Samurai Jack Wiki
Register
Advertisement
I am the son of Aku's magic. He has looked deep within you and has spawned me from your own burning hatred. I am your dark side and I have possessed all the powers that you wield and I have only one purpose in my existence: To destroy you!

—Mad Jack, Episode VIII: Jack versus Mad Jack

You are the one who has kept the past hidden. Your anger. Your frustration.

—Samurai Jack, Episode XCVIII

Mad Jack was one of Aku's minions and the embodiment of Jack's inner darkness. He was created by Aku to defeat him using his own skills against him. He made his first appearance in Episode VIII: Jack versus Mad Jack. He lost his physical form after Jack found peace within himself and caused him to disperse. In Season 5 Jack's inner anger and frustration cause Mad Jack to resurface as one of the personalities of Inner Jack, where he continued to antagonize Jack in his mind. He was reawakened by Aku unintentionally when Aku destroyed the last remaining time portal

Appearance & Personality

Mad Jack was created by Aku to see if he could defeat Samurai Jack using his own skills against him. He is Jack's exact replica, except that his robe is black with red trim, his skin is paler, and his eyes are blood red with shadows under them. In Season 5, he takes form in a more demonic and distorted version of Jack.

Like Jack, Mad Jack is also armed with a katana simliar to Jack's sword. He has shown to be very rude, violent, and rather psychopathic, completely unlike Jack. In essence, he is the physical embodiment of all of Jack's rage and frustration.

By season 5, Mad Jack becomes more short-tempered, egotistic and violent than his real counterpart. Often citing himself as the reason for Jack's continued survival since losing the sword, he tries to convince Jack of their shared weariness with 50 aimless years and recruits the other negative personalities to misguide Jack to taking the wrong path.

Synopsis

Aku had sent several bounty hunters to attack Jack, all of which failed, Aku lamented that no fighting style seemed to be able to beat Jack's, which caused him to form a plan; to pit him against himself.

After having to fight several bounty hunters, Jack became infuriated at his lack of peace and he was tired of fighting. He tried to calm down after defeating the last of them, but when his sandal strap broke, he snapped and threw the sandal at one of his wanted screens. The screen then started to light up, energy came from it and formed around the sandal, sealing the strap, until it finally forming into a more sinister Jack, Mad Jack. Surprised Jack questioned who the double was. In response, Mad Jack revealed himself to be the spawn of Aku's magic, formed from Jack's own hatred as well as being his dark side possessing all of his skills, created for the sole purpose to destroy Jack for Aku.

The two fighters then begin battle and appear to be evenly matched, trading blow for blow. However, since they both possessed equal skills, neither one could best the other. Their fight grew more intense as they continued, forcing each other's hair to sprawl out, reducing trees to ashes with the sparks of their swords, and outright destroying the area with the force of their blows.

As Jack struggled with his dark half, he saw the reflection of his own eyes in his sword and to his horror saw they bore great resemblance. Finding his peaceful center, Jack stepped back and calmed himself, causing all of his negative emotions to fade away. He then claimed the fight was over, stating that the negative emotions that formed Mad Jack were gone, meaning Mad Jack didn't exist.

Refusing to let Jack look down on him, Mad Jack boasted that he was real and charged toward Jack to deliver the final blow. However, while Jack remained in a meditative position, not even bothering to defend. As he was to strike Jack down, Mad Jack was instantly in Jack's control, able to do nothing except scream in impotent fury and defeat before he was sealed away by Jack.

Shadow of Aku

Towards the end of Shadow of Aku, Aku's magic gives Mad Jack life once more, and Jack fights him on a platform high up on a futuristic tower. Jack is forced to defeat him in combat multiple times, with each defeat causing his essence to flow into a hovering black device nearby, causing Mad Jack's face to show up on its monitor. Jack destroys enough of the devices to stop him for good, causing the floor under Jack to shatter, which sends him plummeting to the final boss battle with Aku.

Season 5

At some point, Mad Jack was the cause of Samurai Jack losing his katana. As Aku destroyed the final time portal, Jack's frustration began to surface, causing his rage to take over as Mad Jack and angrily lash out on Aku. Mad Jack then causes Jack to kill the goats; weakening Jack but allowing him to come back to his senses. As soon as a large slab hit Jack, the katana fell into the pit and was never seen again.

