Dark gunman

The Dark gunman is a stock character that has appeared pretty recently, making its most prominent appearances in anime, manga and japanese computer and console games. The dark gunman is commonly a lone fighter who uses guns as his main weapons. Dark gunmen are readily identifiable by the following common themes:
* Wields firearms as main weapons - usually two pistols
* Has supernatural powers related to or themed as "undead" or "demonic"
* Has a dark and unknown past
* Fights a secret or criminal organization that employs troopers similar, but inferior to him. Sometimes, his past is connected to the very organization he fights, and he may have even been himself created by them.
* dead-serious, sometimes very self-confident, sarcastic, cruel
* fights not for "good", but personal reasons, like revenge
* often dressed red and/or black

Examples for dark gunmen include:
* Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII - Formerly an agent of the Turks, he was changed into a shapeshifter through experimentation with Jenova cells before being put to stasis in a coffin. His appearance in the game has a vampiric theme to it. His signature weapon is called "Cerberus".
* Alucard from Hellsing, a vampire who fights on the side of the human Hellsing organizations against the nazi organization Millenium and their creations, artificial vampires.
* from Gungrave, who, murdered by the game's antagonist, was reanimated by superior technology years later in order kill said antagonist. Has to fight other, however inferior, undead soldiers of the Millenion organization. His pair of colts are also called "Cerberus".
* Dante from the Devil May Cry series. A half-demon who fights his evil brother, Vergil for much of the series. Wields to colts that go by the name "Ebony and Ivory"

* Vash the Stampede from TriGun could possibly be accounted for as the prototype of the character, but doesn't confirm to several traits usually associated with the character of the dark gunman.

Reference
* Animania Magazine, Dec 2007

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See Also

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