Samurai () is a Japanese superhero in DC's ''

Super Friends ''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of Am ...

'' animated television series. He was one of the later additions to the team along with other ethnically diverse heroes in an effort for the show to promote

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to Monoculturalism, monoculture. It has a variety of meanings in different contexts, sometimes applying to cultural products like art works in museums or entertainment ...

, as

Apache Chief Apache Chief is a Native American superhero from the various Hanna-Barbera '' Super Friends'' and '' Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' cartoons and the DC comic book series of the same name. He was one of the new heroes added (along with Black V ...

El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...

and Black Vulcan. The character was designed by cartoonist

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (; June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera through ...

and voiced by

Jack Angel Jack Angel (October 24, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American voice actor and radio personality. Angel voiced characters in shows by Hasbro and Hanna-Barbera such as '' Super Friends'', '' The Transformers'' and '' G.I. Joe'' and was involve ...

. Following sporadic guest appearances, Samurai becomes a prominent team member in the series' later seasons. Samurai is later introduced into the main comics continuity during ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

''.

Fictional character biography

Series

Toshio Eto is a history professor who gained his powers after being struck by a beam of light sent by the

New Gods The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

New Genesis The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

, who were trying to create superheroes to battle

Darkseid Darkseid () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Kirby, the character first made a cameo appearance in ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' #134 (December 1970), before being fully in ...

. After the New Gods explain their motivations to him, Eto joins the Justice League as Samurai.

Comics

Samurai made DC comics appearances during the ''

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in '' ...

'' crossover featured in the ''

Brightest Day ''Brightest Day'' is a 2010–2011 Crossover (comics), crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of a year-long comic book Limited series (comics), maxiseries that began in April 2010, and a number of tie-in books. The story is a dir ...

'' event. Toshio appears as one of the heroes driven insane by

Alan Scott Alan Ladd Wellington Scott is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, and the first character to bear the name Green Lantern. He fights evil with the aid of his mystical ring, which grants him a variety of powers. H ...

's Starheart before being defeated by

Jesse Quick Jesse Belle Chambers is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Chambers, who mainly uses the superhero name Jesse Quick and briefly Liberty Belle, is the daughter of Golden Age of Comics, Golden Age heroes Johnny Qui ...

and

Congorilla Congorilla (originally in human: William "Congo Bill" Glenmorgan) is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and Vertigo Comics. Originally co-created by writer Whitney Ellsworth and artist George Papp, he was later transform ...

. Prior to Samurai's appearance in ''Brightest Day'', an alternate version of the character named Toshio appears in the ''Justice League of America 80-Page Giant'' one-shot. He is a samurai from 13th-century Japan who was granted mystical abilities by a sorceress. In '' Doomsday Clock'', Samurai joins Japan's superhero team, Big Monster Action.

In other media

Television

* A character inspired by Samurai called Wind Dragon appears in ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...

'', voiced by

James Sie James Sie (born December 18, 1962) is an American actor and author. He is best known as a voice double for Jackie Chan, having voiced an animated Chan and several other characters in '' Jackie Chan Adventures''. He is also known for his recurri ...

. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. He is an aerokinetic, genetically engineered superhero created by

Project Cadmus This is a list of teams and organizations that appear in various DC Comics publications. Note: Please check :DC Comics superhero teams before adding any redundant entries for superhero teams to the page. 0-9 100 1,000 2000 Committee A ...

to serve as the leader of their Ultimen and operate independently of the

, though the former group are led to believe that they are regular metahumans. * A character inspired by Samurai named Asami "Sam" Koizumi appears in ''

Young Justice Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team was formed in 1998 when DC's usual teen hero group, the Teen Titans, had become adults and changed their name to the Titans. Like the original ''Teen T ...

'', voiced by

Janice Kawaye Janice Hiromi Kawaye (born April 4, 1970) is an American voice actress known for her roles as Gi in '' Captain Planet and the Planeteers'', Jenny Wakeman/XJ-9 in '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'', Ami Onuki in '' Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'', Kim and Kam ...

. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. She is a teenage runaway who was captured and experimented on by the Reach, who activated her meta-gene and granted her the ability to manipulate

chi __NOTOC__ Chi may refer to: __NOTOC__ Greek *Chi (letter) (Χ or χ), the twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet Chinese * ''Chi'' (length) (尺), a traditional unit of length, about ⅓ meter *Chi (mythology) (螭), a dragon * Chi (surname) ...

. Asami is later rescued by the

Team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

and becomes an ally of them and the Justice League.

Film

* Samurai makes a cameo appearance in '' Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon''. * Samurai makes a cameo appearance in ''

The Lego Batman Movie ''The Lego Batman Movie'' is a 2017 animated superhero comedy film, based on characters created by DC Comics and the Lego Batman toy line. It was directed by Chris McKay (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay that is based on a ...

''.

Merchandise

* Samurai received an action figure in the third wave of

Kenner Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy brand owned by Hasbro. Kenner Products began as a toy company founded in 1946, going on to produce several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures for t ...

Super Powers Collection The Super Powers Collection was a line of action figures based on DC Comics superheroes and supervillains that was created by Kenner Products in the 1980s. History In 1984, DC Comics awarded the master toy license of their characters to Kenner ...

. * Samurai received an action figure in the ''

'' tie-in toyline as part of a three-pack with Black Vulcan and

. * Samurai received an action figure in Wave 18 of

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

DC Universe Classics DC Universe Classics was an action figure toyline, a sub-line of the DC Universe toy brand manufactured by Mattel. They were 6-inch scale figures based on the fictional characters owned by DC Comics. The entire line was sculpted by the Four Horse ...

line.OAFE - DC Universe Classics 18: Samurai review
/ref> * Samurai received an 8" action figure by Figures Toy Company.

References

{{Super Friends Fictional characters from the 13th century Characters created by Alex Toth DC Comics superheroes Fictional academics Fictional characters who can move at superhuman speeds Fictional characters who can turn invisible Fictional characters with air or wind abilities Fictional characters with fire or heat abilities Fictional Japanese people Fictional samurai Japanese superheroes Super Friends characters Television characters introduced in 1974 Animated characters introduced in 1974