid has never been cleared up. According to Sludge, Spike's life as an egg was complicated as his mother as hunted by the Scale Collectors, a species of cruel entities who hunted dragons, though Sludge claimed to sacrifice himself for Spike. This was, however, revealed to be completely false and Sludge had no relation to Spike, much less was his father. Because of this, Spike grew to have a somewhat complicated relationship with Twilight Sparkle, viewing her as a paternal figure of sorts.

Growing up, Spike helped Twilight Sparkle compete against her brother, in the Sibling Supreme contests that their parents,  and  organized. During these events, Spike wished he could compete as a third sibling, as he viewed the two as his older siblings.

As he grew older, Spike became pretty good friends with, , and , though he had to cease his friendships with them once he moved to Ponyville. Interestingly, he wasn't aware of Twilight and Dusty Page's friendship.

Spike was the surrogate little brother or even son to Twilight Sparkle and thus, the location of his residence would co-aside with hers up until at least his adult life. He lived in her dorm in Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns and later moved in with her at Golden Oak Library in Ponyville. Spike had many adventures in Ponyville, such as when Twilight adopted as their pet, causing Spike to grow jealous and eventually run away, but his largest personal adventure was likely when he went on the Great Dragon Migration to find out more about himself and his nature as a dragon.

Spike worked for the Equestrian Royal Family and occasionally went on errands for them. Spike's royal work only expanded when the Castle of Friendship as erected in Ponyville, which became his new home after had destroyed the library. Some of these assignments included daring adventures, such as his trek to the Dragon Lands where he particulated in the Gauntlet of Fire where he thwarted Garble and helped become the Dragon Lord.

Spike would grow wings, finally graduating from the status of "baby dragon" when he molted, and served his friends in their final battles against the evil forces that be, now united as the Legion of Doom. Spike himself didn't have much of a "final adventure" of himself, though finally received an answer on his place in the Sparkle family when and Twilight accepted him as their little brother.

In his older age, Spike became a member of the Council of Friendship.

Personality
Spike was an overall good-natured, kind, friendly, helpful, generous, caring and excitable kid, and many of those traits appeared to carry over into his adult life as well. Though he had many flaws - such as self-esteem, an out-of-place feeling, a tendency to lash out against his loved ones and a purveying greediness and gluttony that haltered his decision making, he did ultimately try to do the right thing in the end, even if it went against his interest. Spike could be described as both selfless and selfish, hoarding items but willing to share if it made others happy and often went far out his way to make others feel better.

Spike was an incredibly hard working child, putting his all in most tasks, but notably was less hard working at other tasks. His main passion seemed to be for mundane chores, such as cooking and cleaning, though his skills in these fields have been varied over the years. Another task Spike was often given and loved doing was delivering items or news. Though he often did this through his magic breath, Spike also delivered packages by traveling great distances, such as the time he traveled across most of Canterlot or when he traveled across half of Equestria to deliver the news that his friends were petrified to Strong Oak and his friends.

Spike also enjoyed creative and expressive work. He was the DJ for a Songbird Serenade concert in Canterlot and presented the Founding of Equestria play, also in Canterlot. He also appeared to have some appreciation for the Sportscasting career and worked as the co-caster for the Running of the Leaves.

Spike had a nerdy personality with interests in comics and role-playing. In Ogres and Oubliettes, he role-played as Garbunkle, a heroic wizard who adventured alongside Sir McBiggun. His favorite comic book series was undoutably Power Ponies, which followed the adventures of the titular Power Ponies as they fought villains such as the Mane-Iac, Pharaoh Phetlock, Long Face and more. When they briefly traveled into a Power Ponies comic, Spike was adorned as Humdrum, a powerless, but big-hearted kid whose love for his friends proved to be their greatest asset. As noted above, Spike had an interest in presenting and casting, working as a presenter and sportscaster on a few occasions.

Spike was a brave kid, though displayed moments of cowardice. It seemed that whenever his friends or innocent bystanders were in danger, Spike would spring to their aid. A major example of this was when Garble threatened to smash Phoenix eggs, killing the babies within them. Spike, though scared and clearly outmatched, stood up to Garble and his gang to defend the eggs. Another example of his selfless nature was seen when nearly drowned by the Flamecano, despite not knowing her at the time and being in a rush, he dropped everything to make sure she was safe and sound.

