Sanjuro is the titular protagonist of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo and its sequel Sanjuro. He is a wandering Ronin and a sword for hire who partakes in armed conflicts to benefit from all sides whenever there are turf wars. Though he mostly fights for himself, he occasionally becomes emotionally invested in his job to the point of performing heroic deeds out of the goodness of his heart. He is credited as one of the earliest examples of the wandering anti-hero archetype in cinema and he would go on to inspire countless protagonists, even in Western cinema. He was portrayed by the legendary actor Toshiro Mifune.