"If we die inexplicably, I want you to know I'm not going to be happy about it." —Lupin
Lupin III (ルパン三世, Rupan Sansei) is the grandson of Arsène Lupin and the titular protagonist of Lupin the Third franchise. He is the world's most wanted gentleman thief. 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. 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.
Why He Rocks[]
- Acknowledged across the globe as the world's number one thief, Lupin is a master of disguise and deduction, marksman, and inventor of numerous handy gadgets.
- He is a formidable escape artist, capable of cracking any safe or freeing himself from shackles in moments, even using these restraints to entrap his would-be captor before making his escape.
- 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.
- While first glance may imply Lupin as fun-loving, flighty, perhaps even "goofy", his surface facade overcoats a brilliant imagination and a thorough knowledge of a hundred varying sciences.
- Forever extemporizing and reevaluating, Lupin has been responsible for heists no right-minded individual would believe possible.
- 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.
- He is shown to be an excellent marksman, but will not kill unless his life, or the lives of those close to him, are threatened.
- 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.
- He is very sportsman-like, as he once waited a year to escape from prison after being caught by Zenigata. He could have escaped at any time but his pride was hurt because Zenigata had used a tranquilizer dart to capture him and he wanted Zenigata to feel the same humiliation.
- Lupin 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.
- Despite the criminal nature of his activities, Lupin has a strict code that he follows in order to not taint his reputation. He also dislikes killing and goes great lengths to use nonlethal means to achieve his goals.
- He is a talented driver, motorcyclist, and pilot. His favorite automobiles seem to be either the Mercedes Benz SSK or a souped-up 1965 Fiat 500, most famously seen in Castle of Cagliostro.
- He is not above sacrificing himself for the greater good.
- In context, when Lupin believed he had an illness causing him to become a compulsive killer, he asks Jigen to kill him to save the lives of many more potential victims.
Bad Qualities[]
- 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
Trivia[]
- According to the English dub of the Red Jacket series, he claims to have watched "The Wizard of Oz" over a hundred times.
- He has a fondness for fancy gadgets from time to time, such as in The Castle of Cagliostro where his belt features a reinforced grappling hook capable of holding two people dangling off a cliff.
- He enjoys scotch whiskey, beer, fine wines, and coffee. His favorite foods seems to be mostly French cuisine, sushi, and seafood; when on a job he may settle with ramen noodles.