This spell was awarded to Team 1 of Series 6 by Sidriss, who claimed it was one of her father Hordriss' spells. The team cast SAMURAI when dungeoneer Matt was in danger of capture by Sylvester Hands. The spell caused a large spectral Samurai warrior to appear, intimidating Hands into innocuity. The team called off the sword-wielding Samurai on Hands' request, dispelling it as UMASARI. [CITV Old Skool YouTube clip Two quests later, Lord Fear made use of the spell in order to frighten Ah Wok and damage his business. However, the team in progress (Team 3 of Series 6) had learned of this via a spyglass, and were able to dispel SAMURAI (as IARUMAS) for Ah Wok [CITV Old Skool YouTube clip]. (This was not the first time that a team had undone an Opposition spell: prior examples are TOAD & SWORD.)
The Samurai was also seen in material form during Series 6, patrolling a dwarf tunnel during the end credits of Episode 6. His appearance was enough to inspire fear and fan art (the sketch pictured above was sent into The Quest by David Edwards), yet it is unknown who played him.The Samurai appeared with surprising prominence on this address card, seen on CITV after various Series 6 episodes:



The Surrounds roleplay forum had a Samurai character. Named Yasuke Tsunami, he came to Wolfenden in search of magical orbs which provided power to the wizard who was responsible for the destruction of Yasuke's village. Yasuke was active between December 2003 and May 2004, when he left Wolfenden to continue his search.

[Earlier version: 2006-01-19 17:47:30]

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From TES issue 30 (November 2004)

Series 6. Level 1/2.
THE SAMURAI.

How a member of the ancient Japanese warrior elite came to be in Knightmare Castle is still beyond me, but the fact is that it did happen. The Samurai warrior wore thick oriental armour and wielded a curved blade with lightning expertise. It was clearly not quite all there, though, as it was translucent, and maybe even spectral. This might indicate that the Samurai did not reside in Knightmare, but was called across time and space by magic.
The Samurai is something of an anomaly as a Knightmare monster because it never actually went after a dungeoneer and tried to bring an end to the quest, as everything featured in this section thus far – with the possible exception of the frightknights - did on a regular basis. The Samurai’s two series 6 appearances on Knightmare certainly showed it in attack mode, and it was clear that this was not a foe to be underestimated.
The Samurai first appeared when summoned by a spell that Sidriss gave to Matt. The spell was cast during a meeting with Sylvester Hands, who was so spooked by the spectral warrior that he agreed to help Matt in his quest if the spell was cancelled. It appears, then, that this creature was more of a useful ally to dungeoneers than a threat like so many others.
Quite clearly, whoever cast the spell to summon the Samurai had control over it, as the scene with Matt and Hands proves. A little later in the series, Lord Fear summoned the Samurai to murder Ah Wok, so that Julius Scaramonger could have free-run of the Wolfenden marketplace again. During a meeting between Ah Wok and dungeoneer Alan, the spectral Samurai appeared, slashing his sword around menacingly once more. Like Hands before him, Ah Wok was extremely scared: ”Assassin come for humble servant!” – Ah Wok. Alan’s team managed to dispel the magic that had been used to call the Samurai, sending him back where he came from once again, and so ended two impressive but slightly anomalous appearances for this Knightmare creature.

Fear Factor: 6 Clearly a skilled and deadly opponent.
Killer Instinct: 0 Never actually went after a dungeoneer!
Gore Factor: 1 Depends how you feel about the Japanese, I suppose.
Humanity: 9 Undoubtedly human at some point, but distinctly spectral.

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One of the six 'Profession' options available for players of the 1991 Knightmare computer game from Mindscape. Thanks to the various 'Breed' options, being a Samurai is totally compatible with being an ogre, goblin, troll or even an elf, despite traditional Samurai armour being full of iron.

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One series before becoming a spell and a character, Samurai was the Level 1 password during the quest of Team 2 of Series 5. In an intriguing foreshadowing of the first Samurai appearance of Series 6, the team obtained the password from Sylvester Hands under duress. This came courtesy of Pixel (who, like the Samurai, could be summoned by an eponymous spell).

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