| “ | The samurai is our mortal enemy. He must die at any cost. | ” |
—High Priestess to Ashi. | ||
The High Priestess was the title used by the unnamed matriarchal leader of the all-female cult of the same name, the Daughters of Aku. Additionally, she was the birth-yet-abusive mother of the septuplets. It was her mission to find and kill Samurai Jack. However, she was betrayed and killed by Ashi, who was one of her daughters after she found out the truth.
Biography[]
The High Priestess drinking Aku's essence.
The High Priestess first appeared in the first episode of season five, at the center of a ceremony being conducted by the Cult of Aku, an all-female cult of devout worshipers of Aku. There, she gave birth to seven girls and put them through years of hard and intense training to mold them into deadly, ninja-like assassins who would be able to track down and kill Samurai Jack, Aku's long-time nemesis. After many years of training them, she gave them white female masks and weapons and sent them out into the world to kill Jack.
In Episode XCVI, the High Priestess somehow made contact with her (presumably) sole surviving daughter, Ashi, by transforming the Moon into her face. She then ordered Ashi to kill Jack in his sleep, but she refused and informed her mother that Jack saved her life and she only wanted to know the truth. Shocked, the High Priestess promptly told Ashi that she failed her.
In Episode XCVII, in flashback, The High Priestess stripped her daughters (including Ashi) naked and pushed them into a pit filled with a large chunk of hot coals.
In Episode XCVIII, after Ashi joined Samurai Jack, the High Priestess confronted the Samurai herself along with an army of orcs while he was distracted with meditating on a mountaintop in order to recover his lost sword. Ashi single-handedly defeated all the soldiers, but the High Priestess managed to sneak to the top and fired arrows at the Samurai, only to be thwarted by Ashi. Enraged, the High Priestess then battled her final child and accused her of betraying her deceased sisters by letting the Samurai live. Ashi called her out on that, and claimed that she's the one ultimately responsible for what happened to her and the other six daughters by feeding them hateful lies about Samurai Jack, never gave them any other fate/choice and then sending the seven of them out on what ultimately amounted to a suicide mission. After a fierce fight, the High Priestess eventually overpowered Ashi by dazing her with crumbling debris and then made one final attempt to kill the Samurai; Ashi threw one of her arrows at her at the last second, which impaled the High Priestess just as she had leapt into the air to attack the Samurai and caused her to plummet off the cliff to her death.
The High Priestess falls to her death
In Episode C, it was revealed that she was somehow capable of conceiving Ashi and her sisters without the aid of a male partner when she consumed a portion of Aku's essence that he left when he personally visited the cult. That apparent action shocked even Aku himself, which indicated that he never considered the effects that his essence would have on a human (or just the fact that a human would even consume his essence in the first place).
After Aku's destruction in the past at the hand of Jack in the final episode, it could be assumed that the Cult of Aku never came into existence - it's unknown how Aku's destruction affected the existence of the members of the cult, including the High Priestess herself.
Appearance[]
The High Priestess after giving birth
Her true appearance is unknown, but a silhouette of her was shown when she was giving birth to her seven daughters. She was briefly seen from the back as she is being dressed in her outfit and it is seen that she is slim and has long black hair. Like other members of the cult, she wore a black robe, white mask and a head covering with horns resembling Aku's, except her head covering had six horns instead of four like the other members (possibly signifying her role as the leader of the cult). During the flashback when she drank Aku's essence, her facial profile is shown to heavily resemble Ashi and her sisters. She was shown to be wearing some form of jumpsuit made from the same black, tar-like substance that the rest of her fellow cultists wore.
Personality[]
The Priestess had the personality of a typical, psychotic, sadistic, unsympathetic, merciless, fanatical cult leader and believing that the service of her master was the most important thing in the world. At some point, she acquired a magical darkness from the Pit of Hate and pushed all her daughters into it so that they may become one with the darkness of Aku to receive supernatural abilities.[1]
The Priestess was rather mysterious, as it is currently unknown how she came to be so devoted to Aku, her past and the reasons her worldview is so distorted. It was later revealed that she drank from a ceremonial goblet that contained a portion of Aku's essence when he once appeared to the cult, allowing her to conceive human-demon hybrid septuplets. She was single-minded in her devotion, lacked any semblance of sympathy, seemed to be aristocratic and possesses great self control. Immediately after giving birth, she is helped into her mask and robe and proceeds like nothing happened.
Whereas most women would be too sick and exhausted to even sit up, she is capable of walking around and giving orders. She did not have any regard for life, as demonstrated by not caring about the deaths of any of her daughters or the other cult members. When her daughters finally completed their training, she immediately sent them to kill Jack without giving them time to celebrate or even rest. She crushed a ladybug in front of Ashi in order to demonstrate her view that life was meaningless unless it is in the service of Aku.
She repeatedly told her daughters that all that is good came from Aku and that Jack was the reason that the world has problems. It's unknown whether she actually believes this or only said it to mislead them into his service.
The Priestess was more unfeeling than cruel. Her actions always had a purpose and were never done for any sort of sadistic enjoyment. She didn't appear to love her daughters, or bond to the other cultists. The only feelings she had exhibited are those of love for Aku and hatred of Jack. However, she tried to psychologically manipulate Ashi by reminding her of her dead sisters, and is willing to pardon Ashi if she kills Jack while he is meditating and hands over her dagger, even though her past actions strongly suggest that she does not care for them, a sign of her manipulative personality. Moreover, she had no problem with killing her own daughter when Ashi betrays her cause.
