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YMMV / Samurai Jack

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YMMV tropes for the Samurai Jack series

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    General YMMV 
  • Accidental Innuendo:
    • Just before Jack fights the Shinobi robot, we get this exchange.
      Jack: Shinobi, warrior of the night. Trained to use the darkness of the shadow. I know your arts as well. (proceeds to strip off his robe)
    • EXTRA THICK! became one twelve years after its airdate, thanks to 2016's "THICC" meme.
  • Adorkable: Jack's pride when he dons that improvised armor inside that giant monster has been compared to a stepfather trying to impress his new daughter.
  • Awesome Art: The show has a cinematic visual style meant to evoke classic Science Fiction, Akira Kurosawa films and anime. The geometric character designs and impressionistic/abstract backgrounds really pushed the artists to rely on color to make everything look distinct, and it really shows. One could argue that other, similarly ambitiously-designed TV shows from this era and beyond owe a lot to how big a risk the artists took with this show.
  • Awesome Ego: Aku. He's a shape-shifting Ancient Evil Card-Carrying Villain, but you can't deny that he's pretty entertaining whenever he appears.
  • Base-Breaking Character: The Scotsman's Wife is this to the fanbase. Many fans found her hilarious and awesome for defeating the Celtic demons by herself, while others found her annoying due to her nagging towards her husband and her complaining while Jack and the Scotsman were rescuing her.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
    • In “Jack is Naked”, while the whole episode is a great big trip, a particular scene stands out where a strange elephant-headed fairy randomly flies by making a ghostly, wailing noise. It’s never explained or brought up again after it disappears. What's more, after the episode ends, the fairy returns flying past The Stinger making the same creepy noise, again with no explanation.
    • The last we see of the metal eating family is the family literally eating each other. No mention of them is ever made again (it's unknown if they were sent by Aku).
  • Bizarro Episode:
    • "Jack and the Haunted House" in general. In this episode, the Art Shift is unusually strange and minimalistic, adhering to the immersive effect of the horror sequences. Besides, there's something extremely disturbing about the Demonic Spirit's frighteningly detailed design◊. This is without doubt the most unsettling episode of the series.
    • "Jack and the Farting Dragon". There are no words.
    • Also, "Chicken Jack". As the title suggests, Jack is a chicken for this episode.
    • "Jack is Naked". Literally an episode where Jack has lost his clothes, and ends up wandering into a homage to Alice in Wonderland. Jack even dresses up like Alice at one point, minus the shoes.
    • "Aku's Fairy Tales", wherein Aku reads his self-insert fan fiction to children. Even Genndy himself singled that episode out as one of their weirder ones.
  • Common Knowledge:
    • Jack has never said that an innocent person can't be hurt by his sword because it was made with the essence of a purely good person, just that an evil person (or in this case, an evil demon like Aku) can't use it to hurt others because of its pure properties.
    • Even on this very wiki, everyone operates on the assumption that The Black Mass (the primordial entity that later became Aku) was an Omnicidal Maniac trying to devour the whole universe, but this is not established at any point. In the one episode it appears, it is simply born in an explosion of some sort, flies off, then the gods show up to destroy it while it's still seconds old, and it unsucessfully tries to fight back in self defense. The fragment that landed on Earth did indeed devour any and all creatures that came near it, but for all we know it might've simply been trying to regrow to its original size.
  • Crazy Is Cool: While many characters are strong in spite of their eccentricities, others are strong because of them.
    • The Scotsman, a ridiculously muscled Large Ham of a man with a machine gun peg-leg, penchant for bad music, and a claymore bigger than Jack. He's got a wild and erratic fighting style wherein he opts to tank hits that would kill normal men simply because he thinks he's beefy enough to do so. Then he becomes a ghost, which gives him the ability to fly and use celtic magic ghost bagpipes to form a road for his daughters to ride into battle on giant reindeer. Said celtic magic ghost bagpipes pack enough punch to repel Aku.
    • The Scotsman's Wife to a degree even more so than her husband. When you piss her off she becomes a savage force of nature capable of tearing multiple armed opponents apart with her bare hands in a blind berserker rage.
    • Mad Jack representing Jack's evil side is an unhinged, Ax-Crazy and savage fighter.
    • The Guardian, a beefy blue dude who looks like Morpheus on steroids and has bodied everything from colossal robot titans to puny bruisers, surrounded in an entire junkyard of their remains. He took down Jack, too. Unfortunately Aku was too much for even the likes of him.
  • Creepy Awesome: The show has its share of comedic villains, but there are a handful whose chilling presence left an impression.
    • Demongo. His demonic design, oily voice, and the seemingly limitless amount of warriors he can summon made him this.
    • The Minions of Set may have brought Jack to his most desperate (at least at the time of the show's original run on Cartoon Network). They were relentless, powerful, and unable to be harmed by conventional methods. They kept Jack on the run in-between handing out a savage beating.
    • The Demonic Spirit that Jack encounters in the haunted house. The episode was decidedly horror-themed with this thing having invaded and consumed a family and paraded them around to consume Jack as well. There's nothing we know about this creature other than how scary it can be.
    • The Ninja. Totally silent and absolutely deadly in both his methods and stalking down Jack. He actually forced Jack to change tactics from fighting like a samurai, stop relying on his base fighting style, and switch to fighting like a ninja, in a battle of ninja versus ninja.
    • Aku in his more serious appearances can be this way. His surprise entrance in the latter half of "Jack and the Zombies", where he manages to take the sword from Jack and goes all out trying to kill the samurai, is a big example.
  • Crossover Ship:
  • Designated Villain: The Elemental trio from "Jack and the Gangsters". Sure they try to kill Jack, but only because he's trying to steal the jewel they're guarding which they're trying to keep out of Aku's hands. It's almost odd that the show treats them as monsters of the week while similar characters like X9 were given a sympathetic POV. Perhaps this is why they're ultimately incapacitated after accidentally shooting each other rather than killed by Jack.
  • Draco in Leather Pants: Three words: Aku. Has. FANGIRLS.
    • Besides, he has a loud fanbase that sympathize with him for being Made of Evil. He simply CAN'T stop being evil because it's in his very nature to be evil. The fact that some fans saw his death as a Tear Jerker moment of the series only cemented this status, since his death marks the end to an iconic Cartoon Network villain many grew up with. Of course, this is ignoring that Aku is a chaotically evil sadist whose list of crimes can fill a book; and his sense of humor aside, he has no redeemable traits. Some fans even consider him as Ugly Cute or Creepy Cute, largely due to his somewhat simplistic design.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse:
    • The Scotsman, the fact that he's got a machine gun for a peg leg should show how cool a character he is.
    • Ikra, Aku's female alter-ego, is popular enough to be shipped with Jack. Despite the fact that, you know, "she" is really Aku.
    • Exdor, who seemed very similar to Dexter. He later appeared in the 2004 video game.
