Characters / Betray Me Not

Character sheet for Betray Me Not and its related works. Beware of unmarked spoilers.

Main Characters

Brandon 'Beyond the Grave' Heat

"Remember? Betrayal is bad. It hurts someone for a lifetime."

Brandon is a necrolyzer (or called simply a reanimated corpse or a walking corpse). He was found unconscious and dying after his confrontation with Harry. At Mika's request, he was given the medical care he needed and saved from death, but he turned out to have betrayed Millennion to protect Harry. Throughout the story, Brandon has to endure whatever Millennion threw at him for betraying the organization.

Tropes in General

• The Ace: Despite having lost An Arm and a Leg (uses an artificial leg to provide mobility), he is the best Loan Shark in Millennion thanks to the Super-Strength and Super-Toughness he has as a necrolyzer. He is also well-known for his combat skills. Personality-wise, he is also a meek and loyal man. To Mika, he is a cuddly teddy bear.
  • Broken Ace: However, his physical abilities come with a price. Unsterile air can hurt him, and he needs the renewal therapy regularly to stay 'alive.' And despite how gentle he is, Brandon actually has serious anger issues. As a lonely guy who has lost his beloved friends and family in the past, he is very protective of his newfound friends and family (Mika, Biscoe, his Loan Shark friends, etc). Harming any of them is sure to bring out Brandon's literal Unstoppable Rage, which usually overlaps with a chilling Tranquil Fury. He will smash his way through to get things done and has no qualms killing and inflicting grievous injuries and trauma. Also, he is a Principles Zealot. He clings to his philosophy of never betraying, which is why he obeys every single command from Millennion. His actions too, are usually morally questionable.
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Gives this to Mika sometimes.
• An Arm and a Leg: Lost his left arm and right leg near the end of the anime. Not that it ever stops him from being badass.
• Anti-Hero: Pragmatic Hero type. If extorting, hurting, and even killing civilians are necessary to protect Mika and Millennion, he'll do it. However, he is actually capable of showing some streaks of All-Loving Hero.
• Artificial Limbs: Starts out with a defective prosthetic leg, which is too short and tight and lacks a movable knee joint. He still uses it to walk around and help prevent pressure sores as he tries to cope with his phantom sensation. Later, though, he gets a proper prosthetic leg with weight-activated knee system.
• The Atoner: Shows some shades of this. Having betrayed Millennion and now badly needing the organization to fund his medical expense, Brandon vows to never betray again and will do anything to protect Millennion. Also, since he has betrayed Mika during that incident, he is even more protective of Mika.

