Lupin III/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The characters of Lupin III, now declassified by Interpol.

Since Lupin III has had so many voice actors for its characters over the years and across languages due to licensing and budget issues (and recently the advancing age of the original cast), only the most notable are listed below.

Lupin's Gang

Arsène Lupin III

"Hey, Pops!"

The leader and founder of the gang, Lupin is looking to get his hands on as much as possible, be it rare treasure, lots of money, sexy women, or any combination of the three. Although he's a thief, plain and simple, he's never a malicious one; his targets tend to be the wealthy, powerful, and prideful, and his capers usually serve as a swift example of humility to his unfortunate targets. He will also take on a job if he knows it will help out someone in dire straits on the way.

Tropes exhibited by Lupin include:
  • Anti-Hero: Type IV
  • Badass
  • Big Eater: At least in Cagliostro, where he goes on a eating binge in order to quickly recover from serious injuries.

"I've lost blood, Jigen. I don't want rabbit food; I want a FEAST!"

  • But Not Too Foreign: Lupin is half-French, half-Japanese, though Monkey Punch himself said (in materials to promote the first Lupin movie) that he considered Lupin to be of no nationality -- a citizen of the world.
  • The Casanova: In the manga, at least.
  • Cat Smile: His usual closed-mouth smile is a long cat smile, when he shows his teeth, its a...
  • Cheshire Cat Grin
  • The Charmer: Although his success is a bit variable
  • Combat Pragmatist: He isn't interested in "playing by the rules" of fair combat, and will steal your clothes if it makes you less effective as a fighter.
  • Crazy Prepared: Lupin has pulled out a third or even fourth backup plan when plans A-C have failed.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He usually relies on the villain of the story seeing how foolish he acts and attribute Lupin's success to luck. That amount of luck takes planning.
  • Depending on the Writer: Manga Lupin is much more... sexually-motivated than his anime counterpart
  • Dressing as the Enemy: Lupin's favorite disguise is Zenigata.
  • Dub Name Change:
    • In France he's called Edgar de la Cambriole.
    • Before the Arsène Lupin copyright expired, English dubs from the early-to-mid 90's often had him renamed to "Wolf". AnimEigo's dub of The Fuma Conspiracy called him "Rupan" (the romanization of the katakana that make up his name).[1] Lupin would not get his proper name in English until Manga UK's dub of Cagliostro in 2000.
  • Enemy Mine: Zenigata, all the time.
  • Friends with Benefits: with Fujiko, due to the on-again off-again nature of their relationship.
  • Fun Personified: This is Jigen's justification for following Lupin in Green Vs Red.
  • Gentleman Thief: To honor his ancestors. Every male parent/grandparent/uncle was one, it seems.
  • Handsome Lech: According to Fujiko, at least.
  • Identical Grandson: At least he claims to be.
  • Indy Ploy: Lupin doesn't like admitting that he's making up his plans while executing them.
  • Last-Name Basis: His name may be Arsene Lupin III, but even his friends call him Lupin.
  • Latex Perfection: When he needs to wear a mask, they're of this quality.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Although the colour of his clothes may change, his "casual" wear is always the same style. Therefore, fans tend to identify him by the colour of his suit jacket.
  • Lovable Sex Maniac: At least, in the anime his sex drive is lovable (if the focus really has an issue, Lupin will back off). In the Manga, Unfortunate Implications occur.
  • Loveable Rogue: His flippant treatment of the law is from him seeking a challenge.
  • Master of Disguise: He's even fooled one lover into thinking he was the other one.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Even to his own gang on occasion, much to their annoyance.
  • The Other Darrin:
    • Lupin was originally voiced by the late Yasuo Yamada. After Yamada died of a brain hemorrhage early in 1995, the role went to Kanichi Kurita, whom Yamada had designated as his replacement.
    • In The Fuma Conspiracy, Toshio Furukawa voiced Lupin in that OAV instead of Yamada, and it is the only time prior to 1995 that Yamada didn't play Lupin.
  • Phantom Thief: Complete with calling cards.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Jigen's Blue. Even colour-coded when he wears his red jacket.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: Doesn't feel himself unless he's dressed up. Even wears tuxedos for some of his thefts.
  • Smoking Is Cool: Not as obvious an example as Jigen, but one nonetheless. Zenigata was able to track Lupin on one occasion by noting a discarded cigarette butt (it was an expensive import brand that only Lupin was known to smoke).
  • Stealth Expert: While Lupin III often gets into buildings via disguise, he is also an accomplished second story-man. He can sneak in in a black cat suit, or cause enough distractions that his bright yellow tie and bright red jacket aren't noticed.
  • Stealth Hi Bye: Has done this in the middle of a dogpile with 50 policemen.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: He's not above disguising as a woman in order to get close to his target. It backfired hilariously once.
  • Villain Protagonist: In the manga.

