Afro Samurai
Background
Tales travel far and wide about a mythic No.1 headband, said to bestow god-like power to only the strongest fighter able to claim it. However, the only one allowed to claim that No.1 headband is whoever possesses the No.2 headband. And whoever possesses the No.2 headband is in constant danger of assassins, rivals, and anybody else who wants to take their chance at challenging the strongest fighter in the world.
This is the dilemma a young boy (who everyone calls Afro) found himself in after his father and former owner of the No.1 headband, Rokutaro, engaged in a duel with a cowboy by the name of Justice. In the end Justice prevailed (not in a good way), decapitating the young boy’s father in front of him before taking the No.1 headband for himself, and leaving to parts unknown. But not before giving Afro the No.2 headband, telling Afro to challenge him when he was ready. After being taken in by an unnamed swordmaster, Afro began training to do exactly that.
Through years of training, Afro graduated, becoming a full-fledged swordmaster. Shortly thereafter his master was killed (by Afro), and his dojo burned to the ground. With nowhere left to go, Afro set out on a journey to track down Justice, and enact his revenge for the death of his father. Along the way he confronts a powerful assassination group known as the Empty Seven, numerous enemy swordsmen, robots, and his former friend and fellow sword student, Jinnosuke, revived as a cyborg (with a teddy bear helmet).
The result of Afro’s journey varies between the anime and manga. In the manga, Afro finally arrives at the throne room of Mount Shumi to confront Justice… Only to discover Justice was long dead, his body quickly reducing to dust once Afro grabs the headband from his corpse. Several years pass before an unnamed swordsman enters the throne room and tries to kill Afro. Reinvigorated from the fight, Afro decides to finally leave the room Justice was holed up in, and face the world.
In the anime, Afro confronts a still living Justice, and narrowly manages to kill him, claiming the No.1 headband for himself. Afro, again, waits several years in the room Justice was waiting in, before heading out to face off against Jinnosuke, who somehow lived through their previous duel. There’s also a slight implication that Justice survived, but that’s neither here nor there.
Then there’s the Afro Samurai Resurrection movie, where Afro, now in possession of the No. 1 headband, is ambushed by Jinno, and loses the headband. In an attempt to stop his father from being revived and tortured, Afro begins his journey anew, seeking out the owner of the No. 2 headband, before confronting his former childhood friend, Sio, and her group of assassins. After fighting and killing his revived and blood-crazed father, Afro’s journey finally came to an end with him giving the No.2 headband to a boy whose teacher he had killed previously, perpetuating the cycle of revenge and bloodshed Afro himself was caught in all those years ago.
Important things about the Afro Samurai world
Despite the mythic status the No.1 headband holds, it does not appear to buff or increase the power of its owner. The parameters are vague, but in the anime, Justice shows the ability to absorb blood, some degree of regen, and could create stone spires to impale people. However, it’s unknown if Justice possesses these abilities naturally, or if the headband gave them to him. Justice is different from the rest of the cast of Afro Samurai in that he appears to be undead, and could very well be able to do all of this without the headband. And during the time Afro possesses the No.1 headband, he never shows these abilities. The only ability the headband is confirmed to give its owner is agelessness (in the anime at least). As such, I doubt the No.1 headband will be used, or really matter, for this fight. Especially since Afro normally possesses the No.2 headband anyway.
Although the setting is reminiscent of Feudal Japan (with hip hop influences thrown in), the world of Afro Samurai clearly possesses advanced technology, with robots, cyborgs, revived clones, and other advanced technological concepts being commonfare.
There are minor differences to the plots of the Afro Samurai manga, anime, and games, but they all hit the same beats, so there shouldn’t be any harm in compositing them.
Experience
Afro has been training under the tutelage of an unnamed swordmaster from a very young age (he couldn’t have been any older than 7 when he started). This swordmaster appears to be an expert in traditional Japanese swordsmanship, and in the anime, even came to secretly possess the No.2 headband.
After heading out for revenge with the No.2 headband Afro has never truly been safe. On a daily basis he would be tracked down and attacked by bandits, assassins, and other threats, many of whom were professionally trained (Manga, chapter 1, page 26). As such, his skills and senses have been honed to a great degree.
While most of Afro’s opponents use methods of fighting at least somewhat akin to stereotypical Samurai and Ninja, he has fought characters with more western-themed styles as well, such as in the beginning to the Resurrection movie when he defeats two swordsmen who use a fencing style.