• Beware the Quiet Ones: Brandon doesn't talk much, but once he snaps... But sometimes he doesn't make even a single noise when angered. He'll just come with a gun and...You Are Already Dead.
• Brains and Brawn: The Brawn as opposed to Mika's Brains. He is a badass but somewhat Book Dumb necrolyzer.
• Bring It: Usually used to mess around with his foes' morale or Draw Aggro rather than showing off how badass he is.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Sometimes an Emotional Bruiser. Brandon may be The Dreaded destructive and implacable necrolyzer, he is very gentle towards Mika and highly respects his superiors. Including Norton.
• Character Development: Very subtle. What happens at the end of the anime and the events at Betray Me Not seem to have made him wiser. And taking care of Mika has actually softened him.
  • Apparently, what has completely softened Brandon to the point he is more of a homebody/daddy is his desire to repay Mika's kindness. He has fallen into Despair Event Horizon for surviving the Mutual Kill attempt with Harry, but Mika's love touches him and brings him back. He, too, is much more affectionate towards Mika thanks to this.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Especially towards senior citizens and women. He also shows some signs of this towards Millennion, in which he readily gives up his freedom and happiness and shoulders his subordinates' burden for them. This trait of his is often taken to the extreme, which in turn, becomes his Fatal Flaw, especially when he fails to help the people he loves.
  • When he fails, he can be highly frustrated at his incompetence. In Worth, because he's still coping with the phantom sensation of his lost limbs, he tries to cover Mika back with her fallen blanket, only to realize that he's missing a leg and fall. And worse, he surprises Mika, much to his annoyance and sadness.
  • In A Loan Shark's Tale, Brandon doesn't really have to work during winter, as emphasized by his comrades (Arnold and Mika). However, he thinks that his medical expense is a burden to Millennion, so he decides to work just to ease Millennion's burden.
• Cosmic Plaything: Very few works in this Fan Verse that don't involve putting Brandon through a wringer. In Betray Me Not, Brandon is scorned by Millennion and forced to wear a defective artificial leg right on the day after he loses his leg, causing skin breakdown and risking him to have more of his residual leg be amputated. From the inside, Brandon is hating himself for betraying Millennion. In Worth, Brandon is still being mocked and shunned by Millennion guards, all while he's already very sad of his disability and asks William to kill him. In Retribution, Brandon loses his colleague to the rioting victims of his Loan Shark business. Angered, he attacks the leader of the riot...only to end up breaking down after he murders the leader and leaves his daughter bawling her eyes out at her dead daddy... The list goes on.
• Covered with Scars: Missing his left eye, left arm, and right leg. There are also scars on the tip of his residual limbs as Dr. William stitches his wounds shut (more prominent on his leg, because it's once infected). Plus the gunshot scars all over his torso, which he receives from Harry's betrayal. Then, there's a gunshot scar on his stomach that comes from him Taking the Bullet for Big Daddy.
• Creepy Good: Brandon is a terrifying undead loan shark and gunslinger, yet he is an incredibly gentle daddy. He's also very loyal to his loved ones and will give his all to protect them.
  • In The Hellhound of Billion, one of Millennion guardsmen calls him a savage after hearing how he dispatches a necrolyzed dog, but fortunately, he's with Millennion.
• Cutlass Between the Teeth: Or more precisely, gun between the teeth. Having lost an arm, Brandon tends to use his teeth to hold his gun when he needs his hand.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Combine the fact that his parents were murdered when he was six and how the anime put him through a wringer.
• Desperately Craves Affection: Although Brandon often feels like he doesn't deserve too much love, at the very core, he actually loves being loved. His primary fear is nothing but being unloved, especially by Mika.
• Determinator: Every time he is hurt and hasn't recovered from his wounds, he'll carry out his duty without complain if it's necessary to protect his loved ones. As Biscoe has said, Brandon is a man who is willing to push his handicapped body beyond limit just to protect his friends and family.
  • In The Hellhound of Billion, even after having his legs paralyzed by anti-necrolyze bullets and only hand broken by Charles, Brandon still manages to crawl like a snail for almost a minute. Sadly, his body can't handle it.
• Disability Superpower: Implied. Having just one arm, Brandon grows to be very capable of using his teeth for various works. His teeth are essentially his secondary hand, as he utilize them to grab a door handle, tear a paper out of a notepad, etc.
  • Another Disability Superpower he gains from the same condition is his capability of using headbutts to fight and/or slam a door shut. He can also use his head to help him push something, like a traffic light in Wintertime Business.
  • His hearing is sharper to counter his lost sense of smell and taste.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Justified. Brandon develops a fear towards guns because his parents were shot down when he was six. However, he gets over it through his desire to protect his loved ones.
• Eating Optional: Justified. Being a necrolyzer has completely stopped his digestive system from working. His taste buds aren't working either.
• The Eeyore: Generally pessimistic and depressive, and it gets worse when he's crabby. Although Brandon does smile pretty often, there's always a hint of sadness in his eye or face. Likely because he suffers way too much throughout the series, both the anime and the Fan Verse.
• Elite Zombie: A protagonist example, who is a mix-and-match between Brute and Zombie Person, minus the need to eat and drink. Huge and muscular with Super-Strength and Super-Toughness? Check. Capable of wielding two guns at once with Improbable Aiming Skills and Gangsta Style? Check. Capable of babysitting a little girl? Oh, check. He's also highly intuitive and good at piecing various facts to draw a conclusion, making him come across almost like a psychic.
• Fake Arm Disarm: His prosthetic leg breaks very frequently. Justified, because it isn't as strong as his body, and Brandon has the tendency to be a shield to his loved ones.
• Friend to All Children: Brandon is, surprisingly, very good with kids. Likely because he has spent a long time taking care of Mika.
• Gentle Giant
• Good Is Not Nice: Brandon's way of life. At one side, he sometimes looks like he's putting aside his family as he tries to accomplish his duty. But in the end, accomplishing that duty is actually for his family's sake.
• Good Parents: Brandon doesn't only care for Mika's well-being; he is also capable of educating Mika.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Capable of taking out necrolyzed dogs with his bare hand.
• Gun Fu: Highly capable of parrying melee attacks with his Hand Cannon.
• Gut Feeling: And it's creepily accurate, which creeps him out at times.
• Handicapped Badass: Missing an eye and An Arm and a Leg, but that never stops him from kicking ass. See the compilation of his awesome moments. He accomplishes them all with sheer determination.
• Honor Before Reason / The Fettered: His Fatal Flaw. Loyal to Millennion, extremely protective of his Loan Shark friends, and having a strong sense of justice (albeit a darker type), he will do anything to uphold that way of living, even if he has to abandon the humanity he still has thanks to Mika. Sadly, it often hurts him.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: He is the Huge Guy (obviously) when compared to Mika.
• I Can Still Fight!: Much to everyone's chagrin. Injure him as badly as you can; he'll just get back at you as long as you hurt his family.
• Implacable Man: A protagonist (sorta) example. If you happen to be on his hit list for not paying your debt to Millennion's Loan Shark, there's no stopping him from making you pay off your debt. He will break into your house and steal something. Door doesn't matter, because his Super-Strength enables him to smash his way through.
  • Vash tries to escape, but Brandon refuses to stop chasing him despite the seemingly impossible odds. It's partly because of their refusal to give up their way of living: Brandon's Undying Loyalty vs Vash's pacifism. The result is very messy.
  • Not So Invincible After All: Thanks to his Undying Loyalty. He'll submit if Mika's life is threatened or his superiors order him to stop.
• Immune to Bullets: Downplayed. As a necrolyzer, regular bullets don't hurt Brandon, but large caliber ones can affect him. Anti-Necrolyze rounds, however, are hazardous to him. Also, point-blank bullets to the head are hinted to be dangerous to him.
• Invincible Hero: Averted, mainly due to Author Appeal. Legendary Biologist is never a fan of Invincible Hero to begin with, so Brandon rarely gets away from a fight unscathed, unless his foes are humans (though exceptions do happen, such as in Crossfire, in which he's completely powerless as a Chimera goon holds Mika at gunpoint).
  • Brandon can even lose very badly and sustain a potentially permanent disability. Such as in The Hellhound of Billion, after being pounded to the ground by Charles, Brandon remains unable to use his sound leg and his prosthesis for the rest of the story. If he ever wants to move, he'll have to rely on his wheelchair. If there's no wheelchair around, he'll just crawl. Doesn't make him less badass.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Not a morally white one, but he's still a very heroic man. Mika lampshades this after hearing his story about his first meeting with Maria.
• Knight in Sour Armor: He actually dislikes killing, much like Vash, but because it's necessary to protect, he just has to do it.
• Knight Templar Parent: Somewhat.
• Mangst: Brandon won't whine about all the crap he has gone through, but it does make him crabby at times.
• Manly Tears: Brandon often sheds them. It may be Tender Tears at times, because Brandon is a sensitive man at heart.
• Mr. Fanservice: Oh yes! His Shirtless Scene in The Hellhound of Billion is illustrated. His scars never detract. At all.
• Momma's Boy: Seeing a male corpse with a gunshot wound on the floor brings up his past trauma. However, Brandon sees his mother's corpse there instead of his father's.
• Loan Shark: He becomes one starting from Loan Shark series. It's foreshadowed in Betray Me Not.
• Papa Wolf: Do. Not. Hurt. Mika.
• Parental Abandonment: His parents were shot down when he was six. This traumatizes him a lot, to the point he is terrified of guns when he grows up. He does get over it, though, because his desire to protect his loved ones is stronger.
• Parental Substitute: To Mika.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Easily kicks a door down when dealing with recalcitrant clients. And he destroys a lab easily. When battling an orgman, expect collateral damage as well.
• Principles Zealot: Never betray. This in turn, creates a Trauma Button in him.
• The Quiet One: Speaks very little. Sometimes there are chapters in which he doesn't even have a single line after all!
• Real Men Get Shot: Taking the Bullet is almost a daily routine for him. It's because his body is tough enough to deflect most of them, and it's necessary to protect his loved ones.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Yet he does a lot of household chores like cleaning the trailer and bringing dirty clothes to the laundry... And grocery shopping.
• Reluctant Monster: Because he is a necrolyzer, civilians naturally scorn him even without knowing his profession as a Loan Shark. However, Brandon is a brave, heroic, and mild-mannered undead at heart. He is still very violent and vicious, though, especially when provoked.
• Sincerity Mode: Whenever he talks.
• Smarter Than You Look: A little Book Dumb but being cautious and having plenty of experience at the streets, he's actually pretty intelligent.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Whenever Brandon gets crabby. When he can't emotionally handle things anymore, he'll shut himself off from the world or distance himself from anything that may be the last straw. It's usually shown by his complete silence and apathy towards everything.
• The Stoic: On the surface and to people other than Mika and Millennion guys, at least.
  • Not So Stoic: Brandon is a sensitive man at heart. He sheds tears pretty often and is actually very gentle, especially towards Mika. And if one ever reminds him of his betrayal, he'll take it personally.
• Street Smart: He grows up in the streets after all. Cautious and watchful with a fairly accurate Gut Feeling, Brandon is actually smarter than he looks.
  • In Feat, he knows to stay away from crowds and keep an eye on the surroundings when he's at the shopping district. Why? Pickpockets. Brandon used to be a street thug, so he is very knowledgeable about it.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Cold and stoic outside, but caring and gentle inside.
  • As said by Mika in The Beauty of Simplicity, Brandon is rather asocial and apathetic outside, but is actually very kind and gentle inside. To others, he is a grumpy bear, but he makes some exceptions (e.g. Biscoe). When he's angry, he will rarely roar, but he will maul someone like an angry bear. But to Mika, he is a cuddly teddy bear.
• Super-Strength: As a necrolyzer, he can kick down a door with ease, carry an LCD TV with an arm, snaps a walking stick in half, the list goes on...
  • In Halloween Night Fever, an ogre crushes Mika under its foot and kills her. He just knocks that hulking beast down with a punch.
• Super-Toughness: Bash him with a chair, whack him with a walking stick, ram him with a truck; he'll just shrug it off. Without a scratch. If he falls even, the floor will break.
  • Because Brandon's flesh is too tough, William has to use flesh softener solution whenever he needs to take care of Brandon with injections.
• Taking the Bullet: It's a routine.
• Trauma Button: Mentioning about his betrayal towards Millennion can invoke an emotional response from him. The response can be either a violent rage or a break down, depending on the one who mentions it.
• Tummy Cushion: Being really huge, he can let Mika sleep on his torso. Sometimes, Mika prefers Lap Pillow.
• Undead Laborers: Subverted. Biscoe and especially Norton do plan to use him as a laborer in Betray Me Not series, threatening to not provide him the medical care he needs to survive if he refuses. But as the series progresses, seeing that it's wrong to do so, they let him work as a regular Loan Shark.
• Undying Loyalty: Very faithful to the people he loves, and he is willing to sacrifice whatever he has for them. Sadly, this never makes his life easier, although he does garner much love from Mika and to a lesser extent, Biscoe.
• Unstoppable Rage: Push Brandon too far and prepare to be blasted to Swiss cheese or beaten to a bloody pulp. He can hardly control his temper, likely due to his status as a necrolyzer.
• Western Zodiac: Brandon's birthday is July 18, making him a Cancer. Undying Loyalty, Papa Wolf, Chronic Hero Syndrome, and Determinator are his most prominent traits. He is also highly capable of keeping his house clean, being a cuddly teddy bear for Mika, and shedding Manly Tears and even Tender Tears. He also dwells in past memories and have a lot of problems letting them go. And his Gut Feeling is almost always true.
  • To outsiders (especially to his clients when he's working), he is cold and tough. To his friends and family however, he is a caring guy, but may be rather cold and apathetic at times.
  • The Hellhound of Billion makes it even more obvious. He is crabby at times. He also prefers sidestepping from hazards when he can't emotionally handle things anymore. This crabby behavior of his is often compared to a crab hiding in its shell.
• Wife-Basher Basher: He's none too pleased when he sees the way Maria is being treated by some thugs. Cue No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.

