Van is the primary protagonist of the series. He is travelling the world, searching after a mysterious man with an artificial claw hand who killed his bride, Helena, on the day of their wedding. Van swore to kill this man to avenge Helena.

His primary weapon is a shape-memory cloth held at his side like a pistol. This can change configuration to a dueling sword or extend to grapple or embed itself into walls. Van can also spin it in place from its hilt at high speed to act as a efficient shield against projectiles.

Through his travels he has been given several titles, including: "Van the Unemployed," "Van the Freeloader," "Hangover Van," "Van the Crybaby," "Steel Van," "Pretty Van from the Garbage Dump," "Van of the Dawn," "Van the Nice Guy," "Van that Weird Guy who Helped Out," and, "Van the Devil's Swallowtail Suit." Although laconic and calm of nature, whenever information about the claw man's whereabouts are mentioned, he quickly shifts to extreme anger.

His white Armor, Dann of Thursday, or simply Dann, is held in place over the planet in a crucifix-shaped satellite, and is launched to his position when he twists his hat 180 degrees and swings a 'V' with his sword in the air. It is one of the strongest armors on the planet, and uses a sword as its primary weapon. Due to Van's position as one of the "original seven" he needs to enter his armor once a week to regenerate. If he does not, he will die.

Van tries his best to remain uninvolved with those he meets along his way, and if he does help them, he does so out of public sight. He has an extremely low tolerance for alcohol, and drinks milk instead. When dining, he asks for all the available seasonings, and after smothering his dish in them he eats and yells phrases such as "SPICY!" "IT'S DELICIOUS!" and "IT GOT COLD!" Although unexplained at first, he also possesses an unusual scar on his chest; a circle split vertically down the center with seven lines radiating from the outside.

Van has a habit of forgetting the names of those he meet on his travels, especially Wendy and Carmen, much to their chagrin.

(Source: Wikipedia)