Gonzo Tarukane (垂金権造 Tarukane Gonzo?, translated as "Drooping Monkey") was the founder of the Black Black Club and the final antagonist of the Spirit Detective Saga.
In the original Japanese version, he is voiced by Kenichi Ogata and the FUNimation dub, he is voiced by Brad Jackson. He is called Don Paquito in the Filipino dub of the anime.
Appearance
He is a short, fat, and dumpy man. Tarukane possesses a stumpy and unathletic build, distinguished by a large stomach and non-existent neck. His disfigured facial features include sagging, wrinkled cheeks; massive, protruding lips; wide, droopy eyes; and a large, button-shaped bump atop his bald head. Tarukane wears formal business attire, consisting of a white button-down shirt, a red necktie, and a lavish royal purple suit and pants. On his right hand, he wears a luxurious diamond ring, while his two facial expressions include smiling devishly and frowning contemptuously; either way, he can often be found with an unlit cigar in his mouth.
Personality
Greedy, corrupt, cowardly, and short-tempered, Tarukane always looks to add to his already enormous fortune, mainly through the black market. As a multi-trillionaire, Tarukane's net worth surpasses any country's yearly revenue, enabling him to hire thugs such as the Toguro Brothers to do his dirty work. Like most corrupt gang members, he is not above acquiring wealth through dishonorable means, capturing ice apparitions and hustling his associates in the Black Black Club. Cruel and insensitive, he possesses seemingly no respect for humanity, ruthlessly murdering traitors and viewing the ice demon Yukina as simply a money machine. In the English dub he speaks in a manner reminiscent of a typical gangster.
Strangely, he finds demons baffling, claiming that he cannot understand why Yukina would care about the deaths of a few birds, while most would have opposite expectations of demons and humans.
Synopsis
Spirit Detective Saga
After capturing the ice apparition Yukina and attempting to profit off her invaluable tears, Tarukane becomes the chief villain in the final story arc of the Spirit Detective Saga. Through various torture methods, he and his men fail to purge tears from Yukina's eyes, and thus summon the services of the Toguro Brothers, leaders of the apparition gang whose powerful reputation extends throughout Spirit World . Tarukane leads the Toguros into Yukina's cell, where the two brothers, after murdering two helpless birds, successfully force Yukina to cry.
After learning the presence of two strange intruders, Tarukane takes the Younger Toguro into an empty room, revealing, on the other side of a protective wall, an immense four-legged beast (named "Helen" in the anime),
Tarukane is shocked to see Toguro kill Helen, the four legged beast
described as having the capability of easily destroying large crowds of humans. Hoping to intimidate Younger Toguro, Tarukane challenges him to take on the beast bare-handed, certain that such a feat can't be done. However, to the bewilderment of Tarukane, Toguro accepts the challenge, easily splitting the beast in half with only thirty percent of his maximum strength. Realizing Toguro's deceptive power as a fighter & learning about the intruders true powers, Tarukane sees this as an opportunity to hustle his fellow members of the black black club, inviting them to a series of bets featuring several fights between members of the apparition gang and the mysterious intruders, Yusuke and Kuwabara (plus Botan, in the anime rendition).
As soon as the members of the black black club appear via a video conference, Tarukane introduces the details of the wagering system, as well as placing forth the first bet: the intruders vs. Tarukane's stronghold, occupied by demons from the apparition gang. Noticing that the intruders are mere teenagers, four out of the five club members place at least 100 million yen on the success of the stronghold, while Sakyo, the fifth member, bets 5 billion on the intruders, believing them to be the same kids rumored to have defeated Rando and the beasts of Maze Castle. After the boys easily defeat the first wave of demons and make it past the stronghold, ending the first bet, Tarukane becomes infuriated, anxious to know how Sakyo could have predicted such an outcome, who has won double the amount he bet.
