COULD Dawn take Spike?

[tkts]

This exchange between Dawn and Spike got me wondering.

DAWN: You sleep, right? You. Vampires. You sleep.

SPIKE: Yeah ... what's your point, Niblet?

DAWN: Well, I can't take you in a fight or anything, even with a chip in your head. But you do sleep. If you hurt my sister at all... touch her... you're gonna wake up on fire.

Now, sheer awesomeness of this moment aside, it made me wonder. Could Dawn take Spike in a fight? How much power differential does there need to be for a person who's incapable of harming another to prevail in a fight?

So let's say Dawn really did want to hurt Spike. Is it possible for him, using his superior strength, skills and stamina, to disarm her and dodge anything she throws his way, all without hurting her, and to just keep doing it until she gets tired and can't keep trying anymore?

Or would the inability to cause harm be too much of a handicap, allowing Dawn to eventually take him out?

[iigreenii]

Dawn had been training a little and was getting better & better. In the end Spike would probably still win. All it's take is one good hit and she's out like a light. Remember he knocked Xander out cold in Sleeper.

Anyways I don't think Spike would ever fight Dawn. He cared about all three Summers women.

[orangejuicepony]

Even if she was out for blood, I think that Spike could easily grab her and hold her down and detain her so that he could get away or someone could convince her to stop.. I don't think that he would ever fight her. If she came at him with a stake or something, that's all I can see happening. I think the only way that she could ever do harm to Spike would be to put a hole in the roof of wherever Spike was sleeping during the day, or walk up and set him on fire while he is sleeping. Not that I think that Dawn would actually do any of these things. But hearing her threaten Spike was an amazing moment.

[joxerlives]

Course she could. Never underestimate the Summer's girls!

[elenasaur]

I'm not convinced that Dawn could take Spike head-on. In a fight, I'm almost certain he could disarm her, and hold her back well enough for her to either calm down, or for someone else to come take Dawn away/protect Spike.

However, I think her threat to kill him while he is sleeping is probably pretty sound. There is the chance that he would wake up before she could do real damage, but if she could sneak up on him, she could probably kill him easily enough.

[drusillacakes]

I don't think Dawn could take Spike straight on, but she does have the underdog advantage as well as the element of surprise. You don't expect her to be the one to light the match. And she may be small, but she's also proven to be quite scrappy. So Spike would most likely take her down, but she'd definitely get some damage done first.

[tkts]

Nov 1, 2010 10:59:13 GMT -5 said:

If it really came down to it, I'd assume that no Dawn would not b able to take Spike. He has hundreds of years experience in comparison to hers. He has got out of many tight fights and situations. I think he'd snap her like a twiglet.

Except that he can't snap her. At the time Dawn makes this threat, he's still chipped.

So he would have to find a way to avoid getting killed without hurting her in any way.

Then again, it just occurred to me that he could always run away. He's certainly going to have better speed and endurance than her.

[outofphase]

i dunno. dawn is pretty smart and spike can be kinda not big with the thinking through of things. i mean that setting him on fire while he's sleeping thing... she might be able to pull it off.

[orangejuicepony]

In response to Tkts, if he did run, he'd definitely be fast enough to outrun Dawn, but I really can't picture him running from her. He's much more likely to be able to hold her back without hurting her.

[Miss. Rogueh]

back in the day Spike (School Hard)- i would say no, Dawn would be a lovely treat.
Season 4 Spike- he would get away or knock her out even with the chip...
Season 5 on Spike-He would never do anything to hurt Buffy, and then he grew a fondness for Dawn, I don't think he could ever hurt her, (on purpose) but I think Spike would stop her before she hurt him... *not stop as in kill, just stop as on hold her at by untill Buffy showed up to kick some much needed sense into the brat...**

[iigreenii]

Spike seemed to be getting stronger as each season went by. Of course he wouldn't kill Dawn, but he I do think he would knock her out to prevent her from harming him. He did hit Xander and the chip was still working.

The only way Dawn would be a threat is if she caught him while he was sleeping and even then it's pretty hard to sneak up on a vampire.

[joxerlives]

Nov 1, 2010 23:49:50 GMT -5 @iigreenii said:

Spike seemed to be getting stronger as each season went by. Of course he wouldn't kill Dawn, but he I do think he would knock her out to prevent her from harming him. He did hit Xander and the chip was still working.

The only way Dawn would be a threat is if she caught him while he was sleeping and even then it's pretty hard to sneak up on a vampire.

Put it this way;

Spike (shaken); "When did your little sister become unbelievably scary?"

So we know what he thinks! Hey, Joyce beat him with her axe, my money is on Dawn, she's remarkable!

[iigreenii]

^ That was wayyy back in S2. Spike had become 10 times stronger since then IMO. My money's on Spike. If he can knock Xander out (who's stronger than Dawn) with the chip still working, he could take her. Like I said before, that's probably all Spike would do is hit her once to prevent her from harming him. He would never want to hurt Dawn intentionally.

[Randi Giles]

I watched this scene a couple of nights ago. To answer your question...no. She even knows. Do I think she can kill him in his sleep possibly. Hopefully if she were to do it, it would be in broad daylight and hopefully she would have a bucket full of holy water. And some crosses too.

[Skytteflickan88]

In all seriousness, no, I don't think Dawn could take Spike. He wouldn't hit back, because of Buffy (unless Buffy died again and Dawn wouldn't stop trying, then he might, at least if he didn't have his soul), and he could keep running to avoid hurting her. Then get a witch who could do a spell to make Dawn forget she wanted to kill Spike.

Of course, this all depends on the circumstance, why Dawn wanted to kill Spike, if Angel or Willow was on Spike's ow Dawn's side, etc etc.

Hand in hand combat though, fighting until the death, even if Spike was just defending himself? Very unlikely, since Dawn doesn't seem to have enough experience or skill. Even if he just defended himself, she would tire.

-EDIT

Btw, that scene always seemed silly to me. It make sense, Dawn really hating Spike and Spike seeing that hate, being suprised, but saying that she had gotten unbelieveably scary seemed silly to me, even though I can justify it by thinking that Spike just wanted to start a conversation with Buffy.