History Characters / CowboyBebop

* TheCombatPragmatist

* TheCombatPragmatist: He has no problem with fighting dirty or killing innocents.

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou

In the past Spike was a top assassin for the [[Main/TheSyndicate Red Dragon Syndicate]], a criminal organization. An unstoppable killer, Spike was practically a Main/OneManArmy, and was only more dangerous when paired with his [[Main/BashBrothers equally dangerous partner]], Vicious. Then something happened. Spike met Vicious' girlfriend, Julia, and Spike and Julia fell in love. (Indeed, one shot that shows Spike's reaction to seeing her hints it might even have been Main/LoveAtFirstSight, at least on his end). [[spoiler:Although the details from this time are sketchy, it appears that Vicious soon found out, and the affair not only made Vicious determined to kill Spike, but made him fall out of favor with the Red Dragons as well. Spike decided to leave the Syndicate after one last job, but Vicious gave Julia a deadly order: kill Spike, or be killed herself before she could run.]] Somehow, Spike faked his death well enough that ''almost'' everyone believed he was dead, but Julia didn't leave with him. Instead Spike simply disappeared, and began a life of drifting until meeting Jet and forming their partnership.

[[spoiler:Eventually, Spike's past catches up with him big time. Vicious does confirm that Spike is alive, and it turns into a full on hunt as Vicious tries to take over the Red Dragon Syndicate. Spike and Julia reconcile and plan on running away, but before they can she dies in a shootout with Vicious' men. After saying goodbye to Jet and the crew, Spike decides to go Main/StormingTheCastle and cuts a swath through The Syndicate to get to Vicious. The two wound each other, with Vicious dying right away, while Spike lives long enough to see the dawn, walk back downstairs, and whisper "Bang" to the stunned members of the Syndicate before collapsing. It's unsure weather or not he DOES die. Interesting side note: Spike Spiegel dies (MAYBE)at the age of 27, the same age as many legendary rock figures like Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and many others.]]

* Main/AcePilot
* Main/AfroAsskicker
* Main/AmbiguouslyJewish
** Note that WordOfGod stated that he's not Jewish, he's named Spiegel simply because the name "Spike Spiegel" sounded cool. He got his hair from the iconic Japanese actor, [[http://i.imgur.com/nf8cQ.jpg Yusaku]] [[http://i.imgur.com/3vTFb.jpg Matsuda]].
** DeathOfTheAuthor
* Main/AntiHero: [[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes Type III]].
* Main/BadAss: And how!
* Main/BerserkButton: Make sure you ''never'' confuse him with his arch-enemy Vicious. If you call him by that name he'll flip out and open a can of whoop-ass on you ''and'' your entire gang.
* Main/BigEater
* Main/BloodKnight: A not ''too'' crazy case.
* Main/BoisterousBruiser: Nothing makes his face light up more than a decent match.
* Main/BoringFailureHero: The boring part is subverted nicely. He'll never catch the bounty he's after, [[TropesAreNotBad but that doesn't mean he's not a lot of fun to watch.]]
* Main/BountyHunter
* Main/BruceLeeClone: Spike is a big fan of Bruce, practicing Jeet Kune Do and Bruce's philosophy.
* Main/CharacterAlignment: NeutralEvil --> TrueNeutral (with moments of ChaoticGood): Formerly an incredibly deadly assassin, Spike did something of a HeelFaceTurn once he fell for Julia.
* Main/TheCombatPragmatist
* Main/CrazyAwesome: Some of his plans are pretty eccentric, and a few of them are suicidal.
* Main/DarkAndTroubledPast
* Main/DeadpanSnarker
* Main/DestructiveSavior
* {{Main/Determinator}}
* Main/EstrogenBrigadeBait: Admit it, he was even shirtless in his first scene.
* Main/HeroicBloodshed
* Main/HiddenDepths
* Main/IWillFindYou: Spike's major quest throughout the anime is to reunite with Julia again.
* Main/InHarmsWay

* Main/JerkWithAHeartOfGold
* Main/JigsawPuzzlePlot: His past is told in such a fashion.
* Main/LoveableRogue
* Main/LoveRedeems: If not for Julia, he would've been very likely to end up just like Vicious.
* Main/MadeOfIron
* Main/MismatchedEyes
* Main/NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: WordOfGod states that his hairstyle is based on that of the late Japanese actor Yusaku Matsuda.
* Main/RebelliousSpirit
* [[Main/RedOniBlueOni Red Oni]]
* Main/ShrugOfGod: [[spoiler: Did he really die?]]

