The thirteenth in a legendary line of samurai descended from the original Ishikawa Goemon. He carries the Zantetsuken, a sword that can slice through almost anything—steel, bullets, buildings, you name it. There's a famous running joke where he complains about cutting "worthless objects" with his blade, though he once admitted the sword has one true weakness: konnyaku, that starch jelly that just gums up the blade. Objects he cuts tend to fall apart a few seconds after he slices through them, which he finds deeply unsatisfying when they're not worthy opponents.
Goemon's a master of kenjutsu, battōjutsu, jujutsu, aikido, and karate. He's equally lethal with or without the Zantetsuken, and surprisingly, he's also a skilled pilot. Despite his invincible weapon, he prefers disarming opponents over killing them—stripping away their weapons and clothes with lightning-fast sword sweeps. This aligns with an old samurai tradition about swords needing to taste blood, which explains his constant muttering about cutting useless things.
He's got a massive ego tied to his abilities. When he fails at something or breaks his sword (which has happened), he spirals into shame and will disappear for meditation or training to work through it. He's genuinely feudal about his lifestyle: hakama and fundoshi, long shaggy hair, strict Japanese food only (he'll starve rather than eat Western cuisine), sake over any other drink. He meditates constantly, loves noh theater and enka jazz, and occasionally smokes a traditional kiseru pipe.
The funny part? Despite being this unstoppable warrior, he turns into a blushing mess around attractive women. He averts his gaze, gets flustered, and has a major weakness for trusting women who seem innocent or kind—which constantly gets him into trouble. He's also terrible with money and falls for any scam promising spiritual enlightenment. In one episode he gave away a fortune to a cult leader who immediately disappeared.
Turns out he's not just samurai either. An episode of the second TV series showed him training under an Iga ninja sensei, hinting he's got serious ninja credentials too—which probably explains why he's comfortable with thievery despite his samurai code. He's quieter than his partners and joins Lupin's heists less often than Jigen, but when he does show up, things tend to get cut.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
