Conan Edogawa

**Conan Edogawa** (江戸川 コナン *Edogawa Konan*) is the alias used by Shinichi Kudo in his shrunken form. Shinichi took the appearance of his six or seven year old self after being exposed to a prototype poison called APTX 4869, which he had been forced to swallow by two men in black later revealed to be members of the Black Organization. The poison de-aged Shinichi's entire body except for his nervous system and therefore he still has the personality, memories, and incredible deductive ability of his teenage self. Conan's goal is to hunt down the Black Organization and have them arrested for their crimes, as well as find an antidote to the APTX 4869. To do so he plans to make the washout detective Kogoro Mouri famous in hopes of attracting cases related to the Black Organization.

Conan is often treated as a separate character from Shinichi by fans, and often viewed as the main character of the series while Shinichi is viewed as a recurring character. He has become a popular figure in Japan and even appeared at numerous occasions in different anime series (i.e. mainly cameo appearances) as well as other medias.

## Biography

Conan Edogawa is Shinichi Kudo's alter ego. He did not exist prior to the chain of events, involving members of the Black Organization, that led Shinichi to transform back into a child.

At the beginning of the series, Shinichi brings his friend Ran Mouri to Tropical Land, a local theme park, to celebrate her victory in the Metropolitan Karate Championships. He later ends up solving a murder case there. As they are leaving, Shinichi witnesses a suspicious exchange between an unknown business man and a man in black in a secluded area by the ferris wheel. While spying on the suspicious men, Shinichi does not notice another man in black, who knocks him out from behind and forces him to swallow a new experimental poison known as APTX 4869. They then leave him to die. However, instead of killing Shinichi, a rare side-effect occurred. Shinichi's body shrunk back to that of his six-year-old self. In desperation and confusion, Shinichi heads back to his house and runs into his next door neighbor and close family friend, Professor Agasa. After a few attempts at proving he's in fact Shinichi, he finally succeeds in convincing the Professor. The latter warns him he must keep his identity secret as the Black Organization will surely try to kill him and others associated with him should they learn the truth.

Shinichi comes up with the alias Conan Edogawa using the mystery author names Arthur Conan Doyle and Edogawa Rampo and pretends to be a distant relative of Agasa's who then places Conan in Ran's care. Ran's father, Kogoro Mouri, owns a Detective Agency which may provide a chance for Conan to run into a case involving the Black Organization. However, Kogoro is a terrible detective with little credibility. Using helpful gadgets that Agasa makes, Conan sets out to improve Kogoro's detective reputation by solving cases for him while also hiding the truth that Conan is really the one solving cases. By knocking Kogoro out at crime scenes with a fast-acting tranquilizer and using a voice modulator to relay deductions in Kogoro's voice, Conan creates 'Sleeping Kogoro'. The conceited Kogoro enjoys his newfound reputation and the money it brings in so much that he doesn't question why he is suddenly passing out at crime scenes and solving cases in his sleep.

Conan enrolls at Teitan Elementary to further protect his identity and is befriended by classmates Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta, who create the Detective Boys not long after.

As Conan, Shinichi helps Ran's father solve cases by putting him to sleep and simulating Kogoro's voice using the special bowtie gadget Professor Agasa made for him. He also spends a good amount of time with his Detective Boys fellows and solves many small cases with them and sometimes in the company of Professor Agasa. In some situations, when there's only Ran, Sonoko, and himself, he will use Sonoko instead to solve the case at hand. Because of that, Sonoko eventually becomes another moderately well-known "sleeping" detective, although her reputation is only known to the local police investigation team and Sonoko's friends. In much later files, Conan has solved the case as himself then claimed afterwards that Shinichi told him what to say.

