Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,684
edits
Usagi Yojimbo: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (Mass update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (13 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 5:
Also, he's an anthropomorphic rabbit in an alternative dimension [[Medieval Japan]]. And the historical background and strong sense of cultural nuances work ''so'' well. As does the addition of tiny dinosaurs.
One of the longest-running comics of all time to be drawn and written by a single person, Usagi Yojimbo has been running (under various publishers) since 1984. It's been noted for its meticulously researched and accurate portrayal of feudal Japan (talking animals notwithstanding) as well as its ability to take readers by surprise by messing with tropes; a seemingly lighthearted story may turn out to be a heartrending tragedy, or vice-versa.
Usagi is often associated with the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]], thanks in part to several crossovers between different incarnations of the properties, and the friendship between Sakai and the Turtles creators. This has permitted Usagi to appear on the screen in both ''TMNT'' cartoons as a recurring character, culminating in an episode set in Usagi's
The [[Netflix]] original series ''[[Samurai Rabbit]]'' is an animated [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''Usagi Yojimbo'', the protagonist being a descendant of Miyamoto.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Action Girl]]: [[Dark Action Girl|Chizu, Inazuma]], Tomoe Ame. The occasional one-shot story may feature an [[Action Girl]] {{spoiler|who inevitably dies or is <s>written out of the series</s>married off}}.
* [[Alternate Continuity]]: Usagi's cartoon incarnations. Also, some stories have had changes made between the comic and graphic novel
** The story referred to was an earlier one than the Kinuko story, namely Chizu's first instance of kissing Usagi and his utterly baffled response. This has been left as is, as it still fits both their characters.
* [[Arch Enemy]]: Jei and Lord Hikiji
* [[Author Avatar]]: Stan Sakai shows up as a character named Masa in the 141st issue of the Dark Horse run (and number 200 overall) as an artisan who dreamed that creating 200 small statues of a god will save his village from bandits that have taken over. With Usagi's help, the 200th being used upside the leader's head and a mudslide, the dream comes true. His character then states that he'll continue his work after reaching the milestone until he's unable to hold the tools of his trade.
* [[Backdoor Pilot]]: Usagi's guest shot on the original Ninja Turtles cartoon was supposed to be a set up for his own cartoon show, but the show was never made due to creative differences between Stan Sakai and Playmates. His appearance on the 2000's TMNT show carried no such aspirations; it was just a treat for the fans.
** On that note, a ''Space Usagi'' pilot was made, but the project was canned after the failure of ''[[Bucky O'Hare and
* [[Badass]]: Miyamoto Usagi.
* [[Badass Preacher]]: Sanshobo, who was a samurai until he took his vows. Priest Jizonobu was also a samurai and still an excellent fighter {{spoiler|before he became Jei}}.
* [[Berserk Button]]: Don't mess with Usagi's swords. No, seriously, just don't.
** Or his teacher, Katsuichi sensei.
** Genosuké could arguably be labelled a walking berserk button. His questionable character traits tend to set off more Usagi temper tantrums than anything else.
* [[Big No]]: Usually before a dramatic death scene.
* [[Big Ol' Eyebrows]]: Ishida, Koji.
Line 34 ⟶ 35:
** Mostly, it seems to be used in sequences where it has the maximum dramatic effect, such as the story arc where Usagi {{spoiler|was poisoned and began to [[Fever Dream Episode|hallucinate]] that he had become Jei's new incarnation, fighting Tomoe}}. The sudden, shocking appearance of so ''much'' blood drove home just how traumatic an experience this was for the protagonist.
** In most cases where blood is spilled, but Sakai wanted to keep gore down, he instead drew characters exhaling a cloud with a cartoonish skull (in some cases wit the haircut of the dying character) to symbolize death. The trick is an iconic part of the series these days.
* [[Bounty Hunter]]: Gennosuke, Inukai, countless extras,
* [[Broken Pedestal]]: Mainly in ''Space Usagi''.
* [[Cain and Abel]]: {{spoiler|Noriko and Tomoe, although it's Noriko who gets killed, probably.}}
* [[Captain Obvious]]: "Follow me, Spot! Our life of peace depends on us staying alive!"
** In "Blade of the Gods", Jei pins Usagi's sleeve to the wall. Usagi's response? "He's pinned my sleeve!" Take note that he says this out loud. This has happened so many times over the years that it's an apparent personality quirk.
* [[Catch Phrase]]: Sasuke will frequently call someone by name without having been properly introduced to them. When they ask how he knew their name, he'll say something like, "You must have mentioned it earlier."
** Not quite a "phrase", but everyone has a different yelling style; for instance, Usagi's '''''"RYAAAAAH!"'''''
Line 48 ⟶ 49:
* [[Crossover]]: The comic featured several early appearances by the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]], and Usagi is a [[Recurring Character]] in the TMNT cartoons.
