Shinichi Kudo

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Shinichi Kudo

Shinichi Kudo Profile.jpg

Profile
Japanese name: 工藤 新一
(Kudō Shin'ichi)
English name: Jimmy Kudo
Age: 16-17[1][2][3][4], 6-7 as Conan[5][2][6]
Gender: Male
Height: 174 cm[1] (5'8.5")
Weight: unknown[1]
Date of birth: May 4th[1]
Relatives: Yusaku Kudo (father)
Yukiko Kudo (mother)
Ran Mouri (girlfriend)
Occupation: Teitan High School student
Detective
Status: Alive
Dead (for the Black Organisation)
Nicknames: Detective Geek (Ran Mouri)
“The Great Detective of the East”
The savior of the police force
Shin-chan (his mother)
Silver Bullet (Vermouth)
The Heisei Holmes
Cool guy (Vermouth)
The Wizard (Masumi Sera)
Great Detective (Kaito Kid)
Aliases: Conan Edogawa
Statistics
First appearance: Manga: File 1
Anime: Episode 1
Appearances: Chapters: 272
Episodes: 198
Movies: 28
OVAs: 12
Specials: 7
Chapters: 2
Episodes: 2
Openings: 58
Closings: 54
Cases solved: 291 (approx, manga only) (as Conan Edogawa) (one case solved by Ran)
60+ (as Shinichi Kudo)
Keyhole number: Volume 1
Volume 62 (Shiragami-sama)
Actors
Japanese voice: Kappei Yamaguchi
Minami Takayama (young)
English voice: Jerry Jewell (FUNimation)
Griffin Burns (Bang Zoom!)
Drama actor: Shun Oguri (1st)
Junpei Mizobata (2nd)

Shinichi Kudo (工藤 新一 Kudō Shin'ichi?) is the high school detective, narrator and main protagonist of the manga and anime Detective Conan. While on a date with his childhood friend (later girlfriend) Ran Mouri, Shinichi encounters two men from a secret criminal organization who force feed him a strange poison that causes his body to shrink back to first grade age. Shinichi takes up the alias Conan Edogawa and plans to use his immense skill as a detective to make Ran's bumbling private detective father famous in hopes that he will find a case involving the secret organization so he can expose its crimes and acquire an antidote that will turn him back into a teenager.

Viz romanized his original name as Shin'ichi Kudo.

Contents

Background

Shinichi is a 16-year old[2][7] (17, according to the anime)[4] student at Teitan High School who has become famous for helping the Tokyo police solve murder mysteries. Shinichi was born to Yusaku Kudo, a mystery writer, and Yukiko Kudo, a former movie star.[8]

He met Ran when he started in kindergarten and spotted strange things that his father figured out were preparations to kidnap Ran. The kidnapping was foiled, and Ran and Shinichi formed a friendship when Shinichi defended her from the bullies.

At some point Both Ran and Shinichi with Ran's parents once visited one of Yoshiro Kinoshita show and took a picture with him.[9]

The story begins when Shinichi takes his childhood friend Ran Mouri to a theme park, Tropical Land, to celebrate her victory in a recent karate championship. During the course of their visit, Shinichi ends up solving a murder case. He separates from Ran to follow a man in black, Vodka, who was blackmailing a company president. He didn't notice when another man in black, Gin, sneak up behind him and knocks him out with a baseball bat. Gin decides to test an experimental untraceable poison, APTX 4869, on Shinichi to ensure that his death couldn't be traced back to them. However, instead of killing Shinichi, a rare side-effect occurs: his body shrinks into that of his six-year-old self.[2]

Conan Edogawa

After escaping from well-meaning but skeptical park security, with nowhere else to go Shinichi runs home. He there encounters into his next door neighbor and close family friend, Professor Agasa. He convinces Agasa of his identity and head inside Shinichi's home to discuss the next move. Agasa warns him that he must keep his identity secret because the Black Organization will kill him and others associated with him should they discover the truth.[10]

Edogawa Conan, the shrunken Shinichi

Ran arrives to find out what happened to Shinichi, which forces him to come up with the alias Conan Edogawa from Arthur Conan Doyle and Rampo Edogawa and he pretends to be a distant relative of Agasa's, who places Conan in Ran's care.[10] Ran's father, Kogoro Mouri, owns a Detective Agency, which will allow Conan to run into cases involving the Black Organization. He occasionally uses Kogoro, and Agasa, among others as a mouthpiece to solve crimes while searching for how to get his body back.

In the meantime, to protect his identity he is forced to play the part of a first-year Elementary student, enrolling as a student at Teitan Elementary School. Three of his classmates, Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko, befriend him and pull him into creating the Detective Boys, [11] after which he tries to keep them out of trouble. Their group is later joined by the creator of APTX 4869, Shiho Miyano, shrunk down and using the alias Ai Haibara.

Although he mostly uses the Conan alias to solve cases, in some (especially emergency) situations, he uses the Voice-Changing Bowtie to call the police using his original, Shinichi's voice and get involved with cases, which allow him to gain the authority that Conan lacks. In the aftermath; however, Shinichi requests his identity not to be revealed to the public, a clear contrast to his earlier attention-seeking behavior before turning to Conan.

Personality

At the beginning of the series, Shinichi is already well-known as a brilliant young detective, the "Savior of the police force", for solving many difficult cases the professionals could not.[12] He is extremely intelligent, and even from a young age was very intuitive and observant. Due to the influence of his father and the general laissez-faire environment at home, he has long been an incessant and persistent reader, especially of mystery novels.[13] His father, Yusaku started taking Shinichi to crime scenes as a child, which inspired him to be a detective.[14] Due to his bluntness and matter-of-fact manner, Shinichi can come off as rude and arrogant. However, he cares deeply about human life, unable to understand how any reason could be sufficient motive for murder,[15] and is convinced that driving a culprit to suicide is no better than murder itself. [16] The few times he has been too late to save a life haunt him throughout the series. He also thinks of other people's feelings, and in some cases he has been willing to conceal facts from certains parties in order spare them from being scarred from the ugly truth.

Prior to his transformation, Shinichi enjoyed being in the spotlight and was rather arrogant, reveling in making local headlines and receiving fan-mail. Throughout the series, Shinichi's predicament causes him to gain a sense of humility. Shinichi still keeps his flair for the dramatic (like his mother) that can be seen every time he sets out a deduction in pieces building to a climax.