Daisuke Jigen

"May I remind you the last time she brought us a good deal was never?"

Lupin's constant and most loyal partner, the laid back Jigen is constantly at his side, helping him with the next big score. Although Jigen can handle most any role Lupin hands him, his stand-out qualities are his remarkable, nearly-superhuman quick-draw and targeting skills. He also attempts to keep Lupin grounded where women are concerned, and especially where Fujiko is concerned; he has made his dislike of her and her motivations plain on many occasions. He works very well with Goemon, however, especially when it comes to taking down large portions of the enemy forces.

Tropes exhibited by Jigen include:

Goemon Ishikawa XIII

"Once again, I have cut a worthless object..."

Originally, Goemon was one of Lupin's marks; the master thief wanted the secrets to Goemon's incredible sword and his amazing ability to use it. This caused their first confrontation to end with both of them being lit on fire. Since then, the thief has impressed Goemon enough for the master samurai to join Lupin's gang and participate in his incredible schemes. More moody than Jigen, Goemon often has a tendency to go off on his own in the middle of missions, or occasionally joins up with Fujiko, in spite of the fact that he is just as wary of her as Jigen is. But make no mistake... when the chips are down, Goemon will come back to Lupin's side in the end to help him deal with whatever mess he has managed to get himself into.

Tropes exhibited by Goemon include:

Fujiko Mine

"Luuuu-pin!"

A master thief in her own right, Fujiko is Lupin's one obsession that isn't stealing or messing with those who deserve it. She will often work with Lupin, only to screw him out of the goods in the end. Or perhaps she sets up Lupin for a job that ends up with him doing all the dirty work for her. Either way, she knows how to use Lupin and his love of her to get what she wants. In spite of her blatant use-and-abuse of Lupin, she has been shown on a number of occasions to truly love and care about him, and is quick to be at his side when things have really gone wrong. Occasionally, Fujiko will set up independent jobs of her own that have nothing to do with Lupin, but always end up paralleling one of his jobs in the end. Jigen pretty much wants nothing to do with her ever, but strangely Goemon, even with his honorable nature, has been known to partner up with her on the occasional heist.

Tropes exhibited by Fujiko include:
  • Action Girl
  • Animal Motifs: Butterflies and peacocks in The Woman Named Fujiko Mine.
  • Anti-Hero: Type IV
  • Badass
  • Bi the Way: The Woman Named Fujiko Mine sees her humoring the advances of Schoolgirl Lesbians.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Fujiko double-crosses Lupin to Zenigata and/or the villain of the week regularly, and usually then goes on to side with Lupin again later on in the episode/movie. Then betray him again in order to take the treasure for herself. Despite the frequency of these betrayals, Lupin is still willing to trust her (Which inevitably gets him double-crossed again in the next movie).
  • Combat Pragmatist: Perhaps even more so than Lupin.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Alluded to in The Woman Named Fujiko Mine; molestation as a child is involved at the very least.
  • Depending on the Writer: The worst of the five, Fujiko's loyalty, attitude, interest in Lupin, and tendency to keep her clothes on change dramatically between iterations.
  • Depending on the Artist: Fujiko has undergone the most redesigns of any of the Lupin characters.
  • Damsel in Distress: Occasionally, though this role more often goes to the female lead created for the film.
  • Double Entendre: Her name translates as "Twin Peaks."
  • Dressing as the Enemy: Almost as often and as well as Lupin.
  • Dub Name Change: In France, she's called Magali, and in Italian she's sometimes called Margot, but not always.
  • Easily Forgiven: Despite her repeated betrayals, Lupin continues to blindly trust her.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: As Cicciolina from The Woman Named Fujiko Mine is helpful enough to point out.

