Hattori (服部 Hatori), mistakenly known as "Fukubei" (服部 Fukubē), is a major character in the 20th Century Boys series. He is a former classmate of Kenji, whom he deemed as a rival, leading to the creation of his own childhood group akin to Kenji's one.
He is ultimately revealed to be the original Friend and the father of Kanna Endō, and thus Kiriko Endō's husband.
Appearance[]
Personality[]
Biography[]
In the late 1960's, Fukubei snuck into the secret base which Kenji and his friends created to read their Prophecy Book. While there, he ran into the masked boy SadaKiyo, who was also sneaking in. Sadakiyo asked Fukubei to be his friend. Fukubei agreed, but told Sadakiyo never to refer to him by his real name, but to call him "Friend" instead. This is the first known use of the title by Fukubei.
Fukubei would go on to form a group that consisted of himself, Sadakiyo, Yamane, and Katsumata. The four of them, after reading The Prophecy Book created by Kenji and his friends, decided to create what they believed to be a better version entitled The New Prophecy Book.
As youngs adults in the early 1980s, Fukubei and Katsumata developed the Friend persona into a charismatic cult leader, after joining two separate new religious movements, ''Seeking the Curious'' and ''Pierre's Heart'' to learn how to operate a cult from within and improve it in order to gain more followers. Taking advantage of what they saw as people's desire for a saviour, combined with the necessity for it to be more entertaining, they used magic tricks (such as making himself appear to float in midair) to make people believe Friend was a supernatural being that had come bearing salvation. In the 1990's, he seduced Kiriko Endo so he could manipulate her into developing a virus that would destroy humanity and a vaccine for it. Kiriko also gave birth to Fukubei's daughter, Kanna Endo, who lived with her brother Kenji in her early childhood years. Katsumata would later confirm that he and Fukubei had successfully experimented on Kanna in the womb with “a secret medicine” given to her pregnant mother, imbuing the baby with special abilities. Considering Fukubei's constant lying and use of tricks, it is likely that Kanna's powers were an attempt to reproduce and build on Katsumata's precognitive abilities, rather than an original discovery by him. It is heavily implied that as Friend, Fukubei is the only that actually rules over Japan, while subjects like the virus and terrorist acts, along with the supernatural perfomances are led by Katsumata.
Fukubei was shot and killed in the science room at his former school by Yamane in the early morning of 1 January, 2015. His death was confirmed by Otcho, and later by Manjoume. Shortly afterward, Katsumata was left as the only Friend by posing as a dead body lying in state, only to stage a phony "resurrection" later on.
Theories[]
Considering Fukubei's unexpected death, and that Katsumata wrote the last sections of the New Book of Prophecy, it is unclear what Fukubei's own plans would have been had he survived. However, considering that Friend is shown to search for ways to become immortal and Fukubei shuts down the anti-proton bomb idea as a kid, it is likely that being the World President forever with absolute control over humanity was his ultimate goal. It is revealed in the Perfect Edition of 21st Century Boys that Fukubei actually died as a child during the spring break in 6th grade, and that Katsumata had taken the identity of Fukubei from the very start of the series. Meaning that Katsumata was actually the one behind the entirety of the Friend cult. There are hints to this, as we see in chapter 172 that Fukubei never escapes the strangulation from the noose when his fake hanging trick malfunctions in 1971. However, the fact that Manjoume sets him up to spoon-bend on live television in chapter 202's flashback and the subsequent ''Example Project'' conversation happens in 1972 heavily implies that it was a off-screen death after the failure at the science lab.
In the simulation game, Friend manages to pull the child version of Fukubei by the noose while saying that ''this is the truth'', perhaps covering up that Fukubei did not posses supernatural abilities. This is also explored in the live action films as well, though it is unclear if Urasawa intended this to be the definitive ending from the start.
Trivia[]
- Contrary to popular belief, Hattori's real name is not "Fukubei Hattori". Both "Fukube" (The "i" added at the end of "Fukubei" just represents accent added by the kids) and "Hattori" are last names. His name is "服部" (Hattori), but it gets misread as "Fukube" (Fukube is also a valid reading of "服部"). This is why Hattori is frustrated by his classmates calling him "Fukubei", as it makes him feel all the more unseen. His first name isn't specified.
- In the movie “20th Century Boys: Redemption”, which follows the Perfect Edition ending, the scene revealing that he died as a child briefly shows a dedication on the school chalkboard which when translates reads “Celestial: Kimpachi Hattori”.