Despite his popularity with the masses and his schoolmates, Shinichi has very few close friends. He is close to Ran and Agasa, and after deaging, he befriended Heiji, Haibara, and to some extent the other Detective Boys. Another reason for his lack of close friends was because his arrogant personality was a negative turn-off to many of his classmates and even teachers, making it hard to befriend him. Even with his close friends (one being older than him), Shinichi doesn't hesitate to call them "idiot", instead of calmly explaining his reason for doing or not doing something, sometimes causing arguments between him and Ran.

Shinichi also had a tendency, since elementary school, to have an air of being the "distant, cool guy". While he is a truly good and heroic individual, he doesn't make it known to others that obviously, and will make some "deductive reasoning" for why he did such a thing. His insensitive nature is also horrible, which was shown most prominently during the Holmes' Revelation Arc, when Ran started crying because she believed that Shinichi not telling her he was in London meant that he was indifferent to her feelings for him. However, instead of trying to comfort her, Shinichi repeatedly asked her about the strange woman she met, and told her to pull herself together.

Shinichi was ready to confess his feelings during the Roller Coaster Murder Case but due to Ran's teasing, he didn't. After turning into Conan and knowing that Ran loved him, whenever he turned back into Shinichi, he would try to confess his feelings for her but the antidote running out would foil his attempts. He was successfully able to convey his feelings in London.

The reason behind Shinichi's desensitization towards violent and brutal crime scenes is because his father would take him to crime scenes as a child.

Shinichi is also quite fearless not scaring of threatening by guns or surrounding by fire, he also doesn't believe in supernatural like magic or abnormal creatures and believes there is always an explanation for it, he was also fearless as a child.

Appearance

Shinichi is an above-average height Japanese teenager with a light-complexion, pale skin and a thin yet athletic build. He has blue eyes and short dark brown/black hair with a cowlick in front and distinctive tuft in the back. Shinichi bears a striking resemblance to his father, Yusaku Kudo albeit a less defined jawline and minus his father's mustache. Often, he is well-noted as very handsome as he became very popular with the girls around his age, regularly getting love letters, which has only grown since becoming a famous detective. Shinichi often appears in his high school uniform, but he also wears a suit and tie or regular clothing depending on the occasion. When Conan turns back into Shinichi by using baijiu or the prototype antidote, Shinichi will wear whatever appropriately sized clothing he can find at the time.

Skills

See also: Conan's Skills

Intelligence

Consistently, Shinichi has proven himself to be a very sharp-witted and calculating individual. While only in high school, his passion mysterious have lead him to be a very well-read to showcase advanced knowledge and understanding in a myriad of subjects, which he can methodically use to aid him in investigations. His detective skills often earns him comparisons to Sherlock Holmes. Shinichi has acquired various nicknames because of his prowess, such as the "Heisei Holmes" and the "Detective of the East". He has a keen eye for details, and can spot any unusual aspects in a case that most people tend to miss or not take into account. He has a keen understanding for criminal psychology, occasionally being able to sense if someone is the true criminal. He can also predict movement and plan of the criminals, and in some cases, he used this skill to "bluff". By deliberately giving wrong deduction, he managed to make the criminal reveal the key evidence of the case, confess, abandon suicide's attempt, or lead them to the wrong ends. He repeatedly demonstrates an eidetic memory and perfect recall, able to recount every aspect from the situation he has placed himself in. Shinichi's fastidious attention to detail allows him to notice minor inconsistencies in crime scenes and suspect testimony, and using astute logic he uncovers the reasons behind those inconsistencies in order to link them to the crime. Shinichi has extraordinarily broad and deep knowledge of many subjects and trivia that help him solve cases. Few people are able to match wits with him, including Heiji Hattori and Kaito Kuroba, while only his father, Yusaku Kudo, has shown able consistently proven himself to far surpass his son, both solving mysterious well-before Shinichi and even regularly tricking his on for "tests".

Language

Besides his native language, Shinichi is fluent in English, as seen when he solved a case in London without evidence of any language barrier.[17][18] Shinichi also knows some German,[19] and Italian.[20] Shinichi seems to understand "Girl Writing", due to the fact that he had solved an e-mail cipher of a 2nd year high school girl quickly.[21]

Athletic ability

Shinichi playing soccer in middle school.

Like his intelligence, Shinichi also has an amazing athletic ability. Shinichi is an extremely skilled soccer player, having been professionally scouted while only in middle school, but he chooses to stay at the amateur level. He initially played to hone his reflexes and coordination as he often juggles a ball to clear his mind, but he is also an enthusiastic fan of the sport in its own right.[12] While naturally right-handed and right-footed, Shinichi trained himself to be ambidextrous, being just as efficient with either hand or foot. Against criminals, his signature technique is launching various objects with superb precision from his kick to knock the foe out. Shinichi's kick is accurate over long distances and he is capable of mentally reckoning the angle of impact necessary to rebound a soccer ball off a wall and strike an attacker from behind. He is also good at skiing, snowboarding, and ice-skating. Likewise, on a skateboard he can easily perform very complicated tricks and dodges with his skateboard at high speed.

Aside from sports, Shinichi exhibits a knack and impeccable accuracy for handling firearms due to his father taking him to shooting ranges from time to time. During the Clocktower Heist, Shinichi is able to shoot and dislodge the support beam of a giant projection screen with a single shot from a moving helicopter. Additionally, in The Fourteenth Target, as Conan, he shot a bullet at Ran's leg with such precision, that while it rendered her unable to walk to force the criminal to let her go, but afterwards her leg healed cleanly with no lingering signs or damage. Between his natural aim and coordination, he can likewise hit his target shooting darts like in The Detective Boys Get Out of the Rain, when he throws them to a giant Gomera puppet so it can fall on the culprit.

