[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/afro_samurai.png]]

->''"Nothing personal. It's just {{revenge}}."''

Set in a SchizoTech version of something that may or may not be feudal Japan, the story revolves around the titular character (played by Creator/SamuelLJackson) and his quest to [[YouKilledMyFather avenge his father's death]] by defeating the strongest warrior in the world. The idea goes that whoever wears the "Number One Headband" is the unquestioned biggest badass on Earth, but they can [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou only be challenged by]] the person with the Number ''Two'' band -- who is, at the moment, Afro. Making his life a lot more complicated is the fact that ''any'' regular schlub can challenge for the Number Two and with it, the right to try for the big prize.

The five-episode series premiered in North America and aired between January 4, 2007 and February 1, 2007 on Creator/ParamountNetwork (then known as Creator/SpikeTV). The sequel movie, titled "''Afro Samurai: Resurrection''" and written by Creator/JoshuaHaleFialkov, premiered on January 25, 2009. Tired of all the killing, Afro has retreated away from the world. Unfortunately, Kuma and his sister, Sio, find him and take the Number One Headband. Sio plans to resurrect Afro's father, and force Afro to fight him to atone for all the lives he's ended. Afro must once again find the Number Two Headband, to earn the right to challenge her before she's able to do so.

There's also a ten-chapter manga version. It uses elements, characters, and events from both movies, while changing many things. [[WordOfGod According to the creator]], it's the closest to the original doujinshi the series is based on. It was released in two volumes between 2008 and 2009 published by Tor Books and Creator/SevenSeasEntertainment. The manga went out of print for years until 2022 when Titan Comics picked up the license and has since rereleased them under a "director's cut".

A video game adaptation of the first season was released in February of 2009. An {{Interquel}} starring Kuma tiled ''Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma'' was released late in 2015 as an episodic game, but was later cancelled by its publisher after a string of poor reviews.

Not to be confused with flash game developer Afro Ninja.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:General Examples]]
* AdaptationDistillation: The anime, manga and game are all slightly different, intentionally so. One noticeable example: In the anime and manga, the fight with Kuma takes place after defeating the Empty Seven. In the game, it's inverted. The manga is a mix between the first anime season with a few specific parts of ''Resurrection'' thrown in.
* AfroAsskicker: Afro himself.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Two monks jump out of a backpack, a huge RPG fits inside a back pack, bullets are cut in half by swords, WireFu style jumps and more artistic breaks from real physics happen regularly.
* AttackOfTheTownFestival: In ''Afro Samurai: Resurrection'', Afro battles the new Number Two during the town festival. At the same time, the BigBad sends a bunch of assassins to ambush him. Everyone but Afro, the DJ, and the Number Two dies. [[spoiler: Then Afro kills the other two.]]
* BackFromTheDead:
** Afro's father, the entire point of ''Resurrection''. In addition, [[spoiler: Afro himself near the end.]]
** [[spoiler: Happens to Jinno and Justice in the first season.]]
* BerserkerTears: Due to injuries, emotional trauma, or both, Jinno never stopped crying after [[spoiler: the battle under the Bodhi tree]]. They briefly turn to TearsOfBlood during a flashback.
* BestServedCold: Afro has spent his life since childhood getting revenge on the man that killed his father for the Number One headband.
** You mean this isn't about "Lemonade, '''ice cold'''."
** Justice even lampshaded this trope.
--->'''Justice''' (To Young Afro): "It's unfortunate you had to see this, boy. This moment'll always haunt you. You will be consumed by hatred for me. Challenge me...when you're ready to duel a god! *cue EvilLaugh* , YEE-HAW!!"
* BloodFromTheMouth: Frequent, but most often used when someone's about to die.
* BravingTheBlizzard: The peak in which the owner of the number 1 headband resides is surrounded by a powerful blizzard. Ninja Ninja is less than pleased about this.
* BroadStrokes: All three versions of the story have a few differences, but the general plot is the same-- Justice kills Afro's father, Afro becomes the Number Two to kill Justice and avenge his father's death, battling the Empty Seven and Kuma before he gets to him, and so on.
* CarnivalOfKillers: Describes the rest of the world for anyone who puts on the Number 2 Headband. Afro routinely fought gangs of heavily armed killers determined to take the headband from him, even when he was just minding his own business.
* CentralTheme:
** What is the real meaning of power?
** Can revenge ever be justified?
* CleanCut: Justice decapitates Afro's father... with a pistol. [[spoiler:Or so it looks. He actually has three arms, the last one holding a sword and tucked under his cape.]]
* ComfortFood: Afro's TrademarkFavoriteFood is lemonade, his first drink of it being the high point of his [[HarmfulToMinors generally crappy childhood.]]
* CycleOfRevenge:
** In his quest to kill Justice, who killed his father, Afro kills The Swordmaster to get the #2 headband. This causes Jinno to attempt to kill Afro.
** ''Resurrection'' continues this theme. Not only are all of Sio's actions based on revenge, but in the second major battle, all Afro's opponents have lost a loved one due to Afro's actions.
