Legato Bluesummers

Legato Bluesummers (レガート・ブルーサマーズ|Regāto Burūsamāzu) is a man who devotes himself to Millions Knives, and makes it his main goal to have Vash The Stampede experience eternal pain and suffering. He's the secondary antagonist of Trigun and serves directly under Knives, which also gives him command of the Gung-Ho Guns, especially while Knives is injured as a result of the July Incident. He is the only one of the Gung-Ho Guns without a number, as pointed out by Elendira the Crimsonnail, which means he's far less dispensable to Knives than the rest of them.

Manga
Legato first appears to Vash claiming to be a messenger, warning Vash that he will be pursued by "demons" who are intent on killing him. Legato leaves Vash a Coin Case, telling Vash that each of these assassins will be carrying a coin. He tells Vash that once he has collected all of the coins something will happen. When Vash asks his name and how he knows these things, Legato formally introduces himself and then hints that Knives sent him. Legato later watches the battle between Vash and the first two members of the Gung-ho Guns, Monev the Gale and E. G. Mine. Upon defeating Mine, Vash challenges Legato, stating that he intends to reverse their roles of hunter and hunted in Legato's twisted coin game.

Legato first demonstrates his ability to control the bodies of others in a restaurant. When assaulted by a group of slave traders, Legato uses his powers to kill the man by forcing him to tear out his own heart. He then kills the other men that had been with him by making them shoot each other. Legato tells the women that they are free now and warns them to be careful as "humanity will soon come to an end". Leaving the restaurant, Legato realizes that Vash's challenge has greatly bothered him.

Following the battle between Vash and the third member of the Guns, Dominique the Cyclops, Legato gathers with The Gung-Ho Guns for Knives's reawakening, which Vash senses and rushes to. Upon being reawakened, Knives twists Legato's neck in an 180 degree angle and then breaks his limbs when Legato instinctively moves to attack Vash. Elendira later comments that this was also influenced by the fact that Legato had used The Gung-Ho Guns to settle his personal vendetta against Vash. Legato's wounded body is then placed in a coffin that is chained shut except for the head area. He uses his controlling powers on a large ogre creature to serve as his transportation. The creature is killed and Legato forcibly taken back by Elendira following the battle between Vash and Hoppered, and Legato is placed in a new coffin with primative metal limbs.

When Vash and Wolfwood finally reach Knives, Legato uses his abilities to restrain Vash as a prisoner for eight months straight, which greatly weakens him. Wolfwood betrays the Guns and rescues Knives, shooting the weakened Legato in the back of the head. Legato reveals a full recovery to save Knives from Zazie the Beast, where is revealed his power functions through the use of microscopic strings that connects his mind to the muscles of his victims.

In the final stage of Knives's plan, Legato faces off against Vash in order to prevent Vash from getting to Knives, revealing that the now completed Coin Case functions as a device that blocks Legato's abilities to make their battle more interesting. As Legato and Vash do battle, Legato reveals his past as a sex slave, and how he came to love and swear loyalty to Knives for destroying the city he was trapped in. Legato beats Vashs so severly that it activates an automatic defense in Vash, which severely wounds Legato. Vash destroys the coin case in an attempt to even the battle once again, and the two clash one final time, both of them pushed to the absolute limits of their strength.

Once defeated by Vash, Legato demands that Vash finish him, threatening the life of Livio and everyone else Vash holds dear. Feeling he has no choice, Vash shoots Legato in the head. Legato dies smiling.

Anime Version
The anime shows Legato in a less sympathetic light. In the anime, Legato is far less emotional than his manga counterpart and it is never explained why he joined Knives. Legato is simply a sadistic nihilist who is determined to torment Vash and aid Knives in his quest to eradicate humanity. He also attached Vash's arm to himself because Vash "refused to be by his (Knives) side".

Legato has a similar introduction to the one he is given in the manga, the key difference being that in the anime Legato does not play the game with coins with Vash. Legato uses The Gung-Ho Guns to place Vash in situations where he must either kill or be killed. Vash never ends up killing though, always figuring out a way to survive without finishing anyone off. Vash still gets scarred by Legato's actions, as most of The Gung-ho Guns either get killed for failing to put an end to Vash or committ suicide because they were afraid of being punished by Knives.

When Vash finally has Legato cornered, Legato reveals that he is going to allow Vash to kill him. Vash refuses. Legato insists that it is okay and that he has no reason to continue living. Seeing that his words are not working on Vash, he threatens to kill Milly and Meryl if Vash doesn't finish him off. Feeling like he has no other option, Vash shoots Legato in the head. Legato dies smiling, knowing that his death will scar Vash for life.

Voice Actors
Voice Actors: Toshihiko Seki (Japanese Actor), Richard Cansino (English Actor)

Trivia

 * In anime, Vash kills Legato after he is about to kill Milly Thompson and Meryl Stryfe while in the manga he is about to kill Livio.