History Characters / TrigunStampede

* ThisIsGonnaSuck: As he reaches for the red-hot steering controls of the Steamer, you can see how reluctant he is to close his hands. Cut back to his face and he's already got one of his healing vials between his teeth in anticipation of the burns.

* ABirthdayNotABreak: Though it's entirely self-inflicted and thus less emotionally devastating than Vash's ordeal, [[spoiler:on the cusp of his victory, over a century of obsessive planning and work blows up in Knives's face and finally sets Vash, the only one he loves, against him forever. It's a defeat so total he'd rather burn himself alive than accept it, [[StrippedToTheBone which he does]]. And all of this happens on his birthday.]]

* ConsummateLiar: Almost nothing that comes out of Knives's mouth is truthful. [[spoiler:Just ask Zazie.]]

* CruelMercy: After dragging two of Rosa's fellow townspeople to their grisly deaths, Knives slowly approaches Rosa. She's paralysed with terror... and then he steps over her without even bothering to look at her. This comes across less as kindness and more showing his contempt for her as NotWorthKilling, or allowing her to witness her town's destruction so she can suffer a slow death afterwards. Either way, the encounter turns her against Vash as well, tormenting and isolating his brother. [[spoiler:Also, while he does everything he can to avoid injuring Vash out of genuine regret for slicing off his brother's arm, it seems extensive abuse and efforts to assume control over Vash's body and power do not fall under the heading of "hurting" in Knives's mind, and he gleefully engages in both.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:As orchestrator of the Big Fall, Knives condemned his Plant brethren to a planet completely unsuited to their needs. It's possible he was too busy panicking at the thought of becoming a lab rat... or that whatever he claims, the wellbeing of the other Plants [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist wasn't his]] [[ItsAllAboutMe first priority]].]]

** He seems to believe Vash is too weak and fragile to exist independently from himself, since Vash appeared to lack powers; he dismissively refers to Vash being like a human, and appoints himself a vengeful champion [[spoiler:of the Plants]] to protect him. [[spoiler:Just as in the manga, Vash is the more powerful of the twins by far. It's Knives who cannot live without Vash, both to carry out his plans and in that he's totally fixated on ensuring Vash can never leave him. It's also Vash who can communicate with and heal their sister Plants, not Knives, something Knives seems unaware of.]]
* TheDreaded: While many people fear the name Vash the Stampede, Vash himself is ''terrified'' of Knives. When Roberto asks Vash what he's so afraid of in the first episode, Vash's response is, "I have a brother." When Vash hears a piano playing a familiar song at Jeneora Rock, he [[OhCrap panics]] and yells at everyone to get the hell out of the town knowing that Knives has arrived. The fear that Vash attracts is implied to be because of Knives exploiting their resemblance as twins to frame Vash for his own murders and Plant thefts. This differs from the older versions, where Vash was more angry than frightened and pursued Knives to take revenge for Rem's death; by contrast, in ''Stampede'' Vash is the one being hunted by his brother, and he outright says that revenge is pointless.

* EntitledToHaveYou: He barely treats Vash as a person, more like an object that belongs solely to ''him''. Knives refuses to listen to Vash's opinions, instead deluding himself that his brother is "ill" and he'll fix him and make Vash a perfect Independent -- just like him, of course. In the German dub, he even refers to Vash as "my Vash". His relationship with the dependent Plants is similar -- while he cares about them, it's in much the way he cares about Vash: they are objects, and they belong solely to him, to be used however he alone wills.

* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:Like his manga counterpart, discovering Tesla's remains screwed him up badly, though it's elaborated on in ''Stampede'' that he came to the conclusion that humanity was a threat after finding out about how much of its history was defined by war and exploitation. Vash choosing to side with humanity despite this is what prompted Knives to cause the Big Fall, as he believed Vash [[TheyWereHoldingYouBack had become too emotionally dependent on humans to realize his true potential as an Independent]]. Or at least, so Knives ''claims''; his obsessive jealousy suggests he was in truth motivated to isolate Vash, deluding himself that Vash ''needs'' his protection to keep Vash from forming relationships with anyone else.]]

* {{Irony}}: When he and Vash were being raised by Rem, before he developed his hatred of humanity, Knives took some joy in mimicking gunmen from old Westerns while Vash was uncomfortable with the prospect of even wielding a gun. After becoming misanthropic, Knives would show disdain for guns as a cowardly weapon for humans, while Vash would end up wielding one very much like the sharpshooting cowboys of old.

* NoCureForEvil: For whatever reason, unlike Vash, he doesn't possess the ability to heal ailing Plants. The fact that he can only watch as they wither away from humanity's overreliance contributes to his twisted mental state -- along with the fact that it wouldn't be happening if he hadn't crashed the fleet, to which he refuses to admit being solely responsible.

* ThePowerOfCreation: As with [[spoiler:all the Plants]], Knives can shape matter seemingly from nothing (technically, drawing it from a "higher plane", using his body's Gate to bring it from there into reality). He's spent enough time refining the skill that there seems no upper limit to how much he can make or control beyond the effort he decides to exert (and it doesn't have to be much). Given that he's chosen razor sharp metal blades to focus on, he subverts the benevolent associations of this ability to be terrifyingly destructive to any human he meets. He's happy to consider himself a [[AGodAmI god]] because of it, however.

* UnskilledButStrong: Knives is strong enough to punch through walls, fast enough to dodge bullets, and tough enough that being bodily flung into hard surfaces only disorients him. Against an opponent he can't use his lethal powers against, however, he's actually pretty clumsy. This never becomes a problem [[spoiler:until he has to fight Vash, who is uniquely an opponent Knives refuses to harm with equal physical capabilities but ''far'' more experience in combat]].

* WeCanRuleTogether: Knives doesn't want his brother dead. He just wants him back. [[spoiler:After he met Vash again years after they crash-landed on No Man's Land, he proposed that they work together to realise Knives's paradise for Plants free of humans, something Vash rejected out of love for humankind and in memory of Rem. In the present, he still hasn't given up on the idea of both him and Vash leading his paradise, and he doesn't think he needs Vash to actually ''agree'' to helping him build it.]]

* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: While he doesn't physically punish Vash as his older incarnations did, Knives does not treat Vash as though he's a person with autonomy, more as a part of himself. He often blames Vash for driving him to commit his atrocities, and it's strongly suggested Vash's terrible reputation comes from people mistaking Knives for his brother as he commits murders and steals Plants, a mistake that Knives encourages to "prove" Vash can't live among humans. It's heavily implied that that Knives was the one responsible for posting the original bounty on Vash, another means for Knives to assert control over his brother. In many ways, Knives's behaviour reads as an intra-sibling example of DomesticAbuse, particularly given Knives's habit of referring to Vash as weak, fragile, useless or foolish to justify dismissing his decisions even in the face of all evidence to the contrary, and his frightening outbursts of rage whenever he's thwarted.

* MisanthropeSupreme: He ''is'' working for Knives, after all.

* AllTakeAndNoGive: The second disturbing Giver variant. Knives genuinely seems to believe he's helping his brother, and does indeed say outright that [[spoiler:everything he did, he did for Vash]]; however, Vash's identity, wellbeing [[spoiler:and ironically enough for an Independent Plant, his independence]] are all acceptable casualties.

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:In the manga, he intentionally goaded Knives into releasing more and more of his power in order to shorten his lifespan, in the hopes that Knives realizing his mortality would get him to stop his genocidal campaign ([[NiceJobBreakingItHero though the fear of death unfortunately ended up pushing Knives to further extremes]]). Conrad is genuinely loyal to Knives in ''Stampede'' and in full support of his plans, [[WellIntentionedExtremist albeit for well-intentioned reasons]]. At least for now.]]

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The only explanation for Father Nebraska having an RPG as a signature weapon is he likes blowing things up.

* TakeMyHand: There's a particularly gruesome subversion when she tries to stop one of her people being dragged away by Knives. They play tug-of-war over the poor panicking woman for a few moments, and then Knives gets tired of it and slices through the victim's arm. Rosa is left clutching it as the woman vanishes into the smoke for a GoryDiscretionShot.

* TechnicolorEyes: Her eyes were dark purple, a shade impossible to have naturally in reality. It could be a subtle way to evoke GracefulLadiesLikePurple, or possibly a symbolic representation of her hope [[spoiler:to see humans (associated with red) and Plants (associated with blue) communicate with and understand each other with the help of the twins]].

