List of Cowboy Bebop characters

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The following is a list of major and minor characters from the anime and manga series Cowboy Bebop.

Contents 1 Spike Spiegel 2 Jet Black 3 Faye Valentine 4 Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV 5 Ein 6 Vicious 7 Julia 8 Grencia Mars Elijah Guo Eckener 9 Punch and Judy 10 The Three Old Men 11 Roco Bonnaro 12 References

[edit] Spike Spiegel

Main article: Spike Spiegel

Seiyū: Kōichi Yamadera Voice Actor: Steven Blum

Spike Spiegel is a 27-year-old bounty hunter who was born on Mars. In appearance, Spike is tall and thin, but with muscular shoulders. He is attractive, with dark, fluffy brown hair and red/brown eyes, one of which is artificial and lighter than the other. A flashback in Session 6 revealed it was his fully functioning right eye which was surgically replaced by the cybernetic one (although Spike himself may not have conscious recollection of the procedure since he claims to have lost his natural eye in an "accident"). One theory suggests that his natural eye may have been lost during the pre-series massacre in which he supposedly "died". The purpose of this cybernetic eye is never explicitly stated, though it apparently gives him exceptional hand-eye coordination - particularly with firearms (Spike's gun of choice is a Jericho 941 as seen throughout the series) - as well as a time-stalling effect similar to those of the fictitious narcotic Red Eye seen in Session 1^[1]. He is usually dressed in a blue leisure suit, with a yellow shirt and Lupin III inspired boots. Spike often has a bent cigarette between his lips, sometimes despite rain or "No Smoking" signs. This is also done in homage of Lupin III, as Lupin's partner, Jigen, smokes cigarettes that are in poor condition. Further inspiration for the character of Spike is found in martial artist Bruce Lee.

[edit] Jet Black

Seiyū: Unshō Ishizuka

Voice Actor: Beau Billingslea

Jet, known on his home satellite as the "Black Dog" for his tenacity, is a 36-year-old former cop from Ganymede (a Jovian satellite) and acts as Spike's foil during the series. Physically, Jet is very tall with a muscular build. He wears a beard with no mustache, and is completely bald save for the back of his head. Spike acts lazy and uninterested, whereas Jet is hard working and a jack-of-all-trades. Jet was once an investigator in the Inter Solar System Police (ISSP) for many years until he lost his arm in an investigation that went awry when his corrupt partner (and friend at the time) betrayed him. His arm was replaced with a cybernetic limb (later revealed to be by choice, as biological replacements were possible, he wanted the fake arm as a reminder of what happened), yet his loss of limb coupled with the general corruption of the police force prompted Jet to quit the ISSP in disgust and become a freelance bounty hunter. Jet also considers himself something of a renaissance man: he cultivates bonsai trees, cooks, enjoys jazz/blues music, especially Charlie Parker, and even has interest in Goethe. As a character, Jet is the quintessential oyaji or "dad" even though he often wishes people would view him as a more brotherly figure (so as not to seem old).

Jet is skilled with handguns, typically carrying a Walther P99, as well as the use of the netgun. He is good with hand to hand combat as well. Unlike Spike, Jet tends to use more raw muscle than technique. He is also a great mechanic and pilot. Aside from the converted fishing vessel Bebop, Jet flies a smaller ship called Hammerhead. The Hammerhead appears to be a modified salvage-craft that uses a mechanical arm equipped with a harpoon as its main weapon, which is somewhat analogous to his own mechanical arm. Both the Hammerhead and the Bebop are able to land on water, and have a fishing theme, most likely because Ganymede's surface is mostly covered with water (it is later revealed that the Bebop was originally a fishing ship that Jet "customized").

During the series, it is revealed that Jet once lived with a woman named Alisa, who left him because he was too controlling. Later they meet up again when Alisa's new boyfriend Rhint is wanted for murder. Jet then ends up in a situation somewhat similar to that of Vicious, where he must hunt down a woman who broke his heart, and her lover.

