Pip Vernedead

Pip Bernadotte (ピップ・ベルナドット, Pippu Baanadotto) is the leader of the group of mercenaries known as the Wild Geese. He is an ally of Hellsing and takes a particular interest in Seras Victoria. His Japanese voice actor in the anime and OVA is Hiroaki Hirata and his boyhood is voiced by Hiromi Igarashi. His English voice actor in the OVA (he doesn't make an appearance, nor is he mentioned in the anime) is Yuri Lowenthal. Like many of Kouta Hirano's characters, Pip's character design was recycled from one of Hirano's old hentai works called Coyote.

Appearance
Pip is an average-heighted man with carrot-colored hair and freckles. He speaks with a French accent and is therefore widely considered to be French, although it is never exclusively disclosed. However, Hirano confirms him to be French in the back of volume 6's tankoubon, where it is stated that he is "French and loves boobs". Hirano also mentioned in a recent filler-chapter that he was of Swedish ancestry.

The Royal House of Bernadotte is the current royal house of Sweden, founded by one of Napoleon's marshals: Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. One can assume that Pip was a Frenchman with Swedish connections, or vice-versa. An interesting fact is that the current Crown Princess of Sweden is named Victoria of Bernadotte.

Perhaps his most notable features are his eye patch and long braid. He usually wears a cowboy-style hat with the left side flap folded up; it has what appears to be an emblem of a Griffin on the front. Pip is also a compulsive smoker, and is shown with a cigarette in his mouth more often than not.

Personality
Initially, Pip was portrayed as a narrow-minded and somewhat shallow pervert whose sole pursuit was that of gaining money, and therefore proved to be an experienced, excellent mercenary. It is later revealed that he has a soft side, morals, and a sense of aloof bravery. Upon he and Seras' first meeting, he is stunned by her, and subsequently starts developing feelings of love towards her.

History
Pip is hired by Walter Dornez at the end of Volume 2 to replace all the soldiers killed by the the Valentine Brother's invasion of Hellsing Manor. On his first debriefing, he openly insults and antagonizes Seras Victoria over the absurdity of vampires but is quickly put in his place by Seras' 'aggressive reasoning', involving nearly breaking his neck by flicking him with her fore-finger. Pip and the other members of the Wild Geese, now believing Seras' and Integra's claims about vampires, proceed to train at the shooting range outside Hellsing Manor with Seras.

Soon after Pip is deployed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil along with Seras and Alucard to find the whereabouts of Millennium. Alucard and Seras are later attacked by BOPE units of the Brazilian military police after being declared in public as international terrorists, a ruse perpetrated by Brazilian officials in exchange for immortality promised by Millennium. Pip stealthily kills the Brazilian officials in charge of the BOPE unit while Alucard massacres its members. Later after Seras' and Alucard's victory over Tubalcain Alhambra, the Millennium member in charge, Pip hijacks a helicopter and brings it to Seras and Alucard as a way to escape. Pip is later seen with Alucad and Seras at the conference which members of Iscariot, Hellsing, Millennium and The Convention of Twelve attended.

Pip is later seen throughout the attack on Hellsing Mansion during Millennium's invasion of London (Operation Seelöwe 2). Zorin Blitz, a Millennium First Lieutenant, attacked Hellsing Manor with roughly 1/3 of the Letztes Bataillon, though the attack was initially a disaster. Seras Victoria was easily able to shoot down Zorin's zeppelin with the Harkonnen II's AA cannons, forcing the surviving members to carry out on foot. Despite this, the survivors, behind halved in number and having lost all their heavy equipment, continued to attack, only to fall into a minefield set up by Pip. Ultimately, the Millennium forces were able to bypass the mine field with the help of one of Zorin's illusions and breached Hellsing Manor. Zorin joined her battalion of troops in the destruction of the Wild Geese; killing all those in her way with her painful illusions and massive scythe. Eventually she encountered Seras and although Zorin was easily able to kill her she instead left her alive after scraping her eyes on her scythe, slicing off her left arm, and paralyzing her with a blow to the spine. Pip, already severely injured, tried to save Seras, but was instead brutally killed by Zorin, being impaled by the entire blade of her scythe. Just before he dies from his sustained injuries, he finally kisses Seras for the first (and last) time, after she had rejected him several times earlier, and tells her to drink his blood and become stronger.

Seras drinks his blood after he dies, and gains his memories and experiences. Seras also becomes a true vampire at this point, (since she had previously refused to drink blood), and begins for the first time to show abilities similar to Alucard's. Seras then healed herself (save for her left arm, which now spews shadow matter) and effortlessly destroyed the remaining members of Zorin's Battalion, before defeating Zorin.

Because Seras had drank Pip's blood, his soul now lives on through her. He makes his first reappearance in Volume 9 giving Seras tactical advice during her battle with The Captain at the Deus Ex Machina's storage room. At the end of the battle he manifests out Seras' body and stabs the werewolf's chest with a tooth that has a silver filing, killing the Captain.

Background
Pip seems to be of french origin, having a french name; Bernadotte. However, this is also the name of the current Swedish royal family. Hirano has mentioned in interviews that Pip is of swedish/french origin. Being one of the series' only racist jokes, Seras states that Pip only hates Germans because he's French. Pip's family has had at least one member serving in the Wild Geese for six generations. His grandfather, for example, was a mercenary, and raised him for much of his childhood. His father was killed in combat, while gathering money for Pip's delivery. It's unknown what rank Pip's other family members had in the mercenary group before they died or retired. Pip (along with the rest of the Wild Geese) primarily uses an AK-74 assault rifle as well as a Colt Single Action Army Revolver. Although having no supernatural powers, he does have experience from warfare and skills with firearms and military tactics.

Trivia

 * It should be noted that between Pip's first appearance and the expedition to Brazil, Pip did not have an eyepatch, but instead had his left eye bandaged, though this is not reflected in the OVA.
 * The name of his group, The Wild Geese, is believed to be derived from a movie during the seventies that shared the name and was about a group of mercenaries in Africa. This is incorrect, and is a reference instead to The Wild Geese, the Irish who left Ireland following the Treaty of Limerick. Pip possibly being French, it could an homage, since it was the Wild Geese serving France who finally broke the back of the English army at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745, (according to some accounts taking the colors of England's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards). (Which would place their entry after the dissolution of the 'official' French Irish units. However, many organizations of predominately Irish mercenaries are known to refer to themselves as the 'Wild Geese', particularly those dating back to the 18th and 19th century.)
 * Unlike most mercenaries who prefer automatic pistols as their sidearm, Pip wields a revolver (presumably a Smith&Wesson 686).
 * He wears the Romanian flag on his coat (OVA)