Ninja: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"That man does not look anything like a ninja."''<br />

 

The shadow warriors of medieval Japan, reputedly possessed of all manner of mysterious powers including invisibility and intangibility. Able to infiltrate even the most heavily guarded fortress without being detected. [[Lightning Bruiser|They may be portrayed as cutting down any opposition superhumanly swiftly.]] Traditionally dressed in black bodysuits with black masks or veils to hide their faces. They are the ultimate spies and assassins, gifted with their own deadly magic and martial arts. Born in [[Hidden Elf Village|hidden villages]], they are trained from birth to obey an alternative code of honor to ''bushido'' -- to [[The Stoic|show no pain, feel no emotion]], and remain loyal to their clans under pain of death, or the third code of [[Hired Guns|getting as much money as possible.]]

Or so popular legend has it. While ninjas may have existed, their reputation for invisibility and infiltration more likely stemmed from their willingness to dress as members of a lower social class when no one else in Japan would consider doing such a thing. Their "invisibility" was part ''[http://www.bmoviecomic.com/index.php?cid=53 psychological]'' in cause -- by dressing as a peasant, they were ignored and dismissed, or [[Beneath Notice|never even noticed at all]], by the [[Samurai]] and other upper classes, a useful thing despite the oft fierce travel restrictions on the lower classes. Superior knowledge of survival skills, a lot of actual stealth, poisons, assassination techniques and [[Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty|unorthodox tactics]] (added to the fact that the ninjas actively encouraged the spread of rumors of their magical abilities) were the most important though. A common misdirection tactic, for example, would be to put one's clothing on a branch or a log while sneaking away (or planning a sneak attack). Somewhere in history, some dumbass must have attacked the tree, and upon discovering the log dressed in the ninja's clothing came to the natural conclusion that [[Ninja Log|clearly the ninja had magically swapped places with the log]]. [[Face Palm|(Oy.)]]

 

 

The "classic" ninja costume (see picture) is, in fact, the outfit worn by stagehands in traditional Japanese theatre. Japanese stagehands are frequently in full view on the stage, but the audience was trained to ignore them and thus are and considered "invisible" by the audience. It became the practice to hide ninja characters in full sight by putting them in the same outfits as the stagehands, [[Painting the Medium|for a startling effect when characters were suddenly attacked by "thin air"]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* Almost everybody in ''[[Naruto]]''. [[Highly-Visible Ninja|Not remotely stealthy about it]], either, though they ''are'' pretty tricky with things like duplication, illusions, and replacing yourself with '''''[[Naruto the Abridged Series|A LOG]]'''''.

** As is the [[Animesque]] counterpart ''[[Shuriken School]]''.

** While he looks ridiculous, Schwartz is otherwise a straight example of a ninja. He's also extremely [[Badass]], able to fight on roughly the same level as Master Asia.

* ''[[Himawari]]!'' and its sequel series are all about the ninja. Most of the ninja in the series actually are fairly stealthy. The heroine herself...not so much.

* Akira from ''[[Mai-HiME]]'' and ''[[Mai-Otome]]'' uses a lot of classic ninja tricks and tools, including shuriken, kunai and smoke bombs. She also uses the title "Secret Ninja", while fighting in disguise (which [[Paper-Thin Disguise|doesn't fool anybody]]). Curiously, sometimes she's seen interacting with other shadowy kuroko-wearers, implying that she indeed is a genuine ninja from a genuine ninja clan, even though that never becomes a major plot-point.

* Yoruichi and Soifon from ''[[Bleach]]'', as well as the entire Stealth Force.

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has Kaede. While she doesn't necessarily [[Highly-Visible Ninja|stick out like a sore thumb]], she isn't very concerned with stealth either. Wields a [[BFS|big friggin' shuriken]] that from tip-to-tip is taller than she is. And [[Huge Schoolgirl|that's saying something]].

