Daisuke Jigen
Encyclopedia
is a fictional character
in Monkey Punch
's Lupin III
series.
's marksman
. He can perform a 0.3-second quick-draw and has an accuracy that borders on superhuman; he can shoot skeet
with a handgun, explode a missile before it hits by targeting the warhead, and deflect another bullet by shooting it in mid-flight. He prefers to conceal his eyes using his hat, as it gives him a more enigmatic appearance; when one or both of his eyes are seen, it is occasionally used to demonstrate surprise. In the second anime series, it is revealed that he uses a notch of the hat to aim. However, due to the nature of the series, no single episode could be considered canon
; Jigen has been seen shooting excellently without his hat, even in the very series this is mentioned in, he is seen making shots from angles where his hat's notch would be useless and even during times he is not wearing his hat at all. He is also proficient in many different firearms, such as machine guns, sniper rifles, and even a PTRS Anti-Tank Rifle.
His preferred weapon, however, is a Smith & Wesson Model 19 Combat revolver, based on the pistol's stopping power and its dependability against misfire. He keeps the weapon in a fabric holster specially constructed in the back beltline of his pants. He also feels quite naked without a gun: during an enemy attack in The Fuma Conspiracy
, Jigen was unarmed (during a wedding) yet instinctively reached back, grabbed at nothing, humorously aimed his empty hand and moved his trigger finger before realizing what he was doing. Even Lupin has mentioned he should "buy it a ring and marry it already". Jigen also carries a few rounds of special ammunition such as armor-piercing shells to use as circumstances dictate. As he frequently travels by air, it's not been made clear how he successfully gets his weapon through airline checkpoints. One theory is he flies unarmed and has weapons planted at all major airports, picking them up and leaving them when travel demands.
Despite Jigen's gruff facade, he has an ironic sense of humor and genuinely enjoys participating in each caper with partners Lupin and Goemon. He is, by far, the more pragmatic of the group, with a cynical streak founded in failed romances (his luck with women runs from bad to worse, with love interests often betraying him or dying). He especially distrusts Fujiko
and becomes irritated when Lupin goes along with one of her plans. Among Lupin's group, Jigen is the least apprehensive at taking human life. While he considers killing women and children taboo, he is willing to put down any man who offers a threat. Also, in Detective Conan Vs. Lupin III, he seems to dislike it when Conan Edogawa calls him "Papa".
Jigen is also a heavy smoker, smoking about 60 cigarettes a day according to the The Mystery of Mamo
DVD booklet. A running joke in the series is that his cigarettes always end up bent out of shape. His favorite cigarettes seem to be either Marlboro boxed (as in Kooky Kabuki) or Pall Mall Long
(as in Mystery of Mamo); he's also occasionally seen smoking a briar pipe. Another recurring theme is Jigen's fear of going to the dentist. In Tokyo Crisis, he actually loses his ability to shoot straight (temporarily) from being distracted by an aching cavity he refuses to have fixed.
Where Lupin and Goemon
both have unique sartorial tastes, Jigen is pure basics. His typical wardrobe is a grey or black suit, white or light colored dress shirt, black tie and his ever-present grey (or black) broad-brimmed black-banded fedora; the hat ranks as his most prized possession outside of his weaponry. During the Third Season of the anime, Jigen's outfit is more light colored and his hatband has a herringbone design (similar to the original manga interpretation of the character); however the Black look is most applied for OVA productions and TV specials. Jigen's thick hair is typically collar-length and unevenly cut. His chin curtain beard is about an inch long and also unruly.
Jigen is the "big brother" of the group, and often serves as the voice of reason to Lupin's impulsiveness, as he must because of his friendship with Lupin as well as out of sheer professionalism. However, he has long since resigned himself to having to go along with the craziest of schemes. Jigen also has a rough temper and tends to become violent when someone makes an inappropriate crack. From this habit not even Lupin and Goemon are safe; though devoted to both, Jigen still has historically punched, wrestled or threatened each with violence for relatively minimal infractions, done more in a still-friends form of payback than a tie-severing injury (for two classic situations, see The Castle of Cagliostro
or Mystery of Mamo
).
