Vash the Stampede

Vash the Stampede 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 nickel revolver, he travels from town to town to learn more and protect what his adoptive mother, Rem, treasured most: love and peace. 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.

Appearance
Vash is a very tall man with a spiky blonde hair and has blue eyes. He wears a red buttoned trench coat, black pants, brown gloves and brown boots. He also wears sunglasses.

Personality
Vash displays throughout both the manga and the anime 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 (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.

Abilities
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.

.45 Long Colt
Vash habitually carries a custom made .45 caliber silver or nickel-plated revolver double-action with a top break reloading mechanism that fires .45 Long Coltammunition. Despite it's appearance, it is shown having 7 shots in the fight against Goseph and Father Nebraska. 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.

Angel Arm
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 climax of the series, he has only a small lock of blond hair left.

Defensive Wings
During his final battle with Legato in the manga, Vash uses his Plant abilities to create a fully automatic defensive blades. Anyone that enters with the range of these blades will almost instantly cut them without Vash's direction. These blades were able to cut though the massive Guernica with ease were able to cut Legato dozens of times before he could react.

Cybernetic Machine-gun Arm
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.

Other Weapons and Equipment
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.

Trivia

 * In the manga, Wolfwood calls Vash tongari, which translates to "spikey head". In the anime, Wolfwood frequently calls Vash "needle noggin"
 * A billboard advertising a Trigun movie with Vash's face is pictured in the manga Sun-Ken Rock. Boichi, the author of Sun-Ken Rock, also explains how he made Vash's coat..
 * Vash made a cameo appearance in Wild Arms 2nd Ignition
 * In certain frames, the buttons on Vash's coat are reminiscent of udders, an idea consistant with the meaning of the word "vache," which is "cow" in French.
 * The catalysts inside the guns owned by Vash and Knives are black and white. This may refer to the Yin and Yang (or possibly good and evil).
 * Despite appearing with them in every episode of the anime, Vash has only referred to Meryl by name once, and he has never referred to Milly by name.
 * Vash is 131 years old in the anime, however because his race is that of a plant and not a human it is possible that his life span may be different.
 * Donuts are Vash's favorite food.
 * Vash (and Knives) plant powers are finite. Because Vash uses his gun and rarely uses his powers Knives eventually exhausts his powers.
 * Because there is no official date, fans celebrate Vash's birthday as July 21st as it marks the day of July's destruction.