The Real Folk Blues
Hanging out in bars, silently traveling the depths of space, always on the chase for the next big bounty, this is the life of a bounty-hunter, a life some people choose for themselves, a life others have both feared and dreamt of, a difficult life full of hardships. The bounty-hunter's is not a stable or secure life, not even a guarantee for having anything to eat dinner the next night. Still, this life that calls to hearts of certain men, men like Spike Spiegel...
Spike Spiegel, male, late twenties, born on Mars, gemini, blood type 0 and with wild green poofy hair, is the main lead character on the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. Even three years after the series last ran on Japanese TV, he still tops the male character popularity chart in the monthly Newtype magazine month after month. The epitome of cool, he's always very laid back and relaxed, perfectly voiced by Koichi Yamadera. (I can't comment on the english dub)
He's got a good heart but tends to be very hard-headed sometimes. Although he professes not to like kids, animals and opinionated women, he puts up with them all, showing he is not such a bad boy after all. Even when fighting, he looks as if he's having a great time relaxing, a trademark of his Jeet Kune Do fighting style, moving his body like water flows. He's your typical freelance bounty hunter with a mysterious past.
Formerly a member of an organized crime organization called the Red Dragons, he fell out with his former friend Vicious over a woman they both loved, Julia, so he faked his own death to leave the group, leaving Vicious to become the most powerful assassin in the organization. After leaving, he has become a "Cowboy", an interplanetary bounty-hunter. Along with his partner Jet Black (and soon to team up with the mysterious Faye Valentine, and the odd Ed) they travel the Solar System in their spaceship, the Bebop, in search of of bounties to pay their bills and put food on their tables. Spike also searches for Julia, the woman he loved, but who couldn't come with him when he chose to "die". And so Spike is still half caught up in the past, wondering if he is really alive, which may also be a reason for his outward coolness.
He pilots a red racing ship, the Swordfish 2, useable in atmosphere as well as space, making for some great racing scenes.
Major Spoiler follows:
After finally finding Julia, Spike ends up being caught within a deadly power struggle within the Red Dragon. After Julia's death, he and Vicious end up in a final battle that leaves both of them dead, tying in to the main theme of the series: You can't run from your past.
Here's a nice link with even more information (excellent stuff): http://www.jagged.nu/spike/spike/index.php