Gin
| Gin | |
|
| |
| Japanese name: | ジン (Jin) |
|---|---|
| English name: | Melkior |
| Age: | Unknown |
| Gender: | Male |
| Nicknames: | Aniki (Vodka), Koibito-san (Shuichi Akai) |
| First appearance: | Manga: File 1 Anime: Episode 1 |
| Appearances: | Chapters: 106 Chapters: 10 Chapters: 1 Episodes: 69 Episodes: 1 Movies: 5 OVAs: 1 Specials: 1 Openings: 28 Closings: 4 |
| Japanese voice: | Yukitoshi Hori |
| English voice: | Troy Baker |
| Drama actor: | Kuranosuke Sasaki |
Gin (ジン Jin) is a high-ranking official in the Black Organization and the primary antagonist of the series. He is the organization member who gave Shinichi Kudo the experimental poison APTX 4869 which turned him into Conan Edogawa.[1] He is frequently paired on missions with Vodka. In the English manga, he was first introduced as Melkior, but later was reverted to Gin. This is likely due to the fact that Conan is often reminded of the Black Organization by references to alcohol.
Contents
- 1 Background
- 2 Personality
- 3 Appearance
- 4 Abilities
- 5 Plot overview
- 5.1 Shinichi and APTX 4869
- 5.2 Murder of Akemi Miyano
- 5.3 Bullet Train Case
- 5.4 Sherry's Escape
- 5.5 Haido City Hotel
- 5.6 Prior to the Bus Hijacking
- 5.7 Vodka's rendezvous with Itakura
- 5.8 Vermouth's Unmasking
- 5.9 Black Impact
- 5.10 The Search for Kir
- 5.11 Clash of Red and Black
- 5.12 Scar Akai and the Beika Department Store
- 5.13 Sherry and the Bell Tree Express Train
- 6 Movie Appearances
- 7 Relationships analysis
- 8 Character popularity
- 9 Name origin
- 10 Quotes
- 11 Trivia
- 12 In other languages
- 13 See also
- 14 References
Background
Gin is a high-ranking "executive agent", often giving the other members their orders and supervising group missions. He works in the "general oversight division" along with Vodka who is his secretary. Despite his high ranking leadership position, he often takes to the field to participate in missions, complete business transactions, and assassinate people. When on missions, he is typically the one giving orders, even to agents who are equally ranked, like Vermouth. Gin seems to be able to communicate freely with Anokata.
Virtually nothing of Gin's history before the present timeline is known. From the FBI's discussion, he was in a high ranking position, perhaps the same one, two years ago, and his appearance has not changed between then and the current timeline.
Two years ago, FBI agent Shuichi Akai, who was on a infiltration mission, was promoted to the codename Rye. He was called to work under Gin and a meeting for them was set in a warehouse. The FBI staked out the warehouse hoping to capture Gin as it was believed he could lead them to the boss,[2] but the Black Organization discovered Akai's true allegiance and Gin never appeared.[3]
When the tracker placed on the new agent Rena Mizunashi indicated she was in a warehouse where she shouldn't be, Gin and Vodka went to investigate. At the time she was meeting with her father and fellow CIA agent, Ethan Hondou. Recognizing that if Gin discovered the situation he would know they were spies, Ethan committed suicide to protect Hidemi by making it look like she had confronted him for being a spy and had killed him. Gin believed the ploy.
Personality
Of the high ranking members of the Black Organization shown, Gin among the most loyal: he follows the boss of the Black Organization's orders most closely and virtually never acts against the Organization's greater interests. He is also one of the Black Organization's most dangerous operatives; Conan miscalculating his intelligence, abilities, and speed of response have resulted in several very close calls and awry plans.[4][5][6] He has yet to be truly outsmarted by Conan, although he has been foiled a couple times.
