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Segata Sanshiro is a character who appeared in the SEGA Saturn ads between 1997 and 1998.
Story[]
Sanshiro is a Judo master that tracks down and punishes those who do not play the Sega Saturn. His name sounds similar to the phrase "You must play the Sega Saturn!" (セガサターン、シロ! Sega Satān, shiro!?) as well as "Sega Saturn, White" (セガサターン、白 Sega Satān, Shiro?), a reference to the new white color version of the Japanese Sega Saturn which followed the original gray version.
Sanshiro lives as a hermit high on a mountain, devoting his life to intensive Sega Saturn training. He trains physically every day by carrying around a giant Sega Saturn on his back and punching buttons on its giant controller, as well as mentally by breaking stacks of blocks with his head. His intense training has resulted in his ability to make people explode twice by throwing them, which he does with ease. He also frequently visits the city to seek out people who are not playing the Sega Saturn, and harshly teaches them a lesson. Sanshiro is a serious man with a firm sense of duty, who believes that playing video games is one of the most treasured activities in life.
The character became very well known in Japan and helped make the Saturn successful in that country. When the CD music single was released, it sold more than 100,000 copies.
When the Saturn was phased out and the Sega Dreamcast released worldwide, Sanshiro's end came in the form of a commercial involving a missile directed at the Tokyo headquarters of SEGA, implied to be launched by Sony and Nintendo. Sanshiro heroically jumps off the roof of the building, onto the missile, deflecting it into the atmosphere while riding it, in which he lives his last few moments chanting out "Sega Saturn Shiro!!" for one last time, and is presumably killed in the subsequent explosion. Shinji Nakae narrates that "Segata Sanshiro will live on in your hearts," followed by a display of the game Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi, a Sega Saturn game in which Sanshiro plays a major role.
His legacy lives on through his son, Sega Shiro. It is later revealed that Segata had survived the rocket explosion and has been watching Shiro grow from afar, waiting for the day his son becomes worthy enough to protect Sega's legacy as Segata did in the past.