Today, i noticed that Trigun had been released on Netflix instant, so i decided to go back through it again. I've seen it before, so i know how it goes, but it made me think about good character development, especially as it pertains to creating mysteries around your characters. The main character of the show, Vash the stampede (pictured) spends the entire first half of the series playing the clown, while the entire planet is convinced that he is a merciless killer, with a bounty of $$60,000,000,000 on his head. The guy is absolutely loveable, but the whole planet wants him dead? BOOM. I'm hooked.The real trick of it is that confusion. The first episode is about bounty hunters looking for the legendary Vash the stampede, trying to win the bounty, but the whole time, nobody is quite sure who he is, two different red herrings appear, decked out with big guns and bad attitudes, while some goofy clown bounces around in the background. After awhile, it dawns n them that HE is Vash the stampede, and they join forces to capture him. But the goofy clown never fires a shot,surely this can't be the notorious gunman everyone is hunting down? Well, of course it is. that's the whole thing, the hero is this goofy guy who according to the legend destroys entire towns in a moment, and we've never even seen him fire a shot! it doesn't make any sense, and that's what draws you in.
You know, I really liked that show UNTIL they started getting serious with it. The whole first six episodes, which were all about Vash and how it wasn't clear exactly how much of his crazy, terrified antics were because he was terrified, and how much was him putting up a front to hide the fact that he was secretly awesome.
ReplyDeletePersonally, i think the transition actually makes Vash more interesting as a character. It adds more internal conflict, because we know from the first few episodes that he wants to be peaceable, but to save lives, he has to end others. It's the same conflict that batman faces in The Dark Knight, and really, half of what made that joker so awesome.
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