Ninja Gaiden/Characters: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote| Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (NES)}}

 

One of the head honchos at the CIA's Secret Auxiliary Unit and Irene Lew's immediate boss, A. Foster is a corrupt CIA agent obsessed with power, demonic power in particular. He attempts to coerce Ryu Hayabusa to fetch the Demon Statues for him in the first NES game. Foster shows his manipulative, ungrateful side when he orders Irene to assassinate Ryu and bring the statues back to him; not getting what he wants and with Ryu still alive, Foster shows up again in the third NES game (second chronologically) ''The Ancient Ship of Doom'', plotting his "Biohazard" plan. His goal is to create a race of super-beings, and is indirectly responsible for Irene's temporary death, which sets Ryu in full force against him. {{spoiler|Unfortunately for Foster, H.P. Clancy double-crosses him at the last moment and he's killed in the end}}.

 

{{quote| Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos }}

 

The main antagonist of the second NES game ''The Dark Sword of Chaos'' and a warlord, Ashtar is the self-proclaimed "Emperor of Darkness". Said to be both a skilled warrior and a powerful sorcerer, Ashtar is well over six feet tall, and dressed in bulky body armor. With a cape is draped over his shoulders, his face is concealed by his helmet which has three spiky horns protruding from the top and both sides of the head. His mask appears to depict himself crying tears of blood. In parallel with Ryu's Dragon Sword, Ashtar wields the Demon Sword, a blade forged from the bones of a demon.

 

{{quote| Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom}}

 

Foster's accomplice in ''The Ancient Ship of Doom'', H.P. Clancy helped trigger many of the events during the game. Clancy built the Castle Rock Fortress over the ruins of Jaquio's fallen temple, as he and Foster found a continuous supply of life energy within the ruins; Jaquio's downfall left traces of evil surrounding the site, thus the fortress was built to harvest the energy as a power source, and used it on humans for experiments. {{spoiler|Clancy later backstabs Foster, pushing Ryu into killing his partner, then merges with the warship expressing his hatred towards humanity, and their warlike tendencies}}.

{{quote| Voiced by: Amanda Troop (EN - ''Dead Or Alive Dimensions''), [[Yumi Touma]] (JP - [[Original Video Animation]], ''Dead Or Alive Dimensions'')<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (NES) }}

 

Heroine of the NES trilogy and Ryu's primary [[Love Interest]] for the whole series, Irene Lew is an agent of the CIA's Secret Auxiliary Unit, working under the codenames "Sea Swallow" {{spoiler|and "Sonia"}}. Despite her status as an agent, Irene is more of a support for Ryu as she often finds herself captured and winds up being rescued by the Dragon Ninja. When she disregards Foster's orders to kill Ryu after defeating Jaquio, Irene starts to devote her life to Ryu. Sometime after the OVA, she marries Ryu and settles for running an antique shop, while aiding him from time to time during the ''Dead or Alive'' tournaments.

 

{{quote| Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (NES) }}

 

Main antagonist of the first NES game, the sorcerer Guardia de Mieux dubbed himself "[[Woolseyism|Jaquio]]" (''[[Spell My Name With an S|supposed]]'' [[Spell My Name With an S|to be]] "Jaki-Oh", as in "Devil King"). While supposedly human, Jaquio appears as a bizarre, uncanny magician with purple skin dressed in a red torn tunic with a hexagram embroidered on the front and a purple skeleton of a demon wrapped in his body like an armor. Jaquio as Chief of the Chaos Tribe, and he plans to steal the Demon Statue and break the seal on the Dark God, plunging the world into darkness.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Norio Wakamoto]] (JP), [[Keone Young]] (EN)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (NES) }}

 

Known as Jô/Joe in Japan and "Ken" in North America for the NES series, he is Ryu's father, current leader of the Dragon Ninja Clan, and previous wielder of the Dragon Sword. Much like his son, Joe is a Master Ninja and in contrast to Ryu who trains for discipline and tradition, Joe seeks to surpass his limits. His preferred ninja attire of choice is a white shinobi shozoku (ninja uniform), although he's adorned with some armor around his body.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Norio Wakamoto]] (OVA), Zach Hanks (EN - ''Ninja Gaiden 3''), [[Bin Shimada]] (JP - ''Ninja Gaiden 3'')<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos }}

 

