Shadowlaw an underground organization bent on world domination through drug smuggling, illegal weapons distribution and terrorism. Led by the evil M. Bison (Vega in the Japanese version), Shadowlaw hopes to increase their power by recruiting the world's greatest street fighters. Their main target: Ryu a master of Shotokan Karate who roams all over the world to test his skills against other fighters. As a means to lure the elusive Ryu, Bison abducts his best friend, former martial arts champion Ken Masters, and uses him as bait. Interpol agent Chun-Li and U.S. Air Force pilot Guile team up to get to Ryu before Bison does and continues his reign of terror.

Hyakkimaru is a young man who lacks 48 body parts because they were taken from him by demons before birth, as payment by his father, Kagemitsu Daigo, to obtain his wish to take over the country. When the baby boy was born he was missing 48 parts of his body, and thus was abandoned—thrown into a river. Hyakkimaru has grown up and now has obtained fake body parts so he can eliminate the 48 demons that were made from his body, and to retrieve his missing parts. Along for the adventure is the boy thief, Dororo, with whom he becomes friends.

Cobra, a notorious space pirate, is enlisted by bounty hunter Jane to rescue her sister from the strange being known as Crystal Boy, but then finds himself drawn into a complex struggle over the fate of a mysterious wandering planet.

Two years after the birth of the manga a pilot film was released. It was a brief film of only 13 minutes that had the purpose of assay the response to a possible future anime realization of Lupin III. The pilot opens with a challenge call from Lupin to Zenigata from a public phone.

Previously unreleased remastered TV version of this pilot from a year 1971 was released in 1989. It was included on the Lupin III - Secret File OVA.

Inspector Zenigata has been removed from the Lupin case which leaves him despondent, and he ends up drinking with Lupin & Jigen. Lupin decides that he and his gang should work with Zenigata to solve his new case, investigating a group of arms dealers known as Shot Shell. Lupin gathers his partners together (Jigen, Goemon, & Fujiko), and with Zenegata they steal a Russian submarine. They kidnap a scientist named Karen Korinsky to help them operate the sub, and also to protect her from Shot Shell. Meanwhile the ICPO assigns a man named Keith Hayden to the Lupin case, and unlike Zenigata he wants Lupin and his group dead. Where ever Lupin and friends go, Keith follows, as the officer attempts to pick them off one by one.

Lupin, the master thief/spy/Jack of all Trades, has been executed, but he is still alive, and not even Lupin himself knows how that is possible. While trying to figure out, however, he and his gang are thrust into a conspiracy involving clones, Lupin's un-trustworthy rival Fujiko, and a miniature madman's plot to take over the world.

Goemon's wedding to Murasaki Inabe, daughter of a samurai clan's leader, is interrupted when the Fuma ninjas attack, kidnapping the bride-to-be and demanding her family's ancient treasure as ransom. Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko work together once again to try to save Murasaki and get to the treasure before the Fuma can steal it.

Lupin has a lively time of it this time in a classic car race from Madrid to Paris. The race prize is Napoleon's dictionary, which contains the key to the Treasure of the Empire, something that just about everybody seems to be after. Lupin and his buddies take off after the prize, pursued not only by the perennial Inspector, but also by an army of secret agents from around the world. Classic cars and state-of-the-art weapons heighten the speed and thrills of this adventure.