*** And then there's the hinted-at future of Kotaro, [[spoiler:who saw his adoptive father killed by Afro. At the end of ''Resurrection'', Afro, accepting how destiny is going for him, drops the #2 headband in Kotaro's hands and tells him, "Anytime you're ready."]]
*** Kotaro's case goes further in the manga, [[spoiler:near the end of the second volume Kotaro, now an adult, blasts at The Number One's (Afro) fortress and openly states that he is the little boy who saw his father getting killed in front of him, the enraged current Number Two takes on a seemly crazed Afro, it was to no avail as even in a depressive state Afro managed to kill Kotaro, apparently even if Afro didn't really want to fight anymore his skills were still sharp enough that he countered the offender with muscle memory alone.]]
* DaysOfFuturePast: The world has a culture of honour combat and sword fighting, in what looks like feudal Japan. With guns, mobile phones and robots thrown in.
* DecapitationPresentation: Justice does this with Afro's father in the first episode. In ''Resurrection'', Sio does this in reverse, bringing the newly-regenerated head to show Afro that she means business.
* DesignatedVillain: Justice. Both stated by WordOfGod and lampshaded by Justice himself during his "BreakThemByTalking" lecture in the Video Game.[[invoked]]
* DeterminedExpression: The young protagonist takes this expression very shortly after seeing his parents killed. This is the moment he is truly destined to become a badass.
%%* DiagonalCut
* DoomedByCanon: Okiku, she dies in all versions.
* DramaticWind: Both the Headbands and Afro's hair are constantly billowing dramatically in the wind.
* {{Doujinshi}}: The series started off as one of these.
* EmergencyTransformation: Jinno is turned into a cyborg, after losing an arm, a leg, and falling off a cliff.
%%* EvilGenius: Dharman.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: We never find out if "Afro" is his real name or simply what everyone calls him because of his hair. Ninja Ninja lampshades it by saying "[[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Who names their kid Afro Samurai anyway?]]", but a boss in the first video game reacts to the name by stating that's "what they are calling him now", saying it's "uninspired, but accurate."
%%* EyeLightsOut
* FailureToSaveMurder: When Kuma calls out Afro for what happened the night their TrueCompanions were slaughtered, he says that Afro is the one who killed them. Though he does this in both the show and the books, Afro didn't actually kill anyone that night except [[spoiler: the Sword master]].
** In fact, he wasn't even so much as indirectly responsible for their deaths.
* {{Fanservice}}: The second episode as well as Sio. The video game has the "Polecats," sexy topless stripper ninjas that act as the Daimyo's BodyguardBabes.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In a flashback in the first movie, Jinno explains to Osturu why he [[DualWielding uses two swords]] rather than one. At one point, he says "...and even if I got one of my arms cut off, I'd still be able to fight..." At first, this seems like a {{Fauxshadow}}, as he makes it through all of the first movie with both arms. Late in ''Resurrection'', however, he ''does'' get one arm cut off, and is in fact able to continue fighting.
** The fact that Afro is the only one to react to Ninja Ninja hints that [[spoiler: he only exists in Afro's head.]]
** Except in the movie when a character shoots him with a dart.
%%%%* FunnyAfro -
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Afro frequently smokes cigarettes while Justice loves his [[CigarChomper cigars]]. [[spoiler:In between the ending of Resurrection and the Distant Finale of the anime's first season, Jinno is revealed to have taken up smoking, even ripping out a piece of his Kuma mask's snout to have a place to chomp down on his cigarettes.]]
* GratuitousJapanese: ''"Oishii!"'' , ''"Hachimaki kudasai"''.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: So many people are motivated by revenge (especially in ''Resurrection'') that no one's actions could be considered pure good or pure evil. Even ''Justice'' had a good reason for killing Afro's father to take the Number One-- He wanted to use the headbands' ultimate power for ultimate peace.
* GreekChorus: Ninja Ninja to Afro.
* GroomingTheEnemy: Justice is implied to have indirectly indulged in the trope. Justice challenges Afro to fight him again when he's ready to duel him for revenge. He acts unsurprised at their final meeting before stating he put Afro on the path to revenge and power lust so that he could be strong enough to bring him the Number 2 Headband so that he may obtain true Godhood.
* {{Hachimaki}}: The series' plot revolves around attempting to get one of these to supposedly challenge the one who wears another one which supposedly grants the wearer godhood.
* HarmfulToMinors: The child who would grow up to be Afro Samurai saw his father, at the time the Number One, get decapitated by Justice. The head was then tossed to the ground at his feet and ''tried to speak.'' It didn't get much better for him afterward.
** In ''Resurrection'', Afro [[spoiler: cuts down Kotaro's adoptive father right in front of him]], with scenes of Justice killing Afro's father flashing as he does so. In his defense, [[spoiler: he didn't know the kid was there.]]
* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: Brother Three of the Empty Seven wears headphones throughout the entire series, and sits with his back to the rest of the group when they're all shown together. [[spoiler: He serves Afro food and tea when he arrives at their lair, and is the only one to survive, possibly implying he knew they'd fail and wanted no part of it.]]
** In addition, [[spoiler:while serving the tea, he simply says "Headband, please," [[GratuitousJapanese in Japanese]], rather than fight him. During the game, he appears in one scene, kisses his hand, thumps his chest, and gives Afro the peace sign while walking out.]]
* HeroAntagonist: Several of the "villains" are at least as sympathetic, if not more so, than Afro.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Afro is reminded of this often, by good and bad guys alike. This doesn't stop him from continuing on his path, however. If Afro struggles with becoming the monster, he does it [[TheQuietOne quietly]].
* HighlyVisibleNinja: Ninja Ninja is loud-mouthed and ridiculously visible (although he's somewhat stealthy in the second episode of Season One, hiding in the rafters of a house), especially considering that he's hanging out with a samurai who kills everyone he meets. [[spoiler:But then, he's a hallucination anyway.]] The manga version hints that he may be something more, as there is a similar character who only Ninja Ninja can see or be seen by.
* HongKongDub: Generally, the timing of the MouthFlaps matches the voices, but the mouths themselves move like puppet jaws; O sounds aren't accompanied by O-shaped mouths, and so on.
* HonorBeforeReason: Zig-zagged. Everyone in the whole world totally adheres to these rules: whomever wears the Number 1 headband cannot be challenged by anyone, except by the one who possesses the Number 2 headband, and anyone can challenge the wearer of the Number 2 headband. All honor is thrown out the window in regards to attacking the Number 2, and every possible dirty trick is encouraged. Anyone who's wearing the Number 2 will be constantly outnumbered and outgunned as a result.
* HumanShield: In the manga, the boy and his sister in the AntiHero example-- In ''Resurrection'', he uses the DJ for the same effect.
%%* ImplausibleFencingPowers
* InnerMonologue: Ninja Ninja functions as this, as he says whatever Afro is thinking, but no one else pays attention to him.[[spoiler: Or indeed, can hear him at all.]]
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Yes, kids, they can deflect bullets, cut rockets in half, crush rocks and, should the need arise, split laser beams!
* KickTheDog: Afro himself, multiple times, so much so that he's basically a VillainProtagonist to nearly everyone for understandable reasons.
* LargeHam: Bordering the [[WorldOfHam World of Ham]] (with the remarkable exception of Afro himself, who is the only one sticking to the honest-to-God silent asskicking), but Brother 1 is just...a ham to behold.
* LosingYourHead: Justice kills Afro's father this way, then tosses the head at the young boy's feet to keep as a reminder of his victory.
* MacGuffin: The Number One headband, and the accompanying Number 2 headband, drive the series' conflict.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The headbands that everyone's fighting over; it's never made clear if possessing the Number One actually makes the wearer divine, or if it's just an overhyped strip of cloth with a bloody history behind it.
* MeaningfulEcho: In ''Afro Samurai'', Afro's father tells him "Fear not, it will all be over soon," before getting his head chopped off. In ''Resurrection'', Afro says "Shut up. It'll soon be over[...]Fear not... Father." before trying to kill his freshly-resurrected dad.
* MeatgrinderSurgery: When [[spoiler: Jinno is turned into a cyborg]]. This might qualify as BlackComedy, or the cartoonish nature of the scene might make it worse.
* NoNameGiven: Afro Samurai is just known as "Afro". In the video game of the series, it is implied by Ninja Ninja that Afro's Name is actually "Afro Samurai".
* NothingPersonal: "Nothing personal. It's just revenge."
* NothingUpMySleeve: One of the assassins the Empty Six hired to kill Afro had these. He played the "hidden blade" version of this trope to the hilt.
* OffWithHisHead: Afro's father, and eventually, [[spoiler: Justice, who did the honors for Afro's father.]] Eventually, they both get better.
* TheOmnipotent: Anyone who gets the Number 1 Headband supposedly gets absolute, god-like power.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: It's actually the rule of the headbands: The only one allowed to fight the Number One is the Number Two. ''Anybody'' can fight the Number Two though, making them a DoomMagnet.
** In ''Resurrection'', this rule was subverted when Sio could take the Number One headband from Afro at the start because he wasn't wearing it at the time, even though she didn't have the Number Two required to formally challenge him.
* OnlySaneMan: Brother Three is the only character to never physically confront Afro at any point in any version of the story; in ''Resurrection'', he makes it clear that he's seen what happens when people try to fight Afro. Not coincidentally, he's the only character not to ''die'' in any version.
* ParryingBullets: Evident in the first 5 minutes, and endemic throughout. Bullets are cleaved; memorably, the title character cleaves a bullet, and the shrapnel kills several of his opponents, leaving him unharmed. Upon seeing this, the man who tried to shoot Afro [[LampshadeHanging quite rightly says]] "What the...that's impossible!"
* ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest: Zig-Zagged. Whoever holds the #1 headband only needs to worry about #2 challenging them. Whoever carries the #2, however, has to worry about ''everyone'' challenging for ownership of it, and those attacks come constantly and ubiquitously. Carrying the #2 headband for any amount of time is virtually a death sentence, and requires one to be a paranoid uber-badass to simply stay alive. In effect, it plays out much like this trope.
* PunnyName:
** Hell, "Afro" sounds like the Japanese word "Afuro" - "overflowing". Which is what the afro does to the headband.
%%** As noted in the manga.
%%** Dharman.
* RivalTurnedEvil: Oddly enough, Afro himself. While all Jinno ever wants is to protect those at the Swordmaster's dojo ad become a great swordsman, Afro chooses to continue along his path of revenge which ends up getting his and Jinno's sword master killed.
* RuleOfCool: A series absolutely ''built'' on this, up to and including afros that [[DramaticWind billow dramatically in the wind]].
* ScarfOfAsskicking: Afro and Justice pull this off with the headbands.
* SchizoTech: Feudal Japan? Check. Cell phones? Check. Robots and Cyborgs? Check.
* SeekingUltimateStrength: In the setting, possessing the Number One Headband is considered to be one of the greatest thing one could ever accomplish, but it can only be obtained by the owner Number Two Headband challenging the current wielder of Number One in the duel to the death. Nobody actually knows what the Headband grants, and their wielders aren't known to do much afterward aside [[ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest waiting for the next challenger]].
* {{Sidekick}}: Ninja Ninja to Afro.
* TheStinger: At the end of the first season, [[spoiler: Justice is seen coming back to life. Yes, despite being ''sliced to pieces'' by Afro.]] At the end of ''Resurrection,'' he's seen talking with Takimoto, a character from the manga.
* TheStoic: Afro, in contrast to Ninja Ninja.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Afro has a preference for lemonade. His first drink of it was a high point in his generally crappy childhood.
* TrueCompanions: Young Afro has these at the dojo, [[spoiler: until nearly all of them are killed at the battle under the Bodhi tree.]] In Resurrection, Sio's vassals function as a set.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Afro, Jinno, and Otsuru, especially in the manga, though Jinno mentions that even if Otsuru asked to marry him, he'd turn her down.
* TheUnfettered: Revenge is pretty much all that on Afro's mind. Especially evident in the manga version of the series in which a story features Afro using two innocent bystanders (a boy and his handicapped sister later on) as shields to avoid attacks, showing no remorse in causing their deaths. That he killed his master to reclaim the No. 2 further establishes him as one.
* UnwantedRevival: The creator commentary mentions that Jinno would have rather died than come back as a cyborg.
* VictorStealsInsignia: The Number One Headband certifies you as the best fighter in the world, and the Number Two Headband certifies you as [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou the only person allowed to challenge for the Number One Headband]]. Obtaining either, therefore, requires you to fight whoever's wearing it, kill them, and take the headband from their corpse. A flashback in the first episode shows Afro's father being killed for the Number One Headband, [[ForcedToWatch right in front of Afro]]; the series itself revolves around Afro trying to avenge him father and claim the Number One Headband while fending off the countless people trying to take the Number Two Headband from him.
* VillainProtagonist: Afro falls somewhere between this and AntiHero-- He's not ''evil'' in that he actively wishes to harm others, but he's a pretty dark character who will kill anything and everyone to get his revenge.
* VolatileSecondTierPosition: One of the driving plot points is that owner of the Number Two Headband is the only one who can challenge the owner of the Number One Headband, since having the Number One Headband theoretically makes you the biggest badass in the world. However, anyone can challenge the owner of the Number Two Band, and in fact must do so to get the Number One. As such, the Number Two headband makes Afro a magnet for trouble as soon as he gets it.
* WalkingTheEarth: The series actually comes at the end of this, when Afro is about to end his journey.
** ''Resurrection'' has Afro doing this all over, with a LampshadeHanging by Ninja Ninja.
--->"This pissed you off ''so much'' that you gon' hit the road again, to find the Number Two Headband ''again,'' just so you can kill the Number One, '''''again.'''''"
* WeCanRebuildHim: Jinno was nearly killed the night of the battle at the Bodhi tree. After he stumbled backwards and fell off the cliff, he was found by the Empty Seven, and brought to Dharman to be made into a cyborg.
** A bit worse in the manga - He still nearly got killed in the fight, but instead got ''caught in the burning dojo'' while trying to rescue Afro and the Swordmaster.
* WesternSamurai: The eponymous protagonist is a black samurai with considerable skills in a SchizoTech version of feudal Japan.
* WorldsBestWarrior: The only people comparable to Afro are Kuma, Justice and his father. [[spoiler: By the end of ''Resurrection'' all three of them are dead allowing Afro to retain this status.]] [[spoiler: Though it's heavily implied that Justice is [[BackFromTheDead still alive]].]]
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatOpposition: Anyone with the Number Two Headband is a victim of this trope.
* WorldOfBadass: Most certainly. Anyone living in this world has to know how to kill basic bandits who rob and kill on a daily basis, and the most powerful warriors are all focused on challenging each other for the headbands.
* YouKilledMyFather:
** Justice killed Afro's father right in front of him, to take the Number One headband.
** In ''Resurrection'', [[spoiler: Afro does this to both Kotaro's adoptive AND real fathers]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season One-Only Examples]]
* AutomaticCrossbows: One character wields one of these, with an attached GrenadeLauncher.
* BeamOWar: Afro and the Droid cause this with a laser beam and a SWORD.
* BolivianArmyEnding: The series closes on the image of Afro facing down his most lethal opponent: [[spoiler: Kuma, his childhood friend.]] Will he win? We'll never know.
* BookEnds: The series opens and ends at the exact same locale, with the exact same framing and colouring, as a sword duel is about to begin: Afro's father vs Justice in the beginning, [[spoiler: Afro vs Kuma in the ending]]. It's clearly meant to represent the self-perpetuating cycle this world lives under.
* BravingTheBlizzard: The titular character is told that the keeper of the number 1 headband is at the top of a nearby mountain. To get there, he has to brave a very powerful blizzard. While he doesn't seem any bothered by the weather, [[spoiler:his ImaginaryFriend's grumbling shows that he's less than pleased with the situation]].
%%* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Otsuru and Afro, [[DisposableWoman sort of]].
* ColorCodedCharacters: Afro wears a white shirt, while the [=AfroDroid=] wears black. All of the silver accents on Afro's clothes are gold accents on the [=AfroDroid=] equivalents. As well, Afro's sword and scabbard are red; the Droid's are gold.
* {{Cyborg}}: Jinno, or at least when he is [[spoiler:reintroduced in episodes 3-4]]. He has certain human parts, like his head, arms, and legs, but has to rely entirely on a mechanical body for his strength, breathing, and possibly his vision. Oh, and it completely erases any sense of morality he had as a human.
%%* DisposableWoman: Otsuru/"Okiku". %% What makes her qualify? A name mention isn't a valid example.
* DistantFinale: The last scene of the season involves Afro and a [[spoiler:revived Jinno/Kuma]] battling at the summit of Mt. Shumi well after the events of the sequel.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: One of the Afro Droid's weapons is a very... ''suggestively''-shaped laser cannon. As it charges, Ninja Ninja states "we came all this way just to stare down the barrel of that ''thing''?" After he fires it, he states ecstatically: "That felt good." And then it goes flaccid, and then Ninja Ninja states "I think he blew his load".
* EvilGloating: Lampshaded.
-->'''Ninja Ninja:''' Whoa, whoa, wait, wait... can't we talk about this? You ain't gonna monologue or nothin'? Give a bad guy speech?
* EvilKnockoff: The Afro-Droid, which took its fighting style from Afro's memories, was 20% stronger, and had a laser cannon.
-->'''Brother One:''' It took millions of dollars and thousands of man hours, just to build his head.
* FanserviceExtra: Brother One's arm-candy, who later appears in Resurrection as a very, very enthusiastic and talented stripper.
* GottaCatchEmAll: Justice reveals that the reason the Headband Wars are never-ending is that to attain true divine power, the Number One [[spoiler:must have ALL of the headbands in their possession and there are more than just the two that everyone thinks exist. Since the new Number One understandably chooses to dump their former rank immediately after attaining their new one, they're unfailingly without the missing piece they need to ascend to godhood when they make their way to the top of Mt. Shumi and uncover the secrets (and the other headbands) within. Jinno (and whoever rebuilt him) has apparently caught on to this condition by the time of the DistantFinale, wrapping his new cybernetic body in the other headbands in preparation for his rematch with Afro.]]
* GunsAkimbo: Justice.
* HypocriticalHumor: During their showdown, Jinno mocks Afro's passive resistance before saying that he can't even take him seriously because of his ridiculous hair. Jinno seems unaware of the hypocrisy of saying this while wearing a big, silly looking teddy bear helmet.
* InformalEulogy: Ninja Ninja pulls one of these:
-->"Add one mo' body to the body toll, may God rest this po' bastard's soul!"
* LaserGuidedTykeBomb: The Afro Droid, possibly Jinno too.
* MeaningfulName: Kuma means bear in Japanese and refers to a type of African ceremonial mask representing symbols of great wisdom and danger. So, it only makes sense that the guardian of the current Number One's throne room [[spoiler:(read: Jinno)]] wears a giant teddy bear mask [[spoiler:that doubles as a life support system]].
* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat: Ninja Ninja pulls this on Afro in regards to Okiku. In frustration, Afro swings at a laughing Ninja Ninja. Afro and Okiku eventually ''do'' have sex, but things go downhill from there.
* OffhandBackhand: Done in the first episode, causing the recipient to go flying through a wall.
* RobotMe: The Afro Droid. See EvilKnockoff.
* RocketPunch: Guess who? Afro Droid can launch his fists as rockets of war.
