Millions Knives (Stampede)
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- This article is about the Trigun Stampede iteration of the character. For other uses of "Millions Knives", see Millions Knives (disambiguation).
| Millions Knives | |
|---|---|
| |
| Japanese name | ミリオンズ・ナイブズ |
| Race | Plant (independent) |
| Hair Color | Pale blonde |
| Eye Color | Pale blue |
| Gender | Male |
| First appearance | NOMAN'S LAND |
| Last appearance | TBD |
| Japanese voice actor | Junya Ikeda Yumiri Hanamori young |
| English voice actor | Austin Tindle [1] |
Millions Knives (formerly Kni or Nai) is the main antagonist from Trigun Stampede.
Biography
Knives is Vash's twin brother, born alongside him aboard the SEEDs Ship Five as it journeyed to find a new home for humanity and the Plants, living generators of power, matter and gravity that humans depend on to survive. Both twins are rare examples of Independent Plants, who look and behave human, but possess the ability to survive outside the specialised environments required by their dependent brethren. As infants, the boys were discovered and adopted by Navigational Officer Rem Saverem. She named one twin Vash and the other Kni. The twins matured quickly, growing to appear age seven or eight when they celebrated their first birthday. By that stage, Kni had begun to demonstrate the generative abilities of a Plant and to distance himself from human traits like eating for nourishment, while Vash remained apparently powerless, but eagerly embraced humanity.
Though demonstrably inhuman and highly intelligent, Kni seemed in other respects a normal child, albeit serious and somewhat emotionally withdrawn. He enjoyed playing classical piano, loved cowboy movies, and colluded with Vash to play pranks. He adored his brother, who was always at his side, and cared for Rem, but resented her efforts to have him appear human by concealing his powers and eating food he didn't need (which he viewed as wasteful). In time this resentment turned to suspicion, particularly as Vash seemed to grow more humanlike under Rem's encouragement, bringing him closer to Rem but alienating Kni as he needled Vash for being useless as a Plant. Kni began to investigate areas of the ship Rem had forbidden them entering, pulling Vash along, and the twins stumbled across a classified databank of the SEEDs fleet's history. Vash gleefully entered the password himself when Kni was stymied, happy to prove he wasn't just a "waste", but both were horrified by the databank's contents.
Along with files on both twins there was a third - another Independent Plant born fifty years before, a girl named Tesla. She was discovered by the crew and treated like a research specimen, subjected her to brutal and invasive examination until her body fell apart. Worse yet, though vivisected and dismembered she was kept alive in suspended animation, as the twins discovered when the tanks containing her remains were unlocked and revealed.
Rem tried to soothe their fears by explaining that she had adopted them to ensure they wouldn't meet Tesla's fate, hoping that they would become the means by which Plants and humans could communicate and together ensure nothing like that ever happened again. Kni, however, no longer trusted her ability to keep them safe, concluding that humanity was incapable of changing for the better, whatever their intentions. When the twins discussed between themselves whether they would be accepted by humans, Vash told Kni he had faith that they would. It was then that Kni believed his course was set: Vash was naïve, weak and needed his protection from humanity's exploitation - which would, incidentally, leave Vash with no one to love but his brother. Kni secretly accessed the SEEDs fleet's navigation with the password Vash had shown him and forced every ship in the fleet to crash on the desert planet that would be named No Man's Land, sparing only the Plant carriers, believing this would wipe out all threats. Rem took the twins to an escape pod, but despite Kni's solemn request she escape with them, she chose to stay aboard the ships to save whoever she could. Kni's resentment of her turned in that moment to stark, burning hatred. After planetfall, Vash found Kni laughing gleefully over the wreckage of the fleet and confronted Kni over the murders he'd committed, but Kni countered by calling Vash his accomplice. Guilt-stricken and fearful, Vash fled from his brother and vanished into the alien desert.
