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.

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.

Monkey Punch explained it is only in the anime that they frequently operate together, suspecting some unwritten rule that all five main characters have to appear in every episode.

[7] Monkey Punch did not gain permission to use the Arsène Lupin name and, at the time, Japan did not enforce trade copyrights.

'"[2] The first name "Arsène" would later appear briefly written on a wanted poster shown in a 2018 episode of Part V,[10] though dialogue throughout the show continued to only identify the character as "Lupin III".

[11] Lupin III has black (or occasionally dark brown) hair with what is variously depicted as cut short with a widow's peak or plastered flat with a V-shaped bang.

Lupin typically dresses fashionably, wearing a button-down shirt, squared-off necktie fastened with a clip, chinos, and a brightly colored sports jacket.

"[8] This is in stark contrast to his better-known anime self, who although a skilled thief, occasionally comes off as a chivalrous goofball who enjoys helping those less fortunate than he.

Lupin's vendetta against the Tarantula Gang in In Memory of the Walther P-38 was partly settling of past betrayal and mostly vengeful payback for their shooting and nearly killing Zenigata.

Lupin relishes more in the challenge of stealing and, as long as he succeeds in the heist, is usually not that upset when he ends up empty-handed; there have been times he has lost the object or intentionally thrown it away.

When not involved in criminal activities, Lupin usually spends his time dating beautiful girls, fishing, race car driving, attending formal dinners, playing pool, casino gambling, and participating in café society.

He's also a skilled sleight of hand artist who loves to befuddle his opponents with various gimmicks: i.e., a cigarette which explodes into confetti, a gun with a spring-loaded boxing glove that clobbers the shooter, and bubble gum that becomes plastique after brief chewing.

His talent in the art of disguise borders on the superhuman, with him able to flawlessly impersonate any man or woman in face, voice and costume after minimal observation.

His skinny body enables him to easily impersonate larger individuals by use of oversized outfits, with attack paraphernalia usually making up the disguise's bulk.

Lupin possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of various topics, such as history, the different sciences, fluency in multiple languages, etc.

When Lupin believes he has an illness causing him to become a compulsive killer he asks Jigen to kill him to save the lives of any potential victims.

In spite of his facade of reckless childlike antics, i.e., taunts, silly faces, and leaving notes of his next caper, Lupin's brilliance for tactics and originality belies any underestimations his behavior may have implied.

Tony Oliver voiced Lupin in the Phuuz dub of the second anime and The Mystery of Mamo for Pioneer/Geneon, as well as the video game Treasure of the Sorcerer King, between 2002 and 2007.

Allen Divers of Anime News Network (ANN) called Lupin "one of the most recognized figures in Japan" with many homages and references in other series.

[30] Similarly, Crunchyroll's Kara Dennison said that even if someone has not seen a Lupin III title, they have "almost certainly experienced something either inspired by or paying tribute to him and his gang.

[34] After completing his involvement with the Lupin III franchise in 1980, Hayao Miyazaki wrote an article in Animage where he discussed his view of the series and the character.

[35] For the video game Persona 5, its creative team originally asked themselves how a character like Lupin III might win appeal in modern society.