Jigen's off-time is usually spent watching sports, fishing, gambling, practice shooting, billiards, and general lounging. He has a deep affection for spaghetti western
s and boxing
. He's partial to American food, in particular steak, potatoes, and pizza. As mentioned, he smokes heavily; he also enjoys drinking beer and hard liquor, usually scotch. He rarely socializes and typically stays close to home. Due to his habitual distrust of women, he doesn't tend to date unless there's a strong mutual attraction. Jigen, like the rest of the Lupin gang, is adept with disguises and can pilot virtually any motorized vehicle, including planes and tanks. He is also a tough hand-to-hand opponent, capable of knocking out an attacker with one blow.
The TokyoPop reissues of the original Lupin comics note in their preface that Jigen's appearance and temperament are based on the actor James Coburn
, especially Coburn's role in The Magnificent Seven
.
) that he is a expatriated American. In the 2002 OVA Episode 0: First Contact, he is described as a New York based trigger-man employed by a Mafia bigwig. Assigned to eliminate Lupin, he instead finds the Frenchman more entertaining and partners up with his former target without hesitation. This origin severely contradicts the manga and earlier anime; therefore its level of canon is left to the viewer.
In some adaptations, Jigen was a Chicago
mobster.
In the film The Mystery of Mamo
, he says both he and Goemon
follow Lupin around because they've both vowed to kill him. As Monkey Punch
never really gave any of the characters a backstory, different film makers have their own take on it. In the manga volumes, Jigen is first portrayed rather abruptly in the first volume, appearing out of nowhere as a major character in one plot arc, though his name is spelled "Gigen." Jigen reappeared extensively in the third volume, showing up in nearly every single chapter of the manga, though he has not settled in to his persona as an enigmatic killer. His eyes are often visible, and he rarely uses a gun. He teams up with Lupin opportunistically in several capers, opposing Lupin as often as not. By the end of the first series, however, he has firmly settled into place as Lupin's most trusted ally.
in the Japan made live action film Rupan sansei: Nenrikichan sakusen (Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy). The famous anime series has historically starred Kiyoshi Kobayashi
in the original Japanese, with Richard Epcar
, Ivan Buckley and Sean P. O'Connell playing in English translations. He has also appeared in a Case Closed(Meitantei Conan) special called, "Detective Conan vs. Lupin III"
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in Monkey Punch
Monkey Punch
Monkey Punch is the pen name of Japanese manga artist Kazuhiko Katō , creator of the successful Japanese manga series Lupin III...
's Lupin III
Lupin III
, also known as Lupin the 3rd, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of...
series.
Abilities
Jigen is master thief Arsène Lupin IIIArsène Lupin III
is a fictional character introduced by Monkey Punch in Weekly Manga Action on August 10, 1967. According to its creator, Lupin is the grandson of Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin....
's marksman
Marksman
A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision, or a sharpshooter shooting, using projectile weapons, such as with a rifle but most commonly with a sniper rifle, to shoot at long range targets...
. He can perform a 0.3-second quick-draw and has an accuracy that borders on superhuman; he can shoot skeet
Skeet
Skeet may refer to:* Clay pigeon shooting, a target sport** Skeet shooting, a discipline of the sport*** Olympic skeet, a variant of the discipline*** Skeet Shoot, a skeet shooting video game for the Atari 2600 produced by Apollo...
with a handgun, explode a missile before it hits by targeting the warhead, and deflect another bullet by shooting it in mid-flight. He prefers to conceal his eyes using his hat, as it gives him a more enigmatic appearance; when one or both of his eyes are seen, it is occasionally used to demonstrate surprise. In the second anime series, it is revealed that he uses a notch of the hat to aim. However, due to the nature of the series, no single episode could be considered canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
; Jigen has been seen shooting excellently without his hat, even in the very series this is mentioned in, he is seen making shots from angles where his hat's notch would be useless and even during times he is not wearing his hat at all. He is also proficient in many different firearms, such as machine guns, sniper rifles, and even a PTRS Anti-Tank Rifle.
His preferred weapon, however, is a Smith & Wesson Model 19 Combat revolver, based on the pistol's stopping power and its dependability against misfire. He keeps the weapon in a fabric holster specially constructed in the back beltline of his pants. He also feels quite naked without a gun: during an enemy attack in The Fuma Conspiracy
The Plot of the Fuma Clan
, released in North America as Rupan III: The Fuma Conspiracy, is Arsène Lupin III's first direct-to-video adventure, and the first Lupin adventure since the pilot to not feature Yasuo Yamada as Lupin. Instead, Lupin's voice is provided by Toshio Furukawa...
