The Guardian

"For countless eons I have guarded this magical power of time travel. All'' have been denied, from the mightiest of giants, to the tiniest of warriors. You see samurai, only one man has been prophesized to defeat me. And that man is the only man who can use this time passage. And you, my man... ain't that man."

- ''The Guardian

The Guardian was an exceptionally powerful warrior who guarded a time portal. He appeared in Episode XXXII: Jack and the Traveling Creatures. He was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

Despite the ending of his debut (and ultimately only) appearance, he was implied at the end of the series to have been killed by Aku during the fifty-year gap before Season 5.

Appearance
The Guardian was a tall, bald, muscular man with bright cyan skin. His attire consisted of a jet-black suit and red circular sunglasses. He carried numerous weapons, including a sword, and at least two sai and two machine guns.

The Guardian's appearance was significant, mainly because the episode he takes part in made it known that Jack's eventual return to the past was presumably inevitable.

Personality
The Guardian seems to live only to guard his portal. However, he seems to enjoy the battle, as he immediately accepted Jack's challenge to battle and enjoyed the fight as Jack used skilled tactics.

He is extremely self-confident and fights with gleeful mannerisms. He is capable of becoming both enraged and showing mercy, as he became very upset after Jack ruined his favorite suit, but still offered to let Jack retreat after it became clear that Jack could not win.

After he realized that Jack is the prophesied person, he became more respectful towards Jack. He even gently placed the unconscious and heavily beaten Jack and his katana (off-screen) on the back of a flying creature and have it send him to safety. Then, he apologized to Jack that he can't use the time portal yet.

The Guardian is very dutiful to protecting the portal as he patiently awaits the day Jack will once again face him in combat and defeat him to gain access to the portal. To ensure only Jack is meant to use it, he slays and destroys any creature or robot who refuse to give up their desire to use the portal, with the notable exception of Jack, who is the one destined to defeat him, but in the future. He also does not sway from his duty in the slightest way. Even though Jack is the one destined to use the time portal, he refuses to let Jack use it until he has matured to defeat him as prophesied and opted to wait patiently over the course of at least 50 years.

Biography
Learning of a time portal from an ancient water-faring beast, Samurai Jack, assisted by several mythical creatures, arrived in what appeared to be a gigantic graveyard, full of the corpses of many enormous machines.

Traversing it, he came upon a large, greenish-blue light source with a tall, black-clad man standing before it. Addressing the figure, Jack learned that the light source was the time portal that he sought, but was denied entrance by the man, who revealed himself to be its Guardian. He explained to Jack that he had spent many eons guarding the time portal, and had defeated all who had attempted to beat him. He also inadvertently revealed that the countless corpses dotting the landscape around the portal were the bodies of all the warriors whom he had slain. He declared that only one man was prophesied to one day defeat him would be granted access to the portal, and Jack, it seemed, was not that man. Jack, however, was insistent upon using the portal and challenged the Guardian who was intrigued at the prospect. Beginning with a brief sword fight, the Guardian gleefully disarmed Jack with minimal effort, reiterating his claim that Jack was not the prophesied warrior.

In response, Jack picked up a halberd-like weapon from one of the many fallen warriors and re-engaged the Guardian, who drew two sai. After a short bout, the Guardian took Jack's weapon, broke it in two, and attempted to kill him with it. Jack managed to dodge all of the Guardian's strikes, and in response, the Guardian drew a machine gun with a rocket launcher and shot at Jack. Running for his life, Jack attempted to retaliate with a number of throwing stars scavenged from the battlefield, but the Guardian drew another gun and shot them out of the air.

Desperate, Jack managed to scrounge up two shield-like pieces of metal to block the Guardian's bullets and kicked two of the Guardian's rockets back at him. Believing the battle to be won, Jack was astounded to discover that the rockets, despite having hit the Guardian head-on, had done nothing more than to ruin his suit. Enraged at the destruction of his favorite outfit, the Guardian charged Jack and proceeded to pummel him with his fists, destroying Jack's shields and repeatedly knocking him about.

Jack, clearly outmatched, expressed his astonishment at the Guardian's capabilities, and the Guardian once again repeated his assertion that Jack could not best him. He offered Jack the opportunity to leave, but Jack, determined to return to the past, charged the Guardian yet again. However, the Guardian was simply too powerful for Jack to harm, and he easily overwhelmed Jack in a brutal fashion, knocking him unconscious. The Guardian then prepared to crush Jack beneath a giant boulder, but the portal itself suddenly gave him a message that caused him to put the boulder down in realization about Jack and summon a pterodactyl-like creature to carry Jack to safety.