* [[Cunning Like a Fox]]: Kitsune, [[Meaningful Name|literally]], Inspector Ishida, and Usagi. Jei's original body is an aversion, as he is literally a fox but is not so much "cunning" as he is "pants-shittingly terrifying"
* [[Deal
** {{spoiler|Then we have the unfortunate Priest Jizonobu, whose well-meant [[Deal
* [[Defrosting Ice Queen]]: Princess Kiku.
* [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]]: Invoked by the author in order to accurately portray the era and culture of the characters. Certain things considered right and honorable would be deemed harsh and cruel by modern standards. {{spoiler|A good example is Sanshobo, whose son commited suicide in order to make up for his father's perceived failure in not successfully rescuing his master's own son.}}
* [[Disability Superpower]]: Zato Ino, "The Blind Swordspig", who can "see" things thanks to his sense of
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: In the 2003 TMNT series, Chizu leading the Neko Ninja is made to resemble Karai leading the Foot Ninja.
* [[Due to
* {{spoiler|[[Dying
* [[Ears
* [[Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas]]: Subverted/inverted in "A Mother's Love". {{spoiler|Even moms love their bad sons, but sometimes they're just ''too'' bad... and ''must be stopped''.}}
* [[Evil Counterpart]]: Keiko is this to Kiyoko since they're both young girls with no family who become sidekicks of older characters. Keiko's companion is Jei while Kiyoko's is Kitsune. However, they (all) have never met.
Line 63 ⟶ 64:
* [[Eyepatch of Power]]: After losing his eye in the battle that makes Usagi think he's dead, Katsuichi Sensei covers it with a sword guard.
* [[Face Framed in Shadow]]: Lord Hikiji {{spoiler|and Jesus on the crucifix}}.
* [[Facing the Bullets One-Liner]]: Chizu's brother had one {{spoiler|before [[Taking You
{{quote|
* [[Family-Unfriendly Death]]: The cruel capture and murder of poor, innocent Noodles. His only friends are kept back by corrupt lawmen while the terrified [[Gentle Giant]] is tortured, then graphically run through with spears.
* [[Fantastic Foxes]]: Kitsune, although she's just really skilled. ''Actually magical'' kitsune have appeared only briefly, and never as named characters.
Line 70 ⟶ 71:
** There's also Jei, although he's an entirely other kettle of fish
* [[Fight Magnet]]/[[Weirdness Magnet]]: Usagi has an amazing tendency to attract all the weird and dangerous things in any area he is passing through. He will accidentally bump into an ancient, mystic sword and get himself in the middle of an anti-shogun conspiracy or become number one on a local psychopath’s “to kill” list. No matter how much he tries to avoid it, he always ends up in a fight. If it's not [[Youkai]] he has to kill, then a village needs to be saved from a [[Yakuza]]. Most of his friends are not ordinary people, either. This happy bunch includes: a bounty hunter, a powerful daimyo, said daimyo’s [[Action Girl]] bodyguard, the former head of a ninja clan who would love to get rid of Usagi, a [[Badass Grandpa]] [[Old Master]], a [[Classy Cat Burglar]], and a professional demon hunter.
* [[Fighting From the Inside]]: {{spoiler|Inazuma.}}
* [[Four Is Death]]: The quartet of assassins known as "Shi".
* [[Furry Confusion]]: The world is populated with [[Funny Animal
* [[Genre Busting]]
* [[Gentleman Thief]]: Kitsune, her sidekick Kiyoko, and Nezumi.
* [[Give Him a Normal Life]]: Usagi does this for {{spoiler|the son of a lord and his courtesan, Lady Maple, when he gives the child to Inspector Ishida}}. He also did this unknowingly for {{spoiler|his son Jotaro, and decided not to tell him for pretty much this reason}}.
* [[Good Scars, Evil Scars]]: Usagi gets a cut over his eyebrow during the battle of Adachigahara. Not a "scar" per se, but Gen had his horn chopped off.
* [[He Who Must Not Be Seen]]: Hikiji as the sole human, something Sakai later regretted doing. {{spoiler|Jesus on the crucifix -- lion, lamb, human, or something else entirely?}} Also,
** Sakai has said Hikiji is mostly kept off panel because he feels the character works better as a Sauron-like figure, manipulating things unseen. As far as the Europeans go, his Nilson Groundthumper strips take place in that part of the UY Earth. The characters there seem to be of a wide variety of species. It should be noted the Nilson stories predate the Ninja Turtles by a few years, despite the latter often being given credit for at least partially inspiring UY.
* [[Hero of Another Story]]:
** Usagi's mentor Katsuichi is often this, spending much of his time [[Walking the Earth]], his exploits occurring offscreen.
