Vash The Stampede
Vash the Stampede
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Fandom Trigun
Gender Male
Age 150+
Aliases The Humanoid Typhoon, the $$60 Billion Man
Place of Birth SEEDs Flagship
Occupation Wandering gunman and donut connoisseur
Known Relatives Knives (twin brother)
Significant Other None
Known Abilities Marksmanship, long life, high healing factor
First Appearance And this donut was juuuust right!

A wanderer in search of the mayfly known as Love.

Appearance

Vash is a six-foot tall man with a mop of blond hair he gels upward in a style oft referred to as "broom-like", an easygoing smile, and expressive blue eyes. His normal choice in clothing include a pair of blue jeans, leather chaps, a black shirt, one black glove on his right hand, boots with switchblades hidden in them, and a long tattered red coat covered in buttons. His body is riddled with scars, the metal grating and rivets used to hold some of the original wounds shut still there! He even has a prostethic left arm that has a machine gun mechanism hidden in it. It's painful to detach in most conditions and the weight of it makes him heavier than he looks.

Personality

Vash's core demeanor is that of someone who greatly values life and cares, perhaps too much, for others to the point he often neglects himself. Because he is from a genetically enhanced race, he is almost immortal, and this makes him believe it is his duty to protect everyone. In canon it got mentioned that Vash was caring for his family… and thinks of every living thing as family. Whenever he fails in caring for someone he will undoubtedly blame himself, even when it was completely out of his hands. To put it bluntly, Vash cares too much about those around him and not enough for himself and what he needs. He's also stubborn as heck when it comes to his beliefs and refuses to yield for anything if it's something he truly cares about.

The side of Vash most people get acquainted with is that of a cheerful idiot who loves donuts, drinking, and flirting (badly) with girls. This is partially a front-he really does like donuts that much and believes all women need to be treated like ladies unless they prove otherwise. Vash has no real sense of pride and is willing to act like a complete dimwit to both confuse people about and hide his true identity as Vash the Stampede.

The side people rarely see is that of a man who is tired. Vash has lived a long time and, despite his optimism and how much hope he has and his incessant belief that people are good in their heart of hearts has left him disappointed many a time. He's been hurt a lot in his life and it leaves him almost afraid to get too close to people. It takes a lot for him to be comfortable enough around someone to divulge his past. Let's not forget the constant paranoia he hides admirably well from being hunted by bounty hunters for as long as he can remember.

In some areas, though, Vash truly is innocent. In some cases he trusts people far more easily than he should and he's never been able to pursue any kind of relationship. He has a hard time understanding logic that isn't his own. He tries, but he's stubborn and on the stupid side when it comes to people and rather childish when it comes to arguing; usually defaulting to arguments such as "because it's wrong!" without further explanation.

All-in-all, Vash is an individual who, while very old compared to a human, still has a lot of growing up to do and many many many issues he may never get over.

Strengths/Abilities

Being a plant he has a high healing factor as compared to a human and he is able to communicate directly with the plants. If someone has the know-how he could be programmed into being a productive plant, meaning that, with the right systems involved, Vash could produce pretty much anything.

Despite his obfuscating stupidity and generally gentle demeanor, Vash is a wicked gunman. Years upon years upon years of on-the-fly training and a morning routine have made him one of the best gunmen on his planet. He's actually managed to curve bullets and can calculate trajectories of bullets on the fly in his head. After all, 90% of any fight is mental and Vash, for all his social stupidity is a genius when it comes to on-the-fly strategizing.

He will also do pretty much anything to keep those he cares for safe and happy. He likes kids and will often play with them and befriend them very easily. Overall he's just a kind and gentle man who wants nothing more than to find his place in the world and live peacefully.

Surprisingly, Vash is a pretty decent cook. Not the best, but better than most would expect from him.

Weaknesses

We'll get the one involving his species out of the way: if Vash uses up his reserves of power as a plant he'll die. His hair slowly turns black as this is done and once it's completely black he's essentially nothing more than a human being. He also may have a long life and high healing factor, but he is not immortal and he can be maimed and scarred.

Now for the more serious personal ones: Vash is very dependent-especially on his brother and his late adoptive-mother Rem's memory. Without his focus on Rem Vash feels he would have nothing worth fighting for and without his hunt for Knives he wouldn't have a goal and being without either one downright terrifies him. He's been doing this for as long as he can remember.