Her obsession with killing Jack proves to be her ultimate downfall, as she let her guard down long enough for Ashi to impale her with her own arrow while attempting to kill Jack.
The High Priestess giving birth to her seven daughters.
Abilities[]
- Enhanced Endurance: The High Priestess gave birth to septuplets with little difficulty. After doing so, she was able to get back on her feet immediately without any signs of fatigue. There is some suspicion that part of it may have been due to drinking Aku's essence.
- Enhanced Agility: The High Priestess is able to jump on the top of a rock formation with such nimbleness without losing her balance.
- Skilled Assassin: She proved that she could train her daughters to be top-notched assassins. She also did a good job in erasing any compassion or distractions they have that keeps them from their mission. She is shown to be skilled enough to fight against Ashi, managing to overwhelm her daughter multiple times.
- Leadership Skills: She did lead the other cult members in overseeing the training of her daughters which turned them into Anti-Samurai Jack assassins.
- Enhanced Archery: She is skilled enough to create a hail of arrows similar to the Three Blind Archers with only one bow.
Weapon[]
- Dagger: She is shown using a dagger as her primary weapon.
- Claws: She carries a pair of sharp claws as her secondary weapon.
- Bow and arrow: She uses her bow and arrow to attempt to assassinate Jack.
Quotes[]
- Seven daughters to do your bidding, Master. They will succeed where so many others have failed.
- Bask in the glory of what our master has created, admire its beauty. But know that the Samurai is out there, leaving a wake of devastation wherever he goes. That's why, my sweet Ashi, the Daughters of Aku must stay focused. Never relent, always attack.
- Teach this one a lesson!!
- The weak have no place with Aku.
- Are you weak!? Are you weak!!? Are you weak!!!?
- Yes. Aku's fire stirs inside all of you.
- Your training is complete. Go! Kill!
- You are seven, but now you wear the face of one. One purpose for which you were born... To kill the Samurai!!
- Ashi, Ashi. Kill the Samurai!!!
- Ashi. These frivolous distractions are poisonous for your mission. They are not part of Aku's order.
- Ashi, what are you doing?
- The Samurai sleeps. Kill him in his slumber before he wakes.
- How dare you? You know he is deceitful! He will do everything in his power to defy the master!
- You were always the weak one, distracted, unfocused. May Aku punish you for your sins!
- You have failed us.
- Aku, our lord and master is one with the darkness. He was born from it. It fills him with infinite power. We, too, must become one with it. We are forever grateful and ever in your service.
- I knew you would fail us. You were the strongest, but the most unfocused. Always distracted, questioning everything. But all that can change. You can still honor our Lord Father. Destroy the Samurai, Ashi.
- Then you too will die.
- How could you betray your family? He killed your sisters! And you let him live!
- The Samurai is our mortal enemy. He must die at any cost. Her last and final words before she falls off the cliff to her death by Ashi.
Trivia[]
- The High Priestess' death was symbolic as she was literally stabbed in the back by Ashi, which lead to her downfall (falling off the cliff).
- That was also rather ironic and befitting for her ideology as the leader of the Cult of Aku, which insisted that any committed mistake leads to "death," as that symbolizes failure to them (i.e. the cult failed in purposely killing off Samurai Jack by themselves).
- In XCII, it was shown that the masks that the Daughters of Aku wear were pink because of the cave's lighting and white when they go outside. However, when the High Priestess found Jack and Ashi in XCVIII, her mask was still pink.
- When Ashi hallucinated her mother in the moon in XCVI, her mask was white then.
- Her real face was never revealed, but judging from her silhouettes and the fact that Ashi and her sisters didn't resemble Aku, it could be assumed that the High Priestess looked like her seven daughters (albeit taller in height with longer hair).
- Despite being mortal enemies with Jack for years, both characters were never seen face to face at all in the fifth season.
- She was voiced by Grey DeLisle, who also voiced Mandy in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Lizzie Devine, Soccer Mom and Valerie in Codename: Kids Next Door, Samantha "Sam" Manson in Danny Phantom, Portia Gibbons in The Mighty B!, Daphne Blake in the Scooby-Doo! franchise, Vicky and Tootie in The Fairly OddParents! franchise, Riley Daring in The Replacements, Princess Azula in Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise, and Dr. Holiday in Generator Rex.
- Before Grey DeLisle was cast, Susanne Blakeslee, Sandra Bullock, Erin Fitzgerald, Jennifer Hale and Tress MacNeille were considered to voiced the High Priestess.
- She served as the secondary villainess of Season 5.
- She bears similarities to Zira from The Lion King franchise:
- Both were passionate worshippers to different male characters (Aku for the High Priestess; Scar for Zira).
- Both have acted as leaders for different predominantly-female groups (Cult of Aku for the High Priestess; Outsiders for Zira).
- Both hold strong, yet irrational grudges against other male characters whom they percieve as threats (Samurai Jack for the High Priestess; Simba for Zira).
- Both are willing to attack their own children once they went against their personal ideals (Ashi for the High Priestess; Kovu for Zira)
Appearances[]
Season Five[]
- Episode XCII (first appearance)
- Episode XCIV (mentioned)
- Episode XCV (in a dream and then a flashback)
- Episode XCVI (hallucination)
- Episode XCVII (flashback)
- Episode XCVIII (death)
- Episode C (flashback)
Gallery[]
- Main article: The High Priestess/Gallery