Cowboy Bebop: The Main Characters, Ranked By Intelligence

Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop adaptation is full of intelligent, driven characters, but it’s time to see who ranks the smartest of the main cast.

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Content warning: The following article contains spoilers for Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop.

Cowboy Bebop has arrived on Netflix with a bang. Whether or not audiences think that the live-action adaptation lives up to the stellar heights of the original anime series will continue to be debated. However, despite the changes of adaptation, Cowboy Bebop features a wide variety of strange characters led strongly by John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda.

While the Cowboy Bebop characters are tough individuals, they are also pretty smart, especially the leads. They are just as likely to use their intellect to solve a situation as they are to shoot their way out of it. But only one character can be the most intelligent — and fans of the original anime may be surprised who it is.

7 Vicious

Manipulative, bloodthirsty, ruthless, Vicious (Alex Hassell) is just too impulsive to commit to a plan. He’s so certain about his own power that he’s the one who has all the cards, and never suspects he would be the one double-crossed. His lack of control costs him the deal on Neptune. If he took a couple of moments to really think about his actions rather than grabbing power for the sake of it, he would have seen Julia’s (Elena Satine) betrayal coming.

Whether this is due to arrogance or hubris, no one knows. For someone who is obsessed with power, Vicious should be on the lookout for those who are also coveting power themselves.

6 Ed

Audiences who have seen the Cowboy Bebop anime know how smart Radical Ed (Eden Perkins) truly is, being a genius hacker. Unfortunately, in the live-action series, Ed only really appears sporadically, which limits the screentime to see how smart the character is in the Netflix show versus the anime.

Based on the few scenes Ed has appeared in, there is clearly some talent with hacking and information gathering. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to get a truly accurate reading on the character and their intellect.

5 Jet Black

The Netflix adaptation was not kind to Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), whose IQ went down a couple of points. In the anime, Jet is a true Renaissance man with high-level skills across multiple disciplines. He keeps the Bebop and other ships running and is knowledgeable across a wide range of subjects.

In the Cowboy Bebop live-action series, Jet is still a skilled investigator and has his wits about him — somewhat. He can barely keep the ship together and lacks the sharp intellect of his anime counterpart.

4 Spike Spiegel

Spike and Jet are pretty much tied in terms of intellect in the live-action Cowboy Bebop. In the anime series, Jet was definitely smarter than Spike, but it’s close to a tie in the Netflix version. Spike is an incredibly charming, likable character with a lot of tragedy and fighting skills behind him. He definitely acts more of the muscle than anything else.

Despite this, his intelligence shows when he is fighting. He’s able to read his opponents well and know how to turn a fight to his advantage in the end.

3 Ein

In addition to being a very good boy, Ein is also one of the smartest characters in either Cowboy Bebop series. Due to his past as a data dog, Ein has been gifted with above-average intelligence for either species of dog or human. Over the course of the series, he uses this intellect in order to help the crew of the Bebop.

It was Ein, after all, who brought Ed to Spike when he was in the alley at the end of the season.

2 Faye Valentine

Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) is a brilliant con-woman with amnesia who is trying to piece together the mystery of her past. She’s also the smartest character out of the main crew on the Bebop. Faye is great at reading a room, getting people to talk, and adapting to the strange new world that she’s woken up in.

It’s her ability to adapt to a situation and outthink her opponents that really makes her character stand out. The only times Faye is really thrown off her game is when the mystery of her sad past comes up in Cowboy Bebop.

1 Julia

Julia is the smartest character of the live-action Cowboy Bebop. Not only does she play to everyone’s expectations, but she also ends up winning in the end. With Vicious imprisoned by her, Julia becomes the leader of the Red Dragon Syndicate with a convenient scapegoat should her plans fail. Throughout the entirety of season 1, she slowly makes her moves and consolidates her plans, changing to suit her needs and the environment she’s in.

Not only is this a marked improvement from Cowboy Bebop, where the character died and was used to further Spike’s own pain, but it also radically changes the story in some very exciting ways going forward… if Netflix gives Cowboy Bebop a season 2.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/cowboy-bebop-main-characters-intelligence/