Gin is a merciless and efficient assassin. He has no compunctions about killing or threatening fellow teammates. Fitting his icy personality, Gin's displayed range of emotions so far is relatively limited. Wearing a threatening smirk, he enjoys hunting traitors, watching the plans he has concocted succeed, and cornering his targets. Although he seems to take satisfaction with taking out someone personally, Gin is also satisfied with orchestrating a target's death even if he does not pull the trigger himself.[7] He is not easily frustrated and takes setbacks in good stride, shown when he coolly orders a retreat when Shuichi Akai ambushed the Black Organization. He is patient and cautious, preferring to wait until success is most likely.[8] He does not like potential loose ends, preferring to get rid of anything doubtful.[9] Gin does not trust anyone and does not fully believe anything he doesn't witness himself.[10]
Certain individuals elicit more of a response than others from Gin. Gin doesn't seem to enjoy Vermouth's antics; he tried to put an icepick through her head after she disguised as a waiter to tease him. Gin finds Bourbon[11], who has several shared characteristics with Vermouth[11], annoying as well. He has a personal rivalry with Shuichi Akai, and takes interest when the FBI agent gets involved. For uncertain reasons, Gin has an abnormal attachment[12] to Shiho Miyano, so he broke from his normal efficiency-oriented hunting strategy in favor of a more dramatic confrontation with her for his personal enjoyment.
Gin is very skilled in his managerial role; he keeps the boss informed on current happenings, yet is also a decisive and quick acting leader in his own regard. Gin often consults the boss about actions that may have potentially serious ramifications, like getting permission to kill Kogoro, who is popular and closely connected to the police, after Gin found a listening device and tracking device on Kir's shoe that he believes were planted by the detective. Although Gin follows all orders from the boss, he acts on his own initiative on more than one occasion. One such action was deciding to poison Shinichi Kudo with the recently approved APTX 4869 at Tropical Land after Gin caught him spying. Gin is more than willing to take matters into his own hands when he feels another member has endangered the Organization.[13] He even once pulled a gun on his own partner, Vodka, when he went against orders and rescheduled a meeting with one of their contacts outside of the organization to an earlier time.[13]
Gin's effective leadership is shown in how he manages the diverse personalities of his team on missions. If Gin feels any frustration or scorn regarding the behavior or abilities of any of his teammates, he does not show it unless it is actively interfering with his plans or threatening the Organization. However, that doesn't stop him from being contemptuous about others behind their backs.[14] The other members' respect for Gin keeps them in line and obeying orders. Only Vermouth has actively objected to Gin's plans on a mission. He also respects the desires of his teammates to a certain degree, even though he may distrust them. Despite his personal suspicions, he let Vermouth persuade him to leave Conan and Kogoro alone, and he decided not to kill anyone at the hospital after Kir requested he do not even though he was unsure of her loyalty.
Gin has several weaknesses. He has difficulty remembering the faces and names of those he has killed. Vodka's memory makes up for this somewhat, but Gin notices connections later as a result. As soon as Gin becomes suspicious of someone he gets to work looking into them,[15] but if his suspicions are proven wrong he tends to lose interest completely.[16][17][18] His more conventional logic has also meant he has missed important deductions. This was most notable when Gin decided to stop searching lockers because no adult could fit in them, apparently overlooking that one of the lookouts had mentioned a kid entering the station earlier.
Appearance
Gin is a tall, thin man of uncertain age. His most noticeable feature is his long silver hair that goes down to his hips. (In the anime, Gin's hair was light-brown at first, then blond, then finally changed to match the manga as can be seen in the 13th movie: The Raven Chaser.) It is cut at the front into bangs which often obscure his eyes, which are blue (like all the other characters) in the manga, and green in the anime. He has, as Shinichi put it, the eyes of someone who has easily killed many people without a care.[1] In the manga, his face is somewhat gaunt, with visible cheekbones and a triangular dark patch below each eye. Later in the series he receives a scar on his left cheek after a bullet from Shuichi Akai's rifle grazes him.[17]
Gin's appearance has never changed in all of his appearances. He wears a black fedora with a grey or white hatband. His only shown outfit is a knee length, notched lapel, black trenchcoat with the collar upturned to obscure part of his face and a loose white turtleneck underneath. He likely also wears a ballistic vest beneath these. He wears black trousers and black dress shoes. When trying to avoid leaving fingerprints, he dons a pair of white gloves (black in the anime).