* SexFaceTurn: Okiku/Otsuru has sex with Afro. Conflicted, she finally decides ''not'' to kill him while they're in the act. Afterwards, she even goes on to kill one of the random {{Mooks}} that swoop in to finish the job. Unfortunately, she [[SexSignalsDeath dies immediately afterwards]]. Though it's not a case of SexEqualsLove; Otsuru just can't bring herself to kill her ChildhoodFriend.
%%* SheIsAllGrownUp: Otsuru/"Okiku".
* ShoutOut: Okiku's report she gives at the waterfall is identical to [[Anime/{{FLCL}} Haruhara Haruko's]] report that she gives to her superiors through Naota's cat.
* TranquilFury: Afro uses this when fighting his MirrorMatch [[RobotMe robot double]], the Afro Droid, calling on his subconscious to come up with a unique new fighting style on the fly.
* TrashTalk: Jinno provides this. When Afro refuses to fight him, Jinno starts questioning the stories about his badassery, and then remarks that he can't even take Afro seriously because of his stupid hair.
%%* VaderBreath: Kuma.
* WaveMotionGun: The Afro Droid's laser.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Justice]] claims that by obtaining all the headbands, he will have the power to end all conflict:
-->[[spoiler:'''Justice''']]: The world is lost. [[CrapsackWorld All this chaos, and pain...]] It's time for someone to take control. It's time for a man to use [[TheOmnnipotent absolute power]] for the [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans cause of ultimate peace]]. It's time to rid the world of conflict, and all men and women, young and old, to live in tranquility. [[GodofHumanOrigin It is time for Man to become God,]] [[GodIsInept where God has failed.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Resurrection''-Only Examples]]
* ArsonMurderAndAdmiration: ''Resurrection'' has this exchange between Sio and Dharman:
-->'''Sio''': "You truly are the world's most wicked, shit-faced, genius scientist. You'll burn in Hell for your crimes against nature."
-->'''Dharman''': "You praise me so wonderfully, Lady Sio! I am not worthy of your poetry!"
* BattleInTheRain: Though it's less of a battle and more of a y'know [[CurbStompBattle mugging]] in the rain, Afro gets the Number One Headband taken from him in one of these in ''Resurrection.''
* BeardOfSorrow: Afro sports one of these in the beginning, after having been the Number One for quite some time
* CarFu: Or rather, Motorcycle Fu.
* CrapsackWorld: According to Tomoe, the world descended into chaos after Afro slew Justice and failed to use the headband to exert his authority and things became even worse than they already were. Before Afro's seclusion, men supposedly only killed to obtain the headbands as part of the competition and now they killed each other for the joy of killing.
* CreatorCameo: Takashi "Bob" Okazaki briefly appears in the gambling house fondling two strippers while a third blows him.
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Implied by Sio to have happened to Kuma. She tells Dharman that he'd been repaired so many times, there's no human left at all, just a mindless "samurai doll."
** [[spoiler: At the end, this turns out not to quite be the case, and he rushes to protect Afro during the battle with his father.]]
* TheDragon: Afro's father once he's resurrected.
* DoubleMeaningTitle: "Resurrection" refers to both Afro's father's [[BackFromTheDead literal resurrection]] which kickstarts the plot, and the CareerResurrection of Afro himself as he returns to his life of bloodshed.
* TheFaceless: Tomoe - Her real, pre-cyborg face is never seen - In all the flashbacks and the Sio's photograph, it's always either hidden by her hat or a glare on the screen.
** ''Almost''. We do get an unobstructed view of her face when Afro has his series of still-image flashbacks [[spoiler:before taking her and the rest of Sio's QuirkyMinibossSquad on at the ruins of the swordsmen's school]]--she's the woman with the shamisen and green kimono. However, we never, ever [[EyesAlwaysShut see her open eyes at any point]].
* ForegoneConclusion: As the final minutes of this movie's prequel revealed [[spoiler:Afro and Jinno survive the events of the film to fight once more on Mt. Shumi.]]
* AFriendInNeed: Twice. Once when Afro cuts down a kidnapper on a bridge (though, the guy pointed a gun at him first), later when [[spoiler: Jinno]] protects [[spoiler: his "[[TrueCompanions brother]]," Afro]].
* GoodCostumeSwitch: Kuma. During the fight [[spoiler: between Afro and his father,]] half his teddy bear mask is knocked off, and he begins struggling with his conscience. When he decides [[spoiler: to protect Afro,]] he tears the other half off.
* HeelFaceTurn[=/=]FaceHeelTurn: It's somewhat hard to tell exactly which one it was, since Kuma's GoodCostumeSwitch occurs when he decides to [[spoiler:protect Afro, who is either a VillainProtagonist or AntiHero]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Afro's resurrected father ends up killing Afro, then Jinno, and finally, Sio herself.]]
* ISeeThemToo: [[spoiler:Bin shoots a dart at Ninja Ninja when Afro meets Sio's vassals for their showdown; [[PocketProtector he's saved by his oxygen tank]].]] Ninja Ninja just does not have any luck when it comes to cyborgs.
