Black Organization

The Black Organization (黒の組織) serves as the main antagonist in the series. It is a secret syndicate that commits a number of crimes for various reasons which range from blackmail to robberies to assassinations. The members of the organization are given code names based on alcoholic beverages. Renya Karasuma, the leader of the Black Organization, is known only through text messages. Their boss's phone number follows the tune of the children song Nanatsu no Ko (七つの子); the number is #969#6261. The true name of the Black Organization is unknown. The first members to appear were Gin and Vodka, who were responsible for Shinichi Kudo's transformation in the first place.

Current

 * Renya Karasuma: The leader of the Black Organization. He is respectfully referred to as "that person" (ano kata) by lower ranked members of the Black Organization.
 * Gin: A high ranking Black Organization executive official who seems to specialize in coordinating deals and assassinations. He is one of the most frequently reoccurring Black Organization characters. He is shown to be intelligent and very acute, and his long silver hair and sweeping trench coat give him a distinctive appearance. He forced the drug APTX 4869 on Shinichi, and his favorite car is the Porsche 356A.
 * Vodka: Gin's secretary and assistant, he is another frequently reoccurring Black Organization character. He wears a hat and sunglasses at all times. He is less intelligent compared to his boss Gin whom he often is seen working with.
 * Vermouth (Sharon Vineyard/Chris Vineyard): A mysterious actress from America with exceptional disguise and voice changing abilities that allow her to pose as anyone. Like Gin, she is a Black Organization executive member. She is hated by a number of the members of the Black Organization, but due to the fact that she is their boss' favorite, she is untouchable and they are unable to do anything to her. It is unknown where her loyalty lies, as she often protects Conan and calls him a "silver bullet", implying that she believes him to be capable of bringing down the Black Organization. She also does not seem to age.
 * Kir: Operates under alias of Rena Mizunashi, a TV reporter. Her true name is Hidemi Hondou.  Like her deceased father, she is actually a member of the CIA who infiltrated the Black Organization. Her brother, Eisuke Hondou, was not aware of this since Hidemi pretended not to know him after she went undercover.
 * Chianti: A professional sniper who has been seen to take orders from Gin. She has a fiery and impatient personality. She loathes Vermouth.
 * Korn: A professional sniper who has been seen to take orders from Gin. His speech is characterized by short phrases with many pauses.
 * Bourbon: A newly established organization member who has great deduction and intelligence gathering skills. His public name is Tooru Amuro. Kir said he has recently been dispatched to search for Sherry. Gin has said that Bourbon hates Shuichi Akai much more than he does and that he is a man who follows his own rules, much like Vermouth.
 * Rum

Deceased

 * Tequila: An agent with the same rank as Vodka who seemed to primarily deal with programmers. He was a giant man who spoke with an Osakan accent. He was unintentionally killed in explosion in Episode 54 and Manga Volume 12.
 * Pisco: An elderly executive agent who was also the chairman of a car company. He was killed by Gin in Episode 178 after being caught on camera performing an assassination. He discovered Haibara was Sherry, but was unable to inform anyone before he was killed.
 * Calvados: A sniper infatuated with Vermouth who shot himself after being crippled by Shuichi Akai in Episode 345.
 * Akemi Miyano: Shiho Miyano's older sister and Shuichi Akai's girlfriend. She was a low ranking member of the organization and completed a billion yen robbery as part of an agreement to release herself and her sister from the organization. The organization reneged on the deal and she was killed by Gin in Episode 128 and in Manga Volume 2.
 * Atsushi Miyano: Haibara's father and Elena's husband. He headed the APTX 4869 project before Shiho Miyano took over. Both he and Elena died for some reason which Pisco called an accident while Shiho was young.
 * Elena Miyano: Haibara's mother and Atsushi's wife. She was of British origin and was known within the organization as "Hell's Angel". She worked the APTX 4869 project before Shiho Miyano took over. Both she and Atsushi died for some reason which Pisco called an accident while Shiho was young. She left some mysterious tapes for Shiho.
 * Rikumichi Kusuda: An agent sent to infiltrate Haido Central Hospital to discover the whereabouts of Kir. He killed himself when Akai was hot on his trail. (Episode 498)
 * Ethan Hondou: A CIA agent who infiltrated the Black Organization. He committed suicide to protect his daughter Hidemi Hondou from being uncovered as a CIA agent.
 * Scotch: An undercover operative who was killed before the Black Organization manages to reveal his true identity.
 * Yoshiaki Hara: A movie only agent killed by Gin in Movie 5
 * Irish: A movie only agent killed by Chianti in The Raven Chaser.
 * Masaaki Okakura (岡倉 政明), age 32, is a Parliamentary Secretary and minor Black Organization member who appears only in Movie 13. He was killed by Kazuki Honjo, in a crime of revenge unrelated to the Black Organization.
 * Arrack: A non-canon special manga agent who committed suicide from Conan Special: Volume 26.