Also known as "Jungle Rat" Robert, he's a United States Army Special Forces operative who aids Ryu throughout ''The Dark Sword of Chaos'', constantly revealing information about Ashtar. Although no different than a modern day commando, Robert proves himself useful to the Dragon Ninja, including being a reliable informer, following Ryu closely to the Tower of Lahja and surrounding the area with US Army forces to distracts Ashtar from finishing off Ryu. He proceeds to enter the Chaos World for the final battle, but Robert only goes as far against Ashtar, {{spoiler|leaving Jaquio for Ryu}}. While it seems he dies keeping the demons from reaching Ryu, the OVA reveals he survived, having quit the army and running a private eye agency to keep track of Ryu, but offering him any assistance the ninja might need in the future.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Hideyuki Hori]] (JP), Justin Gross (EN - ''Ninja Gaiden''), Josh Keaton (EN - ''Ninja Gaiden II''), [[Troy Baker]] (EN - ''Dead Or Alive Dimensions'', ''Ninja Gaiden 3''), [[Keiichi Nanba]] (JP - OVA)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden ([[Video Games|Arcade]]) }}

 

Protagonist of the series and heir to the Dragon Ninja Clan, Ryu Hayabusa is the eponymous example of a modern day ninja. His black falcon outfit's sleek design is reminiscent to that of the modern special ops agent; still, his tabi boots, ninja head piece, mask, scarf and shin/forearm guards are representative of the ancient ninja warrior. In great contrast to his deadly appearance, beneath the mask lies a handsome man capable of gentle expressions even, while still in his early 20s, Ryu's personality is that of a wise, composed man far older than himself. With this level of maturity, Ryu is perfectly able to act gentle and caring towards his relatives and friends, and very cold and deadly towards his enemies without hatred.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Wakana Yamazaki]] (JP), [[Janice Kawaye]] (EN)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) }}

 

An immigrant from ''Dead or Alive'', Ayane made her way into ''Ninja Gaiden'' in the Xbox [[Revival]] of the series. She is from the Hajin Mon sect of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan, which is apparently on good terms and has ties with the Dragon Ninja Clan. Ayane is the primary choice for the Mugen Tenshin when they need assistance from the Dragon Clan as she has built a mutual friendship with Joe and Ryu Hayabusa. Even though he's leagues above her in rank, Ayane aids him on his missions, either by informing and helping from the sidelines or outright fighting alongside him.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Koji Totani]] (JP), Charles Dennis (EN)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) }}

 

One of the Three Greater Fiends of the Holy Vigoorian Empire, Doku is a fiend incased in a heavy, dark suit of armor, closely resembling an ancient [[Samurai]]. He singlehandly destroyed the Hayabusa Village, killing many of the Dragon Clan Ninjas and stole the Dark Dragon Blade. Doku's goal is to aid his master, the Dark God Vigoor, into converting capable people into fiends and conquering the world. Doku is Ryu's motivation to invade Vigoor, as he also killed his childhood friend Kureha. Although Ryu manages to find and defeat him, Doku's last resort is an attempt to transform the ninja into a fiend, but the transformation is only partial as Doku's disembodied spirit fades away.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Hiromi Tsuru]] (JP), [[Grey Delisle]] (EN)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden II ([[Xbox 360]]) }}

 

The Ruler of Crimson Blood and Queen of the Greater Fiends, Elizébet is the most active villain during ''Ninja Gaiden II'' for Xbox 360, also one of Vazdah's Four Deadly Greater Fiend Lords, and the blood priestess of the Fiend cult, the Order of the Necromantale. Elizébet was tasked with retrieving an important ancient artifact from the ancestral Hayabusa Village. For this she aproached the Black Spider Ninja Clan to help her with the task. In return Genshin and his followers were rewarded with fiend powers to overthrow the Dragon Ninja Clan. Later Elizébet manages to trigger Ryu's anger by capturing Sonia and spitting on Genshin's pride after she resurrects him as a complete fiend. Out of all Greater Fiends she is likely to be the one who really earned Ryu's hatred by corrupting the Black Spider Ninja Clan.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Hisao Egawa]] (JP), [[Robin Atkin Downes]] (EN)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) }}

 

The man delivering orders to the Vigoorian forces in the first Xbox game, Gamov is a bespectacled, green hat and coat wearing spy, who constantly trails Ryu through the Holy Vigoor Empire, proving himself very agile and quick in the trigger while facing Rachel, he was supposedly working together with Doku for the Dark God Vigoor, in reality Gamov really served the Dark Disciple as he managed to bring the Dark Dragon Blade to his master, but he was killed by the Dark Disciple as soon as the sword was in his hands; the sequel for the Xbox 360 gives more background on Gamov, especially justifying why he was so agile back then, he was Genshin's younger brother and part of the Black Spider Ninja Clan.