* IWillFightNoMoreForever: At the beginning, Afro has given up being the Number One, sitting in a hut, carving statues of those he killed in the first movie. Then he get the crap stomped out of him...
* KillUsBoth: Used by Tomoe towards the end. Unfortunately, Michael hesitates long enough for Afro to turn the tables and make a HumanShield.
* LightningCanDoAnything: After [[spoiler: Afro, Jinno, and Sio are killed by Afro's resurrected father]], the electricity from [[spoiler: Jinno's cyborg parts brings Afro back to life]].
* MachineMonotone: Averted. [[spoiler: Bin's voice is dry and raspy, and Tomoe's is coarse, but despite having only a small amount of their old bodies left (excluding their necks), they still speak in relatively human voices and show emotion. Michael's the only one whose vocal cords have been destroyed entirely, but even then his vocalizations are simply the whine of a speaker.]]
* MotiveDecay: How exactly Sio plans to avenge herself on Afro changes throughout the movie, alluding to her not fully being as evil as she thought she was when she [[StartOfDarkness started her revenge plot]].
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Afro versus [[spoiler: his father]].
* OffingTheOffspring: Afro.
* PastExperienceNightmare: Afro has a couple of these near the beginning, featuring such things as teddy bears with brains leaking out, and his father's half-rotted skull talking to him.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Near the end of ''Resurrection'', [[spoiler: Jinno runs to keep Afro's father from killing him, and is killed (again) in the process.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Afro's resurrected father's eyes glow red, as does Jinno's cyborg eye.
* RedSkyTakeWarning: The final battle takes place under a red sky.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Sio is Jinno's sister, though there was no reason to mention her in the first movie, Afro'd met her before...
* RemovedFromThePicture: Sio has a photo of herself, her vassals, Jinno, someone else, and Afro, with Afro's face burned out entirely.
* SequelHook: One ending has [[spoiler:Justice apparently coming BackFromTheDead]], and [[spoiler:Takimoto]] makes his appearance. Only time will tell if there will be a sequel or not.
* SequelReset: Afro is back to self-doubting his actions even though he made peace with them at the end of the first series, Jinno now has a previously unexplained sister plotting revenge against Afro Samurai, and [[spoiler: Ninja Ninja returns even though his entire purpose in the first movie was to be Afro's repressed emotions and his death symbolized Afro finally making peace himself]].
** ''Heavily'' lampshaded by Ninja Ninja, who has a hard time believing all of the above and repeatedly mocks Afro over it.
* TenMinuteRetirement: Afro has to revert to his killing ways, though he doesn't do it right away.
* TheStinger:
-->"I been waiting a ''long'' time for him" [[spoiler:followed by a swift shot of Justice]].
* TimeSkip: One of unknown length has happened between this and the first movie. One background character remarks that Afro hasn't held his blade in years, and Ninja-Ninja says that Afro's starting to look old, but exactly ''how many'' years is never stated.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: Sio's vassals, Bin, Michael, and Tomoe. At one point, Bin says this:
-->"We will not allow [Sio] to fall from grace. Instead, ''we'' will be the sinners."
** That said, it's not like Sio would have had too far to fall...
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Turns out all those armies of mercenaries and assassins that Afro regularly destroyed had families and friends that cared deeply about them. Bad people or no, they were still people.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Manga-Only Examples:]]
* AntiClimax: In volume two of the manga, Afro finally makes it to the top of the mountain, ready to confront Justice. When he finally makes it to him, he attacks and [[spoiler: Justice turns to dust and falls apart - Apparently, he'd been dead for quite awhile]]. Ninja Ninja even remarks that [[spoiler:"[=Afro=] finally got his revenge, even if it doesn't feel like it."]]
* BoisterousBruiser: Big Boy.
* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: After Afro "kills" Justice he goes into an almost depressive catatonic state and only snaps back to his sense after killing a now grown up Kotaro. It turns out years have gone by in the meanwhile and the world has fallen to chaos due to Afro's failure to maintain balance the way Justice did before him. The series ends with Afro finally finding a new purpose to set order to the world once more.]]
* ISeeThemToo: Ninja Ninja getting seen by Takimoto.
* MessianicArchetype: At the end of the second volume [[spoiler:the world has turned into a endless warring chaos]] as [[spoiler:Afro]] didn't rule as Justice did, meaning [[spoiler:he spent years in a depressive state]] instead of being a great figure of worship and respect like Justice, but at the very end [[spoiler:Afro managed to pull himself back together]] and as Ninja Ninja and Takimoto suggested he must begin his journey to put the world back in order.
* MotorMouth: Kazuma.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Kazuma again.
* ShaggyDogStory: See AntiClimax above.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Game-Only Examples:]]
* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: [[spoiler:Much like the Manga, Justice is already dead by time Afro meets him. Instead of going into despair though, Afro is instead forced to deal with his mental demons, facing Justice in his mind. After defeating him, Afro finally comes at peace with himself and his past, and decides to throw both the #1 and #2 headbands away.]]