Shinichi is nimble as well as strong. He is capable of considerable acrobatics, jumping great distances and swinging from tree to tree to escape onlookers.[22] While never as passionate about it as Ran, Shinichi is also well-trained in karate and judo, having learned alongside Ran and watching her compete.[23][24] He has shown remarkable flexibility and precision in his kicks, noted for having an especially good roundhouse kick. While it is unclear where his skill compares to Ran, he can effortlessly dodge a kicking assault from an angry Ran, something very few have ever managed. How does however openly acknowledge Ran as stronger than him. With his proficiency, as seen in Shiragami Case, he disarms the culprit trying to commit suicide, and even against the expert judo practitioner Kogoro, in Drama Episode 13, he avoided Kogoro and take him down as he tries to hurt him.

Music

Shinichi cannot sing on key in the slightest so he is often accused of being tone deaf. Despite being a hilariously awful singer, Shinichi has perfect pitch and can identify notes accurately even in difficult contexts like the sound of phone button presses forming a melody.[25] Also, he can replicate and sing dial tones for a phone, showing that the reason he can't sing is because he simply doesn't have relative pitch. Like his favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes, he plays the violin. This was confirmed in Full Score of Fear, when he played "Amazing Grace" for Ran. However, he is stumped on what Ran meant when she said, "He has a funny habit when he plays."

Other skills

He has remarkable intuition, able to tell when people are spying on him and if they are hiding something. He can defuse a bomb effortlessly without external instruction. Shinichi has repeatedly dispensed first aid to stabbed/shot/cardiac/poisoned/hurt victims before the rescuers arrive. He is also shown able to read lips.[26] Having seemingly inherited his mother's acting talent, he can seamlessly change his persona, as seen from his longstanding deception of the carefree child Conan. He is skilled in impersonation, able to mimic other people's voices, once pretending to be Heji, however he can have some difficultly changing his dialect. He has skills in computer programming and hacking, however they are inferior Haibara's, regularly relying on her to help out; he was not able to crack Black Organization's encrypted data. In non-canon movie 2 he was able to pilot a helicopter as he had been training with a simulator since he was a kid. In non-canon movie 5 he was able to drive a car.

Appellations

Plot overview

Because the main plot revolves around the fact that Shinichi has become 'Conan' and is forced into hiding, Shinichi is rarely in the series as himself. However, Conan is frequently shown calling Ran using his voice-changing bow tie to sound like Shinichi and sending/receiving text messages from her with "Shinichi's" phone. In these instances, it can be said that the character of Shinichi, albeit in the body of Conan, is appearing, since these phone conversations and text messages allow Shinichi to be himself, however briefly. The below instances however, are actual appearances of Shinichi as well as flashbacks from before the series began.

Transformation into Conan

Roller Coaster Murder Case (Manga: 001-002, Anime: 001)

Shinichi appears to correct Hattori's deduction

Shinichi starts as himself in the Roller coaster murder case, but by the end he has been transformed into Conan, thus beginning the series' plot. Since then, Conan has temporarily turned back to Shinichi several times.

Transformations back into Shinichi

Great Detective of the West (Manga: 092-095, Anime: 048-049)

Shinichi's next real appearance after shrinking is when a strange detective from Osaka named Heiji Hattori arrives at Mouri Detective Agency looking for Shinichi in order to determine which of them is the better detective. A strange combination of having a cold and drinking the baijiu that Heiji had brought along allows Conan to briefly grow into Shinichi once again.[43] However, the transformation quickly wears off and he develops an immunity to the alcohol and cannot replicate the transformation.

The Desperate Revival (Manga: 254-260, Anime: 188-193)

Conan is able to become Shinichi using an antidote that Ai Haibara synthesized. As himself, he tries to surprise Ran by disguising himself as a character in her play, but is interrupted by a murder case and ends up revealing himself to his entire high school. Heiji Hattori covers for him and Shinichi is able to spend about 48 hours as himself, albeit with a brief collapse about halfway through. He turns back into Conan just as he seems to be about to confess his feelings to Ran.[44]

The Murderer is Shinichi Kudo (Manga: 646-651, Anime: 521-523)

Shinichi's next appearance is when, while on a case with Heiji, Conan goes missing and 'Shinichi' seems to appear. This 'Shinichi' is actually someone who had gotten plastic surgery to look like Shinichi and is trying to frame Shinichi for a murder. The real Shinichi hides in the forest until he can clear his name. Shinichi had been temporarily restored by another of Haibara's prototypes, but this time by accident; Agasa mistakenly gave them to Shinichi thinking they were cold medicine.[45] After the case is solved, Shinichi transforms back into Conan, but luckily Haibara secretly followed him there and gives him another antidote, saving him from revealing his identity to Kogoro, Ran, and Kazuha. While driving home from the case, the group is stopped by another murder which Shinichi and Heiji investigate together, despite increasing pangs that warn of his imminent reversion to Conan. After the case is resolved, Ran tries to stop Shinichi from leaving, saying she has something to tell him. Shinichi stops her, saying "According to my deductions, what you have to say and what I have to say are the same thing." Ran seizes his hand while he is transforming back into Conan, and though Haibara knocks her out with Conan's wristwatch, she refuses to let go of his hand. Haibara and Professor Agasa have to cut and re-pin Conan's shirt onto him because Ran is still clutching his hand and he refuses to pull out of her grip.[46]

Holmes' Revelation (Manga: 743-751, Anime: 616-621)

Conan, Ran, and Kogoro are invited to England by a rich, elite British woman, Diana Kingstone, after Kogoro finds her cat under the table in Café Poirot. However, since 'Conan Edogawa' doesn't have the proper credentials to fly internationally, Ai gives him a prototype pill so that Shinichi and Agasa can fly low-profile to England on the same plane that Ran and Kogoro are flying. Ai provides a second prototype pill for the return journey, but Conan uses it while Ran was pursuing him in London. During that trip, Shinichi answers Ran's hurt feelings over his behavior with the fact that he cares for her and that he likes her; unfortunately, before she could respond or confess in kind, Shinichi has to vanish and becomes Conan again. Luckily for Conan, Shinichi's parents appear because Ai had expected him to use the second pill, and they provide him with an extra antidote to let Conan return to Japan. [18]

Kyoto School Trip Case (Manga: 1000-1005, Anime: 927-928)

Shinichi returns to his real body to take part in the field trip of his school to Kyoto. Shinichi meets an old friend of his mother and through her gets involved in a serial murder case among her and her famous movie friends. After the case was solved, jealousy led Shinichi to ask Ran how she feels about him, since she never formally replied to his confession in London. Ran responds by kissing him on the cheek. Shinichi wants to go in for a full kiss after that, but before they can do it, the antidote wears off and Shinichi has to leave. He later thanks Ran for her reply via text message, making her happy and forget his rushed exit.

