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| “ | You have to calmly dissect and scrutinize everything. Dig up the truth as rationally as you can, even if you have to sacrifice your own happiness in the process. | ” |
—Runge | ||
Heinrich Runge (ハインリッヒ・ルンゲ, Hainrihhi Runge?) is an officer from the BKA who obsessively believes that Dr. Kenzō Tenma is responsible for a series of murders and criminal events taking place in Germany, and doggedly pursues him to that end. He lives for his work, and pridefully states that no case he ever has taken on has ended without a resolution. He possesses extremely high analytical abilities and has an excellent memory.
Personality
Runge is cold, ruthless, efficient, and eminently calculating, so much so that it occasionally gets him into trouble, even driving some of his suspects to suicide. His job is his life, and making a mistake in his eyes is a fate worse than death. Runge's sole mission in life is to catch criminals, and he considers everything else, such as interpersonal relationships, games such as chess, and even sleep to be uninteresting wastes of time better spent in pursuit of investigation.
Runge's ruthless tenacity and cold, calculating demeanor are shown in his encounter with the copycat killer in episode 22, in which he knowingly releases false information into the local newspaper to entice Tenma to the scene. In his interview with the actual murderer, Runge toys with him, sarcastically telling him that he will certainly get away with his crime because the local police are incompetent. Runge tells the culprit he has no interest in any other criminal but Tenma, and this is put to the test when the copycat murderer later attacks Runge. After being stabbed from behind, Runge shoots out both the suspect's kneecaps and doggedly pursues Tenma to his car, only to lose consciousness from blood loss. Upon regaining consciousness, Runge promptly handcuffs and incapacitates Tenma despite needing his medical expertise to survive. This clearly indicates Runge's resolve and ruthless dedication to the pursuit of criminals even at the cost of his own life.
Although his family life hasn't been shown in the series for the most part, one can deduce just by his confession that he's not on good terms with his family, nor is he enthusiastic about keeping in touch with them. By the end of the series though, it is seen that he has changed this attitude and started making contact with his daughter.
Analytical methods
Typing as a mnemonic device
Runge has a constant habit of tapping his fingers as though he's typing. He says that doing so is a way of inputting data into his brain, much like one can type and then save a document onto a computer. This method helps him to remember details of his cases and people he meets, even after many years have passed.
His procedure is questioned by forensic psychologist Rudy Gielen, who suggests that in doing so, the information he enters into his brain becomes tainted with his own personal beliefs and opinions, unlike his own habit of bringing a cassette recorder in every time he needs to talk with certain people whose words are vital in an investigation or diagnosis.
"I am the killer."
In order to predict a killer's motives, method of execution, and even next move, Runge enters a psychological state where he "becomes" the killer. After getting into their mindset, he is able to reenact the killer's behavior and fully understand why they carried out such actions and what they will do next.
When he tries to do this with Johan Liebert, he comes to the conclusion that "I do not exist", because Johan's motives are completely impalpable to him, giving him, in Runge's eyes, a fictitious air.
Quotes
- "Someone was here, and nobody can do anything without leaving some sort of trace of themselves. If there were such a person, he could hardly be considered human."
- "You're a detective, aren't you? Act like it. You have to calmly dissect and scrutinize everything. Dig up the truth as rationally as you can, even if you have to sacrifice your own happiness in the process"
- "If you don't want to be betrayed anymore, then start by doubting the person you want to doubt the least."
- "Even a child that receives one bit of praise has the ability to excel in a single talent, and those who receive regular encouragement can feel confidence, achieve success, and become leading members of society. Because they don’t believe they are worthless, they don’t need to raise a fist and have vengeance against fate or the world at large..."
Trivia
- Runge can be compared to Inspector Javert from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, whose obsession with Jean Valjean equals Runge's conviction on the first half of the series that Tenma really is responsible for the murder of the high ranking doctors at Eisler Memorial and the murder of Adolf Junkers
- Casa Brutus magazine had an issue featuring Naoki Urasawa's work. Runge ranked 4 in unsentimentalism and 4 in maturity.
| Characters | ||
|---|---|---|
| A to D | Adolf Junkers • The Baby • Dr. Becker • Blue Sophie • Christof Sievernich • Dieter | |
| E to H | Egon Weißbach • Erna Tietze • Eva Heinemann • Franz Bonaparta • Fritz Verdemann • Gunther Milch • Hans Georg Schuwald • Hartmann • Heinrich Lunge • Helenka Nováková • Helmut Wolf • Herbert Knaup • Hugo Bernhardt | |
| I to L | Jan Suk • Jaromír Lipsky • Johan Liebert • Julius Reichwein • Karel Ranke • Karl Neuman • Kenzō Tenma • Professor Kronecker • Lotte Frank | |
| M to P | Martin Reest • Detective Messener • Michael Müller • Mikhail Petrov • Milan Koláš • Miloš • Nina Fortner • Otto Heckel • Petr Čapek • Peter Jürgens | |
| Q to T | Richard Braun • Roberto • Rosso • Rudy Gillen | |
| U to Z | Udo Heinemann • Věra Černá • Wolfgang Grimmer • Wim Knaup | |
| Other Characters | Unnamed Characters • Other Minor characters • Johan and Anna's Foster Parents | |