Tropes in Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance

• Demoted to Extra: He is only mentioned throughout the story, although he does make a brief appearance in the end.
• Disney Death: It looks like he has died at first, but in the end, he turns out to be alive. As revealed in Betray Me Not, he is just trying to avoid contact with Mika because of his guilt.

Tropes in Betray Me Not

• Almighty Janitor: Brandon may be a convict whose 'human' rights tend to be disregarded by everybody in Millennion (except Mika), but he can take down Harry's splinter-faction. All while wearing a faulty Artificial Limb with the stump of his leg, which is still in stitches and bandages.
• Badass Pacifist / To Win Without Fighting: An interesting case. While Brandon has no qualms killing Harry's goons and fighting, throughout the story, he actually never actively confronts Biscoe and Norton to lighten his punishment or such, unlike Mika and William. This is how he finally earns Biscoe's and Norton's (implicit) apology and respect. Heck, this moves Biscoe to the point he tears up.
• Boom, Headshot!: Highly capable of this. Justified, since he was once a legendary sweeper.
• Childhood Friends: With Harry.
• Dented Iron: Having lost An Arm and a Leg in addition to a missing eye and dependence on transfusions, Brandon is very weak in this fanfic. However, when it's the time to kick ass, he can still do it.
• Disney Death: Chapter 1 makes it look like that this trope happens to Brandon, but later in chapter 2, Brandon actually never dies. He's just being silent and drifting out of his consciousness to prevent more sorrow.
• Fatal Flaw: His self-sacrificing nature.
• Feel No Pain: Brandon can't feel physical pain. Thanks to this, the skin breakdown he suffers in his mission to neutralize Harry's gang doesn't hinder him. But this is deconstructed as well, since without pain sensation, Brandon isn't aware of the fact that his residual leg is rotting until the doctor checks him.
• Good All Along / Turn the Other Cheek: Mika insists that Brandon is a good person, and it's actually true. In the end, no matter how terrible Millennion has been to him, Brandon actually lets Biscoe and Norton punish him harshly just to cause fear to their underlings. For him, fear ensures loyalty, and loyalty is required to protect Millennion.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Thanks to being a Principles Zealot.
  • Parallels the case of To Be Lawful or Good, the driving conflict of this work. Take a wild guess who is the only person who very much prefers being lawful.
• Limb-Sensation Fascination: Not fascination. After wearing his faulty artificial leg, Brandon grows a little nervous, realizing that his stitches are growing unstable and his prosthesis is shorter than his good leg.
• Martyr Without a Cause: Or rather, Inspirational Martyr. It's eventually revealed that Brandon willingly lets Biscoe and Norton mistreat him to cause fear to their underlings. This moves Biscoe and Norton.
• One-Man Army: Takes out all Harry's goons with ease. Until the last one, who is armed with a D-Point. In the end, he still wins. Made more awesome with the fact that he's wearing a defective artificial leg with the wound on his residual limb still in stitches.
• Pinball Protagonist: An interesting case. He contributes a lot to the plot without confronting the main conflict. Apparently, he resolves the story's conflict by simply going along with the flow.
• Principles Zealot: Brandon's personal code is to never betray anybody, as betrayal hurts someone for a lifetime. This unfortunately, hurts him deeply when he discovers that he has betrayed Millennion and Mika.
• Protected by a Child: A protagonist (sorta) example. It's his Protectorate Mika who protects him from Biscoe's and Norton's cruelty.
• Rage Breaking Point: If Harry's goon hasn't dubbed Brandon as a false friend or a traitor to Harry, he may not have died that terribly.
• Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: Long-ranged regular bullets to the face are nothing, but point-blank bullets to the head... This is the reason why Brandon decides not to charge at Harry's last goon.
• Stepford Smiler: He can't hide his heartache from Mika with his smile.
  • Mika's wish is actually to see Brandon genuinely happy, because he is always a little sad even when he smiles. Her wish comes true in the end.
• Supernatural Gold Eye: In his CV, his photograph shows that he has a pair of brown eyes instead of one gold eye when he's alive.
• True Companions: His devotion to Harry is sure to make Harry proud, as stated by Mika.
• When He Smiles
• White Hair, Black Heart: Subverted. Brandon has white hair as a necrolyzer, and while his morality isn't completely white, he is actually a decent man who won't hesitate to give his all when the situation calls for it.
• You Can Barely Stand: Literally. When Brandon fights Harry's goons, the wound on his amputated leg is actually still in stitches and bandages (ain't talking about his missing arm, which, as Biscoe has said, plays a very small role in his combat ability). Because he's forced to wear a defective artificial leg before the wound heals, he can't walk properly. By the time he reaches the goons, the stitches are likely to have snapped, and his restricted movement causes him to topple. Thanks to his high pain tolerance as a necrolyzer, he only feels mild irritation instead of pain.
  • Actually, if Brandon hadn't lost an arm, he should've been able to get up more easily.

Tropes in Worth

• Achilles' Heel: His artificial leg isn't as strong as the rest of his body.
  • Attack Its Weak Point: William easily knocks him down by kicking his artificial leg.
• Almighty Janitor: Once again, Brandon may be scorned in Millennion, but he is highly capable of protecting Biscoe.
• Driven to Suicide: Because he thinks that Disabled Means Helpless. Thankfully, William refuses to kill him despite Brandon's persistence.
• Finger Gun: Made this gesture when he asks William to kill him.
• Good Is Not Nice: Can be thoughtless and very aggressive at times, even to his loved ones.
• It's Personal: William tries to comfort Brandon by saying that he's sick, so he has the reason to cause some troubles and be unable to help Mika and Millennion. But Brandon doesn't care, although he clearly knows (and it's obvious) that Mika won't be upset at him. He isn't comfortable with taking more than he can give.
• Martyr Without a Cause: He won't hesitate to sacrifice himself if his sacrifice can help his loved ones.

Tropes in Guardian of a Lifetime

• Broken Tears: In The Hellhound of Billion, he sheds them after Charles' No-Holds-Barred Beatdown and Cruel Mercy to him leaves him totally helpless.
• Hand Cannon: Cerberus. It comes in a pair. However, because he has lost an arm, Brandon no longer wields both of them simultaneously.
• Guns Akimbo: In The Hellhound of Billion, there's a flashback featuring Brandon destroying Millennion's research facility. It takes place during episode 24 of the anime, before Brandon loses his left arm. He wields his pair of Cerberus handguns and fires them simultaneously, wreaking havoc.
• I Can Still Fight!: In Brave Heart, avulsion on the forearm doesn't stop him from firing his Cerberus.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Destroyed an orgman's Finger Firearms by firing at the muzzles.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Suffers bruises, bleeding grazes, and avulsion (skin tearing off and becoming a flap), but he doesn't whine. Justified, as he is a necrolyzer and can barely feel pain.
  • In The Hellhound of Billion, it's revealed that his pain perception is impaired due to being a necrolyzer. Despite suffering lots of lacerations on his forearm, he only feels the pain as mild irritation.
• Man Bites Man: Uses this against a necrolyzed dog. On the head. He takes a bite outta its brains indeed. He later uses this on Charles.
• Sense Loss Sadness: Briefly mentioned in chapter 9. Brandon loves Maria's pies, but due to his dead sense of taste, he can't savor them anymore. This leads to him thinking that smuggling some pies into his stomach is not worth it.
• You Can Barely Stand: In Brave Heart, literally. He is actually sitting on the ground as he fights, because he has lost his artificial leg when fighting the orgman.
  • In The Hellhound of Billion, Brandon has had his legs disabled. Then, when he fights Gilbert, he is quickly knocked out of his wheelchair. He fights back without standing up even once.

