East Vs West: Character Battles #3

Out of everything you can be arrested for, it is stealing that gets the least amount of punishment. If anyone wanted to start a criminal career, they start off with stealing. Though while stealing a grocery store can be done by any two bit thug, only those of real skill can steal valuables that are viciously guarded. And among those, these two are considered the crème de la crème of criminals.

Carmen Sandiego Vs Lupin the Third

Carmen Sandiego, while never a playable character, is the main character of various PC Games, Television programs, Books, and more. She is a feminine mastermind with a network of nefarious crooks and thieves. Though ever illusive, she tends to leave clues for any detective daring enough to chase after her.

In the games, she eventually gets captured (which is due to give the player an accomplishment in the end), but when it comes to story telling, she rarely gets captured. Any time she has been caught, she quickly escapes. And not many people can pull off a red outfit as well as she can.

But if anyone can rival all this, it’s Arsène Lupin, the third generation of Lupin brand of thieves. Though only one Detective is his primary threat (Inspector Zenigata), Lupin has proven time and time again that he can pretty much steal anything he can get his sights on underneath the noses of everyone. And he has done so before.

While not having the same network connections as Carmen, his trusted allies (Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko to a point) can pretty much rival any professional army of thieves when pulling a heist. And unlike Carmen, when put in a situation where fist has to fly, he’s ready to give a surprise punch or two. And he also wears a snappy red jacket.

What makes these two an interesting pair is that they are both thieves who steal not for the money but for the thrill and challenge of the heist. Don’t get them wrong, they do enjoy the money part of the job, but if it’s hard to get then they’ll try. So which of these two are the true royalty of thieves?

Round One: Location

This battle could take place anywhere around the world. From Paris to Tokyo to New York to Montreal, if there is a prize somewhere there, they’ll take it. Knowing both of them, they’ll plan ahead before even making a move. So it’ll be a pretty much even when taking this into account.

Though to win in location, you have to be able to think off your feet. Carmen is too much of a perfectionist to have any of her plans fail, so she never really showed any signs of this. Lupin, on the other hand, uses the surroundings to his advantage whenever things get out of hand, or if he gets tricked…

WINNER: Lupin

Round Two: Personality

As mentioned above, Carmen is a perfectionist who loves to leave clues to detectives so she can get a challenge. That is a sign of over confidence, which could be a major flaw a skilled detective can use. Lupin, on the other hand, has a big flaw in his personality.

He’s a womanizer. When there is an attractive lady in front of him, he tends to try to “score” with the female in question. Successful at times and struck out at others (especially with Fujiko), this character trait has lead him to many, MANY traps. And falling to a perfectionist’s trap is a fatal flaw.

WINNER: Carmen

Round Three: Talents

Carmen’s talent is her ability to plan. Her plans usually leave little flaws so it shows signs of strategic logic. And despite mostly showing technology in her plans, she has shown (once) to be able to rely on no technology to make her plans (but still needs them to escape).

Lupin has the same above, but has done so without technology. His plans usually is tricking his victims, being disguises or making them think they are in control. Lupin has also shown skills in fighting (though limited), shooting, and escaping. So when captured, Lupin could escape having nothing but the clothes on his back. And that gives him this category.

WINNER: Lupin

Round Four: Allies

As mentioned above, Carmen has a whole network of fellow criminals willing to do her bidding. A whole army of various crooks, thugs and thieves, she uses the ones she selects for the job to do the work they’re good at, and if necessary be the small fish the detectives in question catch while letting the big fish escape.

Also as mentioned above, Lupin’s allies can do the work Carmen’s network can do but in a smaller scale. But there is one flaw in his circle of friends that gives this to Carmen, Fujiko. She is so money hungry that if given the right price, she would betray Lupin and the others so she can get her hands on something valuable. That is always something bad…

WINNER: Carmen

Round Five: Enemies

Carmen has many detectives following her, but mostly they aren’t a real threat to her. Since she leaves clues for them to find, they mostly follow the trail to wherever she leads to, just missing her by a few hours or so… There was only one time that they had her on the ropes (pretending to be a rival thief in an elaborate plan), but she quickly escaped.

