Vash the Stampede (ヴァッシュ・ザ・スタンピード) Vasshu
za Sutanpīdo) is the main protagonist of the anime and manga series
of Trigun. Vash is also known as The Humanoid Typhoon due to the
destruction and chaos that often surrounds him. Wielding a huge silver
revolver, he travels from town to town to learn more and protect what
his adopted mother,Rem. He is initially discovered by Meryl Stryfe and
Milly Thompson, two Bernardelli Insurance Society representatives
investigating claims made due to damages caused by the mysterious
Humanoid Typhoon. In the anime, the pair find Vash while he is being
chased by bandits who want to collect the bounty on “The
$$60,000,000,000 (sixty billion double dollar) Man”. He escapes
while Milly and Meryl eventually learn that Vash is actually the
person they are assigned to track. In the manga, they discover Vash
facing off against The Nebraska Father and Son duo after he was
avoiding a conflict with the somewhat innocent townsfolk who aimed to
use the sixty billon double dollar bounty on his head to correct the
financial problems vexing their town. Vash is not human, but a
human-like Plant, inter-dimensional beings that are tapped as a source
of power and energy. As a Plant, his body does not physically age past
his mid-twenties, though he is 181 by the time the series begins. As
“independent” plants, he and his twin brother Knives are capable
of consciously using their immense energy to perform incredible
destructive feats. Vash and his twin brother Knives were discovered
aboard a SEEDs ship by Rem Saverem, 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 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, Tesla, 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. Knives falls into a shock-induced coma.
Horrified, Vash locks himself away and 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 then 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, having internalized the horror and his emotions, is now unable
to believe that humans and Plants can ever coexist, and uses what he
learned from his accidental tampering before to crash the Fleet on the
planet eventually known as Gunsmoke, intending to wipe out all the
humans and save only those ships necessary for him and Vash and
however many other Plants that survived the fall to live 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, but Vash finds himself with no where else
to go, and so follows Knives as they wander Gunsmoke, watching what
few survivors there were build cities around the crashed ships. As
Vash later notes, the Great Fall that was intended to save Plants from
humans ironically only made humans more exploitative of Plants than
ever, forcing them to slowly drain Plants as energy sources to survive
amidst the harsh conditions. 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 slicing off Vash’s left arm.
Following their separation, Vash wandered Gunsmoke 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 Vaszues, who Vash correctly believed to be the psuedonym
of Dr. William Conrad, who had used his knowledge of plants to build a
wealthy life in July. However, 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 severly wounding Knives. Conrad and Legato find
Knives amidst the rubble, and save his life, with Legato swearing
revenge on Vash for what happened to Knives. The incident secures
Vash’s reputation as The Humanoid Typhoon. 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 assassins will 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. Knives recovers and reawakens from his injuries
sustained in the July Incident, and Vash goes to confront him, leaving
the Insurance Girls behind. Knives triggers Vash’s power in order to
showcase his power over mankind and destory the city, but Vash was
able to resist and was able to redirect the blast skyward, creating an
enormous crater on the moon. 2 years later, the priest Nicholas D.
Wolfwood arrives in a city in search for Vash the Stampede. Once he
discovers Vash, he finaly 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 Gunsmoke. 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 his 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, but
Wolfwood passes away. Livio the Double Fang, Wolfwood’s childhood
friend, joins Vash, and the two head to December, the last human city.
Vash uses his power to create destructive bullets that efficiently
damage the now-monstrous Knives. The ships from Earth arrive, and
battle Knives and the Ark while Legato arrives for one final
confrontation with Vash. 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. The now powerless Knives confronts Vash one last
time, but Vash saves Knives from the vengeful ships from Earth and
flies off. Knives and Vash make peace before Knives uses up the last
of his power and passes away. Vash’s past differs greatly in the
anime. He and Knives do not discover Tesla and Vash doesn’t try to
commit suicide and doesn’t accidentally stab Rem. Vash and Knives
were found by the crew as human-like infants a year before the Project
SEEDS fleet arrived at Gunsmoke. The crew initially wanted to kill
them; however, Rem threw herself between the twins and the weapons,
begging for their life. In just one year, they aged nearly ten years
in appearance and had much higher intellectual capabilities than
normal. Steve, one of the crew members, disliked the idea of the
living Plants on the control ship and didn’t conceal it (ironically,
he’s the exact look-alike of Vash’s friend Brad. Possibly being
Brad’s ancestor or relative). He insisted on the twins being
monsters, and often hit or kicked them when the other crew members
weren’t around. One day in the recreation room, Rem cut Vash’s
hair and styles into his current spiky hair style. She says how Vash
reminds her of her old boyfriend, Alex. She tells Vash “Thanks to
him, I was able to face my mistakes without judgement. I learned to
make them right again.”. When Vash asks where he is, Rem tells him
he’s now in heaven. Vash then goes on to say that he will protect
Rem and tells her he loves her. Knives, lost in his own thoughts of
what his purpose for being there was, and possibly jealous of the
close bond between Rem and Vash, eventually left to cut his own hair.