Although Shinichi asked the police to keep his involvement in the case secret again, rumours about high school detectives helping in the case spread quickly through the internet, with one poster mentioning seeing Shinichi in Kyoto, which doesn't go unnoticed by Hyoue Kuroda and Kanenori Wakita. The rumours then rapidly evolve into another media frenzy around Shinichi's person.

Flashback appearances

Shinichi's first case (Manga: 204-207, Anime: 162)

One year ago, Shinichi solved his first case by himself on a plane flying to Los Angeles.

Golden Apple (Manga: 350-354, Anime: 286-288)

One year ago, Shinichi, Ran, and his mother went to New York City to see the play "Golden Apple". There, they encountered Sharon Vineyard and Shuichi Akai.

Heiji's Memories (Manga: 518-521, Anime: 490)

During a call to Conan, Heiji talks about a brilliant detective kid he met at a skiing trip during middle school, 3 years ago. That kid was actually Shinichi, who he competed with to solve the mystery.

Challenge from the original Kaitou Kid (Manga: 570-573, Anime: 472-473)

A flashback revealed that 10 years ago, as first-graders, Shinichi and Ran had been given a riddle by the original Kaitou Kid, Toichi Kuroba.

Memories of Light Blue (Manga: 882-884, Anime: 772-773)

During an aquarium visit with Conan and the Detective Boys, Ran remembers going to the aquarium with Shinichi almost a year ago. After solving a murder case there, it is revealed how Shinichi came to promise Ran their trip to Tropical Land.

Ran GIRL/Shinichi BOY (Manga: 921-924, Anime: 853-854)

13 years ago Ran and Shinichi meet for the first time in pre-school.

Chance Meeting at the Beach (Manga: 972-974, Anime: 881-882)

10 years ago Shinichi and Ran encounter the Akai family at the beach.

Non-canon plot overview

Transformations back into Shinichi

Movie 7: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital

Heiji was injured and Kazuha kidnapped; her abductors threatened to kill her unless Heiji showed up for her. Believing Heiji to be unable to do so, Conan contacted Ai and asked if there was any way for him to briefly become Heiji. Ai gave him medicine to simulate the effects of a cold, then he drank some Baijiu which had changed him in his and Heiji's first manga appearance. Conan became Shinichi for approximately an hour, but according to Ai he was extremely weak and sick for the entire time.

OVA 9: The Stranger from Ten Years Later

Conan takes another prototype antidote. However, it proves less effective than the prototype he used during the Desperate Revival arc; Conan became Shinichi, but only for a few hours, and remained in a feverish state, unable to wake up until he had reverted back to Conan. During his time unconscious, he had a vivid hallucination that he had grown to age 17 again as Conan and that Ran, aged 27, was about to marry Tomoaki Araide.

Live action special 2

Flashback Appearances

Kaitou Kid's Clock Tower Heist (Manga: MK 23-24, Anime: DC 129, MK 06)

The first meeting of Shinichi and the current Kaitou Kid, Kaito Kuroba.

The Ten Planets in the Night Sky

Magic File 2: Shinichi Kudo, The Case of the Mysterious Wall and the Black Lab

Magic File 3: Shinichi and Ran, Memories of Mahjong Tiles and Tanabata

Bonus File 1: Flower of Fantasista

Live-action special 1

Live-action special 3

Live-action special 4

Live-action drama series

Relationships analysis

Since Shinichi is not featured as prominently as Conan throughout the series, only a few of his relationships with other characters have been substantially explored.

Family and friends

Shinichi and Ran (Scene from Episode one.)

Ran Mouri

Ran Mouri is Shinichi's childhood friend and canonical love interest. They have been friends and playmates since kindergarten[13][47], though Shinichi's tendency to drag Ran along into minor trouble caused some censure from her mother. Shinichi has liked Ran since they were little. It was revealed when he is in the first year of middle school, and turned down any other potential love interests as a result, but she has never realized this.[48] Shinichi was similarly oblivious to Ran's regard until Ran confessed to Conan that despite his faults, which she is well aware of, she has liked Shinichi for some time.[49] He is very protective of her, and has been amazed by her various skills and kindness on more than one occasion. Shinichi has since confessed his feelings to Ran in the non-canon 4th movie 'Captured In Her Eyes' (which Ran mistook as his attempt to get her memories back), and made attempts to say something during temporary cures in the manga and anime, but cases always seem to interfere until the cure runs out. Shinichi since then has finally canonically confessed to Ran in the case in London.[50] Later, Ran kissed Shinichi in the cheek in Kyoto school trip as her answer for his confession in London. Immediately, Shinichi tries to do a full kiss with Ran, only for the antidote's effects to wear off; turning him back into Conan. Shinichi has many times now admitted that Ran is the most important person to him/ the one he loves the most.

Shinichi Kudo somewhat and somehow confesses his feelings for Ran to her under the Big Ben in London, during the Holmes' Revelation Arc.

Shinichi's initial disappearance troubled Ran to the point of insomnia and nearly going to the police. Since then, Shinichi sometimes calls Ran over the telephone and imitates his normal voice with the voice-changing bowtie so that she doesn't worry about him. He convinces her that he is off solving a very difficult case and will return once the investigation concludes.[51] In reality, he is the brain behind her father's rapid rise to fame as a detective.

Shinichi/Conan is not without sexual fantasies regarding Ran, the most obvious evidence being his nosebleeds or blushing when he sees her in a bathing suit[52], or when Ran pulled him into an onsen with her.[53] For her part, Ran often blushes when thinking of Shinichi, especially when Sonoko teases her about their relationship. Her attitude towards Conan is one of more open, sisterly affection, such as giving him hugs or holding his hand. Shinichi has some concerns of bodily harm should Ran realize that not only has he been lying to her, but they've shared a bed and taken a bath together.[54]

Shinichi and Ran appear to share a close empathic link due to their strong feelings for each other, making each of them feel the other's worry and agitation in times of extreme danger.[55]

Yusaku and Yukiko Kudo

Yusaku and Yukiko Kudo are both aware that Conan is in fact Shinichi. His parents are even more famous than he is, with Yusaku being a famous mystery novelist and Yukiko being a retired actress who remains partially involved in the industry. They currently live in the United States and travel extensively, having left Shinichi in Japan on his own when he was fourteen. Though he sometimes finds his parents' carefree ways to be annoying, he loves them dearly. Yusaku is also a detective with the same keen eye for details, and similarly to Holmes' brother Mycroft, Yusaku always seems to solve a case one step ahead of his son.

