The Guardian

The Guardian
Information
Gender	Male ♂
Species	Alien
Voiced Actor	Kevin Michael Richardson

“	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, Episode XXXII: Jack and the Travelling Creatures

The Guardian is an exceptionally powerful warrior who guards a time portal even from Aku. He appears in Episode XXXII: Jack and the Travelling Creatures. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

Appearance

The Guardian is a tall, bald, muscular man with blue skin. His attire consists of a jet-black suit and red circular glasses. He carries numerous weapons, including a sword, and at least two sai and two machine guns.

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

Personality

The Guardian seems to live only to guard his portal. 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.

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 kills everyone who refuses to give up their desire to use the portal, with the notable exception of Jack, who is the one destined to beat 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 prophesized 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 best 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. Only the one man who 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. 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, 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 understanding 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.

Within the next 50 years, Aku destroyed almost all the time portals he knew of, and Jack claims that all known time portals are destroyed as well. Given it is supposed to be Jack's destiny to use the one that the Guardian protects, it is possible that it and he both escaped Aku's notice, but no indication has been given either way yet. It is also possible Aku was no match for the Guardian as he easily defeated Jack since other individuals have been able to defeat Aku.

Abilities and Skills

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 prophesized to defeat him and gain access to the time portal. His martial 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.

Super Strength: The Guardian's muscular build gives him incredible fighting strength. He was able to effortlessly lift large bolders, and could chew through metal as a normal person would through food. He was also able to shatter metal and concrete with his punches.

Super Speed: Despite his large mass, the Guardian possessed remarkable agility, leaping and flipping about with at least the same level of skill as Jack himself.

Superhuman Durability: The Guardian has 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.

Ageless: The Guardian seems to be very, very old, much older than regular human beings, he has protected the time passage for countless eons.

Quotes

• "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 trilogy.
• According to Jack, Aku has destroyed every time portal in existence. However, given that Jack is destined to use the time portal The Guardian guards, it is likely untrue, and Aku may not be aware of the time portal's existence.