Trigun characters: Encyclopedia II - Trigun characters - Vash the Stampede

Trigun characters - Vash the Stampede

Vash the Stampede (ヴァッシュ・ザ・スタンピード Vasshu za Sutanpīdo) is the main character, also known as The Humanoid Typhoon and the first person to be declared "an act of God" or "a human natural disaster". He was initially discovered by Meryl and Milly imprisoned by some bandits who wanted to collect on the $$60 billion bounty on his head. He escapes, and Milly and Meryl eventually learn that this is the person they are supposed to track.

Vash presents an interesting "hero" for this kind of story: a crybaby and a pacifist, and occasionally an apparent buffoon. He is in fact extremely intelligent, has god-like reflexes, perfect muscle control, blurring speed over short distances, and is an unrivaled gunman who seeks to preserve life wherever possible. Vash exaggerates his foolish characteristics to make people feel unthreatened and to hide his identity. In fact Vash shows focus and complete control when the chips are down and when attacking. It is likely Vash is actually scared in most of his fights, because he usually has no intent of shooting back, and only evades the opponent's attacks. He also has an almost obsessive love of plaincake doughnuts.

Vash, in a very real sense, has a dual personality throughout the series. He is jovial and carefree, yet he has seen so many people die in his life that he has achieved complete control over his emotion. In a more specific sense, however, Vash is constantly conflicted by the violent anger coursing throughout his soul, his deep inner pain, and his sincere desire for peace amidst the world. His smile is noted by some to be hollow and empty, and appears to be full of sadness to the more central characters of the story who stay by his side. Indeed, Vash is a multidimensional character who, despite his age, has still not found peace with himself and the world that continues to shun him in fear. Of note is the inner difference between him and Knives in regards to humanity. Though Vash and Knives have gone through the same experience and torment, Vash has chosen to remain hopeful and loving towards humanity whereas Knives has fallen into a deep-seated hatred of the human race. Their personalities also have key differences: Vash cannot stand the despair of being alone, whereas Knives revels in his loneliness and has no desire for company.

He lost his left arm in an incident involving Knives (his brother), and as a result, he possesses a prosthetic arm that transforms into a gun at the hand. Vash is in fact not a human, but a human-like "plant," a source of power and energy on the planet; as a Plant, he can, with his gun, turn his right arm into an amazingly destructive weapon called an "Angel Arm," originating from technology which Knives created. His supposed age is 131. In the manga, he doesn't require the gun to form the Angel Arm. The gun is a custom-made but otherwise normal handgun. He can also use his Angel Arm for various effects beyond destruction, but using the Angel Arm reduces his lifespan.

He is superhumanly agile, demonstrating the ability to dodge bullets on several occasions.

His gun resembles a Mateba Autorevolver because of the lower barrel alignment but, according to writing on the barrel, fires .45 Long Colt ammunition like a Single Action Army. The inscription on his gun reads: "EF Auto Ejecting Double Action".

There have been a few instances to suggest he might be bisexual ("You're pretty cute." he comments in episode 'Lost July'). More accurately, Nightow has stated that "He's immediately friendly with children, and of course he has no prejudice against women, or, for that matter, men, either. I'd like people to think of him as "loving all mankind" rather than just being a "ladies' man." In the first episodes of the anime, Vash is portrayed as an incorrigible skirt-chaser, an aspect which is greatly toned down in the manga.

Vash the Stampede makes a cameo appearance in Wild ARMs 2.

In the manga Trigun Maximum, he concealed his true identity by calling himself "Eriks" until Wolfwood found him. He also was the "legendary gunman" who shot the moon.

It is likely that the title "Trigun" refers to Vash's three main weapons: the Colt .45, his surgically-implanted hidden machine gun, and the apocalyptically powerful Angel Arm.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Vash the Stampede", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki