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4[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_samuraijack.png]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:''[[ThemeTune Gotta get back]], [[Music/{{WillIAm}} back to the past]], [[TitleDrop Samurai Jack!]]'']]
6
7-> ''"'''Long ago, in a distant land,''' I, '''Aku''', the shapeshifting '''Master of Darkness''', unleashed an '''unspeakable evil!''' But a '''foolish''' samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to '''oppose''' me. Before the final blow was struck, I '''tore open a portal in time''' and flung him into the future, '''where my evil is law!''' Now, the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is '''Aku...'''"''
8-->--'''Aku's OpeningNarration'''
9
10So begins the TitleSequence to ''Samurai Jack'', an animated series created by Creator/GenndyTartakovsky (''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'').
11
12Our story starts long ago, as the young prince of Japan (Creator/PhilLaMarr) witnesses the shapeshifting demon Aku (Creator/{{Mako}}) emerge into the world and lay waste to his home. With the help of his mother, the boy escapes and spends his life training rigorously with warriors from around the world. Once he comes of age, he returns to his homeland as a full-fledged samurai warrior to defeat Aku, armed with the only weapon that can harm the demon - a [[ArtifactOfHope magic sword]] passed down to him by his father. But, as the [[OpeningNarration opening monologue]] states, Aku flings him into the distant future, where Aku has conquered the entire world and beyond.
13
14[[NamedByDemocracy Inspired by some jive-talking locals]], the displaced samurai adopts the alias of "Jack" and [[WalkTheEarth walks the earth]] once more, this time searching for a way back to his own time so he can defeat Aku for good and prevent this future from ever happening. Unfortunately, while Jack has the means to defeat Aku in more or less any one-on-one fight, the world has changed radically under its new overlord, becoming overrun with criminals, refugees, and hostile wildlife from across the universe. Thus, Jack has too many enemies to fight directly, and too many helpless victims to aid while still searching for a way home.
15
16''Samurai Jack'' has been held in high regard for its outline-free art style, impressively stylized action sequences, and long stretches of animation without any of the characters speaking. The show took numerous stylistic risks: it lacks the ThickLineAnimation typical of its contemporaries, most episodes had [[SilenceIsGolden minimal dialogue]], mature themes were often addressed for the sake of drama or laughs, and drastic art shifts were used to mark dreams, hauntings, and visits to alternate dimensions. Tellingly, it was Creator/CartoonNetwork's first original program not to be a part of the ''Creator/CartoonCartoons'' brand, presumably so as not to have viewers think that it was just another "funny" cartoon show.
17
18Cartoon Network ended the show after four seasons and fifty-two episodes, with Jack still trying to find his way back to the past. However, Creator/{{Toonami}} aired reruns during the block's third, fourth and final CN-era incarnations (it was also the final show to air on the final broadcast of their Toonami), and Creator/AdultSwim's version of the block starting in February 2014. A DVD re-release of the series began in the same year. IDW later had a 20 issue ComicBookAdaptation that ran from October 2013 to May 2015, with a last issue that had its own BolivianArmyEnding / DistantFinale to the series.[[note]](Jack and Aku also appeared in the IDW CrisisCrossover comic book event ''ComicBook/CartoonNetworkSuperSecretCrisisWar'', released in June 2014.)[[/note]]
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20A GrandFinale feature film was in DevelopmentHell in the decade following the show's cancelation before Creator/AdultSwim agreed to instead conclude the series with a ten-episode revival, with Tartakovsky and much of the main creative staff returning, in 2015. Set 50 years after Jack was flung into the future, this season officially brings Jack's tale to an end, while also [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructing]] some of the DarkerAndEdgier aspects of his never-ending journey. The final season aired between March 11th, 2017 and May 20th, 2017. And for bonus, ''Samurai Jack: The Complete Series'' was finally released on Blu-ray and Digital HD on October 17, 2017, complete with remastered versions of the first four seasons of the series! The entire series, including the revival season, is also available to stream on Creator/{{Max}}.
21
22Shortly after the fifth season ended its run, IDW published a five-issue miniseries titled ''ComicBook/SamuraiJackQuantumJack'', which is an AlternateContinuity from the original cartoon and [=IDW=]'s previous comic adaptation. On August 21, 2020, a HackAndSlash video game titled ''VideoGame/SamuraiJackBattleThroughTime'' was released, which is considered a canonical {{Interquel}} for the series.
23----
24!!''Gotta get back, back to the tropes, Samurai Jack:''
25[[index]]
26* '''[[SamuraiJack/TropesSeason1ToSeason4 Seasons 1-4]]'''
27* '''[[SamuraiJack/TropesSeason5 Season 5]]'''
28* [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype/SamuraiJack Deconstructed Character Archetype]]
29* [[Foil/SamuraiJack Foil]]
30[[/index]]
31----
32[[labelnote:''Watch out!'']]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1219.JPG[[/labelnote]]

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