History Manga / Golgo13

** In "Room 909", the second episode of the 2009 anime, the cops manage to get all the evidence they needed to incriminate him: they found him in the only hotel room the shot could be taken from, they found the rifle he used in the dust chute, they found the shell from the bullet fired, etc. For all purposes, he was caught. Then they did the math on the shot: 500 meters away, through a two-foot gap between buildings, through tempered bullet-proof glass, at sundown with the sun shining on the window he was to fire through, with the wind blowing across the shot requiring it to be off-center. The cops determined the shot to be ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. They had to let him go, because a trial would be a waste of time - despite the reams of evidence, no jury on Earth would believe a human being could make that shot, especially one that ''[[RefugeInAudacity remained at the "scene of the crime" for a full day afterwards]]''. The head inspector even commented "To prove that he's guilty, you'd have to prove there's a monster amongst us with the skills of a god." [[{{Badass}} YEAH]].

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The first few stories had Golgo more expressive and sloppy. These gradually faded.

* ImmuneToBullets: Many targets have bulletproof glass or something similar protecting, though Golgo always finds a way.

* NoExportForYou -- Quite an odd case, due the [[PrintLongRunners nature]] of the series, no matter in how many countries the manga will be licensed, it will always be, in a sense, incomplete. All known licensed prints of the manga follows the same rule of selecting some iconic missions Golgo has taken and release it in a few dozen Volumes, leaving aside more than a ''hundread'' original volumes in the process; although thanks to the episodic and self-contained story telling of the series, only completionist aficionados will feel bad about this.

** In the second episode of the recent anime, the cops manage to get all the evidence they needed to incriminate him: they found him in the only hotel room the shot could be taken from, they found the rifle he used in the dust chute, they found the shell from the bullet fired, etc. For all purposes, he was caught. Then they did the math on the shot: 500 meters away, through a two-foot gap between buildings, through tempered bullet-proof glass, at sundown with the sun shining on the window he was to fire through, with the wind blowing across the shot requiring it to be off-center. The cops determined the shot to be ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. ''They had to let him go''. The head inspector even commented "To prove that he's guilty, you'd have to prove there's a monster amongst us with the skills of a god." [[{{Badass}} YEAH]].
*** The cops probably could have still made the conviction stick. They had the gun and could have matched the ballistics. If they could prove that it was physically possible for the gun to shoot a bullet that far, that evidence could sustain a conviction. The jury might not go for it, but it would probably merit a trial.

* InvisiblePresident -- Because they have to sign off on the hiring, whenever the US government hires Golgo 13, the president in office at the time of the story's writing will make an appearance.

* TheMafia -- The story "Wiseguy" deconstructs the romanticized aspects of this trope.

* HoYay -- Robert Hardy and Thomas Waltham.

* EscapistCharacter

* JamesBondage

* XanatosGambit -- Duke will go to great lengths to complete a job. Such as getting arrested just to get past the layers of security a target put around himself.

* ConsummateProfessional -- He's the page picture for a reason.
* ContractOnTheHitman -- Although Duke Togo is strictly a freelance agent, he's frequently been double-crossed by his employers. This never ends well for them, since it's the closest to his BerserkButton.

* AllThereInTheManual - The editor for Viz Signature's US release of Golgo 13 manga went absolutely apeshit with detail. The appendix of all 13 volumes contains everything you'd want to know about the man himself, right down to statistical analysis of his sex habits. His favorite soup? Brown Windsor.

** Nintendo also forgot to remove [[NoSwastikas a couple swastikas]] that clearly tied the "Drek" group to Nazis run by an (equally unedited) cyborg Hitler - facts mercilessly lampshaded in the [=~Let's Play~=] of ''Top Secret Episode''.

** In ''The Professional'', Leonard Dawson gives his granddaughter a crash course in an attempt to ambush Duke.

** Notice how many of the guys who hire him are [[FridgeBrilliance government personnel]]? The man is too valuable as a tool of death.

** Notice how many of the guys who hire him are [[FridgeBriliance government personnel]]? The man is too valuable as a tool of death.

** BadassBookworm -- In the 3rd episode of Golgo 13 TV series, the titular hitman is in a sniper duel with two mercenaries using advanced rifles superior to his own M16, and modified with a unique electronic "super scope". Based on their firing patterns, he deduces that the scopes have a vulnerability in that they do not take shifts in gradient into account. He then calculates the gradient necessary for their shots to be totally inaccurate, and positions himself in an area of the battlefield with that gradient, easily blowing them away. Duke Togo- international assassin, and maths nerd.

* IKnowThatGun: Assignment: Kowloon. Duke gets his M-16 shipped to him with the upper and lower receiver connected but the barrel removed, which he then screws without tools. This assembly/disassembly method only makes sense for prop guns.

* AllThereInTheManual - The editor for Viz Signature's US release of Golgo 13 manga went absolutely apeshit with detail. The appendix of all 13 volumes contains everything you'd want to know about the man himself, right down to statistical analysis of his sex habits. His favorite soap? Brown Windsor.

* RapeDiscretionShot -- Used the first time Snake rapes Laura Dawson. A bit less discretion is used much the second time.

Duke Togo (codename: Golgo 13) is a mysterious ColdSniper of [[ButNotTooForeign indeterminate but somehow Japanese ancestry]], who is notorious for never failing an assignment. He follows several rules about his assignments (for instance, he will only meet clients once, and refuses to enter long-term contracts with clients), but [[TrueNeutral he will accept any job without moral compunctions.]] However, his clients must ''always'' tell him their reasons for the job and be honest about them -- and any [[ContractOnTheHitman betrayal or double-crossing]] will not be forgiven.

* GoodScarsEvilScars -- In his first appearance, Duke Togo, aka Golgo 13, had no scars. Over the course of the series, he's collected a great deal of them on his body. They're covered by clothing much of the time. As for morality, he's best described as TrueNeutral (you pay him, he does the job, no moral issues involved [[ContractOnTheHitman unless you double-cross him]]).

* HitmanWithAHeart -- subverted in most cases. While not ChaoticEvil, he never has moral doubts about his assignments: you pay him and don't betray him, he'll do it.