Nicholas D. Wolfwood
When Vash's bus crosses paths with Wolfwood's motorcycle in the desert, he becomes an unexpected but crucial ally—even though the two constantly butt heads philosophically. Wolfwood is all about guns and combat, while Vash refuses to kill anyone. It's a fundamental clash, but by the end of the series, Wolfwood actually comes around to Vash's way of thinking, though it comes at a serious cost. His real motivation is raising money to support the children at the orphanage he runs.
The Punisher
Wolfwood's signature weapon is a massive cross he carries around. The series features two versions: one loaded with 12 pistols across its arms, and a heavier variant that houses a machine gun in the vertical shaft, a rocket launcher at the top, and ammo stored throughout (though fans debate exactly which parts hold what). The second version is triggered by a skull symbol in the center. It's heavy—only Wolfwood, Milly, and Vash can really handle it without struggling, though even Vash has complained about the weight. Wolfwood himself jokes that it's heavy "with God's mercy," which is pretty fitting for someone as cynical as him. The anime never officially names it, but manga readers know it as the Punisher.
Character Design & Name Origins
Nightow based Wolfwood on Tortoise Matsumoto, lead singer of the Japanese rock band Ulfuls. The character's name is actually a play on the band's name—Wolfwood (ウルフウッド) is a corrupted version of Ulfuls (ウルフルズ), which itself comes from the English word "soulful."
As for that mysterious "D." in his full name? Nightow's given wildly different answers over the years. Sometimes it's "Dangerous," sometimes it's random yakuza slang roughly meaning "What family do you think you're from!? I'm gonna tie you up and drown ya!" The common thread is that whatever the D. stands for, it's meant to suggest destruction, anger, and violence—core traits of the character.
In the original Japanese, Wolfwood speaks with a Kansai dialect. Nightow has explained this as a stylistic choice: "Since it's an English-speaking world, think of it as indicating some accent rather than an actual dialect."
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
