Everything's Better with Samurai: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Hey, That's not fair! How come he gets to be a samurai? That's so much cooler!"''|'''Odd Della Robbia''', ''[[Code Lyoko]]'' prequel "XANA Awakens"}}
The tendency of some writers to just throw in a [[Samurai]] for the heck of it, even in a western world without a Japanese [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|Counterpart Culture]]. And also the fact that people tend to dig the samurai. (Who doesn't dig Sanger?) This is NOT the same as [[Katanas Are Just Better]], this refers to samurai particularly when they appear without katana (Sanjuro, for instance).
[[Rule of Cool]] may be responsible...
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== Anime & Manga ==
* Meta Knight in ''[[Kirby]]'s'' [[Kirby:
* Twilight Suzuka in ''[[Outlaw Star]]''. Slightly less out-of-nowhere, at least in that it's no stranger than the Chinese Magic-using [[Space Pirates]] they already introduced.
* Mr. Bushido in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]''
* Elites in ''[[
* Toudoh in ''[[Code Geass]]'' is another future samurai.
* The second arc of ''New [[Getter Robo]]'' which has the characters get stuck in an alternate-universe Heian Japan, just to fit armies of samurai into a [[Humongous Mecha]] anime.
* Setsuna of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', a [[Half-Human Hybrid|half]]-[[Winged Humanoid|bird demon]], [[Demon Slaying]], [[Schoolgirl Lesbians|lesbian-in-denial]] [[Samurai]] in an [[Urban Fantasy]]. Also one of the most popular characters in the series, whose prominence was [[Ensemble Darkhorse|quickly raised after her introduction in the fourth volume]].
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''
** [[Lady of War|Signum]] from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
** Micaiah Chevelle of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Vi Vid]]'' is an even straighter example. She's a Mid-Childan who's also a traditional samurai, complete with katana, dojo, Japanese attire, and an [[Iaijutsu Practitioner|Iaijutsu fighting style]]. [[Fan Nickname|Fans were quick to dub her as Signum Mk II]]. A bit of a surprise, what with Mid-Childa being an alien world with a European-like society.
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', the Land of Iron has samurai, instead of the [[Ninja]] in Hidden Villages most other nations rely on. For added goodness, in relation to trope picture, the regular samurai of the Land of Iron wear armor similar to the [[Star Wars|Stormtroopers]].
* ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''
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== Comics -- Books ==
* The French series ''Chroniques de la Lune Noire'' (''[[Black Moon Chronicles]]'') has the character of Murata, a samurai in an otherwise western fantasy setting. Since it is based on an old ''[[Dungeons
* [[Frank Miller]] loves this trope.
* ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'' comics have Paul the Samurai, despite all the other heroes being over the top cape and cowl style. His primary role is to be there to recommend that he and anybody associated with him commits seppuku at the slightest failure.
* The Shredder. He and the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] are analogues to the (alleged) viciousness between samurai and ninjas. In reality, more samurai hired ninja than they cared to admit, but that doesn't matter here, since the ninjas are already [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|human-sized mutant turtles]].
* Honda City Judges in ''[[Judge Dredd]]'' are deliberately modelled on samurai; their equivalent of the Chief Judge is even referred to as the Shogun.
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== Films -- Live-Action ==
* In ''[[Brazil (film)|Brazil]]'', Sam's later [[Dream Sequence
* ''[[Red Sun]]'' is a western with a samurai thrown in. Better than it sounds. Considering who plays the samurai ([[Toshiro Mifune]]), it should be.
* ''[[Six
* ''[[Ghost Dog: The Way of The Samurai]]'' is a film revolving around an African-American assassin who follows the Code of the Samurai.
* ''[[Star Wars]]'': Darth Vader's character design was heavily based off samurai armor.
* ''Samurai purinsesu: Gedô-hime''. She's actually more of a Ninja, but still takes the name of Samurai.
* Attempted with ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] III''. The fact that it was a [[Franchise Killer]] indicates it wasn't enough.