Mad Jack would continue to torment Jack mentally by resurfacing the other negative personalities to continuously provoke him into giving up on his quest, citing the loss of their sword as proof of their failure and dishonor to their ancestors.

When Jack tried to make a perfect tea but failed, Mad Jack manifests himself once again frustrated at the monk for not telling the location of the Katana. But Mad Jack's attempts at interrogating the Monk are met with Jack confronting him about being the reason why he lost the sword, to which Mad Jack defends himself by claiming he's the reason why they are alive. As he attacks Jack, Jack calmly controls his anger and finally sees through his rage, vanquishing Mad Jack for good as the latter begs "You need me". After battling his inner demon, Jack finally reclaims the Katana.

Skills and Abilities

Jackvsmadjack

Jack vs. Mad Jack

Becoming temporarily manifested by Aku's magic, Mad Jack's physical abilities and combat skills are identical to Jack's own. This resulted in a perfect stalemate between him and Jack when the two of them fought. However, he could only exist so long as Jack's hatred existed. Whenever Jack can achieve balance with his emotional state, Mad Jack ceases to be.

Appearances

Season 1

Video Game

Season 5

Quotes

Episode VIII

  • "Don't be such a fool, I am you [...] Ugh, you're so stupid. You are you also"
  • "I am the son of Aku's magic, he has looked deep within you and has spawned me from your own burning hatred, I am your dark side and I possess all the powers that you wield, And I only have one purpose in my existence. To destroy you"
  • "Hurts, doesn't it?"
  • "Huh? What the?"
  • "What the heck is going on?"
  • "WHAT?!"
  • "FOOL! I am real. Now feel the reality of my cold hard steel"

Season 5

  • "That's fortune cookie nonsense. He know where it is, he just won't tell you."
  • "EARN!??? After everything we've done, everything WE'VE BEEN THROUGH? The death, the loss, THE SUFFERING! WHO ARE YOU TO DENY US WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS!?"
  • "I HAVE KEPT US ALIVE! He's the one who has taken it from us! HE KNOWS WHERE IT IS!"
  • "You're in my way!"
  • "YOU. ARE. A. FOOL!!!"
  • "YOU NEED ME!!!!!"

Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku

  • "That's right! It's me again! Your other self! Your angry self! The one you keep locked away inside you! Aku has given me life once more! Don't think you can defeat me so easily this time!"

Trivia

  • In Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion, he appeared as a skin for Samurai Jack when changing Jack's appearance.
  • Mad Jack is Jack's inner demon personified; Sometimes one of the strongest enemies is the battle with yourself.
  • Mad Jack's return in Episode XCVIII portrays him in a red spirit form; This is because as Jack was sealing him away during their first encounter, he was sealed into a red spirit form, therefore destroying his physical form.
    • Many confuse Mad Jack to be Anguish, Bloodlust & Apathy in Episodes XCVIII, XCIV, and XCV, when they are all separate beings. This is evidenced as Mad Jack has stated that he was "spawned from [Jack's] own burning hatred" whereas the other personalities show different and more calmer reactions. Anguish shows emotions of weariness and lost hope (emotions of sadness that Mad Jack cannot attain due to his burning anger), Bloodlust is more manipulative than violent (unlike Mad Jack who's anger is ever lasting), and Apathy tries to reason with Jack with a very calmer tone (which Mad Jack cannot do as he is rage induced).
  • Mad Jack is defeated both times in Season 1 and Season 5 by being absorbed after Jack finds inner peace within himself.
  • It is unknown why Mad Jack, when temporarily possessing Jack, tried to kill Aku, when he was created by the latter for the sole purpose of ending the samurai.
    • It could be so that he could take advantage of Jack's anger or even cause him to lose the sword and send him on a misguided path with the help of the other negative personalities.
  • Jack overcoming Mad Jack is similar to how Batman overcomes The Joker in a mental battle in Batman: Arkham Knight. Both heroes are temporarily controlled by the evil (Mad Jack and The Joker), but manages to seal them through their worse fears (being sealed and forgotten). Mad Jack also says "You Need Me" as his final words similar to how The Joker says "I Need You" as his.

Gallery

Advertisement