* CompositeCharacter: Brad of ''Stampede'' takes the original canon Brad as a resident of the SEEDS ship who assists with maintaining Vash's equipment, and incorporates a significant amount of characterization from a character from the 1998 anime named Steve, taking the latter's blond hair and role as a member of the original SEEDS crew who is distrustfrul of the Independant Plant(s). Luckily, he outgrows the worst qualities of both characters and played no part in turning Knives into a misanthrope. He also takes elements from Sensei/Doctor as an older figure who Vash takes advice from and is the original creator of Vash's prosthetic arm.

* CompositeCharacter: Brad of ''Stampede'' takes the original canon Brad and incorporates a lot from Steve from the previous anime, taking his blond hair and role as a member of the original SEEDS crew. Luckily, he outgrows the worst qualities of both characters and played no part in turning Knives into a misanthrope. He also takes elements from Sensei/Doctor as the one who crafted Vash's artificial arm.

* RabidCop: The members of the squadron use unnecessary force on the non-violent Vash and brag about redeeming his bounty. The captain also tries to collude with Rosa for her cooperation, using the town's energy crisis as incentive. Roberto outright calls them out as "cowardly". Furthermore, the captain unleashes a giant [[DeathFromAbove cluster bomb]] without any regard for collateral damage or friendly fire and actively tries to prevent Vash from saving the town. Even the other [=MPs=] are alarmed.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The only explanation for Father Nebraska having an RPG for a signature weapon is he likes blowing things up.

* AnimalMotifs: Their headgears seems to be invoking axolotl's.

* UngratefulBastard: Even after saving and helping the town on various occasions, Rosa and the other inhabitants are quick to turn their guns on Vash in hopes of redeeming his bounty. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] as detailed under HeelRealization, and then DoubleSubverted when Millions Knives destroys the town and Rosa learns of [[SinsOfTheFather Vash's relation to him.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: Stays behind in an exploding spaceship to ensure that Vash and Knives can flee in an escape pod and to save as many of the cryogenically frozen passengers as she can. [[spoiler:Knives resents her for this, complaining she ruined his meticulous sabotage of the human ships that would leave the Plant ships unharmed]]. That Rem gave her life in this way is partly what motivates Vash to protect people and refuse to kill -- every human alive on No Man's Land owes everything to her, and he won't let his mother's sacrifice be in vain.

* FillItWithFlowers: [[spoiler:In the present day]], she wants to help take the strain off the Plants with ordinary flora, and has a beautiful park-like dome of trees and flowers she plans to use the seed the desert. Conrad even notes that Luida's specialty was geo-science.

* NiceGirl: Is openly friendly and kind towards Vash after they find him as a child, even knowing [[spoiler: he's an Independent Plant]]. She's the first to trust him to look after the dying Plant.

* CynicismCatalyst: Like in the manga, what happened to her serves as one for Nai, sparking the distrust and hatred that would eventually cause the Big Fall and his spiral into misanthropy. Unlike in the manga, he says she isn't his sole motivator, and that what happened to her is but "one grain of sand" among humanity's misdeeds -- but certain actions of his give the lie to that claim, particularly relating to the Eye of Michael.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: The horrifying dehumanizing ordeal she's put through since birth and [[FateWorseThanDeath not even being allowed the decency of a burial]] would deeply traumatize the twins, especially Nai who'd orchestrate the Big Fall, kickstarting the entire plot.

* AdaptationalWimp: It took ''a lot'' to even hit her in the manga [[spoiler:(though thankfully that shot [[GlassCanon was all it took]])]]. In the anime, Wolfwood easily incapacitates her by hitting her with debris from one of her own destroyed nails. Albeit it seems to be more that she didn't ''want'' to continue fighting rather than being unable to, [[MinorInjuryOverreaction throwing a childish tantrum over her injury instead]].

* TheArtifact: Wolfwood still calls Vash "needle noggin" even though his new hairstyle isn't that much spikier than Wolfwood's. [[spoiler:At least until Episode 12, that is.]]

* BreakTheCutie: ''Stampede'' lays its foundation on showing how gentle a person Vash is, and how the world (and his brother) runs him through the wringer for it. By the end of the season [[spoiler: Vash is now living as Eriks, and still doesn't seem to have recovered from the destruction he caused at July.]]

* DodgeTheBullet: As demonstrated in the first episode, he can dodge shots fired from point blank range with a minimum of effort. [[spoiler:Which makes him allowing himself to be shot out of guilt in episode ten heartbreaking.]]

* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Thoroughly explored, bordering on Deconstructed. Vash is ''very'' reluctant to take personal credit for any of his achievements, waving off his obviously hard-earned skill as luck and his kindness as something he has no choice in. [[spoiler:His interactions with Knives gradually make it clear that this is because Knives has emotionally abused Vash so viciously and left such deep emotional scars Vash can't consider himself or any of his achievements worth admiring, because Knives will always find a way to undermine them]].

* {{Leitmotif}}: "Vash the Stampede/Trigun Stampede", an energetic and brassy techno-Spaghetti western piece with rap lyrics. It doesn't turn up much, but the melody is incorporated in several places in the soundtrack, usually via harmonica and whistling. Contrasting Knives's unmistakable and overwhelming theme, usually played by itself, Vash's theme has bits and pieces associated with other characters included (for example, Wolfwood's saxophone) and has its melody woven throughout other themes, demonstrating that he's the sum of all his friends and their help.

* MartyrWithoutACause: As in all his incarnations, Vash has taken many wounds keeping other people from getting hurt, firmly believing no one has the right to take someone else's life. While an admirable idea in theory, in practice it means he's endured a lot of pain for people who won't be in the slightest bit grateful. [[spoiler:Knives claims that he accepts the suffering as penance for his part in causing the Big Fall, rather than out of compassion. Though likely not ''completely'' true, it's true enough that Vash can't muster an argument against it, and Knives uses it to break his will.]]

* PersonOfMassDestruction: As always, Vash the Stampede is a very sweet and gentle person, and also inherently capable of unthinkable carnage and destruction. [[spoiler:In fact, his unique Plant ability manifests as an ersatz black hole that sucks in and destroys everything around it. Even Knives could only barely withstand it. With encouragement in the form of Knives wiping his identity, Vash forms a huge mass of roots and flowers that consumes an entire city and begins to crush it, along with everyone inside. His attempt to discharge his Angel Arm without obliterating the planet he stands on sees him annihilating the city of July with the back-blast, leaving nothing behind.]]

* PowerGivesYouWings: [[spoiler:In his fight against Knives, he's able to harness his Gate into a wing-like void. Unfortunately, due to his inexperience with his own powers, he has to learn how to use it very quickly under enormous stress, and ends up flying into a lot of obstacles. That said, he adapts quickly -- it's only when he's shot that he drops from the air.]]

Vash's twin brother, originally named Nai, and [[EvilCounterpart his opposite in every way.]] He despises humanity and seeks to wipe them out. In an effort to "reclaim what is rightfully his (and Vash's)", he has been stealing Plants from various settlements, thereby dooming them via energy crisis if they aren't razed to the ground first.

* MoralMyopia: As described under {{Hypocrite}}, he finds humanity's exploitation of Plants and other resources to be despicable. But if the painful exploitation is for ''Knives's'' benefit, then it's acceptable. He'll even enforce it. He also has no need to eat or drink to sustain himself, which makes his judgement of those who do need those things ring a bit hollow considering how ruthless he is when he decides ''he'' needs something. Knives also personally contributes to the violent and desperate conditions of No Man's Land and thus the suffering of the Plants -- his home city, July, which he rules from behind the scenes, has a monopoly on Plants that produce clean water and manufactures and sells weaponry. This makes it the most luxurious and powerful of the seven cities, but its population is very strictly gated and controlled, and Knives's own cult preys upon the poor and desperate beyond its walls. His Plant thefts force humans to rely on a dwindling number of Plants to supply their survival needs (burning them out even faster) while the city's government denies any involvement in favour of pointlessly dedicating resources to pursuing and persecuting the innocent Vash.

* NoCureForEvil: For whatever reason, unlike Vash, he doesn't possess the ability to heal ailing Plants. The fact that he can only watch as they wither away from humanity's overreliance contributes to his twisted mental state -- along with the fact that it wouldn't be happening if he hadn't crashed the fleet, for which he refuses to accept being solely responsible.

* PlayingTheFamilyCard: If Vash dares to even seem like he ''might'' try to retaliate against, or even defend himself from Knives's abuse, Knives doesn't hesitate to guilt-trip him for turning on "big brother".

