Hoppered the Gauntlet

Origin

Hoppered was originally an inhabitant of the city of July. Before it was destroyed, Hoppered was a beggar with deformed legs that took care of a blind and mute woman. After July was destroyed and the woman was killed along with it, he blamed Vash the Stampede and eventually became a member of the Gung Ho Guns to get revenge, not knowing that it was in fact Knives who'd used Vash to destroy the city.

Creation

Hoppered the Gauntlet was created by Yasuhiro Nightow for his Trigun series.

Major Story Arcs

Fifth Moon

Hoppered was among the Gung Ho Guns that witnessed the rebirth of Knives; he was also there when Legato was crippled by Knives and when Vash made a huge crater in the moon.

Return of the Blue Wind of Death

Two years after this, Hoppered, along with Gray the Ninelives, Midvalley the Hornfreak, and Legato massacred an entire police task force that sought to apprehend them for a rash of disappearances. Hoppered's role in the attack was rather small compared to the other Gung Ho Guns, as he mostly supervised some of the soldiers that had been left alive after Midvalley's attacks, after which Legato came in and used his powers to force the soldiers to crush their bodies together inside a container.

Resume Our Business

After that, the Gung Ho Guns went to meet with Legato, who gave them their new objective: to make Vash suffer and destroy his vision of humanity. When Midvalley started explaining how they should instead take out both Vash and Knives, as he considered them both monsters that were a threat to humankind, Hoppered was the one who tried to stop Midvalley, but with little luck, causing Midvalley to receive considerable punishment from Legato.

Bottom of the Dark

During their journey to confront Vash, Hoppered and Midvalley conversed over their place in the plans of Knives, and how win or lose against Vash, they probably wouldn't be much use to Knives soon. Hoppered was okay with this however, as he saw his only purpose in life to be getting revenge upon Vash, even asking Midvalley to wipe away all traces of him after their task was done, provided he survived.

Den of Thieves

Hoppered and Midvalley later met with Zazie the Beast at Dragon's Nest Mountain after he kidnapped Meryl. When Hoppered saw her he tried to break into the cage she was held in because he couldn't stand the thought of her being a friend of Vash, but he eventually stopped caring about her when he realized she didn't even know anything about Vash and July.

Crying Wild Bullet

As soon as Vash and Wolfwood, as well as Milly, came into the city of Dragon's Nest Mountain, Hoppered and Midvalley attacked and seperated the them, with Midvalley going after Wolfwood while Hoppered went after Vash.

Those Who Stood Idly By

Their battle quickly became very violent, with Hoppered having no regard for civilians, only focused on Vash, whom he began telling about the July incident, and how Vash had taken everything from him when he destroyed it. Hoppered used his shell to barrel through the city, mowing down countless buildings around Vash as he kept reminding him of July.

Doomed Sinner

Starting to remember what he'd done to July, Vash agreed with Hoppered that he should die, but only after he'd settled things with Knives. Bored with how Vash resigned himself to his fate, Hoppered taunted Vash with how his fellow Gung Ho Guns would probably have some fun with Meryl, and he left to meet up with Midvalley.

The City, and Then the Banquet of the Dogs

With the use of Midvalley's sound-dampening techniques, Hoppered was able to sneak up on Zazie and kill him, as he and Midvalley didn't want him reporting to Legato or Knives on how they were planning to actually kill Vash rather than just make him suffer.

Break Out

As Vash was making his way towards Meryl, Hoppered and Midvalley used the same technique they'd used on Zazie to try and kill Vash in one shot, but Wolfwood and Milly managed to disrupt Midvalley's sound-dampening just before Hoppered was able to collide with Vash at full force.

Loss

Surviving Hoppered's attack despite being hit, Vash's angel arm begins to transform, allowing Hoppered witness Vash's memories of July and how Knives was the one to use him to destroy the city, but also forcing him to relive the death of the woman he'd cared for.

Villain

Desperately trying to stop the memory, Hoppered sets off several bombs that he'd placed in the building as a last resort. Vash was able to absorb the blast however, allowing everyone to survive. It was then that Midvalley stepped in to kill Hoppered as per their agreement, only to be interrupted by Wolfwood, who was looking to finish their fight. They're interrupted by Legato however and Midvalley tries to kill him, only to be shot and killed by a Legato-controlled Hoppered.

Death Deal

Zazie then steps in, having been the one to contact Legato after occupying a new body, this time the body of a young girl. There is then a Mexican standoff between Wolfwood, Zazie, Hoppered, and Legato, with Legato being unable to control everyone because he's too busy restraining Vash. The standoff finally ignites when Meryl comes up from behind Vash and shoots Legato. Hoppered immediately shoots Legato as well, while Wolfwood shoots Zazie, and Hoppered and Wolfwood are both shot by Zazie. Infuriated over Hoppered's disloyalty, Legato uses Midvalley's dead body to try and finish him off, but he's distracted by Vash when starts to charge up his angel arm cannon, only for it to be disrupted when an enormous nail is fired at him.

Let Us Walk the Path to Redemption

Someone then appears and orders Legato to retreat, but Legato stills wants to kill Hoppered with Midvalley's body. Vash manages to regain control of his angel arm however and uses it to shield Hoppered. Legato then attempts to kill Vash for interfering, but he is stopped by the person who ordered him to retreat, now formerly introduced as Elendira the Crimsonnail, the "lost number" thirteen of the Gung Ho Guns, who forcibly extracts Legato. Succumbing to his injuries, Hoppered tells Vash that he doesn't want to kill him anymore, because he wants him to suffer through the world's miseries for the rest of his life. Hoppered then passes away with the memory of the woman he'd loved as his last thought. He is later buried alongside Midvalley.

Powers and Abilities

Hoppered the Gauntlet is a man with deformed and vestigial legs, who is covered by a suit of bullet-like armor and uses his large arms to move around. His armor is immensely durable, having been shown to withstand bullets and staying intact even after massive impacts. Hoppered is able to launch himself with great velocity, allowing him to turn himself into a living bullet and plow through just about anything in his path. He also has a spiked hammer that he uses to move himself around that doubles as a gun, with which he has shown considerable skill and accuracy.

Anime Version

Hoppered was one of the Gung Ho Guns member that fought Vash in the flying city. His appearance in the anime was very similar to how he appeared in the manga, with his bullet-like armor, except his armor apparently had a built-in machine gun in this version. He is defeated by Vash after he uses some Leonof the Puppet-Master's invisible wire to trap him. Hoppered later resurfaces however and launches himself into the plant that was powering the ship, killing himself and causing the ship to crash.

The anime does not feature any of Hoppered's back-story, with his desire to make Vash suffer simply being part of his role as a Gung Ho Gun in this case.