, Jigen was unarmed (during a wedding) yet instinctively reached back, grabbed at nothing, humorously aimed his empty hand and moved his trigger finger before realizing what he was doing. Even Lupin has mentioned he should "buy it a ring and marry it already". Jigen also carries a few rounds of special ammunition such as armor-piercing shells to use as circumstances dictate. As he frequently travels by air, it's not been made clear how he successfully gets his weapon through airline checkpoints. One theory is he flies unarmed and has weapons planted at all major airports, picking them up and leaving them when travel demands.
Personality
In the anime series, Jigen is extremely loyal to Lupin and almost always partners up with him for a given mission. (This is not true in early chapters of the manga; later chapters more closely mirror the anime portrayal.)Despite Jigen's gruff facade, he has an ironic sense of humor and genuinely enjoys participating in each caper with partners Lupin and Goemon. He is, by far, the more pragmatic of the group, with a cynical streak founded in failed romances (his luck with women runs from bad to worse, with love interests often betraying him or dying). He especially distrusts Fujiko
Fujiko Mine
is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch, for his Lupin III series. Fujiko is a professional criminal, burglar and "confidence trickster"....
and becomes irritated when Lupin goes along with one of her plans. Among Lupin's group, Jigen is the least apprehensive at taking human life. While he considers killing women and children taboo, he is willing to put down any man who offers a threat. Also, in Detective Conan Vs. Lupin III, he seems to dislike it when Conan Edogawa calls him "Papa".
Jigen is also a heavy smoker, smoking about 60 cigarettes a day according to the The Mystery of Mamo
Mystery of Mamo
The Secret of Mamo, or The Mystery of Mamo, is the most common English name for the 1978 first animated feature film based on the Lupin III character created by Monkey Punch, originally released in Japan as simply and now known there as in order to differentiate it from the four others that...
DVD booklet. A running joke in the series is that his cigarettes always end up bent out of shape. His favorite cigarettes seem to be either Marlboro boxed (as in Kooky Kabuki) or Pall Mall Long
Pall Mall (cigarette)
Pall Mall cigarettes are a brand of cigarettes produced by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and internationally by British American Tobacco at multiple sites.- History :...
(as in Mystery of Mamo); he's also occasionally seen smoking a briar pipe. Another recurring theme is Jigen's fear of going to the dentist. In Tokyo Crisis, he actually loses his ability to shoot straight (temporarily) from being distracted by an aching cavity he refuses to have fixed.
Where Lupin and Goemon
Goemon Ishikawa XIII
is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his Lupin III series. Goemon is the thirteenth generation of renegade samurai, a descendant of the historical figure Ishikawa Goemon...
both have unique sartorial tastes, Jigen is pure basics. His typical wardrobe is a grey or black suit, white or light colored dress shirt, black tie and his ever-present grey (or black) broad-brimmed black-banded fedora; the hat ranks as his most prized possession outside of his weaponry. During the Third Season of the anime, Jigen's outfit is more light colored and his hatband has a herringbone design (similar to the original manga interpretation of the character); however the Black look is most applied for OVA productions and TV specials. Jigen's thick hair is typically collar-length and unevenly cut. His chin curtain beard is about an inch long and also unruly.
Jigen is the "big brother" of the group, and often serves as the voice of reason to Lupin's impulsiveness, as he must because of his friendship with Lupin as well as out of sheer professionalism. However, he has long since resigned himself to having to go along with the craziest of schemes. Jigen also has a rough temper and tends to become violent when someone makes an inappropriate crack. From this habit not even Lupin and Goemon are safe; though devoted to both, Jigen still has historically punched, wrestled or threatened each with violence for relatively minimal infractions, done more in a still-friends form of payback than a tie-severing injury (for two classic situations, see The Castle of Cagliostro
The Castle of Cagliostro
is a 1979 Japanese animated film co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is one of the films featuring master thief Arsène Lupin III.The second animated Lupin III movie and arguably the best known, Castle of Cagliostro was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who also co-directed the first...
or Mystery of Mamo
Mystery of Mamo
The Secret of Mamo, or The Mystery of Mamo, is the most common English name for the 1978 first animated feature film based on the Lupin III character created by Monkey Punch, originally released in Japan as simply and now known there as in order to differentiate it from the four others that...
