History Characters / FriendshipIsMagicSpike

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CathyWeseluck; Cecilia Gómez (Latin American Spanish); Creator/MotokoKumai [Seasons 1-2], Rena Koba [Season 3-onwards] (Japanese)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CathyWeseluck, Cecilia Gómez (Latin American Spanish), Creator/MotokoKumai (Japanese)

** In the cartoon, Spike tends to be [[BoisterousWeakling weak, childish, and clumsy]], usually limited to emotional and mental support for the ponies. His comic book counterpart is noticeably more competent and brave. So far he's helped fight off a Changeling invasion, infiltrated the palace of the Nightmare Forces by himself (and then escaped capture), helped Luna solve a series of arson attacks in Fillydelphia, helped Zecora cure Ponyville of a disease (and figured out the cause of it by himself, to boot), and went on an adventure with Celestia to the Crystal Mountains. Additionally, in a throwaway joke, it's implied he and Celestia defended Canterlot against an invasion of giant, mutant, magic-infused cockatrices, riding the Princess herself into battle while wielding a trident. However, with it being revealed Spike wrote the comics in-universe and a StrawFan calling the cockatrice thing a fabricated event and it not being the only one, it's debatable just how true any of these accounts are.

** In the cartoon, Spike tends to be [[BoisterousWeakling weak, childish, and clumsy]], usually limited to emotional and mental support for the ponies. His comic book counterpart is noticeably more competent and brave. So far he's helped fight off a Changeling invasion, infiltrated the palace of the Nightmare Forces by himself (and then escaped capture), helped Luna solve a series of arson attacks in Fillydelphia, helped Zecora cure Ponyville of a disease (and figured out the cause of it by himself, to boot), and went on an adventure with Celestia to the Crystal Mountains. Additionally, in a throwaway joke, it's implied he and Celestia defended Canterlot against an invasion of giant, mutant, magic-infused cockatrices, riding the Princess herself into battle while wielding a trident. However, with it being revealed Spike wrote those comics in-universe and a StrawFan calling the cockatrice thing a lie and it not being the only one, it's debatable just how true any of these accounts are.

** In the cartoon, Spike tends to be [[BoisterousWeakling weak, childish, and clumsy]], usually limited to emotional and mental support for the ponies. His comic book counterpart is noticeably more competent and brave. So far he's helped fight off a Changeling invasion, infiltrated the palace of the Nightmare Forces by himself (and then escaped capture), helped Luna solve a series of arson attacks in Fillydelphia, helped Zecora cure Ponyville of a disease (and figured out the cause of it by himself, to boot), and went on an adventure with Celestia to the Crystal Mountains. Additionally, in a throwaway joke, it's implied he and Celestia defended Canterlot against an invasion of giant, mutant, magic-infused cockatrices, riding the Princess herself into battle while wielding a trident. However, with it being revealed Spike wrote those comics in-universe and a StrawFan calling the cockatrice thing a "lie" and it not being the only one, it's debatable how just how true any of these accounts are.

** In the cartoon, Spike tends to be [[BoisterousWeakling weak, childish, and clumsy]], usually limited to emotional and mental support for the ponies. His comic book counterpart is noticeably more competent and brave. So far he's helped fight off a Changeling invasion, infiltrated the palace of the Nightmare Forces by himself (and then escaped capture), helped Luna solve a series of arson attacks in Fillydelphia, helped Zecora cure Ponyville of a disease (and figured out the cause of it by himself, to boot), and went on an adventure with Celestia to the Crystal Mountains. Additionally, in a throwaway joke, it's implied he and Celestia defended Canterlot against an invasion of giant, mutant, magic-infused cockatrices, riding the Princess herself into battle while wielding a trident. However, with it being revealed Spike wrote those comics in-universe and a StrawFan calling the cockatrice thing a "lie" and it not being the only one, it's debatable how just true any of these accounts are.