* AdaptationalBadass: Despite the fact he's arguably ''even more averse'' to conflict than his previous counterparts, Vash's skillset is much more diverse in ''Stampede''. While his previous counterparts relied almost entirely on speed and accuracy, often scurrying around the battlefield and dealing trick shots, ''Stampede'''s Vash is much more direct when dealing with his opponents once it becomes obvious words won't work. While he's still wicked fast and has inhumanly good aim, he's also very skilled at various defensive and/or nonlethal forms of martial arts which he uses liberally, and he's taken a shine to using his gun as a makeshift tonfa to knock his opponents out. His prosthetic arm also has some new additional functions, seemingly at the cost of not having a hidden gun like his previous counterparts: A piston mechanism that allows for boosts of extra strength, and a grappling wire.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: In part because he doesn't get to interact with strangers too often in this version, and partly because plot developments based around Knives enter much more quickly and consistently, Vash is rather melancholic in his off-time, rarely engaging in the goofy antics that his manga and especially his 1998 anime counterparts did to hide their pain. He still has his goofy moments (mostly notably, a lot of background physical comedy), but his serious face is engaged much more consistently. He also doesn't have as much bravado as his previous counterparts, and almost entirely lacks their temper.

* AdaptationalWimp: In some ways Vash seems less threatening this time around: His prosthetic arm lacks the built-in gun it had in previous continuities, he lacks his counterparts' undercurrent of rage (he still gets ''angry'', but represses quickly and doesn't struggle with it), and spends a lot more time avoiding conflict than they did, characterizing him as passive and yet to solidify his ideals. It's only at the end of the season that he seems to gain a firm grasp upon who he is and what he wants. That said, this version of Vash can be a [[AdaptationalBadass frighteningly competent fighter when need be]].

** [[spoiler:The July Incident, in this continuity. Vash tries his best to minimize casualties: preventing Wolfwood from firing on the military police, attempting to subdue Knives without killing him, and discharging his Angel Arm harmlessly into space. Despite his efforts, July is obliterated along with 90% of its population from the backblast of Gate energy from Vash's Angel Arm, and Knives is [[UncertainDoom seemingly killed]] due to his unflinching persistence. On the plus side, Vash's determination ensured that only July was destroyed, not the entire planet. On the downside, having survivors mean there are witnesses who will further scorn and vilify the Humanoid Typhoon, and Vash will have to live with the knowledge of his involvement.]]

* AnArmAndALeg: Lost his left arm to Knives in a past confrontation. [[spoiler:Unlike in previous versions, this was done less maliciously and more to stop Vash's Gate before it could kill him after he lost control over it.]]

* BadassLongcoat: He sports a red coat with a high collar, like his manga and 1998 anime counterpart. However, it has a hoodie and is noticeably shorter, only reaching about his knees. It also appears to be in far better condition, in not outright bulletproof. [[spoiler:His coat is given an origin story in ''Stampede'', being a gift from the crew of Ship 3.]] It's a little too large for him, which hides both his height and his muscular build, making him seem less threatening.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Episode 9 reveals his gate power [[spoiler: is to create black holes that suck everything around him into it until there's nothing left.]] This arguably makes his even more dangerous than Knives. In present day, Vash is a strict pacifist who believes in the good of everyone, and becomes anguished at the sight of anyone being hurt.

* BreakTheCutie: ''Stampede'' lays its foundation on showing how gentle a person Vash is, and how the world puts him through the absolute wringer for it. By the end of the season [[spoiler: Vash is now living as Eriks, and still doesn't seem to have recovered from the destruction he caused at July.]]

* EvilLaugh: Played for laughs. In the first episode when Meryl and Roberto stumble upon him, he lets out an comically villainous cackle. Upon seeing the two walk away after finding him creepy, he drops the act and begs to be let down.

* FriendToAllChildren: He's shown to be gentle and friendly with children. One of the first people he goes to greet upon returning to Jeneora Rock is the young Tonis, Meryl finds a photo of him holding a baby Rollo, he promises an older Rollo to find a cure for the latter's illness, and he gratefully accepts a hug from an orphan boy with complete trust [[spoiler:even when he likely knew said boy's innocent appearance was a lie]]. He shows worry towards [[spoiler:Elendira]] when she whines over her wound, even when she angrily turns down his help.

* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Thoroughly explored, bordering on Deconstructed. Vash is ''very'' reluctant to take personal credit for any of his achievements, waving off his obviously hard-earned skill as luck and his kindness as something he has no choice in. [[spoiler:His interactions with Knives gradually make it clear that this is because Knives has emotionally abused Vash so viciously and left such deep emotional scars Vash can't consider himself or any of his achievements worth admiring, because Knives will always find a way to render them pointless]].

