宮本武蔵』『真田太平記』に引き続き放送された「新大型時代劇」。当時は「大河ドラマ」の枠で近代を舞台とした「近代大河3部作」の現代劇が放送されていたため、この「新大型時代劇」が現在の「大河ドラマ」の位置づけに近かった。前2作とは異なり、翌1987年1月から「大河ドラマ」が『独眼竜政宗』で時代劇路線に戻ることが決定したため、約9ヶ月間の放送で終了した(村田雄浩や石田太郎らは引き続き『独眼竜政宗』にも出演した)。
After being carried in his mother’s womb for three years, Benkei is born with long hair and teeth and the body of a small child. It is said that he immediately laughed and commented on the brightness of the outside world, leading local people in his native Kii (modern Wakayama) to proclaim that he is a devil. Abandoned on a mountainside, he is adopted by Dainagon, a Kyoto resident who rears him until age seven when he leaves to become a monk. Thrown out of the monastery for his violent behavior, Benkei wanders Japan in search of enlightenment, though only trouble seems to find him. After accidentally causing a temple to burn down, he decides to begin a quest to defeat 1,000 of the hated Heike samurai in battle and donate their swords to a temple. Obtaining the first 999 swords proves relatively easy but the final weapon belongs to Yoshitsune, a young boy whose appearance belies his great skill as a warrior.