After being flung into the far future by the demon Aku, Samurai Jack encountered many strange and powerful opponents during his travels across a post-apocalyptic world to find a way back to his own time and defeat the demon king once and for all. One of the most mysterious and formidable was the Guardian, a blue-skinned swordsman who may possess the means for Jack to transport himself back home. But he wouldn't let Jack use that portal without a fight.
Here's a look at the enigmatic character in Genndy Tartakovsky's beloved animated series including speculation over the Guardian's final fate.
WHO IS SAMURAI JACK'S GUARDIAN?
Appearing in "Episode XXXII: Jack and the Traveling Creatures," the sixth episode of the third season and 32nd episode overall, the Guardian defended a time portal capable of teleporting Jack back to his own time in feudal Japan. Told of its existence by an ancient, wise creature dwelling within a large lake, Jack is escorted upriver to a mountain range where the lake creature confers with a similar being in the mountains if the wandering samurai is worthy of venturing to the portal.
After seemingly proving himself worthy by dispatching a trio of shadowy creatures, Jack is brought to a desolate wasteland filled with long-abandoned machinery. After making his way to a shining light in the distance, Jack discovers the time portal with the Guardian waiting for him, informing Jack that only a prophesied individual would be able to defeat him in battle and prove to be worthy of using the portal.
HOW STRONG IS SAMURAI JACK'S GUARDIAN?
Revealing that he has personally killed all who attempt to use the time portal for eons due to being unworthy, evidenced by countless remains strewn around the wasteland, the Guardian and Jack immediately cross swords to see if Jack is the prophesied one to defeat him and use the portal to return home.
During their battle, the Guardian displays many incredible abilities in addition to his own apparent immortality in guarding the portal. An expert both with a variety of weapons and in hand-to-hand combat, the Guardian easily disarms Jack of his katana with his own swordsmanship without the time-traveling samurai even coming close to landing a blow himself. While fighting Jack, the Guardian exhibits superhuman strength and endurance, throwing large boulders at Jack, effortlessly chewing through metal to taunt the samurai, and withstanding explosive missile attacks unharmed. Despite his large size, the Guardian proves just as nimble and agile as Jack, more than keeping up with the samurai during their bout.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GUARDIAN ON SAMURAI JACK?
Disarmed and beaten within an inch of his life, Jack is left at the mercy of the Guardian with the looming creature poised to finish off the samurai once and for all. However, before the Guardian dealt the killing blow, the time portal itself communicated to its protector. The Guardian summoned a pterodactyl-like creature to fly the incapacitated samurai to safety, apologizing and saying that it wasn't his time to use the portal yet.
Fifty years later, still wandering the future without aging, Jack returns to the Guardian's portal finding it destroyed and only a pair of broken red sunglasses left in the dirt; the preferred eyewear of the blue warrior. With Aku claiming to have personally destroyed every single time portal to prevent Jack from returning to his own time to alter history, it appears that Aku may have proven too powerful for the Guardian and killed him.
Of all the strange figures that Jack encountered in his travels, the Guardian was one of the few that completely bested the samurai in combat, with Jack even commenting that he had fought no one as resilient and unstoppable as the protector. And while Jack didn't prove worthy enough to use the portal, the samurai would eventually return to his own time after paying his respects to the fallen Guardian.