10 Greatest Video Game Ninjas Of All Time
A look at the stealthiest and most stylish assassins in gaming.
The humble ninja is a true enigma. Hiding in the shadows and ready to pounce when the opportunity is right, these ancient warriors made perfect fodder for a pop-culture phenomenon.
Ninjas became all of the rage in the late 1980s and early 1990s - exploding onto the scene via seemingly endless movies and TV shows - so it was only natural that a slew of games would start bringing them into the fold. They quickly became popular characters, showing up as protagonists, bosses or simply periphery characters in a huge number of games released during the period.
Many of these ninjas simply fell by the wayside, slinking back into the shadows as gamers ignored this latest attempt by marketing companies to capitalise on the current fad. Others, however, were part of truly magnificent games that have stood the test of time, allowing their star ninjas to establish themselves as truly legendary characters in their own right.
Each ninja on this list is a little bit different, with some being content to sneak around unseen while others are more than willing to take the fight directly to their opponents. Regardless, these are the ninjas who really made their mark on the gaming industry, rather than simply slipping back into the night like so many of their contemporaries.
10. Gray Fox - Metal Gear Solid
Some may argue that Gray Fox isn't really a ninja at all. After all, he's a cybernetic, half-human freak that is as likely to go completely nuts and slice everything in the room to pieces as he is to sneak around and actual infiltrate anything.
Still, he looks like a ninja, carries a really cool sword, and is capable of feats of acrobatics that would make an overbearing Russian gymnastic coach proud - especially if you bought the Twin Snakes. Plus, he has a stealth thingy that actually makes him invisible to the naked eye.
Couple that with his mysterious origins - as the man behind the mask was believed to have been killed by Solid Snake in Zanzibar Land during the events of Metal Gear 2 - and you have a ninja who is both steeped in mystery and is capable of tremendous feats.
His crowning moment was surely his heroic sacrifice that enabled Snake to take out Metal Gear Re,x and he quickly became a staunch favourite amongst fans of the Metal Gear Solid series. So much so, in fact, that Konami eventually tried to get people on-side with the Raiden character by having him take up Gray Fox's mantle as resident Metal Gear ninja in later games.