* MacGuffinSuperPerson: [[spoiler: Knives needs Vash to arrive to July alive and unharmed because he needs Vash's Gate to artificially impregnate the Plants he stole in order to create a race of Independents that can rule the planet.]]

* PowerStrainBlackOut: [[spoiler: He passes out after communicating with the Sand Steamer's Plant, which also reveals his inhuman nature to his companions.]]

* SiblingYinYang: Vash is loud, friendly, emotional and a pacifist. Knives is reserved, soft-spoken, detached and remorselessly violent. They also have opposite levels of attachment to their dignity -- Vash will flail, wail and shriek, whereas Knives is almost always icily calm (though with a flair for the dramatic and grandiose). [[spoiler:Amusingly, these emotional states reverse completely in the final episode, or more precisely both of the twins drop their masks: Vash is coldly enraged and moves with absolute precision and efficiency, while Knives spends the entire fight in one long continuous emotional meltdown.]]

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Just like in the manga and the first anime, Vash's optimism is contrasted against the harsh cruelty of the setting, with his attempts to do good undermined either by Millions Knives's machinations or [[UngratefulBastard the very people he's trying to protect.]] This also puts him at odds with the more cynical and bitter Wolfwood, leading to them butting heads over their differing moral codes.

* ThouShaltNotKill: Just like the manga and 1998 anime, Vash follows a code not to kill anyone.

* UnorthodoxReload: In episode 12, Vash throws a clip of ammunition in the air and then swings his gun into it to reload. Which is an impressive enough feat of coordination, but even moreso considering he did it mid-flight. [[spoiler:He also shapes bullets from the cube formed by his Gate, creating a near-inexhaustible source of ammunition that he uses to harry Knives relentlessly.]]
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The source of his immense guilt. [[spoiler:He was the one who gave Knives the access codes to Project SEEDS, not knowing that Knives would use them to sabotage the ships in a bid to exterminate humanity.]]

* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Wolfwood. They form an almost instant dynamic that consists of Wolfwood pushing her buttons and Meryl calling him out for his bad habits, with blips of genuine care for each other in-between.

** Similarly Meryl, who's from a wealthy family to Wolfwood's past as a poverty-stricken orphan. She's also white and dark blue to his black/gray and deep red, repeating established color motifs that are also seen in Knives and Vash. Both Meryl and Wolfwood are following Vash because of their jobs, only to grow closer to him than professionalism warrants. But where Meryl is learning that survival means moral compromises and sacrifices have to be made, Wolfwood becomes more and more bothered by his conscience. [[spoiler:Where Meryl unknowingly comes to mirror Rem and her ideals, Wolfwood has no choice but to carry out Knives's will.]]

* FriendToAllChildren: Played with. He comforts and gives candy to the surviving kid they found at the fuel station, [[spoiler: who was Zazie the Beast playing along to help Wolfwood ingratiate himself to Vash]]. As a kid, he cheered up and looked after Livio when he first arrived at Hopeland, leading the two to become nearly inseparable. All of the other kids at Hopeland liked Wolfwood enough that they refer to him as "Nico-nii". The children of Hopeland serve as his main motivation [[spoiler: to keep working under the Eye of Michael -- as long as he does his job, no other children will be taken to do it instead.]]

* ChildishOlderSibling: Vash is hardly the epitome of maturity, but he is at least willing to accept the bad with the good in life. Knives, on the other hand, never grew out of being a scared, angry child who wants to lay waste to everything that won't bend to his whims. And that's ''if'' you believe he is the older tin -- the only source for this claim is Knives himself.

* EntitledToHaveYou: He barely treats Vash as a person, more like an object that belongs solely to ''him''. Knives refuses to listen to Vash's opinions, instead deluding himself that his brother is "ill" and he'll fix him and make Vash a perfect Independent -- just like him, of course. In the German dub, he even refers to Vash as "my Vash". His relationship with the dependent Plants is similar -- while he cares about them, it's in much the way he cares about Vash: they are objects, and they belong solely to him to be used however he alone wills.

* EvilTwin: One of manga's defining examples. Where Vash is a kind and self-sacrificing pacifist, Knives is a cruel and self-obsessed mass murderer, and the two oppose each other's philosophies in every way they can. Knives is even outright described as an "evil twin" by the reporters, though they don't believe Vash's story at first.

