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The following is a list of major and minor characters from the
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series '' Cowboy Bebop'', directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and written by
Keiko Nobumoto was a Japanese screenwriter. She wrote the screenplay for '' Cowboy Bebop'' and created ''Wolf's Rain''. Nobumoto died from esophageal cancer on December 1, 2021, at the age of 57. Filmography * Series head writer denoted in bold Anime televi ...
, its
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series adaptation, written by Kuga Cain and Yutaka Nanten, and its live-action adaptation, developed by
André Nemec André Nemec (born 1972) is an American writer, showrunner and producer. His screenplays include '' Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol'' and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. He is also the co-creator of CBS's summer hit series ''Zoo'', as ...
and written by
Christopher Yost Christopher Lee Yost (born February 21, 1973) is an American film, television, animation, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe with '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) and '' Thor: Ragnarok'' ( ...
.


''Bebop'' crew


Spike Spiegel

: :Portrayed by:
John Cho John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the ''Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series. Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian Ame ...
is a tall, lean, and slightly muscular 27-year-old
bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...
born on
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
. Spike has a history of violent activity, seen through flashbacks and dialogue with the Red Dragon Syndicate. He is often depicted with a cavalier attitude, but occasionally shows signs of compassion when dealing with strangers. The inspiration for Spike's martial arts is found in
Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...
, who uses the style of ''
Jeet Kune Do Jeet Kune Do is a primarily wing chun kung fu inspired eclectic martial arts philosophy heavily influenced and adapted by the Taoist personal life philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee. Overview and philosophy Jeet Kune ...
'' as depicted in Session 8, "Waltz for Venus". He has fluffy, blackish green hair (inspired by
Yūsaku Matsuda was a Japanese actor. In Japan, he was best known for roles in action films and a variety of television series in the 1970s as well as a switch to a wider range of roles in the 1980s. His final film appearance was as the villain Sato in Ridley ...
's role as Shunsaku Kudō in ''
Tantei Monogatari , or ''Detective Story'', is an action Japanese TV series starring Yūsaku Matsuda that was originally broadcast on Nippon TV in 27 forty-five-minute episodes from September 18, 1979 to April 1, 1980. The show had various directors including Tor ...
'') and reddish brown eyes, one of which is artificial and lighter than the other. He is usually dressed in a blue lounge suit, black skinny tie, with a yellow shirt and ''
Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène ...
''-inspired boots. A flashback in Session 6 revealed that his apparently fully functioning right eye was surgically replaced by a 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"). A recurring device throughout the entire show is a closeup on Spike's fully natural left eye before dissolving to a flashback of his life as part of the syndicate. As said by Spike himself in the last episode, his right eye "only sees the present" and his left eye "only sees the past". The purpose of this cybernetic eye is never explicitly stated, though it apparently gives him exceptional hand–eye coordination – particularly with
firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...
(Spike's gun of choice is a
Jericho 941 The Jericho 941 is a double-action/single-action semi-automatic pistol developed by Israel Military Industries (now Israel Weapon Industries) introduced in 1990. It was first imported into the United States in 1990 by K.B.I., Inc. of Harrisbur ...
, as seen throughout the series). He is also a talented pilot in his personal fighter, the ''Swordfish II'', a modified racer. In the final episode, Spike kills Vicious and collapses afterward, but his fate after the battle has never been officially confirmed. Spike does go from seeing his beloved and recently departed Julia with his left eye, the eye that sees his past to seeing her with his right eye, the eye that sees his present. In a May 2013 interview, director Shinichiro Watanabe stated "I want the audience to interpret it however they want to. I want them to interpret it themselves. Just because I put something there does not mean they have to believe it. If I say something in an interview that tends to make it official so I try to avoid a definite answer. In the past, people watching my shows have come up with better ideas than my original intention for the story. So I think it's good to let people use their imaginations."