Inspector Zenigata is something else though. He is so obsessed with Lupin, he pretty much knows how the guy works. While he looks the part of the bumbling fool, he has on numerous times captured Lupin (even though shortly later, he escapes). Zenigata puts Lupin in a constant state of thinking on his feet. Heck, Zenigata is usually in the same city at the same time Lupin plans his next scheme.

If Carmen ever had to face a detective like Zenigata, by the time she leaves a clue he’ll be there putting sixty different types of handcuffs on her (I’m not kidding) before she finishes making it. And for a perfectionist like her, I doubt she would be prepared for anything like that.

WINNER: Lupin

Round Six: Reliance on Luck

There has been numerous times that Lupin got out due to sheer luck. Some of his plans that require him to think on his feet did require that certain events did happen. One example that comes to mind is that with both his and Fujiko’s life on the line, he had to crack an egg like safe before it kills him. On his last moment, he smashes it in frustration and opens it.

Carmen, being the perfectionist she is, doesn’t rely on luck. Luck can carry you only so far, so this round belongs to Lupin.

WINNER: Carmen

Round Seven: Background information

Carmen, according to the old cartoon “Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego” Wikipage, “Carmen was an orphan raised at the Golden Gate Girls' School in San Francisco. The Chief gave her a home at the ACME Detective Agency and, by age seventeen, she solved more cases than any other ACME agent. However, she then disappeared and turned to a life of crime.”

While Carmen’s origin to crime seemed to be “unanswered”, Lupin was literally born for it. Being the third Generation of Lupin, this Lupin was the grandson of Arsène Lupin, who was the thieving equal to Sherlock Holmes. That kinda moniker trumps “Orphaned Detective Turned Thief.”

WINNER: Lupin

Round Eight: When they’re the good guy…

Lupin was a thief with a heart, so when there were people more despicable then he was, he had to stop them. He stopped some men hating women who had a mysterious gas to accelerate, a leader who attacks oil drills, and a scientist who can create earthquakes.

Carmen also has her shared moments of heroism as a thief. She stopped someone pretending to be her from flood the Atacama Desert. She also stopped a former ACME agent who held a hostage. And she stopped a nut job from messing around with the past. Time traveling adventures tend to be one step up from Earthquake makers.

WINNER: Carmen

Round Nine: Most Memorable Criminal Moment

In the first instance of copy and paste, Carmen stole one part from three paintings, (one of which was the Mona Lisa) for the sole reason to put the eyes, nose, and mouth together to see what it looks like. In the end, the detectives got the pieces and also saw what it looks like (but we don’t).

Lupin and Jigen got purposely arrested to break Fujiko out of prison. It was the most feared prison because if you try to escape, moving bombs will follow you and explode once near you. With the use of strategy, boat driving skills, thinking on his feet, and most of his clothing, they not only avoided the bombs, but also broke back in, infiltrated the Warden’s office, and destroyed the prison and most of the moving bombs.

Stolen Painting Pieces pales in comparison with DNA Seeking Explosives.

WINNER: Lupin

OVERAL STATS: Lupin: 5 – Carmen: 4

In a literal back and forth comparison, Lupin wins by the skin of his teeth. But like all goes, Stats only tell us who wins through scientific terms… But how would it play out if they really did compete…

Round Ten: The Story

In her hideout, Carmen was taking a break from her next plan when she notices an article in the Times Magazine about “Great Thieves of this Generation”. She sees an article on herself and smiles. But then she notices that there is an interview with Inspector Zenigata stating that Lupin the Third is the greatest thief of this Generation”. A little annoyed, but she soon sees this as a great challenge.

Using her computer hackers to infiltrate satellites, Carmen makes a worldwide challenge on TV and Radio to Lupin. In the Riviera, Lupin, Jigen and Goemon walk around the streets while Lupin enjoys the sights (and by sights, I mean the pretty women). But then they notice that the TVs and Radios are becoming static.

As they began to examine why, Carmen comes into picture, making her challenge. The challenge would be one month from now, in New York’s Most Secured Museum, there will be an exhibition of “Two Monkeys Stealing Fruit from a Basket” by Frans Snyders. The first to steal it will then be declared the World’s Greatest Thief. Lupin smirks as he silently agrees.

