Vincent Law

Vincent Law
Gender	Male
Race:	Proxy, Human(?)
Place of birth:	Mosk
Date of birth:	Unknown
Age:	24
Occupation:	Romdo AutoReiv disposal technician

Vincent Law is one of the main characters of Ergo Proxy. An immigrant from the Domed City of Mosk, he worked for an AutoReiv disposal unit in Romdo with the hopes of becoming a model citizen until he was attacked by a monster. Later, he was forced to flee the city because of criminal accusations. Together with the Companion-type AutoReiv Pino and later, the human Re-l Mayer, he set out on a quest to recover his memories and discover his true identity.

Biography

Vincent’s earliest memories are of the trek to Romdo from the destroyed (at least in part) Mosk dome. Along with many other Mosk citizens, Vincent applied for and received an immigration permit. While he was waiting in line for this, he saw Re-L Mayer for the first time and fell in love with her. She was present during his interview to enter Romdo, and he later ran into her several times during her investigation of the AutoReivs infected by the Cogito Virus.

At the start of the show, Vincent is shown on a day of work. His Disposal Unit job requires him to hunt down Cogito-infected AutoReivs in order to keep Fellow Citizens safe and for him to be upgraded from Immigrant to Fellow Citizen. In the first episode, Vincent is shown shooting the escaped AutoReiv, which is either a female Entourage or Companion model, only to have his disposal unit AutoReiv be infected by the Cogito and escape from him. For his mistake, Petro Seller, his boss, gives him extra duties, one of which was to check if the Companion AutoReiv Pino was infected.

Following this, Re-L Mayer comes to look at an AutoReiv Vincent previously caught and examines its hippocampus file for memories, which allows them to uncover the "Escape Route" that all the infected AutoReivs try to take. She is also assigned to be present at his "hearing," and she advises him to throw away his pendant, which "smells of Mosk." This third encounter of theirs leads Iggy to believe that Vincent has feelings for Re-L. Later in the same day, Re-L is attacked in her bathroom by another strange monster, a Proxy, and Vincent is found unconscious near the scene of the crime.

Vincent was arrested by the Security Bureau on suspicion of being Re-L’s “stalker” but was later released. Immediately following this, he was attacked and chased by Monad Proxy in the mall. Cornered, Vincent transformed into Ergo Proxy and killed the monster, later waking up on a train with no memory of what had occurred. Returning to the AutoReiv Disposal Unit facility, he found that his Entourage, Dorothy, had been murdered, and he fled from the scene with the Unit chasing him. Realizing that he could no longer cope with what was happening to him in Romdo, Vincent tried to find a way to the plug-vent, from which he could escape. On the way, he encountered Pino, who was infected and thus able lead them there through the Escape Route.

In the meantime, Re-L investigates the remains of her bathroom and finds Vincent's pendant in the debris, connecting the two of them together. Through a series of calls, Re-L was able to contact Vincent and track him to the plug-vent, but when the Security Bureau arrived, Vincent assumed that she had betrayed him. Pino opened the plug-vent, and Vincent was sucked onto the outer walkway despite Re-L’s efforts to prevent this. Though Re-L tried to persuade Vincent to return to the city, he realized that he was never going to fit into Romdo society and let himself fall off the dome as the plug-vent closed.

Vincent was able to survive the descent from the dome (presumably by transformation into the form of Ergo Proxy), but sustained a fever within moments of entering the atmosphere of the outside land. He was taken in by Hoody, the leader of the outside Commune, who nursed him for ten days until he was able to recover from the virus that had attacked his system.

Upon recovery, Vincent and Pino learned that outcasts of society were able to exist outside of the Dome, in the Commune. The Commune consisted of about a dozen people, most of whom were elderly except for Quinn, a young single mother, and her child, Timothy. Re-L later tracked Vincent to the outside world and chanced upon the secret as well. Meanwhile, the Security Bureau tried to kill Vincent by wiping out the Commune, an attack which killed Timothy and caused Ergo Proxy to appear yet again. In this time, Re-L was stricken by an illness, similar to the one that had affected Vincent; however, as she lacked the immune system of a Proxy, there was little hope towards her chances of recovery in the outside world. As a result, Quinn forms a plan to take the outcasts out of the Commune on the 400 Rabbits, a wind-powered boat that was previously hidden by Hoody in an attempt to maintain status quo in the Commune. Because of Timothy's death, Quinn is said to be in an "unstable" state, and it is implied that her desire to leave the Commune is supplanted by a thirst for revenge. In the anime, it is implied that her revenge is removing Vincent from the grasp of Romdo. Thus, she bargains with Vincent to leave with them on the 400 Rabbits in exchange for the vaccine to save Re-L's life. Hoody is against the idea and reasons with Vincent about the next step to take.

In the end, Quinn, Vincent, Pino, and the other members manage to stall for enough time to fix the 400 Rabbits and leave the Commune. In the meantime, Hoody takes Re-L back to Romdo, where Hoody is killed and Re-L receives medical treatment in time. Raul Creed, the head of Security, is enraged that he was tricked into believing that Hoody was Vincent and exhibits a personal vendetta against Vincent Law, who is now flying through the devastated wastelands to find Mosk for answers about his past.

