Acetylene Lamp
First Appearance: 1948 – Jungle Kingdom
Acetylene Lamp is best known for the running gag of a lit candle perpetually stuck in the dent on the back of his head. Tezuka apparently based this on one of his childhood friends, and the character design stuck around as one of his more recognizable creations.
He's become one of Tezuka's go-to villains, though "villain" doesn't quite capture the range of roles he's played. His most prominent appearances include Inspector Tomobiki, a role in Black Jack, and probably his most iconic turn as Acetylene Lampe in Adolf and Drake Lamp in the 2003 Astro Boy series. He's also shown up in smaller parts—like conducting the Marine Express in Undersea Super Train Marine Express—which fans often note demonstrates how useful the character was to have on hand.
Visually, Lamp started out defined by his elongated face and oversized round eyes. Over time, Tezuka added thick round glasses to his design, which became the signature look most people remember. Despite his villain reputation, the character's actually worn almost every hat imaginable—minor background assistant, major antagonist, even propaganda activist depending on the story. That versatility is probably why he kept showing up across so many different works.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