Jet Black

: :Portrayed by:
Mustafa Shakir Mustafa Shakir (born August 21, 1976) is an American actor known for his portrayal as Bushmaster in ''Marvel's Luke Cage'', Big Mike in ''The Deuce'' and Jet Black in ''Cowboy Bebop'' (2021). Biography and career Shakir was born in North Caro ...
Known on his home satellite as the "Black Dog" for his tenacity, is a 36-year-old former cop from Ganymede (a
Jovian Jovian is the adjectival form of Jupiter and may refer to: * Jovian (emperor) (Flavius Iovianus Augustus), Roman emperor (363–364 AD) * Jovians and Herculians, Roman imperial guard corps * Jovian (lemur), a Coquerel's sifaka known for ''Zoboomafo ...
satellite) and acts as Spike's
foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal 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 Intra Solar System Police (ISSP) for many years until he lost his arm in an investigation that went awry when his
corrupt Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
partner betrayed him. His arm was replaced with a
cybernetic Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...
limb—an operation later revealed to be by choice as biological replacements were possible. He wanted the fake arm as a reminder of the consequences of his actions. His loss of one of his limbs 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 A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
: he cultivates
bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...
trees, cooks, enjoys
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
/
blues music Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
(he named his ship the ''
Bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...
'', referring to a type of jazz), especially
Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
, and even has interest in
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
. As a character, Jet is the quintessential "dad" even though he often wishes people would view him as a more brotherly figure (so as not to seem old). Of the crew he shows the most obvious affection when dealing with Edward, most obviously shown when he tells her a story in Session 18; he is also shown attempting to (perhaps falsely) reassure himself after she and Faye leave the crew of the ''Bebop''. Jet is skilled with
handguns A handgun is a short-gun barrel, barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also ...
, typically carrying a pre-2004
Walther P99 The Walther P99 () is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for law enforcement, security forces and the civilian shooting market as a replacement for the Walther P5 and the P88. The P99 and ...
, and also uses the netgun. He is proficient in hand-to-hand combat as well. Compared to Spike, Jet tends to use more raw
muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...
than technique. He is also a skilled
mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and r ...
and pilot. Aside from the converted interplanetary fishing trawler vessel ''Bebop'', Jet flies a smaller ship called ''Hammerhead''. The ''Hammerhead'' appears to be a modified salvage-craft, to which Jet has added larger engines and fuel tanks. It features a mechanical arm equipped with a
harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, seal hunting, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the t ...
as its main weapon, which is somewhat analogous to Jet's own mechanical arm. Both the ''Hammerhead'' and the ''Bebop'' are able to land on water, and have a fishing theme. It is later revealed that the ''Bebop'' was originally a fishing ship that Jet "customized" with larger engines. He is very protective of the ''Bebop'', often being reluctant to bring it into situations where it could be damaged, and taking great offense when someone insults it. Jet once lived with a woman named Alisa, who left him, claiming that he was overprotective towards her. They meet when the ''Bebop'' stops on Ganymede, Jet's homeworld and Jet goes to find her. He talks to her and then leaves, but later he finds out that Alisa's new boyfriend, Rhint, is wanted for murder. Jet detains Rhint and later hands him over to police.


