History YMMV / Golgo13

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Duke Togo is an amoral, cold and ruthless professional assassin... and that's it. He shows no ill will towards any of his targets or clients ([[ContractOnTheHitman unless THEY make an issue of it]]), and he's just as willing to do jobs for altruistic and well-intentioned clients as much as the scum of the earth, as long as the check clears. He is [[ConsummateProfessional the ultimate professional in an ugly profession]]. As such, it's not hard at all to root for him, considering the vast majority of people he's hired to kill are [[CompleteMonster absolute garbage the human race is better off not having numbering among them]]. Even when killing someone who clearly doesn't deserve it, it's the ''client'' who's the true monster here, not Golgo. It also helps that LaserGuidedKarma is VERY MUCH at play in the ''Golgo 13'' universe, and Golgo's most unscrupulous clients more often than not end up getting their just desserts, usually at Golgo's hands.

* MemeticBadass: Golgo 13 himself, as he's been portrayed as capable of assassinating just about anybody, to the point where he's arguably the manga equivalent of ComicBook/{{Batman}} due to his extreme feats, prep time, and general badassery.

* HarsherInHindsight: "Wasteland", a story about Golgo 13 just barely managing to avert a nuclear meltdown which would have rendered Los Angeles uninhabitable for millennia, reads somewhat differently after the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters.In that story, Golgo was hired to prevent a nuclear accident from happening in Los Angeles. What's more is that the higher-ups in the story attempted to cover it up before one of them revealed the truth to the press.

%%** In "Funeral in Tripoli", Golgo was hired to protect ''UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi'' from a rogue Japanese intelligence agent who is talked down from killing the dictator.

** In ''The Professional'', did Cindy [[spoiler: sleep with and gave Golgo a chance to escape [[InLoveWithTheMark because she fell for him]] or [[TheVamp did she leave him to die because she was done playing with him?]] Of course, she could have ordered his death because of self-preservation, but one does have to wonder how that accounts for her choice to sleep with him in the first place...]]

** Regarding Snake and Golgo's duel in the finale: [[spoiler: was the helicopter attacking on the elevator both were in and killing the latter an accident, a case of ShootTheHostage to kill Golgo regardless of the circumstances, or one of UnfriendlyFire as part of Dawson's disgust of Snake, seeing as he repeatedly raped his daughter-in-law? The fact Dawson didn't have too high of an opinion of him despite his accomplishments and was (initially) reluctant to have Snake have his way with her reinforces this.]]

** From the same movie. During the San Fransisco hit, it's mentioned that Dawson's men interrogated Golgo's client for details of the job. Previously, during the Messina hit, they are seen watching Golgo before he makes his move on Dr. Z. Might it be possible that they also leaned on Moretti for information beforehand?[[note]]Pago confesses to Golgo later in the movie that he told nobody about the hit, so if there was a mole, it couldn't have been him.[[/note]] If so, perhaps the "unforgivable sin" (his sanctioning and request for murder aside) that Moretti referred to before his suicide may have very well been him betraying Golgo - and as we all know, that's the his biggest BerserkButton.

** From the same movie. During the San Fransisco hit, it's mentioned that Dawson's men interrogated Golgo's client for details of the job. Previously, during the Messina hit, they are seen watching Golgo before he makes his move on Dr. Z. Might it be possible that they also leaned on Moretti for information beforehand?[[note]]Pago confesses to Golgo later in the movie that he told Dawson's men nothing, so if there was a mole, it couldn't have been him.[[/note]] If so, perhaps the "unforgivable sin" (his sanctioning and request for murder aside) that Moretti referred to before his suicide may have very well been him betraying Golgo - and as we all know, that's his biggest BerserkButton.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In ''The Professional'', did Cindy [[spoiler: sleep with and gave Golgo a chance to escape [[InLoveWithTheMark because she fell for him]] or [[TheVamp did she leave him to die because she was done playing with him?]] Of course, she could have ordered his death because of self-preservation, but one does have to wonder how that accounts for her choice to sleep with him in the first place...]]