* Main/TearJerker: "Bang!"

* Main/BadAss
* Main/BaldOfAwesome
* Main/TheBigGuy
* [[Main/RedOniBlueOni Blue Oni]]: The good kind.
* Main/BountyHunter
* Main/CoolOldGuy
* Main/CowboyCop: In the past.
* Main/CulturedWarrior: Loves classic literature, tending bonsai, and jazz. Also is the ship's cook.
* Main/GeniusBruiser
* Main/HonorBeforeReason
* Main/KnightInSourArmor
* Main/TheLastDJ
* Main/LawfulGood
* Main/LethalChef: Not as lethal as most, but it's pretty well-established that his cooking isn't the best.
* Main/MrFixit: To a degree, at least. Jet is the only one bothering to do any maintenance on the ships.
* Main/OlderSidekick: To Spike. Sometimes.
* Main/TheStoic
* Main/TheStraightMan
* Main/TeamDad: Also a rare ''male'' TeamMom.
* Main/YoungerThanTheyLook

The first person to join Spike and Jet on the ''Bebop'' (unless we're counting Ein), Faye is many things. For starters she's a con artist, selfish, impulsive, self-centered, rude and manipulative. She's also lonely, heartbroken, wounded, and desperately searching for her place in the universe. Spike and Jet would first encounter Faye when she was working as part of a smuggling operation at a casino, posing as a dealer. Her job was to make it look legit when her contact would slide her a very special poker chip, but unfortunately there was a mix up when she mistook Spike for her contact, and [[Main/HilarityEnsues hilarity quickly ensued]]. Sometime later in a different episode Faye would become a permanent part of the Bebop crew, despite much grumbling from both Spike and Jet.

* Main/ActionGirl <--> FauxActionGirl: It depends on the episode.
* Main/AntiHero: Type IV/V
* Main/BrokenBird
* Main/CardSharp
* Main/ChaoticNeutral
* [[Main/ConMan Con Woman]]
* Main/DistressBall: She gets captured and tied up more than once.
* Main/FemmeFatale
* [[spoiler: Main/FishOutOfTemporalWater: Although she adjusted well.]]

* Main/HelloNurse
* Main/HiddenDepths
* Main/HiddenHeartOfGold
* [[spoiler:Main/HumanPopsicle]]
* Main/JerkAss
** Main/JerkAssWoobie
* Main/TheLancer[=/=]Main/TheChick
* Main/MsFanservice
* Main/OlderThanTheyLook

* {{Main/Roma}}: One of Faye's early lies about herself is that she's Roma.
* Main/SmallGirlBigGun: Well, her submachine gun kinda counts.
* Main/StockingFiller
* {{Main/Stripperific}}: Brings it to new heights--plenty of striperiffic characters show a lot of skin, sure, but not many look like ''actual'' streetwalkers.
* {{Main/UST}}: Towards Spike
* Main/VictoriasSecretCompartment
* [[spoiler:Main/YouCantGoHomeAgain: She does eventually find her home, but its been torn down. She also encounters one of her friends, now an old woman, who vaguely remembers her.]]
* Main/ZettaiRyouiki

Oh Ed, Ed, Ed... where to even start with Ed? Ed is probably the world's foremost hacker, and is not shy about using her talents to cause mischief. A 13 year old demented genius, Ed was living alone on Earth and occasionally being hunted by the police when she first encountered the Bebop crew. The crew was chasing a bounty in a case where someone was believed to have hacked into an old Main/KillSat and started using it to carve designs into the planet. Naturally, Ed was the prime suspect, but since Ed was aware of the Bebop crew and was a fan of theirs, (oddly enough, since the crew manages to blow every bounty and live in Main/PerpetualPoverty because of it) she let them in on a secret: the real perpetrator was the satellite itself, whose program had a degree of awareness, a fact that Ed had recently discovered. In return for giving them this information and helping them deal with the rogue satellite, Ed only asked to become a member of the Bebop crew, a propositioned Faye agreed to without telling anyone and later tried to back out on. Unfortunately for Faye, hacking the Bebop's computer, controlling it by remote, and getting it to land where she wants it not exactly a difficult task for Ed.