** In the cartoon, Spike tends to be [[BoisterousWeakling weak, childish and clumsy]], usually limited to emotional and mental support for the ponies. His comic book counterpart is noticeably more competent and brave. So far he's helped fight off a Changeling invasion, infiltrated the palace of the Nightmare Forces by himself (and then escaped capture), helped Luna solve a series of arson attacks in Fillydelphia, helped Zecora cure Ponyville of a disease (and figured out the cause of it by himself, to boot), and went on an adventure with Celestia to the Crystal Mountains. Additionally, in a throwaway joke, it's implied he and Celestia defended Canterlot against an invasion of giant, mutant, magic-infused cockatrices, riding the Princess herself into battle while wielding a trident.

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CathyWeseluck, Creator/MotokoKumai (Japanese)

[[folder:Tropes #–C]]

* LoudGulp: Spike does this repeatedly in Dragon Quest, as the bigger dragons keep bullying him and encouraging him to try their games, for which he is obviously too small.

* RiteOfPassage: In Dragon Quest, Spike has to go through a series of tasks in order to prove he's a "real" dragon, including: a fire-belching contest, defeating another dragon in a round of "tail wrestling", playing "king of the hoard", and jumping into a lava pool.

* BeleagueredAssistant: He is front and center for Twilight's ObsessivelyOrganized tendacies and tries to keep her on track when she has a meltdown.

* BindleStick: Spike uses one when he leaves Ponyvile's Library.

** In "The Crystal Empire - Part 2" his greatest fear is revealed to be [[spoiler: her revoking this status and casting him out of Ponyvile because she doesn't need him anymore]].

* BeleagueredAssistant: He is front and center for Twilight's SuperOCD and tries to keep her on track when she has a meltdown.

** The trope is often justified given Twilight's character, who is generally kind and well-meaning, but [[InnocentlyInsensitive occasionally inconsiderate]] and prone to [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny attention span issues]] [[SuperOCD when distracted]]. As such Twilight can often obliviously ignore Spike's troubles from helping her, when her head is out of the clouds, however, expect an evident JerkassRealization and doting affection.

* IronButtMonkey: The cartoon explains his resilience by explaining that (unlike Twilight), Spike's natural body armor allows him to shrug off a lot of damage. He says this while being used as a literal pincushion for Rarity, and later shown to be exceptionally sturdy [[UpToEleven even by dragons' standards]]. From the size difference between adult and baby dragons, it could be theorized that his toughness is an evolutionary necessity. Were baby dragons not so extraordinarily tough, the chance of their parent accidentally killing them could be uncomfortably large. As well as the chance of adult dragons ''purposefully'' killing them.

* NiceHat: Spike has a thing for sweet headgear. Apparently the Animators like putting stuff on his head [[RuleOfFunny because it's funny]].

Spike: I just saw what needed to be done and reacted. Just so happens I can breathe fire, and if any of you could do that, you'd have done the same.
* HiddenDepths: It's been shown in some episodes he's not as happy about always being shoved to the sidelines as he claims, and may have a few self-esteem issues at this point. See DudeWheresMyRespect below.

* DemotedToExtra: Although he plays a key role as Twilight's source of motivation in ''Equestria Girls'', he is completely unimportant to the plot of Rainbow Rocks. In ''Friendship Games'', his human world counterpart is pretty much a SatelliteCharacter [[spoiler: who doesn't even get lines until a little more than halfway through the movie]], while Equestria's Spike never returns to the human world and only appears again during ''Spring Breakdown'', as a dragon in Equestria.

* DemotedToExtra: Although he plays a key role as Twilight's source of motivation in ''Equestria Girls'', he is completely unimportant to the plot of Rainbow Rocks. In ''Friendship Games'', his human world counterpart is pretty much a SatelliteCharacter [[spoiler: who doesn't even get lines until a little more than halfway through the movie]].

* DistressedDude: The main pivot of the plot in Spike at Your Service, is Spike acting as one when the timberwolves first appear at the start of the episode.

[[folder:Tropes #-C]]

Spike: Maybe you just don't like that I have a real parent now.

Spike: By order of Princess Twilight, BE QUIET! (echoes off)

* CatLikeDragons: Averted. His ''Equestria Girls'' counterpart is a dog.

[[folder:Tropes D-G]]

* DeadlyUpgrade: In adulthood Spike gains immense size and power, but at the cost of becoming a greedy, mindless rampaging beast.