## Appearence

Conan has dark brown hair which mostly hangs downwards just above his blue eyes, but there are also a few strands that stick up at the front and back of his head. Conan's usual outfit consists of a blue suit jacket with a single button and a pair of shorts, red trainers and white socks, even though he has taken to wearing more casual clothing as time goes on. He also wears a red bowtie and his dad's old glasses. Both these items were later specifically modified by Professor Agasa to include a voice changer, microphone, and homing device, to aid in Conan in his cases. His red shoes have also been modified to harness electric and magnetic fields to stimulate pressure points on Conan's foot, greatly enhancing his kicking power.

## Personality

As Conan, Shinichi tries to behave like a child. He refers to Ran as "Ran-neechan" (nee-chan meaning older sister, a common nickname Japanese children give to teenagers and young adults they look up to), and refers to Shinichi as "Shinichi-niichan" (nii-chan meaning older brother). He also refers to Kogoro as "Oji-san" or "Occhan" (both meaning Uncle), although he also does this as Shinichi. As Shinichi, he refers to Conan as usually "Conan-kun" or the "Kid in the Glasses". Shinichi treats Conan as a separate person completely, thinking for example, "changing back into Conan".

Conan remains very close to Ran, who in return is very protective of him. However, because Ran is unaware of his true identity, Conan often finds himself in awkward situations with her, such as when she confessed her feeling for Shinichi to him and when she made him bathe with her at a hot spring.

Conan's intelligence remains intact even though he has shrunken into a child. As Shinichi, his deductive ability earned him the monikers "Heisei Holmes" and "Savior of the Japanese police force". Conan maintains an extraordinarily broad knowledge of many subjects and trivia that help him solve cases and escape tricky situations. Conan tries to speak in a child-like manner when dealing with adults, but he often gets caught up in the current case and begins speaking like an adult, referring to advanced topics and using reasoning much too complex for a normal child. When this happens, he often tries to pass it off as "something [he] heard on TV" or "taught by uncle Kogoro/professor Agasa/Shinichi-niichan". Likewise, he makes no effort to hide his love for Sherlock Holmes and soccer, so if he called out for talking about either subject in too much detail, he tries to escape suspicion by saying it was something Shinichi told him about. Although as the series has progressed the adults around him have become more used to his "being quite smart for a child", causing him to behave more like himself around them, he still tries to pass as a normal child. The only police officers with whom Conan can speak in a professional manner are the FBI, especially Jodie Starling, Shuichi Akai, James Black, and Inspector Kansuke Yamato of the Nagano Police, all of whom suspect that there is more to Conan than meets the eye.

Conan tends to act more like himself around the Detective Boys, even to the point that they find it odd when he acts like a child around adults. He will often play games like baseball with the Detective Boys, but he is too used to soccer to perform well and will even instinctively use soccer techniques, such as kicking in games that do not call for it. Because he is unfamiliar with popular games and TV shows, and bad at video games, Genta and the others tend to think of him as dumb. This annoys Conan so much that he will secretly watch TV in the living room after Kogoro and Ran go to sleep to get more "practice" in.

## Abilities

All of Shinichi's detective skills carry over to his Conan form, although Conan does not the have the reputation Shinichi had. He repeatedly demonstrates the ability to remember every detail of an investigation or other topics he cares about, and may have a photographic memory to manage such perfect recall so consistently. Conan's fastidious attention to detail allows him to notice minor inconsistencies in crime scenes and suspect testimony that other people miss, and using astute logic he uncovers the reasons behind those inconsistencies in order to link them to the crime. Conan has extraordinarily broad knowledge of many subjects and trivia that help him solve cases; something he likely acquired from his incessant reading in his "first childhood". There are only few people like Heiji, Kaito and Hakuba who are as intelligent as Conan.

As a child, Conan can attract less suspicion while investigating crime scenes, get away with searching people's personal property, and ask innocent questions without setting suspects on guard, although it comes with the drawback of not having Shinichi's authority or reputation. He is also shown able to read lips.