Faye Valentine

: :Portrayed by:
Daniella Pineda Daniella Pineda (born February 20, 1987) is an American actress. She has had major roles in several films and TV series, including '' The Originals'', Netflix's live-action '' Cowboy Bebop'', and multiple films in the ''Jurassic Park'' franchise ...
is one of the members of the bounty hunting crew in the anime series '' Cowboy Bebop''. She is often seen with a cigarette and in a revealing outfit complete with bright yellow hot pants and a matching, revealing top (and, on occasion, a bikini). She sports violet hair and green eyes. Although appearing to be no more than 22-23 years old, Faye is actually around 77 years old, having been put into cryogenic freeze after a space shuttle accident, wherein she spent fifty-four years in
suspended animation Suspended animation is the temporary (short- or long-term) slowing or stopping of biological function so that physiological capabilities are preserved. It may be either hypometabolic or ametabolic in nature. It may be induced by either endogen ...
. During the course of the series (set in 2071), Faye crosses paths with Spike and Jet twice and makes herself at home aboard their ship the second time around, much to the consternation and disapproval of the two men, both of whom have their own reservations about women in general. Seemingly little more than a thorn in her partners' sides, Faye is actually a well-rounded member of the team. She can handle herself exceptionally well in spite of her slight appearance, displaying at least once in the series (in " Cowboy Funk") that she has a powerful punch. Adept at flying, Faye has stood her ground just as well as Spike has in an aerial dogfight in her ship ''Red Tail'', and at times even against Spike in an aerial dogfight (though Spike eventually proved the better pilot). She also excels with guns, and is first seen in the series completely destroying a shop with a
Heckler & Koch MP5K The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...
, though she is immediately apprehended afterward. In the movie, she is seen with the same gun, in addition to her normal companion: a
Glock 30 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...
. Faye has an almost unstoppable attitude, and even her sometimes innocent smile can be seen as dangerous. She has many bad habits, such as drinking, habitual gambling, smoking cigarettes and occasionally cigars, becoming unnecessarily violent, and turning on partners when the profits seem too skimpy. Sarcastic and presumptuous, she rarely appears weak or in need of support. She brags and takes care of herself, never trusting others, cheating and lying her way from one day to the next. She also shows herself capable of unpredictable behavior, as when she kissed Ed on the mouth to snap Ed from one of her rambling moments. She is a woman who is skilled at getting what she wants; her indomitable exterior hides a more delicate interior. Upon awakening from her 54-year cryogenic sleep, not only was she saddled with a massive amount of debt that she had no means to pay, but she was also diagnosed with total
amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...
, a stranger in a mysterious world that she was not a part of and did not understand, surrounded by people who claimed to be helping her but were only there to take advantage of her naiveté. 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 Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
on Earth, and was the daughter of a very wealthy family, as the city's famous
Merlion The Merlion () is the official mascot of Singapore. It is depicted as a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. Being of prominent symbolic nature to Singapore and Singaporeans in general, it is widely used to repre ...
statue features prominently in scenes of her childhood, and that memories and a film from her childhood showed her living in a large mansion. Faye is supposedly her real name, as a high school classmate (by now an old disabled woman) recognises her and calls her by that name. In her debut episode, she claims to be descended from
Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
, but it later becomes apparent that that was likely a lie. Utterly betrayed by someone she thought she could trust after waking, Faye found herself burdened with even more money to pay, and the situation resulted in the hardening of her personality to an extreme degree. She even says in Session 11: "we deceive or we are deceived", and that "nothing good ever happened to me when I trusted others". By the end of the series she learns to value her comrades, coming back to the ''Bebop'' when she realizes that it is the only home that she has left, naming it as the "only place I could return to". She grows to understand the disadvantages of being a loner, and that even though her "family" is somewhat dysfunctional it is still a place where she will always belong. Throughout the series, though she grows to care for Jet and even Edward in her own way, it is her relationship with Spike that remains a cause for consideration by most. In Session 20, Spike teases her and asks if she will come to help him if he gets into trouble, and though she scoffs at his remark, she eventually does. Faye even points her gun at him in a threatening gesture in the last episode, as Spike is walking away to what she and Jet both realize is his possible death; after he leaves, Faye cries. When asked, Watanabe stated in an interview: "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."


Ed

: :Portrayed by: Eden Perkins is an elite
hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...
from Earth. "Radical Edward" is a very strange and extremely intelligent teenage girl of around thirteen years of age. "Radical Ed" could be considered a "free spirit"; she is fond of silly exclamations and childish rhymes, is easily distracted, has the habit of "drifting off" from reality sometimes in mid-sentence. Ed's generally carefree attitude and energy act as a counterpoint to the more solemn and dark aspects of the show and is the anime's primary source of
comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...
. Ed remains a part of the Bebop crew until the twenty-fourth episode, when she, along with Ein, leaves the crew. In the English dub, she almost 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, who appears in episode twenty-four. Her father, Appeldelhi Siniz Hesap Lutfen, recognizes her immediately by her birth name of "Françoise Lütfen" and while initially unsure of her sex, leaves shortly after to continue his unending quest to document every
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
that falls to
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
from the wreckage of the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
. In the manga, she was a friend of a timid young boy in the
orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...
known simply as "Tomato" (the name given to her PC in the anime), who, like Ed, knew a great deal about computers and the net. Ed's primary use to the ''Bebop'' crew is as a hacker; she is widely known to be a
whiz kid A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...
behind the computer. Ed's computer of choice is a carry-along desktop, and when traveling by foot she will balance it on her head. Her goggles can interact with it to give her a virtual reality environment in which she can browse an entire network at once. Originally, Ed's character was inspired by the "inner behavior" of the shows' music composer,
Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer best known for her work on the soundtracks of anime series, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. She has wri ...
("a little weird, catlike, but a genius at creating music"), and was first developed as a dark-skinned boy. It was changed to even the gender ratio on the ''Bebop'', which was, with Ed as a boy, three males and one female. The original character design appears in session 5 as a young boy that steals an adult magazine from Annie's bookstore by smuggling it under his shirt which eventually he takes out and reads. Regarding Ed, Watanabe mentioned in a 2017 interview with IGN that the character's "gender is meaningless." As for the reason why Ed's gender was ambiguous, he said wanted to create a character that surpasses humanity, going so far as to say that Ed might not even be human. It was also during this interview that Watanabe referred to Ed as both "it" and "he."


