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20px-IconFeaturedArticle This page is fully protected until further notice. 20px-IconGrimTales 20px-IconCharacter 20px-IconMale 20px-IconDemon 20px-IconVillain 20px-IconUnderworld 20px-IconCityofAku 20px-IconCartoonNetwork
Glad to see you're enjoying yourself.
— Aku to HIM
Aku
Aku
Name Aku
Alias Master of Darkness
Shogun of Sorrow
Ikra (female)
Aki (female)
Origin Samurai Jack
Sex Intersex
Age Infinite
Species Demon
Status Alive
Eye Color Black (tend to be Red)
Hair Color Ginger
Relatives Chi (daughter)
Ashi and the Daughters of Aku (daughters)
Friends HIM, Demongo (minion)
Enemies Samurai Jack
Occupation(s) Emperor
Residence City of Aku

Aku is a character who appears in Chapter 8 of Grim Tales. He is introduced in Chapter 8. He is the father of Chi, but also acts as a mother figure for her when transformed to Ikra. He is ruler of the City of Aku. He originates from he Cartoon Network show, Samurai Jack.

Grim Tales

History

Aku is one of the "Big Five" in other words one of the five most feared beings in the Underworld. Though having long since settled into retirement after the death of his rival he's greatly feared and respected for his great wisdom and power and is still regarded as the Master of Darkness[1][2].

Once Demongo was Aku's greatest and most powerful generals in his army. However after his defeat at the hands of Jack Aku punished Demongo with death, reducing him to a floating disembodied soul and a royal Court Jester/herald for him and a babysitter/plaything for his heir[3].

Aku has a prized daughter, named Chi, whom as a result of a pampered upbringing is almost universally regarded as a spoiled brat in the Underworld. It is mentioned by Demongo that Aku have "taken care" of the bounty hunter Skulker, after the latter tried to kidnap his daughter[4]. Aku is also good friends and business partner's with HIM a fellow member of the big five and is fond of his daughter Mimi after she kept Skulker busy for just long enough for him to arrive[4].

He also has a unknown relationship with Mandy, and apparently ended it on good terms with her[2].

Chapter 8

When Chi started a fight with HIM Aku took notice and intervened on her behalf, apologizing for not disciplining her properly. As a apology Aku suggested HIM to indulge in his personal hot-springs and sake while he was disciplining Chi, HIM gladly accepted. Once inside the castle Aku scolded Chi for her actions, not only did she attack one of his oldest friends and honored guest but she did so in a ridiculous outfit.

Realizing that she was depressed about something Aku donned a couple of comical guises in order to cheer her up, followed by his female form, Ikra in order to properly dress Chi while she explained herself. Ikra understood and sympathized with Chi's concern for her friend Mimi, however royalty violence was not their way, and challenging someone like HIM to a fight was foolish, reckless and dangerous.

While Ikra was brushing Chi's hair, Chi asked her if she had lined up any suitors for her yet, requesting Mimi as her betrothed. According to Ikra, Chi was too young to start thinking about marriage, and while Mimi was a ideal candidate such a decision would not sit well with the other underlords. Furthermore marrying Mimi would require asking HIM's permission, and considering her display in front of HIM just now it's not a good time to ask.

With that settled and Chi properly dressed Ikra went to attend her meeting with HIM, instructing Demongo to make sure she stayed put and out of trouble. Ikra, completely naked, had her meeting with HIM in her hot springs, the latter flirting with her. "Bromance" aside Ikra questioned HIM on what he wanted, wondering if it had something to do with Mimi, Jeff, or his missing claw.

As it turned it's none of the above, instead HIM wants to discuss the future of the Underworld with her. Ikra however saw through HIM's attempts to beat around the bush and guessed that he got Mandy mad at him again. HIM Stated that he'll go over the finer points with her later in her office wanting to relax and forget his troubles for the time being.

Back in Aku's office and Aku in his default form HIM has explained what the story was thus far. While Aku agreed that HIM's in quite the predicament, he was not willing to risk his kingdom and family in a war against Mandy. He also critized HIM for his carelessness, telling him he had excepted that HIM would have been more careful. HIM however pointed out that Mandy is too big a threat to ignore especially to Aku: she has the one weapon in all the universe that can kill him in her vault, Jack's Katana.

However according to Aku there's no one alive can wield the weapon, so it's useless and not a threat. Acknowledging the lost of his zeal Aku stated that he will only stand by HIM as his friend and nothing more, having long since moved past the days of senseless bloodshed. Aku also asked that Chi be left out of the loop, as her beloved Mimi was deeply involved.