Hiroshi Agasa

Although not related by blood, there is a strong family-like bond between Shinichi and Hiroshi Agasa. Agasa was the first to know about Shinichi's shrunk predicament and was the one to tell him to keep it a secret. Most of the gadgets that Shinichi has were made by Agasa to help Shinichi catch the criminals and solve the cases as Conan. He also knows about Shinichi's romantic relationship with Ran and sometimes teases him about it in front of her (when Shinichi can't do anything about it since he is Conan).

Heiji Hattori

When they first meet, Conan and Heiji seem bound to become lifelong rivals, especially after Kudo beats Heiji in their first case. Even though Heiji discovers Shinichi's secret, he decides to keep quiet (though he often slips up and calls him Kudo in front of others). After Heiji realizes the truth, the two have become best friends, and consult one another on cases, developments concerning the Black Organization, and even their "girlfriends". They have solved many cases together, and Heiji is the person Shinichi turns to for advice or for confirmation regarding a deduction. Heiji has, on several occasions, declared himself to be Shinichi's best friend or brother.

Heiji still maintains some of his original feelings of rivalry, and gets annoyed if anyone claims Shinichi is better (or even equal), and will often go to great lengths to show that the "west" (Osaka) is better than the "east" (Tokyo). Shinichi usually starts off acting like he is disinterested in the frivolous competition, but may then become competitive himself if Heiji starts "winning" or someone bruises his ego. Others, like Ran and Kazuha, see them both as equally skilled detectives. In canon, Heiji is also seen piggybacking Conan, as Conan has shrunken and cannot run as fast as Hattori.

Sonoko Suzuki

Shinichi and Sonoko.

Sonoko and Shinichi have known each other since childhood. Sonoko finds Shinichi's obsession with mysteries annoying and considers him to be an arrogant showoff.[citation needed] That being said, she acknowledges his knowledge and intelligence. Sonoko enjoys teasing him about his relationship with Ran, calling them husband and wife or boyfriend / girlfriend. Shinichi finds her attempts at attracting boys to be rather irritating. Sonoko is one of the few people who calls Shinichi by his first name with honorofic kun. Shinichi also calls Sonoko by her first name without including any honorific. Sonoko would sometimes send Shinichi photographs of important moments including Ran; for example when Kogoro was acquitted, Sonoko was about to take a photo of the reunion between Ran, Kisaki, and Kogoro to send to Shinichi but was interrupted when the electricity shuts down (Zero The Enforcer) and during 'The Scarlet School Trip' when Ran was talking with Okita Soshi away from the group. Although Sonoko would sometimes tease Ran and tell him to forget about Shinichi, she supports the relationship between the two.

Detective Boys

So far, Shinichi did not canonically meet the detective boys before becoming Conan. In the non-canonical animated special, OVA Magic File 2, four years prior to him becoming Conan, a thirteen-year-old Shinichi came across the Detective Boys, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi, while they were still three years old. He needed their help in confirming a client's alibi. Also, in the first live action drama and the first episode of the anime[56], the Detective Boys are seen sneaking into Tropical Land for treasure. Ran then says, pointing to the children, "It was like that last time, huh?" to Shinichi.

Ai Haibara

Both are de-aged by APTX4869 and have almost equal levels of intelligence, which makes Ai Haibara and Conan close confidants and more empathetic with each other than most other characters. They share an interesting relationship. They believe and rely on each other. She certainly has no qualms about teasing him, and is more than willing to poke a hole in his ego. While Conan initially was disgusted by Ai's ties to the Black Organization, especially with how she introduced herself, seeing her remorse and pain has improved his opinion of her. He is repeatedly protective of her and tries to give her hope when her fear of the men in black is overwhelming.

Law enforcement

Juzo Megure

Inspector Megure has worked together with Shinichi to solve many cases. During Shinichi's first case on the plane, Megure mentions that he has not seen him since he was in his 6th year of Elementary school. Megure seemed irritated that Shinichi was poking his nose into a murder case. Since then, because Shinichi has proven himself solving cases one after the other, Megure has grown to respect Shinichi and his deductive abilities, thanking him for his assistance.

Others

Kaitou Kid

Despite the fact Toichi and Shinichi only met once prior to Toichi's death, it's worth mentioning that Toichi referred to Shinichi as his "older brother" and himself as the "younger brother". This is because Yusaku created and thus was the father of the moniker Kaitou Kid, Toichi's secret identity. Toichi's son and successor, Kaito, has also only crossed paths with Shinichi as Shinichi once, during the Clocktower heist. Kaito thought Shinichi made the heist harder (and thus less boring) in Saguru Hakuba's absence, and Shinichi found Kid's intention of 'stealing' the Clocktower in order to save it from demolition to be fairly admirable. Notably, neither of them saw the other's face.

In their next encounter, however, after Shinichi had become Conan, Kid disguised himself as Ran in order to steal the Suzuki Black Star pearl. When Conan cornered him on the Suzuki cruise ship, Kid suggested that he'd stolen all of Ran's clothes to impersonate her, and left her naked on the deck. While this ended up being a bluff, Conan was shocked and infuriated. In subsequent encounters between Kid and Conan, Conan displays a much more intense desire to capture Kid. In several instances he appears to be able to 'sense' Kid's presence; knowing Kid is close by often causes Conan to behave far more frenetically. However, in several instances, beginning with the "Big Adventure in the Eccentric Residence" case, when Kid does Conan/Shinichi a favor, such as saving Genta's life in the aforementioned case, Conan reciprocates by halting his investigation just shy of capturing Kid, thereby allowing him to escape unhindered.