* The manga ''Hanzo no Mon'' (titled ''Path of the Assassin'' in the Dark Horse translation) subverts the stereotypes regarding ninja attire; although Hanzo (and his {{spoiler|wife}}) are ninja (usually called ''suppa''), they wear light armor on the battlefield and the stereotypical ninja outfits when they need not to be seen at all, but otherwise wear context-appropriate clothing and act accordingly. Likewise, certain ninja have notoriety and may even appear openly when a lord holds court. In fact, Hanzo, his wife and Hanzo's ninja relatives have their wedding ceremony in normal noble/samurai clothing! (After she demonstrates her abilities as a ninja wearing "the" outfit.)

* The two main families of the anime ''[[Basilisk]]'' are all very competent ninja with unique skills that range from cool to plain freaky. Its story is often summarized as "Romeo and Juliet, with ninjas".

* ''[[Change 123]]'', in its later volumes, introduces an all-female ninja clan whose members infiltrate into Motoko's school to recruit Motoko (or, rather, to recruit her [[Multiple Personalities|alternate badass personalities]]). Unlike typical [[Highly-Visible Ninja|Highly Visible Ninjas]], they actually blend into the normal world, wear plain clothes (even when they're in their ninja village), and use weapons which are disguised as normal everyday objects.

** Turuiemon, a [[Killer Rabbit|ninja rabbit.]]

** Finally, there's several digimon conflated with ninja in the american version, but these are more straight-up [[Samurai]].

** In the Japanese version of ''[[Transformers Robots in Disguise]]'', the Spy Changers are portrayed as ninjas.

** There's also Zenzo Hattori, The Oniwabanshuu and the Shinobi 5.

* [[Ninku]]: The heroes are all Ninjas who face off against some former Ninja as well as practitioners of other ethereal martial arts such as Feng Shui users. The Ninku gain their powers by drawing on the power of the elements themselves which take the form of a dragon. This means they aren't constrained to chi or chakra or some finite internal reserves.

 

== Comic Books ==

** Miller also wrote a ninja into ''[[Sin City]]'' in the form of deadly little Miho, the primary enforcer of the girls of Old Town. She is the single deadliest [[Dark Action Girl]] of the series, the only one of the girls of Old Town who does not use guns, and a [[Heroic Sociopath|heroic example]] of the [[Psycho for Hire]].

{{quote| '''Dwight:''' Deadly little Miho. She'll cut you quick, she'll kill you quiet. You won't feel a thing, not unless she wants you to.}}

* Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow (among many others, some of whom [[Dork Age|we do not speak about]]) from ''[[G.I. Joe]]''. The unnamed "narrator" of the ''Order of Battle'' series and the action figures File Cards (actually Card and comic series writer [[Larry Hama]], writing in-universe observations about the characters) said "The great Ninja assassin clans disappeared a hundred years ago. If they were wiped out, nobody took the credit for it and if they're still around, ''who are they working for?''"

* Kingpin sics a bunch of ninja on the ''[[Runaways]]''.

{{quote| '''Molly:''' Does being a ninja count as having powers?<br />

 

== Film ==

* Michael Beck as "Ken Sakura", an orphaned American adopted into a ninja clan, in the 1983 TV movie ''[[The Last Ninja]]''.

* Appear in ''[[The Last Samurai]]'', with some of their methodology were accurately presented.

* ''[[Ninja Cheerleaders]]''

* ''Cheerleader Ninjas'' (not to be confused with the above)

* The Shaw Brothers kung fu movie ''Heroes of the East'' features a ninja. Early in the film, the Japanese wife (Yuko Mizuno) of the kung fu hero (played by Gordon Liu) gives him a demonstration of ninjitsu. He is not impressed. Later, the hero fights the wife's old boyfriend, an actual ninja (Yasuaki Kurata) and out-tricks him at his own game. In both cases, the ninjitsu is based more on movies (Japanese ones rather than American ones): sneak attacks, hokey peasant disguises, gunpowder, etc., but does involve some real weapons. Even the costume is based on Japanese theater. The film subverts several ninja conventions: one, the ninja is portrayed as a man of skill and honor; two, the ninja is not out to kill anyone; three, his allegiance lies with his martial arts teacher, not a feudal lord.