Cicciolina: What a beautiful body. Men would... No, even women would surely become enslaved by it.

  • Fan Service: Early and often.
  • Femme Fatale
  • Friends with Benefits: with Lupin, for the reason mentioned above. She also mentions this briefly, to Clarisse, in Cagliostro.
  • Lovable Traitor: Generally, Lupin finds her treachery to be part of her charm, but not always.
  • Loveable Rogue
  • Master of Disguise: Hard to tell, but she does use some of the same tricks as Lupin, at least.
  • Ms. Fanservice: To the audience and to Lupin.
  • Omniglot: In A Woman Named Fujiko Mine.
  • The Rival: To Lupin. In the TV series A Woman Named Fujiko Mine, Lupin specifically designates Fujiko to be his rival as a way to solve his boredom with being an unstoppable master thief.
  • The Smurfette Principle: There have been plenty of female characters in Lupin III, but she's the only one to appear in every version of the franchise.

Interpol

Inspector Koichi Zenigata

  • Japanese Voice Actors: Goro Naya (1969-2010), Koichi Yamadera (2011-present)
  • English Voice Actors: David Povall (Streamline), Dougary Grant (Manga Cagliostro), Phillip Wilburn (Funimation), Jake Martin (Geneon)

"Stop, Lupin! You're under arrest!"

The perpetual foil of the Lupin gang, Inspector Zenigata is the most dedicated cop you could ever find. He will bring Lupin and his cronies to justice... at least as soon as he figures out how to ensnare his rival once and for all. The problem isn't that Zenigata is a bad detective; he's actually quite intelligent and quick-thinking. It's just that Lupin is even better at outwitting the good inspector. Luckily, Lupin is kind enough to leave behind the real crooks in the whole affair for Zenigata to claim and turn in. With his amazing record of catches and closed cases, Interpol usually has little issue with letting Zenigata continue in the perpetual pursuit of his rival.

Tropes exhibited by Zenigata include:
  • Ambiguously Brown: In the first TV series. He also had a ruddy complexion in The Castle of Cagliostro.
  • Antagonist in Mourning: On the occasions where Lupin appears to be dead, Zenigata genuinely mourns him. In The Fuma Conspiracy, he actually becomes a Buddhist monk to pray for Lupin's soul. Then again, in Mystery of Mamo, Lupin is hanged and Zenigata is about to gleefully put a stake through the heart of Lupin's corpse when it explodes, and it's revealed that the dead Lupin is a clone, much to Zenigata's chagrin.
  • Badass: Capable of chasing the world's greatest thief to the ends of the earth, as well as arresting anyone of lesser skill. Generally inversely proportional to his status as Butt Monkey.
  • Bad Bad Acting: While chasing Lupin through the titular The Castleof Cagliostro, they discover that the Silver Branch of the Cagliostro family has been secretly manupulating global economics with massive amounts of perfectly counterfeited money for centuries. He brings armloads of evidence to his bosses at Interpol, but forgot until the last minute that those were the same people Cagliostro had been manipulating and that they weren't about to admit to it, especially since lots of them were actively playing Cagliostro against other nations. So he takes a camera team (who are doing a live worldwide broadcast) into Castle Cagliostro supposedly to catch Lupin, but then makes a detour into the castle's basement printing area...

What Is This! Look At ALL This Mo-ney! These Are Yen! Could It Be COUNTERFEIT? Oh, No! I Came Here To Cap-Ture Lupin And Un-Covered A Crim-In-Al Plot! Oh, What To DO?

