Does Spike enjoy tasting something other than blood? In an Angel episode, Angel said that as a vampire he can't enjoy food, even though he drinks coffee. Spike also seems to like eating biscuits with blood. Does coffee even have an effect on a vampire as it does on people? We've seen Spike getting drunk, so I assume it does.

Spike likes blooming onions, spicy wings, hot spices in his blood, beer, whiskey, scotch...

Part of Angel's deal is that he feels he *shouldn't* like food because he's a vampire. But he did seem to like coffee well enough, and even grimaced when it was nasty.

Every human's taste bud are different, so I don't see why it wouldn't be that way with vampires, too. We all have different sensitivities to tastes. In my case, I'm extremely sensitive to hot spices. Even mild salsa can be too tangy, depending on the recipe. They also upset my stomach, though, so I think it's a defense mechanism to go along with that. I'm glad I don't like the taste of hot, either, so it's no loss.

On the other hand, it's hard to out-sweet me. :D I love garlic, though.

CM

Yeah, well Angel also said  couldn't do CPR because he had no breath (even though it takes breath to talk) and that Angelus was so seperate from him that he didn't even remember the actions of Angelus!  In short....Angel tends to lie.

I think the food has to be highly spiced to really be enjoyed though since Spike's choices were all on the spicy side.  Based on biology....the sweet sensing taste buds are the last to go so I'd imagine he'd be able to enjoy sweets as well.

Angel liked to hold himself as far from humaniy as possible (even after moving to LA Doyle points out that is a reason he's assigned to Angel so that he keep in touch with humans and not pull away like in the past).  Food is too human.

Kathleen

Spike also puts Weetabix and burba weed in his blood, and at one point eats what looks like peanut butter.

Also chocolate- he ate the chocolates intended to be Buffy's b-day gift in "Checkpoint," and for some reason, otter blood taste tons better than any other animal blood (excluding humans, of course).  And crackers?  He had a box of something at Giles', munching on his couch in the beginning of "Hush."

I think if you look it goes back to Buffy S2 when Spike assembled the Judge we was going to burn the humanity out of Spike but informed Spike that Angelus had none. Angel with the curse still doesn't eat because he feels it is hurting the demon, Angel also said that Vampires don't breathe, but Spike clearly does that or he would not smoke.

smlcspike

Vampires don't breathe, in the sense that their bodies don't require oxygen, but they still can take air in and out of their lungs. They do it to smoke, as you pointed out, but they also need air to talk. So, Angel saying "I have no breath" isn't an indication of a difference between him and Spike, it's just Angel being dumb. Personally, I think he said it because he didn't know CPR and didn't want to look stupid. ;)

As for the food thing, it's probably true that food tastes blander to a vampire, and since it's not needed for nourishment, Angel doesn't bother. But Spike won't be inhibited like that - he eats spicy or very flavorful foods that even his muted taste buds can pick up, or he eats them for the texture (like the Weetabix).

All I have to say is Hot Chocolate with little marshmellows.   But I would think also they taste things more cause their sense of smell is stronger and taste and smell usually go together

Hmm...methinks Spike just has more human tendencies than Angel.  Enjoying any pleasure, even food, would be against Angel's nature.  And Angel does appear to breathe rarely.  In Ats s5, the first episode (what the hell is it called again?), this guy Spanky, unknowing he's a vampire, tries to choke him.  Angel points out how that really isn't a hindrance, and kicks his ass.  Then, we see Spike being drowned by the ubervamp in Buffy's s7 by the uber vamp.  Although, I was like, "Spike, just stop breathing honey..." it was kind of silly.

That episode is "Conviction".

I always wondered if Spike might have harbored a secret fear of drowning, from his human days, and since the First knows his mind, chose to torture him that way. Because other than the sensory confusion of going in and out, water isn't going to affect him unless it's holy.

Yeah, their sense of smell would probably make up for changes in the taste buds, and if they have heightened sensation in their mouths, then food can *feel* good, too. (And the human mouth is already pretty sensitive to touch.)