Despite his small stature, Spike was protective over his friends and his nation. He growled at Sunset Shimmer when she bullied and threatened Twilight Sparkle even though he was just a dog at the time and allowed the Legion of Doom to tear his wings off if it met Equestria could potentially be sparred of their wrath. Indeed, Spike was willing to sacrifice his happiness and freedom if it met Equestria could be safe, even going as far as to become the Dragon Lord so no other dragon may gain the position and potentially attack Equestria.

Spike, especially in the earlier years of living in Ponyville, reveled in his cuteness and often wore frilly attire, leading his friends to relentlessly tease him, such as Rainbow Dash calling him a "lame Dragon" and Rarity's well-intention teasing of his cuteness.

Appearance
Spike is a dragon with purple scales covering most of his body, the exception being a greenish strip that runs from his bottom lip down his chest and to the underside end of his tail. When Spike grew his wings, the membranes were the same color as his belly scales, while the top parts matched the rest of his scales. Spike has green eyes, green ridges of spikes on top of his head and along the top of his tail, and light green ear fronds. He has two fangs that stick out from beneath his top lip, giving him the appearance of a slight overbite.

As a baby/pre-teen dragon, Spike's height came up to the shoulders of an average adult mare (i.e. Twilight Sparkle) and he was small enough to ride on one's back. On reaching adulthood by natural means, he stood head and shoulders above an average adult mare and had broadened considerably, becoming much more muscular in appearance. His arms also grew much longer, his hands easily reaching to his knees while standing erect. By comparison, his legs were much shorter, with much of his height being encompassed by his torso.

While suffering from greed-induced bigness, Spike went through several stages of increasing size. In the first, he stood about the same height or slightly taller than Twilight, with his limbs, body, and tail lengthening. These changes in dimension continued to increase, with his spikes growing longer and his muzzle more pronounced with each stage. By the time he reached maximum size, Spike towered over most Ponyville houses and could grip a full grown mare, Rarity, in the end of his tail. His head spikes had also become long and sharp in appearance, with his teeth growing longer and sharper with an additional pair jutting out from under his top lip.

Twilight Sparkle
Many of Spikes flaws could be seen in his complicated relationship with Twilight Sparkle.

Spike suffered an unhealthy and one-sided rivalry with Owlowicious over his relationship with Twilight, which could be seen as a child jealous of a younger sibling getting more attention. He did everything in his power to make Owlowicious seem like a bad owl, even going as far as making a fake dead rat and saying Owlowicious killed it. In the end, he accepted Owlowicious as a good, compassionate bird after he helped saved his life when he wondered in Gostir's cave and nearly got attacked by the dragon within.

Another noticeably flaw was his desire to not disappoint Twilight as much as possible, leading him to lie to her.

Legacy
Spike is a multi-generational character who was introduced into the My Little Pony franchise in Generation 1 and has appeared in every generation since, with the exception of Generation 2, which had a nameless green dragon instead. Spike's Generation 4 characterization combines elements from both of his previous incarntions, such as his longing for a true family like his appearance in Genertion 1, and his 'regal' occupation in Generation 3, but in a much more lowkey and casual manner. An of Spike appeared in the Equestria Girls films, specials, books, and comics starting after the release of Equestria Girls: Friendship Games, that was instead a dog. This version did not have any noteworthy character traits from his Generation 1 or 3 counterparts, but instead was based primarily off his Friendship is Magic incarnation.

Portrayal
In My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike is voiced by Cathy Weseluck, who has also been involved in the franchise since Generation 1, as she was the singing director for My Little Pony Tales, though did not appear in Generation 2 or Generation 3 media. Weseluck would say that voicing Spike was very special to her, but decided to step down from being hi main voice actor after the ending of Friendship is Magic, jokingly saying Spike instead joined a soccer team. In My Little Pony: Pony Life, Spike was, somewhat ironically, portrayed by Tabitha St. Germain, who is the actress who portrays, Spike's primary love interest.

In various mobile apps, Spike was instead portrayed by Kira Buckland, also known as "Rina-chan", a prolific anime voice actress who gained a foothold in the industry by appearing in Newgrounds productions.

Spikes primary actors in previous productions include Charlie Adler and Brian Drummond, the latter of whom portrayed several male characters in Friendship is Magic, most notably,.