History Advertising / SegataSanshiro

** Sega in general is this to Segata. He made it clear to his son Sega Shiro that Sega is more than just gaming and it's in Sega Shiro's hands to protect the company and it's legacy.

* WouldHurtAChild: Depends on their age. He applies his usual wrath against a bunch of older kids attempting to play Baseball instead of Sega Saturn; but when faced a bunch of younger children in a Christmas-themed advert, he merely frightens them by taking off his SantaClaus disguise, but then gives them a Sega Saturn afterward.

[[https://www.siliconera.com/segata-sanshiro-appears-on-segas-60th-anniversary-website-announcement-coming-march-25-2020/ Sega has an incoming announcement related to the 60th anniversary of Sega and Segata Sanshiro]].

** [[TheBusCameBack Sega and Fujioka brought Sanshiro back]] [[https://nintendowire.com/news/2019/03/04/segata-sanshiro-returns-from-the-dead-for-this-months-sega-fes/ for Sega Fes in March of 2019.]] Even after almost 20 years, Fujioka remembered the lyrics to his theme song too!

He made his first American comic appearance in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' issue #269, was one of the three winners for the voting of DLC characters in ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed]]'', and made an appearance in ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone 2'' as a boss fight and support character.

** In the final commercial, the Sega team presenting the Dreamcast is utterly shocked when they see a missile heading towards their headquarters

* BadSanta: When Segata disguises himself as Santa, the children are scared to see him.

* WouldHurtAChild: Depends on their age. He applies his usual wrath against a bunch of older kids attempting to play Baseball instead of Sega Saturn, but when faced a bunch of younger children in a Christmas-themed advert, he merely frightens them by taking off his SantaClaus disguise, but gives them a Sega Saturn afterward.

->''*large explosion*''\\

* GracefulLoser: His appearance in the Archie Sonic comics has him lose to Sonic offscreen. He declares there's no shame in losing to him. He also is defeated by [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri Flynn]] in Project X Zone 2 no worse for wear, [[DefeatMeansFriendship and befriending them immediately after]].

* BackFromTheDead: ''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed'' retcons his final commercial, [[spoiler:having him survive and showing that he spent '''THE ENTIRE 14 YEARS SINCE THEN''' making sure Nintendo/Sony's rocket never hits Sega headquarters. And somewhere along the line, it seems that he's able to toss the rocket and have it explode somewhere else, and gets back into kicking ass in ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone 2''.]]

* DoubleMeaning: His CatchPhrase "Sega Saturn Shiro" could both mean "Play the Sega Saturn" or "Sega Saturn White"[[note]]The new model that was out in Japan when the Segata Sanshiro ads began[[/note]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Only two or three early commercials involve Segata beating the crap out of those who don't play Sega Saturn, the rest of it falls more into randomly awesome things he does. However, the lyrics of his songs imply that he's still doing that off-screen.

* BadassInDistress: The ''House of the Dead'' commercial has Segata imperiled by zombies, which are immune to his judo throws, impervious to the Sega Saturn's awesomeness, and swarm and overwhelm him as the commercial ends.

* CompleteImmortality: He can survive in the vacuum of space, and ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]]'' shows [[spoiler:he survived his seeming HeroicSacrifice and has been riding the same missile to keep it from crashing into Sega HQ for 14 years, presumably without taking a break to eat, drink or sleep]]. One issue of ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' shows Segata living on Mobius, which is/was Earth 3000 years in the future, after a bunch of aliens attacked and left the planet a wasteland--''and'' a soft ContinuityReboot resulting from a crossover with ''Mega Man'' imploded the universe-- so yeah, he managed to survive all that stuff somehow.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Mostly PlayedForLaughs:
** When he lifts a goal up to prevent the opponent team from winning, he gets a red card for it.
** When he goes ice-skating barefoot, he has to warm his feet back up afterwards.
** Also the fact that a zombie will always get back up no matter how many times you judo-throw them.
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler: He refuses to die; he cameos in ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]]'', still riding the same missile he stopped from crashing into Sega HQ, still alive, and still holding his beloved Sega Saturn.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: When Sega cancelled the Saturn and launched the Dreamcast, they gave Segata [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhrLrBT2hp0 an honorable sendoff.]] The Dreamcast logo appears just once, at about :13.
* InformedKindness: He's described in-universe as being a "great hero," but this is a little hard to believe considering the fact that his early ads had him beat anyone who doesn't happen to play Sega Saturn senseless. It's better shown in later ads and ''Project X Zone 2'', where he is a good friend and patron of the various Sega characters and encourages those who are unfamiliar with him to pursue whatever path they choose with utmost seriousness.
* TheJuggernaut: If you catch the wrath of Segata, no force on earth can save you from him. It took a missile to snuff him out of existence, and even that got retconned to show he survived it. To date, he has only two recorded losses of dubious canoncity:

* KungFuProofMook: Zombies. It doesn't matter how many times you judo throw them, they get right back up

* BraggingThemeTune: The solitary man who devoted his soul to the way of games.
-->''Today, he comes again''\\

* BreakoutCharacter: He was so popular that his theme song got a hit single release AND he had the honor of getting his own video game as the last major UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn release!

A collection of Segata Sanshiro commercials can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=AA843C15703B603F&search_query=segata+sanshiro here.]] A rare footage of him transforming into [[Series/KamenRider Kamen Rider 1]] can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge_GUxaxDgs here]] too.