After this Ed's legendary computer skills would be at the disposal of the Bebop crew, and it would come in handy in several cases. Ed would also get her Main/ADayInTheLimelight during the show's Main/MushroomSamba episode. This would continue until [[spoiler:Ed and Faye simultaneously begin closing in on chasing down their pasts, in Ed's case in part through Faye's encouragement that finding the place where you belong is the best thing a person can do. To that end Ed posts a fake bounty on her [[TheDitz ditzy]] father who good-naturedly and absentmindedly abandoned her years before. (Well, maybe more like left her off with someone and half forgot that she ever existed). The two briefly reunite, but Ed hesitates at joining him, and good old dad starts running off again. Quite possibly realizing that the place where she belongs is neither with dad nor aboard the Bebop, Ed leaves both, wandering off into the sunset accompanied only by Ein.]]

* {{Main/Bifauxnen}}
* Main/BlushSticker
* Main/BunnyEarsLawyer
* Main/ChaoticGood

* {{Main/Cloudcuckoolander}}: Oh god is she ever.
* Main/DarkSkinnedRedhead
* Main/DoesNotLikeShoes: More like ''can't''. Even wearing socks for more than five seconds trips her up.
* Main/GadgeteerGenius
* Main/GeniusDitz
* Main/GenkiGirl
* Main/NoSocialSkills: [[spoiler:Most of Ed's upbringing was either done by herself or the orphanage where she sometimes stayed. As a result she is rather odd socially, and sometimes comes across as almost feral.]]
* Main/OverlyLongName: Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV
* Main/ParentalAbandonment
* Main/PlayfulHacker

* Main/ShroudedInMyth: If you listen to word on the street, you'd think Ed was a seven foot tall ex-basketball pro, Hindu guru, drag queen alien.
* Main/TheSmartGuy: Secondary.
* Main/ThirdPersonPerson

Exactly what a data dog is never gets explained, but Ein certainly has vastly greater than normal intelligence for a dog. (It's strongly hinted that Ein has a full understanding of the languages and world around him, and may in fact be the smartest member of the crew). Ein gradually becomes closest to and friendliest with Ed, with the two sharing a number of adventures, (especially in the Main/MushroomSamba episode) [[spoiler:before leaving together.]]

* Main/AnimalCompanion
* Main/FunWithSubtitles: In "Mushroom Samba," Ein talks to ''a cow''.
* Main/IntellectualAnimal: Even if just how intellectual is never fully known.
* Main/NonHumanSidekick
* Main/TheSmartGuy: Ed tried to use the Bebop's computer to hack into the Brain Dream and failed. Ein managed to do it by [[BeyondTheImpossible putting it on his head]].

For a short time after Spike's faked death, Vicious left the Syndicate and served in a war on Titan, (a moon orbiting Saturn), operating there as Main/TheMole, spying on the side he was ostensibly fighting for. His motives for doing this are unknown. When it was suspected that there was a spy operating in the ranks, Vicious pinned the blame on Gren, a younger soldier who looked up to and hero worshiped him. After the end of the war Vicious rejoined the Red Dragons and quickly climbed the ranks, gaining a large following among the Syndicate's {{mooks}}. When the opportunity presented itself, Vicious killed Spike's former mentor Yao and used that and a shameful desecration of Yao's body to lure Spike out, proving that his old rival was still alive after all. The encounter left both men wounded, but settled nothing.