Conan is just as skilled as Shinichi in soccer, but a lot less powerful because he only has the strength of a young child. To make up for this, Conan uses Agasa's Power-enhancing kick shoes. Conan uses signature, powerful precision kick to knock out criminals using soccer balls or whatever substitute is handy. Like Shinichi, Conan's kick is accurate over distances and he is capable of mentally reckoning the angle of impact necessary to rebound a soccer ball off a wall and strike an attacker from behind. He is also good at skiing, snowboarding, and ice-skating.

Conan also has some skill with firearms despite the recoil being much more severe for a child's body. He shoots out a bus window during a bus hijacking, and precisely grazes Ran's leg to render her useless as a hostage in the second movie.

Conan's nimbleness is especially noticeable in the non-canon movies. For example, in the sixth movie, Conan is seen to fight with various antagonists, and he even holds his own against Jack the Ripper, a notorious serial killer who bests even Ran in combat. In the fourteenth movie, Conan does a back flip on his skateboard in order to avoid being killed by the blimp's hijackers. Conan shows a proclivity for skateboarding. In the movies and anime, Conan can easily perform very complicated tricks and dodges with his skateboard at high speed.

Conan has repeatedly dispensed first aid to stabbed/shot/cardiac/poisoned/hurt victims before the rescuers arrive.

Conan cannot sing on key in the slightest so he is often accused of being tone deaf. Despite being a hilariously awful singer, Conan has perfect pitch and can identify notes accurately even in difficult contexts like the sound of phone button presses forming a melody. In Episode 11: The Moonlight Sonata Murder Case, he knows that the piano is in tune and deciphers a message at the end just by listening to the notes that are played. Haibara directly described Shinichi Kudo as having perfect pitch in the last scenes of the twelfth Detective Conan movie, Full Score of Fear. He also manages to replicate and sing dial tones for a phone, showing that the reason he can't sing is because he simply doesn't have relative pitch. In File 728 (Episode 614), Conan stated he isn't very knowledgeable about music but identified the untuned piano key whereupon Haibara joked about his sharp ears despite being tone-deaf.

Also, to be like his favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes, he plays the violin. This was confirmed in movie 12 of the 'Full Score of Fear' when he played "Amazing Grace" for Ran. However, he is stumped on what Ran meant when she said, "He has a funny habit when he plays."

## Appearences

* The Phantom Lady and Ryoma's Treasure
* Kid and Conan’s Ryoma Treasure Illusion
* Kid vs. Conan, Miraculous Midair Walk
* Kid vs. Conan: Teleportation Under the Moonlight

## Relationships

* **Ran Mouri**

Although they are romantic interests as Shinichi and Ran, Conan and Ran share a brother/sister kind of relationship. Ran plays a nurturing protective role and treats Conan like a child version of Shinichi. They do a lot of activities together, such as swimming, going to the movies or festivals, and more. Ran and Conan both look out for each other's well-being. Ran stands up for Conan during Kogoro's outbursts and destroys any criminals seeking to inflict harm on Conan with her karate. Conan lends an ear and advice when Ran is in an difficult situation or needs to vent, and he comforts and encourages her when she is feeling down, especially about Shinichi being away for so long. It is even likely that Ran unconsciously knows that Conan actually is Shinichi, even though she seems reluctant to follow that notion.
* **Kaitō Kid**

