Trigun Symbolism

Escaflowne22 · Post by **Escaflowne22** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 2:58 pm

I believe Trigun had some deep hidden meanings, intentional or unintentionally. I was trying to ignite a discussion on it..
Vash obviously represented good, but yet it was Wolfwood carrying the cross, and they had different viewpoints, so what did Wolfwood represent?

Joykiller · Post by **Joykiller** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 3:00 pm

Klan members carry crosses to. It's meaningless.

Escaflowne22 · Post by **Escaflowne22** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 3:02 pm

I know, my point is its carried in different ways, with different meanings.....

HeartbreakerByZep · Post by **HeartbreakerByZep** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 3:08 pm

Wolfwood was the good with differing view point. Vash would be the pure pacifist, Knives would be the pure-evil, Legato would be the person that is so submerged in hatred that he follows evil and condemns his own race, and Woflwood would be the man that tries to do good but isn't quite so pure, the guy that cares about more than just goodness.

Akai Rurouni · Post by **Akai Rurouni** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 3:33 pm

HeartbreakerByZep wrote:Wolfwood was the good with differing view point. Vash would be the pure pacifist, Knives would be the pure-evil, Legato would be the person that is so submerged in hatred that he follows evil and condemns his own race, and Woflwood would be the man that tries to do good but isn't quite so pure, the guy that cares about more than just goodness.

That sounds pretty right on to me.
There are ways in which Trigun may be deep, but it's not too particularly subtle. I think the creators wanted it to be apparent what they were getting at, rather than making you analyze and stress your brain to find it.

Now that's not to say there isn't symbolism. But I think you'll find you don't need to dig too deep to find out what things mean.

Zarxrax · Post by **Zarxrax** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 4:15 pm

Maybe Wolfwood is the Christ figure? :p

But seriously, I thought the cross he carries was quite interesting. On outward appearance it looks like hes a man of God, but hidden within are tools for killing. Jesus carried a cross representing the sins of the world. Likewise wolfwoods cross represents the sin of the world as well.
On another level, it could represent a burden that he must carry with him wherever he goes. Perhaps something that happened in his past. Perhaps the burdon of simply trying to get by in this world.

Alex_Dragon · Post by **Alex_Dragon** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 4:39 pm

This topic is just like Evangelion ones.Basicly people can see any symbolism they want if they look for it hard enough.I am not saying there isn't symbolism in either series but i am saying that regardless of if there is or isn't people will only see what they want to.

Tsunami Jones · Post by **Tsunami Jones** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 4:58 pm

Zarxrax wrote:Maybe Wolfwood is the Christ figure? :p

But seriously, I thought the cross he carries was quite interesting. On outward appearance it looks like hes a man of God, but hidden within are tools for killing. Jesus carried a cross representing the sins of the world. Likewise wolfwoods cross represents the sin of the world as well.
On another level, it could represent a burden that he must carry with him wherever he goes. Perhaps something that happened in his past. Perhaps the burdon of simply trying to get by in this world.

Yes, I think if wolfwood's cross represents anything, it would be the burden he carries.

spoiler wrote:And in the end, his burden ended up being what truely killed him.

But outside of that, I don't think you can really put "good" to Vash or other characters . . . I mean, sure it was unintentional, but Vash still killed several thousand people.

But personally, I don't think there's any symbolism orientated with the characters directly. Drawing such conclusions with that is ultimately pointless, as the same could be done with any character from any single source, anime or otherwise.

Escaflowne22 · Post by **Escaflowne22** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 5:14 pm

Tsunami Jones wrote:
Zarxrax wrote:Maybe Wolfwood is the Christ figure? :p

But seriously, I thought the cross he carries was quite interesting. On outward appearance it looks like hes a man of God, but hidden within are tools for killing. Jesus carried a cross representing the sins of the world. Likewise wolfwoods cross represents the sin of the world as well.
On another level, it could represent a burden that he must carry with him wherever he goes. Perhaps something that happened in his past. Perhaps the burdon of simply trying to get by in this world.
Yes, I think if wolfwood's cross represents anything, it would be the burden he carries.
spoiler wrote:And in the end, his burden ended up being what truely killed him.
But outside of that, I don't think you can really put "good" to Vash or other characters . . . I mean, sure it was unintentional, but Vash still killed several thousand people.

But personally, I don't think there's any symbolism orientated with the characters directly. Drawing such conclusions with that is ultimately pointless, as the same could be done with any character from any single source, anime or otherwise.

Why is it unsafe to draw conclusions from such sources, the symboloism in shakespeare material will forever be discussed.
Good writers will insert open and subtle symbolism in almost all of their work, its up to a good viewer to transcribe it.

I'm not exactly sure why why Vash and Knives, are "plants". At the end of the series with the ying-yang, is obvious symbolism, and i think Vash finally grabbing the cross to save himself, is the writers message of saying, "God's sacrifice is your last saving grace against evil".
Some will say i'm reading too much into it, but you have to think of yourself as a writer, or "the" writer to comprehend it.

Tsunami Jones · Post by **Tsunami Jones** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 5:17 pm

Escaflowne22 wrote:
Why is it unsafe to draw conclusions from such sources, the symboloism in shakespeare material will forever be discussed.
Good writers will insert open and subtle symbolism in almost all of their work, its up to a good viewer to transcribe it.

I'm not exactly sure why why Vash and Knives, are "plants". At the end of the series with the ying-yang, is obvious symbolism, and i think Vash finally grabbing the cross to save himself, is the writers message of saying, "God's sacrifice is your last saving grace against evil".
Some will say i'm reading too much into it, but you have to think of yourself as a writer, or "the" writer to comprehend it.

The specific conclusions I was refering to was putting a specific character to such themes and "good" or "evil". And by 'plants', do you mean angels? Because that's what it seemed to me they were, especially with all the angel stuff (apparently more in the manga).