* ''[[Batman Begins]]'' had a ninja school. Which was, apparently, [[McNinja|located in Tibet.]]

* [[Timothy Zahn]]'s "[[Blackcollar]]" commandos are obvious ninja [[In Space]]. Their favored weapons are shuriken and nunchaku -- low-tech to avoid enemy sensors.

* Ajutasutra in [[Belisarius Series]] is effectively an Indian "Ninja".

 

 

* Several [[Sentai]] series have them, such as the "Ninjetti" arc of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers Ninja Storm]]''.

** The original Japanese names of these sentai shows are ''[[Ninja Sentai Kakuranger]]'' and ''[[Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger|Ninpuu (Ninja Wind) Sentai Hurricanger]]'', respectively.

* Ninjas using both 'traditional' weapons and explosives attack John Blackthorne and Mariko in the 1980 miniseries ''[[Shogun]]''.

* Charlie from ''[[Spin City]]'' once daydreamed of winning the World Series, and fighting ninjas.

 

== Music ==

 

 

== New Media ==

* Charlie depicts [[Her Codename Was Mary Sue|herself]] as a ninja in the animated segments of ''[[Kate Modern]]''.

* ''[http://www.askaninja.com/ Ask A Ninja]'' is a website where viewers e-mail a guy questions and he answers them as a ninja would.

** As are the Assassins of the Dark Elves. Their leader, Shadowblade, is so awesome he can disguise himself as a mook of the enemy army. Even if they are composed of magically-reanimated corpses. Did we mention his skill with weapons is so great he can match an incarnation of the God of Slaughter in terms of sheer skill, and outmatch it in speed?

** A certain fan-made army book for Nippon gives them squads of ninjas as a Special choice whose main strength is mobility, and individual elite ninjas as Hero choices that function like Dark Elf Assassins.

* The Complete Adventurer expansion for [[Dungeons and Dragons]] (3.5e) features the Ninja base class. They are a viable alternative to the traditional Rogue, trading in more efficient sneak attacks and extra skill points for supernatural dodging and, at higher levels, the ability to turn invisible or incorporeal for a short duration.

* In ''[[Exalted]]'', each type of Exalt has at least one caste that focuses on stealth, deception, and similar acts of larceny. Sidereals fit the ninja archetype best, though, what with their being snapped up and subjected to intensive training within days of Exaltation, their undisputed mastery of martial arts, their residence in a hidden community that most in Creation can't even find, much less enter, and that whole business with the Arcane Fate that makes them all but impossible to track or keep records on (or even, for that matter, remember clearly). The term 'fate-ninja' really sums them up very nicely.

* The Scorpion Clan, especially the Shosuro Assassins and Bayushi Ninja Infiltrators, in ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]''. Plays the trope straight and subverts it at the same time: the real assassins rely on disguise to blend in the crowd, while the "typical" ninjas in black pajamas are [[Highly-Visible Ninja]] [[Mook|Mooks]] used often as a distraction.

** In fact, the ninja mooks are aspirants to be "proper" shinobi; if they can survive trying to be "stealthy" in the worst way possible for a year, then they're ready to learn how to do it ''right''. The books even point out that "ninja" gear, by and large, is ''completely awful''. Never use a ninja-to against a katana, for instance.

** Spinoff ''Maximum Impact 2'' introduced Nagase, another [[Highly-Visible Ninja]] described in-game as "The Ninja Computer Geek".

* ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' had a number of them, the most typical one being [[Hattori Hanzo]].

** ''[[Samurai Warriors]] 2'' adds Fuuma Kotarou and Nene, although the latter is a samurai's wife whose "ninja-ness" is in being a gameplay replacement for the removed Kunoichi. (acknowledged by Hanzo, who, if they meet in one stage, would comment on her having gotten stranger, "since the last time we met.")

*** In one ''[[Warriors Orochi]]'' gaiden mission, Kunoichi and Nene face each other on the battlefield, and Kunoichi [[Lampshade Hanging|points this out]]: "Well, if it isn't my [[Spiritual Successor]]!" (exact words)

** Ezio in ''Assassin's Creed 2'' is more or less the same, only he can swim, is Italian and FABULOUS!!

** YMMV. Altair is based on the actual group where the word "Assassin" was derived from. There are even several events in the game based off of stories about that group. On the other hand, that group acted far more like the Ninja trope than historical ninjas actually did.