Former

 * Sherry (Ai Haibara/Shiho Miyano): A high ranking biochemist who worked on APTX 4869. She boycotted her work after her sister was killed and was awaiting execution. She escaped when she took an APTX 4869 she had smuggled in with her and shrunk to her 6~7 year old body. She has been living with Professor Agasa and has been working on an antidote to the APTX 4869.
 * Rye: The codename of Shuichi Akai, he was an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated the Black Organization. His allegiance was discovered and he was rejected by the organization. His prowess led the organization to view him as the FBI's trump card.
 * Ki'ichiro Numabuchi: A serial killer whom was slated to be the original test subject for the APTX drug before he escaped. Later escaped and is now in custody for murders he has committed, mostly in fear of the Black Organization sending agents after him.
 * Generic: a non-canon special manga agent who is an old friend of Sherry who considers her as his sister. He used the Apoptoxin medicine to shrink his own body and entered the school where Haibara is. He lost his memory due to his own memory removal gas in Conan Special: Volume 26.

Organization structure and divisions
There are many divisions in the Black Organization which are roughly grouped into three categories: Internal Division (内部活動部隊), External Division (外部活動部隊), and General Oversight (全体監視役). The external division is composed of agents who primarily deal with people outside the Organization. The known internal division agents are focused on in-house research and development. General oversight takes a managerial and coordinating role. The divisions are unrelated to relative ranking among members. (e.g Vermouth is higher ranking than Vodka.)

* These characters are not considered to be canon.

** ''All alive members of the Reconnaissance division, Vermouth, Kir, and Bourbon are revealed to have ulterior motives for the Black Organization. Vermouth wants Conan to defeat them and Kir and Bourbon are undercover.''

Rank
Agents who excel at their work and make their way up the ranks are given alcohol codenames. Even within codenamed agents there are further rank divisions. One advantage that comes with being higher ranked is access to more informational files; lower rank agents have to request to see certain materials from higher ranking agents.

Executive agents
The "Executive" agents are the highest ranked codenamed agents within the Black Organization under the boss. They can command many other codenamed agents and have access to more information than lower ranked agents. Even among them, killing another executive agent without express orders from the boss would result in a loss of standing.
 * Rum: Second in command
 * Gin
 * Vermouth: Also the boss' favorite
 * Pisco

Codenamed agents
Agents who have excelled beyond the rank and file member enough earn recognition and an alcohol codename.

