Gun X Sword/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Important characters in the Gun X Sword anime, and the tropes they embody.

NOT ALL SPOILERS HERE ARE MARKED YET

Protagonists

Van
Voiced by Takanori Hoshino (JP), David Vincent (EN)
—"DAMN! THAT'S GOOD!"

Main character of the show. In short, he was going to get married, some guy called "The Claw" iced his bride, and he's going to kill the guy in return. Along the way, he makes a name for himself as a total Badass, acquires a ton of names, and more or less goes a Roaring Rampage of Revenge to avenge the woman he loved.

His primary weapon is a sword which can morph into a grappling hook. However he can also summon a mecha called "Dann of Thursday" when the situation calls for it.

  • Badass Longcoat: Tuxedo, actually.
  • Big Eater
  • Big Freaking Sword: Variable at times, but generally he and his mecha, Dann of Thursday, carry one. For that matter, Dann transforms into one.
  • But Now I Must Go: Naturally, it also involves some Cue the Sun. He is Van of the Dawn.
  • Can't Hold His Liquor: The man drinks milk because booze does BAD things to him.
  • Celibate Hero
  • Chick Magnet/Nakama These two tend to go hand in hand, as Van seems to unintentionally get attractive women to follow in his wake (despite having no interest, as he's very devoted to his deceased lover), and manages to make friends despite his very personality militating against it. It gets so bad Ray Lundgren blatantly lampshades it.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes.
  • Determinator: With regard to vengeance; he may be apathetic about other things.
  • The Drifter: Both during the series and prior to meeting his (ill-fated) future wife.
  • Empathic Weapon: Dann of Thursday is this to him. He literally can't LIVE without it.
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: You can tell by all the Shirtless Scenes.
  • Healing Factor: When he links with Dann of Thursday he can heal almost all the injuries he sustains. It's necessary for him to enter Dann once a week because he will die if he doesn't, and Dann's functionality would shut down completely without him.
  • Humongous Mecha: Dann of Thursday.
  • I Have Many Names: Van of the Dawn, Crybaby Van, Nice Guy Van...
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold
  • Kiai: CHESTOU!
  • Nice Hat
  • Not So Stoic: When he finally talks to Wendy about his love for Elena in episode 16.
  • Oblivious to Love: Pricilla is pretty obvious about her feelings, but he still doesn't notice until she confesses.
  • The Power of Love: He runs on this, as his love for Elena is what keeps him going. It also helps him defeat both Woo and The Claw later on.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge
  • Running Gag:
    • His ever-rotating nicknames.
    • Also, "Serve me *insert food here* and all the condiments you have" -> Eats the food -> Yell from the top of his lungs about the taste.
  • Samurai Cowboy: The hilt of his sword is a gun's handle. And his clothes and attitude supports it.
  • Shut UP, Hannibal: TWICE.

Fasalina: Well this is how the utopia will work... everyone will be happy. Don't you think it's a good idea?
Van: STFU! I'm not gonna listen to underlings of the guy who killed Elena!

    • Later...

The Claw: Van, I really like you.
Van: *slice*


Wendy Garret
Voiced by Houko Kuwashima (JP), Stephanie Sheh (EN)
—"Van, you're horrible!"

Van's main traveling companion. She's an orphan with a strong sense of loyalty to her kidnapped brother: she'll risk anything to get him back. However, she is also deeply concerned with right and wrong, and is willing to put her sense of ethics above her emotions when necessary.

  • Action Survivor: She's pretty resourceful when need be.
  • Cool Pet: Her pet turtle Kameo counts for this big time. He helped make money when she had none, and actually saved her life in the beginning of the series. He has the bullet mark on his shell to prove it.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Notable because in the scenes when she has her hair down, she frequently looks older.
  • Hairstyle Inertia: A flashback shows that when she was a small child, she wore the same pigtails as when she was a teen and as an adult.
  • The Heart: She's the character who most cares about helping others in need, even if she hardly knows them.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Van towers over her. A sketch in the artbook really brings this home. Even after Wendy is grown up, the top of her head is still a little below shoulder height to Van when they stand together.
  • I Will Wait for You: A variation: she never explicitly promises this, but it seems to be what she's doing.
  • Jail Bait: She's probably somewhere around 13, but that doesn't stop grown men from threatening her sexually in episode 4. Good thing she's traveling with a protective Celibate Hero.
    • She's probably younger than that considering that she's later teased about not wearing a bra yet. It's either that, or she's just REALLY underdeveloped.
  • Kid Sidekick: She's no good at fighting, but she's smarter and more grounded than Van, so sometimes steers him the right direction.
  • Modesty Shorts: When hiking across the world its a good idea to wear these.
  • Morality Pet: Hence, the quote above. She manages to temper Van's Jerkassedness somewhat.
  • Plucky Girl: She has her Damsel in Distress moments, but most of the time she's optimistic and determined.
  • Tagalong Kid: But for good reason! This is her role as part of the Five-Man Band, but when she's traveling alone with Van, she functions more as a Kid Sidekick.
  • Tsundere: She may seem like a sweet, innocent girl, but Van frequently brings out her irritable side.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: Justified in that she and her brother have been living on their own for years.