In a later episode, another Vicious/Spike parallel is set up when Jet finds out that it was his old partner Fad who betrayed him (though in Jet's case, there was no love affair involved). Fad arranged for Jet's death in a setup, but he survived with only a missing arm and a scar on his face. It is worth noting that Jet managed to face the demons of his past and let them go, in contrast to Spike, who was (apparently) killed when he confronted his. This is likely due to the contrast in the two approaches to the past. While Spike hid and fled from his past, Jet tracked it down and confronted it.

A possibly related note: Jet Black is also the name of the drummer in long-running English band The Stranglers. Jet also bears a remarkable resemblence to Daisuke Jigen from Lupin III.

[edit] Faye Valentine

Seiyū: Megumi Hayashibara

Voice Actress: Wendee Lee

By all appearances, Faye is a 23 year old woman in 2071. However, she was actually born in 1994 and was cryogenically frozen sometime before the gate incident. Faye is confident, audacious, independent, and somewhat self-centered. She is attractive, with medium-length, dark purplish hair and a voluptuous body. She normally wears a revealing yellow outfit complete with suspenders and a red long-sleeve shirt usually worn only through the sleeves. She is also quite lazy, but takes time to care for her appearance. She enjoys gambling, and often loses a great deal of money doing so. Faye is a very competent bounty hunter, being skilled in flying and both hand-to-hand and firearm combat.

In truth, Faye's indomitable exterior hides a more fragile interior. Faye awoke from her cryogenic sleep with total amnesia in a mysterious world that she didn't understand, surrounded by people who were all-too-willing to take advantage of her naïveté, contributing to the hardening of her personality. The surname "Valentine" was merely a name given to her by the doctor who woke her; the circumstances of her accident, her previous life, and even her real name all remain a mystery, and are only gradually revealed as the series progresses. It has been hinted that she came from Singapore on Earth, and was the daughter of a very wealthy family, as the city's famous Merlion Statue features prominently in scenes of her childhood, and that memories and a film from her childhood showed her living in a large mansion.

Throughout the series, some believe it is hinted that Faye may be in love with Spike Spiegel. Though this is never stated, her attraction may be implied by her interactions with him (Pierrot Le Fou, My Funny Valentine, Speak like a Child, The Real Folk Blues) as well as her fascination with Julia (Jupiter Jazz, The Real Folk Blues). Though he comes to see her as a companion, Spike does not seem to have romantic feelings for Faye, as could be evidenced by his decision to seek and face Vicious in The Real Folk Blues, a decision which upsets Faye to the point where she fires her pistol into the ceiling five times as Spike leaves. However in an interview Watanabe stated "Sometimes I'm asked the question, 'What does Spike think of Faye?' I think that actually he likes her quite a bit. But he's not a very straightforward person so he makes sure he doesn't show it."[1] Relevant note: While many fans believe Faye to be in love with Spike, there are still others who believe her feelings for him go no deeper than the love one has for a close friend, or perhaps a brother.

[edit] Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV

Seiyū: Aoi Tada

Voice Actress: Melissa Fahn

The self invented name of an elite netdiver from Earth, Ed is a very strange, somewhat androgynous young girl assumed to be about 13 years old. Ed could be considered a "free spirit"; she is fond of silly exclamations and childish rhymes, easily distracted, and the show's primary source of physical humor. Over the course of the show she rarely walks anywhere, preferring to run, crawl, flip, roll, walk on her hands, or even just saunter. She is perpetually barefoot. In the English version, she always refers to herself in the third person. Not much is known about her origins, only that she spent some of her earlier childhood in an orphanage after being left there by her father, a man named Appledelhi Siniz Hesap Lütfen (he calls Ed "Françoise", and she may be of Turkish origin as this man's name means "excuse me, check please" in Turkish). In the manga it is revealed that she was friends with a timid young boy in the orphanage known simply as "Tomato" (which also happens to be the name scrawled in katakana on the front of her computer) who, like Ed, knew a great deal about computers and the net, and it's probably safe to assume his friendship with Ed helped turn her into the genius hacker she is today. Ed's primary use to the Bebop crew is as a hacker; she is widely known to be a genius behind a computer (with the possible exception of Ein the data dog). Ed has a strong rapport with Jet, who acts as a surrogate father, and Faye, who acts as something of a big sister (much to Faye's chagrin). Ed also seems to be the only person who can understand Ein.

