Arsène Lupin III is a formidable thief capable of cracking all the safes in the world. A fictional character introduced by the mangaka (Japanese for “comicbook artist”) Kazuhiko Kato, better recognized as Monkey Punch, in the 10 August 1967 issue of Weekly Manga Action, Lupin is supposed to be the grandson of another fictional character, Arsène Lupin, a French gentleman thief and detective created by Maurice Leblanc, the best-selling early Twentieth Century pulp fiction writer. As the world’s number one thief, in addition to safes Lupin is also a master at disarming traps and alarms. His escapades have proved him quite a talented driver and pilot as well, and he is an expert shot – with a pistol, no less.
For all his skills, however, Lupin has a doltish, even idiotic look. Yet they belie his ferocious reasoning abilities and social charms; Lupin is able to get past folks with about the same ease as when negotiating safes, particularly booby-trapped ones.
When not practicing his art – he seems to steal more for the challenge than for any personal gain, often discarding treasures or not caring if he should lose them after first conquering the quest of acquiring them – Lupin enjoys fishing, gambling, and dating beautiful women – not necessarily in that order!
Giving rigor to the dubious proverb about honor among thieves, Lupin will frequently foil other criminals who are engaged in activities of a violent, murderous nature. In fact, most of his adventures involve not only the police, epitomized by his nemesis Inspector Zenigata, but genuinely sinister characters of deep malice.
Immensely popular and voted among the Ten Most Iconic Anime Heroes, Arsène Lupin III has been ubiquitous in three television series, five feature films, almost two dozen television specials, and a number of original video animations and videogames.