Before being shrunk, Shinichi encountered Kaitou Kid once during the Clock Tower heist, though they did not meet face-to-face. In their next encounter, however, after Shinichi has become Conan, Kid disguises himself as Ran in order to steal the Suzuki family's Black Star pearl. When Conan corners him on the Suzuki cruise ship, Kid implies that he stole all of Ran's clothes to impersonate her, and left her naked on the deck. While this ends up being a bluff, Conan displays a much more intense desire to capture Kid in subsequent encounters. Conan stops Kid from escaping with the jewel often enough that Conan has gained reputation with the press as Kid's "natural enemy". In several instances Conan appears to be able to 'sense' Kid's presence, and seems excited by the chance to catch Kid again; appropriately, Kid seems to find Conan dangerous enough to warrant specific measures to keep him distracted. Kaitou Kid disguised as Shiho as requested from Conan
Conan does not buy in to Kid's reputation as a mysterious, uncatchable phantom, saying once "He's only a thief that uses magic", and encouraging police officers that Kid is only a man and he can be arrested. However, if necessary, the two can put their rivalry aside for a little while and work together. Conan has something of a gentleman's agreement with Kaitou Kid, in that he doesn't try to find or catch the thief outside of heists. In several instances, when Kid does Conan a favor, such as saving Genta's life, Conan reciprocates by halting his investigation just shy of capturing Kid, thereby allowing him to escape mostly unhindered. This exchange of favors can sometimes become a bit unbalanced; in exchange for not giving Kid away on a train Conan has Kid face down the Black Organization in disguise, and because Kid narrowly escapes an explosion with his life, he says that Conan now owes him one.
In the non-canon movies, it is implied that Kid knows Conan's identity; he even helps Conan maintain his cover by disguising himself as Shinichi so that a suspicious Ran would stop suspecting Conan. However, this has not been confirmed by Gosho Aoyama, nor has it been implied in the manga.
* **Sonoko Suzuki**

Whenever Conan is near at Sonoko, she gets annoyed. She thinks of him as a brat who knows a lot of weird stuff. Conan finds her annoying in turn, especially when she teases Ran about her relationship with Shinichi.
* **Kogoro Mouri**

Kogoro and Conan most often see each other as nuisances. Conan dislikes Kogoro's usually poor detective ability and case handling, slovenly personal habits, and overinflated ego. Kogoro's deduction doesn't seem to improve so Conan almost always needs to knock Kogoro out when he starts spouting off incorrect theories. Although in most cases Conan merely sees Kogoro as a drunk idiot, he often is impressed when Kogoro gets serious and actually gets the case right, so he will allow the "non-sleeping Kogoro" to take the spotlight. Kogoro views Conan as a freeloader who constantly gets underfoot and never fails to insinuate himself at cases, "interfere" with the scene, and pipe up with childish observations that consistently ruin Kogoro's deductions. However, their relationship is actually intimate and Kogoro takes care of Conan just like a member of the house.
* **Ai Haibara**

Conan grows to respect the little girl in his class for her sharp wit and observational skills, along with the other members of the Detective Boys. Ayumi in turn clearly seems to like Conan and isn't aware that the other two Detective Boys are jealous of him because of this. Sonoko is also thinking the same after Sera teased Conan about the girl he likes.
## Etymology

Gosho Aoyama (and Shinichi, in the story) got the name 'Conan Edogawa' from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the famous Sherlock Holmes stories, and Edogawa Rampo, the pen name of Japanese mystery fiction writer Hirai Tarō. Hirai Tarō himself got the pen name "Edogawa Rampo" from a transliteration of "Edgar Allan Poe." Pronouncing Poe's name in a Japanese accent sounds like 'Edogawa Rampo.'

## Trivia

* Conan's bad singing came to light as a joke after the anime began airing because Conan's voice actress Minami Takayama is a well-known singer. In Volume 15 of the manga, Takayama herself is kidnapped and Conan, who sounds similar to her, tries to take her place at a concert. However, despite having similar voices, they sound completely different when it comes to singing.
* Conan's cellphone wallpaper - Kogoro changed it when he was drunk
* He owns two cellphones, the one he uses as Conan and one that he uses as Shinichi. He is also shown using different kinds of cellphones throughout the series.
* Conan often uses the expression "Ah-le-le?" when he is trying to point out a clue, something that is usually said by Japanese gradeschoolers. The expression was even said by Kogoro in Episode 317 out of irritation at Conan.
* Conan/Shinichi and Ran share the same blood type.

## References

1. ↑ Conan Drill Page 38
2. ↑ Conan Drill Page 38
3. ↑ *Detective Conan* Episode 1: Roller Coaster Murder Case
4. ↑ *Detective Conan* Volume 15, Files 144-146: "Their Voices Are Alike!?"