In the last episodes of the series Ed and Ein decide to stay on Earth, presumably because Ed finally meets her father. The episode in which this occurs is "Hard Luck Woman" since the story mostly focuses on Faye. This leads to the end result of Ed leaving with Ein. The episode has been nicknamed "The 50.000 000 Woo~longs" since it is the reason the whole crew met Ed's "father-person".

Originally, Ed's character was based on a description of the series' music director ("a little weird, catlike, but a genius at creating music") and was originally going to be a dark-skinned boy. It was presumably changed to even the gender ratio on the Bebop, which was, with Ed as a boy, three guys and one girl. This original character design appears in session 5, stealing a clearly adult magazine from Annie's bookstore by smuggling it under his shirt.

[edit] Ein

Ein is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi brought aboard the Bebop by Spike after a failed attempt to capture a bounty. Ein is a "data dog": while the televised series only briefly hints on the fact that this means Ein's brain was somehow enhanced drastically, the manga shows Ed accessing data stored in Ein's brain via a virtual reality-type interface with which she has a conversation with a human proprietor. It is obvious that Ein is abnormally intelligent, as he is able to answer the telephone, drive a car (just the wheel), use the SSW, play shōgi, and generally do a number of other things that an average canine shouldn't be able to do, but he never talks in a human language during the show. He does, however, speak during one of the previews. He is able to 'speak' to other species, as demonstrated in Session 17, "Mushroom Samba" (he spoke to a cow with a subtitled bark of "Thanks", to which the cow has a subtitled moo back of "No problem"). Ein is apparently also able to hack into computers via a brain wave interface (demonstrated in Session 23, "Brain Scratch"), further indication of his abnormal capabilities. It is likely that Ed is the only crew member with any idea of Ein's capabilities, as the other crew members are quick to dismiss Ein, and never seem to acknowledge him as more than a pet. Ein initially takes a shine to Jet, but when Ed joins the crew, he comes around to her as well. Frequently the two trade roles, with Ein expressing very human sentiments via facial expression and Ed regressing to a feral state. He went with Ed after she left the crew, probably because of his attachment to her. His name is a pun on the Japanese word for "dog" (犬 inu) but is also German for "one". 'Ein' may also be short for 'Einstein', after Albert Einstein, because of the extraordinary intelligence he possesses. It should also be noted, however, that "ein" is also Japanese for the perineum, but this epithet is highly doubtful, as the German pronunciation (which in Japanese would be spelled phonetically as アイン (ain)) is used.

[edit] Vicious

Seiyū: Norio Wakamoto

Voice Actor: Skip Stellrecht

Vicious lives up to his name: he is ruthless, bloodthirsty, cunning and ambitious, willing to do anything in order to secure a position of power. He is a member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate in Tharsis, and is often referred to or depicted as a venomous snake. It is suggested in the series and in guidebooks that he has not always been like this, and that the betrayal of Spike, his friend, and Julia, his lover, pushed him over the edge and made him into the monster that he is in the series. His weapon of choice is not a firearm, but a katana which he wields skillfully, even against gun-wielders. He was an infantry rifleman during the Titan War and is shown firing an automatic pistol in a Session 5 flashback, as well as in the Session 26 flashback of him and Spike fighting back-to-back. Early on, Vicious is sometimes seen with a black bird on his shoulder. This bird is eventually used as a distraction and weapon, either a cybernetic or robotic construct with built-in explosives.