Tropes in Others

• A God I Am Not: In The Beauty of Simplicity, his title P.A.P.A.B.R.A.N.D.O.N. lists all his positive traits (partly thanks to Mika's naivete) and implies him as a perfect person. Brandon is aware of that and tells Mika that he isn't perfect. Also, he suggests her to replace 'affectionate' with 'aggressive' as he reminds Mika of the moment he breaks someone's arm and nose.
• Book Dumb: Downplayed. In Retribution, it's said that Brandon knows nothing about geometry (and Mika's homework baffles him), but he knows social arithmetic. Justified, because he is a Loan Shark and often counts interest rate and money. However, Brandon is still smart enough to draw in clients for Millennion moneylender business.
  • In Wintertime Business, Brandon is actually a smart Loan Shark. He can trick Vash into borrowing money from him by saying that Vash has no identity card, which will disable him from borrowing money out there.
• The Comically Serious: In Feat and Wintertime Business.
• Determinator: All the time, but especially in Feat. He is still amateur-ish in using his prosthesis and in his physical rehabilitation process, but he manages to reach the laundry by foot. Without falling. Without giving up. All by himself.
• Exposed to the Elements: Downplayed in Wintertime Business. He wears only a standard outfit consisting of a t-shirt and pants, but he wanders around with no problem. Justified, because he is a corpse (and the Ötzi reference makes it even more obvious). Vash frequently lampshades this.
• Expy: Played for laughs in Wintertime Business. In actuality, Brandon's character design looks like Legato Bluesummers, and he surprises Vash with this.
• Fake Arm Disarm: While it doesn't happen, as mentioned in Feat, Brandon is aware of his prosthesis' strength. It's much weaker than his body (justified, since Brandon is a monstrously durable necrolyzer), which is why if he happens to fall down a flight of stairs, the prosthesis will break along with the stairs.
  • In Wintertime Business, he breaks his artificial leg when he chases Vash because the prosthesis can't take so much stress from rolling down a slope.
• Genius Bruiser: Downplayed. Brandon is rather Book Dumb (can't comprehend what thanatology is all about and doesn't know anything about geometry), but he is good at social arithmetic, as portrayed in A Loan Shark's Tale and Wintertime Business and mentioned in Retribution. As he works, he can estimate how much an LCD TV and a radio worth. He'll then use his estimation to count how much debts are still unpaid in case the objects don't worth as much as the clients' debts. He is also pretty good at combat strategies. Fighting? He is a gigantic zombie with Super-Strength and Super-Toughness. One arm doesn't matter. His artificial leg doesn't give him any sort of superpower and is weaker than his body, but that's no big deal.
• Heroic Resolve: In Phantom Limb, Brandon manages to keep his phantom sensation at bay by prioritizing Mika's well-being over all else.
• It's All My Fault: Brandon blames himself for frightening Mika at night due to succumbing to the phantom sensations of his lost arm in Phantom Limb.
• It's Personal: In Phantom Limb, Brandon's trouble with the phantom sensation that keeps disturbing him after he loses his arm. He believes that he should face this ailment by himself.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: This is how he demands information about the riot that killed his fellow Loan Shark in Retribution. He starts with a Neck Lift, and when Steve, one of the rioters, responds with the typical denial of a rioter (an 'I don't know'), he slams him against the wall. When Steve refuses to speak, Brandon slams Steve's head against the wall and tightens his grip on Steve's neck. Steve finally tells him about Leonard, the leader of the riot, and Brandon thanks him and leaves. Throughout the interrogation, Steve is stammering and sweating all over, and he lets out a sigh of relief when Brandon leaves.
• The Juggernaut: In A Loan Shark's Tale, the old man who tries to stop him with Cane Fu ends up being shoved aside after having all his whacks shrugged off without breaking a sweat. In addition, he snatches the cane and snaps it in half.
  • Never mind mailboxes and trash cans blocking his path thanks to Vash's meddling in Wintertime Business. If it's his sound foot that hits the obstacles, they'll instantly break. If it's his synthetic foot that hits the obstacles, he'll trip over and fall...and crush them under his weight soon.
• Living Emotional Crutch: To Mika, likely because of his status as Mika's Parental Substitute.
• Men Can't Keep House: Averted. The aversion is justified, since if the environment isn't clean, it can accelerate the microbial growth on his body and cause decomposition. Highlighted in Feat.
• My God, What Have I Done?: The conclusion of Retribution. Brandon simply shoots Leonard dead out of vengeance. Then, he sees the distraught little girl and the dead Leonard as a crying Mika hugging Brandon's motionless corpse. This causes him to drop the gun and walk away whilst crying silently and cursing himself.
• Neat Freak: Downplayed. Brandon isn't ridiculously obsessed with cleanliness, but he always keeps the trailer and himself clean from time to time. Justified, because dirty environment can harm his body by accelerating microbial growth.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: See Papa Wolf. Considering that Brandon is walking with a cane and an Artificial Limb... Handicapped Badass! It also hints Cane Fu, since Brandon has only one hand and is holding his cane with it.
• Parental Substitute: To Mika. Highlighted in The Beauty of Simplicity, in which whenever Brandon wraps Mika with his coat, Mika can remember the way her mother holds her when she's a baby.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Along with Vash in Wintertime Business. Their pursuit makes the town very messy.
• Rolling Attack / Necrolyzer Snowball: Uses this to catch Vash in Wintertime Business. He breaks his prosthesis though.
• Snow Means Death: Played straight considering that he is a zombie. Cold weather energizes him because microbes can't infest his dead flesh.
• Stealth Insult: In Wintertime Business, when he attempts to shoot Vash, he misses and keeps shooting. Vash tries to stop him by telling him to think of the birds...only to have Brandon tell him to take the bullets for them instead.
• Super Window Jump: Through an open window in Wintertime Business.
• Tender Tears: In Retribution, after killing Leonard, Brandon cries mainly because of his sympathy towards the girl he has turned into an orphan by killing her father out of his sense of justice.
• Tragic Hero: In Retribution, Brandon is so ticked off that he disregards Arnold's suggestion of leaving the case of a lynched Loan Shark to the sweepers and decides to find and kill the leader of the riot by himself. Why? His modus operandi as a Millennion Loan Shark is based on his own sense of justice. His clients can't pay up? He will break into their houses and steal something of an equal value to the debts. His clients fight back? He will inflict them non-fatal injuries. In the aforementioned story, the main issue is a former client of his leads a riot that kills his Loan Shark friend. Seeing it as unfair, Brandon thinks that killing the leader is the only option to bring justice to his dead friend and Millennion. He does, but then, Leonard has a daughter. Brandon can't bring himself to go against his sense of justice, which results in him murdering Leonard in front of Leonard's daughter. And then, he witnesses Leonard's daughter bawling her eyes out at her dead daddy, which breaks him. He gets better thanks to Mika, who reminds him that he does all that for Mika and Millennion, his family.
• Tranquil Fury: See Sugar-and-Ice Personality.
  • This trope is notable in Retribution, which is chilling. Brandon calmly walks along the alleyway to the block of houses where his former clients live. At the same time, critters migrate out of the alley. There, he randomly visits a house based on the ones listed on his notes. If his former client is rebellious and refuses to tell him about the leader of the riot, he'll enter the house by smashing his way through and threaten the client with violence until the client yields and speaks.
• Unstoppable Rage: May overlap with Tranquil Fury. This is actually his Fatal Flaw, as Brandon is prone to quiet (but this is sometimes forgotten), yet violent outbursts that usually wreak havoc and hurt him emotionally in the end.
• Wheelchair Antics: Despite having just one arm, he is pretty good at using a wheelchair (said wheelchair is specifically designed for one-hand control). He can quickly alternate between spinning the wheel and steering the lever.
• Workaholic: Portrayed as one in A Loan Shark's Tale, in which he still insists on working on winter holidays. See Martyr Without a Cause for his reason.

Mika Asagi

"I'm sure that you won't betray me again. I know it, because you're good."

