I think this has more to do with Spike having emotions than having a soul. We do know vampires can like or love people, that's one of the reason they group like the Fanged Four did, or how Angel had this buddy vampire that he slayed in s1 of Angel. I do think Spike genuinely liked Dawn and Joyce. Like, Angelus would protect Darla and Drusilla. I think it's entirely possible for Spike to feel that way towards them without the soul. But I agree, sometimes it's a thin line between evil and good. I guess I do see more the soul as conscience. It's possible to do good without a conscience, especially if your motives are personal. but I think what is lacking is the understanding of why you should be doing such thing.
Let's put it this way, Spike sees Joyce on the street about to get hit by a car. What will go through his mind is "I like this lady, I wanna keep her around so I'll save her". The same Spike sees a stranger about to get hit by a car "Who cares, that'll make a nice dinner". Whereas with a soul you would have the understanding that you should save the person regardless, because it's the right thing to do. I don't think it's uncommon for vampires to want to save people they view as family, it's just that normally the family is other vampires, not humans.
Yes, but how many humans will drop everything and risk death for a stranger. Definitely far fewer than those who will do so for someone they know, and even more will do so for someone they love (a child in particular). We all tend to have that bias. And I'm not sure 'nice dinner' is all that much better than 'ooooh, look at the blood' (grab phone and record).
But that is incorrect. As Angel, even in season 1 of Buffy, was drinking human blood. So humans were still viewed as food, they just opt for the more humane fast food versus hunting their own dinner.
It's the source that counts here, I think. I mean, I never understood why animal blood was better than Red Cross rejects.
In fact, that's right up there with how they did souls. In season one, Angel's refrigerator has blood donation bags - human blood I would assume. In LA he is drinking animal blood. Spike gives up human blood when he is chipped, but must go through withdrawal when he begins "feeding" again. Of course, then I start to wonder if they kill the LA otters, or simply cage and drain them, and I want to find a pedophile to throw at a vamp!.
Right, but he still views them as food. "continuity error" I know, but I still have to bring it up!
Blood can be food without harming the donor - which would mean anything with blood is also regarded as food.
I think I would call Angel a vegetarian - not a vegan. I guess artificial blood would be vegan. But removing human blood from the list of approved food is a step in that direction. Incidentally, Spike became a vegetarian at about the same time.
Vampires are actually a special case... loss of the soul is actually part of the creation process. With vengeance demons it's not... they become demons purely of their own free will, and they carry out vengeance because they think it's the right thing to do. They don't see themselves as evil. Vampires know they're evil, and don't care.
Which brings us to the nature of evil and how it affects the soul. B-verse seems to hold that killing, maiming, torturing, and dark magic areall evil in and of themselves. But Anya did just that for 1000 years, and he soul wasn't damaged? If believing you are right is all that is needed to protect the soul than every psychopath out there would still have a pure soul.
Interesting thought, really.
My theory is that the soul is what enables humans to interface, spiritually and emotionally, with the rest of humanity. Basically, not having a soul makes you a sociopath. But sociopaths are capable of doing good things if they decide they want to. Absolute self-interest doesn't necessarily require hurting people every minute of every day. (Of course, vampires' survival requires regularly hurting people in order to feed, which they feel no remorse about.) And, of course, you can have a soul and still be a sociopath, and you can do evil things without being a sociopath.
First off - I do want to throw psychopath in there. I would call Angelus a psychopath - he planned his murders and carried them out in a controlled fashion. Spike was a sociopath - not much for planning, liked the crash and the crunch. Once that is said and done I think what you have here is a perfect explanation for chipped Spike saying "I'm still evil!"
It looks like in the Buffyverse, for a living person, the mind and awareness are connected to the body, not the soul. With a normal death, the body dies and the mind moves on to the afterlife where it is reunited with its soul. Being vamped releases the soul, but keeps the mind with the body. The soul is replaced by a demon spirit which has no sentience of its own, but influences the vampire to commit evil deeds. Like humans, though, some vampire spirits are better or worse than others... from diabolically, pro-actively evil (Angelus) to kind of passively self-interested (Harmony).
Since the soul is gone, and the demon is part of the darkness, then a vampire would be a personality who is kept happily in some level of darkness. Once the soul is returned then there is access to a larger range of feelings and realities.
I can't remember any instances where the original human soul was punished for the deeds of the vampire that replaced it. That would be like you getting arrested because somebody committed a hit-and-run with a car they bought from you. We know that Darla's soul made it to heaven, at least. Her self-sacrificing death (under the influence of a borrowed soul) would hardly be enough to offset the thousands of murders she committed in nearly 400 years as a vampire.
Hellbound:
A completely naked Spike is lying on the floor, cringing in the fetal position, as Pavayne leans over him taking mad joy in torturing him.
PAVAYNE
Disappointing.
(Spike shudders in pain)
I expected more from soul of vampire. Too much conscience, perhaps, weighing it down.
A portal opens up in the basement right in front of Spike. It's black and slick like oil. The portal has a deep hole in the center, and long black tentacle-like arms reach out toward Spike threatening to pull him in.
PAVAYNE
Look... hell knows you're ready, plump and ripe. Beginning to understand, aren't you?
The soul that blesses you... (Spike has flashes of a vision of someone being tortured)
...damns you to suffer forever. (holds Spike's head up toward the portal) You go now, William, so I can stay.