Increasingly aware of Vicious' treacherous nature and ambition, the Syndicate elders declared that he would not be allowed to take over the Red Dragons. [[spoiler:So Vicious responded by launching a coup d'etat in the form of a Main/XanatosGambit. He allows himself to be captured in an assassination attempt, but stacks his execution squad with his own men, who free him and give Vicious the chance to assassinate the Syndicate elders for real, leaving Vicious the new leader of the group. After that Vicious redoubles his efforts to kill Spike and Julia, who have finally reunited. One of his mooks shoots and kills Julia, resulting in Spike returning and Main/StormingTheCastle for a final confrontation. The two mortally wound each other, with Vicious falling dead to a gunshot wound from Spike, while Spike slowly dies and finally collapses from a wound from Vicious' trademark katana]].

* Main/ArchEnemy: To Spike.
* Main/BadAss
* Main/BigBad
* Main/BloodKnight
* [[Main/RedOniBlueOni Blue Oni]]: A very evil and ruthless one.
* Main/ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: There's no one around him that Vicious hasn't backstabbed. There's almost nobody that hasn't tried to get back at him.
* CompleteMonster: Probably best exemplified by his SadisticChoice given to [[spoiler:Julia: kill herself, or Spike.]] Plus, it's unclear if Spike's words [[spoiler:"Julia is dead"]] affected him in anyway.
* Main/DressedToKill
* Main/EvilCounterpart
* Main/FantasticDrug: Possibly. In one flashback scene a Red Eye injector seems to be on Vicious' nightstand, and {{Fanon}} believes that Vicious may be a regular user.
* Main/KatanasAreJustBetter: Even in the future.
* Main/MeaningfulName
* Main/NeutralEvil
* Main/NietzscheWannabe
* Main/NotSoStoic: See "Perpetual Frowner" below.

* Main/PerpetualFrowner: Which only makes it spookier when he then turns around and pulls a Main/SlasherSmile.
* Main/PetTheDog: Subverted when Vicious does uses a StabTheScorpion situation to gain a character's trust only to later betray him. Also, even though it turns out to just be his spy transmitter, when Vicious is playing that sad song on the music box and says that the name of the song is Julia, this troper has always found himself wondering just how much Julia meant to him.
* Main/RivalTurnedEvil: A bit of an ambiguous case since he probably always toed the line, but it's hinted that discovering that Spike and Julia carried an affair behind his back pushed him off the edge.
* Main/TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou

* Main/WhiteHairedPrettyBoy: Well, he's got the white hair. Pretty is another matter...

* DieForOurShip: According to whiny Spike/Faye fans

* [[spoiler:TheGwenStacy: Julia's death prompts Spike to finally have a showdown with Vicious. It causes a whole lot more death, however, including Spike's.]]
** Maybe.

* TheWoobie

* Main/{{Acrofatic}}: He floats.
* Main/ChaoticEvil
* CrazyAwesome: He is crazy and dangerous? Nah, he is dangerous ''because'' he is crazy!
* EnsembleDarkhorse: A one shot character, with no relevance to the MythArc, and he still has a spot on this page. That should give you the idea.
* Main/EvilLaugh
* Main/HeKnowsTooMuch: Will relentlessly hunt down and kill anyone who sees his face.
* Main/HighOctaneNightmareFuel
* Main/HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Is stabbed by Spike with the same knife he threw at him at the beginning of his episode. It causes him to break down and be crushed by one of the park's robots]].
* Main/ImmuneToBullets: It seems his body has some sort of magnetic field that protects him from gunfire. [[spoiler: It doesn't protect him from knives however]].
* Main/ImplacableMan: The episode makes very clear that luck was the main factor for Spike being able to defeat him.
* Main/LightningBruiser
* Main/MonsterClown
* Main/MoreDakka: He stores ''rocket launchers'' in his ''coat''.
* Main/NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Which leads into...
* Main/OhCrap: What you should be saying if you ''ever'' see him.
* Main/PlayingWithSyringes: He's the result.
* Main/PsychopathicManchild: The experiments done to him had the side effect of making his mind regress to that of a child. A ''very'' fucked up child.

