Milly Thompson

About Milly Thompson

Milly Thompson is the junior Bernardelli agent partnered with Meryl Stryfe in Trigun, a very tall, very kind young woman from a huge family who carries a stun gun the size of a small cannon. Milly accepts Vash long before Meryl does, cries openly, eats pudding in quantity and turns out to be one of the bravest people in the series. Gentle comic relief with a real heart, she is a fan favourite.

Appearance

Milly is strikingly tall and broad shouldered for a woman in this series, towering over Meryl, with long light brown hair, soft features and a warm, open smile. She wears the same white Bernardelli travelling cloak as her partner, under which she carries her signature weapon, a huge multi barrel stun gun that fires non lethal concussive rounds. Her size and strength are a gentle running joke, matched with how softly she speaks and how readily she tears up. The design makes her the visual opposite of Meryl in every way, which is exactly how their double act works.

Personality

Milly is kind, honest and emotionally direct in a story full of guarded men. She trusts her instincts about people and her instincts are excellent: she knows Vash is gentle long before the evidence convinces Meryl. She comes from a very large, loving family and writes them long letters, and that upbringing shows in how she mothers everyone around her, feeding people, fussing over injuries and crying at their pain. She is not naive, though. Milly sees suffering clearly and chooses warmth anyway, and when the late story turns cruel, her grief and resolve give the audience its emotional bearings.

Background & Story

Milly grew up as one of many children in a big, close family, and her letters home to her parents and siblings, signed with love from their daughter, are a running thread of the anime. Hired by the Bernardelli Insurance Society, she was assigned as Meryl's partner on the Vash case as her first major field job, and she treats the whole dangerous journey with the enthusiasm of a first work trip. On the road she becomes the group's heart: cooking, comforting and keeping faith with Vash, and forming a tender bond with Wolfwood, whose darkness her simple goodness quietly answers. She proves, again and again, that the least cynical person in the room is often the strongest one in it. Milly's letters home are more than a gag: they quietly mark the journey's progress and remind the audience that somebody's daughter is walking through a war, writing about pudding and kind strangers because the truth would terrify her parents.

Powers & Abilities

• The stun gun: Milly's oversized stun gun fires powerful non lethal rounds that can stop vehicles and knock out armed men. It suits her perfectly: serious force, no killing.
• Strength and stamina: She is the physically strongest ordinary human in the main group, hauling gear, water and wounded friends across the desert without complaint.
• Reading hearts: Milly judges character by instinct and is almost never wrong. She trusted Vash and Wolfwood before anyone else did, on no evidence but her own clear eyes.

Key Relationships

• Meryl Stryfe: Her senior partner and best friend, whom she calls Sempai with total sincerity. Milly's calm warmth is the perfect counterweight to Meryl's temper and worry.
• Nicholas D. Wolfwood: Milly sees through the priest's act to the tired, decent man underneath, and their bond deepens into one of the series' most moving threads.
• Vash the Stampede: She believes in him from their first meetings, treats him as a person rather than a legend and feeds him at every opportunity, which he never forgets.

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