The story of Aku from the Samurai Jack series.
Past[]
Origin[]
Long ago in the depths of space, a vast, formless, non-sentient mass appeared seemingly out of nothing. This black mass was attacked and vanquished by the three mighty gods: Odin, Ra, and Rama, in order to protect the universe from its influence. However. a small shard of the great entity managed to survive and drifted off into space. For many eons this shard continued tumbling through space until it eventually landed on Earth, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs in the process.
Many years later, the site on which the shard landed would become the ancient island of Japan, which the shard infected like a horrible disease - creating vast forests of evil in the land and threatening to consume it. Eventually, the shard's threat became so great and impressive that the Emperor of a Japanese kingdom decided to rid the land of the evil substance once and for all using magical-oil made by Buddhist monks. However, when he fired an arrow coated with this oil into the entity, it did not destroy it but rather gave it form and sentience, forming a humanoid threat of unimaginable power named Aku. No mortal weapon could harm Aku but, with aid from Odin of Norse, Ra of Egypt, and Rama of Vishnu, the Emperor wielded a magical sword with the ability to harm Aku. Using the sword, the Emperor faced Aku in a showdown that resulted with Aku being sealed away in a form that resembled a diseased black tree, but not before vowing that he would one day return.
Return[]
Unfortunately, his vow would become true when the imprisonment only lasts a decade before a solar eclipse frees Aku. Aku then proceeds to lay waste to the Japanese kingdom the Emperor rules, this time capturing the Emperor before he can grab the sword. The empress runs away with the sword and her son so that he can be trained to be a samurai warrior. While both of them managed to escape, Aku proceeded to lay waste on their homeland, turning it into a devastated and enslaved land.
Years later. the Emperor's son challenges Aku to a fight on the Pit of Hate inside his towering castle. The Samurai very nearly kills Aku for good using the magical sword but Aku throws open a portal in time and transports him to a future-world in which Aku rules supreme, something that he takes full confidence in as he was convinced his evil would be spread out all over the world. The Samurai takes the name "Jack" whilst trapped in the future and becomes Aku's nemesis as he still wields the only weapon capable of harming Aku.
Samurai Jack[]
Original Series[]
The Undisputed Ruler[]
| “ | Since the beginning of history, the immortal Aku has ruthlessly ruled the Earth plundering its resources as he sees fit. But it was still not enough. He opened his ports to the galaxy so that he might take the riches of other worlds as well. Since then, his otherworldly business affairs have drawn scads of vulturous criminals, mindless stooges, and questionable mercenaries to our pitiable planet making the Earth topsy-turvy, if I do say so myself. | „ |
| ~ Sir Colin explaining Aku’s rule over the Earth to Samurai Jack. |
During Jack's time in the future, Aku had managed to terrorize and subjugate a majority of the entire world and declared himself as the undisputed ruler of Earth. While he had a demon army, he was beginning to be unsatisfied with them due to their capability of carrying out his task faster, so he would go on to have a mechanical army under his command and recruit a council of mad scientists to create the X-Model, the first of Aku's robotic army. When all but X-49 were destroyed, Aku would develop a new generation of his mechanical army called the Beetle Drones, who were proven to be successors to the X-Models, and would become Aku's standard henchmen.
Craving for more power, Aku would later establish Earth as a space-faring world and open its ports to surrounding galaxies in order to plunder and conquer worlds beyond. The arrival of aliens, ranged from enslaved species to rough immigrants, would transform the Earth into a hodge-podge of dystopian societies that were primarily ruled by either tyrants or gangs. Aku's rule would even established the safety of the worst kind of criminals who would be inhabited in Earth, corrupted agents making lives of countless citizens worthless, and in some cases, occupied settlements would be inhabited by innocent and helpless residents without any scruples would be decimated. Unsavory and cruel establishments such as the Dome of Doom and Creature Combat Club would be common in the world ruled by Aku.
While Aku was universally hated and feared by almost everyone in the entire universe for his cruelty, there were several others who worshipped him like a god and served under him with immense loyalty.
Confrontation with Samurai Jack[]
While Samurai Jack would travel to face the demon in order to return to the past, Aku would have the habit of watching his arch-nemesis from afar and get enraged in his inability to kill him. He would use every opportunity to destroy Jack, such as unleashing his minion army, hiring bounty hunters, using mystical weapons, cunning traps, simple trickery, and other methods in an unending struggle, but each time, despite the struggle the samurai would endure, he would always prevail in the end, much to Aku's frustration.