* GrowingWings: [[spoiler:In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E11MoltDown Molt Down]]", he acquires wings after going through the molt, an uncomfortable magical process that serves as essentially dragon puberty. It culminates in him growing a rocky cocoon and emerging from it with a new pair of wings.]]

[[folder:Tropes H-L]]

* InsaneTrollLogic: Spike believing that should Ember and Thorax meet, this will lead to a war between dragons and changelings with Equestria caught in the middle, all because Ember and Thorax are different and he fears they wouldn't get along. He even has an ImagineSpot where they and their armies clash and apparently destroy the planet.

* KingKongClimb: Spike climbs the tallest mountain next to Ponyville in this manner, with Rarity as his hostage, and the Wonderbolts swooping around like biplanes.

* LavaIsBoilingKoolAid: Done by Spike; when he belly-flops into a lava pool, he makes a solid impact on its surface before slowly sinking in. Played straight by the other dragons, who are presumably heavy enough to displace it like it was water.

[[folder:Tropes M-R]]

* MagikarpPower: So far we've seen that Dragons are ''obscenely'' powerful beings but since Spike's a baby, he's still relatively easy to thwart. This becomes all the more apparent when he [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E10SecretOfMyExcess temporarily stops being a baby]] and becomes a tremendous threat to everyone nearby, to the point where even the best Wonderbolt Squad are nothing but pests for him.

* NeverAcceptedinHisHometown: Spike's a Butt-Monkey in Ponyville, but in the Crystal Empire, he's the most admired and respected hero.

* NurtureoverNature: While Spike never meets his biological parents, he does decide that "who [he is] is not the same as what [he is.]"

* RefusaloftheCall: Spike initially attempts to not participate in the games and even gets permission to go ahead and head back. However, he becomes Resigned to the Call when he realizes that Ponyville and Equestria could be potentially in danger if an amoral dragon like Garble get their hands on the scepter if he doesn't try to win.
* Rent-a-Zilla: Spike after maturing to full size and going on a thieving rampage comes off as this, though he isn't really attacking Ponyville and its citizens intentionally so much as he's just greedily stealing stuff and leaving mass destruction behind in the process.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: He states that "dragons are fireproof", which they have to be, dealing with fire inside their bodies a lot.

* RightfortheWrongReasons: Spike assumes Lyra and Bon Bon's argument, and later, two ponies arguing at a diner, are the friendship problems he's meant to fix. While he's obviously wrong on this assumption, he does the right thing by helping these ponies.

* RiteofPassage: In Dragon Quest, Spike has to go through a series of tasks in order to prove he's a "real" dragon, including: a fire-belching contest, defeating another dragon in a round of "tail wrestling", playing "king of the hoard", and jumping into a lava pool.

%%* RuleOfCute: A lot of things that he does, or jokes surrounding them happen for this sake.
[[folder:Tropes S to Y]]

* SneezeofDoom: Spike's sneezing from the dragon sneeze flowers destroys the gem statue. He gears up for another one after the delegates put it back together again.

* StalkerWithoutACrush: A mild version towards Applejack in "Spike At Your Service", as he won't leave her alone due to his personal "Dragon Code" requiring him to pledge lifelong servitude to her after she saves his life.

* ThirdPersonPerson: He spoke this way while HulkingOut in "Secret Of My Excess".

Spike: Hey, giant chicken! If you like dragons so much, come and get me!

* UndyingLoyalty: To Twilight Sparkle, and the rest of his friends. [[spoiler:This allows him to be the hero in "The Crystal Empire" when he refuses to let Twilight search for the Crystal Heart on her own.]] It is also revealed that his greatest fear is [[spoiler:Twilight revoking his status as her assistant and sending him away because she finds him useless]]. Also strongly demonstrated in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1 Equestria Girls]]'', where he accompanies Twilight through the mirror portal despite being told not to, providing much-needed moral support. He's also technically this to Rarity, willing to help her in almost ''anything'' she asks. However, "Inspiration Manifestation" shows even he has his limits with this, as while he's at first unwilling to speak out against Rarity going MadWithPower over the titular book, he eventually takes it from her and swallows it so she can't get it back to snap her out of it.

* WouldHurtAChild: In "The Ending of the End - Part 1", [[spoiler:Spike has no problem using his fire breath to try and incinerate Cozy Glow (granted, she was an Alicorn at the time, but still)]].