** Usagi himself can be considered this whenever he appears as a [[Special Guest]] in [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Ninja Turtles]] continuity. Naturally, he is also this in ''[[Samurai Rabbit]]''.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|[[Ninja|Saru]] and [[Retired Badass|Ikeda]] both do this in ''Journey to Atsuta Shrine'', but for different reasons}}
** {{spoiler|Lord Noriyuki has a body double -- or rather he ''had'' one. He never speaks even after being wounded because his voice is different, and a remorseful Tomoe promises he'll get an honorable burial.}}
Line 84 ⟶ 88:
** {{spoiler|The secret Christians are willing to put their lives on the line to get one crucifix to their followers; if any of them were caught they would've been crucified themselves.}}
* [[High-Pressure Blood]]: In the beginning, and notably in Tomoe and Noriyuki's debut episode.
* [[Hit Me Dammit]]
* [[Honest Axe]]
* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Reconstructed. Usagi has no problem using trickery, usually to help the underdog. Characters who mistake honor for weakness frequently come off the worse for it. Also played straight, averted, and subverted, depending on the character and occasion. For instance, if a character takes a stand in this series and says, "I am adamant!," you will know that ''nothing'', especially death threats, is going to make them change their mind.
** As in [[Real Life]], most samurai would die in an assassination attempt on their lord's murderer than let the murderer get away with it.
** [[Shout-Out|Watanabe Ken]] would sooner die from fighting the police than live comfortably with his daughter after she married into the merchant class.
* [[Humans Are
** It should be noted none of the main characters (and few of the minor characters) have seen Hikiji's true face, nor has his
** And {{spoiler|[[Jesus]], who appears in a crucifix}}. Not a bastard.
***
*** {{spoiler|Jesus as a lion?}} Hmm... [[The Chronicles of Narnia|Why does that sound familiar?]]
* [[The Hunter]]: Sasuke the Demon Queller
* [[Implacable Man]]: Jei-san, Inazuma, and {{spoiler|Inazuma after she gets possessed by Jei -- presumably also Jei as Hama}}.
** After being (seriously) wounded in one fight, Inazuma reassures [[Morality Pet|Keiko]] that it's [[Monty Python and
*** {{spoiler|The possessed Inazuma isn't quite as implacable as original!Jei, though - she doesn't get better when you make large holes in her.}}
** Usagi does a brilliant job of this with General Fujii, to boot (with appropriate [[Nightmare Sequence]]), but as [[The Hero]], this is [[Determinator]].
* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]:
{{quote|
* [[Implausible Fencing Powers]]: Usagi provokes a bandit into demanding that Katsuichi-sensei perform a near impossible feat of cutting a seed of Usagi's nose. Katsuichi calmly replies that this is near impossible, and asks the bandit to release Usagi. The bandit refuses. Katsuichi kills the bandit. When Usagi comments that Katsuichi couldn't/didn't cut the seed, he does so to teach Usagi not to shoot his mouth off.
** Also, any time a character strikes an arrow out of the air with a sword.
Line 106 ⟶ 110:
* [[Instant Expert]]: Inazuma had an "instant affinity" with swords after she was forced to become a performer and soon surpassed her samurai husband's skill.
* [[Jerkass Facade]]: Gen, Stray Dog.
* [[Jerk
** Also Inukai, who {{spoiler|regularly donates large part of his earned money to an orphanage and seems to genuinely enjoy it.}}
* [[Kick Them While They Are Down]]: Noriko to Tomoe (twice), Noriko to the laborers.
Line 113 ⟶ 117:
* [[Knight Errant]]: Usagi
* [[To Be Lawful or Good]]: The story "The Death of Lord Hikiji", where Usagi runs into a couple of other former vassals of Lord Mifune. They are planning to kill Lord Hikiji to avenge Mifune's death, and Usagi has to decide whether or not he wants to join them.
* [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]]: [[Sergio Aragones]]' ''[[Groo the Wanderer|Groo]]'' and characters from Mark Crilley's ''Akiko'' have appeared as background characters from time to
* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: Oh, boy. Easily into the hundreds of characters just from the ones who are ''named''.
* [[Luke, You Are My Father]] Averted {{spoiler|Jotaro shouts this to Usagi, but he's too far away to hear}}
** {{spoiler|And they both know of Jotaro's true paternity, but they don't know that the other knows.}}
* [[Magic Knight]]: Sasuke (not [[Naruto
* [[Mature Animal Story]]
* [[Meaningful Echo]]: For a while, Usagi has a pet tokage he calls "Spot". Later, Jotaro befriends a tokage and names it "Spot", without prior knowledge of Usagi's. In the ''[[Space Usagi]]'' spin-off, Kiyoshi also names a tokage "Spot".
