Masterless Samurai, by choice or circumstance. Often considered vagrants.
masterless samurai. Also used to refer to students who failed their university entrance exams and are studying to take them again.
A masterless samurai. Literally, "one adrift on the waves." Members of the samurai caste who have lost their masters through the dissolution of han, expulsion for misbehavior, or other reasons.
Literally, "floating men." Masterless samurai who no longer received income from stipends.
a category of samurai, one without a master
a lordless samurai, an outcast
a masterless warrior cast adrift in the world, but still clinging to the remnants of his former life
a samurai who's master was slain
during the Tokugawa period, name given to all bushi and samurai who did not serve a particular master, either because the master had died or because his lands had been confiscated. A number of these ronin became martial arts teachers or began some other job which was compatible with their samurai status (e.g., bodyguards).
"Masterless samurai": high school graduates who failed in the university entrance exam to the school of their choice and have elected to spend a full year preparing to take the examinations again
An un-retained Samurai Warrior
Literally "wave man"; member of buke caste not in service to a lord; ronin are technically outside Nipponese society. The term "wave man" has an interesting origin. Consider the Nipponese islands as a sea, and then picture many men endlessly wandering this sea, never settling down, like a restless wave weaving back and forth across the islands. A rather poetic term for a bunch of (usually) crude brutes with swords.
Literally "wave man." A masterless samurai. A rogue. (Japanese)
"wave man", masterless samurai
A 'masterless' samurai. Samurai whose lord was defeated or whose family were shamed and lost their standing could either commit suicide or abandon the code of Bushido (see above) and become ronin. Many ronin simply acted as mercenaries and would work for whoever paid them, some became outlaws and criminals and some tried to follow their code of honour. Ronin are romanticised in films like Seven Samurai, but the term is commonly used nowadays to refer to students who are studying to retake failed exams. Pronounced 'row-nin'
The Japanese term for a samurai without a master. Basically, they wandered around looking for work as a hired sword, and have a sort of cool, "lone gunslinger" image--think Clint Eastwood. The most popular instance along those lines is probably the movie "Yojimbo," but there are many others, including plenty in anime.
An independent samurai. Kurasawa's " Seven Samurai" were all ronin.
An unretained Samurai warrior.
masterless samurai, "wave man"
Samurai were a class of military retainers to the rich and powerful (samurai means "one who serves"), but when samurai lost their benefactors they became ronin, or "masterless samurai." The manga and anime series Rurouni Kenshin is based upon one such Lordless samurai.
A was a masterless samurai during the feudal period (1185–1868) of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the ruin or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favour or privilege. Since a ronin doesn't serve any lord, he is no longer a samurai.
Ronin is a graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley in which a ronin is re-incarnated in a dystopic near-future New York. The six-issue work shows some of the strongest influences of manga on Miller's style, both in the artwork and narrative style.