).
Jigen's off-time is usually spent watching sports, fishing, gambling, practice shooting, billiards, and general lounging. He has a deep affection for spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s and boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. He's partial to American food, in particular steak, potatoes, and pizza. As mentioned, he smokes heavily; he also enjoys drinking beer and hard liquor, usually scotch. He rarely socializes and typically stays close to home. Due to his habitual distrust of women, he doesn't tend to date unless there's a strong mutual attraction. Jigen, like the rest of the Lupin gang, is adept with disguises and can pilot virtually any motorized vehicle, including planes and tanks. He is also a tough hand-to-hand opponent, capable of knocking out an attacker with one blow.
The TokyoPop reissues of the original Lupin comics note in their preface that Jigen's appearance and temperament are based on the actor James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
, especially Coburn's role in The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
.
Backstory
Where Lupin is a personification of Europe's wit and sophistication and Goemon signifies the discipline and quiet dignity of Japan, Jigen seems to be rough and tumble all-American. Which country he hails from, and for that matter his ethnic origin, is never made clear; he has, however, adopted Japan as home base and has taken a Japanese nom du guerre. He has dropped hints from his love of US food, his gun preference, and remarks made about "buying US Saving Bonds" (Mystery of MamoMystery of Mamo
The Secret of Mamo, or The Mystery of Mamo, is the most common English name for the 1978 first animated feature film based on the Lupin III character created by Monkey Punch, originally released in Japan as simply and now known there as in order to differentiate it from the four others that...
) that he is a expatriated American. In the 2002 OVA Episode 0: First Contact, he is described as a New York based trigger-man employed by a Mafia bigwig. Assigned to eliminate Lupin, he instead finds the Frenchman more entertaining and partners up with his former target without hesitation. This origin severely contradicts the manga and earlier anime; therefore its level of canon is left to the viewer.
In some adaptations, Jigen was a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
mobster.
In the film The Mystery of Mamo
Mystery of Mamo
The Secret of Mamo, or The Mystery of Mamo, is the most common English name for the 1978 first animated feature film based on the Lupin III character created by Monkey Punch, originally released in Japan as simply and now known there as in order to differentiate it from the four others that...
, he says both he and Goemon
Goemon Ishikawa XIII
is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his Lupin III series. Goemon is the thirteenth generation of renegade samurai, a descendant of the historical figure Ishikawa Goemon...
follow Lupin around because they've both vowed to kill him. As Monkey Punch
Monkey Punch
Monkey Punch is the pen name of Japanese manga artist Kazuhiko Katō , creator of the successful Japanese manga series Lupin III...
never really gave any of the characters a backstory, different film makers have their own take on it. In the manga volumes, Jigen is first portrayed rather abruptly in the first volume, appearing out of nowhere as a major character in one plot arc, though his name is spelled "Gigen." Jigen reappeared extensively in the third volume, showing up in nearly every single chapter of the manga, though he has not settled in to his persona as an enigmatic killer. His eyes are often visible, and he rarely uses a gun. He teams up with Lupin opportunistically in several capers, opposing Lupin as often as not. By the end of the first series, however, he has firmly settled into place as Lupin's most trusted ally.
Other media
The character was portrayed by Kunie TanakaKunie Tanaka
is a Japanese actor who has appeared in such films as Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro and The Bad Sleep Well and Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan.He has been nominated for five Japanese Academy Awards, winning the Best Supporting Actor statuette for Gakko in 1993.-Selected filmography:*Minna no Ie aka...
in the Japan made live action film Rupan sansei: Nenrikichan sakusen (Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy). The famous anime series has historically starred Kiyoshi Kobayashi
Kiyoshi Kobayashi
is a Japanese actor, seiyū and narrator from Tokyo. He is currently attached to the Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society...
in the original Japanese, with Richard Epcar
Richard Epcar
Richard Epcar is an American actor voice actor / director, mostly specializing in the field of voice acting in games, animation and anime. He is the husband of voice actress Ellyn Stern, with whom he owns and operates Epcar Entertainment, Inc., a voiceover production service company based in Los...
, Ivan Buckley and Sean P. O'Connell playing in English translations. He has also appeared in a Case Closed(Meitantei Conan) special called, "Detective Conan vs. Lupin III"
External links
- Daisuke Jigen in the Lupin III Encyclopedia