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Usagi means "rabbit" in Japanese. Kitsune, of course, is "fox", even if hers is a nickname given by her mentor in the art of thieving.
{{quote|
* [[Medieval Japan]]: Practically identical, besides the [[Funny Animal
* [[Milky White Eyes]]: Jei-san {{spoiler|and anyone he/it possesses}}, and ''technically'' all other supernatural beings since it's a black & white comic.
** Except the Mirage issues and Color Specials.
Line 135 ⟶ 139:
* [[Obake]]: Many Japanese creatures appear in ''UY'', from kappas to obakenekos, nues, onis and so on.
* [[Obliviously Evil]]:
{{quote|
** Somewhat explained in the backstory for Jei: {{spoiler|the priest to the 'dark gods' points out to Buddhist priest Jizonobu that while they both work to fight "evil," their respective definitions for evil are not necessarily the same. The evil and sin that Jei is fighting is defined for him by the demonic gods he serves}}
* [[Old Master]]: Katsuichi-sensei.
* [[Operation: Jealousy]]: {{spoiler|Kitsune tells Tomoe that she and Usagi have "shared so many adventures and... other things" but she's just trying to get rid of the heroes while she's running a con.}}
Line 154 ⟶ 158:
* [[Seppuku]]: Appears periodically, usually when a character needs to atone for an earlier shame.
* [[Shamu Fu]]: At one point, Usagi defends a fish merchant from a armed gang attempting a protection racket with nothing more than that day's catch.
* [[Ship Tease]]: Until the ''Mother of Mountains'' arc, this was the only thing Stan did with the romantic tension between Tomoe and Usagi.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Many characters are [[Shout-Out|shout outs]] to [[Jidai Geki|Chanbara]]
** Jei's name is a shout out to the ''Friday the 13th'' film series. ("Jei-san")
** In addition to a ton of ''[[Star Wars]]'' shout-outs in ''Space Usagi'', the Bugg Planet is a shout-out to ''[[Nausicaa of the Valley of
** In a one-shot story, Usagi is present at the hatching of a lizard which he names "[[Godzilla|Zilla]]". When said lizard uses a breath weapon, Usagi asks, "Are you a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|god, Zilla]]?"
* [[Short Cuts Make Long Delays]]: Gen is prone to offer this to Usagi when they're
* [[Shown Their Work]]: Stan Sakai may research some aspect of ancient Japanese life, from pottery to seaweed farming
* [[Single-Stroke Battle]]
* [[Space Whale]]: [[In Space|Giant space]] turtles! (in ''Space Usagi'')
Line 168 ⟶ 173:
* [[The Drifter]]: Usagi, Gen, Stray Dog, assorted extras.
* [[The Faceless]]: Lord Hikiji, for the most part.
* [[The Farmer and
* [[The Resenter]]: Kenichi.
* [[The Unfavorite]] / [[Bastard Bastard]]:
* [[Trick Dialogue]]: In trying to get out of the rain, Usagi came across the swordswoman Inazuma telling her life's story to some of her friends. By the time she is finished, the rain has let up, so Inazuma bids them farewell and heads out. Usagi makes an aside about the story to one of the "friends"... only to discover that all four of them are
** Usagi goes to return a small trinket to a fellow member of Lord Mifune's army. {{spoiler|The trinket was a good-luck charm; Usagi tells the man he is sorry he was unable to return it previously, then leaves it on the top of the man's gravestone and walks away.}}
* [[Voice of the Legion]]: Jei-san {{spoiler|and anyone possessed by him/it}}.
* [[The Voiceless]]: {{spoiler|Noriyuki's body double. He couldn't imitate his voice so he didn't speak, even after being fatally wounded.}}
* [[Walking the Earth]]: Usagi travels the
* [[Wax On, Wax Off]]
* [[What Could Have Been]]: Initial work had begun on a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlLPYn2km-U ''Space Usagi'' cartoon], but was stopped after the failure of the superficially similar ''[[Bucky O'Hare and
* [[Whip It Good]]: Sakura.
* [[World of Funny Animals]]: With a Feudal Japan theme.
* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Captain Torame in "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy". He's so [[My Master, Right or Wrong|loyal]], he'll stay with his lord even though he knows his plans are evil.
{{quote|
'''Usagi''': '''''"Never!"'''''
'''Torame''': Ah, but it can be justified, ''if the rebellion '''succeeds'''!'' }}
* [[Yakuza]]: Many antagonists.
Line 189 ⟶ 195:
{{reflist}}
{{IGN Top 100 Heroes}}
[[Category:Comic Books]]
[[Category:Better Than It Sounds/Comic Books]]
[[Category:Print Long Runners]]
[[Category:Dark Horse Comics]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Comicbook]]
| |||