Work(ed) under Gin
 * Vodka: Tequila and Vodka are approximately the same rank
 * Tequila: Vodka and Tequila are approximately the same rank
 * Chianti
 * Korn
 * Rye

Work(ed) under Vermouth
 * Calvados

General
 * Sherry: Known to be highly ranked but it has not been stated if she was an executive agent.
 * Kir
 * Bourbon
 * Irish (movie only)
 * Scotch

Non codenamed agents

 * Akemi Miyano
 * Ki'ichiro Numabuchi
 * Ethan Hondou
 * Rikumichi Kusuda
 * Yoshiaki Hara (movie only)

Unknown if codenamed

 * Atsushi Miyano
 * Elena Miyano

Modus operandi
The Black Organization commits crimes such as illegal deals, blackmail , robberies , and contract assassinations to raise money for research. The organization operates like a hybrid of a business and a mafia group. The Black Organization recruits outside talent and cultivates clients and sponsors by sending high ranking members like Gin to business meetings, but they also use mafia-like tactics to intimidate desirable civilians into making deals with them. Besides their financially motivated crimes, the organization engages in other stereotypical criminal activities like bribery, spying, and eliminating threats or former partners who are deemed useless or a risk.

Customs
The organization is highly secretive, and tries to eliminate anyone who has knowledge of their existence and threatens to expose their inner workings, including members who have become a liability, such as Akemi Miyano. They will dispose of even senior members like Pisco without hesitation to protect their secrets. Remaining unknown seems to be a higher priority than even research as Ai Haibara thought Conan would be killed before he could be “studied”. The organization often destroys evidence via fire or explosion and Haibara warns that they will not hesitate to kill family and friends of a target to protect the secret of their existence.

The organization has several practices that resemble those of stereotypical secret societies. The Black Organization members all tend to wear black outfits, which Akemi says is intentional and supposed to resemble crows. For an as of yet unrevealed reason, nearly all the Black Organization's members (with the exception of the boss) use code names based on alcoholic drinks: hard liquors for men and wine or wine-based cocktails for women. Also it would appear the organization is also fond using detective fiction and classic literature in their project names and passwords. Examples include the APTX 4869 pun on Sherlock Holmes, the computer password Shelling Ford- a prototype name for Sherlock Holmes, a computer virus called Night Baron named after a character from mystery writer Yusaku Kudo’s novels, and mission codenames relating to the novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Criminal techniques
The Black Organization conducts its crimes in ways that are difficult to trace back to them. Handguns and sniping, fire and bombs, and poisons seem to be their preferred techniques. Sometimes the organization attempts to disguise their murders as accidents or suicides. To this end, APTX 4869 was deployed as a poison because it is forensically difficult to detect. If they are unable to disguise a murder as something else, they will usually attempt to destroy any evidence using fire or explosives to make it difficult to investigate. Sometimes they will time their crimes so the blame will fall on another party instead, confusing the investigation. If a meeting place or asset of theirs is compromised, the Black Organization typically thoroughly destroys it before it can be investigated properly.

Locations and hideouts
The Black Organization seems to have hideouts, but none of them have been revealed so far. In line with their secretive existence, the Black Organization prefers to meet in places that are isolated or where they can slip away easily. Several operatives occupy public positions like famous actress (Vermouth), television announcer (Kir), or company chairman (Pisco) which gives the Black Organization connections to circles of the rich and famous and access to otherwise unavailable locations. So far, the Black Organization have met clients at a dim restaurant, a Shinkansen's dining car, a crowded wake, a train station under construction, and in an isolated area of an amusement park. The Black Organization often conducts business and meetings at the shipping yard. Not very many member's abodes have been shown, but they range in extravagance from Kir's relatively plain apartment to Vermouth's lavish penthouse in a tall building.

Personnel characteristics
Individually, the organization's higher ranking members are typically intelligent and often multitalented. So far, at least all senior members are shown to carry guns and wear body armor under their clothing when out. Many agents, even those outside the assassination divisions, are skilled at using firearms. Disguise is a particularly common skill. Both Gin and Vermouth were shown to be resistant to Conan's tranquilizer needle and knockout gas and subsequently both readily shot themselves in order to continue to stay awake. This may show that they have trained themselves to resist knockout effects to prevent capture and cope with pain.