People who know Conan's real identity

There are only a few characters in the series who know Conan's real identity and none have betrayed Conan's identity to date. The main characters to know the secret are Hiroshi Agasa, Conan's parents, Heiji Hattori and Ai Haibara. Vermouth also knows, but she has kept it a secret from the rest of the Organization to protect Shinichi because he had saved her life in New York.
Eisuke Hondou, the younger brother of C.I.A. agent Hidemi Hondou, also knows and keeps Conan's secret.
Kaitou Kid was first aware of Conan's identity in the movies, showing up as Shinichi in the third movie to protect Conan's identity, making it non-canon. Canonically however, File 1018 implies that Kaito is aware of Conan's secret, as he addresses Conan and Heiji as "the high-school detectives". Ran gets suspicious on occasion, but so far Conan has managed to trick her into thinking Conan and Shinichi are two different people. Also, Subaru Okiya has seen Conan use Shinichi's voice with his bowtie voice modifier. Since Subaru Okiya is actually Shuichi Akai in disguise, this means that Akai knows about it as well.

Character popularity

  • In a Newtype poll from 2001, Shinichi ranked fourth in the category "Top 10 Most Popular Male Anime Characters in Japan."[57] In a Newtype Magazine poll from March 2010, Shinichi was voted as the ninth most popular male anime character from the 1990's.[58]
  • In the survey "Friendship" developed by rankingjapan.com in which people had to choose what anime character they would like to have as a friend, Shinichi ranked third.[59]
  • eBookJapan held a character popularity poll from April 12, 2011 to May 12, 2011 in which readers of Detective Conan (international included) could vote for their favorite character. Shinichi placed 2nd in the poll with 1,425 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.[60]
  • Shinichi placed 1st in the results of a poll ranking the top 3 "ikemen" ("good-looking men") of the series aired during the promotional special for The Lost Ship in the Sky.[61]
  • In honor of the release of the 15th movie, Quarter of Silence, the official Conan movie website held a popularity poll for the top 10 Detective Conan characters. Shinichi/Conan placed 1st out of 10 with 30.46% of the votes cast.[62]
  • In honor of the release of the 800th manga chapter, Shonen Sunday held a popularity poll/contest containing 91 Detective Conan characters to choose from. Shinichi placed 4th overall with 1,443 votes[63].
  • In a poll held on June 5, 2020 by asking women age 20 to 40 who were their favourite Detective Conan character, Shinichi ranked second[64].

Name origin

Shinichi's given name is a pun on "one truth". The "ichi" (一) means "one" and "shin" can be read as truth (真), however the kanji actually used for "shin" (新) in Shinichi's name means "new".[65] Shinichi's family name "Kudo" comes from the fictional detective Shunsaku Kudo created by Nobumitsu Kodaka.[66] The ON-readings of the kanji for "Kudo" mean "craft" or "construction" (工) and "wisteria" (藤).[67] "Shinichi" may also have come from "Shinichi Suzuki", a famous violinist. Shinichi Kudo plays violin.[68]

Character inspiration

Shinichi's design was based off of Conan's. Gosho said Shinichi's hairstyle was designed in about one minute. He smoothed Yaiba's hair and added a tuft modeled after the apostrophe hairstyle of Kabu from Sally the Witch. The tuft on hair on the top of Shinichi's head comes from the character Shichimi in Niji Iro Tōgarashi. Shinichi's speech habits were meant to be slightly rough like Joe from Ashita no Joe and Touch.[69]

Different looks

Volume 1
Volume 84
Episode 1
Episode 192
Movie 8-15 introduction.
Magic Kaito 1412 (episode 6).
Episode One: The Great Detective Turned Small
Episode 772
Young Kudo Shinichi (EP 854)
Episode 928

Quotes

General

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

— Shinichi, quoting Sherlock Holmes from The Sign of the Four, ch. 6

In detective work, there's no winning or losing...there's no being superior or inferior...That's because...there is always one and only one truth.

Episode 49, talking to Heiji

One truth prevails!

— One of Shinichi's catchphrases.

The only one who can miss a penalty kick is the one who has enough courage to take the penalty kick.

— Episode 476, Quoting the "Treasure of Italy" Roberto Baggio

Zero is where everything starts! Nothing would ever be born if we didn't depart from there...And nothing would ever be achieved!

— Episode 621

A trick is nothing but a puzzle mankind came up with. If you use your head, you can uncover the logical answer.

Episode 191, talking to Heiji

It's always the little things, that we overlook, that are the most important.[citation needed]
The strong one doesn’t win. The one who wins is strong.

— Episode 476-477, Quoting Franz Beckenbauer

They’re like sharks. Sharks can smell the faintest trace of blood. They approach using their sense of smell, determine their prey’s exact location, and attack. They head to the crime scene when they smell blood. They use all their senses to find the culprit. They tear into their prey with the sharp teeth of evidence. That’s what a detective does.

Specific

You're a troublesome case, you know! With these unnecessary emotions entering me like crazy... Even if I were Holmes it is impossible to solve! The heart of the girl whom one likes... How can one accurately deduces that! (お前は厄介な難事件なんだよ!余計な感情が入りまくって、例え俺がホームズでも解くのは無理だろうぜ!好きな女の心を…正確に読み取るなんてことはな!!) (Omē wa yakkaina nan jiken'na nda yo! Yokeina kanjō ga hairi makutte, tatoe ore ga hōmuzu demo toku no wa muridaro ̄ ze! Sukina on'na no kokoro o...Sei kaku ni yomitoru nante koto wa na!!)

Shinichi confessing to Ran in London., Episode 621

Serial killer: Why did you save me?

Shinichi: Is a reason necessary? I don't know why you would kill someone, but as for saving someone...A logical mind isn't needed, right?

After rescuing the serial killer, NY Case., Episode 288

A detective who corners a culprit with their reasoning...and drives them to suicide in front of himself is no different than a murderer.

Conan/Shinichi Telling Heiji why letting the criminal commit suicide is wrong., Episode 78

Because I love you. I love you. In this world, more than anyone else.

Conan/Shinichi to Ran in Captured in Her Eyes, replying Ran on why he keeps protecting her.

Quotes about Shinichi

You're gonna be a great detective.

Akimoto to Shinichi.[citation needed]

Ever since he was little he was a jerk, always full of himself, and a mystery otaku. But whenever you need him, he's dependable and brave and cool. I really like Shinichi!

