Vicious is a recurring antagonist in the anime series Cowboy Bebop. He is a member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate and a former comrade of Spike Spiegel's from the Titan War. When Spike and Julia attempted to leave the syndicate, Vicious was charged with eliminating them. Vicious has harboured a cold hatred towards Spike since his defection while at the same time has been furthering his plans to assume leadership of the Red Dragon.
Japanese Voice: Norio Wakamoto
English Voice: Skip Stellrecht
History[]
Vicious was born in 2044. Much about his life is unknown but at some point in time, Vicious developed a relationship with Julia and met Spike Spiegel. Mao Yenrai took Vicious and Spike under his wing inside the Red Dragon syndicate where they rose up the ranks. Spike decided to leave the syndicate and attempted to take Julia with him. This betrayal seemingly triggered their blood feud and possibly resulted in Vicious' enlistment in the war on Titan, although there is no implicit timeline established for when that war took place. It is established that Vicious knew Julia by this point as he gave her music box to Gren, whom he testified against for being a spy in the war's aftermath.
Vicious gradually lost respect for Mao, and, when Mao intended to sign a truce with Carlos of the White Tiger crime syndicate, decided to take action. He sabotaged Carlos' ship when he visited Mao's headquarters to explode on his return trip. His men waited until Mao watched Carlos' ship explode to burst in and kill Mao's men. Vicious himself killed Mao, but not before smiling when Mao said he would never have done this if Spike were still there.
Vicious knew that Spike would be after him and decided to trap Faye Valentine who would be looking for Mao's bounty. Allowing Faye to contact Spike to tell him where she is, Vicious waited in a cathedral with his men. He watched Spike arrive and kill most of his men before advancing to him on the second floor. They fought, each wounding the other but Vicious was able to push Spike through a window. However, he saw Spike left a grenade and ran, surviving.
Vicious received a request to sell Red Eye from someone named Julia on Callisto. While it was unusual for someone to do that directly to him, the Van allowed it, sending Lin with him. Vicious and Lin went to the moon to meet the person. They first saw Spike, who was also drawn to the communication. Lin saved Vicious by standing in front of him and shooting Spike, allowing them to escape. Later, they were contacted by the seller and Vicious directed the person to the top of a skyscraper. The deal was going according to plan until the person revealed himself to be Gren. Vicious coldly answered his question of why he testified against him three years ago with the simple claim that there is nothing to believe in, including camaraderie. Vicious escaped the explosion hidden in his suitcase with the payment and was saved by Lin again when he took a bullet for him. Vicious left him there, took the Red Eye, and escaped, firing on Gren's ship and Spike's, which had just arrived. The bag of Red Eye exploded, forcing him to retreat to the syndicate ship.
Months later, Vicious finally made his move against the Van and instigated a coup. However, the elders had been tipped off and were ready for him. They imprisoned Vicious and sent teams to kill Julia and Spike. When the Van decided to execute him, they were surprised to see that Vicious' men turned on them, freeing Vicious and killing the others. Vicious murdered the elders himself and declared himself as the Red Dragon's leader. He then sent his men in search of Spike and Julia who would ultimately succeed in finding them and killing Julia, though Spike survived the confrontation and would later come after Vicious himself.
Death[]
In the final episode "The Real Folk Blues - Part 2", Spike and Vicious face each other for the last time. After battling his way to the top floor of the Red Dragon's headquarters, Spike confronts Vicious in a battle to the death, Spike using his Jericho pistol while Vicious fights with his trademark katana. Despite their difference in weaponry and the injuries he had sustained while fighting his way to the top floor, Spike ultimately accomplishes his goal. Though he sustains terrible injuries, he manages to fatally shoot Vicious and bring their long feud to an end.