This experience and training extends to robotic enemies as well, including a robot clone of himself called the Afrodroid. Despite said droid having a large amount of fighting data on Afro, he managed to eventually overcome this opponent by using his instructor’s teachings to make himself ‘unpredictable’.
Arsenal
Katana: An unnamed sword of Afro’s that is notable for being longer than the average samurai sword. In spite of its size, Afro can use the blade in quick-draw motions without any issue. The blade is very durable, but no unbreakable. In the Afro Samurai Resurrection movie, Afro had to get it reforged because it had become chipped and rusted.
Steel Comb: A comb that Afro got from his childhood friend, Otsuru. Its comb edges are incredibly sharp and tough, capable of impaling foes, and blocking strikes from characters like Justice. Afro is never shown using it, but in the anime the comb also had a hidden blade.
Sandals: It might sound mundane, but Afro has on occasion kicked off his sandals at opponents as distractions.
Abilities
Beyond superhuman strength, speed, and durability, Afro possesses…
Sword Proficiency: As mentioned in the experience section, Afro has been training in swordsmanship for almost all his life.
Hand to Hand Proficiency: In the event that Afro loses his sword, he has shown himself capable of holding his own against assassins using hand-to-hand combat.
Perception and Instinct: Having fought ninjas in the past, Afro has the uncanny ability to detect and react to sneak attacks and hiding opponents.
Other
Ninja Ninja: Perhaps the strangest ability of Afro’s (if you can even call it that) is his sidekick. Throughout Afro’s journey, he is regularly followed by a wisecracking imaginary friend of his by the name of Ninja Ninja. This being is imaginary (as confirmed in one of the DVD interviews), however, it’s very apparent that Ninja Ninja also has some presence in the physical world. We regularly see him do things such as catch cigarettes, produce noise while walking, get caught in explosions, take a sword strike for Afro, and other things that would be impossible if he was solely a figment of Afro’s imagination.
Although it’s worth noting that Ninja Ninja rarely, if ever, actually helps Afro. He took a sword strike for Afro in the anime that ‘killed’ him, and he has occasionally provided some advice to him. But he’s never actually helped Afro fight.
Feats
Strength & Destructive Power
-Afro can cut through not just his opponents, but their swords like they’re butter (Manga, Chapter 4, Page 19).
-Is capable of cutting through the Afrodroid and robots made of an abnormally dense alloy (Manga, Chapter 10, Page 2).
-Cuts apart a mechanical statue (Afro Samurai Resurrection, Part 1, 23:50).
-Decapitates a cyborg with a kick (Afro Samurai Resurrection, Part 3, 9:55).
-Tears off a metal arm (Manga, Chapter 5, Page 22). Not bad given metals today can have a tensile strength as high as 80,000 PSI.
-Logically speaking Afro’s attack potency should be comparable to his durability (see below).
Speed & Agility
-Casually deflects a rifle bullet (Manga, Chapter 1, Page 22).
-Evades machine gun fire while injured (Manga, Chapter 5, Page 14).
-Cuts apart an RPG rocket (Anime, Episode 1, 2:20).
-Deflects bullets from Justice’s revolver (Anime, Episode 5, 18:00).
-By far Afro’s best speed feat is parrying a laser fired from the Afrodroid.
Skill
-Killed a hoard of assassins in under 3 minutes (Manga, Chapter 1, Page 16).
-Afro is not above using pedestrians to his advantage, and will create human shields to get the upper hand on opponents (Manga, Chapter 3, Page 25).
-Afro can fight effectively with his non-dominant hand (Manga, Chapter 4, Page 16).
-Managed to memorize the Afrodroid’s way of fighting after only a few prior minutes of battle (Manga, Chapter 10, Page 3).
-Afro managed to notice an Empty Seven cyborg trying to sneak attack him, and snuck up on the cyborg instead (Anime, Episode 2, 14:10).
-During his fight with the Afrodroid, Afro remembered his teacher’s words, and made himself ‘unpredictable’, effectively defeating an opponent who was replicating all his moves in a mirror-match fashion (Anime, Episode 3, 12:03).
Weaknesses
Afro doesn’t have any sizeable weaknesses, but there are clear limits to how much damage he can take, and despite being superhuman, he is still bound by the limits of the human body in other capacities. Drugs and poisons affect him no differently than any normal man for example. And while he normally is collected in battle, under the right circumstances his emotions can get in the way, as evidence in his fight with his cloned father, where he refused to battle him at first. However, for the purpose of this fight that shouldn’t be an issue.
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