  • Big Eater: Certainly justified in that you must eat metric ton-loads of food to have the energy to chase Lupin. In one episode, he ate twenty hamburgers in one sitting!
  • Butt Monkey: Often in the goofier entries of the Lupin franchise (notably the second and third TV series).
  • Chained Heat: Zenigata's favorite weapon? Thrown handcuffs.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Seriously, Zenigata is in incredible physical shape for his age, and is probably the most skilled and tough hand-to-hand combatant in the series. He can, subconsciously, perform physical feats that border on superhuman, and can dispatch multiple attackers without breaking a sweat.
  • Cool Old Guy: Zenigata is roughly twice the age of Lupin. So the idea that he can't catch Lupin seems justified, which would avert this trope. Then you realize that people younger than Lupin aren't able to keep up with him, but Zenigata is. Even at his worst, he's a man old enough to be Lupin's father, who manages to follow him around the world!
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Quite simply, Zenigata is THE WORLD'S GREATEST COP. Not only has he actually managed to arrest Lupin from time to time, he's also a formidable fighter, investigator, and most important, a truly fair and good cop.
  • Depending on the Writer: Zenigata's competency is the main variable. Is he a bumbling idiot, or a worthy rival to Lupin?
  • The Determinator: Zenigata has, from the perspective of other characters and on more than one occasion, come back from the dead because they mentioned Lupin's name.
  • Dub Name Change: In France, he's Inspector Gaston Lacogne.
  • Due to the Dead: On the occasions Zenigata has apparently died, he has received full honors from Interpol.
  • Enemy Mine
  • Failure Is the Only Option: Unless Lupin wants to be captured, Zenigata can't bring him in.
  • Famous Ancestor: Zenigata is descended from Heiji Zenigata, an Edo-era detective featured in a popular Japanese novel, film, and TV series. His ancestor was known for throwing coins, but the modern Zenigata throws handcuffs instead.
  • Foe Yay: Other characters have Lampshaded how sexual some of Zenigata's comments get.
  • Friendly Enemy:
    • When he was pulled off the Lupin case during Voyage to Danger, his first action was to find Lupin's hideout (which he did in less than an hour) and warn them of the plan to execute the Lupin gang.
    • The feeling's mutual; while they may be on opposite sides of the law and he may bust his balls on occasion, Lupin genuinely respects Zenigata and has actual friendly affection for him. So much so that, on occasions where a villain actually hurts Zenigata in any way, Lupin will make sure the villain pays a thousandfold. He wouldn't have anyone else chasing him.
    • Lupin has gone on record stating that although Zenigata has thus far failed to (permanently) capture him he's certainly the best there is and probably will succeed... eventually.
  • Hero Antagonist
  • Idiot Ball: He's a great detective, and gets far closer to catching Lupin than anyone else. But when the plot (or at least the Rule of Funny) requires it, his competence can plummet quickly.
  • Large Ham: "Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup-onnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!"
  • Last-Name Basis: His first name is rarely mentioned (it's "Koichi"). Everybody usually refers to him as Zenigagta-keibu ("Inspector Zenigata"), except for Lupin who refers to him as tottsan ("Pops" or "Old Man").
  • Limited Wardrobe: His trenchcoat and hat are constants.
  • Nice Hat
  • Spotting the Thread: Lupin calling him "Tott-san" ("Pops" or "Old Man") usually gives the thief away.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He's helped Lupin escape from other cops for this reason.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: His constant failures catching Lupin tend to have fans wondering how he keeps his job. The answer is all of the other criminals he manages to put away while chasing the master thief around. Any normal detective would never get within 500 feet of Lupin.
  • Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: the former Trope Namer.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Zenigata's diet leaves a lot to be desired: it basically consists of boiled ramen noodles and black coffee. Probably justified in that his constant pursuit of Lupin doesn't allow him much time to have a decent meal. When he DOES have time to eat more than usual, he's a Big Eater.
  • Undying Loyalty:
    • Zenigata's subordinates from the Japanese police force are the most loyal, dedicated group of police officers ever, and will ALWAYS follow Zenigata's hunches. They're so loyal, if Zenigata defies orders from Interpol, they WILL follow him, consequences be damned.
    • Not only the Japanese ones, as shown in Voyage to Danger: when Zenigata was pulled from the case and told this to the by-the-book Italian cops at his orders, they packed and returned home, letting a trapped and desperate Lupin go because that would have meant that Zenigata wasn't the one catching him.
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  1. ↑ The liner notes for the DVD point out that by the time AnimEigo got around to dubbing Fuma in 1994, Leblanc's works had fallen into the public domain in the US. But TMS made AnimEigo sign the same standard contract Streamline had used years earlier (when the Leblanc books were still under copyright), which is why they had to change the name.
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