Zenigata has made it his mission in life to arrest Lupin. He would love to arrest the other members of Lupin's gang, but Zenigata is really after the mastermind himself. Lupin and Zenigata appear to be the worst of enemies, but they are, in a manner of speaking, friends; something Lupin shows openly (often by greeting Zenigata with mock affection), but it is an idea Zenigata is extremely reluctant to entertain. Similarly, he is often awed by Lupin's genius but refuses to show it. 

~!In the movie Mystery of Mamo, it is mentioned that Zenigata has a daughter named Toshiko, but this isn't developed any further. He's unable to settle down because of his eternal pursuit, and although he sometimes longs for female company he has no luck with women—in no small part due to his inability to commit himself to anything but chasing Lupin.!~

~!The Manga series reveals that he has a grandson, a student at Todai University, who fiercely opposes Lupin's attendance, though, by the end of the arc, he has largely given up on having Lupin expelled outright.!~

In the anime, Zenigata is a quite sensitive person and often cries in emotional situations, particularly when he thinks Lupin has done something out of consideration for him, or when finding out Lupin is okay after worrying about him. On occasions when Lupin appears to be dead, he mourns him more expressively than anyone else—partly due to genuine grief, partly because he no longer has a goal in life. Because of this singular ambition, he is never particularly displeased when Lupin manages to escape his custody.


Jet, known on his home satellite as the "Black Dog" for his tenacity, is a 36-year-old former cop from Ganymede (a Jovian satellite) and acts as Spike's foil during the series. Physically, Jet is very tall with a muscular build. He wears a beard with no mustache, and is completely bald save for the back of his head. Spike acts lazy and uninterested, whereas Jet is hard working and a jack-of-all-trades. Jet was once an investigator in the Inter Solar System Police (ISSP) for many years until he lost his arm in an investigation that went awry when his corrupt partner (and friend at the time) betrayed him. His arm was replaced with a cybernetic limb (later revealed to be by choice, as biological replacements were possible, he wanted the fake arm as a reminder of what happened), yet his loss of limb coupled with the general corruption of the police force prompted Jet to quit the ISSP in disgust and become a freelance bounty hunter. Jet also considers himself something of a renaissance man: he cultivates bonsai trees, cooks, enjoys jazz/blues music (he named his ship the Bebop, referring to a type of jazz), especially Charlie Parker, and even has interest in Goethe. As a character, Jet is the quintessential oyaji or "dad" even though he often wishes people would view him as a more brotherly figure (so as not to seem old).  Jet is skilled with handguns, typically carrying a pre-2004 Walther P99, as well as the use of the netgun. He is good with hand to hand combat as well. Unlike Spike, Jet tends to use more raw muscle than technique. He is also a great mechanic and pilot. Aside from the converted interplanetary fishing trawler vessel Bebop, Jet flies a smaller ship called Hammerhead. The Hammerhead appears to be a modified (Jet added larger engines and fuel tanks) salvage-craft that uses a mechanical arm equipped with a harpoon as its main weapon, which is somewhat analogous to his own mechanical arm. Both the Hammerhead and the Bebop are able to land on water, and have a fishing theme, most likely because Ganymede's surface is mostly covered with water (it is later revealed that the Bebop was originally a fishing ship that Jet "customized" with larger engines).  ~!During the series, it is revealed that Jet once lived with a woman named Alisa, who left him because he was too controlling. Later they meet up again when Alisa's new boyfriend Rhint is wanted for murder. Jet then ends up in a situation somewhat similar to that of Vicious, where he must hunt down a woman who broke his heart, and her lover.  In a later episode, another Vicious/Spike parallel is set up when Jet finds out that it was his old partner Fad who betrayed him (though in Jet's case, there was no love affair involved). Fad arranged for Jet's death in a setup, but he survived with only a missing arm and a scar on his face. It is worth noting that Jet managed to face the demons of his past and let them go, in contrast to Spike, who was killed when he confronted his. This is likely due to the contrast in the two approaches to the past. While Spike hid and fled from his past, Jet tracked it down and confronted it.!~

He is the perfect champion who had never lost, fought beautifully and was admired by all. He takes great care of his health and family, and is constantly calm and confident, giving an aura of being truly unbeatable. A recurring theme is his immense physical strength, to the point of leaving big bruises on Joe's body by gripping him, easily forcing him into a handshake, and even bending coins with his fingers.

