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This Protagonist was Headlined on August, 2023. | ||
Arsène Lupin III, commonly known as Lupin III and The Wolf, is the titular main protagonist villain of the manga and anime series of the same name, and of Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film The Castle of Cagliostro. He is the world's most wanted gentleman thief and the grandson of Arsène Lupin. He sometimes appears incompetent, but mostly as a charade to catch his opponents off guard. While he has been arrested and thrown in jail on a number of occasions, he has always managed to break out. He also has a fondness for fancy gadgets from time to time, such as in the movie The Castle of Cagliostro where his belt features many small gadgets. His infatuation with women, and Fujiko Mine in particular, is perhaps his biggest weakness, as it often lands him in undesirable situations. He continues his grandfather's legacy of thievery.
Biography[]
In Monkey Punch's original manga, Lupin is cocky, quite crude, and for the most part remorseless. He is very much the ladies' man, often using them for his own gains, but is not beyond forcing himself upon women who resist him. This is in stark contrast to his better-known anime self, who despite being a skilled thief, comes off as a goofball and will go to great lengths to right injustice, who also shows a chivalrous streak that compels him to help those less fortunate than he. Furthermore, Lupin often takes it upon himself and his gang to stop criminals engaged in more violent crimes and leave them for Zenigata to arrest. In the anime, while he fancies himself a ladies' man, his actual success with women is erratic, which fluctuates from writer to writer.
Even though his gang's loyalty has been an issue, with Fujiko willing to betray and cohort Goemon promising to eventually kill him, Lupin will still drop everything to come to their aid in a helpless moment; further the team would rather face torture than to betray Lupin (or he betray them) to a third party. Curiously, this rule of loyalty extends also to Inspector Zenigata, who Lupin considers a respected friend and opposition. The Inspector reciprocates this regard and out of gratitude has vowed never to attempt to kill Lupin. Lupin's vendetta against the Tarantula Gang in Memory of the Walther P-38 was partly settling of past betrayal and mostly vengeful payback for their shooting and nearly killing Zenigata.
Personality[]
While Lupin is a thief, he will go to great lengths to right injustice. While he sees nothing wrong with his chosen profession, he reminds anyone who asks that the people from whom he steals are people who can take the loss, and that there are worse people than he in this world. He also shows a chivalrous streak that compels him to help those less fortunate than he (especially attractive women). Furthermore, Lupin often takes it upon himself and his gang to stop criminals engaged in more violent crimes and leave them for Zenigata to arrest. He fancies himself a ladies' man, although his actual success with women is erratic. In Monkey Punch's original manga, Lupin is very much the ladies' man, though Fujiko is frequently beyond his grasp. His abilities with the opposite sex tend to fluctuate with the writer.
When not seeking fortune from his adventures, Lupin unwinds by a variety of pastimes. His most-witnessed hobbies are fishing, nightclubbing, gambling, being part of cafe society, and dating beautiful women. He's a connoisseur of international food and wine, drinks liquor, enjoys beer, tea, and coffee. He also smokes cigarettes and occasionally cigars and kreteks; in the manga he's seen smoking a briar pipe occasionally. His preferred cigarette is famous French brand Gitanes. Lupin is a celebrated race car driver, competing in several international events when time allows. He's also a skilled sleight of hand artist who loves to befuddle his opponents with various gimmicks: i.e., a cigarette which explodes into confetti, a gun with a spring-loaded boxing glove that clobbers the shooter, and bubble gum that becomes plastique after brief chewing.
Even though his gang's loyalty has been an issue, with Fujiko willing to betray and cohort Goemon promising to eventually kill him, Lupin will still drop everything to come to their aid in a helpless moment; further the team would rather face torture than to betray Lupin (or he betray them) to a third party. Curiously, this rule of loyalty extends also to Inspector Zenigata, who recipocates by never trying to kill Lupin. Lupin's vendetta against the Tarantula's in Island of Assassins was partly due to their shooting and nearly killing Zenigata.
In all, Lupin can best be defined as an intelligent guy with a child's fun-loving demeanor, laughing and quipping in the face of opposition with a handy trick always available to maintain an upper hand.
It appears Lupin loves to steal more than actually having the treasure he sought. There have been times he has had what he stolen lost or he intentionally threw it away. It appears Lupin relishes more of the challenge of stealing and thus is usually not that upset when he ends up empty-handed as long as he beat the security and stole the object of his desire away. There also have been times when Lupin only stole the object in question to give to someone else, such as if it rightfully belonged to them or they needed it more than he did.
Skills[]
Lupin is shown to steal more than actually having the treasure he sought. He relishes more in the challenge of stealing and, as long as he succeeds in the heist, is usually not that upset when he ends up empty-handed; there have been times he has lost the object or intentionally thrown it away. There have also been times when Lupin stole an object only to give it to someone else, such as if it rightfully belonged to them or they needed it more than he did.
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Lupin Gang Recurring characters Movies & Television Red Jacket series Lupin VS the Clone Castle of Cagliostro Pink Jacket series The Legend of the Gold of Babylon The Fuma Conspiracy Bye-Bye Liberty Crisis! Mystery of the Hemmingway Papers Farewell to Nostradamus Angel Tactics Sweet Lost Night Dead or Alive Elusiveness of the Fog The Last Job Blood Seal - Eternal Mermaid Record of Observations of the East - Another Page Princess of the Breeze The Italian Adventure series Misadventures in France series Goodbye Partner Prison of the Past Lupin III: The First Crossovers Lupin the 3rd VS Cat's Eye See Also | ||
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