Ran talking about her feelings towards Shinichi to "Conan"., Episode 2

Trivia

  • Shinichi has been mentioned and parodied in many other anime series. See this wiki page for more information.
  • He was used as a character to promote people to follow the law in Japan, due to the popularity of the series.
  • Shinichi seems to have plane narcolepsy, as mentioned in episode 162 and file 204. This shows up when he is Conan as well.
  • The name 'Shinichi' appears to be inspired by the word for 'truth' (真実 shinjitsu) and the word for 'one' (一 ichi). Roughly translating to mean "one truth" much like his/Conan's famous catchphrase.
  • The name 'Kudō' is a transliteration of the word 'code'.
  • When he was really a child, Shinichi would always try to act more mature than his actual age.
  • He encountered Ryusuke Higo and Rikuo Endo during a soccer match for his middle school team and became impressed enough with his abilities to invite him to join them.[70]
  • Shinichi not liking raisins originated from the Detective Conan Special series. It then joined the anime canon in episode 854.
  • It reveal Shinichi give Ran an extra key to his house before his parents went to LA according to the LOVE PLUS Super Digest Book.
  • While in preschool Shinichi was in Sakura Class in year 2.
  • Shinchi/Conan mention he went to Hawaii in the non-canon Movie 2 and Movie 5.
  • In File 743 Conan/Shinichi mentions that Yusaku taken him to a lots of places overseas.
  • In Akako's Delivery Service, Saguru Hakuba acquires a strand of Kaitou Kid's hair and runs a genetic scan on it, determining that Kid is a fifteen-to-seventeen-year-old male with a higher-than-average IQ. He then runs this information against a database of Tokyo teenagers and comes up with a list of possible Kaitou Kids, at the top of which was Kaito Kuroba's name. However, it's interesting to wonder whether Shinichi, another sixteen-year-old Tokyo resident with a similar build and above-average intelligence, made Saguru's list, but the search included only teenagers with blood type B, and it has never actually been stated what Shinichi's is (although Kogoro Mouri mentions that Conan's blood type is rare[71]). Type B is not a common blood type[72], so it is possible that this is Shinichi's type.

In other languages

Language Given Name Family Name
Flag of Japan Japanese 新一 Shin’ichi 工藤 Kudō
Flag of Arab League Arabic سينشي Sēnshi كودو Kōdo
Flag of Indonesia Bahasa Indonesia Shinichi Kudo
Flag of Catalonia Catalan Shinichi Kudo
Flag of Denmark Danish Shinichi Kudo
Flag of US English Jimmy Kudo
Flag of Finland Finnish Shinichi Kudo
Flag of Philippines Filipino Shinichi Kudo
Flag of France French Shinichi Kudo
Flag of Germany German Shinichi Kudo
Flag of Italy Italian Shinichi Kudo
Flag of North KoreaFlag of South Korea Korean 도일 Doyle 남 Nam
Flag of Malaysia Malay Shinichi Kudo
Flag of Mongolia Mongolian Шиничи Күдо
Flag of Russia Russian Синьити Кудо
Flag of China Simplified Chinese 新一 Xīnyī 工藤 Gōngténg
Flag of Spain Spanish Shinichi Kudo
Flag of Spain Spanish Latin America Bobby (anime dub, 1-123)
Shinichi (anime dub, 124+)
Jackson (anime dub, 1-123)
Kudo (anime dub, 124+)
Flag of Sweden Swedish Shinichi Kudo
Flag of Thailand Thai ชินอิจิ Chin-i-ji คุโด้ Khu-dô
Flag of Republic of China Traditional Chinese 新一 Sīnyī 工藤 Gōngténg
Flag of Vietnam Vietnamese Shinichi Kudo
Flag of Iran Farsi (persian) شین ایچی (shin ichi) کودو (kudo)

