Goemon Ishikawa XIII

is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series Lupin III, which debuted in Weekly Manga Action on August 10, 1967. Goemon is a thirteenth generation descendant of the renegade samurai Ishikawa Goemon. He is famous for a reticent personality coupled by apparent unlimited skill in martial arts and swordsmanship with his sword , known in the anime as . A partner with Arsène Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen, he tends to join their exploits only on a when-interested basis. Creation Goemon is unique to the series as he was the only character not there from the beginning. Monkey Punch stated that, as none of the existing cast seemed especially Asian, he added Goemon as "a very traditional Japanese male character" to balance the manga. As such, Goemon was primarily based on the character Kyūzō, the master swordsman of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film Seven Samurai; from the role came Goemon's strict demeanor and fast draw blade, as well as the long-faced countenance of actor Seiji Miyaguchi. Description In the original manga, Goemon first appears as a very dangerous enemy of Lupin in chapter 28 . Lupin attempts to steal Goemon's master's alchemic formula for impervious sword blades through infiltration of Goemon's clan, but his cover is blown by Fujiko Mine, who is Goemon's girlfriend at the time. Goemon tries to kill Lupin over the next several installments, making attempts ranging from hiring assassins as skilled as Daisuke Jigen himself, to entering the service of three martial arts masters, to planting bombs in Lupin's belongings. However, he later decides that he could learn more working for Lupin than against him, and rather abruptly switches his allegiance. His position at Lupin's side is cemented when Lupin ruins the government's case against the man who killed Goemon's uncle, allowing Goemon to take his revenge as brutally and publicly as he wants without having to break into prison to do so. By the events of the second manga series, Lupin trusts Goemon implicitly, and Goemon reciprocates. When a rival of Lupin's captures and hideously tortures Goemon, Goemon refuses to even respond to his interrogation, except to say that Lupin would find him and allow him to take revenge. Lupin then captures and seduces his rival's wife, and uses the information gleaned to rescue Goemon, who slays his captor with Jigen's help.