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This Magnificent Baddie was Headlined on April 2023. | ||
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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | When Angels are thrown out from Heaven, they become Devils, you agree, don't you, Spike? | „ |
| ~ Vicious to Spike in Ballad of Fallen Angels. |
| “ | There is nothing to believe in. There is no need to believe. | „ |
| ~ Vicious's nihilistic personality. |
Vicious is the main antagonist of the anime series, Cowboy Bebop.
He was once an assassin who worked under the Red Dragon Syndicate who intended on overthrowing the elders, wanting to have the syndicate return to their bloody old ways. As an assassin, Vicious would work with Spike in past, who would eventually become his archenemy after an affair with Vicious' partner, Julia.
In the Japanese dub, he is voiced by Norio Wakamoto. In the English dub, he is voiced by Skip Stellrecht.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- Despite being a Pure Evil villain, Vicious is ultimately one due to his nihilistic worldview, backstabbing tendencies and passing general standards as opposed to willful cruelty. Other Pure Evils, Lee Sampson, who's a card-carrying For the Evulz criminal, and especially The Van, who are responsible for the majority of series' conflicts, proved themselves to be more detestable than he was, who goes on rodering public places shot up to kill anyone even remotely associated with any sort of "treachery", including retirement.
- He was an incredibly successful assassin in the past.
- Upon finally tracking Spike down, who had faked his death to leave the Red Dragons, he plants a fake bounty on Mao after killing him and using his body as bait to lure in his money-hungry partner, Faye Valentine, to draw Spike out.
- His fight with Spike Spiegel in Ballad of Fallen Angels is most likely one of the most iconic battles in anime history, memorable for the intensity, imagery, and overall exchange between the two enemies.
- He secretly betrayed his friend named Gren years ago during the Titan War by first selling out key details to an enemy of his, then uses Gren's friendship with him to trick him into taking blame for what Vicious had done.
- He successfully convinces the boastful and haughty Van to grant him permission to take Red Eye from Gren.
- He gives off helpful advice to a loyal minion of his named Lin using nihilistic yet clever dialogue and encourages Lin to betray Vicious if he ever wants to survive his own path, testing his loyalty in the process.
- He successfully took over the Red Dragon Syndicate from the much more smug and detestable Van, rallying up a legion of men to lead a coup against them. Then, when the coup fails, Vicious instead uses reverse psychology to manipulate the Van into delaying his own execution so that he can plant his men and his pet bird to free him from his chains, giving a satisfyingly karmic death to the Van and taking over the entire Syndicate as a result.
- He brilliantly ordered his men to destroy any and all opposition to his new reign, first trying to take out Spike and Julia at the bar the latter worked at and indirectly succeeding in killing the latter.
- He tactically guesses that Lin's loyal brother and fellow member named Shin has committed treason on Vicious to join Spike's side and gives him words of wisdom before finally fighting Spike.
- In his final battle with Spike, he gives Spike back his gun. While not necessarily honorable, it shows Vicious likes to have some sort of challenge with his opponents before delivering the final blow to them, and treats Spike as a worthy enemy.
- Both Norio Wakamoto and Skip Stellrecht bring life into Vicious's overall cold and ruthless nature.
- Vicious has cemented himself as perhaps one of the most iconic anime villains in history due to his great rivalry with Spike, his chilling scenes, and his overall dreadful yet cool demeanor.
What Makes Him a Baddie?[]
- He is an assassin that likely killed dozens of people in the past, innocent or not, which lead to his rise to power.
- He murders his mentor, Yao Yenrai, who Spike notes was even his surrogate father who picked him up from the streets and raised him, after slaughtering through a peace summit and sabotaging it as he believes the Syndicate should slaughter all who oppose them than make peace, which he intends to bring when taking over.
- Is selling Red Eye, a very dangerous drug that drives people to homicidal mania, and he slightly above just the Van's mook for this as he uses Julia's name as a codename for his shady deals.
- He casually dismisses Lin's death when he took the bullet for Vicious.
- He destroyed the lives of nearly all of his closest friends, Julia, Spike and Gren, framing Gren as a spy that lead him to be horrifically experimented on by the government as the result, while forcing Julia to kill Spike under the threat of killing them both, and these all culminate in Vicious eventually causing all of their deaths by the end (although in Spike's case it is more ambiguous).
- While the Van definitely deserved their brutal deaths, Vicious still also slaughtered the men loyal to them as well who were nowhere near as cruel, and even sacrificed his pet bird for the coup.
- Knowingly sends dozens of his men to their doom to lure in Spike for a final confrontation and wear him out.
Trivia[]
- He is the only Cowboy Bebop Magnificent Baddie to not be a one-shot character.
- The Netflix version doesn't qualify due to being too petty and childish. Ironic, since that version has legitimate redeemable qualities.
External Link[]
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2022
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2023
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2024
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2025
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 Magnificent Baddies
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Official Fanon | ||