The Armed Priest Vanguard (先遣武装神父隊, Senken Busō Shinpu-tai?) is an elite squadron consisting of Iscariot's best agents, armed with highly effective weapons against unholy menaces. They are led by paladin Alexander Anderson.
History[]
During Millennium's attack on London, they were dispatched along with Anderson and top Iscariot agents Heinkel Wulf and Yumiko Takagi to capture Hellsing leader Sir Integra Hellsing, but suffered severe casualties after a brief conflict with members of the Last Battalion.
After The 9th Crusade was wiped out by Alucard, Anderson ordered the priests to retreat, but instead came to his aid along with Heinkel and Yumie. They storm against Alucard's Familiars, the ones that were injured even used a kamikaze-like tactic to destroy some of the familiars along with them. Anderson used the Nail of Helena to face Alucard by transforming into a thorny monster but was eventually defeated by Alucard. After a brief funeral for Anderson, Yumie was killed by the rejuvenated Walter while Heinkel was severely injured by the Captain, the remaining priests were forced to retreat along with the injured Heinkel. Decades later during the manga's epilogue, Heinkel became the new leader of the corps. Like the Papal Knight, they still have not recovered from their loss in the battle of London after 30 years since the majority of them had been killed.
Equipments[]
The Armed Priest Corps with Yumiko Takagi(left) and Heinkel Wulf (right)
Notably, all of their members seems to be dressed in the same outfit, except for Yumiko Takagi. They're not well equipped at all, in fact, they don't even wear any armor; just a shirt that reaches up to their neck and a long coat. Even so, they seem to not have any need for those, as their precise aiming with their customized weapons loaded with silver bullets are enough to do the job. They're a crew of elite members led by Anderson, meaning that they're more skilled than members from the 9th Crusade themselves. While they're led by Anderson himself, the Armed Priest Vanguard directly follows orders from Enrico Maxwell himself if Anderson disobeys orders. Though most of the time, the Vanguard stays loyal and stands by Anderson's side.
Their loyalty to Anderson himself is proven when in order to led Anderson against Alucard directly, they go in extreme tactics which include in suicide bombing, specifically when they're caught by the horde of Familiars. Their lack of body armor costs them half of their members during their first confrontation with the Last Battalion, however, they were proven to be skilled enough to defeat the full, well equipped vampirized Nazi Battalion.
Notable Members[]
- Alexander Anderson (leader)
- Heinkel Wulf
- Yumiko Takagi
Trivia[]
- In the booklet of Hellsing: Ultimate V, they are credited in Italian as "Corpo di padre armato," with the Japanese name below fully written as "武装神父隊." In the manga however, they are named fully as "先遣武装神父隊," with the English version of Volume 7 calling them "Armed Priest Vanguard."