Mika is a naive girl who happens to be the posthumous child of Millennion's founder, Big Daddy. When she found Brandon, she thought that Brandon had died, and she tried to console herself by telling herself that Brandon finally found his peace. However, it turned out that Brandon was alive. She requested Biscoe to save him, and Biscoe agreed, but it then turned out that Brandon had betrayed Millennion (including Mika herself) and had to be punished. Throughout the story, Mika watches how badly Brandon is treated in Millennion and steadfastly stays by his side to provide him comfort, encouragement, and happiness. Initially, Mika uses her authority in Millennion to protect Brandon, but Brandon tells her not to do it, because she may come across as disrespectful towards Biscoe and Norton, the people who have saved Brandon for her.

Mika makes no appearance in the sequel one-shot Worth, but she is briefly mentioned and implied to have returned to her life as a student and living together with Brandon.

Tropes in General

• Adorably Precocious Child: Young and naive, but she often acts like she's all grown up, especially when taking care of Brandon. This includes reminding him to retire his prosthetic leg, attaching a fresh mag to the Cerberus, stitching his torn pants, etc.
• All-Loving Heroine: Cares a lot for other people. It extends to someone she just knows.
• Brains and Brawn: The Brains as opposed to Brandon's Brawn. She is a young and clever Non-Action Girl.
• Character Development: Very subtle. The events near the end of the anime and during Betray Me Not make her more courageous and bring out her Mama Bear nature. Instead of simply whining when Brandon is in a trouble like in the anime, she'll do whatever it takes to help him. This includes standing up against two old men who are mob bosses. The reason? Brandon has almost died once, and Mika is very afraid of losing him for real.
• Cheerful Child
• Children Are Innocent: All Mika's actions are driven by her love to Brandon, which is why there are times her decisions aren't always the best.
• Daddy's Girl: Considering Brandon is the one who is way closer to her since Maria's death...
• Handy Helper: Brandon may be highly independent despite his disability in the Fan Verse, but Mika often does her best to help him accomplish something. It's implied in The Hellhound of Billion that Mika has always been a substitute for Brandon's lost left hand throughout the series. When doing grocery shopping, Brandon holds the basket, while Mika loads it with goods. At the cashier, when Brandon tries to pay, she snatches the wallet and pays for the goods instead, knowing that Brandon will have difficulty doing that with just a hand.
  • Actually, throughout The Hellhound of Billion. She bandages Brandon's arm for him, because being one-armed prevents him from doing so.
  • Sort of happens in Brave Heart. She attaches the Cerberus mag for Brandon as an attempt to encourage him, but at the same time, Brandon is having trouble attaching the mag due to having just one arm...
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: She is the Tiny Girl (obviously) when compared to Brandon.
• Living Emotional Crutch: To Brandon.
• Mama Bear: Inverted. Mika is a child, but she won't hesitate to scold Biscoe and Norton when they're being unpleasant to Brandon. When Brandon is in difficult circumstances, she's always ready to help him. Justified because she is a kid who has gone through Parental Abandonment (father murdered before she was born; mother was shot down in front of her), which makes her very afraid of losing her Parental Substitute.
• Morality Pet: To Brandon. She brings out Brandon's good side and gives him the push to do physical activities while still learning to use his artificial leg.
  • In A Loan Shark's Tale, because of an accident that seemingly harms her, Brandon decides to leave his work just to check if she's safe.
  • Especially symbolic in Retribution. Mika is what that keeps Brandon's good side strong, as hinted by Brandon's hesitation as he sees his target's daughter changing into her. It's more like his good side trying to convince him not to do horrible things like causing a Parental Abandonment to a little girl.
    • By the end, it's Mika who manages to indirectly make Brandon forget about murdering Leonard.
• Nice Girl: She's a naive and overall kind-hearted kid.
• Non-Action Girl
• Parental Abandonment: Her father was murdered before she was born, and her mother committed a Heroic Sacrifice to enable her to reach Brandon, who becomes her Parental Substitute. She almost loses Brandon in this work.
• Royal Blood: Mika is the rightful heir of Millennion, which is why she has some authority in the organization. She'll take advantage of it if it's necessary to help Brandon.
• Royal Brat: Subverted. Mika may be rather bratty towards Biscoe and Norton and even the Millennion agents, but this is all to help Brandon. Brandon lectures her to not act like that though, because without Millennion's help, Mika can't save Brandon and provide him the life support he needs.
• Undying Loyalty: More like love, but Mika always steadfastly stays by Brandon's side. It's reciprocated, fortunately.
• Unstoppable Rage: Well, yep. Hurting Brandon in front of her can give her enough strength to lift Cerberus and fire it at you.

Tropes in Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance

• Break the Cutie: Before Biscoe has a change of heart, at least. She is about to lose her beloved Parental Substitute. And she begs Biscoe to save Brandon all while crying and screaming, only to be shoved away by Biscoe.
• Determinator: Will stop at nothing to save Brandon. Not even Millennion guardsmen can stop her.
• Man Bites Man: She bites a Millennion guardsman. It's her desperate attempt to go out of Millennion Tower and reach Brandon in the slum.
• Stepford Smiler: In the end, when Brandon is presumably dead.

Tropes in Betray Me Not

• Beneath the Mask: Mika eventually blurts out that she is just hiding her grief by assuming that Brandon is at peace when she finds a seemingly dead Brandon.
  • Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance makes this more obvious. Biscoe easily sees that Mika, despite smiling and trying to convince him that losing Brandon is nothing, is actually very sad after finding out that Brandon is dead.
• Determinator: She won't stop until Brandon finds his happiness. Whenever Brandon is in a trouble, she always tries her best to help him.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Mika is very much like Maria: gentle, caring, and headstrong.
  • The Continuity Nod to episode 20 makes it even more evident.
• Must Make Him Laugh: Or smile a real happy smile. Mika is highly aware of Brandon's sorrow, and all she wants is just to make him genuinely happy.
  • Mika succeeds in the ending. By making Brandon realize that he is always Harry's best friend, he is finally able to smile a real smile.
• My Parents Are Dead: Mika tells Brandon this when she reveals the truth behind her thought of Brandon finally finding his peace.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Gender-inverted and averted. Her care towards Brandon isn't so that Brandon will be proud of her; instead, she just wants to make him less depressed.
• Zombie Advocate: She struggles to protect Brandon, a zombie, from being oppressed by Biscoe and Norton.

Tropes in Guardian of a Lifetime

• Cowardly Lion: As Brandon has said, Mika is actually a brave girl inside. It shows whenever Brandon is in danger, both in this and the previous series.
• Heroic Resolve: In Brave Heart, Mika first wants to hide from the stray orgman. However, after the situation proves that running away will only get Brandon killed, she decides to fight back by encouraging Brandon.

Tropes in Others

• Expy: Played for laughs in Wintertime Business. In actuality, Mika's character design looks like Meryl Strife, and she draws Vash's attention with this.

Biscoe

"I'm not just a mob boss; I'm also a man."

Biscoe is the current leader of Millennion. At Mika's request, he agreed to help Brandon and provide him the treatment he needed, but he wasn't very happy about it. It turned out that Brandon had betrayed Millennion, and going by Big Daddy's Code of Iron, Brandon was supposed to be executed. However, to avoid disrespecting Mika, he and Norton decided to spare Brandon. This didn't stop them from being nasty towards Brandon.

Tropes in General

• Ascended Extra: Appears only a few times in the anime, but here, Biscoe is one of the main characters. He plays a major role in Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance.
• Benevolent Boss: Cares for Mika and Brandon, and his kindness shows throughout the series through his doubt in punishing Brandon harshly (early) and his benevolence towards both Brandon and Mika (later).
• Good Is Not Nice: He cares for Brandon, but he shows no qualms slapping Brandon and snapping at him for his misconduct.
• Mean Boss: The exterior he wears in Millennion, though initially, he appears to be one. He is not exactly nice when dealing with rule breakers.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Mean Boss outside, Benevolent Boss inside.