When finished he runs his hand through it but gets angry and shouts
“It’s all wrong!”, possibly because he couldn’t copy Vash’s
hair himself. When Vash finds him shortly afterwards and asks what
happened, Knives smiles it off, saying “If we stay the same,
there’s no individuality.” This is the first time that a change in
Knives’ demeanor can be perceived. Later, the crew discusses the
twins’ hair styles, with Vash getting called a “momma’s boy.”
Steve gets angry and calls the two of them monsters again then drapes
himself over Mary when she tells him he’s had too many to drink.
Knives rebukes him, saying “You are a disgrace. Is that any way for
a grown man like you to behave in the presence of innocent
children?” Steve laughs himself out of the room, and when the others
comment on his crazy behaviour, Knives whispers, “It’s because
he’s afraid”. Later on, Knives is seen entering Rolan’s room,
and then Mary’s room (both rooms occupied by their owners). Again at
the recreation room, the twins and Rem find a butterfly stuck in a
spiderweb. Vash attempts to save it when Knives grabs the spider,
killing it. Knives justifies the action by saying it was the easiest
way to stop the spider and save the butterfly, but Vash becomes
distressed because he wanted to save both. Knives counters that you
can’t save both, because the spider would die of starvation unless
it ate the butterfly. Rem breaks in, saying that you can’t make that
choice lightly because they’re both living creatures, but Knives
continues to argue that his way of thinking is right. Vash knocks him
to the ground and yells at him how he wanted to save both, completely
stunning Knives. After a moment they both sit up. Knives leaves,
saying that the two of them don’t make any sense; Vash shouts back
that it is him that doesn’t make any sense. Sometime later, the crew
is gathered in a watching room, where in another rooom Steve is in a
straightjacket and awaits sentencing. Joey states that according to
interplanetary law, Steve will be relieved of duty and will be frozen
until they land where he will stand trial. Steve continually shouts
that he didn’t do anything, while Rolan says that he saw him enter
Mary’s room, and Mary quietly says that he raped her. Rem argues
that it’s not too late to hear Steve’s side of the story while
Joey says that to function as a group they need laws to keep them
safe. Despite Steve and Rem’s protests, Steve is frozen. Afterwards,
Vash asks Rem why people can’t get along she tells him it’s
because humans all have different ways of thinking, but even if a
mistake is made, as long as a person realizes their mistake, it’s
possible to make it right again. And if you keep your vision clear,
you will see the future. This is what one must realize. These words
leave a marked impression on Vash. Meanwhile, Rolan proposes to Mary,
even handing her a ring. She says he must be teasing and he reveals
that he adjusted the freezer temperature that Steve is in, effectively
killing him. Mary is horrified at this, but Rolan smiles, saying “I
guess that now makes us partners.” Rem and the twins hear gunshots
shortly after and notify Joey, then race to the room to find Rolan
standing over Mary, who shot her multiple times. Rolan tells Rem that
he had no choice, that Mary had betrayed him after all he had done for
her. He then points the gun at Knives, saying that it must be his
fault that Mary had to die. Rem stands in front of the line of fire
and tries to talk Rolan down, saying that no one has the right to take
the life of another. Joey tries to get in contact with them,
eventually getting a video feed from the room to work. Rem continues
to slowly walk toward Rolan while he steps back, clearly disheveled
and scared. Rem is about to take the gun from Rolan when Joey opens a
hatch behind Rolan, sending him and Mary’s body into space while
safety bars close keeping Rem from being sucked out too. Rem is
incredibly upset. Joey tries to explain that he thought Rolan was
going to shoot her, and that he was doing what he thought was best.
