Tengu

Not to be confused with the Tango Beast.

Tengu is a Japanese jet repairman who crafted a new pair of geta sandals for Samurai Jack after the latter's original ones were destroyed. He appears only in Episode XXVI: Jack's Sandals and was voiced by Clyde Kusatsu.

Character outline
Tengu is portrayed as being a kindly and wise old man with a deep rooted respect for his Japanese heritage, a contrast with the dystopia that Aku had created. He is a very skilled mechanic and carpenter, providing for his wife and three children in the middle of a large urban center. He seems to have a genuine sense of justice and generosity, and is fully capable of understanding that "one can never go into a battle on an empty stomach."

Synopsis
When Tengu first appeared, he was working on some sort of jet in his repair shop - Tengu-Jet Repair - when Jack followed his son to investigate the boy's geta. From underneath the vehicle, Tengu first believed Jack to be a late-night customer and attempted to avoid him, but quickly realized that the stranger was in fact the famous Samurai. The unexpected meeting compelled Tengu to invite Jack to dinner, which earned a remark from his wife, implying that he had the tendency to invite "oily jet car pilots" to dinner without her consent. After trading stories over the table and allowing Jack to meet his family, Tengu happily agreed to craft Jack a new pair of geta simply for the honor of doing so. Once the geta were finished, Jack thanked him and gave him his straw hat as a gift, in return for the kindness the elder had shown him.

It is unknown how the past Aku's destruction affected his existence, though based on the fact he is a Japanese man and thus from the same culture and country as Jack, he will still exist in the new future due to having been born before Jack's homeland was destroyed by Aku in the future.

Trivia

 * The scene in which the straw hat slumps over his head mirrors the first time Jack received his own hat, which was also too big for the wearer.
 * He bears a resemblance to a human version of Yoda.
 * Tengu "天狗" is Japanese for "heavenly dog".
 * It's also the name for a bird-like creature of Japanese folklore.
 * He is one of the only human characters that kept their family and ancient cultural traditions alive even in the future ruled by Aku, with the only other group to do so being the Spartans and The Scotsman's Clan.