{{quote| Voiced by: Ryuzaburo Otomo (JP), Neil Kaplan (EN)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360) }}

 

The Ninja Overlord, Master Ninja of the Black Spider Ninja Clan and later one of the Five Greater Fiends of Vazdah in the Xbox 360 game, Genshin is the best and most ruthless ninja the Spider Clan has ever created, with eternal lust for power and hatred towards the Dragon Ninja Clan, he didn't think twice when Elizébet offered him more power for his clan and an excuse to anihililate the whole dragon lineage and its followers. Genshin successfuly destroyed great part of the Dragon Ninjas' village up to fighting against Joe Hayabusa, and managed to steal the Demon Statue for Elizébet; Ryu fights against Genshin four times during the story, in the third he kills him, the fourth Genshin is ressurected by Elizébet as a Greater Fiend, but Ryu once again prevails and finished Genshin off once for all, also despite Genshin's hatred for Ryu's clan it seems both of them developed a less harmful rivalry during their fights, it is clear that when Genshin died most of his hatred was gone as well, Ryu was really infuriated when Elizébet spit on Genshin's pride.

{{quote| Voiced by: Jun Shikano (JP)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) }}

 

The Dragon Shrine Maiden of the Dragon Ninja Clan, sworn to protect the Eye of the Dragon, Momiji's older sister and Ryu's childhood friend, Kureha is part of the Dragon Lineage was destined to play part in keeping the clan's tradition, being inseperable from Ryu since childhood she also wanted to be of importance, while he grew up to be a Master Ninja, she grew up to be a Shrine Maiden. Then as guardian of the Dragon Lineage Shrine, she was charged with the protection of the Eye of the Dragon, Kureha fufilled her task to death as Doku killed her in an attempt to steal the Eye of the Dragon; it was for her that Ryu went on a quest for vengeance towards Doku. Kureha briefly returns as an spirit in the sequel for the DS, aiding Ryu and Momiji against the Dark Dragon.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Yukitoshi Hori]] (JP), [[Fred Tatasciore]] (EN - ''NGSII'')<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) }}

 

Ruler of Hell and one of the Five Greater Fiend Lords of Vigoor in the first Xbox and returning for the PS3 [[Updated Rerelease|sequel]], Marbus is the Greater Fiend who guards the Holy Vigoor Emperor, the mastermind behind the theft of the Dark Dragon Blade; in contrast to other Greater Fiends, Marbus has legions of lesser fiends as his direct followers, often leaving the dirty work for them only acting himself when he sees fit or worthy, Ryu happened to be one these worthy as Marbus was forced to take him on directly, the result was the Greater Fiend losing and targeting Ryu for his personal revenge in the future. Marbus returns in ''Sigma II'' looking for Ryu to exact his revenge upon him, he finds Rachel instead and is defeated once again.

{{quote| Voiced by: Yuki Mizoguchi (JP), [[Kate Higgins]] (EN)<br />

Debuting in: ''Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword'' (NDS) }}

 

The last Dragon Shrine Maiden, Kureha's younger sister and Ryu's apprentice, Momiji eventually replaces her sister's place as a distinguished Dragon Lineage shrine maiden, during Doku's invasion she was undergoing her ninja training in another village thus Momoji was spared of the same fate as her sister; hearing about Kureha's death, Momiji felt powerless and made a vow to become much stronger in her sister's name and taking on the task of protecting the clan's treasure, the Eye of the Dragon. With Momiji's new resolve Ryu takes her under his direct tutoring, making Momiji his official apprentice. In the clash in the DS game, Momiji is captured by Nicchae, is up to Ryu to rescue her, after the Dark Dragon's defeat Momiji goes back to her training under Ryu's guidance. Momiji is seen again in ''Sigma II'' where she definitely became stronger and more than capable of fighting on her own.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Banjo Ginga]] (JP), Neil Ross (EN)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) }}

 

The leader of the Shadow Clan Ninja and Ryu's maternal uncle, Murai is a former member of the Dragon Ninja Clan who went rogue and formed his own Ninja Clan, while prefering to stay away from the Dragon Clan's affairs, Murai still wanted to keep a good relationship with his former clan thus aiding his nephew by opening the Shadow Clan fortress for Ryu's training routine. Murai is open about his extreme philosophy of the ever increasing need for power a true ninja must possess no matter the costs, so he tries to push some of it to his nephew Ryu by trying to make him accept the Dark Dragon Blade, still Ryu declines. As the Dark Disciple, Murai reveals to be behind every ploy to steal the Dark Dragon Blade, his madness for power only went that far as Ryu in the end killed his uncle.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Takeshi Aono]] (JP), [[Michael Bell]] (EN)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) }}

 

The legendary weapon smith and shop owner who aids Ryu on his journeys, Muramasa is a fairly mysterious merchant who seems to have traveled across the entire earth, he knows everything there is to know about relics and antiques alike; Muramasa's known feats are him personally erecting all the statues sculpted in his image that Ryu comes across much of the time, his vast knowledge of antiques and his past as a very skilled swordmaster; concerning his skills with a sword, Muramasa seems to still know a few tricks despite his advanced age as seen in ''Sigma II''.

