"Games will inevitably stagnate at one point or another, no matter how much effort is put into heading off that unfortunate eventuality. Leads will get exhausted, players will get frustrated with puzzles, and nobody will come up with a good, crazy plan to save the day. There's only one thing you can possibly do in such a situation. Send in the ninjas. Seriously. Send in the ninjas."
— Spirit of the Century Rulebook
So simple in its gameplay, yet so epic in its scope! Ninja Tropes! Ninja Tropes!
Compare with Assassin Tropes and Bushido Index, contrast with Pirate Tropes.
Tropes:
Main Topic:
- Attack Animal: Pets trained to attack on command.
- Assassin Claws: Ninjas often wield claws, wrist-mounted blades, katars, or similar weapons.
- Cat Ninja: Cats depicted as ninjas, due to both being perceived as stealthy, sneaky, secretive and acrobatic.
- Ceiling Cling: Hiding and traveling on the ceiling for the sake of stealth.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: The more ninjas you have to fight, the easier it is to defeat all of them.
- Criss-Cross Attack: A very fast attack that involves multiple strikes coming from multiple sides.
- Cyber Ninja: Robotic ninjas.
- Diagonal Cut: A cut so clean, there is a brief delay.
- Doppelgänger Attack: Clones specifically for attack and defense.
- Doppelgänger Spin: Illusionary clones of the caster.
- Flash Step: Moving so fast, it could be confused for teleportation.
- Flung Clothing: Old clothes thrown behind after an instant costume change.
- Frog Ninja: Frogs and toads depicted as ninjas, due to the influence of Jiraiya Gouketsu Monogatari.
- Functional Magic: Jutsu often perceived as a form of sorcery.
- Fuuma Shuriken: Giant throwing-stars as signature weapons.
- Gratuitous Ninja: Instant Awesome = Just add Ninja.
- Hand Seals: Hand gestures for Functional Magic.
- Highly Visible Ninja: A ninja who is terrible at being stealthy.
- Katana Superiority: Katanas are portrayed as superior to other swords, especially Western-style ones.
- Kite Riding: Riding a giant kite for transportation.
- Magical Ninjutsu: Ninjutsu techniques of the magical variety.
- McNinja: A ninja who isn't Japanese.
- Mobile Shrubbery: Using a camouflage sheet to hide in plain sight.
- Ninja Brat: Child Shinobi.
- Ninja Log: Ninjas dodging attacks by replacing themselves with wooden logs.
- Ninja Maid: A maid who can fight.
- Ninja Prop: In theatre, dressing a ninja character in the black garb of a stagehand to make them "invisible" to the audience until they attack.
- Ninja Run: Running that is good for defense and speed.
- Ninja School: A school that teaches ninjitsu.
- Pirates vs. Ninjas: Ninjas and pirates are mortal enemies for some reason.
- Psychic Operative: A ninja clan or individual assassin that specializes in mind-affecting Magical Ninjutsu techniques.
- Reed Snorkel: Hiding underwater while using a hollow reed to breathe.
- Samurai in Ninja Town: If ninjas are present in the story, expect samurai to show up too.
- Samurai Shinobi: Equal parts Samurai and Ninja for maximum awesome!
- Schizo Tech: Weirder ninja fiction in the Ninpōchō vein often features clans hoarding "secret technologies", ranging from ultra-durable clothing and performance-enhancing drugs, up to things like gene-spliced Super Soldiers and karakuri
-based androids with machine guns in their chests.
- Secret Art: Ninjitsu techniques only a select few are privy in knowing.
- Shadow Pin: An effective attack that goes for a non-vulnerable (borderline improbable) area.
- Smoke Out: A smoke bomb used for evasion and blinding.
- Spinning Piledriver: Specifically called Izuna Drop, it is a variant of the move consisting of either both fighters being in the air or one fighter knocking the other up into the air. After that the one fighter grabs onto the other and continue to drop head first (Both fighters are going down head first) while spinning.
- Stock Ninja Weaponry: No ninja would be caught dead without these in a fight.
- Swap Teleportation: Flash Step away with something else standing in your place.
- Technicolor Ninjas: Character who wears highly visible colors but still manages to be very stealthy.
- UK Ninja and Nunchuck Ban: Ninjas were banned from appearing in media in the United Kingdom in The '80s and The '90s.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Ninjas were believed to have shapeshifting abilities (though really it was a clever trick).
- Wainscot Society: The best ninja clans live in society hiding in plain sight.
- Walking Armory: One reason the Stock Ninja Weaponry list is so long is because the average ninja will be carrying most of it on their person at once.
- Walk on Water: Ninjas were commonly thought to run on water as a Secret Art.
- Wall Crawl: Ninja could scale any surface.