Eventually, during his last confrontation with his arch-nemesis, Aku managed to stop him from jumping through the last known time portal and then destroyed it. He would sadistically revealed to Jack that he destroyed all of the time portals, which would prevent him from returning to the past. With his quest ending in failure, Jack's seal on Mad Jack would be broken, leading to his anger and depression. Aku would later flee while Jack would butcher three transformed monsters in rage, but didn't witness that he would also lose his sword in the process.
Samurai Jack (2017)[]
Fifty years later, it is also shown that Aku donated a small portion of himself to the Cult of Aku after seeing the statue they built in his likeness. Afterwards, the cult leader drank the potion which somehow impregnated her, creating the Daughters of Aku.
In Episode XCII, Jack fights an assassin named Scaramouche the Merciless who claims to be "Aku's favorite assassin". He tries to call Aku that Jack lost his sword, but Jack destroys his phone before he can get the chance, leading to a confrontation with Scaramouche where Jack seemingly destroys him.
In Episode XCIII, Aku wakes up from his long nap and becomes annoyed with his Royal subjects and minions as they come to his lair, bow down to him and give him gifts while he is trying to do his daily routine. When his minions mention that they built more robots to destroy Jack, Aku states that he doesn't care anymore. Aku then creates a clone of himself to serve as a psychiatrist who asks him about what has been troubling him lately. Aku tell the psychiatrist that it has been 50 years since he destroyed all of the time portals and that he hoped that Jack would have just died off the normal way, but, as a result of the time traveling process, not only has Jack not died from old age but he hasn't even aged a single day and has become biologically immortal, deeply frustrating him.
In Episode XCVI, Aku, after being informed by a henchman that the former's lair was under attack by an army lead by the Scotsman, decides to deal with them himself and flew out of his lair. Later, he transforms into a colossal giant ball and effortlessly slaughtered most of the army. After this, he was confronted by the Scotsman, with the latter insulting and ridiculing Aku, stating that Samurai Jack inspired many to oppose him. However, this leads to Aku killing the Scotsman by shooting him with his eye beams. Aku, with a bored tone, only wondered why the Scotsman brought up Jack before returning to his lair. However, unknown to Aku, the Scotsman returns as a ghost and instructs his army (who are all of his daughters as well) to continue to amass their forces and find Samurai Jack.
In Episode XCVII, Scaramouche (now only a head) tries to reach Aku in order to tell him that Jack is missing his sword and calls him from a phone booth on the boat he was riding, although Aku immediately hangs up after Scaramouche is thrown off the boat.
In Episode XCVIII, in a flashback, it is shown that Aku pulled Jack out of a time portal just as he was about to reach the past and then obliterated it, taunting Jack by telling him that said time portal was the last in existence. In his rage, Jack tried to destroy Aku once and for all. However, Aku backed out of the fight and transformed the Rams that had been helping Jack into mindless beasts that he soon killed, causing him to accidentally drop his sword into a pit in his horror.
In Episode C, Scaramouche finally reaches Aku's tower and manages to tell Aku about Jack's missing sword, not only causing the demon to snap out of his depression, but also give Scaramouche a new body out of gratitude. Aku then flies over to Jack's location (in which it is shown that he also killed The Guardian) where he and Scaramouche then laugh at Jack for not having his sword, only to realize that he actually does. Aku then kills Scaramouche by destroying his head and prepares to leave, however, he stops when he realizes that there is a little bit of himself inside Ashi. Aku then has a flashback in which it is shown that he gave some of his essence to the Cult of Aku, and then comes to the conclusion that the High Priestess must have drank the essence and birthed the Daughters of Aku. He then remarks on how she is really a true daughter of his to her and Jack's collected shock and anger. As Jack tries to kill Aku, Aku begins to possess Ashi and forcing her to fight Jack watching from the sidelines as they unwillingly do so while remarking on how his daughter fell for his sworn enemy. Eventually, Aku turns Ashi into a humanoid replica of himself, which Jack cannot bring himself to kill, laying his sword down in defeat. As Ashi is about to lay the final blow, Aku quickly orders for her to stop and grabs Jack's sword. He revels at finally besting Samurai Jack after 50 years.
