Trigun - What the heck?! (unboxed spoilers)

So I just finished watching Trigun. Excellent series all around, I highly recommend it. But, I’m left with a few “WTF??” questions:

  1. What are Vash & Knives? As so often stated, they’re not human. But what are they?

  2. And how about those guns? Knives made them, yes? But what’s the deal with the arm? I assume no human could weild that weapon? Which goes back to point 1 - what the heck are they?

  3. Speaking of arms, what’d those writers have against arms, anyway? Vash lost one arm and replaced it with some kind of inspector-gadget deal. Legato attached Vash’s lost arm to himself for some reason. The nebraska-boy had a fake arm, the faux-Vash in the first episode had a fake arm, Vash / Knives arms became weapons when the Big Gun was called into play. What’s the deal with the arms?

  4. And speaking of Legato, what’s his story? How does he control people? Why does he have Vash’s arm?

Anyway, just some silly questions.

They’re “plants” - biomechanical power sources, just like the ones that provide energy for the cities. Why they became intelligent humanoids is anyone’s guess.

  1. Why are the episodes styles so widely different? It’s starts off as a comedy, then turns into morality plays, then finally it becomes downright depessing. What’s up with that?