Fujiko Mine

is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series Lupin III, which debuted in Weekly Manga Action on August 10, 1967. She is a professional criminal who regularly uses her attractiveness to fool her targets. Unlike the rest of the Lupin III cast, Fujiko's physical appearance changes for most installments in the franchise. She is the star of the fourth Lupin III anime television series, 2012's The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, making it the first to not star Arsène Lupin III as the protagonist. Creation As the Lupin III series was made to be published in a magazine targeted at adults, Fujiko Mine was created to add a female presence. Her name is derived from the title . Monkey Punch saw a picture of Mt. Fuji on a calendar and in less than a minute decided on Fujiko Mine; omitting "rei" from "reihō", changing the reading of to "mine", and adding "ko" to "fuji" to make it look more pleasing when spelled. She was developed from the intention to fulfill a "Bond girl" role. Creating a new female character each week was too difficult for Monkey Punch, so she evolved into a single character. At the beginning of the series, many of the women Lupin encounters are named Fujiko, but are treated as different characters from chapter to chapter. This concept was later changed to make Fujiko a single character who changes style frequently. Monkey Punch compared the characters of Lupin and Fujiko to those of D'Artagnan and Milady de Winter, and described them as "Not necessarily lovers, not necessarily husband and wife, but more just having fun as man and woman with each other". Personality While Fujiko is not part of Lupin's gang, she often participates in their exploits either as a partner or a competitor. Her main tactic is to stick with Lupin and company until the plunder is made available, then double-cross her colleagues. Frequently, as the very definition of a femme fatale, she finds it necessary to betray Lupin to get close to the enemy, then after ingratiating herself into his trust will acquire the swag and escape (rarely, she will help to extricate Lupin, Goemon and Jigen from capture or any deadly trouble she put them into, as if to atone). Fujiko is also known to provide law enforcement (particularly Lupin's nemesis Inspector Zenigata) with information and assistance in order to gain her own freedom.