Ein

: is a
Pembroke Welsh Corgi The Pembroke Welsh Corgi (; Welsh for "dwarf dog") is a cattle herding dog breed that originated in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is one of two breeds known as a Welsh Corgi. Pembroke Welsh Corgis descended from the Spitz family of dogs. The other i ...
brought aboard the ''Bebop'' by Spike after a failed attempt to capture a bounty. He often shows heightened awareness of events going on around him. Over the course of the series, Ein answers the telephone, steers a car, uses the SSW, plays
shogi , also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, ''chaturanga, Xiangqi'', Indian chess, and '' janggi''. ''Shōgi'' ...
, operates the "Brain Dream" gaming device (to hack a supercomputer in a few seconds), and generally performs tasks that an average canine would not be able to accomplish. While the televised series only briefly hints that Ein's brain was somehow enhanced, the manga shows Ed accessing data stored in Ein's brain via a
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
-type interface with which she has a conversation with a human proprietor. Ein is able to "speak" to other species, as demonstrated in Session 17: "Mushroom Samba" (he speaks to a cow with a subtitled bark of "Thanks", to which the cow has a subtitled moo back of "Oh, it's no problem"). Ein initially takes a shine to Jet, but when Ed joins the crew he comes around to her as well. He follows Ed when she leaves the crew.


Red Dragon Crime Syndicate

An
East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea a ...
triad organization led by a group called The Van. The Van are usually seen wearing imperial Manchurian-
Chinese clothing Chinese clothing includes both the traditional hanfu and modern variations of indigenous Chinese dress as recorded by the artifacts and some traditional arts of Chinese culture. Chinese clothing has been shaped through its dynastic traditions, as ...
of the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
. The syndicate specializes in assassinations, but are also involved in the trafficking of narcotics, Red Eye in particular. The rules of the syndicate states that members who attempt to leave, or fail to complete tasks, are punished by death. Mao Yenrai served as a captain or '' Capo'' to the Elders and was a mentor to both Vicious and Spike. After leaving the Syndicate, Spike considers himself in Mao's "debt", and is motivated to confront Vicious for the first time when Mao is killed by two men in Vicious' employ. It takes place immediately after Mao signs a peace treaty with a rival crime syndicate, the White Tiger, expressing a desire for relief from the hypervigilance of
gang warfare A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
. The Van later refers to Mao's death as "bad luck" and decline to pursue the issue when confronting Vicious. The Van is also shown to be indulgent toward Vicious initially, which eventually creates their demise. Vicious kills the Van and becomes the head of the Syndicate.


Vicious

: :Portrayed by:
Alex Hassell Alexander Stephen Hassell (born 7 September 1980) is an English actor. He is co-founder of The Factory Theatre Company. Early life and education Hassell was born in Southend, England, the youngest of four, to a vicar. He trained at the Central S ...
is Spike's
archenemy In literature, an archenemy (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) is the main enemy of someone. In fiction, it is a character who is the protagonist's, commonly a hero's, most prominent and most-known enemy. Etymology The word ''archenemy'' sometim ...
. He is a ruthless, cunning, and power-hungry member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate in
Tharsis Tharsis () is a vast volcanic plateau centered near the equator in the western hemisphere of Mars. The region is home to the largest volcanoes in the Solar System, including the three enormous shield volcanoes Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Asc ...
, and is often referred to or depicted as a venomous snake (as opposed to Spike who is referred to as a swimming bird and the Syndicate Elders who see themselves as a dragon). His weapon of choice is a
katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...
which he wields skillfully, even against gun-wielders. He was an infantry rifleman during the Titan War and is shown firing a semi-automatic pistol in a Session 5 flashback, as well as in the Session 26 flashback of him and Spike fighting back-to-back. Vicious is usually seen accompanied by a black
cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...
-like bird. He eventually hides explosives in its stomach and detonates them as a distraction during an escape. Vicious was Spike's partner in the Red Dragon crime syndicate until they fell into conflict over Julia. After Spike's supposed death, Vicious left the Red Dragons briefly to fight in the Titan War of 2068. Although his precise motivations for enlisting are debated, his testimony helped frame Gren, his squadmate in the war, for spying, which raises the possibility that he himself might have been involved in military espionage on behalf of the Syndicate and chose to pin it on his admirer. However, in the Titan flashbacks he is also seen to be remembering Julia. 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's real age is revealed in the official guidebook ''The After'': at 27, he is the same age as Spike. The age 27 is significant in the series because of the connotations it has to some legendary musicians passing away at that age, who are called the
27 Club The 27 Club is an informal list consisting mostly of popular musicians, artists, actors, and other celebrities who died at age 27. Although the claim of a "statistical spike" for the death of musicians at that age has been refuted by scientific ...
. He appears much older due to his gray hair and the heavy, ever-present bags under his eyes.


