Frederick Arthur

* Anime
* Manga

**Frederick Arthur** is a vindictive and cruel ex-member of Ash's street gang, who allies himself with Golzine to usurp Ash.

## Appearance

In the manga, he has short, blond hair and has a single hoop earring in his right ear. The back of his left index and middle fingers have visible scars made by Ash.

In the anime, his hair is at a slightly longer length, and he does not wear any jewelry. The fingers on his right hand, minus the thumb, can be seen with the scars from when Ash cut them. In Episode 13 The Snows of Kilimanjaro, it is seen that he has a tattoo on his left arm with what appears to be a lion with red and black colors.

## Personality

He demonstrates a particularly cruel streak firmly set on revenge and willing to kidnap to attain it. Another sizeable aspect of his personality is his deference to whatever Golzine asks of him, making him one of Golzine's most trusted men. He will resort to any means necessary including betrayal to achieve his goals.

Being one of the main antagonists of the first half of the anime, he is portrayed as a counterparty of Ash who is capable of doing anything to achieve his goal. The motivations behind his ferocious acts may be related to his fervent hatred towards Ash Lynx. At a certain point, he leaves Ash's gang and ends up becoming part of the Corsican mafia and becoming one of the most important and loyal men for Golzine.

## History

Arthur decided to fight Ash Lynx for control over their territory and to become a gang leader, resulting in Ash slicing his fingers. This incident cost him the ability to hold a gun and instead uses his knives to fight.

According to Shorter Wong, Arthur begged to be taken in, going as far as to lick Golzine's feet.

Although not much is known about his past, Ash Lynx states in Episode 12 To Have and Have Not that he knew this day (both fighting to death) would come ever since they first met.

## Story

Arthur stands to the right of Wookie as he and other gathered gang members oversee their boss, Ash Lynx fire bullets against the wall behind two gang members who followed Golzine over him.

When he hears from Ash that they are no dogs of the mafia and deal with Golzine as equals, he out of everyone is spoken to by Ash to confirm that is the case. Eyes closed, he merely remarks that Ash is the boss and watches as he leaves. Wookie moves closer and he mutters to him whether he thinks Ash is onto something. Using profanity, he tells Wookie that Ash missed the gang members on purpose when he thinks he missed, though just close enough to nick their skin. As he walks, he explains to Wookie that one must play dirty if Ash is to beat. Stopping to contemplate his hand, Arthur announces he has got to pay Ash back for his scarred fingers.

He is in Golzine’s manor where he approaches Marvin to tell him to take it easy after his annoyance with what Ash said to him. Asked what he is doing there and looking to the back of Ash as he leaves, Arthur tells Marvin he has an offer for him and is sure he will like it.

## Relationships

* **Wookie**: One of the few people in close cohorts with Arthur. Though he belittles him for not being able to recognize the true intent of people, such as when Ash purposely missed with his bullets, Arthur does count on him to carry out his plans.

* **Ash Lynx**: Like countless others, Arthur did not think much of Ash when they first met and had been swayed by his beauty into thinking Ash was no threat at all. This proved detrimental to Arthur when Ash bested him in a knife fight and damaged his fingers to the point that Arthur could never wield a gun again. Because Ash is seen as superior to him, Arthur has a vicious vendetta against Ash and will often do whatever he can to take him down; even going so far as to break gang conduct and go after those closest to Ash.

* **Dino Golzine**: He comes to take orders from Golzine to acquire power for himself and enact vengeance against Ash. He is shown to do anything Golzine asks of him, doing so out of loyalty and his own gain/amusement. He appears to have earned Golzine's respect and acceptance as Golzine seems to make Arthur his heir in the event he was not able to make Ash his heir.

* **Eiji Okumura**: Arthur likes to refer to Eiji as "Samurai Boy." He sees him first when Eiji brought along in a kidnapping and appears to determine Eiji is Ash's greatest weakness. From this theory, Arthur would threaten Eiji as a way to get to Ash.

## Etymology

* The English form of the German name where it originated, "Frederick" means a peaceful ruler.
* "Arthur" has European origins.

## Episode Appearances

* Episode 01 A Perfect Day for Bananafish

* Episode 02 In Another Country

* Episode 03 Across the River and Into the Trees

* Episode 04 This Side of Paradise

* Episode 05 From Death to Morning

* Episode 08 Banal Story

* Episode 09 Save Me The Waltz

* Episode 10 Babylon Revisited

* Episode 11 The Beautiful and Damned

* Episode 12 To Have and Have Not

* Episode 13 The Snows of Kilamanjaro

* Episode 14 Tender is the Night (Briefly shown deceased)

## Quotes

* (To Wookie, about Ash) "He doesn't look it, but you gotta play dirty if you want to beat him"

* (To Wookie) "Gotta pay him back for these fingers"

* (To Ash) "What an admirable boss, looking out for his boys"

* (To Dino) "Then, in place of the lynx, I'll bring you a cute Japanese cat"

* (To Eiji) "I was waiting for you. Samurai boy"

* (To Eiji, about Ash) "I'm gonna crush everything important to him"

* (To Shorter) "I'm not a cheap hoodlum like you anymore"

* (To Ash) "It'll be my pleasure. But only after everyone else. I like to save the best for last"

* (To Ash) "Shorter's such a lucky guy. How does it feel, shooting your best friend down?"

* (To Ash, about Eiji) "He's going down the same road you did. And then we'll use Banana Fish to make him kill you"

* (To Ash) "We've got plenty of time. I'm not killing you yet. Not until you scream, begging me to kill you"

* (To Dino) "I'm with you till the end"

* "I'll stomp the life out of you for sure this time. Ash"

* (To Ash) "Time for you to die!"

* "This train will go above ground. And when it does, you'll breathe your last breath, Ash"

* (To Ash) "That's the first time you called me by my first name"

* (To Ash) "It's clear to me now. Finally, we won't have to be haunted by each other anymore. Right, Boss?"

* (To Ash) "Aren't you going to ask why I hate you so? They say I'm cowardly, or that I've become the mafia's dog. But I did it all to wipe you out of my sight. Do you know why?"

* (To Ash) "Yeah, you never asked for it. But that's why I hate you even more"

* (To Ash) "I hate you with all my soul"

* (To Yut Lung) "The only moment I feel calm is when I'm holding a knife"

* "In this world, there's only one guy I have to erase no matter what. They have taken everything away from me. Your existence seems to have become like a ghost, and it makes me suffer"

* "Ash, I will risk my soul, to kill you"

## Trivia

* According to Eiji, he has a wide knowledge about the Japanese culture.

* He is unable to use any type of gun that involves the use of a trigger because of the injuries resulting from his encounter with Ash.

* Arthur is commonly refered to as the "mafia's dog".

* His death took place is canonically in Coney Island, located in Brooklyn, New York.

* Arthur often refers to Eiji Okumura as "Samurai boy" (in Episode 03 Across the River and Into the Trees) because of his Japanese nationality, or only "Japanese cat" (in Episode 08 Banal Story).

* Although not shown, in the side story Angel Eyes, he is mentioned by both Ash and Shorter. Later on, he was revealed as the one responsible for hiring a hitman to kill Ash inside the detention center.

## References

1. ↑ Banana Fish Production Book. Photos found here.
2. ↑ Banana Fish Anime Episode 01 A Perfect Day for Bananafish
3. ↑ Episode 8 preview
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Episode 13 preview
5. ↑ Episode 2 preview
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Banana Fish Anime Episode 13 The Snows of Kilimanjaro