deploying lethal spikes. Further manipulating these threads, Mine can hurl them towards an enemy. He is quickly defeated in the manga, and he is killed by Rai-Dei after Vash defeats him in the anime. Rai-Dei the Blade Rai-Dei(雷泥) is a samurai who seeks the knowledge learned only when facing death. He carries a sword with a built in gun that can be fired from the hilt, but not meant for shooting, instead when he fires the gun in the middle of his swing it allows him to swing his sword with enough force to create a sonic blast. In the anime, he expresses anger in the fact that Vash is refusing to make his mark true and aim to kill, claiming he wants "a real battle". He escapes after Vash's Angel Arm is forced to activate, though Wolfwood soon kills him. In the manga, he wears "roller skates" that allow him to move at phenomenal speeds. After Vash defeats him, Rai-Dei attempts to attack Vash from behind, but is quickly killed by Wolfwood. Leonof the Puppet-Master Leonof the Puppet-Master is an elderly man who controls numerous puppets with an elaborate system of wires. He can manipulate them to look like real people, and uses them to do horrible things to people close to Vash. His real name is Emilio, having known Vash during his childhood. His love interest dies sometime after, and he goes into puppet making to mend his broken spirit. He cares for her body for a number of years until he battles Vash in the ruins of a floating ship Vash had lived on. During the fight, a portion of the ship drops away and he tries unsuccessfully to hold on to the box containing the remains of his love interest before it falls overboard. Dangling over the edge by one of his puppet wires, Leonof strikes at Vash to force him to let go of the other end and falls to his death. The anime does not feature his background, and he is simply an assassin who can use his puppets to do various tasks, such as delivering reports to Legato, spying on people, and attacking them. After Leonof kills Brad using a puppet double of his longtime friend Jessica, Wolfwood kills Leonof in turn. Vash uses some of Leonof's control wires in his fight against Hoppered the Gauntlet, and later during his final showdown with