Final Battle & Demise[]
In Episode CI, Aku broadcasts his victory over Samurai Jack to the entire world and tells everyone who opposes him that they have no hope as he prepares to kill Jack, however, he soon realizes that he does not know how he wants to kill Jack. After a period of indecision, Aku decides that it is best to let Ashi kill Jack. As Ashi readies to lay the final blow to Jack, almost everyone Jack has encountered (The Blind Archers, Rothchild and his Canine Companions, The Ravers, The Triseraquins, The Spartans, The "Jump Good" Monkey Man and his tribe and The Woolies) and saved came to his aid and attacked Aku. Aku begins to do a great battle with them while Jack fights the possessed Ashi who is stopping him from taking back his sword, Aku finding amusement in the armies' attempts to save Jack since he is nearly untouchable and cannot be killed by them. Aku splats a great number of Woolies and Blind Archers corrupting them into an army of smaller copies of himself ordering them to attack the rebels. While the rebels are in great difficulty against Aku's army and Jack is unable to take the sword back the Scotsman arrives with his Daughters causing several damages to Aku's army. During the fight, Max and the Robots of Andromeda join the army of Jack's friends with their giant robot samurai. At the beginning, Aku mocks the robot only to be brutally beaten up by it and also have his horns torn off, at point Aku starts to get annoyed and furious and decides to change himself into a rain of spikes to kill all of his enemies. The rain kills many of Jack's friends but is stopped by the powers of the Scotsman. Then, he checks on his daughter Ashi to see if she has killed Samurai Jack, but thanks to Jack for showing his love for Ashi, Ashi frees herself from Aku's possession and stands up against him. The furious Aku attacks her but is surprised to see that she has the exact same powers as he does. Without a moment to lose, Jack and Ashi summon a time portal and send themselves back to the past. The future Aku then looks in sorrow as he realizes that his destruction is imminent, realizing that all around him including himself are going to cease from existing.
Back in the past, after Jack's first battle against Aku, the demon has just sent Samurai Jack to the future. After he finishes his speech of meeting him again in the future, he was shocked to see that the future Jack and Ashi have returned on that same spot. As Aku tries to process why he is back so suddenly, Jack immediately charges and begins his short final showdown with Aku. Aku, still greatly weakened by his battle with the previous incarnation of Jack then transforms into a giant rhinoceros beetle-like form to fend him off, but the latter quickly slashes him in two halves with his sword. Jack then completely destroys one while the other tries to retreat but does not get very far as Jack manages to stab his severed head with his sword and Aku merges into the sword before Jack slams his sword to the ground, prompting what little remains of Aku to absorb his lair and blow it up. Destroying the sword destroys the last of Aku's essence, finally destroying the demon once and for all; avenging all of the deaths and suffering he has committed (or was going to commit), including pillaging the Japanese kingdom home of the Emperor and Empress and Jack. ending his tyrannical and world domination forever.
Legacy[]
However, Aku's death comes at a price as, since he was responsible for her existence, Ashi is erased from existence as she was about to marry Jack, allowing Aku to get one last laugh at his enemy from beyond the grave at last. Jack then mourns the loss of Ashi, but sees a ladybug as a memory of Ashi and smiles, as the string of fate meant that he will find someone who will fill the place Ashi left, and moreover, Jack can finally live off the rest of his days along with his family and friends serene and in peace, knowing that there's a bright future on the horizon as Aku and his tyranny are no longer there.
Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time[]
In the video game set during the finale of season five, Samurai Jack and Ashi open a time portal and travel to the past. However, in an attempt to prevent his destruction at the samurai's hand, Aku separates Jack and Ashi and transports Jack into a time pocket, a rift of spare and time with no future or past. While Jack would face many of his old enemies such as Demongo and Scaramouche, Aku would go on and taunt him numerous times with sadistic glee.
After facing numerous robots, demons, bounty hunters and the Daughters of Aku once again (involving tormenting Jack in killing the fake Ashi), Aku faces Jack and summons an entire army of robots to destroy him. However, The Scotsman, his daughters, Da Samurai and Sir Rothchild come to aid Jack by facing the army as they give Jack the opportunity to finally face Aku in his fortress. After the final fight, a defeated and overwhelmed Aku is confused of what is happening after a time portal opens. Jack tells him that that the rift between space and time that he has created starts to collapse. Future Aku refuses to admit defeat but he is cut down and defeated by jack but as he is defeated he declares that it's not over but Jack and Ashi reunite through the portal and finally make it to the past. Past Aku then meets his end as Jack finally destroys the shapeshifting demon once and for all.
Due to the altered history though, Aku is now trapped forever in the collapsed time pocket version of the future and Ashi is already born in it. As a result, Ashi does not fade out of existence and finally gets married to Jack.