Tropes in Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance

• My God, What Have I Done?: At first, he doesn't want to save Brandon for Mika because Brandon is a traitor to the organization. But after seeing Mika biting his guardsman in a desperate attempt to reach Brandon at the slum and save him, he decides to help her. Unfortunately, it's too late. By the time they arrive, Brandon is dead, and Biscoe blames himself for that. However, Brandon turns out to be actually alive, much to his relief and joy.
• Tears of Remorse: When he finds out that Brandon is dead, he tries to hold back his tears. He plays a part in Brandon's death; if he hasn't been trying to uphold the Code of Iron, he must've got there sooner and saved Brandon. Brandon survives, though.

Tropes in Betray Me Not

• Beneath the Mask: After Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance is uploaded, it becomes clear that Biscoe only tries to act tough to Brandon. It's to keep his publicity to his underlings. Deep down, Biscoe actually cares for Brandon, which is why he thaws out very fast.
• Heel Realization: Downplayed. Thanks to Brandon's Papa Wolf attitude towards Mika, Biscoe slowly comes into realization that his way of treating Brandon isn't right. He is especially moved when Brandon stops Mika from scolding him and Norton. He seems to grow fond of Brandon after Mika tells him that Brandon teaches her to respect him and Norton.
  • When he realizes how terrible he has been, he tears up and implicitly apologizes to Brandon while giving him some encouragement and kind words.
• Manly Tears: Him crying as he speaks some kind words to Brandon thanks to Heel Realization completely redeems him.
• Pet the Dog: Biscoe starts showing genuine care to Brandon after Heel Realization and learning Brandon's gentleness and capability of being a good parent to Mika.
• Taking Advantage of Generosity: Despite being a mob boss, Biscoe averts this. He knows that Brandon is willing to give his all to protect Millennion even when it's unnecessary, but instead of using it to his advantage, Biscoe gently tells Brandon not to forget about himself before helping others.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Progressively behaves more reasonably towards Brandon throughout the story.

Tropes in Worth

• Pet the Dog: If Brandon misbehaves, Biscoe won't hesitate to scold him and even slap him. He even tells Brian that. However, Biscoe genuinely cares for Brandon and is actually aghast by the fact that Brandon begs William to kill him (Brandon).
• Taking Advantage of Generosity: Averted again. He is even afraid that once Brandon recovers, he'll repay Millennion much more than it's supposed to be.
• Took a Level in Kindness: See Good Is Not Nice.

Tropes in Others

• Took a Level in Kindness: In The Beauty of Simplicity, it's mentioned that Biscoe gives Mika and Brandon her daughter's comics. Considering how much he has changed since Betray Me Not...

Norton

"Why should we be nice to him? Betrayal is a serious offense in Millennion, remember? Letting a traitor live and paying his medical expense are already very kind of us."

Norton is Biscoe's second-in-command. Norton mostly listens to Biscoe's decisions and sometimes helps Biscoe make the right decision.

Norton makes no appearance in Worth, but he is mentioned to still be an unpleasant man.

Tropes in General

• Ascended Extra: Barely has screen time in the anime (even less than Biscoe), but here, he plays a major role.
• Child Hater: Downplayed. Norton is just that insensitive to kids.
• The Cynic: Goes without saying. He always views Brandon's kindness/sentience as an act to draw their sympathy, which isn't correct after all.
  • In The Beauty of Simplicity, he spends most of his time complaining about the facilities in Dr. Tokioka's trailer when he visits the trailer. Before even Mika explains something, he has deemed something as terrible, such as the bench Mika sleeps on (which he believes to be able to make Mika catch a cold easily) and Brandon's jacket (which he considers to be a stinky blanket).
• Deadpan Snarker: Very calm, yet sharp and direct whenever he makes a point.
• Grumpy Old Man: When does he ever smile and stop complaining...
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Cares a great deal about Mika, although it always rubs her the wrong way due to his frequent negligence of Brandon.
• Lack of Empathy: Never gives a damn about the dire consequences of his harsh acts towards Brandon. This includes suggesting Biscoe to punish Brandon by shooting him with Anti-Necrolyze bullets (which Biscoe refuses because said act is more like flogging and animal), hits Brandon's gunshot wounds to wake him up (caused by anti-necrolyze bullets, which hurt Brandon a great deal even at the slightest touch), etc.
• Mean Boss: Very strict and harsh, although it's due to him being more of a by-the-book person.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Norton doesn't always like Biscoe's decision, which is generally more focused on others' well-being. However, because he is just Biscoe's second-in-command, he complies.
• Number Two: Biscoe's second-in-command.

Tropes in Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance

• Jerkass Has a Point: Although his idea of punishing Brandon is brutal (and he even suggests Biscoe to simply let the Millennion agents kill Brandon), he actually just wants Biscoe to preserve his honor as Millennion's boss.

Tropes in Betray Me Not

• Heel Realization: Less obvious than Biscoe, but still shows some hints of it.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Norton refuses to listen to William because William doesn't witness Brandon's crime, which hurts the organization's agents and economy.

Doctor William Rutherford

"I know, but he is my patient. Even if he's a convict, it's still my duty to prevent him from further disability."

William is a good-natured doctor who becomes Brandon's caretaker. At first, he didn't care about Brandon, as he believed that necrolyzers weren't sentient beings. After realizing his mistake, however, he decided to defend Brandon the best he could, as he viewed protecting Brandon, his patient, from further physical and mental damage was his duty as a doctor.

Tropes in General

• Ascended Extra / Chekhov's Gunman: He is the nameless scientist (now given a name) who talks to Biscoe about anti-necrolyze bullet in the anime. He becomes Brandon's caretaker.
  • This is revealed in Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance. Biscoe recalls that he learns about anti-necrolyze bullets (in episode 25 of the anime) from him.
• The Caretaker: William is one for Brandon.
• Dr. Jerk: Downplayed, and heavier on the Nice Guy side. While William is usually gentle towards Brandon and Mika, he still acts according to his logic and what he knows. He has no qualms pointing out what isn't right and may be rather blunt when making a point.
• The Fettered / Honor Before Reason: Being a doctor with fairly high moral standards, William is one.
  • Primum non nocere. He isn't going to kill Brandon even if he has Brandon's consent and he begs for it.
• Nice Guy: He is always friendly towards Brandon and Mika.
• Tragic Hero: In Twisted Death. William is a loving man to his family, but he's devastated by Bernard's death. Due to his love, he necrolyzes Bernard illicitly. Unfortunately, everything goes wrong due to Creating Life Is Bad: Bernard goes on a rampage and specifically aims to make his life a living hell. Bernard succeeds in turning him into a necrolyzer.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Not very nice to Brandon at the beginning of Betray Me Not, but he quickly changes his mind after realizing Brandon's sentience and sensitivity.

Tropes in Betray Me Not

• Honor Before Reason: His reason of defending Brandon is because he's a doctor. Unfortunately, this causes him to quarrel with Biscoe and especially Norton to the point he is threatened by them. In the end, he is one of the few important people who cause Biscoe and Norton to correct their way of treating Brandon.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Hates the way Biscoe and Norton treat Brandon and frequently gets into an argument with them, but he listens to them anyway. It's because he is threatened.
• Rage Breaking Point: After witnessing the aftereffects of Biscoe's and Norton's Cold-Blooded Torture towards Brandon, William finally snaps and calls them inhuman.
• Suddenly Shouting: This is what probably happens when he calls Biscoe, in which Biscoe questions his status as a doctor and demands him to speak politely in the phone.

Tropes in Worth

• Big Brother Instinct: He defends Brandon when he sees it fit. He even snaps at Brian when he first makes fun of Brandon, and later, he clears the misunderstanding between Biscoe and Brandon caused by the faulty report from the surveillance room.
• Finger Wag: Makes this gesture (in a good way) when he tells Brandon to believe that Mika will never view him as a nuisance.

Tropes in Guardian of a Lifetime

• Ascended Extra: Seems to have even more roles in The Hellhound of Billion.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: He's just a doctor, yet he successfully repel a necrolyzed dog by pouring some flesh softener solution into its eyes. Said dog managed to injure Brandon, the series biggest badass.

Recurring Characters

Arnold

"Her holiday won't be fun, you know? Imagine a girl staying by herself in an old trailer... Well, there are Millennion guardsmen around, but they aren't like you. None of them makes a good daddy. If something happens, none of them can comfort Miss Mika as well as you do."