Gin is a heavy smoker. He is also left handed.
Abilities
Intelligence and instinct
Gin is quite perceptive and intelligent[13]; he can smell out traps his partner Vodka easily falls for. Gin is also good at deduction. He correctly infers the FBI plan to move the captured Organization member Kir, and also explains to Vodka the biological principles behind why an old man with severe heart conditions wouldn't go to a cold cabin in the dead of winter. Unlike other detectives in the series, Gin also relies on his good instinct. A few times so far, he correctly suspects there is more to a situation than the evidence alone indicates. He correctly suspects that Kogoro (really Conan) was not completely innocent[19] and that getting Kir back from the FBI was too easy. At one point while searching for the "clever fox" who set them up, Gin begins opening child size lockers on a whim. He just stops at the one Conan was hiding in and chides himself for doing so because there was no way an adult could hide in those lockers.[20]
Stamina
Gin seems to have undergone serious physical training, giving him incredible stamina and a high pain tolerance, as shown when he remained conscious after being hit by Conan's stun-gun wristwatch and then shot himself in the arm to regain full consciousness. He then climbed down and back up a chimney despite the shot in the arm.[21] He was able to flee with internal injuries bad enough to cause him to bleed from the mouth when Akai put two rifle rounds in his ballistic vest.
Firearms
Handguns
Gin is skilled with handguns. He prefers a Beretta M9.
Sniping
Although Gin has not fired a sniper rifle canonically, Gin probably has sniping skills based on the way he handled Korn's rifle to locate Shuichi Akai who is 700 yards away, center him in the scope, and steadily aim at him while standing up.[22] In Countdown to Heaven, Gin is an excellent sniper, as shown when he accidentally shoots at Sonoko.[23]
Plot overview
Shinichi and APTX 4869
In his first appearance in the series, Gin is at Tropical Land with Vodka to blackmail a company owner involved in gun smuggling. His and Vodka's suspicious appearance causes Shinichi to follow them, stumbling across Vodka's transaction with the businessman. Gin, who seems to have been keeping watch, knocks down Shinichi with a blunt weapon, then force-feeds him APTX 4869. His parting words to Shinichi are "So long, great detective."
Murder of Akemi Miyano
Akemi Miyano was told that the only way that she and her sister would be allowed to leave the Black Organization was to successfully pull off a 10 billion yen bank robbery. After tricking her into accidentally poisoning one of her team members, she confronts Gin at the shipping yard to complete the transaction. She tries to tell Gin to hold up his end of the bargain, but he tells her the Organization wouldn't let her sister leave anyway because she was too valuable. He then kills Akemi and flees.
Bullet Train Case
(This case only features Gin in the manga. In the anime episode, he is replaced here with a man who looks and dresses very similarly. The same is true for Vodka.) Here, Gin and Vodka are making a deal aboard the Shinkansen. For a large sum of money, their client is given what she believes to be a black attaché case containing information about the stock market. However, the case actually contains a bomb rigged to explode when she calls a certain number on her mobile phone. Thanks to a bug Conan placed in their seats, he is able to learn Gin and Vodka's codenames, but is unable to catch them before they leave the train.
Sherry's Escape
Gin and Vodka were supposed to remove Sherry from the Organization because she began asking too many questions about her sister's death. At this time, Sherry takes the Apoptoxin 4869 and escapes. When Gin and Vodka return, she isn't there. Gin develops an obsession with capturing Sherry and killing her himself.
