Quick wit is one of the character's hallmarks, as Spike enjoys verbal sparring as much as physical fighting; in all his appearances, he has a habit of pithy remarks and glib insults, even toward the few he does not view as antagonists. Among his favorite targets are Angel, Xander, Giles, and (to a lesser extent) Buffy – in season 5's episode The Gift as he and Giles are leaving to fight Glory, he wryly paraphrases Giles' quotation of Shakespeare's Henry V 'we band of brothers' speech to 'we band of buggered'. Joss Whedon credits this antipathy as what convinced him in the episode "Lovers Walk" to bring Spike back as a cast regular. As James Marsters put it, "I was supposed to be the one who stood at the side and said, 'Buffy, you're stupid, and we're all gonna die'."