Julia

: :Portrayed by:
Elena Satine Elena Satine (born November 24, 1987) is a Georgia (country), Georgian-American actress and singer. On television, she has been featured as a series regular on the Starz period drama ''Magic City (TV series), Magic City'' (2012–2013), the Ame ...
is a beautiful and mysterious woman from Spike's past. Initially Vicious' girlfriend and a Syndicate member herself, she and Spike started an affair that led to Spike offering to abandon the Syndicate and
elope Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...
with her, despite the fact that the Syndicate punishes desertion with death. Arranging to meet at a graveyard, Spike goes to confront the Syndicate with his resignation, resulting in a violent gun battle where he is presumed to have died. Vicious discovers the affair, however, and confronts Julia, telling her that she would have to kill Spike at the graveyard, or else they would both be killed. To protect not only herself but also the man she loved, Julia goes into hiding, never meeting Spike as both of them had planned; Spike is never aware of Vicious' threats until the very end of the series. Despite being among the main driving points for the series, Julia only appears in flashbacks until the final two episodes. After meeting
Faye Valentine The following is a list of major and minor characters from the anime series '' Cowboy Bebop'', directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and written by Keiko Nobumoto, its manga series adaptation, written by Kuga Cain and Yutaka Nanten, and its live-a ...
by coincidence, Julia is reunited with Spike. However, their reunion coincides with Vicious' first attempt to stage a coup on the Red Dragon Syndicate. When he fails and is imprisoned, the Syndicate's Old Guard launches a campaign to find and kill anyone who was or had ever been loyal to Vicious' group. This includes Spike, Julia and their friend Annie, who distributes munitions under cover of a convenience store. The store is ambushed by the Syndicate while Spike and Julia are there, and Julia is shot and killed as she and Spike try to escape across the rooftops. Her last words to Spike are "''It's all a dream...''".


Lin

: :Portrayed by: Hoa Xuande is a young and loyal member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate who is asked by Wang Long to accompany Vicious on a drug deal to the moon Callisto. When Spike Spiegel confronts Vicious in a back alleyway at night, Lin steps in and shoots Spike with a tranquilizer bullet. Lin used to work under Spike, but since Spike left the Red Dragons, he works under Vicious. Lin accompanies Vicious to the Red Eye deal atop a roof, where they encounter Gren. When fighting between the two starts, Lin throws himself in front of a bullet meant for Vicious. Lin dies, but is mentioned in "The Real Folk Blues Part I" when his brother, Shin, shows up.


Shin

: :Portrayed by: Ann Truong is the younger brother of Lin. He appears in "The Real Folk Blues Part I" to rescue Spike and Jet from Syndicate assassins, which leads to him revealing Vicious's coup against the Red Dragon leaders. He appears in "The Real Folk Blues, Part II" during Spike's attack on the Red Dragon headquarters, aiding him in the running gunfight against the Syndicate minions. Shin is killed shortly before Spike reaches Vicious. With his last words he asks Spike to kill Vicious and tells him that he had been hoping for him to return.


Annie

: is the owner of a convenience store on Mars, and an old friend of Spike, Julia and Mao Yenrai. Her name is short for "Anastasia". First introduced in "Ballad of Fallen Angels", Annie informs Spike of Mao's assassination by Vicious. She carries a variety of small arms and supplies Spike with a
Beretta Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta (; "Pietro Beretta Weapon Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and militar ...
pistol and a large carton of ammunition. She also chides Spike for seeking to avenge his mentor by picking a fight with Vicious. Annie is fatally wounded prior to Spike and Julia's arrival in "The Real Folk Blues, Part II".