When the Blood Council Letters were sent out, Aku (taken the form of Ikra again) and HIM were getting drunk on sake. Suddenly Ikra asked HIM if he already had planned how he would justify his actions in court, only to have her concerns laughed away, claiming that he had all under control. Ikra reminded him of the fact that he risks to lose his status as Underlord and that she would only be at his side as "emotional support", something he answered with a joke. She then asked, since his own personal problems don't seem to bother him all that much, if he is concerned about the wellbeing of Mimi. To which, he pointed out that there was nothing that that Mandy could do to Mimi, that he hadn't already topped on a daily basis and that stated that she deserved this "vacation". While Ikra kept stating advices, HIM replied with sadistic wisecracks, leading Ikra to dub him a bastard. As the conversation starts to become more sexual in tone, Ikra positioned herself on top of HIM, while asking him what he sees in Mandy, which was answered with more wisecracks before she asked the question she actually wanted to ask. What does Mandy have that she doesn't? HIM, trying to put the situation to his hand, proclaims that they are "bros" and that "bros" don't screw each other, but instead help each other. But Ikra wasn't tricked by this attempt to become more than just support and told him that would have to be more persuasive if he really wanted her help...

After they seemingly had settled things, they waited together for the Cthulu Express to pick them up and bring them to Blood Council. Before they left, Ikra gave the last orders to her troops, stating that if only one toe of Chi left the mansions they would have to pay hell. At that moment, Chi came to say goodbye to her mother. As Ikra hugged her daughter, she proclaimed that if anything would happen to her, she wouldn't knew what she would do (but HIM seemed to have a few ideas). Instead of stating these ideas, he told Chi that it must be a blessing to have such a well-behaving child as her. As the train arrived, he took Ikra by the arm and just before boarding the train, Ikra gave Demongo some final instructions, namely to never let Chi get out his sight.

In Castle of Grim, when Mimi was wandering around in the castle, she saw a family portrait of the Grim family. This triggered precognition powers of Mimi, who has a vision of enraged Aku, who uses his laser vision to burn down the Castle of Grim...

Personality

Retirement seems to have mellowed Aku out considerably from the original series, no longer having any desire to rule the world/universe/etc like he once did[2]. It seems he no longer shows the same inhumane cruelties to his subjects he once did either, his realm the City of Aku is stated to be a place where people "indulge in the guiltiest of pleasures."[1] Finally he's shown to have a rather large soft spot for his daughter Chi.

Even when disciplining Chi he uses his shape shifting powers to cheer her up[5] and provide a much needed mother like figure in her life. As Ikra he is very calm and nice to Chi, talking like a good parent to Chi[6]. Despite this soft spot for Chi he takes a "tough but fair" approach to raising her, scolding her for making foolish mistakes such as dressing[5] or acting inappropriately[5] or challenging a superior to a fight[6].

This proves that he, unlike HIM, clearly loves his daughter very much, which also seems to be well know around the Underworld, his daughter being called a spoiled brat by many[3][7], showing that he dotes on his daughter a lot, not even trying to hide it in public[8][9]. This can be shown as a clear improvement of his behavior compared to what his personality was in Samurai Jack, as he cares deeply for his daughter, instead of being cruel to her as he was with his subjects in the past. He also ask HIM to not tell Chi about what happened to Mimi, not wanting her to get involved[2] , which is another proof of his love to his daughter.

Another proof that he loves Chi is that "his anger would know no limits, his rampage would extend to the very end of the universe, his vengeance would turn the stars in the heavens black" if his daughter would be kidnapped[10], showing that messing with his daughter is possibly the worst thing that could happen to him[8], as he loves her very dearly.

Sexuality

Aku is intersex and can take on the form of any sex he wants. Because of this, it is hard to make any claims about his sexuality. It is however shown that his alterego, Ikra is heterosexual as she tried to seduced HIM on numerous occasions[11][12] and clearly sees him as more than a "bro".

Appearance

Aku is able to take many forms but mostly is seen, when not in battle or disguise, as a black demon several stories in height. He doesn't have any legs but instead has small tentacles on the bottom to walk. He has big pointy shoulders and has six horns bending upwards sticking out of his head. His whole body is pitch black except his face which is green and monkey-like with sharp teeth, a open white nose and big eyes.

His eyebrows and long beard are made out of flames and he wears a long black and red toga. However it should be noted that as a master shape-shifting demon Aku can transform into any form of virtually any shape or size that suits his purposes, so long as said form is any combination of Green, black and red.

