bending_sickle | Again in this identical guise.*

A while ago, a crack!fic idea made me compare Sylar to Spike.

lienne's comment on a more general note made me think more about their similarities in the show, rather than just the crack!fic.

Naturally, I came up with a list - some points serious, some crack - of just how much these two characters have in common. Where applicable, I bring screencap proof.

Both Sylar and Spike had pre-killer personalities which are very much alike. They were both lonely, socially-awkward boys with uncommon hobbies or trades: William wrote (bloody awful) poetry, and Gabriel fixed time pieces.

Their (arguably) traditional pre-killer names are cast off for "S" monikers. Both monikers, curiously, represent their past trade: William took "Spike", presumably, as revenge for "I'd rather have a railroad spike through my head than listen to that awful stuff!" and Gabriel took the watch-name Sylar.

Oh, and they seem to have an oral fixation, which is fine by me.

Meet Gabriel:

Meet William:

Now see what they've become:

You'll notice that they both have a) trade-mark coats:

~~You have no idea how impossible it was to find a decent full-body trenchcoat!screencap of Spike.~~ Muahahaha!

The coat is so full of awesome, some try to imitate:

Some try to outshine:

But the Italian ladies still think the coat is awesome, and Spike agrees:

b) changed their hair. It's a good idea to keep an eye on these guys' hair, as it oten reflects the degree to which they are one personality or the other.

Gabriel:

Sylar:

Manipulative!Gabriel-impersonator: Note the half'n'half style? Spikey, yet floppy.

William:

Spike:

Crazy!Spike:

Both Sylar and Spike have an interesting Mother/Son dynamic, and many similarities, plot-wise. Both, once evil, return to their mother's house in an attempt to be "normal", and instead get the whole "You're no son of mine" speach and end up killing their mother (somewhat) accidentally instead. (ETA: Addenum on the Mother/Son dynamic.)

Gabriel!Sylar & Mother went from:

to:

William!Spike & Mother goes from:

to:

Both Sylar and Spike try to kill a blond ex-cheerleader on a special school night (Homecoming and Parent-Teacher night respectively), only to be stopped by a family member.

Both infiltrate their victim's home and chat with their mother quite nonchalantly whilst having tea or hot cocoa.

Both characters are captured by a secret organization (The Company, The Initiative).

They are also "neutered" by means of a chip or virus. They are not pleased.

They both wear hawaiian shirts, through no fault of their own.

Sylar is particularly displeased.

Spike says, "What? There were no clean clothes!"

And both were briefly accompanied by a naive chick who's only in it for teh sexy and got manipulated through teh sexy.

Both have a volatile truce, or sorts, with a ~~White~~ Grey Hat character (Mohinder, Angel) which has fans screaming "Kiss already!"

Both give a little "I'm back" speach. (Spike does so on numerous occasions, little cocky thing that he is.)

Both like stabity-stabbing victims with sharp utensils.

Both find a father-figure and mentor through their transformation, at whose feet they lay the blame for turning into what they are. (Spike says Angel "made [him] a monster" whereas Sylar says to Chandra "You made me this way. [...] You helped me to discover my potential.")

And lastly, both are sex-on-legs and delightfully evil (except when they're heart-breakingly not).

This took me 5 hours, so I expect squee, damnit!

Allow me to re-pimp the stick-beating of Matt by Teaching Twig. (Also lacking in the squee department.)

ETA: I kinda want to pimp this off to

ninth_wonders, but maybe that's just the exhaustion talking.
ETA2: Angel had awesome trenchcoat!screencaps, and I went a little crazy.

Links of the Day:
Dancing With Death, a Buffy site for the Fool for Love ep
Spike-centric screencap site
Essay on Joyce&Spike dynamics

* Gwendolyn Brooks