His [[GrandFinale last commercial]] consisted of him [[HeroicSacrifice bravely sacrificing himself]] to ensure the Dreamcast's release, and his exploits were immortalized in Sega's last first-party Saturn game, ''Segata Sanshiro Shinkenyugi''.

His exploits have given him a MemeticBadass status comparable to Creator/ChuckNorris, except this guy has video footage to back the claims up.

A collection of the commercials can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=AA843C15703B603F&search_query=segata+sanshiro here.]] A rare footage of him transforming into [[Series/KamenRider Kamen Rider 1]] can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge_GUxaxDgs here]] too.

* SpiritualSuccessor: 2017 ''Advertising/UFOKamenYakisoban'' ads have their mascot mentored by a man played by Hiroshi Fujioka who wears power armor and is known only as The Legend. These ads often knock The Legend out of his armor, showing that he wears a white Judo uniform beneath, implying that The Legend actually ''is'' Segata Sanshiro.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Ads for Nissin UFO instant Ramen Noodles has their current mascot mentored by a man played by Hiroshi Fujioka who wears power armor and is known only as The Legend. These ads often knock The Legend out of his armor, showing that he wears a white Judo uniform beneath, implying that The Legend actually ''IS'' Segata Sanshiro.

In the 1990s, Creator/HiroshiFujioka played the eponymous Segata Sanshiro (pictured), the Japanese spokesman for Sega's [[UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn Saturn]] console -- a crazed martial artist who beat the living crap out of people for not playing Sega Saturn and singing his own theme song (well, part of it), which was later released as a single that sold over 100,000 copies. It can be argued that his presence in Sega's Japanese commercials was singlehandedly responsible for the continued existence of Sega in the console market (up to the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast).

[[PopculturalOsmosis Unbeknownst to many people nowadays,]] he was a direct and very personal parody of Sanshiro Sugata, a literary character of the eponymous series written by UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} scholar Tsuneo Tomita and [[Film/SanshiroSugata immortalized in film]] as the directorial debut of Creator/AkiraKurosawa.

He made his first American comic appearance in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' issue #269, was one of the three winners for the voting of DLC characters in ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed]]'', and made an appearance in ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone 2'' as one of the playable characters.

* OneManArmy: When the other army looks like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TLkdLqmxuk this,]] ''you should be retreating''. Although it won't help.

His [[GrandFinale last commercial]] consisted of him [[HeroicSacrifice bravely sacrificing himself]] to ensure the Dreamcast's release, and his exploits were immortalized in Sega's last first-party Saturn game ''Segata Sanshiro Shinkenyugi''.

* GracefulLoser: His appearance in the Archie Sonic comics has him lose to Sonic himself. He declares there's no shame in losing to him. He also is defeated by [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri Flynn]] in Project X Zone 2 no worse for wear, [[DefeatMeansFriendship and befrieinding them immediately after]].

** He appeared in ''ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' series, losing to the Blue Blur in a martial arts contest.

* PunnyName: His name sounds like "Sega Sataan Shiro" ("Play Sega Saturn") with the third and fourth katakana switched, or, more to the point, like a play on famous judo practitioner Sugata Sanshiro's name.
%%* RatedMForManly

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The only commercial that does not show him beating people up or doing badass things has him frolicking in a field of cherry blossoms with [[VideoGame/SakuraWars Sakura Shinguji]]. This was alluded to in ''Videogame/ProjectXZone'' 2.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Recent ads for Nissin UFO instant Ramen Noodles has their current mascot mentored by a man played by Hiroshi Fujioka who wears power armor and is known only as The Legend. These ads often knock The Legend out of his armor, showing that he wears a white Judo uniform beneath, implying that The Legend actually ''IS'' Segata Sanshiro.

* AdvertisingCampaigns: Probably one of the best (and ridiculous) advertisement series ever made.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He lost a martial arts tournament to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' in one Archie comic.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed'' retcons his final commercial, having him survive, but showing that he spent '''THE ENTIRE 14 YEARS SINCE THEN''' making sure Nintendo/Sony's rocket never hits Sega headquarters. And somewhere along the line, it seems that he's able to toss the rocket and have it explode somewhere else, and gets back into kicking ass in ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone 2''.]]

* CompleteImmortality: He can survive in the vacuum of space, and ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]]'' shows [[spoiler:he survived his seeming HeroicSacrifice and has been riding the same missile to keep it from crashing into Sega HQ for 14 years, presumably without taking a break to eat, drink or sleep]]. One issue of ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' shows Segata living on Mobius, which is/was Earth 3000 years in the future, after a bunch of aliens attacked and left the planet a wasteland -- ''and'' a soft ContinuityReboot resulting from a crossover with ''Mega Man'' -- so yeah, he managed to survive all that stuff somehow.

* InformedKindness: He's described in-universe as being a "great hero," but this is a little hard to believe considering the fact that all he does is beat anyone who doesn't happen to play Sega Saturn senseless. It's better shown in Project X Zone 2 where he is a good friend (and sometimes even patron) of the various Sega characters and encourages those who are unfamiliar with him to pursue whatever path they choose with the utmost of seriousness.
* TheJuggernaut: If you catch the wrath of Segata, no force on earth can save you from him. It took a missile to snuff him out of existence, and even that got retconned to show he survived it. To date, he has only two recorded losses:
** He appeared in Archie Comics' SonicTheHedgehog series, losing to the Blue Blur in a martial arts contest.
** In ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone 2'', he attempts to push [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri Lowell]] into playing a Sega Saturn. His [[BerserkButton refusal to play]] results in a fight between them, and Yuri wins.