Kni located a surviving SEEDS crew member, one Dr. William Conrad, and under threat of death recruited him to research Plants and acquire the resources necessary to locate, capture and subdue Vash. Renaming himself Millions Knives to represent his belief that he was a righteous and noble weapon of his species, Knives founded the cult called the Eye of Michael in the third city of July, providing himself with loyal troops and lavish headquarters, and appointed Dr. Conrad as his high priest. He also continued to develop his powers as a Plant, refining his abilities from producing rough metal blades from his hands and feet to the capacity to destroy whole settlements and kill dozens of people in the blink of an eye.
Since that day, Knives has been plotting to complete the extermination of humanity and bring Vash back to his side - a desire only intensified when Vash demonstrated he did indeed have abilities as a Plant, both to produce and, uniquely, to consume, drawing matter to the plane that Plants draw matter from. Every time Knives and Vash meet, they find themselves fighting to determine which of their philosophies is the right one. As of the first episode, Knives has been stealing Plants from human settlements and slaughtering their inhabitants, dooming survivors to death by starvation or dehydration. He exploits his resemblance to Vash to frame his brother for these crimes, marking him as a dangerous criminal in the hopes that Vash will suffer enough to realise humanity will never accept him, driving him back to Knives as his only refuge.
The primary plot of Trigun Stampede is driven by Knives's efforts both to convince, then force Vash to assist in his plans, and by his desire to claim and control Vash's power so he can use it to make No Man's Land a paradise, with the Plants its sole and supreme rulers.
Character
Appearance
Knives is almost identical to Vash, differing only in very minor traits. Knives has paler skin and platinum blond hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. Where Vash has a mole beneath his left eye, Knives's is under his right, and Knives's blue eyes bear a slight green tint. They have the same facial features, the same undercut hair and the same athletic build. Both twins are drawn to be extremely physically attractive, with delicate, expressive faces and well-proportioned, muscular bodies.
In every other respect, however, the twins could not be more different. Knives rejects all human accoutrements in favor of clothing he created himself, which he seems to have designed to bring his appearance closer to that of the dependent Plants: a skin-tight white body suit covered in Plant patterns (resembling an unfurled dependent Plant) and a loose gray cloak, roughly knee-length, with bubbles of white material and a deep, round hood (resembling a dependent when in bulb form). The suit is bulletproof, and the cloak serves as a spare source of matter for Knives's blades. He wears no other clothing and is always barefoot, indifferent to environmental hazards. He has no visible markings, scars or injuries.
Knives keeps his hair short, in spikes brushed back from the front of his head.
His blades have a distinctive curved, feathered shape and usually emerge from his back and shoulders in the form of three or four prehensile chains. When desired, he can fold the blades inward and use the chains to pick up or grapple a target, or flare them outward into razor-sharp and deadly swift cutting weapons. Both blades and chains seems to act as extensions of his body, instantly responding to his will.
Personality
Knives presents a face of calm, cold superiority, and has a flair for grandiose acts of wide-scale destruction. His proclamations frequently allude to the Christian Bible, particularly the New Testament Book of Revelation, to present himself as an angel bringing God's wrath down upon humanity. He relishes violence and views Vash's pacifism as an illness that must be cured by whatever means necessary. In his mind, Vash is a victim of his own weakness and the manipulations of Rem and the other humans he's befriended, unable to be trusted to make his own decisions. Everything he's done, Knives claims, he has done to protect Vash from them, with the freedom of the dependent Plants from humanity's chains as a secondary but no less pressing priority. As a superior lifeform and the perfect Independent Plant, it's up to Knives to destroy the disgusting parasites infesting the universe and to ensure all inferior examples of his species come to reflect the perfection he embodies.
However, his icy pragmatism and lofty attitude conceal selfishness, mental instability, and a childish unwillingness to take responsibility or admit to mistakes. Knives is driven by fear, not only of what humanity could do to him or to Vash, but that Vash will abandon him in favor of humans, leaving Knives alone. He cannot, or will not, understand alternative viewpoints to his own and develops a habit of trying to isolate Vash by driving off or killing anyone who gets close to him, emotionally abusing Vash to undermine his self-worth, and of lashing out with extreme physical violence should those manipulations fail. Though his anger with humanity's reckless consumption of the beings they need to survive is justified, he sees no problem adopting the same tactics himself with the Plants and Vash under his control. He takes their consent to his plans for granted, dismisses any resistance as foolishness, and is willing to strip Vash of his personhood and autonomy, as well as exploit the dependents for his own ends.