    • The Lava Monster, due to his surprisingly tragic backstory and beautiful death scene.
    • Demongo, apparently enough to get him a profile on Cartoon Network's site at one point in their old shows archive. He also makes an appearance on the game FusionFall. And... Demongo makes a surprise return in season five's "XCVII", with no explanation on how he survived his apparent death at the hands of Aku.
    • The Guardian is well-liked because of how badass he is; he's the only antagonist to single-handedly defeat Samurai Jack and get away with it. Many are hoping that he and the time portal he's guarding will once again become relevant in Season 5. Tragically, the sorting algorithm of power got to him first, and Aku, proving himself to be even more powerful than the Guardian, took him out of the picture long, long ago.
    • Og from Jack vs Mad Jack is particularly popular for his memorable scene but more so because of his Wookie-like appearance.
    • Narc is a three-eyed alien dancer who happened to be a spy for Aku as shown in "The Samurai Called Jack". Despite her very minor role, some fans like her attractive design.
    • The Imakandi have gotten some fans due to being a Proud Warrior Race who actually succeeded in capturing Jack, only to let him go out of respect for being a Worthy Opponent.
    • Da Samurai has also been picking up some steam as well. People seemed to enjoy his change towards the end of his episode, and some even hope he comes back for Season 5. They got their wish in "XCVII", though it turns out he's become a humble bartender.
    • X9. His episode was an excellent neo-noir story, and he had an delightful 1920s mobster theme. Shame he was forced to go against Jack... which only meant one thing.
    • The cricket-chasing girl whom Jack befriends in one of his flashbacks in "Jack Remembers the Past" is well-remembered for giving him his first kiss. Quite a bit of fanart and fanfiction has been written about her, and some fans hope that the two will reunite when Jack returns to the past.
  • Esoteric Happy Ending: Played for Laughs in "Jack and the Farting Dragon", where Jack saves the day only for the baby dragon to basically set the town on fire. Everyone is too busy celebrating to stop it.
    Jack: (cheerfully) Now all I need to do is put out the fires!
    • Even Jack questions if what he did was a good thing.
  • Estrogen Brigade: Jack himself has attracted quite a few female fans to the series. It should come as a surprise to no one that a male character who is not only ripped, but loses half his clothes (or sometimes all of his clothes, aside from his fundoshi) and has his hair come undone in a flowing, sweaty mess at least Once per Episode was greatly appreciated by many of the show's female fans.
  • Evil Is Cool:
    • Aku. He has ruled the world for centuries and defeated many warriors in his way, as well as determined in his war with Jack. However, what makes him truly awesome is that he's different from other "dark" villains. He's capable of being an epic and ass-kicking villain, while still being fun and hilarious at the same time.
    • There's also Demongo, the Collector of Souls.
    • Let's not forget the coolest villains in the show, the Minions of Set. They're demonic creatures from the past who are too strong for Jack to face head-on.
    • Shinobi, a deadly ninja who takes advantage of the show's lack of outlines to seamlessly blend into the shadows. His duel with Jack is well remembered for how beautifully stylized the whole thing was.
  • Fanfic Fuel: What adventures was Jack up to in the 50 year timeskip? Genndy says it's up to you. To help with that, the episode number skips from LII (52) straight to XCII (92), allowing fans to fill their stories in with the numbers in between.
  • Fandom Rivalry: Samurai Jack has quite the rivalry with Star Wars: Clone Wars even though they have a similar style and are both works of Genndy Tartakovsky.
  • Fan Nickname:
    • "Tartakovsky without limits." At the time this was Genndy Tartakovsky's most explicitly violent show and his first to regularly depict on-screen death and bloodshed. (Of course, his next show Primal (2019) would make this one look tame by comparison.)
    • It's not uncommon for fans to refer to Da Samurai as "Sam-Moo-Rhai" or some variation thereof.
    • The alien family who Jack saves at the beginning of the fifth season's first episode — whose words are displayed on electric wavelengths on their antennae — were nicknamed "the Emoji family".
    • Many took to calling the Omen "the Horseman" (this website included) as a placeholder name before his true name was given.
  • Fanon Welding: There are an alarming amount of people who think that Samurai Jack takes place in the same universe as Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls, due to the fact that the remains of what looks like Townsville are seen in the first episode, and some people have commented on how Professor Utonium and Jack look a lot alike. Some people have even made some pretty interesting theories here and there.
  • Foe Yay Shipping:
    • Oh God, when Aku disguised himself as a beautiful woman named "Ikra", (s)he seems to actually show growing chemistry with Jack. Urgh, how far would Aku have kept up the ruse?
    • Believe it or not, Aku pulls this off a second time in one of the CN Action Pack comics. He takes the form of a beautiful geisha for what is implied to be several months, only to change back right after Jack confesses his love for her. This time there wasn't even any threat or time portal involved; he just wanted to screw with the poor guy. His last words?
    Aku: "You will always be alone. HA HA HA HA HA!" (returns to his lair) "But I will never be alone... as long as I have you."
  • Fountain of Memes: Aku, for obvious reasons, is just so damn quotable.
  • Genius Bonus: In "Samurai vs Samurai," Da Samurai is boastful, arrogant, flashy, loud, and generally an insufferable jerk. In short, he acts like a typical historical samurai... at least until Jack manages to get through to him in the end.
    • This next one takes three seasons to kick in: the rave music in "Jack and the Rave" is strongly dissonant. When we hear the music Olivia plays in XCVII, it's of an extremely similar style, but it's extremely assonant, emphasizing the difference between HER raves and the ones Aku controlled.
  • Ham and Cheese: Aku, to Narm Charm levels.
    Aku: (into the phone) "Thirty minutes or it's free? Excellent! HA HAAAA HA HA HAAAAA HA HA!"
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • In "The Aku Infection", Aku was sick with a horrible coughing fit, and he spits out a virus that infects Jack and slowly turns him into another Aku. Mako (Aku's voice actor) would later die of esophageal cancer.
    • "Aku's Fairy Tales" had Aku trying to brainwash children with stories of Aku being the hero, and Jack being the villain. It was Played for Laughs and is a light-hearted episode overall. But then Season 5 introduced the Daughters of Aku, seven women warriors who were raised under harsh conditions by an evil cult, which brainwashed them into believing that Aku is their lord and savior; thus reminding the viewers that while Aku's first attempt at propaganda was an Epic Fail, the motive behind it is still terrifying.
    • At the end of "Jack and the Baby", the Baby has a scowl on her face, and Jack says it's because she had "witnessed death" and now has the spirit of the samurai. Then in "Episode XCIV", we learn that Jack had literally witnessed death as a child when he saw his father kill off a gang of bandits, which also ended his innocent outlook on life.
