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in: Characters, Male Characters, Armed Detective Agency, Non-ability users

Ranpo Edogawa

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"Mushitarō-kun, you've won! I knew from the start that regular people can't defeat ability users. But I'm still going to defeat you. Why? Because my friends think I'm invincible."

— Ranpo Edogawa to Mushitarō Oguri.[1]

Ranpo Edogawa (江 (え)戸 (ど)川 (がわ) 乱 (らん)歩 (ぽ), Edogawa Ranpo?) is a member of the Armed Detective Agency. Despite not being an ability user, he is known as one of the best detectives highly sought by the police, renowned by his comrades, himself, and others as the "greatest detective in the world" (世 (せ)界 (かい)最 (さい)高 (こう)の名 (めい)探 (たん)偵 (てい), sekai saikō no mei tantei?).[2][3]

Appearance

Ranpo is a young man with a fair complexion and short, messy black hair. His eyes, which are closed most of the time, are brown.[note 1]

His attire consists of a brown inverness cape that he wears over his shoulders and whose color matches both his hat and his pants. Under that, he wears a dark grey blazer and a white button-up with a light and dark blue striped tie. Under his three-quarter length pants, he wears long white socks that cover the visible part of his legs, and simple black shoes.

When he was young, Ranpo wears a gakuran with a matching student cap and coat, with an old-fashioned flat satchel hung around his waist. When he chooses to activate his "ability", he will put on black glasses which were given to him by Yukichi Fukuzawa.[2]

After the agency's founding, Ranpo wears simple white long sleeves with checkered tie and a pair of dark trousers.[6]

After the cannibalism, Ranpo wears a white long-sleeved shirt and a sleeveless vest suit together with a black ribbon tie.[7]

After defying Fukuzawa's orders during the virus ordeal, Ranpo is told to help a sales staff at one of their client's shopping mall, hence him putting a teddy bear costume.[8]

During the Agency's frameup, Ranpo borrows a cloak from man and his boater hat as a distraction to get away from the military police.[9] Ranpo also wears a disguise in order to get Doppo Kunikida and Fukuzawa out from detainment, consisting of black overalls and a gas mask.[10] In rescuing Akiko Yosano from her execution, Ranpo wears the same outfit, albeit without the gas mask.[9]

Others

Personality

Ranpo carrying a bag of snacks

Ranpo's carefree behavior.

Ranpo takes extreme pride in his "ability" which can solve any mystery in mere seconds, with which he has solved countless cases. With his incredible intelligence, he is commended for it by the rest of the Armed Detective Agency, even more so because he lacks an ability. He is often found bragging about his status as the greatest detective in the world.[11] Ranpo is also shown to be rather childish, frequently teasing the other detectives in the Agency and sometimes refusing to do work or cases for trivial reasons such as laziness or spite.[12][13] Ranpo has been shown to be unable to complete simple tasks such as riding a train or finding his way home when not utilizing Super Deduction.[11]

Ranpo giving a message to Kunikida

Ranpo showing his serious resolve when his friends are in danger.

However, despite this demeanor, Ranpo becomes serious and calm when the situation calls for it.[3][14] Atsushi Nakajima once noted Ranpo's serious façade when devising their plan in protecting the virus-stricken Fukuzawa, an expression he admitted he has never seen before in the great detective. One of his long-time colleagues, Yosano, also understood Ranpo's grave concern for the President when placed in trouble.

Ranpo's conviction to save his Agency members (manga)

Ranpo's conviction stems from his resolve to save his friends.

Because of the Agency's faith in him, Ranpo equally places his trust in them.[14][15] He recognizes how the Agency members, whom he regards as his friends, see him as invincible, so Ranpo has a sense of conviction to protect them and vowed never to let anyone hurt them.[1] This rings true most especially after the events of Cannibalism: Ranpo admits his failure to catch Fyodor Dostoevsky, which might have prevented a child's death and consequently Kunikida's arrest.[8] During such cases, Ranpo does acknowledge that he has limitations himself, but he is nonetheless more than willing to perform any plausible means to solve the situation.

Notably, even though his colleagues seem to think that he is completely oblivious to the fact that he is not an ability user, he is aware that his Super Deduction is in fact not an ability. However, since the Agency puts so much faith into him, he initially refused to openly admit this to anyone in the Agency, as he refused to believe Fukuzawa when the latter straightforwardly told Ranpo that he is not actually an ability user[2] and seemed to dance around the topic with Yosano,[3] yet he outright admitted his lack of ability after the Yokohama fog incident caused by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa[16] and later to Mushitarō Oguri.