Haido City Hotel
One day, Conan and Ai saw his car on a street. They put a a transmitter in it only some seconds before he arrived there. After a while, Gin found an auburn hair in the car and he deduced it was Shiho's. He found also the transmitter, so he destroyed it (after that is the famous moment when he imagines Shiho naked). However, Conan and Ai knew where was he going to go, so they went also to the Haido Hotel. There, Pisco kidnapped Haibara and took her to a room with a big fireplace. When Gin and Vodka arrived at the room, she (with her adult body beacuse of the Baikal)was hidden in the fireplace. Gin heared her breathing, and, when she arrived at the roof, he was there. He shot her many times. When he was ready to kill her, Conan arrived and shot a sleeping dart at him. However, he showed a resistance to it, not falling asleep promptly and shot himself in the arm so he would stay conscious. After that, he climbed down the chimney, killed Pisco and climbed back up. He returned to his car with Vodka and Vermouth and they talked about Sherry. In this chapter, it is hinted that he knows Shiho very well, predicting her movements and being able to confidently distinguish her by just a hair she left in his car.
Prior to the Bus Hijacking
Vodka's rendezvous with Itakura
Vermouth's Unmasking
Black Impact
Gin coordinates the assassination of Domon Yasuteru. His first plan, is to get Domon interviewed using Kir, have him sit down on a bench, where Chianti and Korn to kill him. His backup plan; which consisted of Vermouth in disguise crashing in front of Domon's car, after which Kir, Chianti, and Korn would kill Domon and his two bodyguards, was canceled when he discovered the transmitter Conan set up. Gin assumes the transmitter was set up by Kogoro, and gets permission from the boss to kill him. However, the assassination of Kogoro is interrupted by Conan whose soccer ball breaking Mouri's window distracts Chainti and Korn who were taking aim. Over the protests of Vermouth, Gin orders the two snipers to kill Conan as well for, as Vodka says, being suspicious. This too is interrupted when Shuichi Akai snipes the transmitter out from between Gin's fingers from 700 yards away. A brief exchange of gunfire ensues, but ends quickly after Akai shoots out Gin's scope and puts two bullets in his flak jacket. Gin recognizes the disadvantage and orders the Black Organization members to disperse without taking any more action against Conan or Kogoro. Gin and the other operatives assume the transmitter was set up by the FBI, but still has residual suspicions about Kogoro. Gin eventually decides not to kill Kogoro at the word of Vermouth.
The Search for Kir
Clash of Red and Black
Akai's Assassination
Gin is the one that orders Kir to kill Akai. He doubted her allegiances to the Organization and was suspicious of her so he put her at gunpoint and forced her to call Akai to tell him to meet her somewhere. He tells her he will be watching the whole assassination so if she planned on doing anything suspicious, he would kill her. Kir kills Akai (even though there are theories that he may still be alive) and Gin is reassured of her allegiance to the Organization.
Scar Akai and the Beika Department Store
Sherry and the Bell Tree Express Train
Movie Appearances
Countdown to Heaven
Initially, Gin is involved in the plot because he is to eliminate a traitor in the Organization. Later though, he finds out that Sherry was attending a party at the Twin Tower Buildings, the targeted location, and decides to kill two birds with one stone. He shoots at Sonoko, who got her hair permed and looks a lot like Sherry, but he realizes that it wasn't her after all after Conan gets Sonoko to dodge the bullet and she starts panicking in a very uncomposed manner. He leaves the towers in the end, looking forward to killing Sherry the next time he sees her
Raven Chaser
In the beginning, during Conan's dream, Gin appears and is shown to know Conan's true identity. Later, in reality, Gin is looking for a memory card that contains information crucial to the Organization. His next appearance is during the climax of the movie. He, Vodka, Chianti, and Korn arrive at the top of Tokyo Tower in a black helicopter. Gin calls Irish and tells him to hold out the computer chip, then orders Chianti to kill Irish and destroy the chip in one shot. He spots someone (Conan) trying to hide and orders Vodka to start using the machine gun that was built into the helicopter. After Conan catapults the broken light into the back of the helicopter and Vodka is trying to get it back in control, he wonders who could have done so much damage to the Organization and leaves the scene.
