Love him or hate him, the Kaitou Kid is here to stay in the world of Detective Conan. Portrayed as Conan's arch-rival and one of the few criminals who routinely manages to best the detective in a battle of wits, the Kaitou Kid actually has his own series -- but it's not a spin-off. That is to say, his manga, Magic Kaito, predates Conan!
Longtime Gosho Aoyama fans may have caught wind of the series at one point or another, but the true story of the Kid can still be somewhat elusive, especially for newcomers. Just who is the man behind the monocle? And why's he called "Kid?" Turns out, the mystery of the Kaitou Kid is just the beginning with this magical phantom thief.
Kid's true identity is that of Kaito Kuroba, son of the deceased and world-renown magician, Toichi Kuroba, and he inherited not only his father's love of magic but also his penchant for crime -- or so it seems on the surface. One of the main reasons the Kid is so beloved in-universe (with Ran's best friend Sonoko being firmly in the camp of a Katiou-fangirl) is the fact that his crimes are "harmless." Kid does something almost no other criminal does -- he returns what he steals, and often goes out of his way to ensure that others aren't hurt during his crimes. He'll even drop by and help out if you ask nicely enough, as proven by Volume 65 of Detective Conan, Chapters 675 and 676 when Kaito answers Sonoko's uncle's plea for help, as he had accidentally locked his dog into an impenetrable safe and needed Katio's supreme lockpicking abilities to rescue him.
The reason for this strange duality is Kaito's motives for donning the white cape. His father, Toichi once held the mantle of Kid, before being murdered in broad daylight through a magic "accident." Upon discovering his father's secret magic-crime headquarters and learning the truth from his father's old assistant, Kaito begins to pose as the Kid to draw out his father's murderers -- and succeeds.
What he learns from doing so, though, is that they are part of an organization searching for Pandora, a jewel that glows red under the moonlight and, under a particular comet, will shed "tears" that will allow the drinker immortality. Understandably, upon discovering that his father was killed for refusing to help steal this particular gem, Kaito makes a vow to find it first and destroy it.
As a result, he doesn't need to keep any of the non-Pandora jewels he steals and returns them right away. In many ways, he works more as an anti-hero or vigilante rather than a true thief -- not that his nemesis, Inspector Nakamori (who coincidentally is also the father of his childhood friend and love interest, Aok0) really cares, mobilizing insane amounts of the police force to his heists. Even the original Kid's motives were slightly more pure than your garden variety thief, as Toichi was hoping to steal the limelight away from his wife and fellow vigilant-robber, Chikage the Phantom Lady, so that she could retire safely.
But while Kaito's playful nature and trick-oriented style of thievery are endlessly interesting, his name itself is also intriguing. Originally given the number 1412 by Interpol, a journalist accidentally wrote the numbers so fast that they appeared like the English word "kid" to one Yusaku Kudo -- AKA Shinichi Kudo's father, who gave the phantom thief his popular name.
While it's currently unknown how much of Magic Kaito's story is canon to the Detective Conan universe, it adds layers of intrigue and understanding to the flamboyant gentleman thief and is a good story in its own right. While incomplete due to Detective Conan demanding more of mangaka Gosho Aoyama's time, what does exist of Kaito's story was adapted into Magic Kaito 1412 in 2015, and is currently available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