Ranpo urges Mushitaro to surrender (manga)

Admitting that he took in Fyodor's methods in himself, Ranpo vows never to let anyone hurt the Agency.

With his vision and desire not to lose to Fyodor nor to anyone again, Ranpo carefully learned Fyodor's ways and willingly took in the Conjurer himself, illustrating Ranpo's exceptional resolve to do anything that he can for the sake of protecting the Agency. He claimed that such intimidation surpasses that of a typical deduction skill, which can defeat even detective killers and evidence suppressors—the great detective's weaknesses—like Mushitarō.[1] He even put up a contingency plan to ensure that the Agency would be given all the help they need, especially from Mushitarō, in their battle against the Decay of the Angel, as he threatened to expose Mushitarō's friend's legacy to the public that might defame the late author.[17]

Poe approaches Ranpo for help regarding a murder case

Ranpo offers his help to Poe, who was once his rival.

In addition, Ranpo has a certain kind of charisma that plants an apparent change in his former adversaries into people who aid him subsequently in different manners. One notable example is Edgar Allan Poe, once his sworn rival whom Ranpo defeated in a deduction battle six years ago,[3] who gradually becomes one of Ranpo's trusted allies in his later pursuits and cases, such as the Cannibalism strategy,[18] its aftermath,[8][19][1] and in rescuing Agency members and affiliates during their frameup.[10][9] Another is Mushitarō himself, who prides himself as the infallible detective killer who challenged Ranpo but later warned the great detective of the Decay of the Angel' threat out of his own volition.[20]

Ranpo asks the police to think (manga)

Ranpo convinces the police to rethink their perception on the wanted Agency.

Minoura, a police officer who initially doubted Ranpo's detective skills, eventually sought his occasional help[21] and later broke him out from arrest[22] together with 30% of Yokohama's police force.[23] Through his words of persuasion, Ranpo was able to turn such percentage of the military police into believers in the Agency despite being a wanted terrorist at the time.[9]

Ranpo also appears to have a great memory, as he is able to remember his duel with Poe from six years ago and identify Minoura as the "man whose subordinate he arrested".[21] In his 12 years of solving baffling cases as a detective, he seems to remember some of his clients, as hinted when he turned to a specific police officer out of the many arresting him, whom he possibly recognized to have helped out some time in the past.[9]

Ability

Main article: Super Deduction

His uncanny aptitude, self-named "Super Deduction" (超 (ちょう)推 (すい)理 (り), Chō Suiri?), allows him to deduce the "truth" about any crime by giving him every information about it such as where to find evidence and who the culprit is within a matter of seconds. Ranpo "activates" this ability by putting on a pair of glasses given to him by the director.

His ability seems to not only be applicable to crime scenes but to other scenarios as well. When Ranpo decides to activate his "ability," he will be able to find information and clues about a certain situation no matter how small, and with them instantaneously make extremely precise predictions. In fact, so far none of his deductions have been known to be erroneous or inaccurate.

This is shown when he easily solved the murder of Yamagiwa, which was deemed almost impossible by the police due to the severe lack of evidence.

Eventually, it is revealed that he is able to deduce everything simply due to his own extraordinary intelligence and that he does not possess an ability. Though he is not unaware of this fact, he initially denies it and continues to believe that he is an ability user. However, after some time, Ranpo has come to accept that he is a non-ability user, albeit occasionally still putting on his glasses to "activate" his ability and perform deductions.

"Super Deduction" (超 (ちょう)推 (すい)理 (り), Chō Suiri?)
Ranpo uses his ability to find the culprit Manga Debut: Chapter 6
Anime Debut: Episode 5
Ability: Deduction

Background

Ranpo was born somewhere outside Yokohama to two genius parents, namely the legendary detective known as the Clairvoyant and an equally intelligent housewife. He was raised in the countryside until their deaths when he then moved to Yokohama shortly afterward per his father's suggestion. He soon attended the Yokohama Police Academy and lived in a dorm, where he found the strict rules to be a hassle. He soon ended up getting into an argument with the warden and exposed his past exploits with women, causing Ranpo to get kicked out of the academy.

Since then, Ranpo wandered around Yokohama, including living and landing a job at a military post, working at a construction site, and delivering mail. However, he eventually got expelled, as he exposed the military post chief's embezzlement and disposed an unnecessary letter in the postal delivery; or left of his own accord, since he found the construction site's corporate hierarchy to be quite bothersome.