* NiceJobBreakingIt,Hero:

[[folder:Tropes # to F]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes G to P]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes Q to Z]]

* TheScrappy: In-universe, Spike really hates Humdrum. Not least because the bumbling sidekick reminds him too much of himself.

* Miracle-GroMonster: Spike has this happen to him the greedier he gets.
* Mr.Exposition: In a change from the formula, Spike takes this role in the episode Power Ponies as he explains the abilities of the Power Ponies and helps them defeat the Mane-iac with his knowledge of the comic.

* MyGod,WhatHaveIDone?: Spike doesn't come right out and say it, but the emotion is conveyed by his reaction to seeing Ponyville devastated, and his own giant footprints.

* Oh,No...NotAgain!: Spike has this reaction when he realizes the bouquet he's been handed near the end of the episode is composed of Dragonsneeze blossoms, leading into the Oh, Crap! moment with the Royal Sisters-In-Law, Fancy Pants, and the delegates.

* Outside/InsideSlur: Because Spike has lived with ponies all his life, the teen dragons initially insist that while he's a dragon on the outside, he's a pony on the inside. Spike later takes it as a point of pride, because he sees that the adolescent dragons are complete jerks.

* Post-KissCatatonia: Rarity kisses Spike on the cheek and he falls over.

* Disproportionate Reward: Spike goes overboard in fulfilling his Dragon Code; a life debt is serious but eternal servitude is extreme and especially when the savior doesn't want a reward.

* Loophole Abuse: When Spike hands the Bloodstone Scepter — and with it the title of Dragon Lord — to Ember, he claims that the Dragon Lord is whoever brings the scepter back to her father, rather than simply whoever got it first, to justify doing this. While Torch never said exactly thatnote , none of the witnessing dragons argue.
* Loud Gulp: Spike does this repeatedly in Dragon Quest, as the bigger dragons keep bullying him and encouraging him to try their games, for which he is obviously too small.

* Love Makes You Dumb: Spike's desire to help Rarity in Inspiration Manifistation cause him to overlook the obvious signs of how dangerous the spellbook is. He then doesn't tell Rarity or anyone else she's gone mad with power because he's afraid that Rarity won't consider him a friend anymore.
* Lying Finger Cross: When Spike tells Cadance that he's using Twilight's authority to improve the summit, he crosses his claws behind his back.
* Manly Tears: Played with. Spike is upset to tears about not knowing anything about his dragon heritage, and then wipes them away because he has the idea dragons are too tough to cry.

* Miracle-Gro Monster: Spike has this happen to him the greedier he gets.
* Mr. Exposition: In a change from the formula, Spike takes this role in the episode Power Ponies as he explains the abilities of the Power Ponies and helps them defeat the Mane-iac with his knowledge of the comic.

* My God, What Have I Done?: Spike doesn't come right out and say it, but the emotion is conveyed by his reaction to seeing Ponyville devastated, and his own giant footprints.

* Never Accepted in His Hometown: Spike's a Butt-Monkey in Ponyville, but in the Crystal Empire, he's the most admired and respected hero.
* Never My Fault: When Twilight discovers the burnt book, Spike tries to pin the blame on Owlowiscious who discovers the ashes.

* Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:

* No Ontological Inertia: As soon as Spike remembers he can be generous and how happy it made Rarity, his uncontrolled dragon growth spurt and personality change reverse instantly. This leads to the new problem of how high up he and Rarity are with no way down except the cruel pull of gravity.

* Nurture over Nature: While Spike never meets his biological parents, he does decide that "who [he is] is not the same as what [he is.]"

* Oh, No... Not Again!: Spike has this reaction when he realizes the bouquet he's been handed near the end of the episode is composed of Dragonsneeze blossoms, leading into the Oh, Crap! moment with the Royal Sisters-In-Law, Fancy Pants, and the delegates.

* OOC Is Serious Business: Spike ignoring Rarity is odd enough to cause Rarity some serious angst. For comparison, Season 1 to 8 Spike would be overjoyed about Rarity waking him up, but Season 9 Spike looks visibly annoyed.

