The Wandering Samurai

"There are roads that a samurai must travel."
— The Wandering Samurai, Rhythm Heaven Fever

The Wandering Samurai (虎伝こでん立國りっこく^?, Koden Rikkoku), also known as Samurai Steve in Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise, is a recurring character in the Rhythm Heaven Series, and appears in all four games. He is well known for his quick slice technique^[1].

Story

The Wandering Samurai earns his name from his devotion to the samurai code of Bushido and his generally poor sense of direction^[2]. His tale has been passed down through the ages. With no clear record left, no one is sure what his real name actually was.

Back in the day, Yokai would often invade the village. They say they didn't actually attack people, but when they stumble upon them at night they get a big fright, so they were reasonably scared. Out of concern for those people, The Wandering Samurai went to slice all of those pesky monsters^[1].

In a side story, the samurai stays at a village to slice watermelons, fish and yokai to feed the local children. During this story, the moon occassionally shows the number 555-SAMURAI. Dialing it on the Phone plays sound effects of the samurai fighting Yokai.

As the Samurai wanders, the sun dips below the horizon, and he rests his weary body under a tree on the grounds of an old temple. He proceeds to sing the Picky Eaters' Song as he sleeps, and wakes up to two children, one holding a pinwheel, and the other holding a rice ball. Their mother asked them to offer the rice ball to the samurai, who graciously accepts it, and finds the taste similar to how his own mother used to make them. While thinking about how to repay them, he stumbles upon the kids in distress, as their pinwheel was stolen by Demons. In the name of justice, the samurai follows the demons to a cliff, where he proceeds to slice them all until getting the pinwheel back. The samurai wanders further into a city, where he helps a businessman recover a stuffed bunny that was stolen by the marauding spirits.

At some point, the samurai travels the lands of old to complete his training^[3], and at that moment, the demons kidnap a lady walking through the streets. He proceeds to slice every demon in his path to rescue her. The villagers are left confused by the black debris on the ground, as the samurai did not stay for the recognition^[4].

At some point, the demons strike again and kidnap four ladies at once, with the samurai once again slicing many demons along the way to save them. This time he even gets a ride from Mister Eagle and uses a lightning bolt technique. The village scientists eventually figure out the debris comes from the monsters, and are mystified as the blue pieces are cool to the touch^[5], but they are apparently more difficult to clean up^[6].

In all of the Remixes the samurai has appeared in, he is seen protecting the village he wandered into for a little while longer before continuing on his journey. In Remix 4 from Rhythm Heaven Fever specifically, he is seen protecting a castle from the Demons, while a Wrestler interview and sorting job seem to be occurring inside. The Wandering Samurai also makes an appearance in Game & Wario, where he takes on a part-time job at a fish factory.

Appearances

Gallery

Artwork from Rhythm Tengoku
Artwork from Rhythm Tengoku
Artwork from Rhythm Heaven Fever
Artwork from Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise
Artwork from Rhythm World Wii
Artwork for Samurai Slice from Rhythm Heaven Megamix
Artwork for Super Samurai Slice from Rhythm Heaven Megamix
Artwork for Samurai Slice from Rhythm Sesang: The Best+
Artwork for Super Samurai Slice from Rhythm Sesang: The Best+
Towel distributed by Club Nintendo Japan
Tibby in a Wandering Samurai costume
Game & Wario Samurai.png

The Wandering Samurai in Game & Wario
Screenshot (144).png

Cameo in Kat & Ana's Character Trailer for WarioWare Gold

In Super Smash Bros.

The Wandering Samurai appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a spirit, depicting him in his Samurai Slice design from Rhythm Heaven Megamix, which can be enhanced into his design from Samurai Slice 2 in Rhythm Heaven Fever. He is only ontaibable by Summoning, and therefore cannot be fought.

No. 1193		The Wandering Samurai		★★ ADVANCED	2	Can be Enhanced at Lv. 99	Summon with cores from Sakura Samurai and Ghosts
No. 1194		Wandering Samurai (Rhythm Heaven Fever) Wandering Samurai (Beat the Beat)		★★★ ACE	2	Critical Hit ↑	Enhancing The Wandering Samurai

Trivia

The Wandering Samurai has appeared as a playable character in 16 different games through the series, while Karate Joe appears in 23 games (excluding cameos).
The Wandering Samurai and the Flippers are the two characters to have printed towels that could be bought from Club Nintendo Japan in December 2012.
In Rhythm Heaven Fever, the game Samurai Slice ends with a "To be continued..." message displayed on the screen, and Samurai Slice 2 ends with a "The End" message. In Rhythm Heaven Megamix, the game Samurai Slice stills ends with a "To be continued..." message, despite that Samurai Slice 2 is not present in this game. It can be inferred that Super Samurai Slice and Super Samurai Slice 2 are the continuation instead, and so it can also be inferred that Samurai Slice 2 may take place after them.
In Rhythm World, the samurai's clothes were made to look more like a "pojol" (Korean police during the Joseon period). He was also given a beard. Rhythm World Wii and Rhythm Sesang: The Best+ also feature the Wandering Samurai in this outfit, albiet with a headband instead of a hat and without the beard. His design is changed further in Samurai Slice 2, going from a lightning-based rework of his normal outfit in other versions to a new outfit with a hat decorated with lightning blots, and sporting the beard once again, in Rhythm World Wii.
- Despite this, the Official Game Trailer for Rhythm Sesang: The Best+^[7] and the samurai's Spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate use the same artwork as in all other regions, with the Japanese clothing.

In Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	虎伝立國 (こでんりっこく)	Legendary Warrior
English^NOA	The Wandering Samurai Wandering Samurai^[8]
English^NOE	Samurai Steve The Wandering Samurai^[9] Wandering Samurai^[8]
French^NOA	Samouraï errant^[8]	Wandering samurai
French^NOE	Samouraï errant	Wandering samurai
Spanish^NOA	Samurái rebanador^[8]	Samurai slicer
Spanish^NOE	Samurái rebanador	Samurai slicer
German	Klingenmeister	Blademaster
Italian	Il samurai errante	The wandering samurai
Dutch	De zwervende samoerai^[8]	The wandering samurai
Russian	Бродячий самурай^[8]	Wandering samurai
Chinese^SI	The Wandering Samurai Wandering Samurai^[8]
Chinese^TR	The Wandering Samurai Wandering Samurai^[8]
Korean	방랑 무사	The Wandering Warrior

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 キャラクターアルバムステージ２ (Character Album Stage 2)
↑ "I am called the Wandering Samurai, due to my devotion to the samurai code of Bushido and my generally poor sense of direction." ~ Picky Eaters' Song, Rhythm Heaven Fever
↑ "I am a samurai traveling the lands of old to complete my training." ~ Dialogue in Super Samurai Slice, Rhythm Heaven Megamix
↑ "After every full moon, there are piles of this stuff lying all over the village. No one knows that the samurai is saving them, but he doesn't do it for the recognition." ~ Monster Debris, Rhythm Heaven Megamix
↑ "After much research, the village scientists figured out the black debris is from monsters. They're mystified by these blue pieces that are so cool to the touch, though." ~ Splash Debris, Rhythm Heaven Megamix
↑ "黒いヤツは、オバケのカケラだと分かったけど、この青いヤツは、いまだナゾのまま。さわるとヒンヤリしてて、キモチイイ。この青いカケラ、黒いのにくらべて、そうじがタイヘンなもんだから、そうじ係のおきぬ、おこってたよ。" (We found out that the black one is a piece of a monster, but this blue one is still a mystery. When you touch it, it feels nice and tingly. This blue piece is much more difficult to clean than the black one, so the cleaning staff was very upset.) ~ 水しぶきのカケラ (Splashing Pieces), Rhythm Tengoku: The Best+
↑ 리듬 세상 더 베스트 플러스 소개 영상 (Rhythm Sesang: The Best+ Introduction Video)
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 ^8.3 ^8.4 ^8.5 ^8.6 ^8.7 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
↑ "The Wandering Samurai has been standing up to evil for a long, long time." ~ Super Samurai Slice, Rhythm Paradise Megamix (English)

[chara-1] 1.0 ^1.1 キャラクターアルバムステージ２ (Character Album Stage 2)

[2] "I am called the Wandering Samurai, due to my devotion to the samurai code of Bushido and my generally poor sense of direction." ~ Picky Eaters' Song, Rhythm Heaven Fever

[3] "I am a samurai traveling the lands of old to complete my training." ~ Dialogue in Super Samurai Slice, Rhythm Heaven Megamix

[4] "After every full moon, there are piles of this stuff lying all over the village. No one knows that the samurai is saving them, but he doesn't do it for the recognition." ~ Monster Debris, Rhythm Heaven Megamix

[5] "After much research, the village scientists figured out the black debris is from monsters. They're mystified by these blue pieces that are so cool to the touch, though." ~ Splash Debris, Rhythm Heaven Megamix

[6] "黒いヤツは、オバケのカケラだと分かったけど、この青いヤツは、いまだナゾのまま。さわるとヒンヤリしてて、キモチイイ。この青いカケラ、黒いのにくらべて、そうじがタイヘンなもんだから、そうじ係のおきぬ、おこってたよ。" (We found out that the black one is a piece of a monster, but this blue one is still a mystery. When you touch it, it feels nice and tingly. This blue piece is much more difficult to clean than the black one, so the cleaning staff was very upset.) ~ 水しぶきのカケラ (Splashing Pieces), Rhythm Tengoku: The Best+

[7] 리듬 세상 더 베스트 플러스 소개 영상 (Rhythm Sesang: The Best+ Introduction Video)

[smash-8] 8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 ^8.3 ^8.4 ^8.5 ^8.6 ^8.7 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

[9] "The Wandering Samurai has been standing up to evil for a long, long time." ~ Super Samurai Slice, Rhythm Paradise Megamix (English)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]