Kudou Shinichi is a high school detective gaining fame for helping police with different cases. His childhood friend, Ran, calls him a "推理オタク" (detective geek) since his primary interest and conversational topic is usually focused on detective work or detective novels, especially Sherlock Holmes. His parents reside in America at present, although Shinichi is still in Japan. His mother is a former famous actress and his father is a popular mystery novelist, no doubt explaining Shinichi's interest in the subject. Shinichi believes there is one truth out there and it's the job of detectives to find it to solve cases. Besides detective work, Shinichi also is interested in soccer and Ran.
Story Arcs
Volumes
Featured in:
1, 25, 59, 72, 73, 102
1, 10, 21, 26, 34, 35
"Phantom" appears in:
Nearly every one
Mentioned in:
Nearly every one
Age:
First Grader
Occupation:
Student/Detective Boy
Location:
Mouri Detective Agency
Weight:
18 kg
Shinichi was a bit arrogant about his abilities, and perhaps rightly so, but when he tries to investigate a crime syndicate--he meets his match. A member of the syndicate catches Shinichi by surprise, forcing him to drink an experimental poison meant to kill him; however after the syndicate leaves Shinichi for dead it has the unexpected effect of shrinking his body back to that of a small boy. Warned by his trusted neighbor, Professor Agasa, not to reveal his new identity to anyone, lest the syndicate find out, Shinichi has to hide his identity from Ran even. When she comes looking for Shinichi, he has no choice but to make up a fake name, Edogawa Conan. With his new identity in place, Conan goes to live at Ran's place, hoping that information he needs to get back to his true form will eventually pour into her father's detective agency.
Story Arcs
Volumes
Featured in:
1-123
1-41
Besides Conan, Shinichi is also known as:
毛利の家で預かってる子 (The child staying with the Mouris). Most people first identify Conan as such.
居候 (parasite or freeloader). Mouri introduces Conan as such occasionally, even though he's been given 10 million yen for taking care of Conan.
大バカ推理之介 (This translates to something roughly like "Mr. Idiot Detective"). Ran refers to Shinichi as this when she's frustrated.
探偵キッド (Tantei Kid, or "detective kid") Shinichi calls himself this as a play off Kaitou Kid, the infamous gentleman thief.
Special Notes:
1.
Shinichi's name might be better rendered in English as "Shin'ichi" since there's a definite pause between the n and i (the kana looks like this しんいち). The apostrophe makes the word too awkward in my opinion, though, so it's left out despite the clarification it creates.
2.
The name "Kudou" is probably from Kudou Shunsaku, a detective character whom Aoyama describes as sometimes comical, sometimes hardboiled. (He's the featured detective in volume 18)
3.
Shinichi gets the name Edogawa Conan from the books on his father's library shelf. Conan is obviously from Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Edogawa comes from Edogawa Ranpo, the first great Japanese mystery writer. Shinichi choosing a pseudonym from him is particularly funny, since Edogawa Ranpo was Hirai Tarou's pen name. "Edogawa Ranpo" comes from "Edgar Allen Poe." It helps to take the "w" out to see it: "Edoga" (w) "aRan" "po". So Shinichi is taking his name from a mystery writer who took his name from a mystery writer.
Age:
16
Occupations:
Gentleman Thief/Student
Location:
Tokyo
Kaitou Kid is Japan's greatest gentleman theif. His wits are only matched by Hakuba Saguru and Kudou Shinichi. Kaitou Kid's real identity is high school Student Kuroba Kaito. His childhood friend (& manga style quasi-girlfriend) is Nakamori Aoko. Aoko hates Kaitou Kid, unsurprisingly since her father, Nakamori Ginzou, is Kaitou Kid's main pursuer. Kaito's father, Kuroba Touichi, was a gentleman theif and world renowned magician, but he was killed 8 years ago. Kaitou Kid is a master of disguise and can immitate anyone's voice. He uses elaborate deices such as a hang glider built into his cape. His exploits usually end up being a Robin Hood style good deed, or a failure to capture the item he was after.
Story Arcs
Volumes
Featured in:
44, 56, 86
16, 20, 30
Appears in:
-
Mentioned in:
-
Special Notes:
1.
Kaitou Kid, and all his associated characters, are from Aoyama's earlier manga, Magic Kaito. His secret identity is known only to his father's former servant and Koizumi Akako, fellow classmate. (They appear only in the Kaito manga, although they make an appearance in a mixed Conan/Kaito anime special). Aoko, Nakamori, and Hakuba all appear in the Conan manga at some point. Kaitou Kid is shown much more suavely in the Conan manga, as the veiwer is shown more of his behind-the-scenes scramblings in the Kaito manga.
2.
The "Kaitou" (怪盗) in Kaitou Kid has a long "O". The "Kaito" (快斗) in Kuroba Kaito has a short "o". So, even though it's confusing in English, it's two different names, not inconsistent spelling.
Age:
High School Sophomore
Occupation:
Student
Location:
Mouri Detective Agency
Mouri Ran is Kudou Shinichi's childhood friend. They are both each other's first love, though neither will admit it. Ran does the housekeeping for her father since her mother left him. At school she is active in the karate club, often demonstrating amazing strength. Ran misses Shinichi after he disappears and is very protective of Conan, who reminds her of him.
The best guess I can come up for Ran's name is maybe it's from Edogawa Ranpo, but nothing definite.
Age:
37 or 38
Occupation:
Detective
Location:
Beika City
Mouri Kogorou was a former police officer who retired to become a mediocre detective. His luck changes when Edogawa Conan moves in, and suddenly without even knowing it, he begins to "solve" difficult cases. Oblivious to Conan's help, Mouri is quite proud of all his accomplishments. Mouri has a passion for women and alcohol, which no doubt is what drove his wife off. Although he does care for her, he can't seem to keep his habits in check long enough to reunite. He has one daughter, Ran, who takes care of the house for him.