* Outside/Inside Slur: Because Spike has lived with ponies all his life, the teen dragons initially insist that while he's a dragon on the outside, he's a pony on the inside. Spike later takes it as a point of pride, because he sees that the adolescent dragons are complete jerks.

* Parenthetical Swearing: Spike mutters "Ah, bless me" after accidentally knocking over a big gem statue with his Sneeze of Doom.
* Performance Anxiety: When it's time to light the torch in front of the entire stadium, Spike's unable to trigger his fire breath.

* Post-Kiss Catatonia: Rarity kisses Spike on the cheek and he falls over.

* Refusal of the Call: Spike initially attempts to not participate in the games and even gets permission to go ahead and head back. However, he becomes Resigned to the Call when he realizes that Ponyville and Equestria could be potentially in danger if an amoral dragon like Garble get their hands on the scepter if he doesn't try to win.

* Right for the Wrong Reasons: Spike assumes Lyra and Bon Bon's argument, and later, two ponies arguing at a diner, are the friendship problems he's meant to fix. While he's obviously wrong on this assumption, he does the right thing by helping these ponies.

* Rite of Passage: In Dragon Quest, Spike has to go through a series of tasks in order to prove he's a "real" dragon, including: a fire-belching contest, defeating another dragon in a round of "tail wrestling", playing "king of the hoard", and jumping into a lava pool.
* The Runaway: Spike after he hits rock bottom and leaves with a Bindle Stick.

* The Scrappy: In-universe, Spike really hates Humdrum. Not least because the bumbling sidekick reminds him too much of himself.

* Sneeze of Doom: Spike's sneezing from the dragon sneeze flowers destroys the gem statue. He gears up for another one after the delegates put it back together again.

* Sycophantic Servant: The Inspiration Manifestation spell only works so long as Spike acts as this for Rarity.

* This Loser Is You: In-Universe example. Spike hates Humdrum because his role as the Plucky Comic Relief Millstone hits too close to home for Spike.

* Trash Talk: Used by Spike when he agrees to distract the roc while Twilight tries to free their friends.

* Twitchy Eye: Spike's first attempt to engage Owlowiscious in conversation gives him one.

* Wardrobe Malfunction: While in the School of Friendship's library, Spike gets another uncontrolled fire burp. Since he's surrounded by some students and tourists at the moment, he directs the flame breath at the floor in order to not hurt anybody. This causes him to end up wreathed in flames, and although he's unharmed thanks to dragons' immunity to fire, his Conspicuous Trench Coat doesn't survive, turning to ashes.
* Watch Out for That Tree!: During Spike's flying montage, he turns his head and waves at Twilight, right before flying smack into a tree.
* What Have I Become?: Spike has this moment right before he changes back.
* What the Hell, Hero?: Spike gets chewed out by both Ember and Thorax for failing to be honest with them, especially since they felt that he made assumptions about their personalities (Ember's aggressiveness and Thorax's passiveness), which were the very things they sought Spike's help for.

* Wrong Assumption: Spike's concerns that Ember and Thorax would be unfriendly to each other turned out to be unfounded in the end as they bond over their insecurities and help each other solve them before confronting Spike and giving him a good reprimand for his earlier behavior.

* HeroicBSoD: The revelation that Twilight needed to help Spike light the Equestria Games torch sends him into a depression for a majority of the episode.

* Achilles in His Tent: After Spike butchers the Cloudsdale anthem, he spends the remainder of the Games sulking in his room pretending to pack for the train ride home. He completes this trope with his Big Damn Heroes moment of melting the cloud iceberg.

* ActingUnnatural: In the Cold Open of Molt Down, Spike hides his first stone scale by putting his claw over his cheek. Rarity quickly realizes something is off.

Spike: My title of Equestria's Friendship Ambassador is a lie!

* Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Spike originally started acting as if he had Twilight's authority to help her sleep and fix a problem, but it then went to his head.

* Kids Prefer Boxes: Spike is playing in one of the boxes his presents came in when he thanks Applejack (for the sixteenth time) for his new blanket.
* Kill It with Fire: Inverted. Spike's fire presumably saves some lives near the end of the Equestria Games.
* "King Kong" Climb: Spike climbs the tallest mountain next to Ponyville in this manner, with Rarity as his hostage, and the Wonderbolts swooping around like biplanes.

