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| “ | Family is the only thing that exists, all the rest things are not important! | „ |
| ~ Phan Quân's most famous quote. |
Phan Quân, also known as the Arbitrator, is the titular main antagonist of the Vietnamese crime drama series The Arbitrator, based on the Israeli crime drama series of the same name.
He is the head of the Phan Thị Group and a powerful crime lord who appears in the public as a respected businessman and philanthropist. Behind the scenes, he helps solving conflicts in the underworld to avoid the intervenation from the police. He is also the father of Lê Thành, Phan Hải and Phan Hương, as well as the sworn arch-nemesis and business rival of "Boss-eyed" Thế, in addition to being a high-ranking distributor for the Thiên Long Gang.
He was portrayed by the late Hoàng Dũng.
Personality[]
Befitting a crime lord who runs a large network of the underworld, Phan Quân is cruel and ruthless to a fault, and extremely cunning and manipulative, so much that even other crime lords fear him. He has carried the guise of a businessman in the public for a long time without being caught, and uses his charisma to manipulate others into his cause. Almost all affairs in the underworld are solved by Phan Quân, who holds it together.
Despite this, Phan Quân does have a sense of honor. He doesn't harm women and children and forbids the use of drugs. Additionally, he also cares a lot for his family, and doesn't take it well when he discovers that his son Phan Hải wants to divorce. As far as Phan Quân is concerned, a man's first and foremost priority is his family. When being shot and suffering blood loss, Phan Quân still smiles to reassure his wife, showing how much he loves her. Because of those, he is also respected by others even if they fear him.
Phan Quân also treats his men well, which is why Lương Bổng is absolutely loyal to him, and the two have in fact developed something akin to a friendship. His solutions for the underworld's affairs are also fair, and he doesn't hesitate to resort to violence if necessary. Moreover, once his decision is made, he will carry it out even if the target begs him or even takes Phan Hải hostage. However, in the end, having lost his wife and criminal empire, Phan Quân finally loses his cool and is blinded by revenge, shooting Lê Thành while ignoring the latter's pleads, only to then regret it too late once he discovers that Lê Thành really is his son.
Biography[]
Background[]
Phan Quân is a powerful and cunning kingpin who appears in the public as the chairman of the Phan Thị Group. He has secretly managed the underworld's affairs flawlessly due to his brilliant mind, solving conflicts so that the criminals won't blow their covers. Despite his ruthlessness, Phan Quân is also rather honorable and doesn't tolerate cheating. He treasures his family above all, spoiling his daughter and helping his son Phan Hải, despite the latter giving him headaches due to his recklessness. Phan Quân's greatest rival is "Boss-eyed" Thế, leader of the Thiên Long Gang.
Possible Long-Lost Son[]
One day, a young man named Lê Thành shows up and claims to be Phan Quân's long-lost son. This starts to cause strifes within Phan Quân's family, as his wife, Hồ Thu, remembers the time where her husband cheated on her. Moreover, Lê Thành's existence poses a threat to Phan Hải's position, since the latter isn't that bright in leadership. Because of this, Hồ Thu plots to assassinate Lê Thành behind Phan Quân's back. To make matters worse for Phan Quân, his former underlings, the brothers Trần Tuấn and Trần Tú, have also grown to resent him ever since he forced their younger sister Mỹ Hạnh to marry "Toothy" Phúc, who raped her, in exchange for their lives. They start to outwardly show their resentment to him after being fined and detented, so he sends an underling to blow up their car as a warning. When Phan Quân is shot, Tuấn and Tú visit him and beg him to revoke the detention but he refuses, so they become their enemies as well.
With multiple people starting to betray him, Phan Quân now has to face enemies from everywhere, not just from other gangs but also his own family and group as well. Later Lê Thành believes himself to be actually Thế's son instead and gets manipulated by the latter. In truth, this is just a trap set by Thế to eliminate Phan Quân via fake ADN test paper. From that point on, Lê Thành works for Thế against Phan Thị.
A Tragic End[]
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. He is then arrested and escorted by the police into the car, looking around to see people close to him only to find none except for Phan Hưng. As the car drives away, Phan Hưng chases it and calls his grandfather, and the former crime lord tearfully looks at his grandson one last time.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Phan Sơn (older brother)
- Hồ Thu † (wife)
- Phan Hương (daughter)
- "Prince-consort" Khải (son-in-law)
- Phan Hải (son)
- Diễm Mi (daughter-in-law)
- Lê Thành † (son)
- Phan Hưng (grandson)
Allies[]
Currently:[]
- Lương Bổng †
- "Anabas" Hùng †
- A Lý
- "Scar" Thái
- "Skull" Phương
- "Bump" Phú
Formerly:[]
- "Aurelia" Lân †
- Bảo Ngậu
- Hồ Thu †
- Trần Tuấn †
- Trần Tú
Enemies[]
- Lê Thành † (formerly, victim)
- "Aurelia" Lân † (indirect victim)
- Bảo Ngậu
- Hồ Thu †
- Trần Tuấn † (indirect victim)
- Trần Tú
- Thiên Long Gang
- "Boss-eyed" Thế † (arch-nemesis, indirect victim)
- "Stunted" Tùng †
- "Iron-face" Hoàng †
- "Ghost-eyes" Chí †
- Bạch Hổ Gang
- "Toothy" Phúc † (indirect victim)
- "Killer" Duy
- Huy Kình
- Huy Bá
- The Cops
- Bảo Ngậu
- Vũ Bắc
- Tuấn Anh
- Mạnh Long
- Brigadier Hảo
Victims[]
- "Aurelia" Lân - Indirectly; shot to death by Lương Bổng on orders by Phan Quân.
- Trần Tuấn - Indirectly; shot to death by Lương Bổng on orders by Phan Quân.
- "Boss-eyed" Thế - Indirectly; killed by Lê Thành's bomb given by Phan Quân to kill him.
- "Toothy" Phúc - Indirectly; killed by Lê Thành's bomb given by Phan Quân to kill "Boss-eyed" Thế.
- Lê Thành - Shot to death by Phan Quân.
Trivia[]
- Phan Quân has since become one of the most famous villains in Vietnamese television and fiction in general, with Hoàng Dũng's performance being praised and often compared to Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone in The Godfather. Many of Hoàng Dũng's co-actors also complimented his acting.
- Despite being rivals in the show, Hoàng Dũng and Chu Hùng, Thế's actor, were friends and collegues in real life, and Chu Hùng was one of those who attended Hoàng Dũng's funeral.
- After watching the final episode of The Arbitrator, Hoàng Dũng cried because he sympathized with Phan Quân's fate, but knew that it was fitting for the character's criminal life.
- Hoàng Dũng won a VTV Award for Impressive Actor for his role as Phan Quân.