眠り小五郎 (Sleeping Kogorou). This is the nickname Mouri gets for "appearing" to be asleep when he solves cases.
Special Notes:
1.
The name "Kogorou" is from Akechi Kogorou, a famous fictional detective that Mouri is often compared to in the comics. (Akechi Kogorou is the featured detective in volume 2). Aoyama points out, however, that Mouri is not much like his namesake.
2.
Here is a clip of Mouri's voice actor, Kamiya Akira, at the 7th movie premier. He speaks first as himself, then as Mouri. 2.5 meg mp3
Age:
First Grader
Occupation:
Student
Location:
Beika City
Yoshida Ayumi is one of Conan's classmates. She encourages Conan to join them in a case, fostering the friendship between Conan and the eventual Detective Boys. Ayumi is the "madonna" of the Detective boys, with both Mitsuhiko and Genta having crushes on her. Unfortunately for them, Ayumi only seems to have eyes for Conan.
Kojima Genta is the leader of the Detective Boys. He's big, loves to eat, has a temper, and is a bit slow. He considers Conan a bit of a peripheral member of the group, despite his pivotal role in solving all their cases.
Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko is the "brains" of the Detective Boys (excluding Conan and Haibara of course). He is particularly bright for an actual first grader. He has a big crush on Ayumi, but a while after Haibara joins their group he begins to like her too. Mitsuhiko finds his dual crushes a crisis of concience, worrying that liking two different girls makes him a bad guy.
The name Mitsuhiko comes from Asami Mitsuhiko, the featured detective in volume 16.
Age:
First Grader
Occupation:
Student
Location:
Professor Agasa's House
Haibara Ai first appears as a transfer student in Conan's class. Like Conan, she is drawn into the Detective Boys group by Ayumi. She eventually reveals to Conan that she was the member of the crime syndicate who created APTX 4869, the mysterious medicine that Shinichi was forced to drink. It turns out that her sister was killed by the Syndicate (story arc 5), causing Haibara to betray the organization. Meaning to kill herself before the Syndicate could, she took her own creation, and like Shinichi, found she shrank. She sought Shinichi since he was the only victim of APTX 4869 who wasn't confirmed dead, instead being taken in by Professor Agasa and given her new identity. Haibara is considered cold by her classmates and even Ayumi feels intimidated trying to be friendly to her. Haibara tells Conan that she's actually an old lady, but her true form seems to be in her late teens or early twenties. Haibara lives in constant fear of being caught by the Syndicate, not unwarrantedly since Gin is particularly interested in killing her personally. Despite her cold exterior, Haibara would rather sacrifice herself than see any of her friends hurt.
シェリー (Sherry). This was her codename as a member of the crime syndicate.
宮野志保 (Miyano Shiho). This is Haibara's real name.
Special Notes:
1.
Professor Agasa explains that he chose the name "Haibara" as a play on Cordelia Gray ("hai" meaning ash/grey colored). He got the name "Ai" from V. I. Warshawski. "Ai" can be written as either "love" or "sorrow" and Haibara insisted that "sorrow" be the kanji for her name.
Age:
52
Occupation:
Inventor
Location:
Beika Neighborhood
Professor Agasa is Shinichi's next-door neighbor. He works as an inventor, but is prone to many more failures and silly devices than successes. He's the first person to learn of Shinichi's transformation, and is a valuable ally in Shinichi's new life as Conan. Fortunately for Shinichi, the things that the professor invents for him, such as the voice changing bow tie and his super-glasses, actually work rather well. The professor eventually becomes the chaperone of the Detective Boys, often taking them camping or on tours. He also takes in Haibara Ai when she has no where else to go. Shinichi mentions that the professor has a mole on his butt with a single hair coming out of it. Now, that's detective work!
The Japanese word for professor is "hakase". The professor's given name, Hiroshi, in this case has been written with the same kanji (博士). I guess his career choice was pretty limited.
Age:
High School Sophomore
Occupation:
Student
Location:
Family Owns Many Houses
Suzuki Sonoko is Ran's best friend. Sonoko's father is the head of the Suzuki Corporation, so her family is extremely wealthy. Sonoko is completely boy crazy. She has a steady boyfriend later in the series, but because he's abroad, she still occasionally indulges in boy-chasing. Conan occasionally uses Sonoko as the means to solve cases, much in the way he does Mouri. And fortunately she's more than willing to take the credit even though she doesn't remember any of her "work".
Hattori Heiji is a high school detective from Osaka. He comes to Tokyo to test himself against Shinichi. Heiji eventually figures out that Conan is the brains behind Mouri, and that Conan is in fact Shinichi. The two become good friends after that, working on cases together when the opportunity arises. Occasionally Heiji gets Conan into a tight spot by calling him Kudou in front of Ran. Heiji has a strong Kansai accent (Kansai is the region around Osaka and Kyoto), so much so that he can't seem to speak standard Japanese. Heiji is the son of the Osaka district police commissioner (a position at the top of the hierarchy), but Heiji prefers to get by on his own merits. Heiji gets his slightly dark skin from his grandfather. His childhood friend, Tohyama Kazuha, has a budding, (but since it's manga) denied romance going with him.
The name Heiji comes from Zenigata Heiji, a fictional Edo period detective. Incidentally, it's the same Zenigata who Lupin III's nemesis is supposedly descended from.
Ages:
?
Occupations:
Crime Syndicate Members
Location:
Tokyo
Gin and Vodka are members of a local crime syndicate, distinguished by their love of the color black, who force Shinichi to drink the poison that shrinks his body.
This
Site has been designed for 800x600 resolution and Macromedia
Flash Player 5.
________________________________________________________________________________