* Kissed Keepsake: Spike refuses to wash his cheek after the first time Rarity kisses him. The second time he frames her kiss.

* Laser-Guided Karma: Spike gets yelled at by Ember and Thorax together, for causing the conflict of the episode by trying to keep them apart because of his unfounded assumptions about their personalities, and not addressing the issues they came to Spike for, culminating in them almost fighting each other.
* Lazy Bum: After fending off the roc, Spike has Twilight carry him back home, despite his new wings.

* Lava is Boiling Kool-Aid: Done by Spike; when he belly-flops into a lava pool, he makes a solid impact on its surface before slowly sinking in. Played straight by the other dragons, who are presumably heavy enough to displace it like it was water.

* Line-of-Sight Alias: Spike looks at sand on the beach and rocks to combine into Sandy Rockbeach, a cover name for Princess Ember.

* Living Legend: Spike is seen as this by the crystal ponies for the part he played in saving the Crystal Empire.

* Abdicate the Throne: Spike passes the Bloodstone Scepter to Ember, as she is more capable of being Dragon Lord than he is and he has no desire to stay in the dragon lands. Spike only participated in the first place because he wanted to make sure Torch's successor wouldn't wage war on pony kind for petty reasons, which he is sure Ember won't do, and he was only able to obtain the scepter in the first place because she held off Garble for him.

* Acting Unnatural: In the Cold Open of Molt Down, Spike hides his first stone scale by putting his claw over his cheek. Rarity quickly realizes something is off.

* Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When The Mane-iac uses her hairspray to paralyze and capture the Power Ponies, Spike begs her not to use it on him when she briefly holds it up to him, shouting "Don't spray!" in terror. Fortunately, she doesn't use it on him, but unfortunately it is just to laugh at him and tell him he isn't worth using it on.
* All for Nothing: Throughout the episode Just for Sidekicks, Spike is forced to give away all but one of the gems the Mane 6 gave him for watching the pets and then he eats the last one before he can bake it into his cake, making everything he went through in the episode completely fruitless.

* Anguished Declaration of Love: Spike tries to confess his crush to Rarity while both are plummeting to their deaths.
* Appropriated Appellation: Played With. One of the dragons insults Spike, saying he looks more like a "Peewee". Spike gives the baby phoenix that name.
* Armor-Piercing Response: When Twilight expresses how worried she is about Sludge taking advantage of the young dragon, Spike delivers one to her so strong that an X-ray of Twilight shows her heart breaking.

* "Ass" in Ambassador: Spike tries to keep Thorax and Ember happy by pawning them off on his friends and ends up ditching them several times, making matters worse. His breakdown that interrupts Thorax and Ember about to come to blows says it all:

* Attention Whore: Played with; Ms. Harshwhinny assumes Spike is one for wanting to do "something really worthy of the Crystal Empire's admiration," when he's just attempting to make up for what he sees as a failure in the torch lighting ceremony.

* Awesome Moment of Crowning: When Spike retrieves the Bloodstone Scepter, it emits a mighty blast and he gains a big booming voice.

* Badass Normal: Spike as Humdrum, despite Lampshading in excess his physical uselessness, manages to use an elaborate deception to take out half of Mane-iac's Mooks and save the ponies.
* Balloon Belly: Spike gets one after finding another dragon's cave and pigging out on a stash of gems.

* Big Ball of Violence: Spike gets in a fight with a chicken. Spike winds up hitting himself as the chicken just walks away.

* Big "SHUT UP!": Spike lets out one when many pony delegates crowd the stairway to Twilight's bedroom and all talk at the same time.

* Bindle Stick: Spike uses one when he leaves Ponyvile's Library.
* Blatant Lies: During the Cold Opening of Dragon Dropped, when Spike finally notices Rarity and she says it is like he hasn't been listening to her, Spike assures her he was... but asks her to repeat everything she just said anyway.

* A Bloody Mess: Spike invokes this with ketchup in order to frame Owlowiscious. Twilight catches him in the act.
* Blush Sticker: Spike gets these when he asks Gabby if he can join her on her rounds again.