    • The opening narration for Seasons 1-4 of the show sounds like Aku is narrating from the past about how he sent Jack to the future, where the hero is now searching for a way to get back home (the narration sounds completely harmless at best). Come the final season, and we discover that what we thought was Aku's harmless narration from the past is actually him chronicling in the future about Jack's escapades there up to the time of the Grand Finale, where Aku had already defeated and captured Jack (and is about ready to straight up execute our hero too!).
    • In "Jack and the Three Monks", Jack came dangerously close to abandoning his quest after one too many failures, until the titular monks reminded him of all the suffering Aku has caused and what he's fighting for, rejuvenating his spirit to carry on. But then Season 5's premise was revealed, and Jack has pretty much abandoned all hope after 50 long years of still being trapped in the future with Aku also still alive. Even the Armor-Piercing Question the monks give out to Jack becomes all the more tragic when it is repeated in another form once Season 5 premieres.
    • In the episode "Jack, the Monks, and the Ancient Master's Son", when Tam Sung expresses awe that Jack has apparently remained unchanged despite all the centuries that have passed, and believes that Jack had achieved a level of chi even beyond his own, before Jack hastily corrects him that he had merely been displaced in time. Come Season 5, and we find out that a side-effect of the time-travel spell that Aku used to send Jack to the future has also turned him biologically immortal.
    • In "Jack vs. Aku", the episode is kicked off by Aku having grown tired of the static premise of the show, and how he and Jack can't seem to decisively kill each other, resulting in a perpetual stalemate. Aku even has a Leaning on the Fourth Wall speech about how his plans to kill Jack, and Jack's plans to return home, will always inevitably fail week after week, "And then we'll do the same thing all over again." While this is a largely comedic episode, it gets a lot darker after Season 5 premiered. Turns out that fifty years of doing "the same thing all over again" hasn't been kind to either character: Aku has crippling depression, and can't even be bothered to run his own empire; and Jack is struggling with PTSD, hallucinations, and suicidal thoughts.
      • That episode was also Aku's final appearance on the show prior to the Time Skip, and thus Mako's last time voicing the character. His last line, "We'll meet again, Samurai!" is a bit tragic given that fact.
    • In "Jack and the Warrior Woman", Jack befriends "Ikra", a beautiful woman whom he was slowly growing a romantic crush on; but he is very shocked and dismayed to learn that "she" was actually Aku in disguise this whole time. Later, if you count this comic story, Aku pulled off the same trick twice. Much later in Season 5, Jack finds himself caught in a very eerily similar problem; it turns out that his first real girlfriend (Ashi) was unknowingly the literal daughter of Aku this whole time, and Ashi is forced by her dad to try and slay Jack (though she breaks out of this).
    • In "The Aku Infection", Samurai Jack was somehow infected with a mutagenic disease that gradually turned him into a mini-clone of Aku, until he eventually managed to purge the illness from his body, mind, and soul. Later, in the same episode where Ashi's long-lost father was revealed, Aku forces Ashi to go through a very similar and painful transformation into an Aku-like demon herself. But because the curse is in her own genes, this will be very difficult to reverse.
      • Speaking of, there's the fact that it took a small fragment to infect Jack and mutate him into an evil clone, but much later on, the High Priestess is revealed to have drank a whole chalice of Aku's essence and it did not mutate, infect, poison, or kill her in any way, because she's already evil.
  • Heartwarming in Hindsight: The children in "Aku's Fairy Tales" playing Samurai Jack, then telling an awesome story about him at the end, all reads like how actual fans of the series talk about it in real life.
  • Ho Yay:
    • When Jack meets the Scotsman for the first time, we get this exchange:
      Jack: No, I Look, we are both in a hurry. So I shall hang from these planks and you may walk over.
      The Scotsman: So you get a peek up my kilt?
    • Nearly-naked Jack tickling a nearly-naked sumo wrestler.
    • In the episode "Jack vs. Aku," Aku replaces Jack's sword with a note that says "Dear Jack, Look behind you. Love Aku." IT also had a heart at the end.
    • There's a surprising amount of romantic tension between Jack and Johnny Bravo in this Cartoon Network commercial bumper, which led to many people shipping them together.
  • Love to Hate:
    • Aku is well beloved for being downright hilarious and entertaining, all while still being deliciously evil for the sake of being evil. But it can be so easy to forget that he's supposed to be completely loathsome and irredeemably evil.
    • The Demonic Spirit from "Jack and the Haunted House" doubles with Creepy Awesome, and it's possibly the most frightening and disturbing creature to have appeared in the original series. Unlike Aku, this being is played completely seriously, with no humorous quirks to detract from the insane nightmare that is this creature.
  • Magnificent Bastard: "Jack and the Hunters": The Imakandi are a quartet of cat-like creatures known as "the greatest hunters in the universe", and they easily prove to be more than worthy of that title. After getting hired by Aku to hunt down the titular samurai warrior and bring Jack to him, they arrive on Earth, sniff out Jack's footprints, sneak up on and capture him with great ease. One of the hunters grabs onto Jack's sword in midair before Jack can swipe him, forcing Jack to run for his freedom, knowing he can't fight the hunters. The hunters pursue an extremely long chase, managing to keep up with Jack despite his attempts to shake them without breaking a sweat. When they finally capture him, they betray Aku and allow Jack to roam free due to him proving to be a Worthy Opponent thanks to their Code of Honor.
  • Memetic Badass:
    • Jack himself.
    • The Scotsman gets a bit of this as well.
    • The Scotsman's Wife also gets this. You can see some comments on this video, claiming that the series would be finished already if she had been given Jack's sword and Aku had insulted her weight.
  • Most Wonderful Sound:
    • The hawk-like screech that plays whenever a time portal is opened.
    • WATCH OUT.
  • Memetic Molester: In "Jack and the Warrior Woman", Jack learns to his horror that Ikra, a beautiful woman whom he was clearly feeling love for, was actually Aku in disguise. In these comments, there are so many jokes speculating that the disguised Aku must've had sex with an unwitting Jack. note 
  • Misaimed Marketing: One of the Cartoon Network promos has Jack shouting "WHO ELSE WANTS SOME?!", even though the point of the episode was that his anger issues were a character flaw that needed to be overcome.
  • Moe: Jack as a young boy. His design and cheerful demeanor makes him come off as this.
  • Nausea Fuel: "Jack and the Farting Dragon". In particular, the scenes where Jack travels inside the dragon's organs. Please, if you are sensitive to everything related to intestines and digestive system, DO NOT watch this episode.
  • Older Than They Think: The ignorant would think that "Jack and the Spartans" is a blatant rip-off of the more Memetic Mutation movie 300, even including many of the same sepia tone visuals. But the episode was made years before and was inspired by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley's 1998 graphic novel, of which the infamous film was an adaptation. It's more likely a Whole-Plot Reference to the 1962 film The 300 Spartans, which inspired Miller to write 300. Of course, all these works are based on the Real Life Battle of Thermopylae , which happened in 480 BC.
