Origins

Of his own beginnings he knows next to nothing; he cannot even be sure that the bodies stitched together in him were dead bodies. Of his maker he has only imaginings: when he thinks about who made him, he pictures some awkward scientist wishing for a son — though, knowing his luck, he himself is more likely a serial killer’s walking trophy collection.

“When I think about who made me I picture some awkward scientist wishing for a son. Knowing my luck I'm probably a serial killer's walking trophy collection.”

“我一想到是谁造了我，就会想象出某个笨拙的科学家盼着有个儿子。以我的运气，我大概是某个连环杀手的行走战利品陈列柜。”TL

His memory has a clear starting point, and before it, nothing at all. He told Seven that he has no memories beyond a certain point; maybe, he guessed, the soul that came with his torso was removed by “the state,” and that is how room was made for him. Seven answered with a question of his own — so the state had tried to obliterate his soul from existence, too? — and added that he would think it a memorable experience.

“Oh, so the state tried obliterate your soul from existence?”

“哦，国家也曾试图把你的灵魂从世上抹去？”TL

He dreams. When Haze asked whether those dreams were his, or belonged to parts of him, his answer was a single sentence: “I think they’re mine.” It is about the surest thing he has ever said of himself.

“I think they're mine.”

“我觉得它们是我的”

What weighs on him most is his left arm. Never mind his purpose in life; what he wants to know is who it belonged to. The arm keeps popping off, yet he will not throw it away: when he doesn’t even know whose part it is, discarding it just doesn’t feel right. Those who call on him to fight often get this answer: he wishes he could help, but he needs to reattach his arm.

Nor does he merely wonder. Suspecting that his left foot belonged to an accordion player in Milwaukee who had been ritually murdered, he once rode a Greyhound out there, only to learn that the man had already lost the foot to gangrene: four hours he is never getting back. Later he told the story to Infernus as a joke, and his listener hastily announced that the ritual was starting and changed the subject.

“For a while I thought my left foot belonged to an accordion player in Milwaukee that was ritually murdered… turns out he had already lost the foot to gangrene, so that was 4 hours on a greyhound I'm never getting back.”

“有一段时间，我以为我的左脚属于密尔沃基一位被仪式性击败的手风琴演奏家… 结果发现他已经因为坏疽失去了脚，所以我在灰狗巴士上白白浪费了4个小时”

He didn’t come all the way to New York just to lose, he says.

This body, too, is not something he can change at will. He admits he hasn’t had to swap out parts yet, though he probably should; it’s only that his left arm keeps popping off, and it doesn’t feel right to discard something when he doesn’t even know whose it was.

“I see where you're going - no, I haven't had to swap out parts yet. Probably should. My left arm keeps popping off, but it doesn't feel right to discard it when I don't even know who they were.”

“我明白你的意思了——不，我还没换过零件。也许应该换一下。我的左臂老是掉下来，但我连零件是谁的都不知道，直接扔掉感觉不太合适”

Old Friends and Foes

Kelvin: A Couple of Walking Corpses

Kelvin once told him the two of them were “a couple of walking corpses,” and urged him not to squander this unnatural life: travel, write a book, find love. Victor, stubborn, said he wasn’t taking advice from someone wearing a parka in New York. When it came to blows, Kelvin said only, with regret, that his own search for the truth had to trump Victor’s.

“Sadly my search for the truth has to trump your own.”

“遗憾的是，我对真相的追寻必须凌驾于你的之上”

Bebop: A Creator to Be Proud Of

Bebop is sorry that Victor doesn’t know who made him. Half consoling himself, Victor said that maybe it’s a good thing; not everyone’s parents are good people. In his eyes, Bebop is the lucky one: at least he has a creator he’s proud of.

“I'm sorry you don’t know who made you.”

“很遗憾你不知道是谁创造了你”

“At least you have a creator you're proud of, Bebop…”

“至少你还有一位让你引以为傲的制造者，比波普…”

Baba: You’re You

Baba told him he is his own person. Victor answered that he is a shambling mass of dead people, about the furthest thing from being his own person that anyone can be. When Baba said we’re all just bits and pieces of everybody who came before us, he said there was a big difference. She also told him of a tattoo guy in SoHo who used to work for the coven and has his own shop now; if the markings on him mean anything, he’ll know.

“I'm a shambling mass of dead people. I'm about the furthest thing from being my own person as someone can be.”

“我是一堆摇摇晃晃的死人拼凑出来的东西。要说谁最不可能是他自己，那就是我了。”TL

“I got a tattoo guy there that might be able to help you. Good kid. Used to work for the coven, but has his own shop now - The Wizard's Sleeve or something like that. Anyway, If those markings mean anything, he'll know.”

“我认识一个纹身师，他或许能帮上忙。人不错。以前在女巫团工作，现在自己开了家店——叫“巫师之臂”之类的。总之，如果那些标记有什么含义，他肯定知道”

Solomon: The Hard Path

Striking him down, Solomon urged him to stop living in the past.

