Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop is a character that noticeably develops over the course of the series. At first, she's brash, sarcastic, and incorrigible selfish. While she doesn't completely drop those traits, she nevertheless becomes more affectionate and trusting as her friendship with the Bebop crewmates grows.
She came into the future alone and was immediately saddled with massive debt, but her street-smarts and ability to think on her feet led her to the relative safety of the Bebop. A complicated woman with a complicated past, there are both upsides and downsides to being Faye Valentine. Some of these advantages and disadvantages weigh more than others.
10 Harsh Reality: Awakening From Her Cryogenic Slumber With Massive Debt
Not only was Faye in cryogenic sleep for 54 years, but the Moon was also destroyed and the Earth was decimated by rock showers as a result. The last thing Faye wanted to hear about after starting her new life is the massive hospital bill she accrued during her slumber. Faye suffered serious injuries in an accident while on a trip into space with her parents, who perished. Conventional medicine couldn't save her, so she was cryogenically frozen, only to wake up in the future with a huge 300,028,000 woolong bill slapped on her by Cold Sleep, the clinic that woke her up.
9 Perk: Faye Can Handle Herself In A Fight
Faye's proficiency with a hand pistol is truly a blessing. After all, she has had to rely on her own skills and talents to get her out of more than a few sticky situations with some very bad people. Faye's quick thinking has saved her on many occasions, including when she expertly shot out the front wheels of a vehicle that was chasing her down. Most impressively, she managed to perform such a feat from the backseat of a moving convertible. She's also skilled in hand-to-hand combat and packs a pretty hefty punch.
8 Harsh Reality: Faye Discovers That Her One Link To The Past Is In Ruins
Having lost her memory, Faye eventually manages to piece together her origins and remember where she came from. But when she returns to the house she grew up in, she found that it had been destroyed. After years of searching and wondering what she'd find when she made her way back home, she was met with nothing more than a pile of rubble. Maybe she expected it, given she'd last seen her home 57 years ago, but the stark reality of the situation must have been emotionally devastating.
7 Perk: Faye Doesn't Have A Lot Of Baggage, Literally & Metaphorically
While it's obviously preferable to avoid amnesia and retain your memories, Faye benefits from her amnesia since she doesn't have a lot of accumulated baggage from her past. She also doesn't have a lifetime's worth of stuff to carry around with her through the void of space.
The only thing she has from her old life after waking up from cryosleep is her first name. While her situation certainly isn't ideal, there may also be a sense of freedom that comes with it. Faye essentially received the opportunity to start over.
6 Harsh Reality: Faye Lost Her Parents When She Was Young
Faye Valentine has definitely had a tough life since waking from cryosleep. Her tragic past definitely puts her taste for gambling, smoking, alcoholism, and penchant for violence into perspective. She lost her parents in an accident in space that put her in cryosleep, so she couldn't even go to their funeral. Waking up decades later without her parents and not knowing where they were or how to find them must have been incredibly difficult.
5 Perk: Faye's Real Age Is 77 But She Still Looks Young
While Faye probably would have preferred to stay in her own time instead of waking up in the future, it's still pretty impressive to be able to say you were born in the 20th century and still be a young woman in 2071. Based on Faye's actual birthdate, she's actually 77 years old, but the cryogenic slumber after the gate accident kept her from physically aging. Having factual evidence that shows she should be much older is certainly something to brag about, and it's the kind of thing that could score a few free drinks at the bar.
4 Harsh Reality: Faye Is Surrounded By Males
Being the only female member of the Bebop crew, it'd be nice for Faye to have some girl talk every now and then. Even Ein the data dog is male, and while Ed is referred to as a girl in the anime, she's a bit too young and naive for certain topics. While Faye arguably gets on better with boys than girls, she would probably welcome the prospect of another woman coming to live on the Bebop, particularly regarding such things as hygiene.
3 Perk: Faye Has Her Own Ship
Complete with machine guns, a missile launcher, and an autocannon, Faye's ship, the Red Tail, is a serious piece of machinery. It's unclear how Faye acquired the ship, but considering she was heavily in debt before she had it, it's highly likely that she received it through illegal activity.
The Red Tail proved essential in making quick getaways, chasing up leads concerning her past, going after bounties, and coming to Spike's aid as she did when he took on Mad Pierrot at Space Land. Her ship also gives her the freedom to roam the stars as she pleases.
2 Harsh Reality: Faye Was Betrayed After Recovering From Cryosleep
Having woken up from a 54-year nap and saddled with massive debt, Faye was tricked by a con artist, adding insult to injury. The same Doctor Bacchus who woke her from cryosleep hatched a scheme that included his nephew, Whitney Haggis Matsumoto. After romantically manipulating Faye, Matsumoto faked his own death after telling Faye he'd leave all his assets to her. The problem was he had no assets and only had a massive 35 million woolongs' worth of debt. Matsumoto's debt was transferred over to Faye and increased her insurmountable arrears.
1 Perk: Faye Found A Group Of People Who Look Out For Her
Faye was all alone in the world before she met Spike and Jet. She had no friends, no family, and no one to reach out to. She just had to survive as best she could on her own. The fateful meeting with Spike and Jet on the casino ship Spiders From Mars was the beginning of a not-so-beautiful friendship, but a friendship nonetheless. She now had someone to bicker with, chastise, but above all, to watch out for her.