  • One-Scene Wonder: Very few characters recur, so there are a few of these.
    • X9 spends his entire episode as the protagonist, and deconstructs What Measure Is a Mook?, making him a memorable tragic character.
    • Mira, The Gentleman, Jujunga, Boris, I and Am... all from "The Princess and the Bounty Hunters" were also protagonists, and they spend their episode preparing to fight Jack. Their group dynamic was interesting, they all have unique and interesting designs, each have their own musical leitmotiv, and Princess Mira has an interesting backstory, but they are defeated at the end of their episode and don't come back.
    • The Imakandi, the hunting pack who were one of the few groups who bested Jack.
    • Also, The Guardian of a Time Portal, who is the only person to best Jack in single combat.
    • The Minions of Set, who are remembered as some of Jack's most formidable opponents. Relentless, powerful, and unable to be harmed by conventional methods, they kept Jack on the run in-between handing out a savage beating and may have brought Jack to his most desperate.
    • Ezekiel and Josephine Clench, the two western-style bounty hunters. Both have nice designs: Ezekiel with his cybernetic hands and Playing Card Motifs; Josephine with her Southern Belle attire. Both use cool Swiss Army Weapons and know how to fight. While underplayed, the fact that they used to be married and the gag that Ezekiel had to take a restraining order on her gave them a good group dynamic. Finally, they are also among the few human opponents who were able to give Jack a tough fight. However, even though they are shown to have survived at the end of their debut episode, they don't come back. Josephine also has sex appeal on her side.
    • The unnamed thief from Jack and the Labyrinth, who is stylish, badass, and has the greatest briefcase ever.
  • Padding: The show is very slow-paced and often filled with long segments where very little happens (for example, the first minute and a half of "Jack versus Mad Jack" is just a bunch of bounty hunters playing the knife game, and it takes another minute for the main character to show up) or have prolonged shots of repeated animation. Of course this is usually seen as an example of Tropes Are Not Bad, as it helped give the show a unique cinematic style that has been well-received.
  • Periphery Demographic: Tartakovsky said outright that they went to make a show anyone could enjoy. It has aired on both Toonami and [adult swim], a block meant for adults. Now the show has been revived, but was aired on Toonami... which is now airing on [adult swim] hours instead of regular Cartoon Network hours.
  • Sacred Cow: The first four seasons are hailed as masterpieces of animation due to their art, action, and emotion, making them beyond reproach. The fifth season, which is more divisive, does not get this level of protection.
  • Signature Scene:
    • The first two minutes of "Jack Learns to Jump Good", where Jack seemingly finally reaches a time portal, after which, with absolutely no warning, Aku appears out of nowhere, snatches the portal, and then dangles the portal just outside of Jack's reach. It's generally seen as a good summary of the first four seasons.
    • Aku challenging Jack to a fight in "Jack vs. Aku" is also an incredibly memorable and down-right hilarious sequence.
  • Spoiled by the Format: Averted hilariously in the second part of "Scotsman Saves Jack". A heated battle ensues with the sirens with about 10 minutes left of the episode. They defeat them in about 2. The rest of the episode is devoted to a set of competitions set by the Scotsman on who would row the boat to get off the island, since the pirates who brought them there left without them, despite Jack and the Scotsman saving their lives. See More Hero than Thou in the main page.
  • Spiritual Adaptation:
    • This is perhaps the best Animated Adaptation of Ronin (1983) ever made with the series sharing the exact same premise of a Japanese samurai being sent to a dystopian future by a demon.
    • Not a bad Lighter and Softer adaptation of The Dark Tower series, just replace the gunslinger with a samurai and mix The Chrimson King and The Man in Black into one character to make Aku.
  • Squick: The Reveal at the end of "Jack and the Warrior Woman", even if it was a Captain Obvious Reveal in hindsight.
  • Strawman Has a Point: While Da Samurai was portrayed as a Dirty Coward for attempting to run away from the assassins that surrounded Jack, him staying back and attempting to fight them would have been synonymous with playing Russian Roulette with his life. With Da Samurai having little to no experience in martial arts, it’s not too unreasonable for him to not want to fight the assassins.
  • Suspiciously Similar Song:
    • One cue often used for tragic scenes is borrowed from John Williams' score for A New Hope from the scene were Luke looks out at the sunset.
    • In "Jack vs. Mad Jack," a female patron of the Bad Guy Bar dances to sound-alike of Quincy Jones's "Soul Bosso Nova" (more commonly known as the Austin Powers theme).
    • In "Episode XCIII", the Daughters of Aku are searching for their bounty, Samurai Jack, who is hiding in a grave, while a music very close of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly's "Ecstasy of Gold" plays over.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Come on, who else would've liked to see Ra himself take on Aku? Curb-Stomp Battle or not.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: The show has some incredibly impressive 2D effects animation, but special mention goes to Aku's body burning, meant to resemble inflamed film celluloid, whenever he's being defeated in "The Birth of Evil."
  • Woolseyism: Occurs occasionally in the Swedish dub. One memorable instance is with the announcer of the Dome of Doom. In the English original he states the line "Well, there you have it folks" in a somewhat disappointed tone. In the Swedish dub he states "Ja, så kan det gå"note  in a flabbergasted and excited tone, changing the context of the scene into something that suggests that whatever happened, it looked painful.
  • What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?:
    • The series is known for using heavy robotic gore, show realistic examples of slavery, some swearing and sexual comments. All of which had been deemed unusual for a Cartoon Network show at the time.
    • Tartakovsky has acknowledged the freedom with Season 5 of the show being on [adult swim], but he knows full well how the show is also watched by kids then and now. It will be edgier, but not to a significant degree.

    Season 5 YMMV 
  • Accidental Innuendo:
    • In the first episode, one of the first things Scaramouche tells Jack is to "whip it out" when referring to his sword.
    • Episode nine, when Aku sees Ashi for the first time and notes she shares his blood:
      Aku: "Yes, I smell me inside of her..."
  • Angst Aversion: For every two fans who enjoy this Darker and Edgier revival, there's one who finds it too dark and too edgy. For them, watching the main character continue to get jacked around by the villain is too unpleasant and many were left emotionally exhausted by the Bittersweet Ending.
  • Angst? What Angst?:
    • Ashi doesn't seem to hold any resentment towards Jack for killing her sisters (at least not anymore). Granted, the Daughters' harsh upbringing by their mother, the High Priestess, made them repress any empathy for each other. Also, Ashi might understand Jack's actions were justified because he was only defending himself.
      • In "Episode XCVIII", during the duel between the High Priestess and Ashi, the High Priestess points out that despite the fact Jack killed all her sisters, Ashi decided to befriend him anyways; which is counter-argued by Ashi, who points out her mother's cruel abuse of her own daughters, that she was the one who turned them into killing machines, and thus was responsible for leading Ashi's sisters to their deaths. Ashi does seem upset about her sisters, but (rightfully) pins the blame on her mom.
