Phantom Thief Kid
Encyclopedia
, the true identity under his alias
is a fictional character
Fictional character
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...

 created by Gosho Aoyama
Gosho Aoyama
, born on June 21, 1963 in Hokuei, Tottori Prefecture, Japan is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series Detective Conan .-Educational background:Aoyama was talented in drawing even at an early age...

 for the Magic Kaito
Magic Kaito
is a shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama, about a thief named . Aoyama stopped work on the manga after three volumes because he started Detective Conan , which was an instant hit, and where a version of Kaitou Kid and some related characters makes occasional appearances...

series. His father was the original Phantom Thief Kid and was killed by an unknown organization. Kaito Kuroba then takes on the role of Phantom Thief Kid after learning the organization is after a gemstone called Pandora and decides to find and destroy the it.

Kaito Kuroba has made significant appearances in the Case Closed
Case Closed
Case Closed, known as in Japan, is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. The series is serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday since February 2, 1994, and has been collected in 73 tankōbon volumes as of September 2011...

franchise. His strong resemblance to the protagonist of the series, Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo, also known as in Japan, is the protagonist of Gosho Aoyama's series Case Closed, which is known in Japan as . A High-school Detective, he is forced to in ingest the lethal poison APTX 4869 after his encounter with Gin and Vodka. Due to a rare side effect, the poison shrinks him into a...

, allows Kaito to impersonate him without a mask. He is also voiced by the same voice actors as Kudo.

In the Magic Kaito manga series

Kaito Kuroba is a seventeen-year-old high school student who is an adept magician due to the influence of his father, Toichi Kuroba. Eight years prior to the series, Toichi had mysteriously died and was also the last time the Phantom Thief Kid was spotted. In the present time, Kaito discovers a secret room in his home that was set up by his father to reveal itself on that very day. Finding the Phantom Thief Kid's gadgets and costume in the room, Kaito dons the disguise and decides to confront Kid who has recently resurfaced after his eight years of absence. Kaito discovers Kid to be , his father's butler, who ascertains Toichi was the first Phantom Thief Kid. Jii reveals his took on the role as Kid to lure out Toichi's murderer. Upon learning that his father was murdered, Kaito continues the role of the Phantom Thief Kid as he searches for his father's killer.

As the Phantom Thief Kid, Kaito uses his skills of perfect disguise and the gadgets his father left him to complete his heists. The most prominent of those gadgets are his cape which transforms into a hang-glider, a gun that shoots sharp metallic playing cards, and smoke bombs. To lure out the murderers, Kaito adopts a tradition of sending a note of his intending theft to the location beforehand. After a successful heist, Kaito either return the stolen treasures or throws them away. As the Phantom Thief Kid, Kaito eventually meets the organization who killed his father. He discovers they are searching for the gemstone called which grants immortality if the water it emits during Volley's Comet is drank. Pandora is hidden in a larger gemstone and can only be seen if shone under the moonlight. Kaito decides to search for Pandora with the intention of destroying it and begins focusing his heists on large gemstones. As such, he begins the tradition of checking gemstones from his heists under the moonlight before returning them to their rightful owners.

In the Case Closed manga, anime and film series

Kaito, as the Phantom Thief Kid, appears in Aoyama's manga series, Case Closed
Case Closed
Case Closed, known as in Japan, is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. The series is serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday since February 2, 1994, and has been collected in 73 tankōbon volumes as of September 2011...

. He was introduced as Phantom Thief 1412 and is referred to as Kid later on. He is confronted by the protagonist of the series, Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo, also known as in Japan, is the protagonist of Gosho Aoyama's series Case Closed, which is known in Japan as . A High-school Detective, he is forced to in ingest the lethal poison APTX 4869 after his encounter with Gin and Vodka. Due to a rare side effect, the poison shrinks him into a...

; teen detective turned child under the alias Conan Edogawa, who attempts to foil and capture him. Kaito also garners the attention of Jirokichi Suzuki who wants to capture Kid for fame. In the Case Closed film series, Kaito reveals he knows Conan Edogawa is actually Jimmy Kudo. Due to Kaito's strong resemblance to Kudo, he is able to disguise himself as Jimmy Kudo without a mask.

Kaito has made four appearances in the films. In Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century
Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century
Case Closed: The Last Wizard Of The Century, known as in Japan, is a Japanese animated feature film based on the Case Closed series. It was released in Japanese theatres on April 17, 1999. Funimation Entertainment acquired the rights to this film from TMS Entertainment on July 17, 2009 and...

, he steals a fabergé egg
Fabergé egg
A Fabergé egg is any one of the thousands of jeweled eggs made by the House of Fabergé from 1885 to 1917. Most were miniature eggs that were popular gifts at Eastertide...

 to return to its rightful owner while helping Kudo on his investigation for an assassin. In Case Closed: Magician of the Silver Sky, he continues his search for Pandora as Kudo attempts to impede his heist. Kaito makes his third appearance in Detective Conan: The Private Eyes' Requiem where he indirectly helps Kudo solve an old murder. His fourth appearance takes place in Case Closed: The Lost Ship in the Sky
Case Closed: The Lost Ship in the Sky
is the 14th film installment of the manga and anime series Detective Conan. The film was released on April 17, 2010 in Japan. This film is confirmed to have Phantom Thief Kid involved in it after his last appearance in The Private Eyes' Requiem. This film earned 3.1 billion yen in the domestic...

where Jirokichi baits him with a large gemstone on an airship as he attempts to capture him.

Reception

On a Case Closed character popularity poll, Kaito ranked as the top most popular character of the series. On an online poll by Conan Movie.jp, he placed second with 19% of the votes. John Sinnott from DVD talk
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...

 considers Kaito Kuroba as an interesting character as he was able to escape from Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo
Jimmy Kudo, also known as in Japan, is the protagonist of Gosho Aoyama's series Case Closed, which is known in Japan as . A High-school Detective, he is forced to in ingest the lethal poison APTX 4869 after his encounter with Gin and Vodka. Due to a rare side effect, the poison shrinks him into a...

 the protagonist of Case Closed
Case Closed
Case Closed, known as in Japan, is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. The series is serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday since February 2, 1994, and has been collected in 73 tankōbon volumes as of September 2011...

. SequentialTart.com's Amanda Tarbet remarks the Phantom Thief Kid to be an amusing character due to his gentlemanly manners and skills.
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