Who is Vicious?
Wow... you're here, and you don't know that? OK, then, lets talk about The Man. I'm sure those of you who know and appreciate him won't get bored.
Vicious is the only villain who makes more than one appearance in the anime series Cowboy Bebop. He is not only a formidable villain, he is also Spike Spiegel's nemesis.
The facts, ma'am, just the facts:
Height: approx. 6'2"
Weight: around 180-190 lbs.
Age: generally believed to be 27
Hair: Silver-grey
Eyes: Grey, but they change color to blue, lavender, and black, depending on the lighting and his mood
Weapon of choice: A katana, although he also owns a handgun (a Colt) and is skilled with it and with a number of other weapons
Appearances in series: In five episodes: Ballad of Fallen Angels, Jupiter Jazz (parts 1 and 2), and The Real Folk Blues (parts 1 and 2)
Voice: Japanese, Norio Wakamoto; English, Frank Buck
Very little is known about Vicious, and nothing about his past. Even his real name is a mystery. What we know of him comes from his actions during the series, a few lines said by him and others, and some flashbacks of Spike's. When he is introduced, he's an important leader in the crime syndicate, the Red Dragons, to which Spike once belonged. We are fairly certain that he was once Julia's lover and that he and Spike were once close friends, working for the Red Dragons as a team, and we know that he served in the military on Titan. Other than that, we can only speculate, although most believe that Vicious became Spike's enemy when Spike decided to leave the syndicate, taking Julia with him.
That he's Spike's enemy is not only never in doubt, but is an understatement. At times he seems to want only two things in life: to run the syndicate and to kill Spike with his own hands.
Vicious is an almost frighteningly cold-hearted man with a quiet, emotionless voice. He is described by the Red Dragon leaders as a snake, an epithet he likes. He is also power-hungry and completely ruthless. (Whether he was born this way or whether he became that way after Spike's and Julia's betrayal is, again, a matter for speculation.) Vicious is also skilled and fast in any kind of combat. He's intelligent and able to make long-term plans and carry them through, even if they involve sacrifice and pain for himself. During the series, he is always alone ~ even when accompanied by minions, he stands apart from them. He has no loyalties and no beliefs ("There is nothing in this world to believe in"). He isn't cruel in the ordinary sense, but rather seems to have absolutely no conscience or feelings of any kind. He can be admired for his courage and for what he can accomplish, but he's also one of the most fearsome villains ever to grace animation.
Vicious in the Cowboy Bebop series
~ (Warning!! SERIOUS SPOILERS! Do not read unless you have seen all of Cowboy Bebop, you've already had it spoiled for you, or you don't care if major plot points are spoiled for you.)We meet Vicious for the first time in the aptly-titled Ballad of Fallen Angels (from which the quote on this site's splash page was taken). It's one heck of an introduction. He kills an executive in the Red Dragons, Mao Yenrai, a man who was also his mentor (and Spike's). Then he kidnaps Faye to lure Spike to him so he can kill him. Julia isn't mentioned at this time, except briefly; his major reason for wanting to kill Spike seems to be that he feels Spike has betrayed their common background by leaving the Dragons: "[Mao] was a beast who lost his fangs. That's why he had to die, Spike. And that's why you have to die."
He doesn't succeed in killing Spike, but he comes pretty close. He surfaces again in Jupiter Jazz, where he lures Spike to him by using Julia's name as a code for a drug deal. In this episode we discover that he was in the military on Titan, working as a spy (for whom, and why, is never told), and we find out that he took advantage of an innocent young man (Gren) to cast suspicion from himself. During the episode, he also casually allows another man, Lin, to die for him, without ever so much as blinking. Forced to flee, he leaves Spike unscathed except for some bad memories.
The Real Folk Blues is also, symbolically, the title of the end song for the series. Vicious attempts a coup against the masters of the Red Dragons, the Van. He's taken away to be kept for punishment after pulling a Br'er Rabbit routine and telling them to go ahead and kill him. The Van falls for it, even when he warns them ("Don't forget - a serpent's venom poisons slowly after the bite"). While they are punishing him, they target for death every person who has ever been close to him, including Spike and Julia. This was something Vicious probably counted on.
The entire failed coup was actually a ruse to lull the Van and make them vulnerable to him, and Vicious kills them all and does take over the syndicate. He keeps the hunt going for his previous associates, and his men manage to find and kill Annie and Julia, but not Spike. Knowing that with Julia dead, Spike will come to him ("A beast that has lost his place. He has nowhere to return to now. He will come"), he calmly waits at the Red Dragons headquarters. Spike does appear, and their conversation, brief as it is, gives a mythic element to their enmity ("I told you before, Spike. I'm the only one who can kill you and set you free."). As it turns out, evenly matched in abilities, they kill each other.
