The Thief

The Thief is a character that appeared in Episode XXXIX: Jack and the Labyrinth. He was later hired by Jack to infiltrate a fortress in the story "Samurai Jack and the Master of Time" that appeared in issues 16 and 17 of the IDW Publishing's Samurai Jack comic series. He is voiced by Rino Romano.

Appearance
The thief is modeled on Daisuke Jigen of the Lupin III series. Both possess the same physical attributes, posture, facial hair, hat-wearing style, and outfit. The only true differences between the two are the highly contrasted color scheme of the thief and the fact that Jigen's signature cigarette was replaced by a toothpick in the episode; possibly to avoid having cigarette paraphernalia seen by children. The Thief can shoot bullets from his briefcase but his shooting skills are average, whereas Jigen has unrivalled skills with a Magnum pistol. Again, this was to avoid depictions of gunplay being seen by children.

He also has one of his bottom teeth missing.

Personality
Personality-wise, the Thief is very similar to Arsène Lupin (also from Lupin III ) possibly making the character as a whole a composite of Lupin and Jigen. The thief is an incredibly greedy and sly person, but also snarky and lighthearted. His love of money is only rivaled by his skills as an expert thief. Despite his avarice however, he seems to hold some form of honour to his credit, as he chose to save Jack during their escape from the labyrinth when he could have left him and escaped alone.

Synopsis
The thief appeared during Jack's adventure through a labyrinth inside a pyramid. Both were after the same jewel, but the Thief wanted it for money while Jack needed it to go back in time. They soon set off the security system and had to fight several robots and three giant statues. The two worked together and managed to escape the pyramid, but the jewel shattered in the process. Despite this setback, Jack and the Thief set off on another quest to find their respective goals; money and a way home.

It is unknown how the past Aku's destruction affected his existence.

Skills and Abilities

 * Suitcase: Like Jack to his sword, the thief's suitcase is his signature tool and weapon. It can grip to and ride along walls, turn into a moped and an aquatic propulsion system for swimming quickly, and conceals tools such as a machine gun, a flashlight, and a blowtorch. It is also bulletproof.
 * Infiltration Specialist: The thief is able to get through many highly secured areas without any problem thanks to his tools, including his suitcase, a set of grappling hooks that can link together into a zip line, infrared goggles, explosives, hacking devices, and an apparent teleportation device.

Trivia

 * In the Japanese dub, he is voiced by Kiyoshi Kobayashi, the voice of Daisuke Jigen.
 * The Thief shows up in the IDW comics, enlisting Jack's help to steal a valuable talisman, which turns out to be just "a crappy watch with junk glued to it". When he finds this out, he leaves the fortress in high spirits.
 * The IDW comics have him giving Jack nicknames such as "Ninja Boy", "Pyjama-Puss", "Pyjama Boy" and "Captain Kung Fu".