Long ago in a distant land, there was a prince who was sent away from his homeland after it was attacked by the evil wizard Aku, and was trained by the finest warriors of his time to come back and destroy the wizard once and for all. When victory was certain, the wizard tricked the warrior and sent him thousands of years into the future, where he now rules. There, this warrior, now known as Jack, the Samurai, or, as we know him, Samurai Jack, must find a way to travel back in time and destroy the wizard before he enslaves the world. This was a story for the ages. Starting all the way back in 2001, and ending its original run in 2004 after an abrupt cancellation, Samurai Jack was a show that was held dear to everyone’s hearts. It is undoubtedly Genndy Tartakovsky’s best work, and that’s saying something, considering he has other shows like Sym-Bionic Titan, Dexter’s Laboratory, and more recently, Primal. Genndy is awe-inspiring and a genius, finding many ways to tell his story of a wanderer in a strange land work so well that even 10 years after it was cancelled, people were still clamoring for more. Eventually, the show came back for its final season in 2017. Although it was shorter than the previous seasons and left a lot to be desired in its latter half, it left us with an unforgettable ending to a legendary show that we will all definitely show our children. We all know the tale of the warrior and his quest, but just how well do we know the warrior himself? Here are 5 interesting facts about Samurai Jack.
1. We never learned his name
Throughout the show’s run, both original and renewed, we never learn what Jack’s name really is. We only ever hear his father call him “my son”. He never gets to speak as a child, and we barely see him interact with his parents. When he first arrives in the future, he was incessantly called “Jack” by these three random teenagers who were strangely excited to see him…for some reason. He then adopted that name as his own, and whenever he was asked what his name is, he’d always say, “they call me Jack.” That is the name that became an inspiration to many and brought hope to all those under the heel of Aku. The closest he came to revealing his name was in “Jack Under the Sea”. He was about to say it, but then stopped himself and told them that he is Jack. We never got to hear what it was, but we know that it starts with “Gi”. Maybe Genndy Tartakovsky can shed light on the subject one day.
2. We don’t know how old he is
I’m sure we all remember the pilot episode when he arrives in the future and is smelled by one of his canine companions to identify his age. He is said to have been born 25 years before Aku enslaved the world. We can only assume that he enslaved the world the same year he sent Jack to the future. That would make him 25 years old in the first season. But then we have him wander the whole world barefoot, only getting quick transport like the train in the later seasons. Just how long was he exploring the world? Well, certainly more than a year. And if that’s a bit unclear, then let’s remember the season 4 episode called “The Seasons of Death”, which covered a whole year in his journey. Season 5 is meant to be 50 years after season 4, and by the time season 4 starts, we now know that at least one year has passed, so he must be around 76 at least, by the time the show ends.
3. The title of “Samurai” isn’t befitting of him
Yes, it does sound cool when we call him “Samurai Jack”. But is that what he really is? Samurai were what we think knights were in the middle ages. A Samurai serves a daimyo, who serves as a sort of landholder during the era of feudal Japan. A Samurai has masters and it is a rule that is part of their code to portray ethical behavior in all aspects of life and have complete self-discipline. That sounds a lot like Samurai Jack, right? Well, yeah. That’s because he fits that description almost perfectly. The problem is, he serves no master. He is a ronin. This is more about him not serving a master in particular. A ronin is also a wanderer or a drifter. That’s exactly what Jack is, as he has no base of operations. He is mobile. Even after finding the ruins of his home, he chose not to set up base there and left without even spending a night there.
4. Jack showed strong signs of schizophrenia
Remember how Jack was in season 5? He was broken, but still fighting. Even though he was still doing well enough for himself, it was a losing battle. There was no point in him continuing, as he could never destroy Aku due to not having the magic sword anymore. He could only keep living and fighting until someone finally got the drop on him. Even though it was hopeless for him, killing him was going to be a hard thing to do, because despite everything, even if it was minute, there was still hope within him that everything would be alright. That was his defining trait: his hope and his persistence even with impossible odds. The thing is, his mind could only take so much, and it started to crack. The cracks were shown when he started having conversations with himself. His thoughts and personalities became physical manifestations that he was having full conversations with. He even argued with them and they yelled at him. They weren’t whispering dark desires. They were at a point where they screamed at him, and he even had to shout at them to shut up. Jack was going through a lot, and it was breaking him down.
5. The first time he killed a human was in season 1
Genndy Tartakovsky said that season 5 would have Jack deal with having killed people, that it would affect him greatly, since he was so used to killing robots (and zombies…and probably demons). This time around, he would have to kill people, and it would not be an easy thing for him to do. It wasn’t. It really wasn’t. He had to reflect on it for a whole episode. Even when they are about to kill him and will stop at nothing to do so, he still won’t allow himself to kill for the thrill, but decides that he must do it in order to survive. Kill or be killed. It’s the only way. The thing is, if you forget that he sliced the Gentleman’s belly in season 4, threw spiked mines onto Boris the bounty hunter’s body, and they exploded, and sliced Yin and Yang to death in the same episode, we must remember that really emotionally powerful, tear-jerking episode in season 1 when he fights the rock monster. The rock monster was a Viking who lived for centuries after being cursed by Aku to be trapped inside a diamond. He found a way to make himself the monster and leave his diamond prison, then created a labyrinth so that he could end up fighting a warrior capable of defeating him in combat and sending him to Valhalla, the afterlife of all great warriors. He didn’t want revenge against Aku. He just wanted to die so that he could join his fallen comrades, and Jack was the only one who could do it. Well, it worked. Jack broke the curse. He killed the man, and he was picked up by valkyries, and, as the ending show implied, he joined Odin and Thor and they existed happily, presumably for all eternity.
Did you like the article? Should we have added anything? Let us know in the comments!
Comentários