#personality study

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Fd6WXVhQ-JQuXFEkiXaBHvOC9qFrlRa-V3sYUQBwtHA/edit

(Consider this a part two to The “Conan is Shinichi” Issue~)

I think we can all agree that Shinichi kind of does a horrible job being Conan, especially at first. He gets a lot better, but he still tends to stick out. He acts younger than he is, he got himself stuck acting saccharine sweet towards any and all adults, and he tends to slip up, though he has gotten better as the manga and show goes on.

Which like, kudos to Kudo for putting together something plausible spur of the moment and sticking to it pretty well, but it could be better. What could he do? Well, let's look at his back story first.

“Conan” is a distant relative of Agasa and Yukiko who was sent out to live with Agasa after his parents got in an accident. Since Agasa couldn't take care of him at the time, he was trusted with the Mouris. Later, his parents are better but busy so he gets to stay longer.

So, let’s go through this one by one, then analyze his personality after.

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“ ‘Conan’ is a distant relative of Agasa and Yukiko”

“Since Agasa couldn't take care of him at the time, he was trusted with the Mouris”

So, in their fabricated backstory, he is very, very distantly related to Agasa and Yukiko. Very distantly. Another thing I’ve seen around, and I’m not sure if it’s canon or just fanon since my (very) light research didn’t give me anything, but a lot of people say “Conan” is from America. So let’s just roll with it and assume that it is canon--and if it’s not, its a fun revision that can be used to help his backstory.

Making Conan a distant relative not only gives them a reason to know Conan beforehand (and a reason for Conan to trust him), but gives a reason for Conan to be put where he was. “Conan” knows Agasa, so he was sent there to stay. He also “knows” the Kudos, which means he “knows” Shinichi, which means he’s undoubtedly “heard” about Ran and the Mouri family by association, which gives a reason as to why Conan would so easily stay with their family--beyond, you know, being a “six” year old and actually being the sixteen year old best  friend of Ran. 

Now for the “America” portion of this. This excuse actually has the potential of being Conan’s saving grace in this whole backstory. While he could have been a primarily Japanese family, most kids in America either grow up mostly using English or Bilingual so they can translate for parents. Of course, we know his parent, both as Edogawa and Kudo probably know English, but the point is if he was really from America then he has a good excuse for the times he may slip up--being more familiar with people “Conan” doesn’t know and not using honorifics (“honorifics are weird, in America we just call each other by our first names or by Mr or Ms”), certain behaviors not usually associated with kids (“But everyone does that in America!”), being a nosy little snot (“In America people tell me being curious is a good thing”)--you know, stuff like that. Attribute strange behavior to a mixture of foreignness and being related to two very strange families.

Plus, if he was “raised” in America, he has an excuse to be fluent in English. It wouldn’t even matter if it was accented, because his family is clearly Japanese, and he’s fluent in that too. Saying things in English would just help affirm to other people (admittedly, probably not Ran when she’s in a suspicious mood) that Conan was not raised in Japan. His slips would be covered, and people don’t get confused why a six year old understands English, especially since he’s clearly a very smart boy, even when pretending to be a kid. 

“his parents got in an accident”

“Later, his parents are better but busy so he gets to stay longer”

This was given as the reason for “Conan” originally being with Agasa, as well as the reason “Conan” didn’t recognize his mom--after the accident she plumped up and he didn’t recognize her. Of course, if you’ve seen that case, you know it was actually Yukiko pretending to be a BO member (which was a jerk move), but at the time he didn’t realize that, and acted accordingly. Not a whole lot to discuss about this excuse, it’s pretty solid beyond “Conan” never mentioning how he misses his parents, or wondering how they’re doing, even after his “mom” finally visits. 

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So now we move onto his personality.

“Conan” tends to act differently depending on who he’s with, which makes sense, because being in a deep cover role nonstop has to be tiring, especially to someone who very clearly isn’t an actor (in the conventional sense) and values truth and life as much as he does. 

There are three main personalities we see: the first is the one he tends to show those older than his physical age, especially the ones who either don’t know how smart he is or are getting a little closer than Conan is really comfortable with. The second is the one he shows to the Detective Boys most often: sarcastic, tired, and that older brother who’s trying really, really hard to control these crazy kids he accidentally created, but they Do Not Listen. He still acts younger than his sixteen/seventeen, but he is much calmer and more mature than he is in the first personality. The third is when he just acts like himself. This one, his true personality for lack of better words, is the one that shows up when he either slips up (on a case or in some nostalgic moment usually) or is talking with someone “in the know,” like Haibara or Hattori. He also acts much closer to his third personality with Kaito KID. 

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s move through this tangles web of Oof and see how “Shinichi” could act better as “Conan,” or at least excuse his behavior around people. 

Obviously, it wouldn’t be good to keep the saccharine kiddy act forever. People are going to start realizing he acts different; the Detective Boys have, and it irks them. So if someone asks him about it, what could he say that excuses his two “public” personalities?

There are a few excuses I can think of:

One: “Conan” was nervous because he really wanted Ran and everyone else “Shinichi-niisan” told him about to like him so be acted really, really nice, and after a while it became habit because “he” was afraid they would be mad at him.

This one works because it takes childish insecurities and a childish idea mixed with childish immaturity to create a reason that could realistically have come from a kid, especially a kid around new people that they’ve heard a lot about from someone they “admire”. I’m not sure how many of you guys have been around kids, but let me just say: they come up with crazy ideas, and they can be pretty quick on the uptake. They are also unendingly stubborn when they want to be. 

Two: “Conan” was treated weirdly by adults in “America” for being so smart, so he decided to hide it with excuses like “I saw it on TV” and acting really childish. 

Like I said before, kids are more perceptive than we give them credit, so this is a reasonable excuse. If a kid decided all these adults were treating him weird because they acted more mature than other kids their age and because they were really smart, I really wouldn’t put it past a kid to try and act differently so they would be treated more like everyone else.

Three: Combine One and Two.

This is honestly the most plausible excuse for me, because it gives “Conan” a personal stake in trying to act childish (Ran and others liking him) and a reason for thinking the way “he” does (people treating him differently back in “America”). This excuse gives him an extrinsic motivation. 

Extrinsic motivation is when someone is motivated by outside factors like money, requirements, or praise. This type of motivation is especially common in younger people, from kids to young adults, while intrinsic motivation (being motivated by internal factors like working because its fun) is more common in those in their late adulthood. 

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So, that’s all I’ve got for now. My hand is cramping, my brain is squeezed from writing three pages of amateur analysis, and five bucks says I’m going to look at this in five minutes and want to change or add something. 

If there is anything I’ve forgotten, gotten wrong, or just something y’alls want me to discuss more about, let me know! 

Five Feet Apart — Stella Grant

"It's not like I don't want to go. It's just, quite literally, a matter of life or death. I can't go off to Cabo, or anywhere for that matter, and risk not coming back. I can't do that to my parents. Not now."

🤎🤎🤎

The Impersonator a Danganronpa Character Study

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