Ikra

Ikra was one of Aku's aliases, just one of several forms which Aku assumed in order to travel closely with Jack. Using his shifting abilities Aku changed himself to the appearance of a young woman with green skin, black hair and a black dress. He currently uses this appearance to act as mother figure to Chi. As Ikra he does most motherly things like reading her a book, brushing her hair, and talk about thing a girl only would tell her mother.

Powers and Abilities

  • Atmokinesis: Aku is capable of conjuring storms through will[13].
  • Chronokinesis (Disputed): In the show, Aku teleported Jack to the future[14]. It isn't sure however if the same goes for the canon of Grim Tales as the City of Aku isn't a dystopian future but completely different dimension and part of the Underworld[1].
  • Conjuring: The ability to create objects out of thin air. He once used this ability to conjure gold, jewels, and treasure for the Imakandi[15].
  • Essence Infusion: Due to his unique physiology, Aku is able to infuse his essence into others. He used this ability to provide a powersource for the Ultra-Robots, in another foil to kill the samurai[16].
  • Hydrokinesis: Aku is able of hydrokinesis, meaning he can alter the stream of water. He has used this ability to sink the city of the Tritonians to the bottom of the sea[17]
  • Immortal: Aku needs no food, drink, or air for survival and can't die of old age, proven by the fact that has been around for millions of years[14][18].
  • Laser Vision: Aku used this ability in numerous battles with Jack and he also used it to destroy the majority of Jack's Kingdom[14].
  • Knowledge: Aku has a vast knowlegde about war, strategy, magic, spells and artefacts. Even in retirement, he is still feared and respected for the knowlegde he possess[1].
  • Magic: Aku has several magical abilities:
    • Flight: Aku is able to fly without the need of wings.
    • Leviatation: As an addition to Flight, Aku is able to leviatate others with his mind[19][20].
    • Scrying:Aku is able to spy on people from large distances, through self-created portals. He did this often to spy on Jack[13][21]
    • Replication: Aku is able to create perfect shadow clones of others. In one instance, he created an evil doppelganger of Jack, with the same skills and techniques as Jack, using the latter's anger and hate[22].
    • Transformation: Aku is able to transform others into hideous monster, like he did to the Lava Monster, who was originally a king who opposed him[22].
  • Nigh Invulnerability: Aku is nigh invulnerable as conventional weapons can only do temporary damage at best, which Aku can heal in mere seconds. This makes him almost to harm let alone kill. Only few beings can harm Aku, like the Goddess of Water and the Elementals[23] but certain Gods (Odin, Ra and Vishnu) would be able to kill him[18]. The only known artefact that can kill him, is Jack's Katana, which can leave hard-to-heal wounds behind when they strike Aku. This is due to the fact that sword was created with the light of a Warrior's spirit, namely that of Jack's father[14][24].
  • Necromancy: Aku is a capable necromancer, raising whole armies of zombies to attack his enemies[13]. He has also used zombies as scouts.
  • Possession: Aku is able to possess people, by infecting them with his essence, which spread like an infection[25]
  • Pyrokinesis:Aku is able of pyrokinesis, creating fire out of nothing. Along with being capable of breathing fire Aku[13][14] has also been shown creating it such as in one comical situation he had to re-ignite his eyebrows[13].
  • Shapeshifting: Called the "Shape Shifting Master of Darkness" at the opening of each episode, Aku can change into virtually any form he desires, from a giant dragon to a small insect, or even a beautiful woman. He can also change his size, liquefy himself, stretch, and expand his body. Aku's consciousness can exist even in a part of himself. He typically changes into animal forms that are threatening to fit certain situations, such as a scorpion or an octopus. He is however limited to his own colour scheme, no matter what form he takes it will always be black, red and green.
  • Sonic Scream: Aku was shown capable of producing a powerful scream that causes massive damage to the landscape[13].
  • Superhuman Strength: When Aku challenged Jack to a so called final match he was shown to have superhuman strength even in a somewhat human form[26].
  • Telekinesis: Aku is able to move objects with his mind and this over vast distances and with small objects[13].
  • Teleportation: Aku is able to travel vast distances in almost an instance[15].