Slightly fazed, Tarukane introduces the second bet: the intruders vs. the triad, said to be the 3 most powerful demons in the entire apparition gang. Once more, every member of the Black Black Club, with the exception of Sakyo, bets against the intruders at roughly 500 million, while Sakyo again sticks with the intruders, this time placing 20 billion on their success, with three times the bet as winning payment. As the boys quickly prevail, easily defeating all three members of the triad, Tarukane watches with contempt as Sakyo once again gets the better of him. In one last hustling attempt, Tarukane introduces the 3rd and final bet: the intruders vs. the Toguro brothers. This time, Sakyo is the only one that bets, placing a wager of 66 trillion, 200 billion — said to be the entire net worth of Tarukane's fortune — on the intruders. Wondering how Sakyo can look so calm when placing his entire fortune on the line, Tarukane, remembering Toguro's deceptive power, accepts his associate's wager, and yells at the Toguro brothers, telling them not to let him down.
Within minutes, Yusuke and Kuwabara are lured into an indoor stadium ring located in a sector of Tarukane's mansion, where they confront the Toguro Brothers standing ready to fight. The members of the Black Black club watch anxiously, knowing that at the end of the fight, the fortune of either Sakyo or Tarukane will be completely obliterated. At the beginning of the match, the Elder Toguro , revealing his ability to change the shape of his body, morphs into the shape of a sword, and falls into the hand of Younger Toguro, who uses his brother as a weapon throughout the entire match.
Through the majority of the fight, Tarukane watches with delight as the Toguro brothers dominate their opponents, using excellent teamwork to counter Yusuke and Kuwabara's slow and predictable attacks. As the match winds down, the boys devise one last plan to achieve victory. Seemingly outsmarting the more experienced Toguro brothers, Yusuke fires his spirit gun into the back of a charging Kuwabara, who, with his spirit sword, stabs Younger Toguro in the middle of his stomach with so much force that the sword goes through his entire body, exiting through his lower back and superficially killing him. Tarukane stares shocked at the spectacle before him, realizing that his highly trusted and highly paid fighters have just lost the match. He is then reminded by Sakyo that this loss means Tarukane owes Sakyo a grand total of 66 trillion 270 billion yen, which would be collected at the end of the month.
Resorting to plan B, Tarukane quickly makes arrangements for his getaway, hoping to escape with his fortune and
Tarukane is mercilessly beaten by Hiei.
bring Yukina with him. However, just as he makes his way to the exit, he is met by yet another intruder: Hiei, who, with incendiary quickness, kills the room's three guards before they can aim their guns at him. Now defenseless, Tarukane tries bargaining with him, offering him Yukina's precious tears. Hiei, now even more furious, approaches the now bankrupt gang leader, punching him near the brink of death. Yukina, however, stops Hiei from delivering the final blow, stating that Tarukane's death would only cause her more pain, and wouldn't undo the cruel actions he's taken against her. Not wanting to upset her, Hiei obeys, leaving him to die by other means. In the manga, Hiei knocks Tarukane out, but chooses not to kill him because he wasn't even worth hitting.
Later, after Yusuke and his friends leave Tarukane's mansion, the Toguro brothers suddenly rise from the stadium floor, revealing themselves to have been hired by Sakyo to intentionally lose the fight against Yusuke in order to cheat Tarukane out of his entire fortune. Tarukane, bloody-faced and now completely insane, finally meets his demise when Younger Toguro, upon Sakyo's orders, decapitates the fallen criminal with a powerful kick to the back of his head.
Dark Tournament
Tarukane is only mentioned in the English anime dub where Butajiri decides to devote the match of his team, Team Masho to defeat Team Urameshi to which he blames Yusuke for killing Tarukane. However Sakyo revealed to him the real truth behind Tarukane's death to Butajiri before Younger Toguro killed him.
Trivia
- The name "Gonzo" means "Authority of Three" while the name "Tarukane" means "Drooping Money."
- His decapitation is not seen in the edited version aired on Cartoon Network.
- Similar to Butajiri, Toguro also killed him with an attack to his head