"Halloween is the one day a soul in purgatory can be released. If he prays hard enough, he can go to heaven at last. Say your prayers."
"The leadership of the Red Dragons has now changed hands... From this time forward, my power is the only power."
— Vicious, "Session 25: The Real Folk Blues (Part 1)"
The work, which becomes a new genre itself, will be called Cowboy Bebop and those of its cast, who combine brilliance, audacity and magnetic charm together, will be called Magnificent Bastards, and these players will be displayed beneath.
The Super Robot Wars T version of Vicious can be found here.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Original Anime
- Vicious brutally rose in the Red Dragon Syndicate from a young hitman to capo. When Spike Spiegel has an affair with Vicious' girlfriend Julia, Vicious takes it as a challenge to begin breaking and destroying the two, causing Spike to flee the Syndicate. Years later, Vicious meticulously tracks down Spike and murders their former criminal mentor, knowing his planted bounty will draw out Spike's money-hungry partner Faye Valentine and then captures Faye to lure out Spike to fight him. Determined to destroy the smug Van ruling the Syndicate for losing their way in violent effectiveness, Vicious sets up a stage execution for himself, freeing himself using planted collaborators to poetically kill the Van themselves and assume supreme rule. Drawing out Spike for one final battle with the entirety of the Red Dragon under his command, Vicious even shows respect for his enemy by returning his fallen weapon before their final fatal blow, a philosophical and brilliant schemer despite his nihilistic, ruthless outlook and willingness to backstab everyone around him for more power.
- "Session 14: Bohemian Rhapsody": "Chessmaster" Hex was once a brilliant technological prodigy who designed the system behind the Astral Gates. Hex foresaw the dangers inherent in his system—a flaw that would later result in a cataclysm that cost over three billion human lives—only to be fired by the Gate Corporation. Hex concocted a revenge scheme to expose the Gate Corporation's corruption by exploiting the flaws in his own system to deposit countless amounts of the Gate Corporation's own funds into the hands of random bystanders. Hex's scheme is so meticulously plotted out it unfolds without a hitch fifty years after he had set it up, long after Hex has regressed into a senile old man who idles his days away playing chess. Completely untouchable in the end, Hex peacefully dies of old age with a final "checkmate," his vendetta long forgotten yet accomplished nonetheless.
- "Session 16: Black Dog Serenade": Fad, Jet Black's former partner, is a veteran police officer who Jet had trusted time and time again with his life from Jet's time as the formidable "Black Dog" of the space police force. In truth a Dirty Cop, Fad lured Jet into a trap years ago with the criminal hitman Udai Taxim and shot him, causing the loss of Jet's arm. In the present, Fad manages to lure Jet back in and send him against Udai again, killing Udai himself when Jet has him cornered before tricking Jet into shooting him so he may atone for his betrayal, requesting only a final cigarette from his old partner at the end.
- "Session 21: Boogie Woogie Feng Shui": Pao Pu-Zi is a great Feng Shui master and seemingly deceased consultant to the Blue Snake Syndicate, left estranged from his beloved daughter Meifa after his wife left him due to his criminal activities. Unable to escape the syndicate thanks to the vast amount of knowledge he held for them, Pao launched a plan to reunite with Meifa through subtle manipulations by way of Feng Shui. Masterminding Jet Black and Meifa's meeting, Pao leaves them a series of clues, culminating in them coming upon his ship stuck in a pocket in hyperspace, having the final conversation he sought with his daughter before dying on his own terms.
- Knockin' on Heaven's Door: Vincent Volaju is a stoic Super-Soldier who—due to horrible trauma and experiments performed upon him—has come to believe he is trapped in a nightmare, and seeks to escape to the "real world". Vincent conscripts others to his side through bribery and manipulation alike, never hesitating to eliminate those same allies if they endanger his plans. A very well-spoken man who often muses about the nature of Purgatory and life itself while pulling off terrorist attacks that throw Mars into a panic, Vincent's brain is matched with his brawn, as he is one of the few characters in the franchise capable of taking down Spike Spiegel. His plan to unleash a virus and wipe out all life on Mars nearly succeeding, Vincent nonetheless offers survival to a chosen few he believes have true willpower, and, even when laying dying when his plans are foiled, he accepts his death and spares the life of his former lover Electra Ovilo, earning the respect and sympathy of Spike himself in the process.
Alternate Continuity Manga
- Shooting Star, by Cain Kuga & Hajime Yatate: "The Scorpion", born Ryushuka Niagle, Jr. was a Child Prodigy kidnapped by the Dragon Head Syndicate for his intelligence to become one of their leaders. Rising in the ranks, the Scorpion first encounters the Bebop crew while effortlessly escaping from a maximum security prison, managing to reverse their hacking to drive the ship haywire and force the crew to retreat. Later erasing all data gathered on him, the Scorpion nearly succeeds in capturing Spike Spiegel for his employer, only killed by an allergy to tranquilizers.
- 1998 manga, by Yutaka Nanten's "Great Deceiver": Linda Wise is a brilliant, deadpan hustler who taught Faye Valentine herself everything she knows. Having saved Faye from a losing game of chance by outdoing the opponent with trickery, Linda took Faye under her wing and taught her countless tools of the trade, becoming a dynamic, unstoppable duo of thievery and cheating. Being outed after spending years presenting herself as a legitimate businesswoman while ripping off companies for millions in order to save the life of the man she loves, Linda faces down Faye in a final card game, leaving her fate of either freedom or arrest up to the game. Even when beaten, Linda accepts her defeat gracefully, and leaves Faye with parting words of advice and care.
- Ana is a sly club and bar operator who welcomes all manner of criminals to her above as a safe haven, secretly spying and eavesdropping on the lot of them for her own information business. A genuine friend to "Fearless," aka Spike Spiegel, Ana stood up to Vicious in Spike's stead and took a sword through the leg in the process of protecting her allies, her business never once suffering as a consequence of crossing the Syndicate. In the present, Ana assists Spike and Julia from afar in each's own plans to take down Vicious, Ana finally swooping in personally to save Spike's life and assure him that no matter what comes for her, she'll survive as she always has.
- "Session 7: Galileo Hustle": Whitney Haggis Matsumoto wakes up cryosleepers and convinces them to transfer their benefits to her, as she does to Faye Valentine. Growing to care for young Faye, Whitney leaves after teaching the girl the ways of swindling, returning seemingly needing to escape her abusive husband. Offering to return Faye's identikit for her assistance, Whitney charms the Bebop crew, guiles her way around any obstacles and eventually reveals the whole thing was an elaborate sex game with her loving spouse, parting ways with Faye while helping her unlock her past.
Other
- Unproduced film script, by Peter Craig (link
): Vicious is a ruthless, undeterred assassin for the Red Dragon Syndicate who seeks control over every syndicate in the solar system. Arrested during a raid that saw his adoptive brother Spike Spiegel getting away, Vicious plots his escape from prison while ensuring the death of everybody on the colony in order to wipe the prison's records. Discovering that Spike is next in line to run the Syndicate following leader Mao Yenrai's nearing death, Vicious seeks to kill Mao and Spike in order to claim the Syndicate for himself and initiate a massive crime war that will result in the Syndicate coming out on top. Destroying the oil planet Titan so that he can corner the oil industry with his supply on Earth, Vicious has his girlfriend Julia hack the Bounty Hunter Database so that his rivals will be hunted down and killed as he amasses a splinter army of his own. Raiding a crisis summit with his men, Vicious kills Mao after a heartfelt goodbye and casually escapes as his men engage in a shootout with the other syndicate leaders while he tracks down Spike for one final battle.