CM

I thought with the near drowning that the point wasn't to kill but the unpleasant feeling of having water in lungs or being deprived of the CHOICE to breath...the sensation of drowning without any "harm" save psychological.  That's how I took it anyway.

Kathleen

Re: the hot chocolate - I would bet that the main reason Spike drinks hot chocolate or tea (besides being English) is because it's hot. Drinking it would make him feel warm and almost human-like. Doesn't matter what it tastes like (although those little marshmallows are tasty).

I think it was more to it than it just being hot.  I mean, we don't see him drinking tea ever at Giles', and god knows the man probably has cupboard full.  Or at the bronze or the Espresso pump- no hot drinks there either (unless it was blood).  I think the hot chocolate was either because he liked the flavor of chocolate, or felt comforted by it somehow, especially since Joyce was making it.  Maybe a combination of both. 

Hot chocolate was a popular drink for upper-class Britain during the Victorian era. Members of the upper class actually thought it would improve their health and drank it almost daily, usually serving it at breakfast or in the mid morning. Back then, it was made by shaving a block of unsweetened chocolate into the bottom of a special "chocolate pot", adding a little sugar, and pouring boiling water over it. They didn't use milk, or marshmallows.

Most likely, hot chocolate is a drink Spike would have had often when he was a human, and one he would associate with comfort, family, and safety. That's probably why it's the only warm drink we actually see him enjoying.

As for other foods ... I have no idea why anyone would assume vampires wouldn't have a decent sense of taste. Most everyone agrees that their sense of smell must be heightened, and the senses of smell and taste are linked. I think Angel and many other vamps just don't enjoy human food because they think it's beneath them, not because they can't properly taste it.

As for other foods ... I have no idea why anyone would assume vampires wouldn't have a decent sense of taste.

I'm guessing that must be in an episode of AtS? I haven't seen all of them, although I do remember Angel saying that he missed the taste of chocolate once on BtVS. Still, the concept makes absolutely no sense to me ... if Angel's other senses have been heightened as a vampire, his sense of taste should not have deteriorated. Perhaps the "how good it all tastes when you're alive" is in reference to the fact that, as a vampire, his appetites run only to blood -- he doesn't want regular food, therefore it doesn't taste good to him. Psychologically, I can understand why he couldn't enjoy chocolate, ice cream, etc. But physiologically? Nah, I just don't buy it.

Spike doesn't eat just spicy foods. Aside from the flowering onion and the buffalo wings, he also eats Weetabix, which are bland wheat biscuits. He likes beer, and if he was just out to become intoxicated, I doubt he'd be drinking lager; he must like the taste or else he would stick to hard liquor, which he also drinks. And, of course, he enjoys the aforementioned hot chocolate. Maybe it's just another indication of how "human" he continued to be after he was vamped that he enjoys these things and other vampires don't, but I don't believe that's because he's the only one with the capability of tasting them.

-- Unbridled Brunette

Um, the flowering onion isn't really spicy, is it?  It's pretty much a gigantic onion ring (sans rings, of course), and it's one of Spike's favorites.  Knows the proper way to fry it and everything.  I think it's a testament that Spike didn't see the point of giving up human pleasures and stuff.  He's up to date on pop culture too, and can't stand missing his fave tv eps. 

However, on the flip side, it's Angel who doesn't care to dwell in lairs or crypts like Spike- he prefers mansions or apartments.  Meh, everyone has their own tastes and quirks ;)

Chili's onion is pretty spicy. It's got some kind of seasoned powder on the batter, and the dipping sauce is also spicy.

Yeah, UB - that was in "I Will Remember You", the farewell to Bangel episode. It was hilarious seeing Angel trying every food in the minifridge - Cordy's lunch basically - and bleching over yogurt. And then he has Chunky Monkey in his freezer at home. Buffy marvels that "One day as a human, and you already have Chunky Monkey in the freezer" - he loved chocolate and peanut butter.

CM

CM

Heh, yeah, that is one of my favorite comedic Angel scenes... "Ohhhh, chocolate! I love chocolate... but not, as it turns out, yogurt." I think it's the "as it turns out" that makes it golden.

