Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars: likes or dislikes aside, few would dispute that these are cult narratives, which have generated adaptations across time, space, and media. Equally, few would object that fictional characters like Don Quixote and Robinson Crusoe have become some sort of “unkillable protagonists.” Many, though, would raise an eyebrow if the name Chikusai were to be added to the list. Students of early modern Japanese popular prose might have encountered him cursorily in their readings, but hardly anyone else is likely to have heard of the wandering quack doctor Chikusai and his fictional story, which was printed for the first time in Kyoto in the 1620s under the title of Chikusai.