Daisuke Jigen
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| Daisuke Jigen 次元大介 |
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|---|---|
 Daisuke Jigen |
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| Nationality: | Unknown (either American or Japanese) |
| Gender: | Male |
| Age: | Unknown, presumably older than Lupin |
| Height: | 178 cm |
| Weight: | 70 kg |
| Preferred Weapon: | Smith & Wesson Model 19 Combat Magnum |
| Preferred Cigarette: | Pall Mall (cigarette) super long |
| Voiced by: | Kiyoshi Kobayashi (1969-1985; 1989-) Banjō Ginga (1987) |
| AKA: | Julian (Mexico) Oscar (Spain) |
Daisuke Jigen is a fictional character in Kazuhiko Katō's anime and manga series Lupin III.
Daisuke Jigen (次元大介 Jigen Daisuke) is Lupin's marksman. He can perform a 0.3-second quick-draw and his shooting has amazing accuracy. He prefers to conceal his eyes using his hat, as it gives him a more enigmatic appearance. 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.
He is also proficient in the use of many different firearms, such as machine guns, sniper rifles, and even a PTRS Anti-Tank Rifle. His accuracy borders on the superhuman, literally never having missed a shot in the entirety of the series. He also feels quite naked without a gun: during an enemy attack in The Fuma Conspiracy, Jigen didn't have his Magnum on him and still instinctively reached for it, humorously shooting nothing into the air before realizing it was missing.
Despite having a Japanese name, his nationality and origin are uncertain. In some versions, he was a Chicago mobster, but eventually escaped to Japan and changed his name (Jigen is not a native Japanese surname; it is a word meaning "dimension"). In the 2002 television special "First Contact", he was a mobster in New York, and only joined Lupin after being unable to assassinate him, as was his assignment from his boss at the time. In the anime series, Jigen is extremely loyal to Lupin and almost always partners up with him for a given mission. This was not true in the early part of the manga, though Jigen's character eventually became closer to the anime version. In addition, the film The Mystery of Mamo has him say that he and Goemon follow Lupin around because they've both vowed to kill him; this probably stems from Mamo being based strongly off the manga.
Jigen is also a chain smoker and so is often seen with a cigarette in his mouth. Jigen has just as sharp a sense of humor as Lupin, and he genuinely enjoys participating in each caper, but he also shows an extremely cynical streak, which is especially evident when it comes to women (He has no luck with them - his love interests usually die or betray him). He especially distrusts Fujiko, and gets quite irritated whenever Lupin goes along with one of her plans. Apart from his misogynistic streak, Jigen is homophobic to the point of trying to kill Goemon when mistaking mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for an attempted kiss.
Jigen is the "big brother" of the group, and often serves as the voice of reason to Lupin's impulsiveness - both because of his friendship with Lupin as well as out of sheer professionalism. He is, however, pretty much resigned to having to go along with the craziest of schemes.
[edit] Trivia
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.
