Heinrich Runge

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.

Gender Male Relatives Unnamed ex-wife Unnamed daughter Unnamed grandson Nationality German Occupation Police Inspector of the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) (German Federal Criminal Police Office) 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. 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.