Appears in A Loan Shark's Tale and Wintertime Business (though he'll probably appear in upcoming fics, considering that he is Brandon's driver). Arnold works as Brandon's personal driver.

• Badass Driver: Swerves several times and avoids two car crashes as he drives Brandon home.
• Early-Bird Cameo: In Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance, Biscoe phones him to drive the trailer to Desolation Alley at West District.
• Genre Savvy: He is actually very knowledgeable about the local folklore that talks about Vash's origins.
• Good Is Not Nice: While he is kind towards Brandon, he has no qualms holding an old man at gunpoint. However, he doesn't seem to have the intention to shoot the old man.
• Jerkass: Generally loud and mean towards those from outside Millennion. He doesn't even bother to soften his tone as he tells Sara about her son's crime in The Hellhound of Billion.
• Killed Off for Real: Killed as his and Brandon's van is sent crashing against a street lamp in The Hellhound of Billion.
• Sidekick: For Brandon. He's his driver and assists him in various tasks.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Brandon and Mika.

Vash the Stampede

"Think of the birds!"

A character from Trigun who traveled through a wormhole to Billion. Appears in Wintertime Business and Crossfire. Vash is a legendary gunslinger with the capability to destroy a town in a few seconds, but he hides his dangerous side by being funny and helping people.

• All-Loving Hero: Whether you're his foes or allies, he'll make sure that nobody's killed. And he absolutely refuses to kill anybody.
  • In Wintertime Business, although he's Brandon's prey after being unable to pay his debt, when Brandon jumps off the window of his office for a shortcut, he comes to check him.
    • And when everything is all over, although Brandon's superiors give him money to help him adapt with the weather, he decides to give it to Brandon so that he can fix his broken artificial leg. He ends up befriending Brandon this way.
  • There's a possible deconstruction in Crossfire. Jeff threatens to kill the innocents, which forces Vash to join Chimera.
• Badass Pacifist: And Vash doesn't even fight back! He wrecks Brandon's prosthesis without laying a single finger on him.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: He even helps Brandon despite being his prey.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Looks like a clumsy coward outside, but he's actually very badass. Lampshaded by Mika and Arnold near the end of Wintertime Business, who say that Vash is actually a dangerous man and is just being funny and helpful to hide that side.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He watches how the SEED ship explodes with Rem in it. Then, there's the July Incident. Those memories often surface when he's alone.
• Dodge the Bullet: Atop a traffic light.
• Hypocritical Humor: When Brandon pushes down the traffic light he's standing on, he calls Brandon a vandal. Before that, he has just knocked down the trash cans and mailboxes on the pavement that ended up being smashed by Brandon. Those things wouldn't have broken if Vash hadn't knocked them down, as Brandon's Super-Strength enables him to literally bulldoze the pavement.
• The Klutz: Even worse due to the cold weather. Though it's mostly part of his Obfuscating Stupidity.
• Naïve Newcomer: The reason why he easily becomes Brandon's prey.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Uses this to hide his dangerous side.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Along with Brandon. Their pursuit makes the town very messy. Also, according to the local folklore, he is known to be able to destroy a town in a minute, just like in the canon.
• Super-Speed: He dodges everything with minimal effort. In Crossfire, he's so fast that he can steal all the guns from six gangsters before they can do a thing. And to top it all off, the Chimera agents are left confused for a moment.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Don't ever leave your doughnuts unguarded.
• Walking Disaster Area: This is inevitable as he is Brandon's target. It's so bad that Millennion orders Brandon to stop chasing him just to avoid more damage to the city.

Albert Surge

"You know, you can't possibly get an armored truck to be your barbell."

First appears in Of Debt Bondage and Determination, Albert is a playful, yet intelligent man of Millennion. He replaces Arnold as Brandon's personal driver.

• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Playful and sometimes looks like he's got a loose screw in his head, but he's a highly competent driver and sidekick to Brandon.

• Mama Bear: Mothers Brandon a lot, much to Brandon's chagrin.
• Nature Lover: Loves camping a lot, which is why he's so in tune with the nature that he can tell when it'll be raining.
• Plucky Comic Relief: He has his own antics. What makes his appearance often hilarious is that he never intends to be funny, but ends up being funny.
• Sidekick: For Brandon. He's his driver and assists him in various tasks.
• Undying Loyalty: Will always stay by Brandon's and Mika's side no matter what.

Necrolyzation Project Species

Necrolyzers

Necrolyzers are the initial products of necrolyzation, created by Dr. Tokioka. They are literally reanimated corpses, except that they have enhanced strength and toughness.

Tropes in General

• Elite Zombie: They are a hybrid of Brutes, Regenerators, and Zombie Person.
• Eating Optional: Necrolyzers don't eat.
• Immune to Bullets: Unless they are super large caliber bullets or anti-necrolyze rounds.
• Living on Borrowed Time: Unless necrolyzers are sustained with blood, they can only live up to three days.
• Scary Teeth
• Super Serum: The necrolyzation serum is what that creates necrolyzers. The resulting necrolyzers depend on how the serum is administered.
• Super-Strength: Can easily knock a street lamp down and dent the ground with their fists.
• Super-Toughness: Their bodies deflect (and can even break) most objects thrown at them.

Standard Necrolyzers

• Disease Bleach: They lose their hair pigment upon transformation.
• Elite Zombie: More emphasis on Zombie Person.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes
• Super Serum: Standard necrolyzers are created through IV serum.

Green-skinned Giants

• Ax-Crazy: They have less self-control when compared to the standard necrolyzers.
• Emerald Power: They are big and mean green-skinned giants.
• Elite Zombie: More emphasis on Brutes.
• Super Serum: Green-skinned giants are created through ingesting necrolyzation serum.

Orgmen

Orgmen are the later products of necrolyzation, created by Dr. Laguna Glock. They are mutated corpse, as their bodies are seemingly made of crystalline and possess silver skin.

Tropes in General

• Bald of Evil: All orgmen are bald asskickers. There is hardly a heroic orgman, too.
• Elite Zombie: All of them are Enhanced Zombies, with each species having another trait added.
• Eating Optional: Orgmen don't eat.
• Immune to Bullets: Unless they are super large caliber bullets or anti-necrolyze rounds.
• Literally Shattered Lives: This is how orgmen die. They don't bleed either.
• Living on Borrowed Time: Unless orgmen are sustained with blood, they can only live up to three days.
• Red Right Hand: All of them have tiny bat wings at their left shoulder.

• Super Serum: It's involved in the creation of orgmen.
• Super-Strength: All orgmen are much stronger than regular humans, but ogre subspecies takes this up a notch.
• Super-Toughness: Their bodies deflect (and can even break) most objects thrown at them. The ogre subspecies is even tougher than necrolyzers.

Scouts

• Elite Zombie: They are the fragile Ferals/Hunters/Stalkers who are good at scouting and swarming their enemies.
• Extendable Arms: They can deliver long-range punches with them.
• Fragile Speedster: Very fast, but is the weakest of all orgman subspecies.

Black Suits

• Badass in a Nice Suit: Always dressed in a black suit like a typical gangster.

• Elite Zombie: The Horde Master. Black suits are the cleverest of all orgman subspecies and can also wield guns.
• The Glasses Come Off / Red Eyes, Take Warning: This is when black suits are going to transform into ogres.
• Hulking Out: This is how they turn into ogres.
• Pec Flex: They do this as they transform into ogres.

Death Scythes

• Blade Below the Shoulder: It's a scythe blade attached to their right arm. They can extend it, too.
• Elite Zombie: They are the fragile Ferals/Hunters/Stalkers, but much more dangerous than the scouts due to their Blade Below the Shoulder.
• Glass Cannon: Fast and deadly with their scythe arms, but they are just as fragile as the scouts.

Ogres

• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Ogres have primitive attack pattern, which consists of simple punches, kicks, swats and stomps.
• Elite Zombie: The big, slow, but very powerful Brutes.
• Finger Firearms: Their fingers can transform into cannons that fire superheated plasma projectiles.
• Mighty Glacier: Slow, but very strong and tough.