At some point, Ranpo managed to secure an appointment interview with S&K Corporation as an apprentice office clerk. However, the company's president was assassinated, so Ranpo settled to find a government-issued document for job searching somewhere in the president's office to turn it in to the government and keep receiving financial aid and information. During this time, he encountered Fukuzawa, the bodyguard hired to protect the company president; Ranpo also met the president's secretary, whom he easily deduced was the actual killer instead of the suspect, identified as the boy assassin Sakunosuke Oda, "caught" and detained in the other room.

TUODA Ranpo glared at Fukuzawa

Ranpo vents out at Fukuzawa about the strangeness of society and the adult world.

Eventually, Fukuzawa took Ranpo with him and treated him to a café. From then on, with nowhere to go, Ranpo sought Fukuzawa's help, who decided to bring him to his next assignment at Theatrum Mundi, where a mysterious "V" had delivered a death threat. Ultimately, after Ranpo vented out his fear and bewilderment towards the "strange" world, Fukuzawa persuaded that he was an ability user who could see the truth in a single glance and gave him a random pair of glasses to "control" such ability. Realizing that he was indeed special rather than alien to others, Ranpo solved the theater case, which he deemed to be a trifle compared to a bigger one.

This latter case led him to Jun Mitamura, a member of V, who attempted to scout Ranpo into their organization of ability users bent on getting rid of other ability users. Ranpo declined his offer, and Fukuzawa arrived in time to rescue him. Subsequently, Ranpo and Fukuzawa formed a partnership and were requested by various clients for their services. Sometime later, at Fukuzawa's behest, Ranpo located Sōseki Natsume, a man rumored to hold connections throughout Yokohama who helped them secure a Skilled Business Permit. Fukuzawa then used this to establish the Armed Detective Agency, where Ranpo became its first member.[2]

Battles

Main article: List of Battles
The Guild Aftermath Arc
Yosano threatens Zoopark's boss Armed Detective Agency vs. Zoopark Win
Cannibalism Arc
Ranpo vs. Chuya Chūya Nakahara vs. Ranpo Edogawa Win

Appearances

Manga Appearances
Chapters in order of appearance

Port Mafia Arc

The Guild Arc

The Guild Aftermath Arc

Cannibalism Arc

Perfect Crime Arc

Hunting Dogs Arc

Sky Casino Arc

Kamui Revelation Arc

Vampire Infection Outbreak Arc

Anime Appearances
Episodes in order of appearance

Port Mafia Arc

Dark Era Arc

The Guild Arc

The Guild Aftermath Arc

Cannibalism Arc

Untold Origins Arc

Perfect Crime Arc

Hunting Dogs Arc

Manga Appearances
Chapters in order of appearance

Manga Appearances
Chapters in order of appearance
Anime Appearances
Episodes in order of appearance

Manga Appearances
Chapters in order of appearance
Anime Appearances
Episodes in order of appearance

Manga Appearances
Chapters in order of appearance

Rei

Hana

Rin

Akatsuki

Kanade

  • Chapter 1 - Armed Detective Agency's Work
  • Chapter 2 - My First Mystery Novel
  • Chapter 7 - Poe, Oguri, and the Unreasonable Deadline
  • Chapter 8 - Playing Tag With Teruko
  • Chapter 10 - Battle for Eggs!
  • Chapter 14 - Ranpo and Cat