* AdaptationExpansion: Sword Master's background (otherwise a cypher in both anime and manga) gets expanded upon a bit with the addition of his CanonForeigner brother and furher scenes he gets to expand more on his past. Okiku likewise gets a ''lot'' more monologuing to do.
* AdaptationalVillainy: This game has Afro be ''directly'' responsible for the massacre at the dojo, as it's done in revenge by the Daimyo's men after Afro butchered him and several of his men (with no provocation). In the manga and anime it's more incidental (as men hunt the N.2 headband without Afro needing to do anything).
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Two. The first, with Ninja Ninja prior to [[spoiler:his SplitPersonalityMerge, the second with Justice]].
* BattleThemeMusic: There's a gigantic ''original soundtrack'' of rap and hip-hop supervised by none other than the RZA, so there's a lot of variety to the battle music with bosses often getting unique vocal tunes to suit the mood. The boss battle The Daimyo, a WarriorPoet DeathSeeker, gets the fitting "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_2FgHA0oWE Soul of the Samurai]]" ("If you live by the sword / you must die by the sword...").
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Afro learns that Justice died long before he made it to him, making his entire journey, along with the deaths, including his best friend, mentor and lover, completely meaningless and preventing him from avenging his father, but he also finally overcomes his single-minded obsession with revenge and throws away the number one and number two headbands, potentially ending the eternal struggle for ultimate power for good.]]
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: The Android Ninja enemies have these.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Ninja Ninja does some serious tapping on the fourth wall during the game - among them, calling the player a "Button mashin' motherfucker", and suggesting that just because you watched the TV show doesn't mean you know what's going to happen here.
* BossBanter: Every boss talks to Afro as they fight. Interestingly, instead of just taunts and the occasional threat, the bosses go on [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech speeches about how Afro's obsession is self-destructive, how many people he hurt, how he's wasting his life in something meaningless and etc.]]
-->'''Ninja Ninja:''' You thought I was yo' friend!? Man, you ain't got none! They're all dead, and because of ''you''...
-->'''Justice:''' You think I'm the one who made you, boy?! Oh, no... All the people you killed, all the lives you ruined. That was all you, I just lit the way...
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Ninja Ninja implies Afro may carry this attitude about the people he kills and does not remotely keep track of the people he kills.
-->'''Keisuke:''' They call me Keisuke. You killed my son!
-->'''Ninja Ninja:''' That don't help none. He has killed a '''lot''' of motherfuckers. Can you be more specific?
* CanonForeigner: The first boss of the game, the Daimyo, appears only in this version of the narrative. Interestingly, he's the Sword Master's brother and adds some context to his life.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Most chapters have Ninja Ninja as a narrator, but Chapter 3 (fittingly called "Okiku's story") is largely narrated by Okiku, who monologues to Afro and the player about the cruel world they live in.
* EnemyWithin: Ninja Ninja discusses with Afro what he represents (suppressed emotions, guilt over Afro's actions, etc.), and forces Afro to fight him to take on the burden again.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Justice mentions this trope to Afro as part of his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, describing how Afro's simply using his father's death as a poor excuse to cause untold suffering just to get even with Justice.
-->'''Justice:''' So don't pretend you're doing all this for your pops. You think if he hadn't died, you'd be any different? You'd still be what you are right now, a stone cold killer; you're just a killer with an excuse.
* GodhoodSeeker: Justice makes this speech to Afro:
-->"My desire was to become a god. In the pursuit of revenge, you made me yours. Searching for me. Obsessing over me. Killing for me.[...]Each life you took was a tribute to me. Your actions gave me substance, let me live. You've been doing my good work."
* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: Number Two Headband and Number One Headband.
* LemonyNarrator: Ninja Ninja. "You think I should be watchin' his ''back!?'' '''''[[PrecisionFStrike FUCK]]''''' you!! I've ''been'' watchin'. I've seen '''''ev-'''''rything!"
* LimitBreak: Afro's Over Focus.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: Justice makes a speech to this effect, although it's explicitly metaphorical in that Justice gave Afro purpose and influenced his life as a form of EvilMentor.]]
* NewGamePlus
* OneHitKill: Focus Slashes, against most {{Mooks}}, if done perfectly, will kill them in one shot, literally chopping them apart.
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: Justice, after his arms are sliced off]].
* StanceSystem: In ''Revenge of Kuma'', there are three stances available: Afro style (which lets you lock on to enemies and perform guard breaks), Kuma style (which lets you perform finishers) and Master style (which lets you perform a crowd-clearing spin attack).
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Gun Daniels in the sequel is a smooth-talking, homicidal gunslinger in search of the headbands, much like Justice was from the first game.
* WalkItOff: Afro heals by killing people. In Number One Headband, though, he has to pick up Otsuru's bears in order to get his health back - making it much more difficult. It's still possible to heal by killing enemies, but only if you can pull off a perfect decapitation.
[[/folder]]
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