    • The Scotsman is rather jolly while rising as a ghost shortly after being scorched to death by Aku, and in front of his daughters no less. Granted, if anything he's better off than before (he now looks like he's back in his youthful prime rather than as an old cripple, and his daughters can still interact with him).
    • We never see how Jack reacts to the idea that everyone he's ever befriended in the future may or may not have been erased from existence just like his lover Ashi, which is unfortunately never addressed since we only see him feeling hurt over Ashi's fate and no one else's. Though it's still possible that Jack could've pondered about all this while sulking under that tree. And Ashi was the only one who literally couldn't have been born without Aku and who definitely faded away.
  • Anti-Climax Boss:
    • The Dominator, who was defeated by Ashi without much effort.
    • The Omen is built up throughout the season as the only thing that can instill paralyzing fear in Jack, and it finally leads him to attempt Seppuku at his lowest moment. Ashi's brief fight with him also reveals him to be a Humanoid Abomination and far stronger than most opponents Jack faces. However, once Jack is inspired to finally turn on him, he's taken out in two sword strokes without much resistance. One could argue, though, that the point was Jack's mental recovery enabling him to effortlessly defeat the embodiment of his torment.
    • A justified example occurs in the Grand Finale with Aku, who goes down more easily than he did in previous one-on-one fights with Jack. This is because Ashi allowed Jack to finally return to his own time to Set Right What Once Went Wrong, and both Jack and Ashi had just landed back in Aku's lair... about 15 seconds after Jack was originally flung into the future, where Aku was at his weakest due to just barely surviving his first battle with Jack. In any case, the earlier fight with Aku in the future more or less compensated for this.
  • Awesome Ego: Scaramouche the Merciless, babe! He's extremely confident in his abilities and even refers to himself as "Aku's number one assassin" (even though he's actually only third), but he's delightfully hilarious and actually manages to give Jack a rather good fight, making him seem all the more awesome for it.
  • Base-Breaking Character:
    • Ashi became this based on the amount of Character Focus she has, leading some to fear she's become a Spotlight-Stealing Squad.
    • The Omen was one of the most mysterious and terrifying new characters of Season 5 and fans were caught up in the mystery behind him. The show's decision to make its identity and purpose subject to an Un Reveal either made fans accept it due to his mysterious nature or felt cheated due to the mystery building to nothing but a fight. Others feel like they can determine what its purpose was through the show's context clues.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In "XCVII", Demongo's cameo has absolutely no impact on the plot (which is a Continuity Cavalcade) and only seems to be included due to the character's status as an Ensemble Dark Horse. Not to mention that he's nowhere to be found in the finale. Da Samurai even lampshades it.
    Da Samurai: (whistles) We got some straight-up freaks comin' through this place...
  • Catharsis Factor:
    • Watching Ashi give The Dominator a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown before he blows up is quite satisfying, especially for those who genuinely believe The Dominator is Eric Cartman.
    • Not like fans weren't hoping for it; after all the scenes with the High Priestess brutally torturing her own daughters, the scene in "XCVIII" where Ashi finally strikes her down is very fulfilling. What makes it even better is that with Aku's death in the past, the cult will never exist in the future.
    • Unsurprisingly, after all the times that Aku has tormented Samurai Jack, along with all his atrocities against nearly everyone in the galaxy, Jack finally killing Aku in the series finale made it all worth it.
    • Another moment from the finale: After Aku had spent most of the episode tanking all of the army's attacks, the robots from season 4 arrive piloting the Robo-Samurai. Aku proceeds to taunt it for about two seconds, before it begins viciously kicking his shit in. It doesn't last long, but it's satisfying to see Aku knocked down a few pegs.
    • For Samurai Jack at large. After waiting THIRTEEN LONG YEARS for the series to reach its conclusion, many people who watched the show as children and/or teens are now adults, some with children of their own. Now, a once-unfulfilled dream of their youth has finally been realized.
  • Creepy Awesome:
    • Inner Jack in general.
    • The Omen. A creepy, mysterious entity who appears every time Jack has an Heroic BSoD.
  • Complete Monster: While Aku himself, the Arch-Enemy of the titular hero, is Made of Evil, this duo from the final season proves that, sometimes, Humans Are the Real Monsters:
    • The High Priestess is the leader of the Cult of Aku, and a zealot dedicated solely to appeasing the dark god she worships by any means necessary. Drinking Aku's essence and giving birth to septuplets with Aku's dark energy within them, the High Priestess dubs them the Daughters of Aku and proceeds to horribly condition them into unfeeling weapons whose sole purpose is to kill Samurai Jack. The High Priestess systematically abuses them for years on end, searing their flesh with hot coals while they're still young and putting them through brutal, life-or-death training routines where every slight distraction means torture and beatings — sometimes simply for things as minor as looking outside. Having the Daughters graduate by having them massacre her own devoted followers, the High Priestess sends the Daughters into the world to kill Jack and callously brushes off the deaths of most of them at Jack's hand, furiously attempting to kill Ashi, her only surviving daughter, with her own hands after she finally turns on the High Priestess. An unfeeling fanatic able to rival her own dark god in evil, the High Priestess justifies her cruelty simply by stating Jack must die at any cost — regardless if that cost is her own flesh and blood.
    • "XCVI": The Dominator is a sadistic Torture Technician seemingly motivated purely by a desire to hurt people. Slaughtering a village of innocents and abducting all of their children, the Dominator painfully transforms all of the children into psychotic killing machines to be used as weapons, and tests them out on Jack and Ashi once they try to retrieve the children, with complete knowledge Jack's refusal to hurt innocents makes him easy prey. The Dominator brutally tortures Ashi upon capturing her with clear lascivious intent, gloating that children are easily manipulated tools—and that Jack's refusal to hurt them only makes him a "righteous fool".
  • Crack Ship: Demongo and Scaramouche are often paired up due to their hammy personalities, despite having no interaction onscreen, nor evidence that they even know each other. This skyrocketed when they both reappeared in the same episode, still never having seen nor spoken to each other.
  • Crazy Is Cool: Scaramouche the Merciless combines Camp Gay sensibilities with Musical Assassin abilities and Large Ham voice acting to produce a bad guy who's totally vicious but throughly entertaining to watch.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: Jack seeing the ghosts of children begging him for help is suitably Nightmare Fuel. The Perspective Flip of Scaramouche staring nonplussed at Jack talking to someone who isn't there, on the other hand, is very darkly amusing.
