History WMG / SamuraiChamploo

* Rather, he's some kind of spirit who materialized in the human world. As pointed out by the above entry, he was killed no less than three times, but came back from the world of the dead each time. This is because he doesn't belong there, as he doesn't have a human soul. In the flashbacks in ''Misguided Miscreants'' he looks exactly the same as he does in the present, aside from a few wisps of facial hair. He's an impossibly agile and skilled fighter in spite of having no formal training whatsoever. He even has a natural affinity for KiAttacks! In light of these facts, and considering his personality, I posit Mugen might be a sort of AnthropomorphicPersonification of the thoughts and feelings of the Ryukyu criminals. The Ryukyu Islands are a place of death, hopelessness and misery, crawling with doomed souls who want nothing more than to leave. Over the years, all their mental and spiritual energies accreted until Mugen was spawned from them, unaware of his true nature.

For one thing, the protagonists of Champloo seem to be able to access (often by stealing) decent food on a fairly regular basis, so their PerpetualPoverty isn't quite as bad as the Bebop's crew. Also, whereas Spike seemingly dies at the end of the series, Mugen takes Spike's survival skills further, and even when he does die in one case, he comes back. It's a strange case where it is LighterAndSofter despite being a bit BloodierAndGorier. The heroes are more heroic, the episodes more serious (or less darkly comedic if you will), and everything's less edgy overall.

* It would explain not only the whackyness, but also the anachronysms. The disclaimer at the beginning is put there by GM Ed to prevent any of the crew (other than the viewers) to complain about the anachronysms themselves.

For one thing, the protagonists of Champloo seem to be able to access (often by stealing) decent food on a fairly regular basis, so their PerpetualPoverty isn't quite as bad as the Bebop's crew. Also, whereas Spike seemingly dies at the end of the series, Mugen takes Spike's survival skills further, and even when he does die in one case, he comes back.
* LighterAndSofter? They [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence cut off peoples limbs]] and kill many, many more people in much, much more graphic ways!
** And we get to laugh about it. Most of the time.
*** [[YouBastard Not everyone]]. YMMV.
* Overall, no. It's not LighterAndSofter. The food example doesn't really pan out, because the protagonists of both shows are often shown complaining about being hungry, and both teams end up stuffing themselves with hallucinogenic mushrooms to compensate in one case, but neither does '''actually''' suffer from starving. Only the endings diverge enough to make one series appear slightly LighterAndSofter than the other, and even then you're not sure on who survives until the end (or not even then).
** It's a strange case where it can argued as LighterAndSofter despite being a bit BloodierAndGorier. The heroes are more heroic, the episodes more serious (or less darkly comedic if you will), and everything's less edgy overall. Flat-out successor to Bebop is a stretch though.

This is the only way this troper can imagine how they survived.
* Alternatively, the entire series after the part where they consume the mushrooms was an acid trip
** Mushrooms don't give you acid trips.
** Correct. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Acid gives you mushroom trips.]]
*** They may not give you acid trips, but they'll make you see things, all right.
*** Turns out, Magic Mushrooms secrete LSD, or something so similar it may as well be.

* He learnt how to use his chi from monks on the mainland, and he does so by shooting wind blasts from his sword.
** Except Airbending is chi-powered, not chi itself.
** In Aang's series, various benders learn how to manipulate new bending techniques with different elements from their designated powersets. For example, Katara learns to bend blood, Toph with Metal and Azula with lightning. These new technicques are STILL derivatives of pure chi, that's a given, but the ability to ''use'' pure chi was never out of the question either.

* I thought that was obvious...

Same voice. Same hair. Do the math.
* Even better: ''both series are done by the same guy'' (Sinichiro Wanatabe) and in fact ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo is a spiritual sequel to Anime/CowboyBebop'' (as much as ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' was an homage to bebop jazz, hence the title, ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' is an omage to modern rap-inspired bebop, hence the title, "Champloo" - Japanese for "remix") - or perhaps an outright prequel?
* Better still: Spike and Mugen were voiced by the same actor, SteveBlum, in their respective English dubs. Coincidence? I think not!

*** Sorry, but Watanabe Shinichi (Nabeshin) is a different person. He and Watanabe Shinchiro who directed this show just have very similar names, but Shinchiro doesn't have an afro or Franchise/LupinIII inspired outfits.

* And they've all made characters that reveal much of what they think of themselves. Spike plays a badass martial artist, Jet plays a hardass law & order type and Faye plays an innocent girl.
* Further, the reason for the series inexplicably bringing in zombies or baseball was just Ed playing with the system.
** She's the GM, Ein is playing as Momo.
* This is especially brilliant, because it would explain not only the whackyness, but also the anachronysms.
** And the disclaimer at the beginning is put there by GM Ed to prevent any of the crew (other than the viewers) to complain about the anachronysms themselves.

* He's been killed three times, and he's ''still'' alive.
** Specifically an immortal of the ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'' series.
*** Or he's a [[Series/DoctorWho Time Lo]]--[[KilledMidSentence *is shot*]]
** "Mugen" means "infinity", so yeah I'm going with this one.

Adding onto the immortality entry above:

* Even better: ''both series are done by the same guy'' (Sinichiro Wanatabe) and in fact ''SamuraiChamploo is a spiritual sequel to Anime/CowboyBebop'' (as much as ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' was an homage to bebop jazz, hence the title, ''SamuraiChamploo'' is an omage to modern rap-inspired bebop, hence the title, "Champloo" - Japanese for "remix") - or perhaps an outright prequel?

Considering everything that happened in the last two episodes (including Jin's [[spoiler:suicidal attack]], or Mugen [[spoiler:getting blown up]]), and many similarities to Cowboy Bebop, the show was probably supposed to end on [[spoiler:Jin and Mugen fainting after their so-called "duel")]], leaving it up to the viewer to decide whether they finally collapsed from the wounds or survived at the end.

* Rather, he's some kind of spirit who materialized in the human world. As pointed out by the above entry, he was killed no less than three times, but came back from the world of the dead each time. This is because he doesn't belong there, as he doesn't have a human soul. In the flashbacks in ''Misguided Miscreants'' he looks exactly the same as he does in the present, aside from a few wisps of facial hair. He's an impossibly agile and skilled fighter in spite of having no formal training whatsoever. He even has a natural affinity for KiAttacks! In light of these facts, and considering his personality, I posit Mugen might be a sort of AnthropomorphicPersonification of the thoughts and feelings of the Ryukyu criminals.

[[WMG: Mugen is a distant ancestor of [[CowboyBebop Spike]].]]

* Even better: ''both series are done by the same guy'' (Sinichiro Wanatabe) and in fact ''SamuraiChamploo is a spiritual sequel to CowboyBebop'' (as much as ''CowboyBebop'' was an homage to bebop jazz, hence the title, ''SamuraiChamploo'' is an omage to modern rap-inspired bebop, hence the title, "Champloo" - Japanese for "remix") - or perhaps an outright prequel?

*** Or he's a [[DoctorWho Time Lo]]--[[KilledMidSentence *is shot*]]

*** Or he's a [[DoctorWho Time Lo]]--*is shot*

*** Sorry, but Watanabe Shinichi (Nabeshin) is a different person. He and Watanabe Shinchiro who directed this show just have very similar names, but Shinchiro doesn't have an afro or LupinIII inspired outfits.