~!However, Joe eventually discovers that José has one weakness; despite his speed, strength and stamina, he can't take hits nearly as well, and relies on avoiding getting hit as much as possible.!~

~!He begins to break down from this during the later stages of his fight with Joe, where he loses his cool and fears for his life against Joe's unrelenting spirit. Mendoza was knocked down for the first time in his career during the fight, and even fouled Joe violently in a moment of terror. He would win the decision, but the trauma his body suffers from the fight ages him prematurely.!~

Despite almost never taking a starring role, Duke Red is, without a doubt, one of Tezuka’s major stars.  Whether he’s been cast as a bandit, a pirate, a university professor or a judge, his classy aristocratic style and larger-than-life performances steal any scene he’s in.

Although he has a wide range of performance experience, he is usually cast in the role of the refined criminal mastermind, a politician with an ominous air, or a captain of industry with devious intent – and is more often than not surrounded by a gang of henchmen, including Hamegg and Acetylene Lamp, to do his bidding.

Duke Red first burst onto the stage with his debut (and namesake) role in Metropolis (1949) as the head of the notorious Red Party.  Since then he has gone on to many prominent and memorable roles, notably as Judge Porfiry in Crime and Punishment (1953), “Wild Bill” Hecock in Age of Adventure (1951-53) and Mr. Nikula in Black Jack (1973-83).  He also had a less well known, but humourously appropriate appearance as the title character in Cyrano the Hero (1954) – one of his only starring roles.

In the "Metropolis" film incarnation of Duke Red, he is a plutocrat who funds both the Ziggurat, a skyscraper-sized machine built to spread the mankind's power across the world, and the Marduk, a vigilante group for suppressing malfunctioning robots. He also commissioned Tima's creation, who resembles his deceased daughter, to act as the core controller to the Ziggurat.

Nishi is Joe's best friend, sparring partner and later he also becomes Joe's trainer. He is a juvenile delinquent. He first meets Joe in a juvenile jail, where they fight each other and Joe defeats him. Nishi later meets Joe at the correction house where they become friends.

Nishi's personality changes drastically from an arrogant juvenile delinquent to calm worker at a grocery store. He takes a liking to boxing after watching Joe's match against Rikishi in the detention center.

When Joe comes back to Namida Bridge he is surprised to find Nishi at the Tange boxing gym, Nishi joins the gym to learn boxing and to continue being with Joe. Nishi is an averagely good boxer. He was the only useful sparring partner Joe had in the entire story. Nishi has a crush on Noriko Hayashi, who is the daughter of his boss at the grocery store.

~!Nishi injures his fist in a match and painfully decides to retire from boxing. In his retirement party he confesses that he will always be proud of dedicating his youth to boxing. Later, Nishi marries Noriko and becomes more dedicated to his work at the convenience store but he also continues to help Joe with his training and works in the corner during his matches.!~

Edward and James Lloyd Steam's friend and rival, a major player in the Industrial Revolution. He claims that he wishes to use the Steam Ball for the good of the British Empire, but exactly how he plans to do it is questionable. Possibly based upon the real-life Robert Stephenson.

A bounty hunter who is after Vash the Stampede for the $60,000,000,000 reward.

Great Mazinger:    The son of Juuzo Kabuto and Kouji and Shiro&#039;s father. Was believed to be dead after a lab experiment that apparently killed him and his wife, however, he was saved by Juuzo after being revived as a cyborg.    While in hiding, he improved on his father&#039;s robot designs to create the machine Great Mazinger. He raised the orphans Tetsuya Tsurugi and Jun Hono, training them to be pilots.    Shin Mazinger:    The father of Kouji and Shiro and the son of Juuzo Kabuto. He was present at the excavation of Bardos Island and together with his father created the robot Energer Z, the prototype of Mazinger Z. While excavating the Mycenaean technology on Bardos Island, his cyborg body was possessed by the bio-mechanical Kedora and he betrayed the team. He was presumed to have died during the escape from Bardos Island, at the hands of Tsubasa. 

Sandro Iovino

Characters