Relationships analysis
Black Organization
Vodka
Gin is Vodka's superior and they frequently work together, or are seen communicating with one another by phone. Vodka shows Gin absolute respect, using honorifics[24] while speaking with Gin rather than simply using his codename like other agents do. Gin in turn values Vodka for his obedience, so Gin occasionally orders Vodka to go on missions where he needs objective observation or that are annoying.[25] Gin views and treats Vodka as an "inexperienced little brother".[26] Despite this, Gin does not truly trust anyone, including Vodka, and interrogated Vodka about his actions at gunpoint before. Although Vodka is slower than Gin and frequently jumps to incorrect conclusions, Gin patiently explains his deductions to Vodka creating a sort of Sherlock Holmes and Watson dynamic between the two. Vodka covers for Gin's weakness of not remembering the names or faces of those he has killed.
Sherry
Gin has an abnormal attachment for Shiho and seems to enjoy hunting for her, while she seems to hate him. They may have had a romantic relationship in the past.[27] In the anime and in the manga, Gin also, imagines Shiho naked twice. The latest occurance was in file 820.
Vermouth
Gin and Vermouth are or were in a sexual relationship with one another.[27] They get along well enough on missions, but Gin does not like Vermouth's habit of keeping secrets or her teasing. Before the events of the showdown on the ghost ship, Gin and Vermouth mostly trusted one another, but some of Gin's trust may have disappeared as Vermouth failed to inform even the boss of her activities and intentions.[27]
Tequila
Although Tequila is a subordinate of Gin's, he doesn't use honorifics like Vodka does[28] to refer to Gin, giving the impression Tequila and Gin appear equally ranked.[27]
Pisco
Although Pisco and Gin are executive members and Pisco is Gin's senior, Gin dislikes and looks down on him.[27] He does not show emotion when he kills him in the burning hotel.
Law enforcement
Shuichi Akai
Gin and Shuichi Akai are rivals and enemies.
Character popularity
- 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. Gin placed 20th in the poll with 34 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.[29]
- 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. Gin placed 8th out of 10.[30]
- 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. Gin placed 12th overall with 190 votes.[31]
Name origin
Gin comes from the hard liquor which is known for its juniper berry flavor. It follows the Black Organization codename pattern of hard liquor codenames for men. The codename is probably also a pun on Gin's hair color. Gin pronounced with a hard "g" like "gun" in Japanese (ぎん Gin) means "silver" (銀). This pun was used by a victim to implicate Gin as his killer in Countdown to Heaven.
Gin's English name, Melkior, is the name of one of the Magi, or three kings, who visits the infant Jesus in Christian tradition. The name is Semitic and means 'king city.' Gin's English name was later switched to Gin to follow the Japanese.
Quotes
| “ | "So long... great detective." | „ |
| “ | "Traitors can't hide their scent." | „ |
Trivia
- Gin is left handed.[32]
- Gin can't seem to remember faces he encounters or kills, which explains that he doesn't remember Shinichi.
- His favorite car is his Porsche 356A, which he refers to as "German black rain frog". Notably, the cars registration A 48-69, the same numbers that are used in APTX-4869. In episodes after the reunion with Sherry, the plate is changed to MI 43-68.
- Gin's design has drastically been changed throughout the anime. At first, his hair is actually light brown, and the line structure is not as detailed. In addition, part of his hair comes down his face across his nose. As the series progresses Gin's hair is blond, and the line structure is strongly detailed. Moreover, there is no hair that comes down across his face anymore. Gin's hair color changes once again in Opening 24 where it is then silver to match his manga depiction.
- One glare from Gin can end an argument before it even starts. In episode 176, Gin and Vodka were jaywalking and a man from vehicle that had been forced to stop sharply was preparing to yell at them. Gin looks at him harshly, and the man fearfully shrinks back into his car. In some regions, it is believed that the people with green eyes can bestow the evil eye, intentionally or unintentionally.