Quotes

  • (To Yukichi Fukuzawa) "So that one time… And that other time… All the pain I've suffered… But when you put it that way… I see… I see… So that's why. Nobody hates me. […] Ha-ha-ha… Ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! It all makes sense! So everyone is just a big baby! Well, of course they are! The world isn't a disgusting place! Not at all! It's just a simple, stupid place! Looks like I've gotta protect these stupid toddlers myself!"[2]
  • (To Yukichi Fukuzawa and Jun Mitamura) "The reason I'm special is because I'm an ability user. Do you really think it would be possible for me to see things that others don't, otherwise?"[2]
  • "The city police are as lacking as ever, I see. They would never catch a single criminal without my support. My Super Deduction ability is the best in this Agency…no, the entire country! No wonder they rely on me so much!"[11]
  • (To Minoura) "Huhh? You still don't get it, do you? Master detectives don't 'investigate'. Once I trigger my Super Deduction ability, I'll immediately know the who, the when, and the how! And not only that, I'll know where the evidence is and how to make the killer confess, like a divine revelation!"[11]
  • (To Ukai) "What are you, stupid? Sorry, that sounds rude as a question… Boy, you sure are stupid!"
  • (To Mushitarō Oguri) "Mushitarō-kun, you've won! I knew from the start that regular people can't defeat ability users. But I'm still going to defeat you. Why? Because my friends think I'm invincible."[1]
  • (After the Yokohama fog incident) "I don't have an ability, and I'm back now, so I guess everything worked out."[16][24]
  • (To Mushitarō Oguri) "The Agency has fallen to Dostoevsky once. It won't lose again. I won't let him hurt a single person there. For that reason, I sat down, learned his ways, and took in the Conjurer himself."[1]
  • (To Mushitarō Oguri about Fyodor Dostoevsky) "There is no deduction behind this. This is the Conjurer's mind control eating its way into your soul. It's my new weapon—the power to kill 'detective killers'."[1]
  • (To Yukichi Fukuzawa) "Am I not a great detective? And what a great detective does is one thing! Solving cases!"[9]

Etymology

  • The name Ranpo is a pun on the name "-lan Poe"; the kanji used means "riot" (乱) (ran) and "walk" (歩) (ho/po).
  • The surname Edogawa is a pun on the name "Edgar Allan"; the kanji used means "creek" (江) (e), "door" (戸) (to), and "river" (川) (kawa/gawa).

Namesake

Main article: Real-life References#Ranpo Edogawa
Ranpo Edogawa (October 21, 1894 – July 28, 1965)
RanpoRL Thumbnail
Arguably, the greatest figure in Japanese mystery fiction. Many of Edogawa's characters - such as the detective Kogorou Akechi, the Boys' Detective Club, and the Fiend with Twenty Faces - remain popular. His mysteries often lean more toward the occult, owing to his fondness for Edgar Allan Poe - in fact, his pen name is a play on the famous America author ("Edgar Allan Poe" → "Edoga Waran Po").[25]

Trivia

  • The real-life Ranpo Edogawa's birthname is Hirai Tarō (平井 太郎).
  • His author counterpart played a significant role in developing Japanese mystery fiction. His pen name Edogawa Ranpo is a pun on Edgar Allan Poe, whom he admired.[26] This admiration is inverted in the series.
  • Ranpo, along with Doppo Kunikida, have abilities whose ability name is not a reference to a work of the author they are named after.
  • Though Ranpo's father is never named, both his job as a detective and the famous cases he has solved[2] imply that he may have been inspired by Kogorō Akechi, the detective whom Ranpo Edogawa often focused his detective fiction around.[27]
  • According to the second official guidebook:[28]
    • He spends his leisure time these days by going to Poe's house, eating some candy, and going home.
    • His average bedtime and waking time: "I don't have a specific time, but I usually go to bed at 9pm and wake up at 7am."
    • My honest thoughts when I found out I wasn't an ability-user: "I was trying not to notice…"
  • Ranpo seems to be unable to sleep if it is pitch black.[29]

Notes

  1. ↑ Studio BONES changes his eye color to green in the anime adaptation.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 56.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Bungo Stray Dogs: The Untold Origins of the Detective Agency.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 32.
  4. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs: 55 Minutes.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Volume 3.
  6. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 66.
  7. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 53.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 54.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 80.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 79.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 6.
  12. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs: Osamu Dazai's Entrance Exam.
  13. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 10.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 47.
  15. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 48.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Bungo Stray Dogs: DEAD APPLE (Film).
  17. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 69.
  18. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 49.
  19. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 55.
  20. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 57.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 13.
  22. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 81.
  23. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Chapter 88.
  24. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs: DEAD APPLE (Light Novel).
  25. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Manga: Volume 5, Author Guide.
  26. ↑ Edogawa Ranpo. Wikipedia.
  27. ↑ Kogoro Akechi. Wikipedia.
  28. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Official Guidebook Shinkaroku.
  29. ↑ Bungo Stray Dogs Drama CD: Welcome to Hot Springs.

Site Navigation

Armed Detective Agency
Leader
Yukichi Fukuzawa
Members
Akiko Yosano · Atsushi Nakajima · Doppo Kunikida · Jun'ichirō Tanizaki · Kenji Miyazawa · Kyōka Izumi · Osamu Dazai · Ranpo Edogawa
Clerks
Naomi Tanizaki · Kirako Haruno
Former
Katai Tayama
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