Recurring characters


Gren Eckener

: :Portrayed by:
Mason Alexander Park Mason Alexander Park (born July 12, 1995) is an American actor. They gained prominence through their stage work, earning a Helen Hayes Award. On television, they are known for their roles in the Netflix adaptations of the anime '' Cowboy Bebop ...
, also simply referred to as , was a soldier for the war on Titan, and appears in the two-part episode " Jupiter Jazz". On Titan he fought beside Vicious, whom he admired and found encouragement in. After the war, Gren came back hoping to be a jazz musician, but he was arrested as a spy. In prison, Gren heard that Vicious testified against him; this and the isolation drove him mad. The prison conducted drug experiments on him. In some translations, he suffered from insomnia while in prison and started using drugs to deal with it. In either case, the drugs severely imbalanced his hormones, causing him to develop a feminine figure, including breasts. After escaping 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 from her how Vicious betrayed him. Two years later, Gren rescues Faye from a street fight and takes her to his apartment. While Faye is there, Vicious calls, raising suspicions about Gren. Intruding on him while showering, Faye discovers Gren's secret. Gren explains his background, and tells her that he is going to see if Vicious really framed him. Disguising himself as a woman, Gren meets Vicious and Lin. Exchanging Red Eye for Titan Opal, Gren suspects a trap. He shoots it open, setting off the explosive, and then reveals who he is. In the ensuing battle, Lin dies to protect Vicious. Spike arrives and attacks Vicious. Gren had planted an explosive in the bag of Red Eye, which damages Vicious' ship. In the 4-way dogfight with Vicious and Spike, Gren's ship is severely damaged, forcing him to land. Spike lands next to Gren's ship to find Gren lying in the snow, badly wounded. Gren guesses who Spike is by his eyes; "Julia was always talking about you; your eyes are different colors. I remember her saying that". Gren requests that Spike help him back into his ship and tow it out into space, allowing him to die on a final voyage to Titan.


Punch and Judy

:Punch –
Judy – :Portrayed by: Ira Munn (Punch); Lucy Carrey (Judy) and are the hosts of the TV show ''Big Shot''. They are named after the traditional English puppet show. The show provides information on various bounty heads, 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 Mexican Spanish ( es, español mexicano) is the variety of dialects and sociolects of the Spanish language spoken in Mexican territory. Mexico has the largest number of Spanish speakers, with more than twice as many as in any other country in ...
(both faked), and uses random old-West sayings. Judy plays the
stereotypical In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
dumb blonde Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde-haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the " blonde bombshell" and the "dumb blonde". Blondes are stereotyped as more desirable, but less intelligent than brunettes. There are many blo ...
, and always appears in an open
bolero jacket A shrug is a cropped, cardigan-like garment with short or long sleeves cut in one with the body, typically knitted. Generally, a shrug covers less of the body than a vest would, but it is more tailored than a shawl. Shrugs are typically worn as ...
with nothing underneath, frequently wiggling her hips with excitement. ''Big Shot'' is canceled towards the end of the series. Punch, lacking accent and costume, makes a cameo revealing his and Judy's fates: Punch, whose real name is Alfredo, moves to Mars to take care of his mother, and Judy is engaged to her agent, Cameron Wilson. Punch and Judy's appearances had no specific model; the characters had the style of typical television hosts.


Antônio, Carlos and Jobim

:Antônio –
Carlos –
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, sinking the , 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 mention that the main characters have seen them before). They do the preview of the episode " Mushroom Samba". According to the movie credits, they are called , , and . This is in reference to famed Brazilian musician
Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian mu ...
. In the film, they help Jet and Faye distribute the antidote for a deadly,
hallucinogenic Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorize ...
nanovirus ''Nanovirus'' is a genus of viruses, in the family ''Nanoviridae''. Legume plants serve as natural hosts. There are 11 species in this genus. Diseases associated with this genus include: stunting, severe necrosis and early plant death. Taxonom ...
by flying
20th-century The 20th (twentieth) century began on January 1, 1901 ( MCMI), and ended on December 31, 2000 ( MM). The 20th century was dominated by significant events that defined the modern era: Spanish flu pandemic, World War I and World War II, nuclear ...
era antique planes over Alba City. ''Cowboy Bebop Anime Guide Volume 4'' states that since the names of the three old men appear once, it is not certain whether the names Antônio, Carlos, and Jobim are their real names. In episode 22, Cowboy Funk, Antônio is briefly seen walking past a water fountain without Carlos and Jobim. All three make a cameo appearance in episode 11 of ''
Blood Blockade Battlefront is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. It revolves around a young photographer named Leonardo Watch, who obtains 'the All Seeing Eyes of the Gods' at the cost of his sister's eyesight. After the incident, ...
'', another series by the same animation studio as ''Cowboy Bebop''.