  • Cry for the Devil:
    • Right from the very first episode, many viewers felt genuinely bad for the Daughters of Aku. As vicious and dangerous as they are, they're ultimately just seven women who were raised from birth in horrible conditions (including being brutally beaten for the smallest slights by their own mother) to become the Tyke Bombs they are with zero choice in the matter. It says quite a lot that instead of being excited for their eventual battle with Jack, fans actually dread it, not wanting either side to be hurt. And it only got worse in the second episode, in which Jack kills one of them, not knowing that it's a human being and not a machine until he does so. In the third episode, Jack kills off the rest of the Daughters (save one). Granted, he did give them a choice to give up their pursuit or to be eliminated. After Episode 3 it got so bad that fans have actually called Jack a murderer, accusations that Jack himself actually ends up hallucinating in Episode 4. While he did give them a chance to leave, many would argue the daughters aren't of sound mind to actually be able to choose, in fact Jack's ultimatum is probably the first choice they ever had. That said, Jack would have no way of knowing that, and in actuality if someone is to be blamed for their deaths it falls squarely on the High Priestess. In episode 7, when Ashi is fighting with her mother, Ashi in fact does this and lays that blame at her mother's feet, making it clear that whatever role Jack had in her sisters' deaths, she accepts without question that it wasn't his fault.
    • Some people even feel bad for Aku himself after the finale. Unlike the Daughters, he was esentially the Japanese equivalent of Satan who soundly deserved everything he got, but his bombastic personality combined with his iconic status make it slightly sad and surreal to see him finally finished for good. Not to mention that him not getting a final showdown with Jack and instead getting offed in the past, where he is far weaker, and retroactively erased didn't sit well with some. This short fanfic manages to turn Aku's death into an outright Tear Jerker by exploring Future!Aku's presumed fear, powerlessness, loneliness and disappointment as he is fading from existence due to Past!Aku's death. The Inferred Holocaust surrounding his death in the past is another factor that could easily generate this kind of feeling regarding it:
    Perhaps these final moments would be best spent cursing the foolish Samurai one last...
  • Designated Love Interest: Quite a few viewers felt that Jack and Ashi's relationship, especially at the beginning, came off as closer to father/daughter than anything romantic. Even some who didn't felt that it wasn't a very satisfying romance story.
  • Draco in Leather Pants: The High Priestess herself is this for some. In fact, there's a theory circulating in the Fridge sub-page about the possibility that she was raised just like her daughters were. If it's true, it's sad, but it doesn't change or excuse what she did.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse:
    • Scaramouche the Merciless became absolutely beloved by fans from the second he appeared thanks to being a Large Ham Robotic Psychopath with a terrakinetic flute who's both absolutely hilarious and surprisingly competent in his fight against Jack.
    • There's a lot of fan art of the Emoji Family (this name was allegedly used by Genndy at Comic-Con) that Jack saves, despite them only appearing in the beginning few minutes of the first episode. While their designs alone are very cute, most agree that it's because of the way they communicate a la Atom Ant.
    • Surprisingly enough, the White Wolf that serves as a metaphor for Jack in "XCIII" is rather well-liked, mostly because of how badass its fight scenes were. Some fans began to rejoice when it was revealed that not only was the wolf real, but it somehow survived.
    • The Scotsman's Daughters got a lot of positive attention for how little time they got in their debut episode, all for being very attractive yet heroically built young women.
  • Epileptic Trees: There are a lot of fan theories and questions running around now that the series is over. Who or what is The Omen? Who is the mysterious stranger that helped Ashi find Jack? Who is the High Priestess and what does she look like underneath her mask? Where is the Guardian and is he truly dead? Is Ashi truly gone for good now that Aku is dead? Is the dying old Spartan King who met Jack the same king from the final battle? If so, how was he able to remember those events? Does the Bad Future still exist? Now that the series is truly over, these questions can only be answered by Genndy himself.
  • Evil Is Cool:
    • Scaramouche from the first episode, partly for being the comic relief to break up the heavy drama and tension for the rest of the episode, and for how his fight with Jack is the perfect blend of intense, creative and ridiculous. Suffice to say, a lot of people were happy when it turned out that he survived as a disembodied head. And many were sad to see him die permanently in "Episode C".
    • The High Priestess is the living embodiment of this trope during her last fight with Ashi, largely due to her ninjutsu-like skills.
    • Ashi's demonic form under Aku's control is getting this reaction from the fanbase.
    • Aku any time he actually fights. During his fight against the Scotsman's army and his last fight with Jack's allies, he's practically unstoppable.
  • Fandom Rivalry: The fandom developed one with Rick and Morty within hours of the latter show airing its Season 3 Premiere. On any other day this would be fine, but as an April Fools' Day joke Adult Swim chose to air it unannounced on a loop until midnight, delaying Samurai Jack until next week. Needless to say, fans were less than thrilled, especially since this also meant recording disruptions for DVRs that are programmed to only record an episode once, potentially failing to record the episode when it actually aired.
    Before the fourth episode aired, I tore open a portal in cable, and flung viewers into a scheduling nightmare, where Rick and Morty is law! Now the board waits in hope, that they will undue (sic) the future that is Adult Swim...◊
  • Fanfic Fuel: So what happened to all those characters in the future after Aku died? While Ashi's death was pretty much inevitable given that she was Aku's daughter, lots of people like to write their own explanations as to what happened after Aku's death. It has since fallen to the fandom themselves to create a "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, with the most common recurring elements being The Scotsman and the Guardian still being alive.
  • Fanon: Many fans believe one of the kids in "Aku's Fairy Tales" grew up to be the High Priestess, considering what the cult believes.
  • Fanon Discontinuity:
    • As far as "Episode CI" is concerned, Ashi's death never happened.
    • Likewise, as far as "Episode C" is concerned, Aku never cheaply invoked Killed Offscreen on The Guardian or his portal.
    • "Episode CI" in general never happened to some. Some have gone as far as to deem it one of the most anti-climactic and disappointing series finales in history.
  • Growing the Beard: Not to say that the show wasn't already great before, but for at least some of the base, the revival takes it to new heights. Jack has literally grown a beard, too.
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • The Daughters of Aku sure are sexy with their skintight catsuits that look like they were painted on, right? Turns out they are painted on... or rather charred on after some rather extreme torture with hot, burning magic.
    • When Ashi asked Jack why he left her while being understanding, he tells her all the happier times he had would be just become memories, and doesn't want her to be just a memory. And then she fades away on their wedding day and all he can do is see her as a memory.
  • He's Just Hiding:
    • Some fans have this opinion regarding the Guardian, after "Episode C" shows the portal he was guarding destroyed and no trace of him left except his broken glasses. The final episode leaves his fate ambiguous, as he's one of the few characters not to come Back for the Finale. Even after the finale, some speculate that the Guardian is possibly alive, considering how he's been guarding a time portal for many millennia and thus might have been already around when Jack was first sent into the future.