History
The Black Organization’s main research project, of which APTX 4869 is a part, has been around for at least half a century. The Black Organization has historical ties to America before the current storyline. Evidence for this is the involvement of the FBI and CIA in counter operations. Also, Jodie mentions that her father in the FBI was investigating Vermouth as Sharon Vineyard 20 years ago. 
 * >50 years ago: The Black Organization’s main research project, of which APTX 4869 will eventually become a part, is initiated.
 * 30 years ago: Atsushi Miyano moved out of his father's house to work for the Black Organization. Atsushi's childhood friend Souhei Degima takes up residence in it.
 * ≈20 years ago: While studying for an acting role, Sharon Vineyard learned disguise techniques from Toichi Kuroba alongside the aspiring young Japanese actress Yukiko Kudo.
 * ≈20 years ago: Atsushi Miyano, Elena Miyano, and a 4-5 year old Akemi visited Atsushi Miyano's father's house then occupied by his childhood friend and playmate Souhei Degima.
 * 20 years ago: Vermouth kills Jodie Starling's father.
 * 5 years ago: Shuichi Akai begins infiltrating the Black Organization and begins dating Akemi Miyano.
 * 5 years ago: Shiho Miyano is known to be working for the Black Organization as a scientist at the age of thirteen. She may have started to work even earlier.
 * 4 years ago: Ethan Hondou sacrifices his life to protect his daughter Hidemi Hondou's cover when she makes a mistake.
 * 2 years ago: Shuichi Akai receives the codename Rye, and is called to work under Gin, but is rejected from the Black Organization after Andre Camel ruins the FBI's trap for Gin.
 * 2 years ago: Tequila shows up at the office of computer graphics designer/games system engineer Itakura Suguru to say he was interested in the particular “system program” Itakura stopped developing one year ago.
 * 1 year ago: In New York City, Vermouth tries to lure out and kill Shuichi Akai while disguised as a serial killer. Her plot fails when Akai shoots her in the stomach. Ran encounters Akai while he was looking for the serial killer. Vermouth later runs into Shinichi and then Ran on a fire escape stairway. While preparing to shoot them, Vermouth slips off and is saved from falling to her death by the two teens.
 * 1 year ago: Itakura Suguru is given a forced one year deadline to finish the program Tequila was interested in one year ago.
 * <1 year ago: Sharon Vineyard "died" and Chris Vineyard came out in public (not counting movies and private interviews given to reporters) for the first time at her funeral.

Goal and research
As of now, the Black Organization's main purpose and goal still remain unknown. What is known is that they are recruiting talent in biochemistry and computer science and funding research using the proceeds from their crime. Currently, the only sources of information Conan can rely on to learn the true intentions behind the Black Organization are former agent Sherry, the CIA's undercover member Kir, and Black Organization related cases.

APTX 4869 and Biochemistry

 * See also: APTX 4869

The Black Organization has a long history of biochemistry research. Thirty years before Conan was shrunk, they recruited Atsushi Miyano and Elena Miyano to work on research for them. Eventually, the two scientists developed a project they called Silver Bullet. Not long after the two died in what some members of the Organization called an accident and their daughter, Shiho Miyano, took over research on the APTX 4869 project. Although APTX 4869 was being developed for another, still secret, purpose, the Organization is using the incomplete prototype as an untraceable, lethal poison.

The Organization's project data for APTX 4869 contains important secrets. One disk Haibara and Conan tried to retrieve had real names, addresses, and codenames of agents, and the name of the person/people who invested money for the research. Haibara made a copy of some of the APTX 4869 data when she was locked in a room with Pisco's computer, but then lied to Conan about losing it.

Computer research and viruses
Another part of the Organization's research requires the skills of world class programmers. It is known the Black Organization has involvement with computer viruses (Night Baron); however, the main purpose of their computer science research may be something other than virii and related to their biochemistry research. Hideaki Nakajima made an exchange with Tequila in the Game Company Murder Case, giving Tequila a list of some of the world's most highly skilled programmers in exchange for a large amount of money. Vermouth and Tequila also blackmailed a famous CG graphic designer/games system engineer named Suguru Itakura to complete a particular “system software” Itakura had stopped developing because of bad eyesight. Whatever it is, it prompted the coerced programmer Suguru Itakura to say that he didn’t want to complete his program “for the sake of humanity”.