* A certain not very good [[Neverwinter Nights]] module had the player as part of a sect of female ninjas called Kunoichi (which happens to be a historically accurate term for female ninjas).

* [[Strider]] Hiryu, from his eponymous game series.

* The titular character from ''[[Izuna Legend of the Unemployed Ninja]]'' and its sequel.

** And her gameplay clone in [[Ehrgeiz]], Sasuke.

* Kage-Maru from ''[[Virtua Fighter]]''.

* The [[Commodore 64]] game ''[[The Last Ninja]]'' and its sequel make this [[Older Than the NES]].

* The ''[[Shinobi]]'' series features a ninja hero, who battles [[Conservation of Ninjutsu|scores of enemy ninja]] in a variety of different situations, including while being on a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|ninja surfboard]] in the third game.

* In no particular order from ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'': Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Reptile, Noob Saibot, Kitana, Mileena, Jade, Chameleon, Khameleon, Cyrax, Sektor, Smoke, Ermac, Rain and Frost. Fifteen ninjas in the course of one ''very'' ninja-happy series.

* The ''[[Tenchu]]: Stealth Assassins'' series, in contrast to many ninja series, [[Stealth Based Game|places full emphasis on the ninja's true strength: stealth]]. Ninjas in this series are unsuited for the open hand-to-hand combat of the Samurai, but are the undisputed masters of the stealth kill.

* The pop cultural version of ninjas are a common [[Class and Level System|character class]] in JRPGs:

** ''[[Disgaea]]'' and its sequels.

** ''[[Maple Story]]''.

* ''[[City of Villains]]'' has Mastermind characters who summon ninja minions, and Stalkers who have the Ninja Blade (attack) and Ninjitsu (defense) power sets.

* The main character of ''[[Ninja Blade]]''.

* The Dark Templar of ''[[Starcraft]]'' are Alien Ninjas who can bend light to make themselves invisible.

* One of the [[Shout-Out|seven samurai]] from ''[[Throne of Darkness]]'' is actually a Ninja.

* There are ninjas in ''[[Mad Karate Man]]'' that serve as obstacles to prevent your revenge against businessmen from being fulfilled. You can just click them away though.

* A good number of ninjas feature in the ''[[Suikoden]]'' gameverse, most of them being more [[Highly-Visible Ninja|visible]] than not.

* ''[[Shinobido]]'' is about ninjas.

** Also, the "create a character" in 3 had a class called "ninja" that could learn how to wield kuni (with use of ninjustu) , a katan and over sized shuriken (blatant use of jumping and the overly large throwing tool), a sickle that seemed to have been the love child of Ivy's whip blade and a chain whip with some sickle thrown in as an afterthought, Taki's moveset, and (the closest to actual ninjaness) Setska's parasol with a blade hidden in the handle of it. Any character creation after forwent any movesets only available to custom characters, so they then had to use character weapons.

* Gale from [[Virtua Cop|Virtua Cop 3]].

* Shinobi from [[Command and Conquer Red Alert|Red Alert 3]], who can throw Shurikens, smoke bombs and kill with a single sword blow.

* Rogues of ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' can do things like turn invisible, flash step, walk on water, and pick locks. They also make use of intangibility, smoke bombs, poisons, and countless dirty tactics.

* The Scyther, Nincada, and Shelmet lines from ''[[Pokémon]]'' all have ninja motifs. Curiously enough, they are all also Bug-type Pokemon (Scyther=praying mantis, Nincada=cicada, Shelmet=snail) as well.

{{quote| "I am one of the Ninja Trio! Being discovered means I must battle!"}}

* You'll get a Ninja no matter what Branch you go on in ''[[Vanguard Bandits]]''. What type of ninja they'll be is path-dependent though.

