Heiji Hattori

Heiji Hattori (服部 平次) a Famous High School Detective who is also known as the "Detective Of The West" (西 の 探偵, Nishi No Tantei) and the childhood friend and the romantic interest of Kazuha Toyama, is a supporting character in the manga and anime franchise Detective Conan.

Background
Heiji is the Son of Heizo Hattori a Police Superintendent of the Osaka Prefecture Police and his Wife Shizuka Hattori in which Heiji wanted to become a Detective and spent most of his childhood looking for lost cats in his neighborhood, He also became skilled in Kendo during the time

At one point Heiji had had the unfortunate idea of locking himself and his Childhood friend Kazuha Toyama together with a set of old handcuffs which had no key to unlock it when they playing cop and robber as a result they involuntarily had to spend time together even on some rather intimate occasions such as going to bathroom together until the cuff was finally taken off As a reminder of this closeness and for good luck, Kazuha fashioned two identical lucky charms, each incorporating a chain link from the cuffs, which she and Heiji have been wearing ever since.

Appearance
Heiji has dark brown, spiky hair and dark skin, Heiji stated that he inherit his dark skin from his grandfather and his eyes are normally dark green in the anime but are drawn as blue in the manga. He is an avid baseball fan and is often seen wearing a baseball cap.

Personality
Even while solving a case, Heiji tends to be lighthearted and good-humored, preferring to work through it with a grin on his face. He is a big fan of baseball, and is most of the time shown wearing an Osaka cap, to support the local Osaka baseball team. Heiji is known for his pride as an Osaka citizen and for his thick Osakan accent, which has been pointed out and sometimes made fun numerous times. However, Heiji holds his head high and is always one to brag about the greatness of Osaka, especially when Conan comes to visit.

Despite him knowing the value and necessity of remaining calm in the face of a crime, Heiji tends to be impulsive at times, which tends to cloud his judgment a little. During the "Detective Koushien" case, when Saguru Hakuba accused Heiji of being a poor detective for disrupting a crime scene in his rush to see if the victim could still be saved. Heiji, however, solved the case in the end and reminded Saguru that the detective's first job is to prevent death if he can.

He's also known to be extremely protective of those he values as close friends and tries hard to keep them out of harm. There were several instances where he'll tell Kazuha to stay out of cases, simply because he's afraid of her getting hurt. Furthermore, he's pretty much always watching Shinichi's back and does whatever he can to not only keep the boy safe but to keep his identity undercover.

Heiji occasionally enjoys teasing Shinichi's kid form because he knows that Shinichi is shrunken by the APTX 4869 drug. He has fun jokingly (sometimes mistakenly) calling Conan "Kudo" in front of Ran at his friend's expense. He often treats Conan/ Shinichi as a younger brother and their close relationship even evokes Kazuha's jealousy from time to time. Heiji considers himself Shinichi's best friend. In return Shinichi truly trusts and respects Heiji.

Conan Arc
One day, Conan (using his Voice-Changer Tie to imitate his old voice) calls Ran to tell her once again that he is all right and that he is still stuck with the 'special case' when Ran hangs up on him as someone has just entered the detective agency. Coming home, Conan finds to his surprise that the 'customer' is a youth who keeps demanding to see Shinichi Kudo. He had read of Kogoro solving cases and jumps to the conclusion that he is getting help from Shinichi. When Ran mentions that Shinichi has just called, without asking about Ran's state, the youth deduces that Shinichi must actually be nearby, watching Ran from afar. He then introduces himself as high school detective Heiji Hattori and presents a gift, a bottle of baijiu, of which he gives Conan a swig. Just then, Kimie Tsujimura, the wife of a known diplomat, enters Kogoro's office to ask him to investigate the girlfriend of her son. In order to be inconspicuous, Kogoro takes Ran and Conan along, and Heiji, hoping to flush out Shinichi, tags along as well. What is originally meant to be a simple investigation job turns out to be a murder case, as they find Kimie's husband has died at his desk.

When Conan enters a Sherlock Holmes contest to win a first-edition book and persuades Ran Mouri and Kogoro to attend. Once at the place of the contest, everyone must take a 1000-question test about Sherlock Holmes. Heiji also attend to the event and reveals to Ran he thought he would meet Shinichi there. Later that day, Hiroyuki Kanaya, the host, is seen driving his car off a cliff and into the ocean.

Heiji thinking about the similarities between Conan and Shinichi after being bumping onto Conan head for a second time.

Sherry Arc
Heiji invites Conan (and Kogoro Mouri and Ran Mouri, because otherwise it'd look suspicious) to Osaka. It is revealed by Kazuha Toyama (in her first appearance) that Heiji has been talking about 'Kudo' so often that Kazuha thought 'Kudo' was his new Tokyo girlfriend. Heiji suggests that the reason he invited Conan to Osaka is because he has been worried about Conan's safety; he has had dreams of Conan being murdered. On a case together in Osaka, Heiji gives Conan his omamori, which ends up saving his life by deflecting a knife thrust. However, without it Heiji is injured while trying to prevent the murderer from committing suicide. In the ambulance, he reveals to Conan that he has taken to heart much too Conan's admonishment.

Rum Arc
Heiji and Kazuha come to Tokyo to see the Ginza illumination, however a case breaks out in Poirot cafe.

Trivia

 * Heiji Hattori's Full Name comes from the Fictional Edo Period Police Detective Zenigata Heiji and Famous Samurai & Ninja Hattori Hanzou.
 * Heiji Hattori's Family Name "Hattori" (服部) may have also come from Inspector Hattori from the Japanese TV Series Tantei Monogatari.
 * Heiji Hattori's vehicle is a Light Green Motorcycle.
 * Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama, throughout the series, often appear in long cases setting in isolated and remote locations.
 * Heiji's Favorite Author is Ellery Queen.
 * Heiji Hattori is right-handed.