Spike’s Live-Action Cowboy Bebop Name Change Explains An Anime Mystery

The live-action Netflix adaptation of Cowboy Bebop solves a long-running mystery surrounding the name of the anime’s main character, Spike Spiegel. In the trailer, Spike tells Annie that he is presently going by the name of Spike Spiegel. This suggests that the character’s name is fabricated in order to protect his identity.

Before he became a bounty hunter, Spike worked as an assassin for the Red Dragon crime syndicate. Flashbacks throughout the anime show that he worked alongside Vicious. The two were friends until Spike fell in love with Vicious’ girlfriend, Julia. They began an affair, with Spike planning on faking his death to be with Julia. Things change when Vicious finds out about their affair, forcing Julia to choose between killing Spike or having Vicous kill both of them. This prompts Julia to choose not to leave with Spike. In turn, Spike fakes his death and abandons the Syndicate.

Netflix’s version of Cowboy Bebop‘s Spike solves the mystery surrounding how he is able to elude Vicous and the Syndicate in the anime: if “Spike Spiegel” is a fabricated name, that would fit with the backstory of him having faked his death. It would be much easier for Vicous to track Spike down if he hadn’t started using an alias. Though “Ballad of Fallen Angels” makes it clear through Mao Yenrai that Spike is his real first name, the anime also offers up several hints that his last name is not.

It’s likely that throughout the anime, Spike went about his days never mentioning his real last name, wanting to keep a low profile should he ever run the risk of needing to evade the authorities, the Syndicate, or any rival criminal organizations. This makes it possible that Spike never even told Julia. What supports this theory is when Spike reunites with Annie in “Ballad of Fallen Angels.” Investigating the death of Mao Yenrai following his murder by Vicious, Spike tries speaking to Annie about what happened, going as far as calling her by her full name, Anastasia. This prompts Annie to bluntly tell him never to call her that, saying there are only two people who can call her by that name. This adds validity to how it pertains to Spike. Throughout Cowboy Bebop, Spike is relatively guarded when it comes to his personal life, choosing not to disclose details of his life to anyone. This even pertains to people he’s close to like Jet and Faye. This makes it possible that he chose to keep his full name a secret, and this likely is how the Netflix adaptation will approach the name change.

The Netflix adaptation of Cowboy Bebop changing Spike’s name may not seem like a significant change, but it has the possibility to offer a lot more about the character. Revealing Spike’s real name has the potential to explore more of his backstory. Given that showrunner André Nemec says the Netflix adaptation will be an expansion of the anime, delving deeper into Spike’s backstory is an effective way of doing that. The name change opens the door for that being the case.

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