    • One of the Daughters of Aku (the one with the naginata) suffers no obviously fatal wounds during her fight with Jack and is only (seemingly) killed by being thrown off a cliff. Jack and Ashi also go over the cliff a few moments later, and they both survive, so there was some speculation she might still be alive as well. She was never seen again, and even if she did survive, she presumably would have suffered the same fate as Ashi after the finale.
  • I Knew It!:
    • After the tragic passing of Aku's iconic voice actor Mako Iwamatsu, many fans correctly guessed that Greg Baldwin would take over the role in Season 5, given the actor's well known portrayal of Iroh, another character Mako had voiced.
    • Some viewers believed that the "Daughters of Aku" had a literal meaning to their name, even though most had assumed it was only a figurative title given to them by the Cult of Aku. "Episode C" confirmed that the title was indeed literal.
    • Many also predicted that The Scotsman would return (in "Episode XCVI"), only so that he would be killed by Aku. At least his spirit (literally) continued to live on.
    • "Episode XCVII" confirmed some viewers' guesses that Aku was behind the cursed Well of King Ozric from way back in the Season 1 episode "Jack and the Three Blind Archers".
    • Several fans figured that if Scaramouche tried to tell Aku that Jack lost his sword, Aku would destroy him due to them both having been Locked Out of the Loop (Jack had already reclaimed his sword during the time it took for Scaramouche to inform Aku). When Aku discovers the truth, he kills Scaramouche by blowing up his head.
    • While it was by no means a universally agreed upon prediction, some guessed well ahead of time that The Guardian and his time portal were not spared Aku's purge and that Jack would have to find another way to the past.
  • Inferred Holocaust: In the finale, Jack finally goes back to the past and kills Aku just after their original battle. While Ashi, who goes back with him, is explicitly shown to fade out, what's not shown is that now nearly every character in the show may or may not ever be born, depending on whether they're subject to Butterfly of Doom or simply live in a brighter version of the future that was never conquered by Aku.
  • It's Short, So It Sucks!: Some fans really didn't like that the final season to conclude the series was only 10 episodes, feeling that the short episode count made the season feel rushed, particularly the finale.
  • Like You Would Really Do It:
    • Due to the fact that Ashi gets the most characterization out of the Daughters of Aku, very few doubted she didn't actually die from the fall in Episode 3, especially since Jack was going to survive it. Indeed, she not only survived, but furthered her Character Development.
    • Episode 5 featured the Scotsman being reduced to nothing but ash less than two minutes after he appeared. However, due to the suspiciously short amount of screen time and his massive popularity with the fandom, it was quite easy to guess that he'd still be around in some form.
  • Love to Hate: Basically, all the villains in Season 5 were memorable for being incredibly scary and chilling or funny or both.
  • Memetic Badass: Jack's beard is this to the fans who loved its look, to the point they see it as its own character rather than being part of Jack's face. When Balanced Inner Jack appears, his appearance changes to his bearded self, making as if "the beard lives within him".
  • Memetic Loser: The 7 Daughters of Aku being hilariously curb stomped by Jack has people questioning, jokingly or not, if their training was even all that efficient. Might be disappearing for Ashi at least after XCVIII, where she curb-stomps an entire army by herself and defeats her mother in combat, showing that yes, it was efficient, just not against the likes of Jack, especially with them not being trained to work as a team.
  • Memetic Molester:
    • In S5 E4, a crab-like monster kidnaps Ashi while Jack's back is turned. One would think it just wants to eat her, but the way it whisked her off suggests it had other motives in mind.
    • In S5 E5, the Dominator kidnaps hundreds of alien children, drains them of their energy like batteries, and uses mind control to turn them into his enslaved minions. He also grabs Ashi's pretty face with obvious perversion. You can't be the only one who got a pedophile/rapist vibe off this guy.
  • Moe: The Daughters of Aku as little girls come off as adorable.
  • Narm:
    • The reveal that Ashi and the other Daughters were naked the entire time and that their catsuits were actually a layer of charcoal/ash has been seen as silly rather than creepy by many, largely due to the Fridge Logic involved in that.
    • The Deranged Animation around Inner Jack and his pointed angular design is frightening for some fans whilst for others it brings to mind the Jack caricatures from "Aku's Fairytales."
    • The way everyone forms their hands into a perfect "S" in tribute to Jack at the rave Ashi attends comes off as rather silly.
    • In "Episode CI", Jack telling Demon!Ashi he loves her is easily the most face-palmingly bad moment in the show. It's only sillier when it's the very reason she is able to escape from Aku's grasp.
    • A big reason why Ashi's death left many viewers uncomfortable was because of how it was handled. After Jack slays Aku, he and Ashi prepare to marry sometime in the future, but on the exact day of their wedding only then does Ashi die as they realize that without Aku's existence then she would never have been born. It sure is strange that time allowed Ashi to live for a while before conveniently having her fade away on such an important day to give dramatic impact.
  • Narm Charm:
    • The dancing montage during the Samurai Drop had Awesome Music to make it flow well. Seeing Ashi join in a dance party ought to be incredibly cheesy - but it's a beautifully nostalgic Call-Back for fans of the original series, and it's also the first time in the entire season where we get to see Ashi happy.
    • Jack killing three sheep in anger is what made him lose his sword. Sounds pretty ridiculous, but given the sheep were innocent, helpful, and adorable creatures that were turned into monsters and died horrifically by the hands of the hero, that still manages to make it pretty bleak and tragic. It also helps that his sword was implicitly not taken from him for the deed itself, but rather the havoc it wreaked on his mental state, in essence, Jack simply became too guilt-ridden and unstable to wield the sword, which itself is understandable, given his nature as an All-Loving Hero who had never up to that point taken an innocent life (with the exception of one robot, and that was under the effect of Aku's possession).
    • The ending of "Episode XCIX". Jack and Ashi kiss each other suddenly while "Everybody Loves Somebody" plays instead of the ending theme. It can be very cheesy, but it certainly qualifies as this trope for Jashi shippers.
  • Nightmare Retardant: Downplayed with the Dominator. He's an awful sadist and a Complete Monster, but beneath the intimidating armor, he turns out to be a really ugly man with a silly expression on his face.
  • No Yay: The Dominator's unsettling fixation on Ashi's beauty. The man gives strong vibes of being a sexual sadist.
  • Older Than They Think: The 2017 season is produced by Cartoon Network Studios... for airing on Toonami on [adult swim]. Shocking as it seems, this isn't the first show that Cartoon Network Studios has produced a season for that aired on [adult swim].
  • Romantic Plot Tumor: Especially during Episode 8. The same pacing that usually works for the whole action-laden series, definitely don't work for the romantic genre.
  • Shipping Bed Death: While a lot of people were hoping for Jack and Ashi to be romantically paired up a lot of them found the execution too rushed to enjoy it.
  • Ships That Pass in the Night: Despite (or perhaps because of) their completely different personalities in the series, Aku/High Priestess is a surprisingly common pairing, despite only encountering each other in person once.