Regarding UB's thing about craving food making it taste better, I can understand the principle (it works with humans, too, lol) but I guess I wonder why Spike craves food and other vampires don't. For some reason, "he's more human"just seems like too simple of an answer... almost like we're at the point now where it's like, why does Spike do anything other vampires don't... oh, well he's just more human.

Regarding UB's thing about craving food making it taste better, I can understand the principle (it works with humans, too, lol) but I guess I wonder why Spike craves food and other vampires don't. For some reason, "he's more human"just seems like too simple of an answer... almost like we're at the point now where it's like, why does Spike do anything other vampires don't... oh, well he's just more human.

Well, I didn't say that is why Spike enjoys food that other vamps don't ... I said maybe it was used as another indication that he is different than other vampires. If the explanation that Spike is more "human" than other vamps sounds too simplistic to you, then blame the writers; they're the ones who created him and explained his actions with the vague "he's an anomaly". As I've said before, my personal belief is that all vampires can taste foods other than blood, but that many simply don't enjoy it. However, I doubt that Spike is the only one who ever does.

Yeah, UB - that was in "I Will Remember You", the farewell to Bangel episode. It was hilarious seeing Angel trying every food in the minifridge - Cordy's lunch basically - and bleching over yogurt. And then he has Chunky Monkey in his freezer at home. Buffy marvels that "One day as a human, and you already have Chunky Monkey in the freezer" - he loved chocolate and peanut butter.

... and just so you know, CM, all your talk of ice cream has made me hungry. I hold you personally responsible for the fact that I am now leaving the laptop to grab some rocky road out of the freezer, thus destroying my diet. :P

PUT DOWN THE SPOON. :P :D

To quote every Star Wars character - "It's not my fault!"

CM

 "he's an anomaly".

I think this has a lot to do with the Council. None of them really took the time to study vamps, they wrote books on the things they saw or was reported to by their slayers. And I think alot of what they taught their wards were based on folklore and myth, and trail and error on the slayer's part.

This is why when they see Spike acting a certain way, eating foods, him and Dru canoodling, his love for Buffy. They attribute it to him being "different" and "abnormal" and "twisted". They don't know any better, but the light bulb should have went off and they should have realized that he was displaying maybe not 100% normal vamp behavior, but pretty darn close. 

I've always assumed that vamp taste buds must be skewed in some way, since they think blood tastes just awesome, but that it probably wasn't enough that they couldn't taste regular food the way humans could.  I guess I just figured it had to do with having a demon that really likes blood, and that's what vampires actually need to survive, but there's still the human element in them that can eat, and enjoy, food.

As for Spike specifically, I've always wondered if it wasn't the fact that he was a human in Victorian England, which as far as I know wasn't exactly known for flavorful food.  He becomes a vampire, is suddenly able to travel all over the world and taste all kinds of foods, especially spicy foods, and decides that he will partake in whatever pleases him!  *shrugs*  Works for me, anyway.

Coquine

UB - I think you give the show's writers too much credit.  I don't see them looking up the details of hot chocolate in Victorian England.  I think they have Spike drinking hot chocolate with Joyce or Spike eating various weird things for the irony - the Big Bad Vampire drinks a kid drink with the Slayer's Mom, etc.  

Spike does comment about the taste of beer in Fool for Love when he's trying to have a normal conversation with Buffy. 

And, chocolate is definitely good for you.  Everyone knows that.

I think, if the writers were going for a cultural beverage, they'd have Spike drink tea. In fact, when he references Joyce in Forever, he says she always had a nice cuppa for him. As far as I know, "cuppa" automatically implies tea.

 UB - I think you give the show's writers too much credit.  I don't see them looking up the details of hot chocolate in Victorian England.  I think they have Spike drinking hot chocolate with Joyce or Spike eating various weird things for the irony - the Big Bad Vampire drinks a kid drink with the Slayer's Mom, etc.  

lol. Oh, you're undoubtedly right about that. I was just offering an alternative to (what I see as) the highly unlikely explanation that he drank hot cocoa because he liked how it warmed him. But I have a habit of attributing motivations to the characters that are probably beyond them; it's the overenthusiastic writer in me. Your explanation is far more likely. :)

Speaking of writing (she purrs sweetly), any hint on when we'll get that next amazing chapter, UB?

