![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/star-cactus.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
His name is a literal translation of the Japanese word “saboten<\/em>” which means “cactus” in English. In the intro to\u00a0the\u00a0Osamu Tezuka Complete Manga Works<\/em><\/a>\u00a0edition (MT-069<\/a>) it states that Cactus’ real name is “Sam”.<\/p>\n Modelled after L’il Abner<\/a>, “Cactus” Sam can be easily identified by his small nose and the black tuft of hair over his forehead. \u00a0Of course the fact that he is usually wearing cactus-style pants and clunky oversized shoes also helps.<\/p>\n With his goofy swagger and clean-cut good looks, “Cactus” Sam claims the middle ground\u00a0Tezuka “boy hero” protagonist roles. While he is lighter-hearted than Rock Holmes<\/a>, he is much more rough-n-tumble than the squeeky clean Kenichi Shikishima<\/a>. \u00a0In fact, his first appearance, as the titular role in The Cactus Kid<\/em> (1951-54)<\/a>, only came after he bumped major star Rock Holmes<\/a> out of the job after the very first chapter. \u00a0Believing he needed a brighter character, better able to pull off the goofy slapstick comedy, Tezuka fired Rock<\/a>\u00a0and recast “Cactus” Sam in the role that gives him his name.<\/p>\n Outside of the lead in his own series, “Cactus” Sam has also played strong supporting roles, most notably in Cyrano the Hero<\/em> (1953), along-side the great Duke Red<\/a>. \u00a0He also also carried the slapstick comedy torch in Astro Boy<\/em> (1952-68)<\/a>, Black Jack<\/em> (1973-83)<\/a> and The Three-Eyed One<\/em> (1974-78)<\/a>, among others, with roles that benefit from his goofy temperament and appearance.<\/p>\n If you spot an appearance not already listed, please let us know in the comments section below!<\/p>\n The Cactus Kid<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>as\u00a0“Cactus Sam”<\/p>\n The Cactus Kid<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(“Cactus, Get your Gun!”) as “a passenger on the train” The Cactus Kid<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0“Cactus Sam”<\/em> The Cactus Kid<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>as\u00a0“Cactus Sam”<\/p>\n Chief Detective Kenichi<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cThe Case of the Gorilla\u201d) as \u201cone of the manga artists\u201d<\/p>\n Astro Boy<\/em><\/a> (“Shootout In The Alps”) as “Cactus, one of the boys around the campfire” Whirlwind Z<\/em><\/p>\n The Three Who Glimpse the Future<\/em> as “one of the people listening to Hegeoyagi<\/a>‘s prediction”<\/p>\n Astro Boy<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(“Uran”) as “a spectator at the robotting match”<\/p>\n The Ant and the Giant<\/em><\/p>\n Astro Boy<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(“Slippery Catfish in Immediate Danger”) as “Cactus Sam, a Champion of Justice”<\/p>\n The Stranger<\/em> as “Gii-chan” Lion Books<\/em>\u00a0(“Serenade of Pig’s Navel”) as “Hirata Gosuke”<\/p>\n Black Jack<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(“Is there a Doctor?<\/a>“) as “the witness on the stand”<\/p>\n Black Jack<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(“Looking Good”) as “a member of the school festival executive committee”<\/p>\n Black Jack<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(“The One That Remains”) as “the sextuplet’s father” Black Jack<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(“Kimodameshi”)<\/p>\n Black Jack<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(“Swapped”) as “Hirabayashi” Modelled after L’il Abner, with his goofy swagger and clean-cut good looks, “Cactus” Sam claims the middle ground Tezuka’s “boy hero” protagonist roles. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5286,"parent":6246,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[203,137,222],"class_list":["post-1261","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-star-system","tag-mr-cactus-cast","tag-boy-heroes","tag-cowboys","has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P6vZWu-kl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1261"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12433,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1261\/revisions\/12433"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Distinguishing Features<\/h3>\n
Status: Primary Star (\u2605\u2605\u2605)<\/h3>\n
Notable\u00a0Roles<\/h3>\n
\nManga Appearances<\/h3>\n
\n1951<\/h4>\n
\n1952<\/h4>\n
\nThe Adventure of Rock<\/em><\/a> as “one of the delegates at the Bird Men conference”<\/p>\n
\n1953<\/h4>\n
\nX-Point on the South Pacific\u00a0<\/em>
\nThe Monster on the 38th Parallel<\/em> as “Armand”
\nCyrano the Hero<\/em><\/a> as “Christian”<\/p>\n
\n1954<\/h4>\n
\n1955<\/h4>\n
\n1956<\/h4>\n
\nAstro Boy<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(“Midoro Swamp”) as “the boxer”
\nLion Books<\/em> (“The Multiple-Eyed Devil”) as “a passenger on the train”<\/p>\n
\n1957<\/h4>\n
\n1958<\/h4>\n
\n1960<\/h4>\n
\n1961<\/h4>\n
\n1965<\/h4>\n
\n1970<\/h4>\n
\nGachaboi\u2019s Biography <\/em>as “Cactus Sam”<\/p>\n
\n1971<\/h4>\n
\n1973<\/h4>\n
\n1975<\/h4>\n
\n1976<\/h4>\n
\nBlack Jack<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(“Death of an Actress”) as “a\u00a0spectator at the movie theater”
\nBlack Jack<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(“Goribei of Senjogahara”) as “a\u00a0visitor to the\u00a0camp”<\/p>\n
\n1977<\/h4>\n
\n1978<\/h4>\n
\nBlack Jack<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(“The Vanished Noise”) as “Tatagawa’s neighbour”
\nThe Three-Eyed One<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(“The Legacy of Urashima Taro”) as “Urashima Taro”<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"