* Main/TearJerker: The end of his episode is known to make viewers cry like Magdalenes.
* Main/WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He's afraid of cats because one was in the room where he was subjected to painful experimentation. In his first battle with Spike, a cat distracts him enough for Spike to make his getaway.
* Main/VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds It hurts! ''MAMA! IT HUUUURTS!!!'']] ]]
* [[spoiler:WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Because of his horrendous past, and the absolutely heartbreaking end of his episode.]]

* ChaoticEvil: Sympathetic qualities aside, his desire to [[spoiler:destroy Mars]] puts him in this alignment.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:His mind was warped from those military experiments which now cause him to constantly hallucinate.]] Electra even mentions later that she wanted to save him because [[spoiler:there was never anyone to love or care for him.]]

* NeutralGood: [[spoiler:She has no problem with defying her corporate superiors to save Mars.]]

* TearJerker: When she [[spoiler:kills Vincent, he tells her the only thing he remembers to be real for certain is his love for her.]]

* Main/TheSmartGuy

* Main/TheSmartGuy

* Main/AntiHero: Type V

** Note that WordOfGod stated that he's not Jewish, he's named Spiegel simply because the name "Spike Spiegel" sounded cool. He got his hair from the iconic Japanese actor, [[http://i.imgur.com/nf8cQ.jpg Matsuda]] [[http://i.imgur.com/3vTFb.jpg Yuusaku]].

As with everything else from Spike's past, not much is ultimately known about Vicious. He and Spike were partners, and top hitmen for the Red Dragon Syndicate, and at this time Vicious was already involved with Julia. Spike and Julia met, and soon fell in love. A few scenes seen in closing credits of the episodes hint that Spike and Julia carried out an affair in secret for some time before Vicious found out. Where a normal man might have been upset, Vicious just calmly set Spike up be killed in an ambush, (hinting that perhaps Vicious already wanted Spike out of the way of his climb to power) and, as a backup, instructed Julia to kill Spike at the meeting the two had arranged in order to run away together, or be killed herself. Julia never went to the meeting however, and Spike faked his own death, leaving Vicious to stew and continue to plot both vengeance and a ruthless climb to the top of the Red Dragons.

* Main/RivalTurnedEvil: An inversion, since the hint isn't so much that Vicious turned as evil as that Spike turned good.

* TheUnfettered: All he cares about is gaining more power and killing Spike. Everything else can go to hell.

* Main/AmbiguouslyJewish

* Main/ActionGirl <--> FauxActionGirl: YMMV
* AntiHero: Type IV

[[spoiler:Eventually, Spike's past catches up with him big time. Vicious does confirm that Spike is alive, and it turns into a full on hunt as Vicious tries to take over the Red Dragon Syndicate. Spike and Julia reconcile and plan on running away, but before they can she dies in a shootout with Vicious' men. After saying goodbye to Jet and the crew, Spike decides to go Main/StormingTheCastle and cuts a swath through The Syndicate to get to Vicious. The two mortally wound each other, with Vicious dying right away, while Spike lives long enough to see the dawn, walk back downstairs, and whisper "Bang" to the stunned members of the Syndicate before collapsing. Interesting side note: Spike Spiegel dies at the age of 27, the same age as many legendary rock figures like Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and many others.]]

* [[spoiler:DyingMomentOfAwesome]]

* AntiHero: Type III

* {{Main/Darwinist}}

* [[spoiler: Main/JerkAssWoobie:Because of his horrendous past, and the absolutely heartbreaking end of his episode.]]

* Main/VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: [[JerkAssWoobie It hurts! ''MAMA! IT HUUUURTS!!!'']] ]]

* {{Mr. Imagination}}: A particularly dark version.

* {{Mr.Imagination}}: A particularly dark version.

* Mr.Imagination: A particularly dark version.

* {{Main/Cloudcuckoolander}}: Oh god is she ever. Arguably a candidate for SugarWiki/MostTriumphantExample

* Main/ActionGirl <--> FauxActionGirl: YMWV

* Main/ActionGirl <--> FauxActionGirl

** [[spoiler:OrIsIt]]