Vash the Stampede

Vash is a tall blond man, about 180 centimetres tall, with blue-green eyes. Vash's hair looks like needles, which sometimes betrays him, or gives his friends a chance to come up with nicknames for him (example: Needlehead). Underneath his clothes, Vash's entire body is a horrific patchwork of large scars and huge chunks of lost flesh replaced with metal plates and metal stitching. The only part of him that has avoided such damage is his head and neck, which are in otherwise pristine condition. In the anime, Vash loses his left arm from the shoulder-down in a conflict with his brother, Millions Knives in July City. This arm was later replaced with a cybernetic prosthesis with a built-in weapon. Vash’s typical ensemble includes a long, crimson trenchcoat with a high collar, assorted straps, and black buttons. His right sleeve is simply part of the trenchcoat, but his left sleeve is secured by a series of black straps and buckles. Underneath his coat, he wears form fitting dark pants and knee-high combat boots. His top is black and sleeveless, and is also tight to his body. Occasionally he will wear a pair of light amber-colored sunglasses with zigzagging arms. Vash displays two very distinct personalities. Initially, Vash usually exaggerates foolish characteristics to make people feel un-threatened and to hide his identity, as well as using these outrageous actions and chronic kindness as a way to mask his own pain. 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. 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 acquaintances 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 people he trusted have either betrayed him or been killed for simply knowing him. For 20 years (since the loss of July) 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 major internal conflict for Vash is the differences between him and 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, choosing to keep the scars as a reminder of the price he pays for his unlimited mercy.

He remembers his early childhood on the spaceships with Knives and Rem Savorim. All of her teachings and the self sacrifice to save Vash and Knives. He knows how the ships crashed on the desert planet now called No-Man's Land. Being an independent plant he tries to help pass the teachings to keep humanity on the right track. Vash belongs to the race of organic generators - living sources of energy, referred to as Plants. Though he appears human, he has several characteristics that place him higher than that of the average man. Due to his high sensory perception, he is able to dodge bullets by reading the movements of others and instantly predict trajectories. He is physically strong enough to fire machine guns in each hand simultaniously, and is physically able to withstand greater injury than normal humans. Vash's lifespan is also much longer than that of humans, retaining his youthful appearance past 100 years of living. Despite this, he is still succeptable to grievous injury, and his ability to heal from such injuries is not much better than that of humans. Vash is also just as easily prone to intoxication from consuming too much alcohol as a normal person, which ironically is shown to hinder his attempts to conceal his naturally-high talent for marksmenship. As a plant, Vash is able to transform his body to some extent, increasing his combat capabilities. But the main strength of his abilities is the ability to generate a large amount of energy and efficiently use it for various purposes. He is also able to use this ability to heal or calm other Plants should they be damaged or excited. Vash habitually carries a custom made .45 caliber nickel-plated revolver, 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.

This story takes place on the planet called No Man's Land, a desert planet that the space colonization program Project SEEDS has crash landed on while trying to find a new home after earth was rendered uninhabitable. Being a planetary wasteland, No Man's Land is extremely ill-fit to sustain human life. For 150 years humanity has struggled to survive in the planet's desolate environment, utilizing plants found in the ruins of the crashed SEEDS ships for food and water while building cities and towns around them. Over time what would became known as the Seven Cities was built, becoming the cultural and political hubs of the planet. The Seven Cities are called Augusta, December, Inepril, July (Destroyed 20 years ago), May, Octovern, and September. MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS: The Great Fall: The crash landing that resulted in humanity's arrival to No Man's Land. Knives, unable to believe that humans and Plants can ever coexist, uses what he learned from his accidental tampering with the ship to crash the SEEDS Fleet on the nearby planet No Man's Land. Knives tries to wipe out all the humans while saving only those ships necessary for him, Vash, and the other Plants that survive 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, sacrificing herself as a result. Aboard the escape pod, Knives reveals his involvement in the fall. With nowhere else to go Vash follows Knives as they wander No Man's Land, watching what few humans survived to 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 slicing 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 July Incident: The infamous July Incident occurred when Vash traveled to the city of July in search 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 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 save his life, with Legato swearing revenge on Vash for what happened to Knives. The incident secures Vash's reputation as The Humanoid Typhoon and his bounty of 60 billion double dollars. IMPORTANT PEOPLE OR ORGANIZATIONS: Vash the Stampede Millions Knives: Vash's twin brother. Meryl Stryfe: News journalist trying to track down and write an article on Vash. Millie Thompson: Junior coworker of Meryl. Nicholas Wolfwood: Also known as Nicholas the Punisher, genetically modified assassin who has defected from the Eye of Michael. William Conrad: A scientist who is working with Knives. He researchs Plants and does inhuman experiments in order to create a human race capable of living without the plants. Second in command of the Eye of Michael, right beneath Knives. Eye of Michael: A cult that worships Knives and provides him with assassins. Full members are modified to drastically increase their physical strength and speed beyond human limits and to gain advanced regeneration supplemented by drug vials for extreme wounds.