Vincent Volaju was the main antagonist of the animated film Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door. He was a former soldier in the Mars Army and a veteran of the Titan War. During the war, he was a victim of an experimental military project, injected with specialized nano-machines designed to immunize him from a deadly nano-weapon. The experiments caused Vincent to lose his memory and drove him insane. Following the Titan War, he became obsessed with opening a "gateway to heaven".
Japanese Voice: Tsutomu Inobe
English Voice: Daran Norris
History[]
Vincent had a lonely childhood. He was drafted into the Mars Army in 2060 at the age of 20 and joined the Special Operations Forces in 2062.
Vincent served in the Titan War, however, he and his unit were subjected to weaponized nano-machines by the Army as part of a series of experiments. The nano-machines replicated and attacked the brain and nervous system before breaking down into proteins and leaving the body. Made of protein and programmed to mimic lymphocytes when outside a source of body heat, they were virtually impossible to detect. Vincent himself was also given an experimental anti-nano-machine in his blood. As a result, he survived but also lost the memories of his life, including a relationship with Elektra Ovirowa. He only remembered fighting and suffering on Titan. Going forward, he had difficulty distinguishing dreams from reality. He also perpetually saw glowing yellow butterflies in his vision, a symptom other victims suffered as the virus took effect. In 2068, Vincent was presumed dead. He planned to free himself from what he perceived as his reality, but also in taking down everyone else with him, the purgatory, getting his lost memories back, and finding out where the butterflies he seemed to see constantly came from.
In 2071, Vincent started his attack on Alba City. He solicited the help of a teenage hacker, Lee Samson, to help him procure resources. He had Samson acquire a tanker truck which he filled with the nano-machines. He drove it on to the Alba City Freeway, parked it, and detonated it, releasing the nano-machines on the people caught in the accident.
Later, Samson and him drove to a warehouse where another accomplice was helping to load the nano-machines into floats for the upcoming Halloween celebrations in the city. Vincent gave him part of what he was promised, and promised the rest after the event.
Vincent then decided it was time to get rid of Samson. He waited in his apartment for him to arrive and, when he finished his game of solitaire (of which the marbles contained the nano-machines), broke the last marble in front of him. He left Samson to die, however, he realized Faye Valentine arrived, having tracked them somehow, so he re-entered the apartment. He subdued her, but not before receiving a shot to his hand, and took her gun. He decided not to kill her, but, rather, give her some of his blood by kissing her. She passed out for a while, but overcame the infection thanks to the vaccine in Vincent's blood. He tied her up and, when she awoke, told her some of his story and offered to take her with him after he was through killing everyone on the planet. She denied him, and so he left, simply saying he'll be on the "bridge connecting earth to the heavens." His associate from the warehouse came back just then, looking for the rest of his payment, but Vincent simply killed him.
Vincent, under observation by one of Elektra's spies, decided he needed to shake them off. He boarded a train, on which Elektra herself boarded as well and outside Spike Spiegel followed on top, shooting his way in. Spike encountered Vincent first, who opened fire at the first opportunity, killing at least one civilian in the crossfire. Elektra caught up to see the two having a standoff. Vincent, challenging Spike to shoot him, saw her behind him and shot her instead. Spike took the opportunity to advance and they fought hand-to-hand. However, Vincent bested him, disabling him with a claw strike to the chest and holding him out the window. He stated he had no fear of death, for it meant only dreaming in silence. Elektra came running to intervene, calling out to ask him if he recognized her. Vincent, ignoring her and holding Spike at gunpoint, decided to adjust his aim, critically injuring Spike but not to kill. Vincent then armed a grenade and held it aloft before it exploded, destroying the front of the train and unleashing more of the nano-machines, killing the rest of the passengers before escaping the train.
Death[]
Vincent went to the Eiffel Tower replica – the bridge – to await Spike and the execution of his plan. Inevitably, Spike came, and a dramatic fist-fight occurred between them. The two reached an impasse as Spike was thrown to the floor. Vincent taunted Spike's attempts to be the hero, to which Spike replied he was just a bounty hunter here to pay Vincent back for nearly killing him, and didn't really care what happened to the world. Vincent then tested this and detonated the Halloween parade floats, unleashing the nano-machines. Vincent fought Spike some more before he succumbed to the nano-weapon. As Vincent stood to execute Spike, Elektra arrived. This time, Vincent remembered her, and hesitated to shoot her. She did not hesitate, and fatally shot him. Lying on the floor, he revealed he could finally remember her, and lamented that, since Titan, he was looking for a way out of the nightmare when he was awake all along. He committed his love for Elektra, saying the days he was with her were the only ones that felt real, just before dying.