Laughing Bull

: A kind old
shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
, apparently of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American descent, lives on Mars. Spike goes to Laughing Bull for advice in Session 1 while looking for bounty head Asimov. He appears briefly at the beginning of "Jupiter Jazz, Part I" and at the end of "Jupiter Jazz, Part II". In "The Real Folk Blues, Part II", Jet goes to him for information on Spike's whereabouts. Laughing Bull is seen with a small child in "Jupiter Jazz" and with a young man in the movie; their identities have never been revealed. As a shaman, he dresses in classic Native American wear and lives in a teepee-like tent surrounded by relics of old, discarded technology. Laughing Bull refers to Spike as "Swimming Bird", and calls Jet "Running Rock".


Bob

: is an ISSP, mustache-wearing policeman based on Ganymede to whom Jet frequently goes to for inside information when looking for bounty heads. Throughout the series, and especially in the film, Bob provides (sometimes reluctantly) crucial information.


Other characters


Victoria "V.T." Terpsichore

: Victoria "V.T." Terpsichore is a tough-talking space trucker whose deceased husband, Ural Terpsichore, is a legendary bounty hunter. Always with her cat, Zeros, she appears in the episode "List of Cowboy Bebop episodes#ep7, Heavy Metal Queen". Spike meets her in a bar while on hunt for an explosive-smuggling criminal named Decker. After having a bar brawl with several stooges, Spike and V.T. seem to become fast friends until she learns Spike is a bounty hunter. Although she regards Spike as "lowlife bounty hunter scum", she puts their differences aside and reluctantly works with him when their paths cross again as V.T. begins searching for Decker, who has performed a ship Hit and run (vehicular), hit and run on one of her fellow truck drivers. Her full name is largely a secret, which has prompted many to bet money and guess what her initials stand for. She is also known as the "Heavy Metal Queen", for her love of heavy metal music, which she considers "very soothing". Able to adapt to various situations, her philosophy is "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". Considering her disdain for bounty hunters, it is believed that her husband was killed while pursuing a bountyhead.


Rocco Bonnaro

: is a member of Piccaro Calvino's gang. He is involved in organized crime in order to support his blind younger sister, . Rocco sees Spike effortlessly take out several hijackers on a spaceliner and begs Spike to teach him how to fight. He befriends Spike although he does not tell him about the bounty on his head. Rocco gives Spike a package to hold onto, which contains a plant called "Grey Ash" that he stole from Calvino. This plant, worth millions of woolongs, is capable of curing "Venus Sickness", the disease which has blinded Stella. Rocco has a rendezvous with Spike and they fight Calvino's gang. Rocco pulls off one of Spike's Jeet Kune Do maneuvers and topples one of the gangsters, but is gunned down. Later, Spike pays his respects and visits Stella in the hospital where she is receiving treatment to tell her that Rocco has died. Before he leaves, Stella asks Spike about the type of person her brother really was. Spike responds, "You know better than anyone, without looking. He was a terrific guy – exactly the person you thought he was."


Chessmaster Hex

: Hex is a talented programmer widely considered to be a genius due to his long-standing hold of the Champion Seat of the CosmoNet Chess tournament series. At the age of 30 he joined the Hyperspace Gate Project and, ultimately, played a key role in the development of the central control system used in all gates. However, Hex soon began to have doubts about the functionality of the control system, believing it to have defects. Upon discovering that these defects were intentionally added by the Gate Corporation to ensure further revenue, Hex developed a plan to be executed 50 years in the future that would allow criminals to hijack the Astral Gate toll booths. In the episode "Bohemian Rhapsody", Spike, Jet and Faye track down Hex following the failed toll booth hijackings. Hex, now old and senile, is living peacefully inside of a bohemian junk heap floating in outer space. Given that he had completely forgotten about his prearranged sting, the crew strikes a deal with the Gate Corporation to ensure his safety.


Andy von de Oniyate

: Andy von de Oniyate is a rich, egotistical bounty hunter who completely embraces the cowboy aspect of his job; he dresses like a cowboy, rides a horse named Onyx, uses six-shooters as his primary weapons and a cowboy whip to capture his bounties. The Bebop crew insists that Spike and Andy act exactly the same as each other, to Spike's increasing consternation. Despite his bumbling behavior, he is quite resourceful and intelligent, as well as being on par with Spike in fighting ability. Andy eventually gives up the cowboy persona, choosing instead to take up a samurai persona and call himself Miyamoto Musashi, Musashi and Onyx "Jiroumaru".