After Jack's departure, the Guardian, thinking aloud, apologized to Jack, saying he could not use the portal yet, and turned to the portal, where an image of a bearded, older Jack with a red cloak was displayed while standing on a black mound. Despite that prophecy, when Jack arrived at the Guardian's lair 50 years later, the portal was destroyed like all the others. The Guardian's red glasses lay cracked at the base of the destroyed portal; even he was no match for the Master of Darkness himself.

It is unknown how the past Aku's destruction affect his existence but as he has guarded his portal for countless eons it's very likely that he is still alive in the past and will continue guarding his portal.

Abilities and Skills
The Guardian is one of the strongest opponents Jack has come across to. In his own words, the Guardian has been guarding the time portal for countless eons, and has denied (defeated) everyone who came, as only one person has been prophesied to defeat him and gain access to the time portal. His martial arts skills and physical capabilities completely outclassed not only Jack's own, but any single opponent Jack has ever faced, and he defeated Jack more thoroughly and with less effort than any other single opponent else ever has. Despite his claim that only one man could defeat him, the Guardian and his portal were both destroyed by Aku. Being one of the few characters to have easily defeated Jack without much effort, he appears to be at the same strength as the Minions of Set. In spite of his great strength and power, he was no match for Aku who destroyed him with no effort.
 * Superhuman Strength: The Guardian's muscular build gave him incredible fighting strength. He was able to effortlessly lift large boulders, and could chew through metal as a normal person would through food. He was also able to shatter metal and concrete with his punches. In addition to his strength, Guardian was even strong enough to shatter a metal shield that shown to be highly bulletproof with just his punches.
 * Superhuman Agility: Despite his large mass, the Guardian possessed remarkable agility, leaping and flipping about with at least the same level of skill as Jack himself possessed.
 * Superhuman Durability: The Guardian had great durability. At one point during the fight with Jack, Jack deflected a number of missiles launched from the Guardian's own weapon back at him. Upon impact, they caused no damage to the Guardian himself, simply destroying his favorite suit and angering him.
 * Weapons Specialist: The Guardian used a variety of weapons against Jack, from a katana to guns, and even rocket launchers. His swordsmanship, in particular, was extraordinary, as he was able to completely outfight Jack during their sword bout, and ultimately disarmed him without Jack coming even close to landing a hit. He was also able, while shooting at Jack, to aim a second gun at a number of throwing-stars which Jack had launched at him and shoot them out of the air. His weapons are potent and sophisticated enough to reduce countless gigantic robots into scrap heap. Unfortunately, none of his weapons were capable of destroying Aku since the demon has destroyed him and the time portal effortlessly, since none of them possess the power of righteousness like Jack's katana.
 * Unparalleled combat skills: His combat skills were superior to even Jack at the moment, who has trained all over the world from instructors of various cultures. Jack even remarked that he never met with someone with such skill and strength. He even managed to defeat and destroy gargantuan robots that now litter the landscape unscathed until Aku destroyed him.
 * Agelessness: The Guardian seemed to be very old, if not ancient, much older than regular human and alien beings, since he has protected the time portal for countless eons.

Quotes

 * Ahhh, you goin' all old school on me, huh? Well, I got me one o' those.
 * That was my favorite suit you just ruined!
 * You can't use it yet, Samurai Jack. Not yet... Not yet.

Trivia

 * The Guardian heavily resembles Morpheus from The Matrix franchise.
 * In The Matrix, there is a prophecy of a chosen one that later turned out to be a fabrication by the machines.
 * Similarly, the fact that the Guardian seemingly perished and his time portal destroyed may indicate that the prophecy of Jack will defeat him and then gain access to the portal was a fabrication.
 * The Guardian's bodysuit is fully black and able to store a lot of weapons inside.
 * According to Jack, by the end of the series Aku has destroyed every time portal in existence, with Aku himself claiming this in a flashback in Episode XCVIII. Episode C validates his claim and it seems that Jack's last hope to return to his own time was destroyed.
 * Due to the fact he has been protecting the time portal for countless eons, he is quite likely as old as the universe itself.