  • Shocking Moments: Tons of it.
  • Signature Scene:
    • The scene in which the Daughters of Aku hunt Jack in the ancient tomb is considered by many to be the most memorable and well-done scene in the entire season. The Awesome Music playing over the scene makes it even more epic.
    • Jack and Ashi's kiss, helped by how wildly controversial it was among fans.
    • An obvious one from "Episode CI" the death of Aku.
    • The final ending scene in "Episode CI".
  • Spiritual Antithesis: Many animation fans like to contrast this revival with, of all things, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", another show originally intended for young audiences that was revived for the adults who had watched it as children. Jack is often seen as this concept "done right" (even if not everyone loved it), as it maintained everything that the original series was loved for, both in style and substance, only making the violence and drama explicit rather than implied, whereas APC just turned all of the subversive aspects of the show up to eleven without retaining anything emotionally substantial, arguably becoming even more juvenile than the version meant for kids and alienating its fanbase.
  • Strawman Has a Point:
    • Inner Jack in "Episode XCV" suggests leaving Ashi behind to die and go look for the exit himself. Sounds selfish until you realize Ashi did try to kill him many times and isn't cooperative in escaping with him.
    • Mad Jack (as envisioned by Jack as a reddened monsterlike version of himself to the point of cartoonishness) in "Episode XCVIII" may have cost Jack the battle and have no redeeming qualities about him... but he does bring up a good point: Jack has waited too long for this and others have suffered because of it.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Fans were naturally divisive about Aku's voice actor switch and whether the replacement did the character justice. In fairness, it was an unavoidable change due to Mako's passing, and many still appreciate Greg Baldwin's near equal enthusiasm for the role.
  • They Copied It, So It Sucks!: Part of the Broken Base for the ending is based in viewers drawing unfavorable comparisons to the similarly controversial ending of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Many fans see Samurai Jack's ending as a poor imitation of said show due to the lack of Foreshadowing and the rushed ending, as we had fewer episodes to know Ashi than we did with Nia and therefore we couldn't feel for the character more. Funnily enough, just like Gurren Lagann, this series also responded to the backlash with a video game adaptation that allows the player to undo the ending and save the doomed love interest.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
    • Scaramouche. He wouldn't be this had he been just a one-off character whom Jack faced and defeated in the first episode, but then he's suddenly revealed to have survived and got turned into a comic relief character. Even as he made it back to Aku's lair and got his body back, he's promptly Killed Off for Real when Aku finds out that Jack already got his sword back, making all his misadventures after his encounter with Jack pointless.
    • Despite his return being heavily hyped up, the Guardian does not actually return, having been killed offscreen and his portal destroyed despite the prophecy that Jack would use it.
    • Fans were also upset that Demongo, one of Aku's most powerful henchmen, only appeared as a one-off joke. Many viewers wanted to him to appear later on, possibly possessing the dead Daughters of Aku and forcing them to fight Jack and Ashi.
    • Some fans also wanted the return of the most insane horror that existed in the first 4 seasons: the Demonic Spirit from "Jack and the Haunted House". Unfortunately, it did not happen.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
    • Some were disappointed that The Scotsman was killed off despite being a Handicapped Badass grandpa who could've received a lot more character from his life experiences in war. True, he returns as a ghost, but still...
    • Some felt this way about The Omen. Many were disappointed that he was actually real and not inside Jack's mind, which had many hyped for an interesting Enemy Within or Enemy Without fight between Jack and the Omen.
    • As cheesy it admittedly may sound, a popular opinion is that the ending should've had an ending montage showing the good future of the future characters and how their lives are different without Aku or Jack being directly in their lives. Especially if it showed the High Priestess as a good mother and the Daughters of Aku note  being healthy Samaritan hero worshipers of the Samurai instead.
    • Some fans were disappointed that Astor and Verbina were not involved in the final battle against Aku. It would have been interesting. Similarly, the unnamed baby girl whom Jack befriended in the final episode of Season 4, who received her own Sakai aka "Spirit of the Samurai" after witnessing Jack's violent but heroic actions and having her Innocence Lost. The episode ended with strong implication that the child was destined to go on her own warrior's journey and grow up to become a fine hero in her own right, and fans were interested in seeing this story unfold in Season 5, especially given the 50 year Time Skip and its Darker and Edgier premise. Sadly, the baby wasn't among the returning characters, leaving her status unknown.
  • Too Cool to Live:
    • Played for Laughs when the fandom cried how Jack's motorcycle didn't last long.
    • Scaramouche for many people who Love to Hate the character since he was a comical, highly skilled assassin who almost posed as a threat to Jack himself.
    • Aku, since his death marks the end to an iconic Cartoon Network villain many grew up with.
    • Ashi, one of the most epic, female fighters in the show who nearly took down Samurai Jack himself, only to undergo a change of heart and develop into the only woman he ever loved, also gaining god-like powers herself thanks to being revealed as Aku's true daughter and assisting Jack in finally killing off the ultimate evil in the universe, gets erased from the timeline after the death of her Mad God father Aku. Needless to say, tears were shed on this one.
  • Tough Act to Follow: It's generally agreed that the first three episodes were the best and that the last three was where this season began to fall off.
  • Unintentionally Sympathetic: In Episode C, Scaramouche has his head blown up for giving Aku outdated information. Despite him not being a sympathetic character in the slightest, many fans ended up mourning his death due to him being one of the most memorable characters in the series. There was also the fact that he was completely loyal to Aku and sounded genuinely distraught before being killed.
  • The Un-Twist: The reveal that Ashi is half-Aku. Any direct involvement Aku had with the cult worshipping him was glaringly obvious prior to the season's airing, yet once it aired, the audience was to believe the idea that he had any direct contact with them whatsoever to be a Red Herring, only for those predictions to turn out to be right to a degree.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: Advances in digital technology have been kind to this show and the more streamlined process has allowed for some incredible animation, especially any of the battles in the dark where the characters are illuminated with each blow, as well has a handful of chase sequences animated on one. The ride on the water dragon in "XCVI" is particularly beautiful.
  • What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?:
    • It has the same animation as the first four seasons, but in the second episode one of the characters gets their throat slit, a giant beast mauls a wolf with blood spilling everywhere, and Jack wants to commit ritual suicide. It's one of the biggest examples of Darker and Edgier and Bloodier and Gorier, as it was a TV-Y7 show upgraded to a TV-14 rating, and it airs on [adult swim]. There's also a middle ground where the show ends up being TV-PG in both the old and new seasons, but another big change is that the flexible use of profanity and crude indecent language allotted with the TV-14 tier finally crept into the show by the sixth episode and pushed the envelope well past what standards would ever allow to be used on the previous.
    • Episode 8 takes this to a whole new level with the whole episode being a metaphor for sex with moaning and lots of female nudity. Yet somehow it got a TV-PG rating.

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