Vincent's search for answers thus begins as he sails across the blasted earth with Pino.

After facing many trials & other Proxies within the landscape of the destroyed earth Vincent's memories of his time in Mosk and identity as a Proxy soon became clear. Vincent learned that he is indeed a Proxy but he is a Proxy created by another Proxy who was also no other than the creator of Romdo, Proxy One. This was done by Proxy One combining his Amrita Cells with Monad Proxy, a female proxy who apparently fell in love with Proxy One but instead of pregnancy occuring the resulting Proxy was a perfect duplicate of Proxy One but instead he was given a Phantom of the Opera-like mask to hide his face. This Proxy was also given the memories that tormented Proxy One when he learned of the true meaning of the Proxies existence and what their true roles were. Once this was complete the Proxy was placed within Mosk to monitored by Monad and this proxy was also given a name, it was Ergo Proxy, The Agent of Death and his purpose was simple, to bring an end to his own creator & forever make Proxy One's vengeance against The Creator(s) clear.

Upon discovering this Vincent, Re-l and Pino returned to Romdo to see that its citizens had begun a hunt for all of the city's AutoReiv's as the Cogito Virus had spread all over giving them self-awareness.

After treking the destroyed city & facing many familiar faces Vincent & Re-l come face to face with the one who orchestrated the events taking place within the Domed City, Proxy One, both the creator of Romdo & Vincent himself. It was during this that Deadelus had begun to shutdown Romdo's remaining power supply thus causing the city to begin it's collapse. As Re-l left to deal with Deadelus Vincent chose to face Proxy One & finally get the answers he so desired. Proxy One then began to explain the truth of the Creator(s) & the Proxies bringing shock to Vincent during this revelation. Proxy One also explained that he & Vincent are the same being only that he was based off of the Proxy One that abandoned Romdo after learning of the truth & that he was all that remained of the original Proxy One before Ergo was ever created.

After hearing this Vincent & Proxy One then began to fight one another while Re-l tried to convince an already mad Deadelus into saving the city. But before this could be finished Deadelus's Monad Proxy a.k.a Re-l 2 appeared seeking out Vincent as the Amrita Cells harvested from the original Monad called out to the Amrita Cells within Vincent as she accepted the feelings she originally had for Proxy One. Meanwhile Ergo & One were fighting fiercely as Proxy One pushed Vincent on during the fight so that he could face him properly. As Monad arrived to the fight she witness Vincent's arm impaled through Proxy One's chest and as his wounds began to effect him he told Vincent that he had helped him accomplish his revenge against the Creator(s) Ergo angered by this was soon comforted by Monad who told him that he didn't have to fight or dwell in this world anymore and soon took him outside the Domed City to see that the sun had finally begun to show itself again after thousands of years. Prepared to die alongside him Monad soon learned that Vincent had chosen to go back not to fight but to live like he, Re-l, Pino and so many of the other survivors were meant to, and so saying goodbye to Monad, Vincent descended back to the collapsing city. As he returned Proxy One somewhat pleased by his return told Vincent that he was meant to kill Proxy One but what came after his revenge was up to him.

Standing amongst the ruined city, Vincent witnessed the original humans' ship descend upon the earth coming to aid the survivors and after choosing to see the earth come back to life alongside Re-l & Pino Vincent chose not only to aid the humans in this struggle but also his identity.

-"This is the world that stands before us, The world that well call our reality...but with Re-l, Pino and the other survivors with me...I know I can face this world. A world that is finally ready to heal itself. For the first time in thousands of years Mankind returns to meet its Earth, and now the true struggle must begin...I am Ergo Proxy, The Agent of Death"_Vincent Law

Personality

In the first few episodes, Vincent is shown to express a humble, subservient personality due to his desire to become a Fellow Citizen. However, behind this meek persona, Vincent is a thoughtful, determined and ultimately strong individual. His uncertainty about his past and the memories therein often leaves him victim to doubt and uncertainty, yet as the series progresses, he eventually comes to terms with the reality of his existence. Whenever possible, Vincent refrains from committing violent acts, preferring to evade conflict altogether or serve as a pacifist in tense situations. While this benevolence allows him to become fast friends with Pino, it gives Re-L the impression that he is cowardly and incompetent. Because of this, their relationship (particularly their trust in one another) endures slow but steady progression.

Vincent is drawn with closed eyes through much of the series. This represents his desire to close out the reality he left behind when he removed his memories at Mosk - and continue to pretend he is a normal human. When we see his eyes open are key points in the plot when he either: is forced to see the reality of his situation (as when he is rejected and ejected from the Romdo dome), or drops the milquetoast personality and allows the Proxy personality to reassert itself in times of danger to himself (as when Monad attacks him on the train) or Re-L (when Iggy kidnaps her and confronts Vincent).

Trivia

Vincent Law shares similarities with Vincent Valentine from the Final Fantasy series. They both wear a red coat over their bodies. They both have the ability to transform into a much more powerful being.

The name Vincent originates from Latin "vincere", which means "to conquer".