Vicious was Spike's partner in the Red Dragon crime syndicate until they fell into conflict over Julia. After Spike's supposed death, Vicious also leaves the Red Dragons briefly to fight in the Titan War of 2068 although his precise motivations for enlisting are debated. The blood feud between Spike and Vicious is an ongoing storyline throughout Cowboy Bebop. Vicious believes that he is the only one who can kill, or "awaken" Spike, as Spike is the only one who can do the same for Vicious. Vicious' real age is revealed in the official guidebook The After: at 27, he's the same age as Spike, although he appears to be much older. The age 27 is a significant age in the series because of the connotations it has to some legendary musicians passing away at that age, who are called the 27 Club. He may seem older due to the heavy, ever-present bags under his eyes. Because of this and his affinity towards Red Eye deals, it is possible that he is a user of the mind and vision altering drug. Evidence of this is briefly seen during a flashback at Julia's apartment which shows a capsule of Red Eye on the window sill during Session 13: Jupiter Jazz, Part 2.

[edit] Julia

Seiyū: Gara Takashima

Voice Actress: Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

Julia is a beautiful and mysterious woman from both Spike and Vicious' pasts. A love triangle among the three caused Spike to leave the syndicate rather than challenge Vicious. Spike had wanted to take her with him when he left the syndicate, but she was blackmailed by Vicious into almost shooting Spike. Vicious found out they were planning to run away together and confronted Julia, telling her that she would kill Spike, or both of them would be killed. To protect not only herself but also the man she loved, she ran away, never meeting Spike at the cemetery as both of them had planned. (Spike himself was never aware of her reasons for not meeting him until the very end of the series.) Julia only appears in flashbacks until the final two episodes of the series. Julia acts as a stark contrast to the world around her — her blonde hair, bright red umbrella and automobile stand out in the otherwise drab environments that she inhabits.

Julia's name comes from the Beatles song "Julia" on The White Album.

[edit] Grencia Mars Elijah Guo Eckener

Seiyū: Kenyū Horiuchi

Voice Actor: Michael Gregory

Gren was once a soldier for the war on Titan who appears in the two part episodes 'Jupiter Jazz'. On Titan he fought beside Vicious, whom he looked up to and found encouragement in during the brutal, bloody war. After the war Gren came back in hopes of a life as a jazz musician but that plan was cut short when he was arrested on the pretence of being a spy. In prison Gren heard that it was Vicious who testified against him; this, the isolation, and insomnia drove him mad. To top it off the prison had taken to using prisoners for drug experiments, and he was forced to endure these tests, having powerfuly, highly addictive drugs forced into him. In turn, the drugs threw his hormones severely out of whack, and caused him to develop more a feminine figure, breasts included.

Finally, after his body had been transformed and his sanity shattered, he managed to escape from prison, hiding away in The Blue Crow. After his escape from jail, Gren worked as a saxophone player at Rester House, a bar in a sector called 'The Blue Crow', which is located on one of Jupiter's moons, Callisto. He met Julia there and found out how Vicious betrayed him. Two years later, Faye wandered into the bar, meeting up with Gren. In an act of kindness, Gren 'rescued' Faye from a fight she picked and allowed her to come back to his apartment. While Faye was there, Vicious called, alarming her and raising suspicions about the musician. Intruding on him while showering, Faye discovered Gren's secret, so to speak. Explaining to her how he came to be like he was, he also told her that he was going to see if Vicious really framed him, knowing that he did. When Faye said he'd be killed in the process, he said that death didn't frighten him, and he didn't have long to live, anyway. Disguising himself as a woman, so that Vicious wouldn't recognize him, Gren met up with the Syndicate member, along with Lin, who was there to protect Vicious. Exchanging Red Eye for Titan Opal, Gren suspected a trap, and that the case Vicious gave him had been rigged to explode, so he shot it open, setting off the explosive; after this Gren revealed who he was, and finally confronted Vicious about what happened when he returned from Titan. Exchanging fire, Lin threw himself in front of Vicious to protect him, and was killed. Meanwhile, Spike arrived and took after Vicious, however, Gren had planted the music box in the bag of Red Eye, and it was also rigged with an explosive, which did considerable damage to Vicious' ship. However, his own ship was severely damaged in the process. Spike, wanting to find out more about Julia and her whereabouts, lands Swordfish next to Gren's crashed ship, and finds Gren lying in the snow. Spike rushes to Gren's side. Gren mentions something that Julia said about Spike. It became apparent to Spike, that Gren had little time left. Acting on Gren's last request, he helped him back into his ship and sent him off to Titan, as, if he couldn't be there when he died, he'd at least be on his way.