Quotes
Kudo-kun... You would probably never even dream that you are already part of a project the Black Organization has been working on already for half a century.

We can be both of God and Devil, since we are trying to raise the dead against the stream of time...

You can’t rush things. Humans can never go against the stream of time. If man forcibly tries to change that there will be punishment.

No, I can't finish it... I won't. That program must not be completed, not for the sake of my vision but for humanity.

Immortality/anti aging
One possibility is that the Black Organization's research, especially APTX 4869 development, is trying to create a therapy which will cause immortality, stall or reverse the effects of aging, or extend a human's lifespan.

Shiho Miyano said that, in developing APTX 4869, she didn't intend to create a poison, which suggests that APTX 4869 was originally developed with a different goal in mind. It probably was just a useful side effect that the current prototype kills while leaving no trace in the victim’s body, and was thus employed as a poison - a usage which Haibara detests. Additionally, APTX 4869 is nicknamed the "incomplete detective" by the Black Organization, which means its true purpose has not yet been achieved.

The de-aging effect that occurred when Shinichi and Haibara took APTX 4869 probably indicates the main intent of the drug's development. After Pisco saw Haibara shrink back to her child form, he commented that he was impressed she had developed the drug to that point, implying that de-aging is in the right direction. Supporting this is Haibara’s line, "Kudo-kun? You would probably never even dream that you are already part of a project the Black Organization has been working on already for half a century." APTX 4869 is the only known intersection between Shinichi and the Black Organization; meaning that Shinichi's de-aging made him relevant to the Black Organization's project.

According to Haibara’s description about APTX 4869, the drug activates telomerase, an enzyme which can increase the number of times a cell can divide, and therefore affect a cell's lifespan and “reproductive potential”. The goal of this might be to revert all non-neural cells to a "youthful", high reproductive potential state.

Besides APTX 4869, Vermouth's unnatural youth is another indicator that the Black Organization may be involved in research towards extending lifespan, halting aging, or rejuvenating the body. In addition, Shiho Miyano’s name was on the raffle list for the immortality arrows in the mermaid case in Fukui.

Raising the dead
There is a possibility that the Black Organization may be trying to develop a method to revive the dead. Suguru Itakura's diary contained a quote by one of the Black Organization's agents, most likely Vermouth: "We can be both God and Devil since we are trying to raise the dead against the stream of time" The original purpose of APTX 4869 might be to raise the dead. Agasa and Conan later wondered if the line meant that the Black Organization was trying to create zombies. Once when Conan asked Haibara directly what APTX 4869 was meant to do she replied, "It's a nostrum to raise the dead. I wonder if that answer is satisfactory?" It may be her comment was a bluff intended to provoke Conan into revealing what he had been up to rather than a serious statement of the purpose of the drug.

Known Black Organization targets and contacts
The Black Organization has involved many non-members in its plots, as collaborators or as targets. Additionally, many characters are friends or acquaintances with members of the Black Organization, often without realizing it. For a full list of major and minor characters who have been involved with the Black Organization, please see the list of Black Organization related characters.

Manga to anime differences
The first season of Detective Conan rarely featured the Black Organization because the anime writers wanted to downplay their presence. Two of the episodes at least, were altered heavily in light of this:


 * Episode 5, The Shinkansen's Bomb Case: The episode replaces the two men who shrunk Conan with lookalikes unrelated to the Black Organization. In the manga version of this case, Conan runs into the real pair and learns their code names (Gin/Vodka in the Japanese Version, Melkior and Kaspar in the English Version). Their replacement creates a continuity error in Episode 54, Game Company Murder Case. Conan recognizes their code names when Tequila speaks to them, yet Conan never learned their code names in the anime version of events.