** ''[[Manga/Golgo13 The Gun at Am Shara]]'': UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein is the dictator of Iraq. Recruiting the weapons inventor Murai, Saddam funds the design of the "[[{{BFG}} Supergun]]", capable of reaching even the United States. Provoking an attack from the US by bombing and destroying Kurdish villages, Saddam intends on firing a shell to annihilate Washington DC, including a [[DeadlyGas nerve agent]] with a 45 percent mortality rate to completely erase the city.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** "Wasteland", a story about Golgo 13 just barely managing to avert a nuclear meltdown which would have rendered Los Angeles uninhabitable for millennia, reads somewhat differently after the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters.In that story, Golgo was hired to prevent a nuclear accident from happening in Los Angeles. What's more is that the higher-ups in the story attempted to cover it up before one of them revealed the truth to the press.
** In "Funeral in Tripoli", Golgo was hired to protect ''UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi'' from a rogue Japanese intelligence agent who is talked down from killing the dictator.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** The story "Wasteland" was written one year before Chernobyl. In that story, Golgo was hired to prevent a nuclear accident from happening in Los Angeles. What's more is that the higher-ups in the story attempted to cover it up before one of them revealed the truth to the press.

* HarsherInHindsight: "Wasteland", a story about Golgo 13 just barely managing to avert a nuclear meltdown which would have rendered Los Angeles uninhabitable for millennia, reads somewhat differently after the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters.

* FunnyAneurysmMomen:

* FunnyAneurysmMomentt:

* FunnyAneyursmMoment:
** One year before Chernobyl, Golgo was hired to prevent a nuclear accident from happening in Los Angeles. What's more is that the higher-ups in the story attempted to cover it up before one of them revealed the truth to the press.
** In the story "Funeral in Tripoli", Golgo was hired to protect ''UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi'' from a rogue Japanese intelligence agent who is talked down from killing the dictator.

* SerialNumbersFiledOff: Takao Sakai originally wrote Golgo 13 as a way to continue making James Bond-style stories while bypassing any copyright issues with Ian Fleming.

* HarsherInHindsight: 'Wasteland,' a story about Golgo 13 just barely managing to avert a nuclear meltdown which would have rendered Los Angeles uninhabitable for millennia, reads somewhat differently after the Fukushima disaster.

* CompleteMonster:
** ''[[Anime/Golgo13 Queen Bee]]'': [[BigBad Thomas Waltham]], the [[EvilChancellor political adviser]] to prospective President Robert Hardy, is a {{sleazy|Politician}} and {{corrupt|Politician}} political operator who plots to be Vice President and the endless voice in Hardy's head. Having dealt with Hardy's mistress and illegitimate daughter, Waltham had the former murdered; [[WouldHurtAChild raped the young girl]] and sold her into white slavery for profit before lying to Hardy about it. Seeking to have the girl, now Sonia the Queen Bee, killed, Waltham hires Golgo 13 and allies with a corrupt general to annihilate an entire village full of civilians before attempting to exert his influence to crush Hardy even further.

* MagnificentBastard: [[ProfessionalKiller Master assassin]] Duke Togo, better known as Golgo 13, spends most of his stories coming up with a complex gambit to fool his target and get him in a position to take his shot. A master sniper, Togo has been active decades with incredibly few failures and a sterling reputation as a professional. In one instance, he tricked a CIA traitor into leading him to her boss while wearing a red coat against the snowy background to snipe them both in one shot. In another, knowing a mobster was faster on the draw than him, Golgo fooled him into being occupied with his dominant arm holding on to a woman so Golgo could outdraw him. Throughout every story, what characterizes Golgo 13 is cold charisma and unreadable expression, always having a plan to take out his target, no matter who it is.

** ''[[Anime/Golgo13 Queen Bee]]'': [BigBad Thomas Waltham]], the [[EvilChancellor political adviser]] to prospective President Robert Hardy, is a {{sleazy|Politician}} and {{corrupt|Politician}} political operator who plots to be Vice President and the endless voice in Hardy's head. Having dealt with Hardy's mistress and illegitimate daughter, Waltham had the former murdered; [[WouldHurtAChild raped the young girl]] and sold her into white slavery for profit before lying to Hardy about it. Seeking to have the girl, now Sonia the Queen Bee, killed, Waltham hires Golgo 13 and allies with a corrupt general to annihilate an entire village full of civilians before attempting to exert his influence to crush Hardy even further.

* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: Even WebVideo/BennettTheSage, in a review that was largely critical of the film, was blown away by Dwight Schultz's performance as Robert Hardy, specifically singling out a scene where the character screams in anguish over his lost mistress and daughter.

* {{Narm}}: Some of the dialogue in the movies can invoke this, such as [[ArmsDealer Rita's]] come on line to Duke:
-->I don't want your money. I just want you to pull my trigger lovingly and softly.