Rem is convinced that Rolan wasn’t going to shoot her, and laments
their fallen comrades with Vash by her side while Knives heads off to
the bridge where Joey is. Knives tells Joey that he agrees with his
decision; that it was the right choice, but Joey has doubts, saying
that maybe Rem was right. Angered by his change of heart, Knives says
that he’s just like all the other humans and shoots Joey, confirming
to himself that his is the right choice. He leaves the gun in Joey’s
hand and alters the ship’s course program. Rem and Vash hear a
message from the computer system that the fleet had changed its course
and was about to crash. The three decide to go to the escape pods, but
at the last moment Rem hangs back, saying she has to try help Joey and
save the others. She closes the door despite Vash’s protests,
telling him to take care of Knives, possibly hinting that she knew all
along. The pod was launched and Vash watched as the control ship
exploded in reentry. As Vash collapses, crying, Knives laughs and
reveals his plan of changing the courses of those ships containing
SEEDS project humans, while keeping the plant ships safe so he and
Vash could create a paradise for them alone on the new planet. Just at
that moment all of the fleet receive a new directive, automatically
starting the reverse thrusters so the ships could enter the atmosphere
safely. Rem was able to save Project SEEDS and Knives is surprised.
The pod then falls onto the surface of a planet. When Vash regains
consciousness, he sees in the sky dozens of ships raining down like
meteors. Knives tries to help him, but Vash pushes him away; accusing
him. Knives demeanor changes as he grins madly, agreeing with what he
did, calling it “spectacular”. The two brothers then spent the
following years wandering through the deserts, observing crash sites
and the few survivors. During a discussion about humans leeching off
of the Plants to survive, Knives’ proclaims that he’s out to kill
the spiders to save the butterflies as that is what makes logical
sense. While Knives is sleeping Vash holds a rock above Knives’
head, ready to kill him to save the humans but finds himself unable to
do so, not wanting to go against everything Rem told him and throws
the rock down, crying. During their search through the crash sites,
they find a group of humans arguing over water. Knives, disgusted by
their selfish behaviour activates the ship-board Plant’s Angel Arm,
but Vash pushes him over and prevents him from firing. Years later,
Knives finds the ship he was looking for. He spends a whole year
rummaging through the wreckage whilst Vash waits for him to return,
saying how he hates being alone. When Knives returns he finally
procures the two revolvers and some battle armor for himself. He
throws one of the revolvers to Vash, and tells him they are their new
“siblings” and would be used to wipe out the “human scourge,”
before going up to a hill and test-firing, creating a huge blast
similar to a nuclear explosion. Vash, knowing that the two guns were
made to aid Knives in his plan of “cleansing” the planet of its
human populace becomes conflicted both emotionally and morally against
his brothers goal; remembering the morals Rem taught him. In his
conflict Vash shoots Knives in the leg. After witnessing the pain and
shock his brother has just experienced Vash, in panic and dismay,
takes both guns and flees into the desert as Knives painfully calls
out for him to comeback. Vash then spends two years alone wandering
Gunsmoke until he finally collapses from exhaustion and is rescued by
a group of humans from the only remaining functioning SEEDS ship on
the planet, which didn’t quite crash during “The Great Fall.”
While there, he makes friends with the humans and is gifted with his
signature red (duster styled) trench coat. After a few months he
leaves and ventures out into the world. Vash returns to the ship 80
years later in search of any relatives of Rem in its databanks and
finds the last one alive: PASSENGER NO.300-89-9023AS, or “Revenant
Buskus”. Buskus had studied Plants and established a new
plant-theory in July City. Upon arriving in July City he is greeted by
Knives, who had slain Buskus; the very man Vash had come to speak
with. Knives announces that he’s destroyed the last connection Vash
had to Rem so that he can stop with his foolish sentiment towards
humans and in the exchange that follows, shoots off Vash’s left arm.
Against Vash’s will, Knives activates Vash’s previously dormant
Angel Arm, hoping to annihilate the surrounding town. However, Vash
aims the blast at Knives; the resulting blast reducing July to rubble.
Though there were no casualties as a direct result of the skirmish (as
Vash’s Angel Arm seems to only destroy inorganic material) there
were indirect fatalities after the homeless citizens of July began to
fight among themselves; turning the remnants of the town to
“Hell”, in the words of one survivor. The incident in July brands
Vash an outlaw throughout Gunsmoke and he comes to be known as “The
Stampede” and “The Humanoid Typhoon” as destruction seemingly
follows him wherever he goes. A bounty of 60,000,000,000$$ is then
placed on Vash, dead or alive, the largest bounty ever placed. With
Knives unaccounted for, Vash spends the next twenty-three years hiding
from civilization in order to stay alive. It is at this time two
insurance agents, Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, are assigned to
find and watch Vash in order to prevent further damage wherever he
goes. After their first meeting, the two women accompany Vash
throughout his travels, much to Vash’s dismay. The next pivotal
point in the story comes in Inepril City. Upon learning Vash the
Stampede is in the city, the residents seek to capture him for the
bounty as the city has been depraved and sunken in poverty due to the
shutdown of one of the city’s main reactors. In a desperate, but
foolish, attempt to capture him the city’s mayor enlists the help of
the Nebraska Family, a sinister father and his giant half-machine son
who have recently escaped from prison. Vash is captured without the
Nebraskas’ help in a small saloon, but soon the Nebraskas reveal
they have plans of their own for the bounty. The bar is destroyed by
Goseph’s retractable fist, but all inside manage to survive. Vash
carries the survivors to safety and stands off with the Nebraskas, but
the family stoops to lower methods by taking aim at the survivors in
order to strike Vash off his guard. However, Vash thwarts this action
and defeats the Nebraska family with only six bullets. The city’s
wealth is restored with the bounty for the Nebraskas and repair
immediately begins on the damaged reactor. The project is led by a
young, beautiful woman named Elizabeth who soon reveals she has an
agenda of her own, that being to kill Vash. She lures Vash to the
reactor which she has sabotaged to seemingly prevent Vash from
escaping. When Elizabeth locks Vash in the reactor she reveals her
intentions to kill him are not for the bounty, but for vengeance.
Twenty-three years before, a three-year-old Elizabeth was a resident
of July City when it was destroyed by Vash. Though none of the
residents were killed in the destruction they began to destroy
themselves in their pain and suffering. Elizabeth’s parents would be
victims to this destruction and she would be all alone. In her
flashback she finds comfort in the arms of one man, a very familiar
man. As Elizabeth leaves Vash to die, he miraculously shuts the
reactor down himself before encountering Elizabeth outside as she
pulls a pistol on him intent on getting her revenge. Vash then tells
her he remembers nothing of July’s destruction, only the ruins of
the city when he awoke. Shocked, Elizabeth still begs in her sorrow
for revenge, but suddenly recognizes a tearing Vash as the man who
comforted her all those years ago. She collapses in realization of the
truth and spares him. As Vash and the girls journey on they meet a
traveling priest carrying a large steel cross named Wolfwood. Although
he appears to be just an ordinary priest, in an ensuing struggle with
machines powered by lost technology, Wolfwood shows to be more by
using his own skills in gunfighting. The two part ways afterward but
would meet many times down the road. The story comes to its main focus
when Vash encounters Legato Bluesummers who shocks Vash to the
knowledge of his brother’s survival by revealing that he is in
service to Knives. Knives has made it the sole purpose of Legato’s
life to cause “eternal pain and suffering” for Vash through a
cutthroat and mostly superhumanoid gang known as the Gung-Ho-Guns. In
order to carry out Legato’s purpose the Guns seek to harm Vash and
eliminate all that’s around him of whom he cares for. This even
results in the deaths of the entire gang, not by Vash himself, but
either due to elimination for their failures by Legato or suicide in
order to scar Vash’s conscience. Vash’s struggles with Legato come
to a turning point with the death of Wolfwood. In the next city he
comes to Vash and he encounters Midvalley the Hornfreak, who fails to
defeat Vash and uses his powerful horn to kill himself. Though Vash is
further scarred by these events and continues his pursuit of Legato,
he still refuses to kill him when Legato reveals his intent to allow
Vash to do so in order to bring his “ultimate” suffering by his
first conscious kill. It is only when Legato threatens the lives of
Meryl and Milly that Vash has no other alternative and shoots Legato
in the head, killing him. The girls bring Vash to a small town to heal
his injuries as Vash spends the next few weeks in torment over what he
perceived to be his first murder. Vash refuses to confront Knives
knowing he would have to kill again should the moment come. When the
locals of the town learn of Vash’s presence they take him to the
outskirts of town and drag him behind a speeding vehicle. Meryl comes
to Vash’s aid and stands between him and a frustrated gunman. Vash
sees Rem in Meryl’s actions and his morale is revived. Saying his
goodbyes for what may be the last time, Vash ventures into the desert
with Wolfwood’s Cross Punisher to confront Knives for the final
battle, finding him in a small flourishing oasis in the middle of the
desert. After the two exchange docile greetings they face-off. The
fight soon comes to a stalemate, as both men come face to face with
one another’s guns. Knives, knowing Vash won’t fire, shoots Vash,
subduing him, then prepares his Angel Arm and fires it, but Vash
counters with his own and negates it. However, Knives gains the
upper-hand once more and takes Vash’s gun giving him two Angel Arms.
As Knives is about to fire, the voice of Wolfwood comes to Vash
telling him to “use it.” Vash then drives his hand into the ground
and retrieves Wolfwood’s Cross Punisher, firing it at Knives. Knives
loses control of the Angel Arms as Vash shoots Knives in his shoulders
and calves, thus subduing him and ending the fight. Vash emerges
victorious and after discarding his famed red coat and gun, finally
comes to terms with Rem’s death, declaring that while he will always
believe in her, he will now turn to his own words for guidance. He
leaves with an unconscious Knives over his shoulder as he returns to
the town where Meryl and Milly await. Vash displays throughout both
the manga and the anime two very distinct personalities. Initially,
Vash usually exaggerates foolish characteristics to make people feel
unthreatened and to hide his identity, as well as using these
outrageous actions and chronic kindness as a way to mask his own pain
(as noticed by Millie). He exhibits an almost obsessive love of
doughnuts, engages in lecherous behavior, plays games with the local
children and aids and befriends the adults, as well as making the
occasional bizarre joke or quip (for example, upon meeting Wolfwood,
he introduced himself as “Valentinez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz
Gumbigobilla Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andres Charton-Haymoss
Ivanovicci Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser III”). He frequently voices
the catchphrase, “This world is made of love and peace,” which is
usually complemented by his flashing of the “V” or Peace sign,
much to the confusion of friends and acquaintences and the chagrin of
his enemies. Vash’s other side is an utterly tormented and lonely
being, and is rarely shown when he is in the company of others. Due to
his long life and legendary (and infamous) reputation, Vash has lost
both a great many friends and his only family. In several instances
(as implied by Luida) people he trusted have either betrayed him or
been killed for simply knowing him. For the 20 years between the loss
of July and the revocation of his bounty he was a hunted man and
frequently had to hide his identity and fend off waves of persistent
bounty hunters. Thus, he is often prone to brooding and depression
whilst alone or engaging in deep introspective thought. A point of
conflict in the series are the inner differences between Vash and
Millions Knives, his twin brother, and their regard for humanity.
Despite his long suffering and ill-treatment by human beings, Vash
chooses to remain hopeful and loving toward humanity; whereas Knives
has fallen into a deep-seated hatred of the entire race despite never
personally suffering at their hands. Their personalities also have
other key differences: Vash cannot stand the despair of being alone,
whereas Knives revels in his loneliness and has no desire for any
company other than Vash. Because Vash refuses to kill any of his
opponents, he often suffers at the hands of a number of very
unscrupulous enemies. As a result, his body is a patchwork of large
scars, chunks of missing flesh supported by metal mesh, and stitch
marks. Despite his hesitance to show his body (especially to ladies,
whom he believes would be repulsed), Vash never uses his power to
remove them or repair his body, instead keeping the scars as a
reminder of the price he pays for his unlimited mercy. Aside from his
Angel Arm, Vash has shown a superhuman level of agility, strength,
reflexes, eyesight and complete muscle control. In episodes of the
anime, Vash has often shown the ability to dodge bullets at close
range and dodge skilled melee attacks (at one point doing so while at
the same time pretending to dance with a woman). During a gun duel
competition, Vash was able to prevent the deaths of many of the
competitors by throwing rocks at key moments to knock bullets off
their lethal courses. Vash is possibly stronger than most human beings
as seen when he was able to use Wolfwood’s Punisher (although he did
comment on its weight). As seen in the anime Vash has carried Meryl
Stryfe and Milly Thompson after he ruined a car ride. Finally, his
intelligence is stated to be superior to that of most (if not all)
humans. In the anime it is shown that he is capable of telepathic
communication with his brother, though whether or not he possesses
Knives’ telekinetic capabilities remains uncertain. Vash habitually
carries a custom made .45 caliber silver or nickel-plated revolver, a
classic six-shot double-action with a top break reloading mechanism
that fires .45 Long Colt ammunition. The engraving on the side of the
gun describes it is a “.45 Long Colt AGL Arms Factory” with wings
around the “AGL” as in angel. Vash’s revolver has the barrel
aligned with the 6 o'clock chamber, not the 12 o'clock chamber as is
the typical configuration of standard revolvers. Very few weapons
follow this form factor, the Mateba Autorevolver, and the Chiappa
Rhino being the two most common. In the series, this handgun was
created as part of a pair by Knives, of which Vash was given the
silver model, and Knives kept the black model. Vash eventually carries
both weapons for a time, before losing the black gun to Knives in
another fight. Both guns were designed to be used left-handed, though
Vash shoots right-handed.In the manga, Vash uses his unique gun more
out of mere novelty and habit. Visually the handgun in the manga is
also different from that in the anime, though it still features the
unique placement of the barrel in the 6 o'clock position. In Trigun
Maximum, the revolver used in the anime appears for Vash for use as a
two-panel replacement for his standard gun while it is being repaired.
In the series, within Vash’s trademark revolver lies the catalyst
needed to activate his “Angel Arm”. The Angel Arm is Vash’s
ultimate weapon. Upon activation, his right arm transforms into a
weapon powerful enough to destroy entire cities with a single blast.
Vash fears the Angel Arm’s potential for destruction, and knows
little about how to use it. In the manga, the Angel Arm is a natural
feature of a plant’s body, and can be manipulated into various
shapes to create a number of effects beyond destruction. His power
using the Angel Arm is limited: like a battery, it contains only a
certain amount of energy, and when that energy is gone he will die.
Vash’s Angel Arm typically takes the shape of a large cannon weapon,
which uses a tremendous amount of power. As a meter of spent energy a
plant’s hair color gradually darkens as their internal power is
spent until reaching a final color of black when fully depleted. To
illustrate the power of the Angel Arm, Vash’s hair began to darken
after the second time he fires it, using enough energy to blast a hole
in the moon. Throughout the manga, Vash learns to gain better control
of his power to form smaller cannons and defensive feathers, he even
shows mastery to an extent of infusing it’s singularity inducing
capabilities into bullets for proper use without firing it although
his hair continues to grow darker until almost completely black. By
the final volume, he has only a small lock of blond hair left. Vash
lost his left arm when Knives blew it off using a different revolver,
after Vash stole Knives’ black Angel Arm pistol years earlier. In
the manga, Knives cut it off when they were younger with a blade he
formed from his own body. He now has a cybernetic replacement, which
also conceals an integrated firearm. In both the series and manga, it
is initially a powerful semiautomatic pistol that is later upgraded to
a fully automatic submachine gun. In the series, Vash can be seen
using a knife hidden in his boot in multiple episodes. During his
battle with Brilliant Dynamites Neon, he uses an automatic weapon that
appears similar to an AK-47 carbine. In the climactic final battle
with Knives, he also uses Wolfwood’s Cross Punisher. In the manga,
Vash’s signature coat changes on multiple occasions, usually after
being damaged, destroyed, or lost. At least one model is described as
being bullet-proof. During a battle with Knives aboard The Ark, tubes
on his then-present coat were used to reload his revolver and to feed
ammunition into his sub-machine gun. The tubes were used without Vash
laying hands on them, but it is not made clear if this is done by
mechanical means, or by Vash using his plant abilities.