At heart, Knives is a frightened, angry and deeply traumatised child, as well a perfectionist unable to cope when reality deviates from his expectations. He is manipulative, controlling, vicious and possessive, as well as prone to pushing blame onto those he harms for not submitting to his wishes.
Occupation
Knives serves as the central figure of worship for the Eye of Michael but rarely bothers with its affairs, preferring to play his piano and reminiscence, or discuss his plans with Dr. Conrad. He seems to leave his music room only to terrorise and murder humans or steal Plants.
Family
Twin brother to Vash, from whom he is estranged, and adopted son of Rem Saverem, whom he murdered. Dr. Conrad seems to serve as a father figure. Elendira is Knives's partial clone, in some sense his daughter.
Relationships
Knives has an obsession with Vash that shades into monomaniacal, but seems to love the idea of Vash as his brother more than the person Vash has become. While he makes an effort to speak to Vash gently and calmly, he can easily snap into screaming or verbal abuse and their relationship is strained by Vash's undisguised terror of his brother.
Knives once loved Rem but now bitterly despises not only her but anyone he perceives as being like her i.e. dark-haired woman who become emotionally close to Vash; Meryl, Luida, and Rosa (and the mothers of Jeneora Rock) all become targets of his murderous hatred and disgust.
All other humans with the sole exception of Dr. Conrad are insects to be exterminated if he can't ignore them, but Knives treats Conrad himself with unexpected politeness, even affection, always addressing him as "doctor" and never losing his temper.
Though he has yet to be depicted speaking to any other members of the Eye of the Michael, Elendira and Legato both regard him with devotion and Zazie with wary familiarity, but if Knives cares what they think of him he does not show it. He knows enough about Rollo, Tonis and Wolfwood to adopt their images manipulating Vash, and about Roberto and Meryl to target and wipe them from Vash's mind. He is protective of the dependent Plants and refers to them as his "brethren", but seemingly views them more as objects than people, regarding them as soulless.
Weapons & Abilities
Gate
Knives's body contains and is supported by a Gate, a vaguely defined organ or object acting as a one-way connection to a limitless source of energy and matter known as the "higher plane". All Plants have a Gate of some description, but lack the volition to use it themselves; as an Independent, Knives can use his Gate at will, and control the matter he produces with no more than a thought. His Gate constantly renews and revitalises his body, granting him inhuman fortitude, strength and speed, as well as keeping him physically in the prime of health and youth. With all his needs supplied by his Gate, Knives does not require any form of sustenance or rest, or even seem to need to breathe, and is well into his second century while keeping the appearance of an athletic young adult.
Knives uses his Gate mostly to produce his clothing and weapons in the form of metal blades, chaining them into "tentacles" to grab and slice up individual targets, or forming deadly "storms" of blades when moved to cause mass devastation. He can also create claws from his hands and feet, but rarely does so in combat, preferring them for symbolism or utility. His blades can cut through steel and deflect bullets without losing their edge.
He has more esoteric abilities mostly based around seizing control of Vash's own Gate and forcing it to react, allowing him to manipulate Vash's perception of reality or even alter memories, leaving a dark residue at the point of contact. He only needs to be close enough to physically touch Vash or something he's holding, whether with his hands or blades.
It can be assumed that if ever cut off from his Gate, Knives would lose access to his power, weaken and die the same way other members of his species do when pushed beyond their limits. As it is, Knives is extremely difficult to harm with conventional weapons, required a sustained burst of intense power to outpace his regenerative capabilities.
Gallery
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Second key visual
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Prerelease promotional render
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Prerelease promotional render with Vash
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Blu-Ray Volume 3 cover
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Episode 3 commemorative illustration by Akihiko Orikasa
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Episode 0 commemorative illustration by Kenji Muto
