Vash the Stampede
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This article is about the anime and manga character. For the song by Four Year Strong, see It's Our Time.
| Vash the Stampede | |
|---|---|
| Trigun character | |
 | |
| Created by | Yasuhiro Nightow |
| Voiced by | Masaya Onosaka (Japanese) Johnny Yong Bosch (English) |
Vash the Stampede (Japanese: ヴァッシュ・ザ・スタンピード Hepburn: Vasshu za Sutanpīdo) is the main character of the anime and mangaseries of Trigun created by Yasuhiro Nightow. He is a Plant, inter-dimensional beings that are tapped as a source of power and energy, and being so gives him superhuman powers and a capability to destroy cities, thus acquiring the name The Humanoid Typhoon due to the destruction & chaos which surrounds him, and subsequently The $$60,000,000,000.00 Man, because of the price on his head. He travels from town to town, keeping the peace and teaching townsfolk the value of it.
The character was well received for both his personality and two trademark items of clothing, his yellow sunglasses and red duster trench coat. He was ranked #2 in the 1998 Annual Anime Grand Prix Male Character Category.[1]
Contents
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Concept and creation
In an interview by Dark Horse, they asked Nightow if he has a specific character in the manga that he feels closest to and has a particular character that he has created that is supposed to be a manga/anime version of himself. He later answers that every characters projects a "certain part of [him]", but in a way, Vash is the one he associate himself the most. Saying that Vash represents his determination and some of his more childish side.[2]
Vash's gun design was a huge problem to Nightow, and made sure that the gun will not only be dangerous and reliable, but also cool looking. The original gun has no way of opening for bullets to be slid in. So Nightow found a real picture of the upside down barrel and since it looked cool, he went with it. Although it was hard for him to create the odd guns that came in later episodes, and the idea of 'baka guns', weapons that fire unlimited magical bullets, slowly disappeared. The concept designer even admitted to creating the original angel arms - they thought that if the guns could create matter, they should have a slightly feminine form since females create and give birth.[3]
When asked why Vash was made to be such a pacifist, Nightow explained that he always felt strange how people are always dying in action movies. He always wondered why they died so quickly. It's okay that they die, but he asks why was it so sudden. Because of that, he wanted to create Vash as a character who is a strong gunman but could say, "Hey, sorry. Love and peace?"[4]
Manga
Early History
Vash and his twin brother Knives were discovered by Rem Saverem aboard a SEEDs ship, a space ship colony containing the last few surviving humans that had fled Earth after its destruction. They were seemingly born from one of the Plants powering the ship. Rem raises them over the course of one year, where they quickly grow from infants to young children. While experimenting with the ship's databases, Knives purposely disrupts the navigation system, triggering an alarm and waking the dormant passengers aboard. Rem quickly corrects the system and sends the passengers back to sleep, but one awakened crewmember, Dr. William Conrad, discovers Vash and Knives. He agrees to keep their existence a secret after talking with Rem. Knives and Vash later accidentally stumble across a restricted area aboard the ship, and there discover that they were not the first independent Plants to be born. Another plant, Tessla, had been studied by the crew aboard the ship, and subjected to continuous scans and vivisections that eventually led to her slow and painful death.
Horrified, Vash declares his hatred of humanity. Afraid and feeling alone as one of only two independent plants amidst millions of humans, Vash attempts suicide. Rem intervenes, and Vash accidentally wounds her in the process. At first calmed by the sudden catharsis of hurting a human, Vash becomes horrified by what he has done and saves her. Rem shares her own troubled past and convinces Vash to have faith in the limitless potential for the future, and Vash gains a newfound respect for life. Knives on the other hand, now unable to believe that humans and Plants can ever coexist, uses what he learned from his accidental tampering before to crash the Fleet on the planet eventually known as No-man's Land (a name not coined until the end), intending to wipe out all the humans and save only those ships necessary for him, Vash, and whatever Plants that are left to survive on the planet. Rem sends Vash and Knives aboard an escape pod, but stays behind to try to correct the navigation and save as many people as she can, and so dies in the crash. Aboard the escape pod, Knives reveals his involvement in the fall, and started Vash's hatred to him. He later finds himself with no where else to go, and so follows Knives as they wander the planet, watching what few survivors there were build cities around the crashed ships.
Vash and Knives eventually separated after Vash was captured in a small town and Knives killed all the people to save him. Horrified, Vash shot Knives in the shoulder, causing Knives to retaliate by cutting off Vash's left arm. Following their separation, Vash wandered No-man's Land until he was found by a group of humans that lived aboard a still mostly functional ship. Vash adopted the city as his new home, and there received his cybernetic arm. The infamous July Incident occurred before the start of the manga, when Vash traveled to the city of July in search of Count Revnant Vaszques, who Vash correctly believed to be the pseudonym of Dr. William Conrad, who had used his knowledge of plants to build a wealthy life in July. However, upon arrival he is confronted by Knives, who has already forced Conrad into his service. Knives captures Vash and has Conrad study Vash's arm to better understand their abilities. Knives decides to attempt to activate Vash's dormant powers forcibly, but the plan backfires and the blast obliterates July, directly killing 200,000 people and severely wounding Knives. Conrad and Legato find Knives amidst the rubble, and saved his life, with Legato swearing revenge on Vash for what happened to Knives. The incident secures Vash's reputation as The Humanoid Typhoon.
