The final episode ofTRIGUN STAMPEDEwrapped up several loose-ends and made many of the biggestdeviations from the original manga and animemake a lot more sense. With the next step in the story confirmed to be in development, it is exciting to see just howTRIGUN STAMPEDEhas performed its role as a retelling and prequel all-in-one, and how the exciting next phase of the story stands to return the franchise to itself. One of the major changes that many fans noticed throughout the build-up towards the series premiere in the weeks leading up to January 7th was the fact that the exorbitant bounty attached to the outlaw known as Vash The Stampede was significantly lower than the original sum of $$60 billion.
At a sum of $$6 million, Vash The Stampede’s bounty over the course ofTRIGUN STAMPEDEleading up to the final episode sat at a value that was only one ten-thousandth of the original. While it was easily glossed over as part of the various deviations from the originalTrigun, Vash’s bounty change should have been one of the biggest clues regarding the series' objective. Here’s why Vash’s bounty had to change.
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The Before
There were several clues that could have made it possible for fans watching the series weekly to make several connections and inferences about the chronology of the storyline. One of these aspects wasthe death of Roberto De Niro, a character brought in as what seemed to be a replacement for Milly Thompson; however, his death and entrusting of his derringer to his junior, Meryl, was one of several moments that served as a reference to the original series. Known as “Derringer Meryl” in the original plot,TRIGUN STAMPEDEgave a lot of context to characters who were introduced and developed as satellites of the main man, Vash The Stampede. The location of De Niro’s death was also particularly interesting for fans of the franchise who are familiar with a plot that begins only after the complete decimation of July – the largest human settlement in No Man’s Land that was the location of Vash and Knives' final confrontation.
The thing that reigns true for either version of the story is that the real plot ofTrigunis something that is kicked off by the total annihilation of July – anything happening prior to that is therefore, only the build-up towards the beginning. It is for that reason that the final episode ofTRIGUN STAMPEDE, titled “High Noon at July” was designated the value 0, rather than 12. The mysterious outlaw and catastrophe known as Vash The Stampede is only truly feared and vilified after the unfortunate incident that wiped out the entire city of July, and in the original anime and manga,the epithet “The Humanoid Typhoon"appears to be something Vash earns as a direct result of the notoriety he gained from being one of the few living things spotted in the aftermath.
The Plant, The Myth, The Legend
The reason for Vash’s notoriety among the people of No Man’s Land in the beginning is due to Vash’s terrible luck and tendency to get in trouble wherever he goes. According to the Military Police from July City, Vash The Stampede is wanted for serial murders, as well asthe destruction or theft of various Plantsacross No Man’s Land. Given that Vash is a pacifist and hates killing people, it’s a clear false accusation and Meryl’s biggest reason for her association with him is her duty as a journalist. It becomes clear that the individual responsible for Vash’s reputation is not him. The criminal known as the Humanoid Typhoon is actually one horrible case of mistaken identity – the reason why Vash earned any kind of notoriety to begin with is because of the brutal, violent actions of his older twin brother, Millions Knives. Since such a story is hard to believe, Vash has had to go through life on No Man’s Land suffering for his brother’s actions, with no one but himself to rely on as the entire planet bays for his blood.
In the first episode ofTRIGUN STAMPEDE,the Military Police from July City are in hot pursuit of Vash The Stampede, has only just been declared a “Most Wanted Fugitive” by the aforementioned police department in July, while Meryl and De Niro are searching for the Humanoid Typhoon. By the time they arrived in Jeneora Rock, Vash’s wanted poster hadn’t even made the rounds. An interesting piece of foreshadowing in the first episode is seen when the Military Police arrive at the Plants in Jeneora Rock with Vash’s wanted poster, making the claim that his $$6 million bounty is the exact price of a brand-new Plant. What this does is make Vash’s actual value as a fugitive the same as the Plants that are the main source of life for the humans; effectively making the value of one Vash The Stampede equal to that of a single Plant, which in a loose sense, is the implication thatVash and Plants are equal, or rather, “even”.
Lost July
With the understanding thatTRIGUN STAMPEDEis a retelling of the original series and story, but also the prequel to the events that fans understand to be the original lore among other things, the strange decision to decrease Vash’s bounty to a number reminiscent of the original sum was a deviation that needed viewers to see the narrative from start to finish before it could make sense. SinceTRIGUN STAMPEDEwas set in a time before the destruction of July, the literal “ground zero” of the Trigun story as it was once known,the retelling re-characterizes Vashand gives a different context behind his notoriety far before the incident that would make him live up to the myth that is “The Humanoid Typhoon”. It even develops that myth itself in a way that has Vash and his notoriety develop almost as separate entities.
The annihilation of July, despite Vash’s best efforts to prevent it, is the incident that connects the troublesome outlaw “Vash The Stampede” with the horrible, murderous and cataclysmic influence of the monster known across No Man’s Land as “The Humanoid Typhoon”, and that is whyTRIGUN STAMPEDEchanged Vash’s bounty: to expertly retell the story of how Vash became public enemy #1, a beast worthy of a $$60 billion bounty.