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== Music ==
* [[Barenaked Ladies]]. In their song "One Week", mention is made to this mentality. "Kay I don't make films, but if I did, they'd have a samurai."
* Gakupo from [[Vocaloid
* Hodgy Beats of [[OFWGKTA]] has a song titled "Samurai" on his Untitled EP
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** Also, the unique unit of the Japanese in ''[[Age of Empires II]]''? Samurai!
* Kamui of ''[[Arcana Heart]]'', who fulfills the [[Moe]] samurai-girl quota of the [[Widget Series]].
* In ''[[Mega Man X]]''6, the player has the option of assembling the [http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s158/clarklana05/megamanxbladearmor.jpg?t=1241052973 Blade Armor] which resembles a suit of Samurai armor, complete with Z-saber.
* ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' has a samurai for the Assassin class. And no, it doesn't suit him in the slightest. He does no sneak attacks, no dirty fighting, doesn't go for Masters like he is supposed to when he has the chance, and finally he is the only Japanese hero amongst all the Servants. The rest of them? Greeks, Celts and English make up over half the Servants and both (including [[Fate/Zero]]) real Assassins are Arabs. Yes, both. He wasn't even supposed to be here at all. Also, he's a better swordsman than Saber and even [[Blood Knight|Lancer]] doesn't want to fight him.
* The ''[[Wizardry]]'' games included samurai and [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja|ninja]] both as enemies and available character classes. Both were considered "elite" classes with high requirements for changing to, and both were flat-out superior to plain old fighters. Interestingly, ''Wizardry'' was also [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|far more popular in Japan]] than similar game series.
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]'', the Blades (or rather, the ineffectual royal-guard sub-set) take their armor style from the continent of [[Wutai|Akavir]], mimicking Remann Cyrodill's original Akavarii bodyguard. Their lavishly decorated armor is highly reminiscent of samurai or ashigaru armor, they fight with katana, and their fortress is a "temple" high in the mountains that looks for all the world like a Japanese castle. Keep in mind that the rest of the province Cyrodiil is based off of medieval Europe and the Roman Empire.
* ''[[Touhou|Touhou Project]]''
** Youmu sports a pair of katanas despite ''Touhou Project'' being mostly a [[Bullet Hell]] genre. She projects a following of the Bushido code, essentially being Yuyuko's samurai. Must be mentioned that her sword is highly capable of spewing bullets and ''slowing time''.
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* ''[[Fallout 3]]'' expansion "Mothership Zeta" has a Samurai abducted from ancient Japan and awakened from cryogenic suspended animation.
* The ''[[Unreal]]'' universe has a corporate faction, the Izanagi, who go into battle with heavily Samurai-themed armour.
* The penultimate boss of ''[[
* The ''[[Kirby]]'' games' "Quick Draw" minigame have the characters dressed as samurai. (Though earlier English translations replaced samurai with cowboys, turning a [[Single-Stroke Battle]] into a wild west shootout.)
* In ''[[Pokémon]]'', [[Pokémon Black and White|the starter Oshawott's]] entire evolutionary line is based around
* The old and mostly forgotten ''First Samurai'' bilogy of platform games. The title is also a pun on ''The Last Ninja'' series of games.
== Web Comics ==
* The webcomic ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170913171947/http://samuraiprincess.com/ Samurai Princess]''. Not much more needs to be said.
== Western Animation ==
* Ulrich in ''[[Code Lyoko]]'' takes the form of a samurai when he's virtualized.
* ''[[Transformers]]''
** Prowl in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' is generally a [[Ninja]], but gets a samurai upgrade in the episode "A Fistful of Energon".
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* Naturally enough, when an episode of ''[[Gargoyles]]'' was set in (modern day) Japan, what code would the gargoyle clan found protecting a village there follow but ''bushido''?
* ''[[Thundercats]]'' had Hachiman, a samurai Mumra brought to Third Earth to defeat Lion-o, but who would become an occasional ally of the Thundercats.
* Sam-R-I of the [[Dexter's Laboratory|Justice Friends]].
* The Cheese Shogun in ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'', though he has ninja for minions.
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