Samurai Jack is an American animated television series created by animator Genndy Tartakovsky that aired on Cartoon Network from August 10, 2001, to September 25, 2004. The series follows a feudal Japanese prince trained to be a samurai warrior, who tries to destroy the supernatural evil being Aku to protect his homeland but is teleported into a distant future where Aku rules the world. The young man adopts the name "Jack" after an encounter with the youth of the future, and he embarks on a perpetual quest to return to his own time and undo Aku's tyranny.