Lupin III (character)

Arsene Lupin III
Lupin III character
Lupin drawn by Monkey Punch
First appearanceLupin III chapter 1: "The Dashing Entrance of Lupin III", August 10, 1967 (Weekly Manga Action)
Created byMonkey Punch
Portrayed byYūki Meguro (1974)
Shun Oguri (2014)
Voiced by (Japanese)
Voiced by (English)
Other:
In-universe information
AliasCliff
The Wolf
Rupan III
Wolf III
NicknameBoss
OccupationGentleman thief
Spy
Vigilante
WeaponWalther P38
SpouseRebecca Rossellini
Significant otherFujiko Mine
RelativesArsène Lupin I (grandfather)
Lupin II (father)
Lupin Jr. (son)
NationalityFrench-Japanese

Lupin III (Japanese: ルパン三世, Hepburn: Rupan Sansei), referred to in some English adaptations as Arsène Lupin III, is a fictional character created by Kazuhiko Kato aka Monkey Punch as the protagonist for his manga series Lupin the Third, which debuted in Weekly Manga Action on August 10, 1967.

Lupin is the grandson of fictional gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, created by Maurice Leblanc. Acknowledged across the globe as the world's number one thief, Lupin is a master of disguise and deduction, marksmanship, and inventor of numerous handy gadgets. His fun-loving, foolhardy incongruity covers a brilliant mind always extemporizing and re-evaluating. As such, he has been responsible for heists no right-minded individual would believe possible. While occasionally arrested and jailed, typically by his ICPO nemesis Inspector Koichi Zenigata, he always succeeds in escaping unharmed. The original manga differs significantly compared to the family-friendly anime incarnations through its explicit depictions of sex and violence, with Lupin's character also differing as a result. As one example, he and his famous gang, beautiful Fujiko Mine, cool triggerman Daisuke Jigen and incomparable samurai Goemon Ishikawa XIII, occasionally try to kill each other in the manga version, but are depicted as more of a team in various anime productions.