* FangsAreEvil: Just like Vash, [[spoiler:his fellow Independent Plant]], he has unusually pointed canines, especially noticeable when he's distressed. [[spoiler:Unlike Vash, this makes the sight of him burning alive even more horrifying as his skin gets stripped away and reveals a sharp-toothed, demonic skull.]]

** His blind obsession with Vash. [[spoiler:Knives could destroy humanity easily if he gave up on Vash and let him die with them, and he'd probably also do a better job protecting the other Plants if he wasn't completely occupied with his plans to get his brother back. But he truly believes his crusade is necessary keep them both safe. Then his efforts to force Vash to help him just drive his brother further away, until Vash finally snaps and gains the resolve to fight back.]]
** He believes himself perfect, meaning he refuses to take any responsibility for his mistakes... which also means he doesn't learn from experience.

* {{Gaslighting}}: He wields it expertly to make Vash believe he's the one at fault for all that Knives has done. The effect it has had on Vash is a person is unmistakeable -- he is passive, accustomed to being used and mistreated, and constantly questioning himself [[spoiler:until episode twelve]]. The moment Vash is blamed for something that was actually Knives's fault, Vash always shuts down emotionally.

* {{Hypocrite}}: He hates humans for their "zealous assertions of dominance/despotic reign" and how they greedily consume resources for their own benefit. And yet, [[spoiler:he subjugates his unwilling brother, mentally destroying Vash to make his brother more like himself and forcibly impregnating the other Plants to make more Independents. He keeps Dr. Conrad alive well past his natural lifespan to continue his experiments on children like Tesla (with Conrad outright saying he's not ''allowed'' to die until Knives achieves his goals). In terms of zealous domination and despotism, Knives has humans beat.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: Knives's noble crusade is nothing more than an excuse to force his ideals on others. [[spoiler:He kills humans to assuage his paranoia of ending up on their dissection tables, and wants to essentially turn back the clock to the last time when ''he'' felt truly safe and happy: his and Vash's childhood. Humans, Vash, his sister Plants -- none of them have opinions worth taking into account in his eyes, because he's ''obviously'' in the right, so he never bothers to ask what they think or gain their consent, nor does he care how much he personally harms them if he can justify it to himself as advancing his own interests.]]

* MaskOfSanity: As the series progresses, it's clear that Knives's cold, rational stoicism is a façade covering homicidal paranoia, extreme fear, and single-minded obsession with his delusion of an ideal brother. [[spoiler:The mask falls in episode twelve, and he spends the remainder of his screentime in a truly spectacular VillainousBreakdown.]]

* PolarOppositeTwins: Even without taking his misanthropic insanity into account, Knives couldn't be any more different from his brother. During their childhood, Knives was quiet and reserved [[spoiler:as well as reluctant to engage in human customs and activities, while Vash wholeheartedly embraced human customs like sharing meals and was more energetic and emotionally open.]] Interestingly, the emotional dynamic reverses in episode twelve; [[spoiler:for all intents and purposes, Knives is throwing a screaming tantrum like a spoiled child who isn't getting what he wants, while Vash is angry, but controlled, focused and efficient.]]

* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: While he doesn't physically punish Vash as his older incarnations did, Knives does not treat Vash as though he's a person with autonomy, more as a part of himself. He often blames Vash for driving him to commit his atrocities, to the point it's strongly suggested Vash's terrible reputation comes from people mistaking Knives for his brother as he commits murders and steals Plants, a mistake that Knives encourages to "prove" Vash can't live among humans. It's heavily implied that that Knives was the one responsible for posting the original bounty on Vash, another means for Knives to assert control and have Vash brought to him. In many ways, Knives's behaviour reads as an unusual intra-sibling example of DomesticAbuse, particularly given Knives's habit of referring to Vash as weak, fragile, useless or foolish to justify dismissing his decisions even in the face of all evidence to the contrary, and his frightening outbursts of rage whenever he's thwarted.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Livio appears to be running on autopilot, with EmptyEyes and jerky movements. It's implied to be due to his mask, as he becomes alert after it's shot. [[spoiler:Given his [[SuperpoweredEvilSide condition]] in the manga, he may not be "brainwashed" so much as heavily sedated.]]