Oneshot Characters

Brian

"He was pardoned too easily, so I believe he still needs some lessons."

Only appears in Worth. Brian is one of Biscoe's Millennion agents who don't agree with Biscoe's act of sparing Brandon.

• Freudian Excuse: He constantly pesters Brandon just because he doesn't like that Brandon isn't executed for betraying Millennion.
• Jerkass: With no redeeming qualities. He'll make fun of Brandon whenever he wants to. Not even Biscoe can stop him.

Sara Goh

"No! My son is never a murderer!"

Only appears in The Hellhound of Billion. A kind-hearted old lady, Sara is Charles' mother. Before meeting Brandon as he goes to hunt Charles down, she only knows that Charles hasn't come home since the hellhounds appear in the town.

• Driven to Suicide / Face Death with Dignity: Her ultimate fate. Realizing that she can't live too long without Charles' income, she lets the hellhound rip her to shreds.
• Good Parents: Cares a lot for her only son, Charles.
• Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: Her reaction when Arnold told her about her son's brutality.
• Nice Girl: Very kind. She lets Mika do After Action Patch Up on Brandon after Brandon saves her from a hellhound.

Charles Goh

"You took away my ability to take care of my family, so I guess it's just fair if I do the same to you. Now, you get to feel the helplessness I've experienced."

Only appears in The Hellhound of Billion. Charles once worked for Harry's Millennion as a researcher, but then Brandon came to destroy the lab. Charles lost his job as a result, and he was forced to take a lower paying job to help support his family. When Brandon found him, he had become a necrolyzer, and it had yet to be revealed how and why he became one. He's also the creator of the hellhounds.

• Anti-Villain: Despite his desire to put Brandon through hell, Charles actually never wants to hurt the innocents. As a necrolyzer, destroying the hellhounds, the terror of the town and his creation, is his mission before his necrolyze fades.
• Break the Badass: Someone who manages to give Brandon a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown until he can barely move and break him deserves this title.
• Cruel Mercy: His way of Revenge and is explicitly stated. Charles beats up Brandon, breaks his hand, and shoots both of his legs to make sure that he can't walk anymore. And he lets him live so that Brandon can experience the despair he has once gone through. Ironic how he finally dies by means of Mercy Kill from the victim of his Cruel Mercy.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas
• Extreme Mêlée Revenge: Punches Brandon in the head to the point he gets blood gushing out of his nostrils and ears. And some gets into his throat, causing him to cough. Then he stomps Brandon's wrist, breaking it. And then he shoots Brandon in the legs with anti-necrolyze rifle. And that's not enough.
• Freudian Excuse: Charles' motive of revenge? Brandon causes Charles to lose his job and takes away his ability to take care of his mother.
• Go Out with a Smile: As Brandon prepares himself for a Mercy Kill, Charles manages to smile despite his stiffened facial muscles. Brandon notes that Charles actually dies in peace.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Inverted. He's poor with firearms, unlike Brandon. He can only shoot accurately at close range.
• Living on Borrowed Time: In chapter 7, it's revealed that his wounds aren't regenerating properly again, hinting his impending end as a necrolyzer.
• Mad Scientist: The creator of the hellhounds. He intends to sell those hellhounds to increase his income, only to have one of them ripping his throat out. He ends up trying to destroy them because Charles never intends to hurt the innocents.
• Manipulative Bastard: Successfully persuades Gilbert to join his cause.
• Mind Rape: He just wants to push Brandon into Despair Event Horizon as his revenge, because he's gone through that back then. He managed to execute a Mind Rape once in the fight: when he has his foot on Brandon's wrist, he taunts him to grab the anti-necrolyze rifle and fight back. Because Brandon is already screaming due to his inability to do that, Charles is basically rubbing salt into the wound.
• Peaceful in Death: Implied. By the time he dies for real, he manages to see his mother again (although just for a brief moment) and learns that his mother still loves him despite what he has become. He is no longer a vengeful necrolyzer as well, partly thanks to Brandon's forgiveness near the end. Everything is resolved save for the hellhound issues (although all may be gradually dying due to their necrolyzation nearing its expiry date), and he can finally Go Out with a Smile.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: And Brandon is his victim. It's not pretty. And he loves it.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Smashes many things during his fight with Brandon.
• Pistol-Whipping: To compensate his poor skills with guns. He mostly uses his anti-necrolyze rifle as a club.
• Super Serum: Before dying, he ingested a vial of necrolyzation serum, which turned him into a green-skinned giant.
• Super-Strength: Every fist from him smashes the concrete.
• Tearful Smile: Gives one as Brandon prepares to end his pain with a Boom, Headshot!.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: There is a reason why he is really, really mad at Brandon. Brandon blew up his lab, forcing him to take a low-paying job. He became unable to take care of his mother properly, and to him, having a happy family became nothing but a dream. And he later attempted to raise his income by creating the hellhounds to sell them as guard dogs, only to be mortally wounded by his creation. Then he was forced to drink necrolyzation serum, so that he could destroy his own creation and protect the innocents (especially his mother). At the same time, he's bearing the burden of the fact that his mother will never accept him anymore because he's now a necrolyzer. Everything pushes him beyond limit, and Charles is out to unleash hell on Brandon.

Gilbert

"Give me that. I want to get my revenge done."

Only appears in The Hellhound of Billion. Gilbert was a civilian of Billion whose house was damaged during Brandon's fight with Charles. Thinking that it's Brandon's fault, Gilbert harassed a helpless Brandon, only to be found out by Biscoe. Biscoe sent a few Millennion agents to raid his house as a punishment, kneecapping him and stealing some valuables in process. Later, Gilbert hides and locks himself in his bedroom due to a hellhound entering his house. Charles soon comes, destroys the hellhound, and convinces him to be a necrolyzer and join his cause.

• Grievous Harm with a Body: Rips off Charles' leg and uses it to fight Brandon.
• Jerkass: Not a very nice person.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: He does this to Brandon, who is badly injured after fighting Charles. He steps on Brandon's wounds, which hurt like hell as they're created by anti-necrolyze.
• Super Serum: Turned into a necrolyzer through ingesting necrolyzation serum by the end of chapter 7.
• Super-Strength: Flips Brandon's van and throws it at a lamp post, killing Arnold on impact.

Doctor Zach Reinhardt

"If these kids are going to die, no matter how hard you try to protect them, they'll end up dying anyway."

Only appears in Twisted Death. An unpleasant doctor who replaces William during his bereavement leave.

• Dr. Jerk: Very unpleasant and cynical.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His premature son and deceased wife. Zach may be draining off Millennion's money, but it's all for his family. He basically does everything to bring his wife back as a human and cure his son.
  • The sad thing? It's actually his wife's death and his son's sickness that push him over the edge. He ends up hearing voices that sounds encouraging at first, but gets more Jerkass later on. Later on, he grows even more fearful of dying (because if he dies he can never save his family again) and starts suspecting that the whole Millennion is out to kill him.
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: "May you rest in peace in a pool of gastric juice." He says that as he watches his werewolf devours William.
• The Man Behind the Man: The "he" constantly mentioned by Bernard and his cohorts is actually him! However, Zach is strongly implied to be manipulating Bernard to the point Bernard decides to cut his ties with him.
• The Paranoiac: His defining trait.
  • He belittles everybody, especially Brandon and Mika, whenever possible.
  • Zach believes that Millennion people are all out to get him. He even blames William as a spy although William never intends to be one, and orders his newly-created werewolf to eat him. What does this lead to? He intends to slaughter the whole Millennion so that they can no longer spy on him, although this all exists merely in his imagination.
  • He also slaughters his army of necrolyzers to prevent potential rebellion. He later feeds their remains to his specially-created animals, whom he believes to be unable to rebel because they lack the ability to think like humans.
    • Heck, most of the time he slaughters his own necrolyzed beings are because he grows too suspicious of them (especially if they ever make one wrong move). Even if they never mean malice.
  • Feels superior to others, yet he believes it's his surplus resource and intelligence are attracting killers and spies.
• Wolverine Claws: Zach has actually changed himself into a Superior, which grants him the ability to summon this.