[edit] Punch and Judy

Seiyū: Tsutomu Taruki and Miki Nagasawa

Voice Actors: Paul St. Peter and Lia Sargent

Punch and Judy are the characters of the TV show Big Shot. The show provides information on various bountyheads, but is often unreliable. The Bebop crew often has the show playing in the background, but seldom pays close attention (they usually get their information from close contacts). Punch and Judy play the "cowboy" persona in a characteristic, "over the top" fashion. Punch adopts a mid-western drawl mixed with a Mexican accent (both faked), and uses random old-West sayings. Judy plays the stereotypical dumb blonde, and always appears in an open bolero jacket with nothing underneath, frequently wiggling her hips with excitement. Big Shot gets cancelled towards the end of the series, and Punch (lacking accent and costume) makes a brief cameo revealing his and Judy's fates: he moves to Mars to live with his mother and Judy is engaged to marry her agent. In the last episode of Big Shot, it appears that Judy was not informed of the show's cancellation and shoved Punch out of the way as she said into the camera that '[her] agent would hear about this!'

The character names and the loose concept of Big Shot are most likely a tongue-in-cheek reference to the British style of puppet-show known as Punch and Judy.

[edit] The Three Old Men

Seiyū: Hitoshi Hirao (Antonio), Toshihiko Nakajima (Carlos), and Hiroshi Naka (Jobim)

Voice Actors: Steve Kramer (Antonio), Richard Cansino (Carlos), and Paul St. Peter (Jobim)

Throughout the series and the movie, three rude, foul-mouthed, crotchety old men make frequent appearances, as speaking characters, or in the background during scenes. They make various claims about what they did before becoming old-timers, including bounty hunting, building the stargates, farming, piloting planes in a war, digging ditches, and crop-dusting. They seem on speaking terms with many supporting characters, and though they run into the main characters often there is not much attention paid to them (or even that the main characters have seen them before). They also did the voice-overs for the preview of the episode "Mushroom Samba". According to the movie credits, they are called Antonio, Carlos, and Jobim (a reference to the Brazilian musician Antonio Carlos Jobim). This is a common concept in some anime, also occurring in Love Hina.

Rumor has it, that at least one of the men, Jobim, is deceased. Purportedly, his was one of the bodies seen in a pile of executed corpses in "Brain Scratch" [2].

[edit] Roco Bonnaro

Seiyū: Ryūsei Nakao

Roco Bonnaro is a member of Piccaro Calvino's gang. He is involved in organized crime in order to support his blind sister, Stella, and does everything he can to help her regain her sight. Roco sees Spike effortlessly take out several hijackers on a spaceliner and begs Spike to teach him how to fight. He befriends Spike although he doesn't tell him about the bounty on his head. Everything goes awry when Roco gives Spike a package to hold onto, which contains a plant called "Grey Ash" that he stole from Calvino. This plant, worth millions upon millions of woolongs, is capable of curing "Venus Sickness", the disease which has blinded Stella. Roco has a rendezvous with Spike and they fight against Calvino's gang. Roco manages to pull off one of Spike's Jeet Kune Do maneuvers and topples one of the gangsters, but, in the chaos, Roco is gunned down. He asks Spike if they would have been friends if they had met sooner, and dies. Later, Spike pays his respects and visits Stella, although she can feel that Roco has died.

[edit] References

1. ^ In the first episode, when facing a bounty-head hopped up on Red Eye, Spike mocks him, calling his moves "too slow". At first, this seems like posturing on Spike's part, but even with his senses and reflexes accelerated to superhuman levels by the drug, the bounty cannot lay a finger on Spike.