Trigun
The series opens with Vash being chased by bounty hunters, only to be saved by the arrival of Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson of the Bernardelli Insurance Society who announce that Vash has been classified as a "Natural Disaster" and as such his bounty has been cancelled. Though initially happy to learn of the bounty's cancellation, he is dismayed when he learns the two intend on following him. As he travels, the Insurance Girls in pursuit, he happens to pass by a priest stranded in the desert. The priest introduces himself as Nicholas D. Wolfwood, and the two part on friendly terms. The primary story begins with the arrival of Legato Bluesummers, who identifies himself as a follower of Knives. Legato gives Vash a coin case, warning Vash that twelve assassinswill come for him, each bearing a coin, and if Vash is successful in collecting all twelve "something interesting will happen."
The twelve are revealed to be the Gung-ho Guns, Knives's elite killers, and the priest Wolfwood has recently been contracted as one of them under the name Nicholas the Chapel. Vash is successful in defeating the first three, Monev the Gale, E. G. Mine, and Dominique the Cyclops, though he loses his cybernetic arm in the battle with Gale. Shortly after defeating Dominque, Vash senses Knives's imminent rebirth, and goes to confront him. When Legato instinctively moves to attack Vash, the reborn Knives breaks Legato's body, and then attempts to activate Vash's power again to wipe out the city. Vash resists, and instead redirects the blast upward, where it hits one of moons of No-man's Land and leaves a massive crater. Vash disappears afterward.
Trigun Maximum
2 years later, the priest Nicholas D. Wolfwood arrives in a city in search for Vash the Stampede. Once he discovers Vash, he convinces Vash to come out of his pseudo-retirement, telling of Knives's exploits and progress in wiping out humanity. Learning of Vash's locations, the broken but alive Legato declares that the killing game has begun anew, and sends Rai-Dei the Blade. In his confrontation with Blade, Vash learns that Legato and the Gung-ho Guns have discovered the location of his home. After Wolfwood executes Blade, the two have a near falling out over the morality of killing, but they agree to continue traveling together, going to Vash's home. There, Vash battles Leonoff the Puppetmaster and Wolfwood fights Grey the Ninelives. After their victory, Vash learns from the inhabitants that the ship has successfully made contact with Earth, and ships will be arriving to save them from No-man's Land.
Knives uses his powers to cut down the satellites used to communicate with Earth, and Vash resumes his travels when he learns of the severed connection and correctly guesses the reason. They reunite with the Insurance Girls, but as a result the two girls are caught up in the battle when Midvalley the Hornfreak, Hoppered the Gauntlet, and Zazie the Beast arrive. Hoppered, a survivor of July, seeks revenge on Vash, while Wolfwood's true goals are questioned by Midvalley as the two battle. In the battle, Vash's abilities are awakened again, and only Elendira the Crimsonnail's intervention defuses the situation. The Insurance Girls thus learn the truth about Vash's powers as a Plant. After burying Hoppered and Midvalley, Vash and Wolfwood continue their travels to Knives's base, where Vash and Knives battle once again. Vash is defeated and restrained by Legato, while Knives sets out aboard an extant ship named only "The Ark" with a new plan for wiping out humanity: traveling from city to city to absorb the Plants to increase his power and cut off humanity from their one lifeline. Wolfwood betrays the Guns and rescues Vash, revealing his true identity as Nicholas the Punisher of the Eye of Michael and the Gung-ho Guns, and how he betrayed the real Chapel to try to infiltrate the Guns and kill Knives. Wolfwood leaves shortly thereafter when he learns the last of the Guns and the real Chapel are heading toward the orphanage where he grew up. Vash rejoins Wolfwood and saves him from certain death at the hands of Chapel, only for Wolfwood and Livio/Razlo to continue dueling to the death. While Wolfwood unexpectedly beats Razlo and brings back Livio, he passes away a short while later from his wounds and the stress of taking excess regeneration fluid. Livio the Double Fang, Wolfwood's childhood friend, joins Vash, and the two head to Octovern, the last of the original "Seven Cities" left on the planet. Vash, after speaking with his friends, begins manufacturing bullets using his power, giving them the ability to shoot small black holes with similar abilities of the larger-scale holes he created in July and Jeneora Rock. As Knives and the Ark approach the city, the Earth fleet arrives in space. After teleporting to avoid the initial volley from the Earth ships, Knives begins simultaneously dueling Vash and attempting to thwart the Earth fleet via absorbing one of their independent Plants. During the fight, Legato reappears and begins to duel Vash with the sole purpose of keeping him from Knives, who is now focused entirely on the Earth fleet. After a lengthy and one-sided fight, Legato reveals that the now-completed coin case blocks his powers, meaning that the entirety of Vash's journey against the Guns has led to this climactic finish.
Vash defeats Legato, and finally breaks his vow not to kill when the defeated Legato threatens Livio. However, unable to stop with so much at stake, Vash continues on and helps break Knives's control over the Ark and the absorbed plants by communicating with them directly. The Plants abandon Knives and begin cooperating with human beings. The now-powerless Knives confronts Vash one last time, but Vash saves Knives from the vengeful ships from Earth and fly off. Knives and Vash make peace before Knives uses up the last of his power and passes away. Now essentially powerless as well, Vash continues his travels as a normal gunslinger.
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