Vanderkaum

Vanderkaum is an antagonist in Xenogears. He was originally the leader of Gebler until Ramsus and the Elements took control, demoting him in the process. He often relies on heavy guns and brute force, a fact that is frowned upon by Ramsus himself.

Appearance and Personality
Vanderkaum has a shaved head, with some dark beard hair on his chin. He has also shaved off his eyebrows and wears earrings. Vanderkaum's most notable feature is a blue tattoo he has on his face, in the shape of a cross.

Vanderkaum is a stubborn man who has not evolved his military tactics with the emergence of Gears as a military force. Despite being reprimanded and demoted, he continues to place heavy reliance on large cannons. He is brutish in nature, relying on strength over intelligence.

Story arc
Vanderkaum was a former student at Jugend similar to Citan, Sigurd and various other characters. He was stationed at Aveh, assisting the country in their war against Kislev. While once the chief Gebler commander stationed there, he would later be demoted due to his poor performance. He personally greets his replacement, Ramsus when he arrives at Aveh's capital Bledavik. Ramsus chews him out for his embarrassing performance and dismisses him. Vanderkaum was subsequently stationed along the border with Kislev, leading a squadron of 10 ships with his flagship, the Kefeinzel at the center.

Vanderkaum's big weakness was his overreliance on cannons. Not only was this his reputation within Gebler, but with external parties as well. As such, when Bart and the others planned an attack on the Gebler forces, they specially built their strategy over taking advantage of his weakness. Fei led an attack on Vanderkaum's forces and was able to quickly defeat them all. Vanderkaum ignored everything his colleagues said and the Kefeinzel was destroyed in short order. It was soon revealed however that Vanderkaum had at least somewhat changed his feelings towards Gears and had his own unit to utilize, the Dora. Fei confronts the Dora in his Weltall, but Grahf soon appears. Claiming to be able to provide Vanderkaum with power, Grahf strikes the Dora with a beam of light from his Gear's arm. The Dora, now possessing great strength, easily destroys the Gears of all of Fei's allies. When Fei transforms into Id however, the Dora is quickly destroyed and he is killed.

Trivia

 * Out of the three men who have recieved "The Power" from Grahf, Vanderkaum was the only one who accepted it.
 * He starts the trend of characters within the series that begins with "Van-".
 * Xenosaga has Vanderkam, who is also a short-tempered enemy military leader with a large cross on his face (although Vanderkam's is in the shape of an X).
 * Xenoblade Chronicles has Vangarre, a colonel on the protagonists' side.
 * Xenoblade Chronicles X has, another military leader on the protagonists' side, though he is not quite as quick to rage as the previous characters.
 * Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also has a character named (although he shares less in common with Vanderkaum than the others).
 * Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has characters named Guernica Vandham, his daughter, and her daughter Ghondor (the first female "Van-" characters).
 * Future Redeemed has the protagonist, Matthew Vandham, the first for a "Van-" character within the Xeno series.