Jack vs. the Five Hunters
Episode numeral: XXII
Original air date: 9/13/02 (produced in 2001)
Aku travels to a distant Savannah planet to recruit the Imakandi, lion-like hunters renowned as the best hunters in the galaxy. Aku offers them great wealth and fame if they will bring him Jack, but the Imakandi dismiss his treasures: for them, the hunt is its own reward, and they accept Aku's offer if it means they'll catch a worthy foe.
The Imakandi track Jack to a massive city, finding him camped out in a sewer preparing food. They ambush and easily subdue Jack, now angry that Aku sent them after such a weak foe. Upon hearing that they were hired by Aku, Jack breaks free and runs into the city with the Imakandi giving chase.
The chase is fierce, with Jack foiling many attempts by the Imakandi to trap him but failing to lose them no matter where he runs. Finally, the Imakandi corner Jack on the highest level of a building, shooting him with a poisoned arrow to subdue him. With Jack secured, Aku arrives to collect his prize, but the Imakandi refuse to hand Jack over. For them, Jack has proven to be the greatest hunt they have ever had, and one so great he deserves to run free. Furious, Aku attempts to attack the Imakandi and take Jack by force, but the hunters escape and release Jack before returning to their homeworld.
This episode provides examples of:
- Always Someone Better: The Imakandi are fast enough to dodge any attacks Jack throws at them, and are shown to have even greater agility than him. The only reason they choose not to kill Jack or hand him to Aku in the end is because their code of honor requires them to let him run free for giving them their most challenging hunt they ever had.
- Arrow Catch: Jack catches an arrow shot at him by the Imakandi at the end of their chase. Unfortunately, said arrow is actually a snake with sedative venom that bites Jack's hand, knocking him out.
- Anticlimax Boss: The Imakandi initially think Jack is this when they ambush and catch him fairly easily, thinking Aku tricked them into performing a worthless errand. It's only when Jack breaks free and starts running that the Imakandi start enjoying the hunt.
- Big "NO!": When the Imakandi teleport away before Aku can take Jack, he gives one of these.
- Cat Folk: The Imakandi are anthropomorphic lions who specialize in hunting big game.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Imakandi might be ruthless hunters who never give up on catching their prey no matter what, but their strong code of honor prevents them from following through on giving Jack to Aku, as they consider him a Worthy Opponent who deserves to run free.
- Had the Silly Thing in Reverse: A variation. During the chase, Jack steals an alien's vehicle to try and keep ahead of the Imakandi. However, out of his unfamiliarity with the future's technology, he mounts said vehicle backwards, something the alien he took it from tries to tell him. Though he seems to drive it just fine regardless, especially when he eventaully does throw it in reverse.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: Aku hired the Imakandi to capture Jack for him, since they are known as the best hunters in the galaxy. Technically they succeeded in the job he hired them to do, but because Jack gave them the greatest hunt they had ever had, proving himself to be a Worthy Opponent, they refuse to hand him over to Aku and release him so he may continue to run free.
- Proud Hunter Race: The Imakandi are the greatest hunters and trackers in the galaxy, and pride themselves on their skill so much they refuse monetary reward and take the thrill of the hunt as their prize. They also have a code of honor, that any prey that gives them a good chase gets to go free when all is said and done, which leads them to reneging their deal with Aku at the end of the episode.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: The Imakandi are incredibly good at finding their prey after losing it, as they track Jack with his footprints, and are capable of locating him even when he's hiding out of their sight via auditory clues.
- Stern Chase: The Imakandi pursue Jack up, down, and through a massive city, never once giving him enough room to escape.
- Super-Persistent Predator: The Imakandi stop at nothing to capture Jack, as they crawl through sewer pipes, swim through dirty water and climb buildings all in the name of catching him.
- Trick Arrow: What finally ends the chase; one of the Imakandi shoots Jack with an arrow, which he catches. The arrow is actually a snake with a sedative venom that bites Jack and leaves him defenseless.
- Worthy Opponent: The Imakandi are so impressed by Jack's skill that they choose to release him instead of turning him over to Aku.