Weaknesses

Although Aku is incredibly powerful demon, he has a few weaknesses:

  • Color Scheme Limitation: Although Aku is able to take on every thinkable form, the color scheme of his forms are limited to the colors of his original form, namely green, red, white and black. This makes his disguises easy to see through.
  • Reflection: No matter what form Aku takes on, his reflection will always reveal his true identity[20].
  • Illnesses: He might be nigh invulnerable to conventional weapons, he isn't immune to diseases as he once caught the flu[25].
  • Magic: Aku's biggest weakness is magic. He is very vulnerable for magic and magical artifacts. He can be defeated by powerful magical beings and he can even be killed by powerful gods. Only one artifact can kill him, Jack's Katana.

Family

Aku
 
Ikra
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chi

Origin

He is Samurai Jack's arch nemesis. His name means "evil" in Japanese. He is similar to Akuma, the evil demon with burning eyes from Japanese mythology. He was born in a pit of darkness and Corruption that fell from space from a potion that was meant to destroy said pit. He is an extremely powerful demon wizard whose primary ability is shape-shifting like the god of evil Amatsu-Mikaboshi, though he possesses many other powers. He requires no food, water, or air and is capable of interstellar travel.

Grim Tales Characters
Main Characters Grim JuniorMinimandyMimiMandyGrim ReaperHIMChiNergaling
Necropolis Castle Grim Grim ReaperMandyGrim JuniorMinimandyLord PainNergalingCerberusMr. SnugglesBillybotMandroid
Halloween Town Jack SkellingtonSallyThe MayorZeroOogie BoogieLockShockBarrelPumpkinator
Land of Tortured Souls HIMMimiJeff the SpiderThe Lava MonsterMina HarperVlad the Count
City of Aku AkuChiDemongoCaptain SparrowNoomaJewelSkylaKevin E. LevinRook Blonko
Ghost Zone WalkerEltros WalkerDan PhantomClockworkSkulkerNicolai Technus
Realm of Malebolgia SpawnViolatorMalebolgia
Others Underworld Nergal JuniorHunson AbadeerFred Fredburger
Other Realms NergalEarl SkellingtonRedeemerBillyGrim Jr.'s Father
Megaville RavenIrwinHoss DelgadoBlossomDexterGeneral SpecificPrivate Public
Afterbirth Manny PhantomDaniela PhantomBoogeymanCreeperDraxEmpheles


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Comic Page: Tourists Guide to the Underwold,Grim Tales
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Comic Page: Memoirs of an evil overlord,Grim Tales
  3. 3.0 3.1 Comic Page: Memoirs of a demon general,Grim Tales
  4. 4.0 4.1 Comic Page: Playing with yourself,Grim Tales
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Comic Page: Words from big daddy... wait...wut?,Grim Tales
  6. 6.0 6.1 Comic Page: In unholy matrimony,Grim Tales
  7. Comic Page: Enter the Great Aku,Grim Tales
  8. 8.0 8.1 Comic Page: Daughter's flight mother's fright,Grim Tales
  9. Comic Page: Cthulu Express,Grim Tales
  10. Comic Page: Idol Hunter,Grim Tales
  11. Comic Page: Relax, it's just bromance,Grim Tales
  12. Comic Page: Hoes before Bros,Grim Tales
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 TV Episode: Episode XXX: Jack and the Zombies, Samurai Jack
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 TV Episode: Episode I: The Beginning, Samurai Jack
  15. 15.0 15.1 TV Episode: Episode XXII: Jack and the Hunters, Samurai Jack Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "SJS2E9" defined multiple times with different content
  16. TV Episode: Episode XVIII: Jack and the Ultra-robots, Samurai Jack
  17. TV Episode: Episode IX: Jack Under the Sea, Samurai Jack
  18. 18.0 18.1 TV Episode: Episode XXXVII: The Birth of Evil, Part 1, Samurai Jack
  19. TV Episode: Episode XXXI: Jack in Egypt, Samurai Jack
  20. 20.0 20.1 TV Episode: Episode XXXIV: Jack and the Swamp Monster, Samurai Jack Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "SJS3E7" defined multiple times with different content
  21. TV Episode: Episode XXXVI: Jack, the Monks, and the Ancient Master's Son, Samurai Jack
  22. 22.0 22.1 TV Episode: Episode VIII: Jack versus Mad Jack, Samurai Jack
  23. TV Episode: Episode XII: Jack and the Gangsters, Samurai Jack
  24. TV Episode: Episode XXXVII: The Birth of Evil, Part 2, Samurai Jack
  25. 25.0 25.1 TV Episode: Episode XLIII: The Aku Infection, Samurai Jack
  26. TV Episode: Episode XLVIII: Jack versus Aku, Samurai Jack
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