Masami is actually Akemi Miyano, and stole the money to buy her sister out of the organization. Upon refusal to give the money's location to Gin, he shoots her. Conan arrives shortly after, and tries to help Akemi. He gives her his real name, and before dying she tells Conan the location of the money and that the organization who killed her wears black like crows. The anime had to do a similar story in Episode 128, The Black Organization: One Billion Yen Robbery Case, in order to repair the storyline because Akemi's death is what prompted Shiho Miyano to defect from the Organization.
 * Episode 13, The Strange Person Hunt Murder Case: At the end of the episode, Masami Hirota meets with the criminal in charge the recent murders. She survives a gunshot wound thanks to Conan. In the manga version, which is in Volume 2, the masterminds are Gin and Vodka.

Relation to the Organization from Magic Kaito

 * See also: Magic Kaito Organization

It is questionable if the Detective Conan's Black Organization and Magic Kaito's unnamed organization are the same organization. The member of the magic Kaito organization that claimed responsibility for killing Toichi eight years ago is referred to as "Snake", a nickname that doesn't fit in with the codenames of the Black Organization, suggesting they are two separate groups. This though may not be the case if Snake refers to Snake Wine, but because Kaitou Kid's origins have yet to be reexplained within the Detective Conan story, this is only speculation.

Additionally the members of the Magic Kaito Organization are looking for a magical gem called Pandora. The magical nature of Magic Kaito and its organization's search does not mesh with the non-magical setting of Detective Conan.

Trivia

 * In the English dub, "Case Closed", Gin is renamed "Melkior" and Vodka is renamed "Kaspar". In the English manga, these are explained as specific brands of the relevant drinks.


 * Members seem to get along fairly well most of the time. Gin and Vodka have a particularly close rapport. Gin is annoyed by Vermouth's teasing, but when on business they seem to get along alright. Chianti holds a hateful grudge against Vermouth because she believes Vermouth led Calvados to his death, indicating that Chianti has some sort of relationship with the deceased agent. Korn appears to be anti-social.


 * Vermouth is the only living member of the organization who learned that Ai Haibara is Shiho Miyano and Conan Edogawa is Shinichi Kudo. Pisco also knew Haibara's identity, and unlike Vermouth, would've revealed it to Gin if he hadn't been murdered by him first. Conan told Akemi Miyano his real name as she died.


 * According to the Black Organization only the "Silver Bullet" can defeat/kill them, Vermouth believes that Conan/Shinichi is their "Silver Bullet". However everyone else thinks Akai is their greatest threat.


 * So far, the youngest member known to still be in the Black Organization is Kir at age 27. Sherry was 18 when she defected, and her sister, Akemi Miyano, was in her mid twenties when she was killed by Gin.


 * Episode 129 indicates that the organization has numerous members. Later episode 502 shows that these members can include old members in their 70's or 80's. Episode 557 also shows that the organization has access to a large quantity of weapons and sends a large amount of its members depending on the mission.


 * Episodes 462-465 marks the first 4-part episode dealing with the Black Organization without it being aired as a special (However, international airings outside Japan have separated each 2 hour special dealing with the Black Organization into six separate parts).


 * Episodes 491-504 marks the longest Black Organization arc to ever air, consisting of more than ten parts.


 * During the course of the series, almost every member had some kind of individual contact with Conan/Shinichi; Gin in the episode 1, manga chapter 33 on the bullet train, and episode 178 when Conan shoots him with his needle while hiding, Vodka in manga chapter 33 on the bullet train and during the course of episodes 309-311, Vermouth in episode 345 and while she was disguised as Araide, Kir in episode 425, Akemi Miyano in manga chapters 13-16/episode 128, Pisco in episode 178, Tequila in episode 54, Ki'ichiro Numabuchi in episode 118 and briefly in 290, and Rikumichi Kusuda in episodes 496-497.