* Calling Parents by Their Name: Spike twice acknowledges that Twilight reared him and implies he sees her as his parent, yet he always calls her by her name.
* Cape Snag: Addressed when Spike attempts to quietly steal the Orb from the Mane-iac and sneak away... only to trip on his cape and fall. It also gets him sucked into Rainbow Dash's tornado.
* Category Traitor: The other dragons consider Spike, who is biologically a dragon but culturally a pony, to be this. It becomes internalized by the end of the episode, as he self identifies as a pony and has a rather low opinion of dragon culture.

* Chronic Hero Syndrome: Exploited by Garble, who begs Spike for help in removing a boulder that has him pinned, knowing Spike is too noble to refuse.

* Code of Honour: According to Spike, and with Twilight to back him up, it is the sworn duty of every dragon to follow the Dragon Code and serve the one who saves their life until the end of their days. Seeing how dragons tend to have a long lifespan…

* Conspicuous Trenchcoat: Spike pulls out his old trenchcoat-and-fedora ensemble to hide his stone scales at the School of Friendship. Rarity comment on it, finding it "very noiresque". The disguise doesn't survive an ill-timed fire burp, though.

* Crazy Jealous Guy: Spike is so jealous of Owlowiscious that it temporarily makes him a villain.

* Dastardly Whiplash: Spike carries out his plan to set up Owlowiscious dressed as one of these. He even twirls his mustache.
* David vs. Goliath: The way Spike defeats the King Timberwolf is a literal version of this trope.; all it takes is one rock in the right place.

* Deadly Upgrade: In adulthood Spike gains immense size and power, but at the cost of becoming a greedy, mindless rampaging beast.

* Distressed Dude: The main pivot of the plot in Spike at Your Service, is Spike acting as one when the timberwolves first appear at the start of the episode.

* The Dog Bites Back: Unintentionally, Spike does this. After all the times Rarity flirted with other ponies (and non-ponies) and triggered Spike's jealousy, for once it's Rarity who gets jealous of Spike hanging out with another Gabby.

* Dog Walks You: Spike bringing the Mane Six’s pets along on leashes is a strange sight. Naturally, Winona is the one plowing ahead while the others keep up (and Opal being dragged along). As seen in the page image, Tank and Owlowiscious are keeping Spike hovering slightly above the ground, meaning Winona gets total control over where Spike and the other pets go.
* Don't Think, Feel: Spike becomes unable to light the Equestria Games torch because he's too focused on the pressure of the event. When he saves the crowd from the giant ice-cloud, he admits to the others he basically acted on instinct.
* The Door Slams You: Happens to Spike when Cadance bursts into Twilight's room looking for him.
* Dragon Hoard: In Secret Of My Excess Spike starts with coveting gems, but soon collects anything and everything. Apparently a dragon's size is determined by the size of its hoard.
* Dramatically Missing the Point: Spike doesn't notice that Twilight's too absorbed in her studies to listen to how he plans to stop being her assistant and serve Applejack, and takes her absentminded "mm-hm's" to mean she's cool with it.

* Dumbass Has a Point: The spell book in Inspiration Manifestation was left unguarded and defended only by a single lock, rather than, say, being moved to the secure archives in Canterlot, or at least having a barrier that could stand up to more than Spike's fire breath. By then, one would expect the dangerous artifacts to have been moved to a secure location. Spike was correct in saying that the book was basically unguarded.

* Easily Forgiven: Played for Laughs in Secret Of My Excess, where Rarity praises Spike for saving Ponyville... from himself.

* Eat the Evidence: Spike does this when he finally gets a hold of the book in Inspiration Manifestation, hoping it'll break the spell. It doesn't.

* Evil Laugh: Spike gets one, complete with a Dastardly Whiplash getup.
* Evil Sounds Deep: Spike's voice deepens significantly the more he grows into a full dragon. Justified in that he's maturing, so it's more like a boy's voice breaking when he hits puberty.

* Fantastic Racism: Spike's perceived fear is the existence of animosity between dragons and changelings that is strong enough to result in violent confrontations between the two species. Somewhat justified by Spike's unpleasant experiences with Garble's anti-pony attitude.
* Fatal Flaw: Gluttony ends up being this for Spike in the episode Just for Sidekicks. His inability to control himself from eating all his gems in the first place is what causes the entire episode's plot to kick off, and it's what robs him of the small compensation he gets at the end as well.

