Nightow created Vash as a strong gunner who would stand out because of his pacifist ways, traits that are different from those of the stereotypical protagonist of action films. The manga was adapted for television as an anime series in which Vash was voiced by Masaya Onosaka as an adult and Kōki Miyata as a child. For the English dub, Johnny Yong Bosch voices him as an adult and Bryce Papenbrook as a child. The character also appears in the 2010 film "", among other one-shots. Nightow was surprised at Vash's popularity with Western audiences.