* Chipp Zanuff from ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' is an American Gaijin who learns the art of ninjutsu. Unfortunately, [[Highly-Visible Ninja|he's rather loud and yells "FIND ME!" when trying to hide himself]].

* Bang Shishigami from ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' is the [[Spiritual Successor]] of Chipp, though he's 100% 'Japanese' (as much as the setting allows it), and [[Highly-Visible Ninja|twice as loud]]. And [[Hot-Blooded]] like hell.

 

 

== Webcomics ==

* And then there's the the title character of the SNAFU Webcomic, [http://tin.snafu-comics.com/?comic_id=0 TIN: The Incompetent Ninja] who takes incompetent to it's logical extreme and is able to commit unbelievably violent acts to anyone ''except'' his target.

* The obscure, unknown webcomic ''[[Dreamaniac]]'' has resident ninja Andrew (who's actually from [[McNinja|Switzerland]] and his younger brother, ninja-in-training Mark.

* ''[[Megatokyo]]'' features Junpei, nowadays a ''l337'' ninja, thanks to his training under Largo.

* Ninjas appear a few times in ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' including a half-orc ninja who falls for Elan. A [[Running Gag]] is for ninjas to go undetected by other characters even when they're not actually hiding.

* Feskus of the ''[[Nami Warriors]]'' is a very skilled ninja...who apparently [[Pokémon-Speak|communicates with just the word "hoy"]].

* [http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00727.html introduced for the] [[Show Within the Show]] of ''[[Nip and Tuck]]''.

 

 

* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' is infested with them: a few one-shot bad guys, some specialized "embarrassment ninjas", a secret ninja high school where Ron spent a week as an exchange student, and of course Monkey Fist's ninja clan made entirely of monkeys.

** Sumo Ninja ftw!

* Basically every and any action/adventure cartoon in the U.S. is bound to feature Ninja at some point.

* It took four seasons before ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' fought a ninja, but he did - a robot ninja at that. It was, at least, a stealthy one, made completely invisible whenever it stood in shadows. And then Jack revealed he could do the same trick with sunlight, leading to one of the most visually incredible fights in the series (which is ''saying'' something), [[Rule of Cool|as the series is made of cool]]

* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' has [[The Stoic|Prowl]] and [[Jive Turkey|Jazz]] as goddamn NINJA ROBOTS. [[Rule of Cool|How much cooler can you get?]] Ironically, Prowl's a pretty honourable guy as a ninja (as is Jazz) but the moment he puts on the Samurai Armour Upgrade, he becomes a totally arrogant asshole one step away from turning into a villain.

** ''Animated'' went on to reveal that there's an entire order of ninjas back on Cybertron, which includes ''Animated'' versions of almost every Autobot martial artist, melee-weapon user, fist fighter... [[My Friends and Zoidberg|and Grandus]].

* The short Australian CGI spoof ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSPy_4HYqGs Samurice]''. Ninja Rice steal the sacred Soya Scroll, and [[Samurai]] hero Ricesashi has to get it back.

{{quote| '''Monkian''': I don't see anyone!<br />

'''Mumm-Ra''': Look behind you.<br />

''[Monkian looks behind himself, only to fall over in surprise.]''<br />

'''Mumm-Ra''': This... is the NINJA! If the samurai has all honor, then the ninja has none. His methods are silence, secrecy, and stealth. And his weapons -- dagger and disguise... }}

** The Dai Li are Earthbending Ninjas. While they don't do the all black attire normally attributed to the profession, the training and combat style they use fits the bill perfectly. Given that unlike most Earthbenders, or any capable bender in the series, they use hidden weapons and misdirection in their combat style.

** Also, Zuko in Blue Spirit mode. Silent, stealthy, wears all black, incredibly badass, one of the only characters to be actually ''deadly'' in each appearance... total ninja right there.

{{quote| '''Starscream''': "Do you not see that you are vastly outnumbered?"<br />

'''Wheeljack''': "I see fellas who might vastly enjoy watching me pound some dents into you." }}

 

 

* [[Greek Ninja]]

* [http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm Real Ultimate Power]: The Official Ninja Webpage!