* Fire-Forged Friends: Spike and Princess Ember, even with Spike being naturally friendly.
* Fish out of Water: Compared to his usual Only Sane Man role in Ponyville, Spike understandably acts like a kid the first time he meets other dragons.

* Forgot About His Powers: Spike is a fire-breathing dragon. The timberwolves are made of wood and many animals are scared of fire. Even if the former aspect wouldn't work because they're not dry wood, the latter should have at least been considered.

* Gene Hunting: What Spike hopes to do. He never accomplishes this. The first time he meets other teenage dragons they don't know any dragon like him — and they know one that looks like the ponies' bad dragon costume. While one of them does have similar coloring and fire color to him and another one is wingless like him, it's never implied they're related.
* Genre Blind: Spike lives in a world where magic is studied as a science, yet he fails to understand that a comic book from "The House of Enchanted Comics" is probably literally enchanted, although to be fair, not everything in Equestria has a literal name.
* Genre Savvy: Spike knows he's the Plucky Comic Relief sidekick in the story and frequently lampshades the fact. Also, he clearly knows his comics and helps the Mane Six figure out their abilities as the Power Ponies.

* Got Volunteered: A variation, since Spike is already singled out by Torch when he tries to walk out of the meeting. However, the other dragons surrounding him are very prompt in moving out of the way and forming two lines, leaving a completely free path for the giant Dragon Lord to focus on Spike (and his "rock").
* Grapes of Luxury: While Cadance and Twilight are explaining to Spike why he's being treated as a Living Legend, a crystal mare feeds him gemstones from a chalice while he lounges on a couch, and a crystal stallion fans him with a palm leaf.

* Green-Eyed Monster: Spike suffers from this when he thinks the owl will replace him. (For bonus Stealth Pun points, he's literally a green-eyed monster!)
* Growing Up Sucks: For Spike and dragons in general to grow up they have to give in to their greed.
* Growling Gut: Spike's stomach is noisy when he's hungry.

* Harmless Villain: Spike stoops pretty low when he tries to make it look like Owlowiscious killed the mouse, but he gets caught way too quickly to cause any harm. (Except to himself, indirectly.)

* Heroic BSoD: The revelation that Twilight needed to help Spike light the Equestria Games torch sends him into a depression for a majority of the episode.
* Heroic Self-Deprecation: Spike's reaction to praise from the Mane Six and Princess Cadance for saving everypony from the iceberg cloud.

* Honor Before Reason: Spike throughout the entirety of Spike at Your Service; everything he's doing is because of his Dragon Code.
* House Husband: A non-romantic example. Spike stays at home to do the chores while Twilight and the girls go out to work.

* Implausible Deniability: Twilight suggests that Spike's stone scales are caused by stress, pointing out he spent the day with Rarity. Spike awkwardly asks "What could possibly be stressful about that?"
* Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Spike's obviously in the wrong in Owl’s Well That Ends Well, but you can't help but feel pity for him.

* Insane Troll Logic: Spike believing that should Ember and Thorax meet, this will lead to a war between dragons and changelings with Equestria caught in the middle, all because Ember and Thorax are different and he fears they wouldn't get along. He even has an Imagine Spot where they and their armies clash and apparently destroy the planet.
* Instantly Proven Wrong: Spike is afraid that Ember and Thorax probably never want to see him again after they storm off in anger. As soon as he says this, they both land in front of him to talk about what he did and give him a good What the Hell, Hero? talking-to.
* Intentional Mess Making: The episode Owl’s Well That Ends Well, involves Spike being jealous of Twilight's pet owl Owlowicious. He brings a toy mouse in and pretends it's a real, dead mouse, hoping Twilight will scold Owlowiscious for bringing his kills into the house, but she doesn't.

* Interrupted by the End: Spike being handed a bouquet of dragon sneeze flowers right after the Citizens of Equestria Statue had just been reassembled. Just as he is about to sneeze, it cuts right to black.
* Interrupted Declaration of Love: Subverted. Rarity interrupts Spike's, but only because she knew all along.