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Lê Thành, also known as Phan Thành, is the main protagonist of the Vietnamese crime drama series The Arbitrator, based on the Israeli crime drama series of the same name.
He is a psychologist with a passion for science who lives a happy life, until his life begins to crumble when it is revealed that he was actually adopted. He then tracks his true lineage and all signs point to Phan Quân, the mob boss who is also the chairman of the Phan Thị Group.
From there, Lê Thành becomes more and more involved with the underworld, losing his original innocence while becoming a ruthless man capable of leading criminals rivaling Phan Quân himself. He ends up becoming the key between the rivalry of Phan Quân and "Boss-eyed" Thế, leader of the Thiên Long Gang. He is also the arch-rival and competitor of his father, Phan Quân, as well as his half-brother, Phan Hải.
He was portrayed by Hồng Đăng.
Personality[]
Lê Thành starts out as an ideal man in Vietnamese society: nice and smart, caring dearly for his family, and satisfied with his life, with all he has to do being pursuing his career as a psychologist with passionate scientific research. However even then, he is shown dearly missing his former lover Bích Ngọc, suggesting an element of tragedy in his character.
The moment he learns that he was adopted, his life changes for the worse. Now becoming obsessed with finding his true family, he slowly cares less for his current one and pursues his goal at all cost. Once learning of his connection with Phan Quân, he begins to question his life's values, and as the series progresses he falls further and further into villainy, becoming a complete contrast of his original self. It is hard to blame him though, considering the social darwinistic nature of the criminal underworld means that he can't survive without becoming ruthless, plus the tragedies befalling him and his familly all of a sudden must greatly shock him.
Still, despite deluding himself that he is still caring for his own family, in truth he has becoming self-centered and ambitious, willing to take the role of Phan Quân's successor from Phan Hải at the expense of others. He is not even above beating Phan Sơn, Phan Quân's older brother, into a pulp, and tricking both the Thiên Long and Bạch Hổ Gangs into a bomb, demonstrating his manipulative nature. Additionally, because he is a psychologist, Lê Thành is an expert in playing with people's emotions, making him even more dangerous.
However, in the end, there is still some goodness left in Lê Thành. In his final moments, he tries to reason with Phan Quân and upon being shot by the latter, gives Phan Quân the real ADN test paper to prove that he really is Phan Quân's son. At the end of the day, Lê Thành still cares for his family.
Biography[]
Lê Thành is a man of middle class, who has a happy family: his father is a kind and gentle officer, his mother is a saleswoman occasionally with a temper, and his beautiful younger sister is in college. All he has to do is following his dream as a psychologist and studying science passionately, although he still misses his former lover Bích Ngọc.
This all changes when his father passes away, when it is revealed that he was, in fact, adopted. Although his family treat him like an official member, he becomes obsessed with his true family and wonders why he is abandoned. An acquaitance of his family then provides him his biological mother's diary, and he uses it to find his biological parents. Strangely, all signs point to his biological father being Phan Quân, the chairman of the Phan Thị Group and also a powerful and fearsome crime lord. Shocked that he is related to him, Lê Thành begins to question his life's moral values, yet at the same time he gradually becomes attracted to the underworld.
When Lê Thành meets Phan Quân and claims to be the latter's long lost son, Phan Quân's wife, Hồ Thu, remembers the time her husband cheated on her, and fears that, with Lê Thành's presence, she and her children will lose their inheritance rights, causing strifes within Phan Quân's family. Hồ Thu then orders an assassin to assassinate Lê Thành. The assassin fails but successfully causes Lê Thành's wife to get a miscarriage, and she later becomes so traumatic that she can never give birth again. Due to shielding Lê Thành from the bullets, Mr. Sạn sacrifices himself, leaving his mentally disabled granddaughter behind.
Amidst the tragedies that have recently happened in Lê Thành's life and the chaos within the Phan Thị Group, "Boss-eyed" Thế, leader of the Thiên Long Gang and Phan Quân's business rival, makes his move. He sets up fake ADN test paper to convince Lê Thành that he is his real father. Lê Thành believes this and begins to work for Thế against Phan Thị.
Thanks to Thế's manipulation, Lê Thành shoots Hồ Thu dead and causes the Phan Thị empire to slowly collapse, with Phan Quân being devastated with her death despite trying to keep calm in the birthday of his grandson, Phan Hưng. However, Thế doesn't celebrate for long, as Lê Thành has hidden the gunpowder in his truck of drugs, killing both Thế and "Toothy" Phúc. By this point, Bảo Ngậu reveals himself to be in fact, a police sent to infiltrate the underworld, and leads his comrades to arrest everyone in Phan Thị. At the time, Phan Quân is watching a clip sent by his brother, Phan Sơn, telling him that Lê Thành beated him into a pulp. Just when he finishes the video, Lê Thành arrives and Phan Thị explodes thanks to Trần Tú's bombs.
Enraged, Phan Quân believes that Lê Thành is the one who set off the bombs and shoots him despite the latter's pleads. In his dying breath, Lê Thành gives Phan Quân the real ADN test paper which proves that he really is his son. Finally realizing the truth, Phan Quân mourns his son on the latter's corpse, but it is too late by then. Lê Thành's actions ultimately lead to Phan Thị's downfall and the arrest of all surviving members of Phan Quân's criminal empire, including Phan Quân himself.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Phan Quân (biological father)
- Unnamed biological mother (deceased)
- Lê Hữu (adoptive father)
- Mrs. Hà (adoptive mother)
- Lê Thảo (adoptive younger sister)
- Hồ Thu (stepmother)
- Phan Hương (half-sister)
- "Prince-consort" Khải (half-brother-in-law)
- Phan Hải (half-brother)
- Diễm Mi (half-sister-in-law)
- Phan Sơn (paternal uncle)
- Phan Hưng (half-nephew)
Allies[]
- Bích Ngọc (love interest)
- "Boss-eyed" Thế (formerly)
- "Toothy" Phúc (formerly)
Enemies[]
- Phan Thị Group (formerly)
- Phan Quân (formerly)
- Hồ Thu
- Phan Hải
- Thiên Long Gang
- "Boss-eyed" Thế
- "Stunted" Tùng
- "Iron-face" Hoàng
- "Ghost-eyes" Chí
- Bạch Hổ Gang
- "Toothy" Phúc
- "Killer" Duy
- Huy Kình
- Huy Bá
- The Cops
- Bảo Ngậu
- Vũ Bắc
- Tuấn Anh
- Mạnh Long
- Brigadier Hảo
Victims[]
- Hồ Thu - Shot to death by Lê Thành.
- "Boss-eyed" Thế - Killed by Lê Thành's bomb given by Phan Quân to kill him.
- "Toothy" Phúc - Killed by Lê Thành's bomb given by Phan Quân to kill "Boss-eyed" Thế.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- In the beginning, Lê Thành smiles very little, yet once he has went through all those traumas, he begins to smile a lot, as if it is his way of coping.
- Hồng Đăng was nominated a VTV Award for Impressive Actor for his role as Lê Thành, but lost it to Hoàng Dũng.
External Links[]
- Lê Thành on the Heroes Wiki