Vincent Volaju

: Vincent Volaju is the main antagonist of ''Cowboy Bebop: The Movie'', is the only survivor of a series of experiments conducted during the Titan War to build immunity to the lethal nanomachines that were secretly developed by the military. His plan is to release the nanomachines throughout the world, leaving only a handful of survivors. He holds the rare distinction of being one of a select few characters in Cowboy Bebop who has been able to match Spike in close combat. Watanabe said that he believes that many people would say that they empathize with Vincent and that "I even understand him". The interviewer, describing Vincent as the "most evil character in the ''Bebop'' series", asked Watanabe if Vincent was his opportunity to "show something you couldn't get away with on TV". Watanabe responded by saying that such a thing was not the case, and that Vincent is "nothing more than my dark side". Watanabe added that he does not see this as a "particularly unique feature" of ''Cowboy Bebop: The Movie'', and that all people have moments when they "lose our temper and want to destroy everything".


Elektra Ovilo

: is a veteran of the Titan War who first appears in ''Cowboy Bebop: The Movie''. Her love for Vincent caused them to have a short-term relationship, during which Vincent transferred the vaccine to Elektra. She is unaware of this until Vincent sets free the Nanomachines on the Monorail and she survives. She meets Spike by chance when he infiltrates a bio-weapon lab fronting as a pharmaceutical company where she works. After a few more chance meetings, and witnessing his being shot and thrown from a monorail by Vincent, she teams up with the crew of the ''Bebop'' to put an end to Vincent's intent to destroy the population of Mars. The samples of her blood are used to make the vaccine that is spread over Alba City. In the end, it is she who shoots Vincent and kills him. She cries for him when he admits he remembers her and their love for one another as he is dying.


Rashid

: appears during ''Cowboy Bebop: The Movie''. An ethnic Arab with a considerable amount of knowledge of "beans", he is really Doctor Mendelo al-Hedia, the man who developed the nano-machinery that was to be used as a virus for the military and vaccinated Vincent in attempt to keep it under control. He then apparently escaped from the medical facility and took refuge in Mars' Moroccan street, assuming a new identity. He provides Spike with a sample of the nano-machine virus in an attempt to atone for his creating it. After revealing to Spike, in a later scene, the nature of the nanomachine virus and the vaccine given to Vincent, armed men show up and Rashid runs off, followed by the sounds of gunfire. His fate is unclear, though a scene played during the credits of the movie seems to show him alive and well in Moroccan street.


Lee Sampson

: A teenage hacker and Vincent's accomplice, is very interested in video games from the 20th century (as shown by him playing an alternate version of ''Pac-Man'' in a car while talking to Vincent). He's later betrayed by Vincent and is killed with the nanoweapons Vincent was using in his plot to eliminate mankind. In an interview with Watanabe, the interviewer referred to Lee Sampson, a character in the film who "unable to distinguish" death in real life and death in a video game, responding to the death of a video game avatar and the death of a security guard in an equally-detached manner; when the interviewer asked Watanabe whether he wanted to "question society's desensitization to violence" with a character who "truly feels the pain of death", Watanabe responded by saying that he did not intend to "make it a 'statement', as such". Watanabe added that he does not create films to "particular message" and that films "naturally reflect the way we feel at the time".


Mad Pierrot Tongpu

: :Portrayed by: Josh Randall Mad Pierrot Tongpu (real name unknown) was part of an experiment to create the perfect assassin by a secret organization referred to only as Section 13. While Tongpu was made into a rotund and virtually indestructible living weapon, the procedures caused him to begin regressing mentally, ruining his capacity as a weapon. While being transported to a secure facility for observation, Tongpu escaped with the intention of exacting revenge, but eventually came to enjoy the act of killing. Spike happens to witness Tongpu killing someone, making him the target of Tongpu as well. Spike escapes when a cat distracts Tongpu and gives him time to blow up a gas canister. Spike is sent a personal invitation to Spaceland, a theme park, by Tongpu. In the ensuing fight, Spike throws a knife into Tongpu's leg, where he's then crushed underfoot by a giant robot in an animatronic parade.


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowboy Bebop Cowboy Bebop characters Lists of anime and manga characters