History Characters / CowboyBebop

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It's left ambiguous much like many details surrounding him, but there is a reasonable possibility that he ''used'' to care about Spike and Julia, as he's shown genuinely and happily smiling with them in one piece of official art (something he's never did in the anime proper), and it's vaguely suggested that their affair behind his back hurt him on some level. However, by the time we first see him in the anime, that possible care is long gone, and the only positive feeling he has left for Spike is some respect.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Murdock is a thinly-veiled parody of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Newkirk Ingrid Newkirk]], founder of PETA. Much like the [[AnimalWrongsGroup Space Warriors]], PETA was a fairly benign organization before becoming extreme in its advertising (though they don't shoot/bomb people for eating endangered fauna... yet).[[note]] The line between just ''how'' much of a parody Murdock is blurs a bit when you discover just how [[http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=8765 extreme and potentially hypocritical]] her views are... as well as her ties to [[http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2007/11/peta-hypocrisy.html actual violence]] in the name of Animal Rights.[[/note]]

* StraightEdgeEvil: He's not seen smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol in a galaxy that isn't short of either. Though several pieces of promotional artwork featuring a younger Vicious and Spike have the pair smoking, so perhaps he has quit by the present.

* OverarchingVillain: Vicious is heavily involved in Spike's past, which itself is a big part of the otherwise episodic show's MythArc, and sticks around for the series' beginning, middle, and end.

-->'''Tongpu:''' It hurts! Mommy! Mommy, it hurts! Mama! Hurts! It hurts me! It hurts! Mommy!

* FormFittingWardrobe: She accentuates her voluptuous figure with a skin-tight top, [[WhoWearsShortShorts short shorts]], and ZettaiRyouiki.

* {{Stripperific}}: [[WhoWearsShortShorts Hotpants]], a cleavage heavy top, StockingFiller, and a shawl; that's it.

* WhoWearsShortShorts: Her trademark yellow outfit includes really short shorts.

* OnlyKnownByHerNickname: As noted under GivenNameReveal, no one knows V.T.'s real name and there's a running bet to guess it, [[spoiler:until Spike recognizes a photo of her with her late husband.]] Her trucker handle is "[[TitleDrop The Heavy Metal Queen]]".

* ShaggyDogStory: Her overall character arc is one really. Over the course of the show, she is trying to learn more about her history that she cannot remember, at one point even receiving a tape [[spoiler:that she recorded as a teenager]]. At the end, [[spoiler:she finds her hometown on earth, but only one of her friends is apparently still alive, and she's a very old lady, and Faye's house has been completely demolished, leaving nothing left for her on earth.]] And THEN [[spoiler:Ed and Ein leave the crew and Spike goes off to his (possible) death, leaving Faye basically no one save for Jet, whom she doesn't really connect with, after deciding she has to live for the present. To rub salt in the wound, Spike told her there was nothing to be gained in the past even though he cannot let go of his own.]]

* CompositeCharacter: He has Vicious's [[StrawNihilist nihilism]] and status as an EvilCounterpart to Spike and Tongpu's [[PlayingWithSyringes origin]] and SuperSoldier nature . He's basically Spike's two most dangerous enemies rolled into one.

* EverythingsBetterWithCows: He might have gotten away with it, if not for that lousy cow on the railroad tracks. And the dog. And the little... girl?

* TheDragon: To Vicious.

* HeroicSacrifice: Subverted into a SenselessSacrifice. His dutiful sacrifice protects ''the bad guy'', who is completely unmoved and doesn't care, and will later kill the same elders that Lin was loyal to and whose orders Lin laid down his life to follow.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: His hair is green, [[HairColorDissonance though it's probably meant to be brown.]]

* SciFiBobHaircut: Her hairstyle. It's also [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair purple]], for some reason.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Has purple hair, though, much like how Spike's green hair is probably brown, [[HairColorDissonance it's probably meant to be black.]]

* KnifeNut: Preference for katanas aside, Vicious throws a knife into Spike's shoulder in their final match. He also uses a combat knife to literally StabTheScorpion and thus gain Gren's trust.

* TheHeroDies: [[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 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. ...''[[ShrugOfGod If]]'' that was indeed his death.]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Mari Arita (JPN), Mary Elizabeth [=McGlynn=] (ENG), Liza Willert (SPN-LA)

* GoodOldFashionedFisticuffs: While on Bloody Eye this is all he needs to be an inhuman terror. When he's coming down from it, however, he's a pretty ordinary fighter and Spike picks him to pieces due to Spike's superior training.