Carul Mendoza/Carmen99
Voiced by Kikuko Inoue (JP), Michelle Ruff (EN)
—"Remember, I'm Carmen99!"

An information broker who has known Van for a long time, and happens to be one of his few friends (whether Van openly admits it or not). She originally was a neutral element in his life, but when her life is ruined by the same guy who murdered Van's wife-to-be, things become personal.


Ray Lundgren
Voiced by Takahiro Sakurai (JP), Liam O'Brien (EN)
—"When you're out for revenge, humanity just gets in the way!"

Ray, like Van, witnessed his wife murdered by the Claw, and took to getting revenge for her death. Unlike Van, however, he is willing to do anything to kill the Claw, even taking the lives of innocents who get in the way.


Joshua Lundgren

Voiced by Junko Noda (JP), Yuri Lowenthal (EN)

  • Accidental Pervert: On numerous occasions.
  • Big Brother Complex: Subverted. Joshua is the younger one, and he despairs over the coldness of his big brother Ray.
  • Ditzy Genius: He's a brilliant engineer who can fix anything in the world, but he lacks common sense and sometimes tact.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: Semi self-inflicted. He's a very nice kid, but his innocent naivete tends to backfire around less patient people and makes them disdain him.
  • Dumb Blonde: He's kind of clueless.
  • Running Gag: "You don't have a lot of friends do you?"
  • Sole Survivor: After his big brother Ray dies, he is left without his parents or his brother and no other family members.
  • The Smart Guy: He knows a lot about technology, including armor, explosives, and aeronautics. Doesn't know a lot else.
  • Stupid Good
  • Too Dumb to Live: Seriously comes off as this. Lampshaded by various characters.
  • Took a Level In Badass: At the end.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Very respectful of women, his Accidental Pervert moments notwithstanding.


Pricilla

Voiced by Saeko Chiba (JP), Carrie Savage (EN)

An Armor pilot with a bit of an Idol Singer theme. First encountered by Van and the others in an armor tournament where she was fighting to earn enough prize money to save her orphanage.

The El Dorado Five

A quintet of walking shout-outs to the days of themed combining super-robots. They were content to wait around in their town's cantina, tired and forgotten by the younger generation, until Van stumbled along one day and showed them that there are still people with the spirit of heroes.

Antagonists

The Claw

Voiced by Kenyuu Horiuchi (JP), Kirk Thornton (EN)

A... very nice, affable old man who is a Friend to All Living Things, polite, soft-spoken and loves everyone... except that he's the Big Bad. While his motives may seem good, his final goal is morally problematic. His charisma is one of his main strengths: he gathered a lot of followers by merely 'helping' them. However, he has also committed his share of murders, namely Van's bride Elena and Ray's wife Shino, which marked him as the ultimate target of their bloody revenge.

Tropes associated with The Claw:

Michael Garret

Voiced by Soichiro Hoshi (JP), Johnny Yong Bosch (EN)

Wendy's brother. At first kidnapped against his will by The Claw, he is later charmed with The Claw's methods and faithfully served him, abandoning his sister. He also strikes a relationship with Fasalina and goes a bit more on the extreme side later on. He is later selected as the pilot of Saudade of Sunday and spends his life protecting The Claw.

Tropes associated with Michael:

  • Aloof Big Brother
  • A Man Is Not a Virgin: Seems to be proven completely during Michael and Fasalina's intense sex scene, but is subverted in a later episode, which explicitly refers to him as a "boy" in contrast to Van, who is both a man and a virgin.
  • Death by Sex: If you believe he and Fasalina were crushed by that falling boulder. According to the Drama CD, however, they survived.
  • The Dragon
  • It's Personal: Michael hates Van because Van killed Gadved, and (Michael thinks) kidnapped Wendy. Van, on his part, blames Michael for abandoning Wendy.
  • Only a Flesh Wound: Subverted when he collapses from blood loss after being shot in the arm.
  • Punch Clock Villain: Well if he is not doing 'evil', he mostly spends his time trying his damnedest to befriend his fellow friends.
  • Stockholm Syndrome: Overlaps with Lima Syndrome in regards to him and Fasalina.
  • The Power of Love: Subverted, as his relationship with Fasalina was one of the main reasons he stayed with The Claw. Their intense sexual encounter pretty much closed the deal.

Fasalina

Voiced by Masayo Kurata (JP), Karen Strassman (EN)

A blank-eyed beautiful woman who was formerly a slut/prostitute/pole dancer and came to hate her own, unclean body. Until The Claw rescued her and promised her the new world where she can be cleansed from her unclean body. Cool-headed, polite and soft-spoken, she is somewhat The Claw's second in command. She grew interested in Michael, and later had sex with him. She's also Carmen 99's arch-enemy, as she is responsible of the death of Carmen's friend, her hometown's destruction and her fall from grace. She pilots the Dahlia of Wednesday.

Tropes associated with Fasalina:


Carossa & Melissa

Carossa voiced by Makiko Ohmoto (JP), Sterling Beaumon (EN)
Melissa voiced by Chiwa Saito (JP), Megan Harvey (EN)


William Will Wu

Voiced by Mistuaki Madono (JP), Dameon Clarke (EN)

Gadved

Voiced by Kazuhiko Kishino (JP), Dan Woren (EN)

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