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Michie Tomizawa]] (JP), [[Tara Strong]] (EN)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) }}

 

The main girl for ''Ninja Gaiden'' (Xbox) and fiend hunter from the Holy Vigoor Empire, Rachel is somewhat a tragic heroine. She and her sister Alma were afflicted with a blood curse that turns humans into fiends. By the events of the game Alma has already succunbed into a complete fiend. Rachel still maintains her human form and becomes a fiend hunter; believing that her sister has no more chance to revert back, Rachel sets on a journey to put Alma out of her misery. Rachel gets caught up in Doku's plot to bait Ryu, as the Greater Fiend also has Alma under his control. Rachel pursued him only to get captured herself; Ryu manages to rescue Rachel and in return she saves him in time for the final bout against the Dark Disciple. In the end Rachel seems to have become quite enamored with Ryu but he doesn't reciprocate. She's seen again in ''Sigma II'' during a fiend hunt, Rachel is looking foward to reunite with Ryu again.

{{quote| Voiced by: Mariko Suzuki (JP), [[Kari Wahlgren]] (EN - ''NGII''), Amanda Troop (EN - ''DOA''), [[Yumi Touma]] (JP - OVA)<br />

Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360) as Sonia }}

 

The main girl for Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360} and ''Sigma II'', Sonia is Irene Lew under an alias during the events of the second Xbox game, again she is a CIA agent tasked with teaming up with Ryu Hayabusa to prevent the Archfiend from returning. Different from her NES counterpart, Sonia is not so harmless, she proved herself to be quite dependable and gutsy when fiends are not involved; when fiends are involved however, Ryu is up to task and ready to rescue Sonia. Notable for her small red tatoo above her breasts and beautiful body figure as a whole, Sonia's design sticks for Irene Lew during the ''Dead or Alive'' series.

 

{{quote| Debuting in: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)}}

 

Known to the Empire as the Holy Vigoorian Emperor, this is his human form to his God form, the original Evil Deity who spawned the Fiends. To the commoners of the Holy Vigoorian Empire, Vigoor is worshiped as a Supreme Holy Deity, leader of their Holy Vigoorian Order and the absolute authority in their lives. After his defeat in the first Xbox title, a plan is set into motion in the NDS sequel to ressurect him by the ancient goddesses Ishtaros and Nicchea, using the Dark Dragon statues to do so, but it fails as Ryu manages to destroy the statues and kill Ishtaros, then as last ditch Nicchae uses her sister's remains to ressurect Vigoor, it succeeds only for the Dark Dragon to use Vigoor's energy and ressurect himself.

 

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Stephanie Sheh]] (EN), Yumi Sudo (JP)}}

 

Mizuki's daughter. She is a bit affraid of Ryu at first but quickly gets a liking to him.

== Clifford "Cliff" Higgins ==

{{quote| Voiced by: Jonathan Lipow (EN), [[Hiroaki Hirata]] (JP)}}

 

Mizuki's Brother-in-law. She jokingly describes him as a [[Mad Scientist]] since he conceives strange advanced weapons such as Ryu's [[It Runs On Nonsensoleum|target-locking bow]]. {{spoiler|Turns out, he ''really'' is a [[Mad Scientist]], responsible for bringing his brother Theodore back to life as the Regent of the Mask and turning Canna into what he calls a "Goddess".}}

== Ken Ishigami ==

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Michael McConnohie]] (EN), [[Unsho Ishizuka]] (JP)}}

 

 

== LOA Chairman (Ashtear Higgins) ==

{{quote| Voiced by: Jamie Alcroft (EN), Kōji Yada (JP)}}

 

 

== Lovelace ==

{{quote| Voiced by: Nicola Clarke (EN), [[Masumi Asano]] (JP)}}

 

The chief scientist of LOA's gene labs.

== Mizuki [[McCloud]] ==

{{quote| Voiced by: [[Ali Hillis]] (EN), [[Yuko Kaida]] (JP)}}

 

A member of the Japanese Air Defense Force, assisting Ryu throughout the third game.

{{quote| Voiced by: James Brinkley (EN), [[Kenyuu Horiuchi|Ken'yuu Horiuchi]] (JP)}}

 

 

The [[Big Bad]] of ''Ninja Gaiden 3'' {{spoiler|or so it seems at first}}. The game begins with him taking hostages in the middle of London with his terrorist group and assassinating the British Prime Minister. After fighting Ryu, he places a curse on his right arm, forcing the Dragon Ninja to endure the pain of all the people he killed. {{spoiler|He is also Canna's father and Cliff's brother, brought [[Back From the Dead]], brainwashed and used by LOA. He comes back to his senses and helps Ryu at the end of the game.}}