* HourOfPower: While high on Bloody Eye, Asimov practically has super powers. Once he starts coming down, however, he's definitely not superhuman, and the effects don't last long.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: A subtle example. Seems to have a preference for lobster. When he tries to order the most expensive thing on a fancy restaurant's menu, he pointedly chooses "lobster miso stew" over the more trendy "Ganymede sea rat." He mocks a tied up Twinkle Murdock by telling her that her 25 million bounty is gonna buy a lot of lobster stew. Then there's the entire episode kickstarted by Spike apparently [[spoiler:hiding a Ganymede rock lobster in the fridge aboard the Bebop]].

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: A low-key example. Seems to have a preference for lobster. When he tries to order the most expensive thing on a fancy restaurant's menu, he pointedly chooses "lobster miso stew" over the more trendy "Ganymede sea rat." He mocks a tied up Twinkle Murdock by telling her that her 25 million bounty is gonna buy a lot of lobster stew. Then there's the entire episode kickstarted by Spike apparently [[spoiler:hiding a Ganymede rock lobster in the fridge aboard the Bebop]].

* SignificantWardrobeShift: Her present day all-black ensemble - complete with a genre-appropriate longcoat (see ''Badass Longcoat'' above) - compared to her flashback appearances. Like [[spoiler:Vicious and Spike]], she never used to wear one. Also, [[spoiler:we only see each member of the trio (see ''Freudian Trio'' above) put one on on-screen when things were/are about to get dangerous. For Vicious, this includes every present-day scene we see him featured in. For Spike, this is whenever he knows he is/was about to go to war with the Syndicate. For Julia, this is only when she's finally reunited with Spike in the present (which makes it very fitting that it's taken off of her body when she dies).]]

* SignificantWardrobeShift: Her present day all-black ensemble - complete with a genre-appropriate longcoat (see ''Badass Longcoat'' above) - compared to her flashback appearances. Like [[spoiler:Vicious and Spike]], she never used to wear one. Also, [[spoiler:we only see each member of the trio (see ''Freudian Trio'' above) put one on when things were/are about to get dangerous. For Vicious, this includes every present-day scene we see him featured in. For Spike, this is whenever he knows he is/was about to go to war against the Syndicate. For Julia, this is only when she's finally reunited with Spike in the present (which makes it very fitting that it's taken off of her body when she dies).]]

* SignificantWardrobeShift: Her present day all-black ensemble - complete with a genre-appropriate longcoat (see Badass Longcoat above) - compared to her flashback appearances. Like [[spoiler:Vicious and Spike]], she never used to wear one. Also, [[spoiler:we only see each member of the trio (see ''Freudian Trio'' above) put one on when things were/are about to turn violent. For Vicious, this includes every present-day scene we see him featured in. For Spike, this is whenever he knows he is/was about to go to war against the Syndicate. For Julia, this is only when she's finally reunited with Spike in the present (which makes it very fitting that it's taken off of her body when she dies).]]

* BadassLongcoat: Part of an all-black neo-noir ensemble she wears in the present. Complete with a pair of [[CyberPunk cyberpunk]]-appropriate [[CoolShades badass shades]]. Fluttering in the wind as she [[spoiler:races through the streets. Evading hitmen. Dodging bullets.]] The entire outfit is really an embodiment of present-day Julia. Totally symbolic of her role as a woman of danger and mystery while giving her an air of mystique (see Significant Wardrobe Shift below for more details) as she [[spoiler:spends most of the series fading in and out of the shadows.]]

* SignificantWardrobeShift: Her present day all-black ensemble - complete with a genre-appropriate longcoat (see Badass Longcoat above) - compared to her flashback appearances. Like [[Spoiler: Vicious and Spike]], she never used to wear one. Also, [[spoiler:we only see each member of the trio (see Freudian Trio above) put one on when things were/are about to turn violent. For Vicious, this includes every present-day scene we see him featured in. For Spike, this is whenever he knows he is/was about to go to war against the Syndicate. For Julia, this is only when she's finally reunited with Spike in the present (which makes it very fitting that it's taken off of her body when she dies).]]