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Conan Drill Page 41
  2. ^ a b c d Volume 1, File 2, page 59: "The Great Detective Turned Small" - Conan nearly gives his age as "16" before correcting himself and saying "6".
  3. ^ Manga Volume 15, File 1, Page 8: "Gone!? ". The reporter gives Shinichi's age as 16.
  4. ^ a b An Idol's Locked Room Murder Case - Shinichi's opening prologue speech refers to him as 17
  5. ^ Conan Drill Page 38
  6. ^ Episode 194: The Significant Music Box - Conan says he is "around 7" years old.
  7. ^ Volume 15, File 141, page 12: "Gone!?"
  8. ^ Volume 5, File 49, page 163: "An Unfamiliar Visitor"
  9. ^ File 131
  10. ^ a b Company President's Daughter Kidnapping Case.
  11. ^ The Coded Map of the City Case
  12. ^ a b Episode 1: Roller Coaster Murder Case.
  13. ^ a b Volume 55, Files 569-572: "The Mischievous Boy"
  14. ^ Volume 21, File 205, pages 74-78: "Midair Sealed Chamber"
  15. ^ Volume 26, File 258, page 71: "Momentary Rest"
  16. ^ Volume 16, File 153: "Bonds of Flame"
  17. ^ Volume 21, File 205: "Midair Sealed Chamber"
  18. ^ a b Volumes 71-72, Files 743-752: "Holmes' Apprentice"
  19. ^ Genta's Certain Kill Shot
  20. ^ The Coded Map of the City Case
  21. ^ Secret of the Russian Blue
  22. ^ Shiragami case
  23. ^ Manga Volume 1, File 1; Anime episode 1 and Episode One: The Great Detective Turned Small.
  24. ^ Manga Volume 1, File 5 ; Anime episode 2.
  25. ^ Volume 15, File 144: "Their Voices Are Alike!?"
  26. ^ Lupin III vs. Detective Conan: The Movie
  27. ^ File 921 (Volume 87)
  28. ^ The Time-Bombed Skyscraper
  29. ^ Conan vs. Kid vs. Yaiba - The Grand Battle for the Treasure Sword!!
  30. ^ a b c d e f g Dimensional Sniper
  31. ^ File 001: The Heisei Holmes
  32. ^ Volume 42, File 434, Page 2
  33. ^ Volume 42, File 434, Page 2
  34. ^ File 908 (Volume 86)
  35. ^ a b Magic Kaito Chapter 23-24: Black Star
  36. ^ a b The Raven Chaser
  37. ^ File 898: Scarlet Epilogue (Volume 85)
  38. ^ Yusaku Kudo's Cold Case (Part 2)
  39. ^ File 973 (Volume 92)
  40. ^ Episode 954
  41. ^ File 972 (Volume 92)
  42. ^ File 1040
  43. ^ Volume 10, Files 92-96: "The Great Detective Of The West"
  44. ^ Volume 26, Files 254-260: "An Infatuated Heart"
  45. ^ Volume 62, Files 646-651: "Village of Animosity"
  46. ^ Volumes 62-63, Files 652-654: "The Thing She Really Wants to Ask"
  47. ^ Volume 11, File 107: "The Two Mysteries"
  48. ^ Volume 18, File 175, page 92: "Unlock Your Heart!?"
  49. ^ Volume 1, File 2, page 64: "The Great Detective Turned Small"
  50. ^ Volume 72, File 752, page 14: "A Troublesome and Difficult Case"
  51. ^ Volume 1, File 9, Page 15: "An Unfortunate Misunderstanding"
  52. ^ Volume 83, File 873, Page 4: "Red Devil"
  53. ^ Volume 9, File 4: "Kogoro's Class Reunion"
  54. ^ Volume 14, File 134, pages 60-67: "Question In Dead Leave"
  55. ^ Manga Chapters 372-373: Serial Bomber Case
  56. ^ The anime was altered to introduce the Detective Boys early. In the manga they met after Shinichi became Conan.
  57. ^ "Newtype top 10 Anime". Anime News Network. 2001-08-12. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2001-08-12/newtype-top-10-anime. Retrieved on 2009-06-29. 
  58. ^ "NT Research". Newtype, Issue 4 (Kadokawa Shoten). March 2010. 
  59. ^ "Which Anime Character Do You Wish You Could Be Friends With?". Anime News Network. 2007-02-28. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-02-28/which-anime-character-do-you-wish-you-could-be-friends-with. Retrieved on 2009-06-29. 
  60. ^ "『名探偵コナン』 人気投票結". eBookJapan. 2011-05-12. http://www.ebookjapan.jp/ebj/special/conan/vote_kekka2.asp. Retrieved on 2011-05-15. 
  61. ^ The Lost Ship in the Sky Special Edition Blu-ray
  62. ^ "名探偵コナン「キャラクター人気投票」". www.conan-movie.jp. 2011. http://www.conan-movie.jp/camp_chara/camp15th_res.html. Retrieved on 2011-08-12. 
  63. ^ "Shonen magazine detective conan official poll results published [magazine pic"]. eva. 2012-02-28. http://forum.dctp.ws/index.php?topic=8024.msg651566#msg651566. Retrieved on 2012-02-29. .
  64. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/OneTruthPrevails/comments/hjkevu/detective_conan_character_popularity_poll_june_5/
  65. ^ "WWWJDIC: Word Search". Jim Breen. 2011. http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C. Retrieved on 2011-09-04. 
  66. ^ Aoyama, Gosho (1998-01-17) (in Japanese). Detective Conan. 18. Tokyo: Shogakukan. p. Back cover flap. ISBN 4-09-125048-3. 
  67. ^ "WWWJDIC: Kanji Selection". Jim Breen. 2011. http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1B. Retrieved on 2011-09-04. 
  68. ^ File 936: Ran mentions that Shinchi plays the violin very well but also mentions his tone-deafness.
  69. ^ File 865 Shounen Sunday Special Booklet
  70. ^ Manga: Case 334-346, Anime: episode 279-280
  71. ^ Episode 189
  72. ^ See population breakdown by country here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABO_blood_group_system#ABO_and_Rh_distribution_by_country
Main Characters
Protagonists Shinichi KudoConan EdogawaRan MouriKogoro Mouri
Detective Boys Ai HaibaraAyumi YoshidaMitsuhiko TsuburayaGenta Kojima
Family & Friends Hiroshi AgasaSonoko SuzukiEri KisakiYusaku KudoYukiko KudoHeiji HattoriKazuha ToyamaYoko OkinoSumiko KobayashiTomoaki AraideMakoto KyogokuShizuka HattoriJirokichi SuzukiEisuke HondouAzusa EnomotoSubaru OkiyaMasumi SeraShukichi HanedaSakurako YoneharaRumi WakasaMomiji OokaMuga Iori
Tokyo Metropolitan Police District Juzo MegureWataru TakagiMiwako SatoNinzaburo ShiratoriYumi MiyamotoKazunobu ChibaNaeko MiikeKiyonaga MatsumotoInspector YuminagaShintaro ChakiHyoue KurodaKenji HagiwaraJinpei MatsudaWataru Date
Osaka Police District Heizo HattoriGinshiro ToyamaGoro Otaki
Nagano Police District Kansuke YamatoYui UeharaTaka'aki Morofushi
Other police districts Sango YokomizoMisao YamamuraJugo YokomizoChihaya HagiwaraFumimaro Ayanokoji
NPA and Public Security Bureau Rei Furuya (Bourbon)Hiromitsu MorofushiYuya Kazami
FBI Shuichi AkaiJodie StarlingJames BlackAndre Camel
CIA Hidemi Hondou (Kir)Ethan Hondou
MI6 Mary SeraTsutomu Akai
Black Organization The BossRumGinVodkaVermouthChiantiKornShiho MiyanoAkemi MiyanoElena MiyanoAtsushi MiyanoTequilaPiscoCalvadosRikumichi KusudaKi'ichiro Numabuchi
Magic Kaito Kaito KurobaKaitou KidAoko NakamoriGinzo NakamoriMidoriko NakamoriToichi KurobaChikage KurobaKonosuke JiiKeiko MomoiAkako KoizumiSaguru HakubaSnakeKaitou Corbeau
Others "The Criminal"Hideo AkagiRyusuke HigoTakahiro SanadaScar AkaiKohji HanedaKamen YaibaAmanda Hughes
APTX 4869
Developers Atsushi MiyanoElena MiyanoShiho Miyano
Victims Shinichi KudoKohji HanedaAmanda HughesMary SeraShiho Miyano
Antidotes Prototype antidoteBaijiu
Related Articles Silver BulletVictim listCase from 17 years agoBlack Organization