Then we have the blank in his memory. The trauma of Lost July left Vash with no memories stretching from his time on the SEEDs flagship with Rem and Knives to regaining conscious in the desolate city. That blank, the things that could have occurred during it, and the fact he knows it's entirely possible he could have done the things he was accused of, leaves him unable to defend himself from accusations and afraid to confront what happened. There's also his trouble opening himself up to people.

And the lighter ones. Simply: He sucks at lying. He can evade things pretty well, but he's unable to outright lie to people. He also has trouble holding his liquor and his sugar.

Fears

Vash is afraid of himself and what he could be capable, plain and simple. He's afraid he could accidentally hurt someone or that someone would get hurt because of him. It kills him when he believes people are hurt or killed because he couldn't do anything. If is somehow directly responsible for it he would freak out about it. Sure, he'd try not to show it, but his mask of happiness would fall away for a short time because of it and he'd spend the rest of his life grieving for the people he lost.

He's afraid of his brother being dead. True, the couldn't agree on the fundamental issue of whether or not humanity deserved to live, but Knives is family and the only source he has for answers to what happened over twenty years ago. If Knives turned out to be completely gone then Vash would have no direction; no idea of what to DO with himself at all.

The blank spaces in his memory scare him. He has no idea what happened to him during them, but he suspects some of the things he did were Not Good and may have been downright malicious.

Thunder is another big thing he's afraid of. It reminds him too much of gunshots and after being chased by bounty hunter most of his life this is a fairly justified phobia.

Vash is also agoraphobic. He usually keeps tabs on exits and quick escape routes wherever he is, but sometimes this isn't possible and he winds up panicking because of it. He needs an escape route and he needs to know he'd be able to get other people out if he finds he needs to.

History

Our story begins with Project SEEDs, mankind's last hope for survival when the Earth became inhabitable. With it, man could seed the galaxy with its genes and colonize other worlds after a long sleep in the hibernation chamber. Powered by Plants, creatures genetically engineered by man for the dual purpose of powering the fleet and terraforming distant worlds, it was to be the shining hope of the new world - wherever that new world may be!

Fast forward an unknown number of years later. Somehow the Plant on the flagship managed to give birth to two twin boys. The crew, out of hibernation due to the fleet approaching a potential star system they could colonize, discovered them and intended to kill them. If it were not for one member of the crew our story would end here. Fortunately Rem Saverem talked the crew down, reminding them that these were children. So what if they weren't human? They were living things, too!

In short order, raising and caring for the twins, later named Vash and Knives (there may have been drinking involved), became her responsibility. She did what she could to raise the two, but they proved odd. For one thing, by the time they were a year old they were the equivalent age of a human ten year old, with remarkable intellects.

Vash loved it. He spent his time playing with Knives and Rem, even if some of the crewmembers bullied him for being different. As long as he was on the ship with them and dreaming of this veritable Eden they were planning on creating one day, he was happy. Safe. Content.

Then one day, in great pain, body covered in scars, and his left arm missing, he regained consciousness to a ruined city in a desert with people saying that he leveled the city and that he killed someone. Vash was left mute for a few days as he tried to rack his brain for what had happened and tried to adjust to how tall he suddenly was and how natural it seemed to be wielding a gun. Over the next few years he remembered bits and pieces: Knives killing the crew and trying to destroy the fleet, Rem saving them all, wandering the desert with Knives, the guns he had on his person being made by Knives, lots of little details like that. Unease grew in Vash as he began to realize these accusations, this bounty someone had placed on his head and made these people come after him, might actually be for something he did.

Time passed. Vash gained many allies and enemies along the way, laughed and loved and cried. His search for Knives was so far proving fruitless. It was like his brother had fallen off the face of the planet, but he had hope. Knives was just as stubborn as he was. There was no way Knives could be dead. The jerk simply wouldn't allow it!

Then came the insurance girls who declared the bounty on his head was now null and void. And Vash had been so happy! He was free! Once word spread around then the bounty hunters would no longer tail him and maybe he could stay in one place long enough to find some definitive information on where his brother had gone.

And then came the fateful day he was playing with a group of kids. He slipped while trying to catch a ball and found himself in the Dollsy House.

Those who know the canon: Vash is from just after Meryl and Milly start traveling with him.

Timeline

Quotes

Trivia

  • The love of donuts is completely 100% genuine.
  • Has never gone farther than kissing a girl and really wouldn't know what to do if he ever got that far.
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