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Millions Knives (Stampede): Difference between revisions
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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inhuman and highly intelligent, Kni seemed in other respects a normal child, albeit serious and somewhat emotionally withdrawn.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. | 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inhuman and highly intelligent, Kni seemed in other respects a normal child, albeit serious and somewhat emotionally withdrawn.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 | 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 to brutal and invasive examination until her body fell apart. Worse yet, though vivisected and dismembered she was still alive fifty years later 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 | 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 decided 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. | 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. | ||
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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. | 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. | 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. When his plans are thwarted, he descends into blind, incoherently shrieking fury. | ||
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, | 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, cruel and possessive, as well as prone to pushing blame onto those he harms for not submitting to his wishes. | ||
=== Occupation === | === Occupation === | ||
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=== Family === | === 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. | Twin brother to Vash, from whom he is estranged, and adopted son of Rem Saverem, whom he murdered. The dependent Plants could be considered siblings or mothers and are referred to as his brethren. Dr. Conrad seems to serve as a twisted father figure. Elendira is Knives's partial clone, in some sense his daughter. | ||
=== Relationships === | === 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 | 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 quickly snap into screaming fury or verbal abuse. 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 | 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. | 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. Conrad is protective of Knives and views him with awe as the perfect example of his species, almost a divine figure. | ||
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 | 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 == | == Weapons & Abilities == | ||