Ninjas in popular culture

Ryu Hayabusa from the Ninja Gaiden video game. A typical example of the depiction of ninjas in popular culture.

Ninjas are common stock characters in popular culture. Usually depicted as mysterious, ultra-athletic mercenaries, the iconic depiction of ninjas has them wearing an all black body-suit with a mask. Though often depicted as powerful warriors, they are often conversely depicted as disposable cannon fodder to be dispatched by the hero (this is explained humorously by the Inverse Ninja Law, which states that ninja are weaker when they are in larger groups).

Ninjas are especially prevalent in productions related to geek and otaku culture.

Overview

Western popular culture generally depicts ninjas as supremely well-trained martial artists and assassins, clad in head-to-toe black or dark blue suits, using many kinds of exotic equipment and skills to accomplish their missions. Western fascination with the ninja bloomed in the 1980s, especially in the United States. The idea of a Westerner being granted entry to the secret ranks of the ninja has long been a subject of particular fascination for Western writers. For example, The Japanese rhythm and blues band Thee Michelle Gun Elephant wanted to release a three-hour, five-disc fictional concept album devoted to a popular Sunday morning ninja fighting themed anime show, Aknito and Mr. Saito. The album was scrapped after the show was suddenly cancelled in 1997. However, Mr. Saito (Aknito's mentor) was given his own show on TV Asahi (the fourth biggest cable network in Japan) and proved to be a big success. Despite being disbanded, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant provides voices for Mr. Saito's new students: Anrito, Deeku, Snarfasu, and Rivayama.

Modern entertainment has shown ninja as both expendable redshirts attacking in large numbers and as nearly invulnerable solitary warriors. An example of both depictions can be found in the American Ninja and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, where a small group of protagonists (ninja) easily defeat waves of incompetent enemy ninja on multiple occasions only to have far more trouble when facing a more competent lone ninja. The satirical Inverse Ninja Law draws from this paradox.

Books

The Ninja (1980) series of thriller books by Eric Van Lustbader features a half-Japanese, half-Caucasian character who received ninjutsu training in his youth. The Japanese novelist, Ryotaro Shiba wrote a novel and a collection of short stories, based on ninja, called Fukuro no Shiro and Saigo no Igamono. Both were made into successful movies. In the series Tales of the Otori The Tribe is made of five families of ninjas with powers such as: invisibility, splitting themselves temporarily, a stare that induces sleep, sharper hearing and eyesight, faster reflexes etc. There have been several Choose Your Own Adventure books involving ninjas.

Comic books

Ninja appear often in comic books, and in many different incarnations.

Characters with the sort of mystical and superhuman martial arts abilities attributed to Ninjas occur in the D.C. universe. In the 1980s, Batman dropped his fisticuffs for martial arts stylized hand to hand combat techniques, capitalizing on a youth pop interest in martial arts and retconning dojo training into his origin story. The reconned stealth and martial arts training of these most recent Batman incarnations, condensed in the most recent Batman origin film, Batman Begins, has led many latter day Batman fans to assume, falsely, that Batman is a ninja. In fact, the various martial arts training sessions Batman or Bruce Wayne underwent were never explicitly associated with ninja or ninjitsu. Rather, the association is likely the product of the Western proclivity to regard all black clad martial artists or employers of stealth as ninja. Another character who is portrayed in a fashion similar to a ninja is master martial artist and assassin Lady Shiva. The current Batgirl, Cassandra Cain also has the qualities of the Western perception of a Ninja.

The G.I. Joe series of comic books featured ninjas far more than the cartoon series, and many story arcs revolved around Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Jinx, Firefly and the Arishikage ninja clan, which consisted of an extended family of ninja characters never featured in the toyline or cartoon, such as The Blind Master, The Hard Master, The Soft Master, and the mystic sword smith. Other characters in the comic who received ninja training from the Arishkage clan and their associates were Cobra Commander's son Billy, and the shapeshifter Zartan.

Frank Miller's Sin City comic books feature a ninja-like girl named Miho, who often utilizes shuriken, martial arts, stealth, and other methods associated with ninjas.

Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman: Five young International Science Organization (ISO) operators are trained in the ninja arts and are dressed in bird-like suits.
Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls: This anime series is about two ninja clans, the Iga and Kouga, who were rivals for power 400 years ago. A peace treaty stopped both clans from killing each other. Now the peace treaty is broken and 10 ninjas from each clan are selected to fight.
Marvel Comics: Ninjas have been featured thoughtout Marvel Comics such as the Ghost Rider foe Death Ninja, and an ally of the Ghost Rider named Shriker. The evil ninja organization The Hand is featured in several comic series, particularly X-Men and Daredevil. The Hand and their associates were responsible for the training of Psylocke, Kitty Pryde, Elektra and Matt Murdock. In the Marvel Mangaverse Spiderman is the last member of a clan of ninjas.
Masters of the Universe: Ninjor was an evil ninja.
Flame of Recca: The series is about Recca Hanabishi, his half-brother Kurei who came from the Hokage ninja clan which perished during the time of Oda Nobunaga. The series also deals with the Hokage Madogu.

File:NarutoTeam7.jpg

The main team of ninja in Naruto.

Naruto: A manga and anime series about ninja, divided into ranks (from lowest/weakest to highest/strongest): Ninja Academy students, Genin, Chuunin, Jōnin/Special Jōnin, and Kage (Seinin), the leaders of their ninja land.
Inuyasha: A small arc features demon ninjas led by Hoshiyomi, who himself is a demon ninja.
Samurai Champloo: The episodes Bogus Booty and Baseball Blues both deal with characters who are ninja or former ninja.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: All four main characters and many of their friends and foes are ninja, including the deadly Foot Clan. The shows, movies, and comics have a strong Japanese-influenced theme.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Oniwabanshu (in this series) is a group of ninja that collect vast amounts of information. Over time, the only known members (former and current) became: Shinomori Aoshi; Makimachi Misao;Kashiwazaki, Nenji (AKA: Okina); Han'nya; Hyottoko; Shikijō; and Beshimi.
Sgt. Frog: Two of the main characters, Dororo and Koyuki, are both skilled in various forms of ninjutsu.
The Tick: The Tick fights ninja enemies.
Usagi Yojimbo: Features various ninjas in it. The major clans being the, Neko ninja, Mogura ninja, and the Komori ninja

Movies

Ninja-based films and books became a popular culture craze in Japan during the 1950s and early 1960s and as a result, a TV series called The Samurai (see below) was created in 1962 to cash in on the fad.

Several American ninja movies starring Sho Kosugi were released in the 1980s as well. Kosugi is to be in the upcoming movie The Return of the Ninja, which is to be released in 2006. Sam Firstenberg's American Ninja, a low budget movie released in 1985, was undoubtedly the most successful film in the genre produced by an American company, Cannon. Former model Michael Dudikoff, who played the lead character Joe Armstrong, was dubbed as "the James Dean of the Ninja movies". The story depicts the adventures of an amnesiac soldier who discovers he had received ninja training when he was a child. Eventually, he uses his skills against a drug lord in the Philippines. The movie proved to be a smash hit, and spawned four sequels: American Ninja 2: The Confrontation, American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (Dudikoff was replaced by David Bradley here), American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (Dudikoff and Bradley are paired together in this one), and the straight-to-video American Ninja 5 (a spin-off aimed at children). The first two American Ninja are regarded as cult classics.

Perhaps the first cinematic mixing of two martial arts 'worlds' occurs in the Hong Kong movie Ninja in the Dragon's Den, in which a young Ninja flees to China - both to evade the revenge of the clan he's betrayed and to seek one of the men he believes responsible for his father's death - and encounters a young Kung fu fighter in combat.

In the early 90s there were two ninja movies about three young boys who come to live with their grandfather. While there, he teaches them ninjutsu; later, they get into a mess of trouble, and must use their skills to extricate themselves. The first was simply titled 3 Ninjas. Its sequel was 3 Ninjas Kick Back. Two other sequels exist. 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up and 3 Ninjas High Noon at Mega Mountain. Also the Ninja films Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III: The Domination Also in the 1990s there was a film featuring a trio of boys who are avid surfers, and also trained in the ninja style of martial arts know simply as Surf Ninjas.

Batman Begins: Bruce Wayne is trained in Ninjutsu by ninja cult leader Henri Ducard.
Beverly Hills Ninja
Big Money Hu$tla$: Violent J is a crime lord who needs some help, so he summons the Magic Ninjas.
Bowfinger: Contains a fictional film called FAKE PURSE NINJAS.
Elektra: Several scenes in the film depict supernatural ninja warriors.
You Only Live Twice: The James Bond novel and movie both depicted ninjas.
The Last Samurai: The film depicted an unlikely ninja attack on the samurai during Meiji-era Japan.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie: The Rangers get ninja powers and Zords.
Nine Deaths of the Ninja
Robocop 3: In the film Robocop fights ninja robots.
The Pacifier: Two of the villains in the film are ninjas.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Film series

Television

The 1960s Japanese TV series The Samurai was responsible for a significant wave of interest in ninja among children and younger viewers in Japan and other countries where the series was screened. The unprecedented reaction to its first screening on the Nine Network in Sydney in late 1964 led to it being broadcast nationally, and it quickly became the highest-rating program in the network's history.

The Samurai had a particularly strong impact on teen and pre-teen children in Australia, where it rapidly became a cult favourite, with children imitating ninja handsprings, hurling cardboard 'star knives' (shuriken) and waving imaginary swords as they played 'samurai and ninja', and the star of the series Ose Koichi and a troupe of dancers and actors made a hugely successful performance tour of Australia in early 1966. It is notable, however, that the series was only screened in a few countries outside Japan (including Australia and The Philippines) and the impact of the ninja phenomenon was not felt in other western countries until considerably later.

The Master was a ninja action-adventure TV series which aired in 1984 on NBC. The show starred Lee Van Cleef as John Peter McAllister, an aged American veteran and ninja master who returns to the United States in search of a daughter he didn't know he had. The show also featured Timothy Van Patten as Max Keller, his young short-tempered pupil, and Sho Kosugi as Okasa, McAllister's former pupil, who has sworn to kill his former master for abandoning the ninja code. The short-lived series only lasted 13 episodes.

When G.I. Joe, a traditional American series of military action figures, was relaunched in the 1980s along with an animated series, the collection included a few ninja characters, such as Snake-Eyes, a Vietnam war veteran who had studied the ninja arts after the death of his family, and Storm Shadow, a member of a clandestine ninja clan. The massive popularity of the ninja characters completely overtook the more conventional army characters, and creator Larry Hama was pressured by Hasbro to create more ninja for the series

In American Dragon: Jake Long Rose and The Huntsman are ninjas.

Various episodes of The Simpsons have featured ninjas.

On Late Night with Conan O'Brien Conan and Jim Carrey fought ninja.

The G4 TV channel features a show called Ninja Warrior

In the South Park episode Good Times with Weapons the kids pretend to be ninjas. Another South Park episode called Fantastic Easter Special featured ninjas.

One episode of Family Guy featured ninja.

In Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos Chuck Norris fights ninjas as enemies.

Xiaolin Showdown Features Tubbimura, an overweight ninja.

In The Bots Master, one of the Boyzz is named Ninjzz.

The The Showbiz Show with David Spade had the Ask a Ninja appear on it.

Jackie Chan Adventures features the Ninja Kahn Shadowkhan

An episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 was called "Sneaky Lying Cheating Giant Ninja Koopas" obviously a spoof of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

An episode of Robot Chicken had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appear.

Power Rangers has featured ninjas throughout the series. Two seasons had ninja-based powers and Zords: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season 3, and Power Rangers Ninja Storm, respectively based on the two ninja-themed Super Sentai series' Ninja Sentai Kakuranger and Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger. There are ninja-themed villains. In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season 1/Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger there is the Dark Warrior/Dora Ninja. In Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger/Power Rangers: Wild Force, there is the evil Ninja Org Duke Dorodoro/Onikage. In Mahou Sentai Magiranger, there is the Heades Beast Man Ninja Kirikage. In GoGo Sentai Boukenger, the Negative Syndicate Dark Shadow is composed of ninjas. In Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive Kamdor had temporary ninja henchmen.

The smash hit animé series, Naruto, is the most famous ninja-themed animé worldwide. It is the story of a young boy who is training to be the top ninja of his village, the Hokage, and to finally receive recognition. To do this, Naruto must rise through the ranks of Genin, Chūnin, and Jōnin, and complete many trying missions. Based on the manga by Masashi Kishimoto, the series touches on every aspect of ninja, including the weaponry, as well as the use of special techniques and strange powers combined with martial arts. The Naruto anime series is currently around episode 225 and the manga currently has about 37 volumes. There are also 3 movies, and the show is not letting up any time soon. The franchise has spawned many video games, gadgets, toys, and more.

In the anime series Kirby: Right Back at Ya! in an episode called, "Visiting Ninja, Benikage!", better known in the USA as "Ninja Binge", features a Ninja ability as well as almost all of its guest characters, including but not limited to Benikage and Yamikage, being ninjas. An interesting fact states that, according to Meta Knight, ninjas that fought alongside him in his past were not thieves but honorable Star Warriors.

Yet another animé series, Basilisk, utilizes the mythology and such behind the ninja, giving them strange powers and jutsus to carry out missions. In this show, there are two rival ninja clans who have been coexisting solely because of a peace treaty. Two ninja, one from each clan, were to marry. They had hoped this would allow the clans to make peace among the members, but when the treaty was expired, a new proposal was put foreword. The names of 10 elite ninja from each clan were put on a hit list for the other clan. The first clan to kill all 10 people are the supreme clan. The two lovers must now face the reality of the war and come to grips that both of their names are on the lists.

In an old anime series, Nintama Rantarou, about a ninja school. It is aimed at young children, featuring the adventures of Rantarou and his friends and teachers at Ninja school.

The title characters of the cult anime series Samurai Pizza Cats often face off against Bad Bird, a Ninja crow, and his Ninja Crow henchmen.

Mythbusters did a ninja special of the show on April 25th, in which classic myths were tested such as; walking on water, catching a sword, and catching an arrow and the ninja from ask a ninja appeared on the show.

In the Australian series of Big Brother the people who have to enter the house to do things such as maintenance are referred (even by big brother himself) to as Ninjas, they are most apparent during Friday Night Live where the Ninjas would operate equipment and be cameramen, The Ninjas sometimes also wear extra clothing to indicate what their purpose is - for example a chefs hat, additionally, during FNL short videos are shown that star the Ninjas, such as "Dear Ninja" and "Ninja tip of the week".

Computer and Video games

In fighting games as well as Role playing games, ninja are typically quick to strike and dodge well but lack power and defense.

One of the most successful games ever on the Commodore 64 computer was The Last Ninja, developed by System3. In the Nintendo Entertainment System games titled Ninja Gaiden, the player takes the role of Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja whose clan has been savagely murdered. Ryu is also a character in the Dead or Alive fighting games that feature multiple ninja characters.

In most Worms games a weapon called Ninja rope allows players to swing around the terrain.

In Mega Man 3, the Robot Master named Shadow Man is a ninja. His EXE counterpart in the Battle Network series is one, as well.

In Mega Man X2, the Maverick boss known as Magna Centipede is a ninja.

There are various fighting games based off of the Naruto television series. This show is an entirely ninja-themed anime, so all of the characters in the game are able to use martial arts, traditional ninja weaponry, and special techniques that are common in ninja mythology.

In the game James Bond 007: Nightfire, the evil Phoenix Corporation uses ninjas as assassins. In one mission, "Double Cross," the player must fight a ninja who has just killed a traitor in Phoenix. In another mission, two ninjas lunge at the player one at a time in a space shuttle launch silo.

Shinobido: Way of the Ninja is a game involving the Asuka ninja. Three warlords fight for the small province of Utakata, requiring ultimate stealth and espionage.

In MMORPGs such as world of warcraft, ninja can be used as an adjective to describe a player who has stolen another players item. This can be in a number of ways. Firstly in a party instance where a player selects the need option on an item that they should have selected greed for. Another way this term is used is if a player tricks another player into giving them their items in return for a service involving these items. A player is said to be a ninja if they do not hold to this agreement and keep the items traded to them. If a player is labelled a ninja in MMORPG they are often rejected by the community and find it difficult to join guilds or raid parties.

In Age of Empires III ninjas are powerful mercenaries that can be obtained for a certain amount of coin from a saloon. They are able to inflict heavy injury upon explorers, warchiefs, and other mercenaries, and have the ability to conceal themselves (stealth).

In the fighting game series Guilty Gear, the character Chipp Zanuff takes up the fighting style after being saved from the mafia by a ninja master.

In the first person shooter Red Steel for the Wii, the player will have to fight the fictional 'Komori' - 'new wave ninjas' towards the end of the game.

Ape Escape 3: Both players can turn into the miracle ninja where they use swords, run on walls, walk tight-ropes, and glide through the air. All of which are ninja tactics.
Bad Dudes: Features ninjas as enemies.
Bakumatsu Rouman series
Batman Begins: The game has ninja as enemies.
Brawl Brothers: In the game Kazan is a ninja.
Captain Commando: One member of the Commandos Team was Ginzu (known as Sho in Japan), a ninja trained in the fictional art of Bushinryu ninjitsu. The game also has ninjas as enemies.
City of Heroes and City of Villains: Both games allow the player to create their own hero or villain. In both games, players are able to create Ninja, and customize much of their appearance, and some of their skills.
Dead or Alive: From the creators of Ninja Gaiden, this famous 3-D fighting game has a couple of ninjas in the arena, including Ryu Hayabusa and Kasumi, the runaway ninja who is the main character of the series.
Destroy All Humans 2: Takoshima is inhabited by both the white and black ninjas. They were originally the same group, wearing grey, but when the grey outfits were no longer being made, the white group wanted to be the black, but the black group put their order fof the black outfits first. They are constantly fighting with each other.
Double Dragon: The game series has ninja enemies and in Double Dragon III Yagyu Ranzou is a ninja.
Final Fantasy: Ninja appeared in the first installment of the series as an upgrade from the Thief character class, adept at using an array of weapons and armor, as well as casting black magic. In the RPG Final Fantasy III (Famicom), near the end of the game it is possible to get two new jobs, one being the Ninja ("The supreme Warrior").; Shadow, Edge, and Yuffie Kisaragi are the only dedicated ninja characters in the series. In Final Fantasy XI Ninja is an advanced job you can acquire once you get one of your initial jobs to level 30. Being a ninja includes the ability to dual-wield weapons (carry a weapon in each hand) and utilize Utsusemi, a powerful ability that enables your shadows to absorb damage.; Ninja appear as a job class in Final Fantasy Tactics, who have the exclusive abilities to wield two weapons simultaneously and throw items such as ninja stars, elemental balls, and other weapons. They also appear in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, though in that game, the job is limited to humans.
Guild Wars Factions: The Assassin, a new profession is available in this expansion of the MMORPG, Guild Wars. The Assassin sports armor and weapons highly akin to that of ninjas and has teleportation skills.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin: Many guards in the levels in Japan are ninjas carrying katanas. They often hide in the rafters in many important buildings.
Homura
Kid Niki: Radical Ninja
Kirby series: There are several ninja enemies all known as Bio Sparks that appear in Kirby Super Star for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Kirby can inhale them to copy their Ninja ability. Since Kirby can use his ability to create helpers from his copy abilities in that game, he can create a Bio Spark helper from his Ninja ability. The Ninja ability also returns in Kirby: Squeak Squad for the Nintendo DS, though it is unknown what enemies will possess it. However, as one of the game's official pictures shows, one of the members of the Squeak Squad, a yellow mouse with a scarf and red sunglasses, throws some shurikens, which could make him a ninja.
Gekido: Features ninjas as enemies.
I-Ninja
Killer Instinct
The King of Fighters series
The Last Ninja: This very popular series of 8 and 16-bit games featured a vengeful time-travelling ninja as the protagonist.
The Legend of Kage: The hero and most of the enemies are ninjas.
Metal Gear Solid: A stealth-action video game in which a character named Gray Fox is fitted with an exoskeleton modeled after a ninja. This suit enhances all of his physical attributes, as well as gives him powerful weaponry.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: Olga Gurlukovich disguised herself with a robotic ninja suit which beared many similarities with Gray Fox's. She had the same abilities as Fox, and like him, wielded a High Frequency Blade. Also, in the later stages of the game, Solidus Snake's forces were decked out in bionic exoskeletons resembling ninja outfits which gave them abilities like Gray Fox and Olga. They were armed with P90 Submachine guns and High Frequency Blades. Known as "Tengu Commandos'.
Mortal Kombat: A series of fighting games which depicts many ninja characters. These include Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile, Noob Saibot, Smoke, Rain, Ermac, Mileena, Kitana and Frost.
N (Macromedia game): A downloadable computer game where you are a ninja collecting gold and dodging murderous robots to get to the next level.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja: Game series
Ninja Crusaders: A NES game.
Ninja Five-O: A game for the Gameboy Advance.
Ninja Gaiden: A video game series where the player controls Ryu Hayabusa, a powerful ninja in a futuristic setting with demons and magic.
Ninja Kid: A NES game
The Ninja Warriors: A side-scrolling beat-em-up where the player controls one of three cybernetic ninjas
Ninja: Shadow of Darkness: A Playstation game
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way: This 1960s-themed spy FPS features ninjas.
Oni (video game): The later levels feature Syndicate Ninjas as enemies, and their leader Mukade is the boss of level 11.
Power Rangers: Several Power Rangers videogames have involved ninjas such as the SNES version of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, which has a ninja as a sub-boss.
Ragnarok Online: A ninja class was added to the expansion classes. Ninjas in Ragnarok Online can use ninjutsu, kunais, shuriken, and deception skills.
Red Ninja: End Of Honor: A ninja fighting game about a young female ninja out for revenge.
Samurai Shodown: An arcade fighting game series which features a number of ninja characters including Kazuki Kazama, Sogetsu Kazama, Hattori Hanzo, Galford Weller, and Galford's dog and companion Poppy.
Sega Ninja
Sengoku Ace
Sengoku Blade
Shadow Warrior: A video game wherein the main character, Lo Wang, and some of the enemies are Ninjas.
Shinobi: A video game series that features the main character Joe Musashi from the Oboro clan. There are many games in the series, the three most known are: The Revenge of Shinobi which features Joe Musashi, Shinobi (PS2) which features new characters Hotsuma and his brother Moritsune (Also including Joe Musashi as a secret playable character), and Nightshade (AKA Kunoichi) which is a direct sequel of Shinobi (PS2) that features a female ninja (or "Kunoichi") named Hibana (Also featuring Hotsuma and Joe Musashi as secret characters).
Shogun: Total War: the epic Feudal - age Japan RTS featured ninjas that acted as assassins that are moved from province to province assassinating and gathering intelligence, featuring short animations following a successful or failed mission.
Sonic Wings
Soul series: A weapon-based fighting game series on several platforms that features two ninja characters: Yoshimitsu appears in each of the Soul Calibur titles as well as in the Tekken series. Taki, a kunoichi assassin, appears in Soul Edge as well as all the Soul Calibur titles.
Splinter Cell: A stealth-action video game series for the PC and Xbox that featuring a spy whose missons require ninja-like skills. The main character, Sam Fisher, is referred to as being not unlike a ninja in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
Spyro: Year of the Dragon: In the 'Fireworks Factory' level, many of the enemies are ninjas.
Street Fighter and Final Fight: Guy and Maki are trained in Bushinryu Ninjitsu. Guy is the 38th Master of the ninjitsu style.
Sreets of Rage: The game series has had ninja enemies.
Strider (arcade game): A videogame series in which the Striders are a group of ninjas.
Super Chinese: A videogame series involving ninjas.
Super Mario Bros.: Several game have a species of ninja enemies called Ninjis and Paper Mario has a group parodying the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Tekken: A series of fighting video games on the PlayStation, PS2, and arcade that feature the alien-ninja character, Yoshimitsu and more recently in Tekken 5 as well as Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection, Raven.
Tenchu: A series of stealth-action video games on the PlayStation, PS2, and Xbox that feature the ninja characters Rikimaru and Ayame, as well as Tesshu, who is later available after completing the Rikimaru and Ayame missions. The game's developer, Activision, used Sho Koshugi and his son, Kane Koshugi, as ninjutsuka references.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Game series
The Tick: The Tick fights ninja enemies.
Virtua fighter: A series of fighting video games on multiple platforms that feature the ninja Kage Maru.
Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo: It featured ninjas as enemies.
Ultima Online: Samurai Empire: This Ultima Online expansion adds Ninja as a character class.
Wrath of the Black Manta: The main character is a ninja.
X-Men: The Official Game: Features ninjas as enemies.

Music

There are many ninja bands around the world, with two main types:
1. bands that sing songs about the ninja lifestyle and are typically dressed as ninjas during performances. Examples include Fist of Dishonor

2. bands that have ninja in their name and may or may not dress as ninjas. Examples include Vanilla Ninja,14 Ninjas,Surrounded by Ninjas,Jonny Vs. The Ninjas,[http://www.ninjaacademy.com Ninja Academy

There has also been a recent number of musical festivals to celebrate the ninja: Ninjafest and Ninja Rock Festival are two prime examples.

A British band called 7 Seconds of Love, has a song called ninja.

Vanilla Ice has a song called Ninja Rap.

Internet

There have been innumerable popular websites dealing with ninja, three of the most well-known including Ninja Burger (which was made into an RPG, card game, and book), Ask A Ninja (which features weekly podcasts themed at asking ninja-based questions), and Real Ultimate Power. There has also been a recent movement on the world wide web to celebrate International Creep Like a Ninja Day on December 5.

Recent internet spoofs have often pitted ninja against pirates and asked which would win in a Pirates versus Ninjas fight. Indeed comic book dedicated to the concept of Pirates versus Ninjas exists, produced by Antarctic Press, which specializes in comics that resemble the Manga style of artwork.

Animation of PIRATE VS. NINJA

Ask A Ninja: A series of popular podcasts in which a ninja answers questions asked about ninjas.
Bigninja.com: A website about anything Ninja or geek related.
International Creep Like a Ninja Day: A day dedicated to ninja related tomfoolery. Also known more generically as the Day of the Ninja.
Kinetsu Hayabusa: A series of comedy videos about a urban ninja.^[1]^[2]
Ninja Burger: Popular humor website (as well as RPG, Card Game and Book) which purports that ninja run a fast-food delivery service.
Ninja Spirit: A series of short martial arts parody videos.
Ninja Verses adventures of regular ninja
Ninjai: A Flash cartoon/
Real Ultimate Power: A popular humorous website created by Robert A. Hamburger (as "Robert Hamburger", a 13-year-old character) about ninjas, whom he constantly describes with superlatives such as "totally sweet".
Pirates versus Ninjas: A sort of running joke on the internet. Who would win in a fight? Pirates, or Ninjas?
Pure Pwnage: In the web series Teh_Masterer dressed like a ninja.
The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: A webcomic about an Irish doctor who is also a ninja and has a batman obsession.
White Ninja Comics: A webcomic that follows the character White Ninja in a series of compromising positions or strange situations.

References

^ Robert Hoffman. "Urban Ninja 1" (flash video). Retrieved 2007-03-01.
^ Robert Hoffman. "Urban Ninja 2" (flash video). Retrieved 2007-03-01.

[1] Robert Hoffman. "Urban Ninja 1" (flash video). Retrieved 2007-03-01.

[2] Robert Hoffman. "Urban Ninja 2" (flash video). Retrieved 2007-03-01.

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