Ata

"Weaklings always ramble on about dreams and whatnot… I’m tired of it. They use the name of a god, even spout lies whenever they become intoxicated on the mere notion that they’re strong. Why do you think the weak act so domineering? Because you have no 'courage'. You’re like a cowardly dog, howling from a safe distance."

- Samurai 8 chapter 11 – Ata to Hachimaru "… Enough of this. I’ll just cut Hachikaku to pieces and bring him with me!"

- Samurai 8 chapter 12 – Ata

Ata is a major antagonist in the Samurai 8 manga. He was once a disciple of the famous samurai, Daruma. However, he betrayed him and joined Ususama School under the rule of Kala. He is the archenemy of the main protagonist, Hachimaru, for murdering his father, Furuta.

Personality
Ata is violent and is completely invested in helping advance Kala and Ikkaku’s agenda to destroy the galaxy. Ata shows little respect for his enemies such as Karuraten – by wanting them to die off from his attacks. Ata also feigns politeness and respect for his former mentor, Daruma, by bowing in front of him after his betrayal. Ata shows annoyance for anyone who does not speak or act respectfully towards their mentor like Hachimaru’s behavior towards Daruma. Ata is often outspoken and cruel with his words by how he attempts to break Hachimaru’s spirit by calling him a coward in front of his mentor, his princess, and his father. In addition, Ata shows no qualms or hesitation in murdering people such as cutting down Dr. Furuta. Ata is shown to be arrogant and overly-confident in his own powers. He is also not fearful of the strength of his former mentor Daruma or other powerful opponents like Karuraten. Despite his cruel personality, Ata was once a loyal disciple under Daruma before betraying him to join Kala.

Past
Ata was once a student under Daruma and trained with him to become a powerful samurai. However, an incident occurred where Ata betrayed Daruma. The extent of the betrayal was immense as Daruma ends up losing his original body and confined to the body of a cat and the latter losing his princess. Ata leaves the Kongo-Yasha School to join the Ususama School under Kala. Ata also meets Ikkaku and his six other siblings. Ata begins to collaborate with Kala and Ikkaku on getting the Mandala’s Box – a tool that has the power to destroy the entire galaxy.

Plot
After Niri is able to locate the location of Hachimaru, Ikkaku’s brother, Ata sets out to capture him. Ata sends a clone of himself to locate the boy. When Ata arrives near Earth, he attacks the Moon with a powerful attack getting the attention of Karuraten, the most powerful samurai in the world. Ata intends to use the Moon that he attacked as a way to destroy the Earth later. Karuraten confronts Ata for his actions. The two gets into a fight where Ata was able to best him with his own strength. As Karuraten dies from the wounds that Ata inflicts, Ata attacks him further and then arrives on the Earth.

Ata confronts his former Daruma along with the new samurai Hachimaru, his father Dr. Furuta, and the new princess Anne. After greeting his former master, Ata apologizes the loss of Daruma’s princess. Ata was annoyed at Hachimaru’s tone when he speaks casually around Master Daruma. Ata recognized Hachimaru and calls him, Hachikkaku. As he intends to capture the latter, Ata confronts him by calling him a coward who is weak. Furuta uses a powerful move to attack Ata. The result of the attack, reduces Ata’s clone to nothing more than his head and a portion of his torso and arm. Despite being reduced to so little, Ata ends up attacking Furuta with a slash to the back by his sword. As Daruma tries to recharge his strength and power, Hachimaru decides to take on Ata all by himself. As Hachimaru is able to hold back Ata for a few minutes of battle, Daruma was able to recharge his strength.

Daruma takes his time to attack Ata. When Ata states that Daruma was no longer his student, Ata did not take that too lightly. Daruma attacks Ata’s clone with a powerful attack completely destroying it. Despite the destruction of the clone, it was able to create a projection showing Ata and Hachimaru’s seven elder brothers. Ata and Ikkaku declare that Furuta is a traitor for preserving the life of Hachimaru – who inadvertently took power from the seven elder brothers. Since the brothers did not have the power they will need to take over the galaxy, Ikkaku states that he will have to kill Hachimaru. Ata agrees and states that he will one day find Hachimaru and kill him. The projection message ends. The wound that Ata gave Furuta earlier results in the latter passing away from blood loss. In addition, the Hachimaru and Daruma had to destroy the Moon as it was about to crash into the Earth because of Ata’s attack.

Ata is seen later with Ikkaku and Viri. As Ikkaku states that he wants to go after Hachimaru himself, Ata says that he wanted to tear him to pieces and drag back his remains later. Kala says that they should go after Hachimaru this time without using a clone but to confront him in person.