Top 10 most ninjariffic videogame ninjas

I decided to write a top 10 list of this nature because of a really crappy top 10 video game babes video I saw on YouTube.  They got a few key icons but for the most part it was about who had the biggest tits in a fighting game.  lots of this: and I thought about who I’d put on my own list, and I realized it was full of many more subtle or covert types, including a kunoichi (female ninja) called Ayame.  I got to thinking, gee… there are a lot of really cool ninjas around but who are the most accurate, coolest, most inspirational ninjas out there?  What makes a perfect ninja?  I better make a top 10 and sort it out.  These are my criteria:  The character must be a main character.  They must be playable.  They must actually be classified as a ninja.  And finally, they must be in a video game.  so I’ll go through in reverse order as is appropriate.

10) Night Stalker

Bushido Blade 2’s Night Stalker is "one step short of becoming a ninja" and though he’s supposed to be a support character (there are only 6 main characters in the game) his speed makes him one of the most effective characters in the game.  He’s tricky, fast, and will throw any number of objects at you to distract you, but his speed and single-hit kills mean he can EASILY dominate the whole game.  His problems are obvious though.  He’s only in one game.  Everyone in Bushido Blade can get one-hit kills, so that makes him less special.  It’s the way the game works.  Also he’s in a fighting game and I tried real hard to steer clear of those, because ninjas like to avoid fights and the characters are so often 1 dimensional.  And he’s technically not a ninja yet.

9) Psylocke

Psylocke has one of the most unique backgrounds of any ninja, because she originally wasn’t a ninja.  She was a Brittish spy whose mind and mutant abilities were swapped into the body of a Japanese assassin, thus gaining her all the fully developed skills of a ninja, though she already had potent telepathic and psionic powers.  She’s low on the list though for several reasons.  She’s originally a comic book character, brought in to several X-Men games as a playable character, and most of the time she’s not exactly plot-important.  Still, her background and credentials make her a strong enough case to be one of the top 10 video game ninjas of all time.

8) Snake-eyes

Snake-eyes is widely considered to be the coolest ninja ever.  While I have to agree upon his relevance to this list, I have to also consider his importance as a video game character.  Snake-eyes is skilled in the use of all the standard ninja weapons, and is the G.I. Joe hand-to-hand combat instructor in the series, but he’s also trained in the use of several decidedly non-ninja weapons including handguns and explosives.  There are also some other glaring faults in Snake-eyes credibility in that he’s most likely a gaijin since he’s serving in the US military, he started off in a TV cartoon, then moved to Marvel comics, before ever making his video game debut in a largely underappreciated (but solid) NES game.  Chances are you’ve never played it.

7) Naruto
 
Naruto is the first ninja on the list to actually BE a ninja of notiriety and skill of his own aspiration.  The assload of Naruto video games helps his case too.  Still, once again we are faced with a ninja who gained fame before hitting the video game genre.  He started out in 1999 as a Japanese manga, where Naruto, the adolescent ninja, constantly seeks approval and recognition.  He’s certainly too young to top this list though his video game credentials are very strong, and he’s definitely got the popularity thing down.  I’ve still never played a single Naruto game.

6) Scorpion
 
Formerly a human ninja and member of the Shirai Ryu clan, Scorpion is now a black and yellow garbed, hell-spawned spectre, seeking vengeance upon those responsible for the destruction of his clan and the death of his family.  Unlike many fighting game ninjas (of which he was one of the first and most popular) he actually has a decent background.  His steady appearances and vital involvement in the plot of Mortal Kombat make him the first heavy hitter on the list.  He’s an original character that was key to starting a video game franchise, though not the main character or technically one of the "good guys", he remains probably the best anti-hero ninja on the list.

5) Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michaelangelo

Even though these 4 fan favorites originated in what was supposed to be a one issue parody comic book, there’s no denying their impact on video games.  Most of us first learned about them through the cartoon show in 1988 anyway.  Each one specializes in a different ninja weapon (we essentially learned the words "sai" "nunchaku" and "bo" from this series) and they have the coolest ninja nemisis in Shredder.  The video game franchise that followed only cements their place in our hearts as some of the most awesome video game ninjas ever.  Since you can’t really single out any one of them they all 4 as a team occupy the #5 slot. Turtle power.

4) Shinobi

Shinobi is Sega’s powerhouse flagship ninja.  Throughout the 80’s Shinobi was one of probably 3 titles that kept Sega afloat in the console wars.  In addition to starring in many great games, he also took the whole ninja thing to a new level by adding in the cyberpunk element, especially in the title for PS2.  Loaded with a seemingly endless supply of shurikens, a demonic soul drinking sword, badass armor, and a scarf akin to Spawn’s sentient cloak, Shinobi is without a doubt one ofthe coolest video game ninjas in existance.

3) Ayame

Ayame has the notable distinction of being the only full-fledged kunoichi on the list that is a main character.  An Azuma ninja, she’s only 14 years old but she can kick some serious ass.  She’s not all that great of a fighter actually; she dual wields Japanese short swords to swift and deadly effect but her most notable strength is her stealth.  And that’s EXACTLY what a ninja is known for.  Dropping down silently from the ceiling to stab the fuck out of a demon’s neck is what she’s perfect for.  Hailing from the highly accurate Tenchu series Ayame can go toe to toe with the best ninjas out there.  She’s got a great sense of humor too, but she still has a lot to learn.

2) Ryu Hayabusa

He’s a ninja that needs no introduction.  I’m sure some of you are shocked that he only recieved second place, but you’ll just have to bear with me.  Ninja Gaiden is a legendary ninja series just as Shinobi is, but it has the distinction of being better.  Despite how difficult and frustrating the original game was, there was a reason we kept coming back to it.  The most recent X-box version only improved the series exponentially.  Ryu can do the same crazy wall runs as Shinobi, he can bounce back and forth to climb nearly any surface, he’s got a wicked sword, and his name means "dragon".  And then there are the massive multi hit combos he can rack up.  And the wide array of weapons and sub weapons he can use.  And the potions.  And the magic.  He’s just a more fully realized character than Shinobi as strong as Shinobi is.  But there’s one problem.  He’s a ninja.  He’s supposed to be a shadow, not a legendary and visible character like any samurai warrior.

1) Rikimaru

The best video game ninja of all time.  Debuting in the Tenchu series along side Ayame, he is her elder, and her superior.  The most notable thing about Rikimaru is that he’s not a superpowered character in any way.  His overall statistics, physical condition and boundaries are those of a human, but he is agile, experienced, and stealthy. With that in mind, it is obvious he cannot defeat an army of opponents as we have seen ninjas doing in several games, so the only way of succeeding is by cunning, moving unseen and unheard in the still of the night, using the techniques of the Ninja.  With the aid of nothing more than a grappling hook, Rikimaru can clear out a room full of powerful demons in one stealthy blow per target: something that no other ninja on this list can do (with the exception of Ayame), while still being limited as humans are, though he has at his command a vast array of ninja tricks such as inflatable decoys, poisoned rice, clay grenades, caltrops, and magical healing potions.  Granted Ayame can do everything Rikimaru can, but due to her junior status and Ryu’s massive popularity she couldn’t climb higher than 3rd.  Rikimaru is truly a shadow, and his unswerving loyalty to his master, and his storng sense of honor give him the right to top this list