Carmen begins her preparation of infiltrating the museum, studying blue prints, computer analysis and various simulations of where the painting can be located. Meanwhile, the Lupin gang makes their way to the airport when they spotted Zenigata looking around. Knowing they need to get a ride to New York, they decide to put on some disguises.

The disguises are top notch, able to fool the Airport Security. But Zenigata spots them and begins chase. Lupin points towards the Inspector and screams “Terrorist!” Soon the security was ganging up on Zenigata as the three make their way to the airplane.

They safely arrive in New York, make a reservation in a hotel and begin their own plans for stealing the painting. A week pass and Zenigata is with the Museum Manager trying to get the exhibition closed so their game won’t happen. The Manager refuses, because thanks to the announcement business has improved greatly. In the end, Zenigata gets the approval to lead the security team.

Three days before the exhibition, ACME Crimenet came to the museum and added extra security. For every guard, there were two additional ACME Agents, which was exactly what Carmen expected ACME to do. The area was secured and the painting’s location has been set, so all anyone can do now is wait.

On the day of the painting’s arrival, nothing much happened. But it was night that the festivities happened. Carmen scouted that the location of the painting was in the middle floor. From one roof to the other, Carmen makes her way to the roof. Her plan was to use the ventilation shaft to spread her brand of sleeping powder to make the infiltration easier.

As she predicted, her planned worked as every security guard and ACME agent was out like a light. Carmen soon quickly entered the building and made her way to the painting. Once their, she used her glass cutting tools to break the glass without triggering the alarm system and was about to grab the painting. But before she could touch it, she felt something around her wrist that she never felt before, a cuff.

The cuff was 5 foot long and was thrown by Zenigata, who was wearing a mask because he expected Lupin to try Carmen’s same plan. Even though this never happened before, she did carry a laser cutting tool for such a situation. As she begins to cut the cuff, Zenigata threw a pair of handcuffs that connected to her ankles. She begins to cut them next as he threw his pinky cuffs at her.

Every time she cuts a pair of handcuffs, another pair gets added to her. And while she cuts, Zenigata moves in closer and closer to Carmen until he made a pounce on her. Carmen was pinned down to the floor and was sweating. She never had any plan for a situation like this. Carmen became desperate. In an act of it, she kisses Zenigata in the lips.

Surprised and then happily embarrassed, he loosens up as Carmen followed with a knee to the (well you pretty much can take a guess). As he laid on the ground in pain, Carmen got up to try to recover for time. She sadly wasted all the time on Zenigata as she can hear the ACME Agents and Security heading her way. Apparently, Zenigata activated one of the silent alarms by mistake.

Carmen rushes to the stairway as a gang of Agents and Security pursuit. All but three followed as the three leads the Inspector to a chair. Once sitting down, the one Security spun him around as the other wrapped a rope around him. Once fully tied, the security guard ripped off his face to reveal it was Lupin.

During a rotation switch, Lupin, Goemon and Jigen replaced the people on guard and played around until the time was right. They expected Carmen to do most of the work and to be scared off by Zenigata. Lupin takes the painting as the Inspector screams out various curse words towards the three.

On the roof, Carmen was cornered as the ACME agents moved in closer. Carmen soon jumps off the roof and falls down a few feet. She then opened a glider and glides away to safety. She looked on and was disappointed in herself about how her supposedly first of follow up crimes were thwarted. She then looks down to an out of the usual van.

On the passenger seat side, Lupin looks up and then pulls out the painting. Carmen silently accepts her defeat and glides in the opposite direction of their escape van. A few days later, the Museum receives a package from an unknown address. It turned out to be the very same painting that was stolen. A note was attached to it saying “I may not know art, but I know this isn’t worth much.”

WINNER: Lupin

Thanks to Zenigata’s X Factor, Carmen loses to Lupin the Third, thus proving that Lupin the Third is the greatest thief between the two. Being a great thief means you got to think on your feet and Lupin has done that in spades. You got to if you want to compete with the likes of Inspector Zenigata.

Like the outcome? Want to give your opinion of the events? Want to make suggestions? Then give a reply. The next match will see the Last Air Bender Vs the Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja.