"The Criminal"

From Detective Conan Wiki
Revision as of 19:30, 28 September 2018 by Hiromitsu (talk | contribs)
No specific name

The Criminal Profile.jpg

Profile
Age: Variable
Gender: Variable
Date of birth: Variable
Relatives: Variable
Nicknames: Variable
Statistics
First appearance: File 020
Appearances: Chapters: 240
Episodes: 42
Movies: 1
Actors
Japanese voice: Always changes
English voice: Always changes

The Criminal (犯人 han'nin?) in Detective Conan is a substitute image for the culprits presented in and is usually depicted as a black or dark humanoid figure. It is used whenever the reader or watcher is to be made aware of the culprit's actions while attempting to keep his or her identity secret for the time being.

Character evolution

First appearances

Gosho Aoyama stated that the idea of drawing the silhouette of the culprit was directly ripped off Kindaichi Case Files. The first criminal silhouettes were very shady and roughly drawn in, and had no real body formation. They usually didn't even have a clearly drawn in face, as was shown in Nazo, the third opening. Sometimes, the figures resembled enough of the actual criminal's body that it could give away the true identity of the culprit.

Later changes

As the series went even further, the figure received a more human-like appearance with the gradual addition of eyes, noses, mouths, and finally muscles. However, the culprit still maintains a dark hue, lacking distinct clothing, body hair (including beards) and other physical anomalies (like overweightness).

The figure remains very generic, looking more like a man or a genderless person (an exception in A Small Client and A Lucky Man's Suspense episodes because an evidence confirms that the murderer is female and thus the criminal has feminine appearance with boobs), keeping the audience guessing about the true identity and physical characterstics of the culprit in question.

Gallery

The first female criminal (episode 162).
The Boss as a big criminal silhouette with evil aura in the anime version (episode 385).
The second female criminal (episode 355).
The third female criminal (episode 369).
The criminal's appearance in the live-action drama series.

Trivia

Heiji Hattori as the criminal silhouette.
  • Though usually depicted as a criminal, the silhouettes are sometimes protagonists, but their identity has to be kept a secret from both the viewers/readers and/or Conan.
  • In Japan, a hooded jacket is sold with the face of "The Criminal" on the hood. When this is pulled down over the wearer's face, it makes them look like it.
  • The Shifting Mystery of Beika City case featured a criminal with an "X" on their face because that is what the police are calling him.

See also

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