“Stop living in the past Victor”

“别总活在过去了，维克多。”TL

Graves: Help Not Sought in Time

He has pinned his hopes on Graves. After striking her down, he said he needs to find her when this is all over. And when she strikes him down, she says he should have come to her for help. A thought of asking for help, an answer that came too late: in the end, the two of them missed each other.

“I need to find Graves when this is all over...”

“等这事结束，我得去找格瑞墓…”TL

Dynamo: The Professor and a Debt Owed

Saved by Dynamo, Victor said: I owe you one, Professor.

“I owe you one, Professor.”

“教授，我欠你一个人情”

Seven: One Who Knows Suffering

After striking down Seven, he said it was cute that Seven thought electricity was going to kill him. And when Seven strikes him down, what he says is: “You don’t know a thing about real suffering.”

“It's cute you thought electricity was going to kill me.”

“你居然以为电会要了我的命，真是太可爱了”

“You don't know a thing about real suffering, Victor.”

“维克多，你根本不懂真正的痛苦”

Lady Geist: Revulsion and Care

He is afraid neither of Lady Geist nor of Oathkeeper.

“I'm not afraid of you or Oathkeeper, Geist.”

“我不怕你，也不怕守誓者，盖斯特”

Calico: After the Ritual

Calico once told him flatly that he needs her help, and when he denied it she would not back down, leaving him only this: speak to her after the ritual; he is in more danger than he knows. What exactly she knows, Victor could not get out of her.

“Speak to me after the ritual… you're in more danger than you know.”

“仪式结束后来找我……你的处境比你想的危险得多。”TL

Ivy: An Outstretched Hand

When Ivy asked about his plans after the ritual, he said they could be anything from doing research, to traveling on a bus, to shaking down a mass murderer; Ivy had in fact been asking him to dinner, and so he said: “I dunno, get a hotdog?”

“Oh. I dunno, get a hotdog?”

“哦。我不知道，要不来个热狗？”

Grey Talon: A Pain Not of the Body

Victor told Grey Talon: you’re hurting. Grey Talon said he was old, of course he was hurting; Victor replied: “I’m not talking about your body.”

“I'm not talking about your body.”

“我说的不是你的身体”

Deadman Danny: An Origin That Won’t Be Told

Victor has pressed Deadman Danny on where he came from. He asked the Test Pilot whether it was that Fairfax guy who created him. The only answer was that Maximilian Fairfax had made him the man he is today; Victor said he was talking literally. What he got back was another dodge: a non-disclosure agreement so comprehensive it covers questions about his very existence. Victor cannot fathom why the man would let them desecrate his body for a paycheck, and finds him more like a cultist than an employee. After striking him down, Victor even joked that he bet the fellow would still hire him.

“I'm talking literally.”

“我说的是字面意思。”TL

Violet: An Acquaintance from Life Drawing

At Violet’s life drawing class, he is her favorite model. She doesn’t get how he can be so cool with a room full of people staring at him naked; he says it’s quiet — there aren’t many places where it’s acceptable to gather people together and just not talk. When she asked whether he had ever heard of a library, he answered that they make you wear pants at the library. Neither of them talks to their parents: he doesn’t even know who his are, while she does, and says that knowing makes it a lot easier to avoid them. He wanted to meet some tattoo artists, and she readily agreed, saying she knows a couple. Later, when he put her down, he said she was nice, and that he owed her a sitting.

“Sorry, Violet. I'll owe you a sitting.”

“抱歉，阿紫。我欠你一次画像”

Nurse Harrow: The One Who Gives Him the Creeps

Victor is always courteous with Nurse Harrow, courteous to a fault. Whatever she instructs, he answers only “Yes, ma’am”; when she praised him for knowing how to take instruction and for being polite, he even thanked her. Once she saw that he had been trying to avoid her notice; at first he said he wasn’t looking for trouble, and only when pressed did he confess that she looks like the type of person who would throw him in a padded cell, then lose the key. She made it clear on the spot that she would never do that to someone in her charge, so he apologized for jumping to conclusions, and she replied: “All’s forgiven.” Another time she took him to be afraid of leeches; he denied it, saying only that he figured she wouldn’t be interested in collecting embalming fluid. Later, having put her down, he talked to himself: she’s gonna come after him, isn’t she; maybe he should have let someone else do that. He muttered, too, that he couldn’t shake the feeling she’s done worse, and then said to her: “You really creep me out, lady.”

Anecdotes

A Callow Foe. Striking down Rem, he saw himself for the monster he is: “I knew I was a monster, but damn…”

“I killed Rem. I knew I was a monster, but damn...”

“我杀了雷姆。我早知道自己是个怪物，可这他妈…”TL

An Undying Catchphrase. He has a saying: you can’t kill the dead. Coming back, he says “I live again!”; and he reminds himself with a grin to pick up all his limbs before rejoining the fight.

“You can't kill the dead.”

“你无法击倒故人”

Open Questions