Lupin III
| Arsène Lupin III | |
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| Japanese name: | Lupin III (Rupan Sansei) |
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| English name: | Arsène Lupin III |
| Age: | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Relatives: | Arsène Lupin (paternal grandfather, deceased) |
| Occupation: | Phantom thief |
| Nicknames: | Lupin |
| First appearance: | Movie 11 (cameo) TV Special 3 |
| Appearances: | Chapters: 0 Episodes: 0 Movies: 2 OVAs: 0 Specials: 1 Openings: 0 Closings: 0 |
| Japanese voice: | Nachi Nozawa Taichirō Hirokawa Yasuo Yamada Toshio Furukawa Kanichi Kurita |
| Drama actor: | Yūki Meguro Lou Oshiba Shun Oguri Seina Sagiri |
Lupin III (ルパン三世 Rupan Sansei), also known as Lupin the 3rd, is the main protagonist and titular character of a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of "Monkey Punch".
Character profile
Lupin III is the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of novels. Lupin and his gang - sharpshooter Daisuke Jigen and swordmaster Goemon Ishikawa - spend their time travelling throughout the world to steal treasures and escape from the law. As a result of his activities and usual success, he is considered the world's Number One master thief, and even has a dedicated international police force unit, the ICPO, headed by Koichi Zenigata (with whom Lupin entertains a fierce, yet mutually respectful, archrivalry) on his heels.
In the original mangas, Lupin III is far less scrupulous than his more popularized anime version, who is a goofy but highly mischievous, cocky trickster using every trick in the book (and beyond) to get what he wants. He is incredibly skilled in the art of disguise, able to impersonate a large variety of persons using rubber masks and some natural acting talent. Cunning and resourceful, he usually manages to snatch the prize, only to lose it due to unfortituous circumstances, sometimes by the hands of his love interest, Fujiko Mine. But beneath his thief's skin, Lupin does possess a heart of gold; as circumstances dictate, he will aid people in need and work for higher aims than money, not demanding a reward afterwards.
Lupin has a passion for sporty vintage cars, and he uses a Walther P38 automatic pistol as his weapon of choice. His one major weakness is his infatuation with pretty women, especially Fujiko, even though she regularly ends up competing with him for the same treasures as he and his gang.
Lupin III in Detective Conan
Lupin III was one of Gosho Aoyama's sources of inspiration when writing Detective Conan. Lupin has featured in two crossovers with Detective Conan:
- A TV Special was released in 2009 titled Lupin III vs. Detective Conan. Lupin III encounters Conan in the country of Vespania as he attempts to steal the crown jewels, but ends up supporting Conan, Ran Mouri and the crown princess of Vespania against a traitor in the palace. It is revealed that he had done so once before, but returned the crown to remind then-Princess Sakura, the now deceased ruler of the country, of her duties when she wanted to run away from them. At the end of the episode, he and his associates profess a suprisingly depthful knowledge about Conan's true identity, although the exact origin of their information remains undisclosed.
While disguised as Mouri Kogor, he even played the part of the wide-awake sleeping detective, after Conan accidently shot Koichi Zenigata with his stun gun tranquilizer, only for Zeniga to wake up 30 seconds later. However, Lupin frequently started ad-libbing while playing the sleeping detective.
Needless to say, he knows how the trick works behind the sleeping Kogoro.
- A movie also titled Lupin III vs. Detective Conan was released December 7, 2013. The story envolves another clash between Conan and Lupin, which gradually turns into grudging cooperation as they strive to prevent a valuable mineral from falling into the wrong hands.
Additional references between the two series are made in Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure, where two thieves mask themselves as Lupin and Fujiko, and Miwako Sato calling Lupin "her first love".
Appellations
