from Mars: Basics: Who's Who: Vinnie

Age: 21
Voice Actor: Ian Ziering
As Seen In: Every single episode

Packed to the brim with mindless energy and equally full of himself, white-furred Vinnie is daring, fearless, and totally in love with life and all its inherent dangers (especially those inherent dangers). Sure, his egotism can be a bit annoying, and his impulsiveness can be a problem, but the kid's got a good heart.

Even if it is perpetually bathed in adrenaline.

Vinnie definitely stands out among his bros, and not just because of his constant crowing about his own excellence. He's got a bold, flashy personality that contrasts highly with those of Throttle and Modo. Both of them tend to be more reserved and cautious, particularly when going into dangerous situations (this is not always the case, but generally, this is the rule). Vinnie, on the other hand, throws caution to the wind and plunges boldly ahead in all things. Whereas Modo is laid-back and relaxed, Vinnie is in a state of constant excitement. Whereas Throttle is somber, Vinnie is lighthearted. It's natural that he overshadows both his bros sometimes and takes up the spotlight, because that's who Vinnie is. He's filled with life's fire, and fairly shines with it. If his friends are even a bit more inhibited, then Vinnie appears even more brash and bold.

Vinnie!

Of course, a person could have that personality and still not be half as self-absorbed as Vinnie is. Let's face facts; the boy's got a healthy ego. As far as he's concerned, he's the galaxy's greatest at just about everything imaginable, not to mention the most handsome mouse alive and last of the red-hot hot lovers. Of course, he can back most of those claims up, at least a little bit. The youngest of the Biker Mice may be the best rider among the three. He's definitely the fastest, and is the most skillful in aerial maneuvers. If Throttle is the successor to Stoker's leadership legacy, then Vinnie seems the likely heir to the aging mouse's title of greatest Biker Mice in the universe (Modo, of course, gets the bionic arm, which, while it doesn't have anything to do with Stoker, is still pretty cool in and of itself, so it all evens out).

The looks part pans out too, although perhaps not so much as Vinnie would like to think. He's a handsome young mouse, even with the metal mask that covers the badly-scarred right side of his face (more on that in a minute). He's in terrific shape, can hold his own in a fight, and has caught the eye of several young women throughout his young life. We all know that Throttle is the real looker of the group, but Vinnie isn't half bad himself.

Vinnie as world's greatest lover...well , there's a bit of a problem with his perceptions on this topic. Vinnie isn't the suave ladies' man he'd like to think he is. More often than not, he finds himself being intimidated by the women he has crushes on. Look at the end of "Once Upon a Time On Mars Part Three." The white-furred mouse tries to coolly ask Harley if she'd like a kiss, and when she kisses him before all the words can get out of his mouth, Vinnie becomes, for lack of a better phrase, a nervous, giggling schoolgirl (cut the kid some slack--it just might be his first real kiss from a girl). Bad as Vinnie is at being Cool-hand Luke, he then tends to try and overplay it. That might work with some girls, but his present crush, Charley, isn't impressed with stuff like that. In love, Vinnie would be better served to step back and let his lady lead, since, in both the examples we know of, she's the more experienced one (for more on Vinnie's relationships with the opposite sex, check out my Biker Mice in Love page.

But if you look past the ego, Vinnie is actually a very loving, thoughtful individual. He cares very deeply about his bros, and would gladly risk his life for them. Well, okay, so he'd gladly risk his life for absolutely no reason at all, but Throttle and Modo are Vinnie's family, and he would do absolutely anything for them. It was the strength of that bond (along with his hatred of Karbunkle) that allowed Vinnie to break through to the Verminator robot and keep his bros from becoming pavement pizza in "The Verminator." And you can't miss the resolve on Vinnie's face when he decides to enter the deadly Pits in order to save his bros ("The Pits"). He's also a deeper, more sensitive mouse than anyone, even Vinnie, is willing to give him credit for. But since showing too much emotion or sensitivity wouldn't be macho, the young mouse tries to avoid it whenever possible.

In the past, Vinnie's ego hid a painful sense of inadequacy. During his time in the Freedom Fighters, the young mouse found that everything he did was overshadowed by his mentor, Stoker. No matter how hard he tried, Vinnie simply couldn't measure up. No surprise--he was just a beginning Biker Mouse, while Stoker had decades of practice on his pupil. As he himself has become better, that secret sense of insufficiency has faded, although being around Stoker still puts Vinnie on edge, as if his presence will remind Vinnie that he isn't really the best, and that he really isn't any good at all--that in fact, he sucks.

Well, I guess we've come far enough that I can discuss the significance of Vinnie's mask and how it figures into everything. Everyone knows how he got it; like Modo and Throttle, Vinnie was wounded during the Plutarkian War. Greasepit accidentally launched a missile that hit our furry trio head-on. Because of that, the right side of Vinnie's face was badly scarred. We never get to see the actual damage, but I think that was the smarter tactic to take--after all, most times, a person can imagine something much more horrific than anything that could be drawn or described. Think of the H.P. Lovecraft stories in which the author won't give anything more than an extremely sketchy idea of what a hideous monster looks like. The reader then has to picture their own creation, which will almost certainly be a mirror of their own fears. Not showing Vinnie's face works in the same way.

Anywho, that's why Vinnie wears the mask (although I imagine it helps ward off potential infections, too). Metaphorically, it's a symbol of his truly flawed self--that no matter how much Vinnie says he's great or he's the best, the fact of the matter is, he isn't perfect. Fate's always real dramatic like that--nobody ever just gets a Post-it with "Hey, get over yourself" written on it. Nope. They get half their face blown off. The mask doesn't seem to have done much of anything to keep Vinnie's ego under control, although he's more self-concious about his face than he was beforehand. Ironically, had Vinnie not been injured in this way, he never would have realized that Harley liked him in spite of his flaws (including his not-quite-stellar riding skills), and might never have begun a relationship with her.

So just what's the mask made of? Metal. But wouldn't a metal mask be pretty constraining to facial movement? Not when it's made of Flex-Plate shielding--which Vinnie's obviously is, or otherwise, I wouldn't have mentioned it. Flex-Plate shielding is an odd, viscous liquid metal commonly used in motorcycle repairs. It flows over a solid surface and adheres somewhat solidly over the damaged surface, becoming tough enough to protect but loose and flowing enough so that Vinnie can still arch his eyebrows.

Vinnie's present love, Charley.

In terms of his present-day love life, Vinnie has a sort of an ambiguous relationship with Charley, the Biker Mice's human mechanic pal. They're antagonistic friends, and as time has gone on, they've obviously become closer and closer. Neither of them, however, has ever come out and said the "L word", however. Vinnie's relationship with his "sweetheart" may have been colored by his experiences with Harley, who, as we know, was kidnapped approximately two seconds after the two of them really became a couple. That's sure to spook anybody from pursuing a relationship too deeply (for more on both of these, check out, once again, the Biker Mice in Love page).

Does anybody else think Vinnie's fixation on mechanics with the word "harley" in their name is kind of creepy?

As a sidenote, according to true Biker Mice canon, "VanWham" is not actually Vinnie's last name. According to Tom Tataranowicz, the series director (all hail! All hail!), it's just a nickname Vinnie gave himself. But it's caught on with fans, so it's not likely that anybody's going to go and rewrite than FanFics to remove the name. It's fun, and it's a reflection on Vinnie's personality.

Vinnie’s signature weapon is a set of small flares he wears on his bandoleers. Originally created by Harley, they expand several inches when needed (and there’s absolutely nothing Freudian about that!), igniting into flames hot enough to melt a gun from the inside ("Once Upon a Time On Mars Part One").

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