Vanderkam

Lieutenant Commander Vanderkam () is a character in the Xenosaga series. He is a commanding officer at the U-TIC Organization who works undercover as a lieutenant commander in the Galaxy Federation's 117th Marine Division.
==Appearance and personality==
Vanderkam is a bald man with a dark purple "X" tattooed on his face. While infiltrating the Woglinde, he wears a green Federation marine uniform.
Vanderkam is a short-tempered man who often berates and mistreats his subordinates, physically abusing them and calling them "slackers" when they so much as ask him to go easy on them. Vanderkam's biggest weakness is a reliance on big guns.
==Story arc==
===History===
Following the disappearance of the planet Ariadne, The U-TIC Organization takes measures to retrieve the Zohar Emulator that was left there by planting undercover operatives such as Vanderkam and Andrew Cherenkov within the 117th Marine Division, set for deployment to escort the cruiser Woglinde in the investigation of the planet's disappearance.
===Episode I===
Early in the game, Shion Uzuki passes by him reprimanding some of his subordinates for slacking off in one of the Woglinde's storage hangars. He blames his subordinates for the disappearance of three different people who touched the Zohar Emulator. When Shion approaches the Emulator herself and nearly gets hit by a piece of the Emulator's Attract Inhibitor, Vanderkam yells at her as well, calling her a slacker and harshly informing her that only authorized people are allowed in the area. He expresses frustration about the fact that civilians like Shion have been let aboard the ship. Later, when the Gnosis attack the ship, he objects to Cherenkov's plan to purge the entire block and use a gate jump to get the Zohar Emulator back to their commander, Margulis. Cherenkov orders him and the others to get into an escape pod and evacuate, which they do shortly afterwards.
===Episode II===
Vanderkam is encountered when the party makes its way through the Submerged City, towards Labyrinthos. Vanderkam can be heard from a crashed Ormus ship, yelling at his subordinates. Spotting the party's E.S. units, he attacks them with the Naglfar Cannons and is defeated. It is unknown whether he survived the destruction of the Naglfar Cannons.
==Lore==
* Vanderkam has an estranged older brother.
** The "Destiny" card in Xeno Card gives the implication that Vanderkam's estranged older brother may, in fact, be the commander of Gedalya's 422nd Federation Fleet; the same fleet that surrounded the Kukai Foundation when it was framed for the destruction of the Woglinde.
* In Xenosaga I & II, Vanderkam fights the party at the piloting the instead of the Naglfar Cannons.
==Database==
==Trivia==
* If Shion approaches the Zohar Emulator in the hangar, Vanderkam will berate her for ignoring his orders again.
* Vanderkam's name and design are a callback to Vanderkaum from Xenogears.
** Both characters belong to a common character archetype of military men seen throughout the Xeno series whose names each reference the real-world actor and martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme. 
* Vanderkam's Japanese voice actor, Nobuhiko Kazama, also voices Vangarre in Xenoblade Chronicles.
* Vanderkam's English voice actor in Episode II, Kieth Szarabajka, also voices Dmitri Yuriev in Episode II and Episode III.
==Gallery==
Vanderkam yelling at his subordinates.png|Vanderkam yelling at his subordinates.
Vanderkam yells at Shion.png|Vanderkam yells at Shion.
Vanderkam punches a slacker.png|Vanderkam punches a slacker.
Xeno Card image Destiny.png|The "Destiny" card from Xeno Card.
Category:Characters (XS1)Category:Characters (XS2)Category:Characters (XSTA)Category:Characters (XS1&2)