Vishnu

vishnu is a god in the 2001 TV series, Samurai Jack.

Character Outline
Vishnu is the most prominent deity in Hinduism and is the master over existence. He is also considered to be the Supreme God in certain monothesitic branches of Hinduism. He is portrayed as a slim, blue-skinned God with six arms and gold armor. In battle, he rode on an elephant, a sacred symbol of Hinduism.

History
Vishnu appeared in episode XXXVII: The Birth of Evil Pt. 1. He, Odin, and Ra were battling an evil entity in space, but despite most of this blobby creature beaten, a small part of the being escaped to Earth, it landed in Japan, and became a spiky form that spread and defeated warriors by pearcing them from below. It began to terrorize the lands; one being the land of Jack's Father, a powerful samurai. Jack's father and his forces tried to defeat it with a special arrow, but failed and it became Aku who states he was trapped in that form thanked him because he was now stronger and then continued his rampage. Ra, Odin, and Vishnu appeared before the Samurai and created a sword made from the purity of the man's being, giving him a chance to defeat Aku. The Samurai soon defeated Aku and saved his land from total destruction.

Powers and Equipment
Vishnu is an incredibly powerful deity. His power was so great that he was able to harm Aku; something only fellow deities, or those who could wield the mystical sword could accomplish.

Bow and Arrows: In his fight against the creature, Vishnu used bow and arrows. Due to having three pairs of arms, Vishnu could fire three arrows at a time.

Speed and Accuracy: Vishnu's speed at firing and reloading was fast enough to let him fire several shots in just a few moments. His accuracy was just as high as he never missed a shot in the battle.

Eye beams: Like his fellow deities, Vishnu had the power to summon the purity of the Samurai Lord and forge it into a sword.

Shapeshifting: As a God, Vishnu are able to change his form and appearance at will, e.g. a Buddhist monk.

Divine knowledge: He is aware of Aku's rise on Earth. He assumes the form of a Buddhist monk and forges the Emperor's essence of virtue into a katana, showing that he is knowledgeable of Japanese culture and Buddhism, showing his respect and approval of them. It is worth notice that Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, Jack's, his family's and people's religion, is the 9th avatar of Vishnu.

When the Emperor attempts to destroy Aku, who in that time is still a pool, he can be heard chanting a Buddhist chant, dips his arrow in a potion that his monk concocted to destroy the evil, and then fires it into the pool, instead of destroying him, frees him and gives him his present form. So, it is likely that Vishnu willingly let Aku to be given form so that the latter can be defeated afterwards, by the mystically forged katana by the Emperor.

Astral projection: During the forging scene, he is capable of projecting his spirit in a form of a Buddhsit monk to forge the katana, while his main body is seen behind, glowing in blue.