- In Episode 425, Gin took Korn's rifle to locate Shuichi Akai who was on a building that is 700 yards. At that moment Akai shot at Gin and the bullet was very visible on Gin's reticule. Gin managed to move his head in time to mostly dodge the bullet.
In other languages
| Language | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
ジン Jin | |
 English |
Melkior/Gin | Changed to Gin in the Manga |
 French |
Gin | |
 German |
Gin | |
 Vietnamese |
Gin | |
 Arabic |
جين Jin | |
 Finnish |
Gin | |
 Finnish |
Gin | |
 Chinese |
琴酒 Qínjiǔ |
See also
- Characters
- Gin (Alcohol)
- Black Organization
References
- ^ a b Manga Chapter 1: The Heisei Holmes
- ^ Manga Volume 58, File 2, pg 9: "Akai's Past"
- ^ Manga Volume 58, File 2, pg 10: "Akai's Past"
- ^ Volume 24, Files 7-11, Chapters 238-242
- ^ Volume 38, File 1, Chapter 383: "The New Weapon Gadget"
- ^ Volumes 48, Files 9-10, Volume 49, Files 1-4, Chapters 599-504
- ^ In the Red Shirt's case while Gin was staking out the Beika department store waiting for scar Akai to appear, he replies to Kir's remark that "Why don't you [Gin]... just enjoy the fact your nemesis is gone?" with "Yeah, I'm so happy... If he is still alive, I get to kill him again." This shows that Gin considers Akai's death as "his kill" even though it was Kir who pulled the trigger at Raiha pass, and if scar Akai is killed, it will be Chianti or Korn who finishes the job. He is apparently satisfied with the orchestrator role and doesn't feel the need to personally kill Akai himself.
- ^ He orders Chianti and Korn on several occasions to wait before shooting for better opportunities.
- ^ In Volume 49, File 4, Chap 504, Gin orders for Conan to be shot because he acted suspiciously, even though he was a child.
- ^ Manga Chapter 702: The Bomber's Aim
- ^ a b Manga Volume 67, File 7, page 3: "The Truth Amidst the Snowstorm"
- ^ Conan Drill page 239, Gin's feelings towards Shiho on a relationship diagram were listed as "異常な執着": "abnormal attachment"
- ^ a b c Manga Chapter 383: The New Weapon
- ^ Disliked Pisco, but did not show it while detailing him his mission. Gin only complains about Bourbon, Vermouth, and Pisco when they are not around (Bourbon, Vermouth) or their opinion does not matter.(Pisco)
- ^ Manga Chapter 700: Dangerous Area
- ^ Vodka's report about "Shinichi" appearing on the Ghost Ship.
- ^ a b Manga Chapter 504: Black Organization vs. FBI 2
- ^ Movie 13: The Raven Chaser
- ^ Volumes 48, Files 9-10, Volume 49, Files 1-4, Chapters 599-504
- ^ Volume 38, File 1, Chapter 383
- ^ Manga Chapter 242: A White World
- ^ Anime Episode 425: Black Impact! The Moment the Black Organization Reaches Out
- ^ Movie 5: Countdown to Heaven
- ^ Vodka uses "aniki" meaning literally meaning "older brother", but in context means "one's senior".
- ^ Both of these were requirements in the Halloween Showdown. Gin (and the boss) needed a clear idea of what Vermouth was doing so Gin sent Vodka because he could trust him. The mission also required Vodka to dress up in a monster costume, something most other agents, Vodka included, would not have liked to do.
- ^ Conan drill page 239: 出来の悪い弟分
- ^ a b c d e Conan drill page 239
- ^ Vodka uses "aniki" meaning literally meaning "older brother", but in context means "one's senior".
- ^ "『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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Manga Volume 30, File 9, pg 16: "Genta's Trap"