I'm sure we've got chocolate to send, don't we, girls? :D

 he says she always had a nice cuppa for him

Which implies that Spike went to see Joyce other times than the ones we see in the show.  Wonder if Buffy knew about that?

Speaking of writing (she purrs sweetly), any hint on when we'll get that next amazing chapter, UB?

I'm sure we've got chocolate to send, don't we, girls? :D

Your yummy chocolate must've done the trick. I just finished Chapter 45 and sent it off to my beta. An update should be coming very shortly. :D

Which implies that Spike went to see Joyce other times than the ones we see in the show.  Wonder if Buffy knew about that?

I doubt it. I can't imagine that she'd let it go on if she knew, the same way she upbraided Dawn for spending time in Spike's crypt. Just look at how annoyed she is when Spike is there in the kitchen in Crush (and that was before he did anything creepy).

Oh, she only looked all annoyed and weirded out cause Dawn planted the seed of his feelings for her.  Funny that when she believes he hates her and stuff, it's okay to ask for his help and protect her mom and Dawn.  He's more dangerous if he loves her... I never understood that, and perhaps I never will.  Joyce too- the quick 180 she does in "Crush."  Meh, maybe she thought it was a potential Angel repeat or something.

Well, she only asked him to protect Joyce and Dawn the one time, right? In Checkpoint - and you figure that given the choice between Glory and Spike, Spike is the less dangerous option. Then, she asks Spike to help her find Dawn in the next episode, but Buffy's with him, so it's not really like she has to trust him with Dawn. Right after that (Crush), Buffy freaks out about Dawn spending time with Spike - before Dawn mentions that Spike's in love with her. Then, she doesn't trust Spike with Dawn again until after Intervention.

Joyce's 180 on Spike was odd... especially if we're supposed to assume that they're spending time together. I could see the Angel comparisons affecting her opinion - Joyce was never an Angel fan, and Spike may have seemed like a perfectly nice vampire to have tea with, but she always wanted Buffy to have a normal life, so maybe not the sort of guy she wants dating her daughter? She still seems to overreact, though, even given that.

Yeah, but if you consider someone dangerous, even if they're not as dangerous as someone way dangerous, it's still kinda silly to ask for their help, and rely on them to help you find people you care about.  I mean, if he's so sinister, he could've sold Joyce and Dawn out to Glory, one would assume, him being evil and all.  I mean, that's what suspicious!Buffy should have thought, if she was planning on being consistent.

if she was planning on being consistent.

Ha... I think you found the problem right there. Interestingly, that's exactly the take she has in Intervention - she hears Glory has Spike, and she says, "There's no way he's not telling" that Dawn's the Key.

I think, before Buffy found out about his feelings for her, she didn't really consider Spike dangerous, but she also didn't consider him completely benign. In other words, he'll do in a pinch, when Dawn and Joyce need protection, but she doesn't want them being friends with him, or want him hanging around more than necessary. 

Then, of course, after she finds out about the feelings, he's suddenly dangerous... which doesn't quite make sense to me. Except that, when you think about it, it turned out to be somewhat well-founded. I mean, he never cattle-prodded her, chained her up, and threatened to feed her to Drusilla *before* he was in love with her, lol.

Hey- Dru cattle prodded her, lol.  And to be fair, he chained them both up...But only to make them listen.  And had she been nicer about his feelings, even a simple "Spike, I'm sorry, I'm just not into you," (which would've been a lie), then maybe he wouldn't have felt as rejected as he did.  I mean, he was really upset.  He almost cried...poor boy. lol

Um, yeah, I also didn't get why he'd all of a sudden tell Glory about Dawn.  Furthermore, she expected Giles and Xander to do the dusting?  Why couldn't she do it herself? I think that part was a ruse- I think she wanted to save him.  If she really thought him guilty hands down, then she could've just staked him then and there.  That was so a rescue mission...