First of all I say that Ezio does not count. Sorry 😬 I love Ezio, he's awesome. But he's pure out an Assassin. This is for best Ninja, a ninja would be qualified as someone who has a knowledge of specific styles of combat. There are a few other things but sense I'll probably have to bring them up later in defense, I'll just wait till someone complains about how I said this to post them XD
As far as my choice. I say Ryu Hayabusa does qualify as the best Male Ninja and just through personal opinion I would have to say Rue from MC2. Someone complained before to me when I said she was a ninja. Okay... she wear's dark clothing for stealth, she uses a mixture of Shuriken and a Katana, she uses speed to her advantage and strikes vital points, not to mention it is hard as hell for her to be hit (when I played as her against Juto I was never once hit. Talk about being awesome). She stole information that was deemed Top Secret even within the Northern Forces. She was a shadow the whole time! The only reason that she was even caught was because (as said in the game itself) There was a leak in the Southern Forces and when the information was retrieved, she contacted headquarters, informed them, and the Northern Force spy who infiltrated the Southern Forces informed them of this and had the mighty Elgar on her.
Rue = Best Ninja EVER.
How the hell could that outfit possibly be stealthy? She's wearing a backpack with bells on it - kind of the opposite of stealth. Not to mention the high heels, yeah, those'll work out well.
Also I like how you say Ezio doesn't qualify, and then go and list out all sorts of stuff that this Rue did that is...basically the same sort of stuff that Ezio did (using speed and stealth for assassinations, being difficult to hit, stealing info/items right out from under people's noses)...personally, I'd say dropping down on top of people and killing them without anyone even noticing perfectly fits the (usually incorrect) archetype of ninjas.
Also, I love Magna Carta artwork, but good god their artists cannot draw. Hello there broken arm.
(and since when are katana a stereotypical ninja weapon? They aren't.)
Let's see...
Dark clothes for stealth?
Check.
Shuriken and katana?
Throwing knives, and swords that aren't made of crap iron. Check, and better than.
Speed and vital point striking?
Oh. Oh dear. Ow... yeah, check.
Stealing info? Yep, Ezio does that too, vital Templar documents and more.
Ezio's the ****ing Ninja of Venice, and does it better than any small beskirted girl with a broken arm.
Also I would like to point out that saying "he cannot be a ninja because he is an Assassin" is rather disingenuous. The archetype of a ninja is simply a nimble, agile assassin, who takes advantage of stealth, and is typically Japanese. That is all. There are no specific combat styles that go along with this or anything of the sort.
Dictionary.com says a ninja is:
'a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenary agents, highly trained in martial arts and stealth (ninjutsu), who were hired for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination.'
and:
'a person skilled in ninjutsu, a Japanese martial art characterized by stealthy movement and camouflage.'
By both of those definitions Ezio is not a ninja, being neither Japanese, a member of a ninja group or a practicioner of ninjutsu.
Originally posted by Nephthys
Dictionary.com says a ninja is:'a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenary agents, highly trained in martial arts and stealth (ninjutsu), who were hired for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination.'
and:
'a person skilled in ninjutsu, a Japanese martial art characterized by stealthy movement and camouflage.'
By both of those definitions Ezio is not a ninja, being neither Japanese, a member of a ninja group or a practicioner of ninjutsu.
First, skilled in ninjutsu. Of course, ninjutsu, unlike Judo or most martial art disciplines, is not centralized, and there are many variations upon the basic technique. The heart of ninjutsu boils down to survival tactics, espionage, misdirection, escape, disguise, medicine.
Hmm... Those are all things Ezio knows!
In fact, let's break it down into the Juhakkei presented by the Bujinkan.
Spiritual refinement - The heart of the Assassin, as noted in their philosophies. An Assassin respects those he has killed. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. "We work in the dark, to preserve the light."
Unarmed combat - Ezio is a master at unarmed combat, using handfuls of dirt to blind attackers, warding off attacks from various types of weapons, and able to disarm opponents easily, often while in a crowd. He can both incapacitate and even kill with his bare hands.
Sword techniques - Ezio can use dozens of swords as well as any master, blocking, parrying, disarming, and killing with ease.
Stick and staff techniques - Ezio can disarm soldiers with polearms and use them proficiently, able to keep fighting momentarily even if his pole is broken in half.
Spear techniques - Same thing, Ezio can knock down multiple attackers with a spear, and stab each one of them.
Naginata techniques - While naginata obviously weren't in much use in 16th century Italy, Ezio is capable of using longswords in the same way, cutting down charging horses to get to the rider.
Kusarigama techniques - While there are no kusarigama in Italy, the essence of this style is present, in that Ezio can use many farming tools found in the countryside as improvised weapons.
Throwing weapon techniques - Ezio is a master of throwing knives, able to kill guards at extreme range with efficiency and accuracy.
Pyrotechnics - Ezio uses smoke bombs and his Hidden Gun, and also knows enough to use flares as signals.
Disguise and impersonation - Multiple times Ezio has disguised himself, and others, as enemy soldiers and avoided detection, even able to speak some other languages well enough to hold a conversation.
Stealth and entering methods - Stealth is the meat of Assassin work. Whether he's avoiding being seen or blending in with a crowd, Ezio excels at it. He can also freerun to enter buildings from rooftops and open windows, avoiding detection, and can pick locks with his blades.
Horsemanship - Ezio is a proficient rider, able to strike and shoot from horseback, and even leap off his horse onto another when necessary.
Water training - Apparently the only man in Italy who can swim, Ezio can use the water as a hiding spot and as a secondary passage if possible. He's also rowed many small boats in his lifetime, and dismantled larger ones while doing it.
Tactics - Not the obvious combat tactics. This skill refers to unorthodox strategies and manipulations of politics and current events to influence opponents. Most of Ezio's Templar targets involve this kind of action.
Espionage - From pickpocketing to trailing to eavesdropping, this is most of what Ezio does.
Escaping and concealment - Freerunning, using crowds and allies as hindrances to his pursuers, hiding in places from plain sight to haystacks to gardens to wells and water... This is the rest of what Ezio does.
Meteorology - Believe it or not, Ezio does this too! The weather occasionally provides an advantage Ezio exploits to approach his targets.
Geography - As his exploits cover most of Italy, Ezio purchases maps and climbs to high viewpoints, and uses his knowledge of the areas to both find hiding places and ascertain the locations of his targets.
So every major element of Ninjutsu, as defined by the Bujinkan, the modern continuation of ninja arts, Ezio has effectively covered. It's also worth noting that in the AC universe, Assassins had been around as long as Mankind, and there were Asian Orders that influenced/became Japan's ninja.
So... Ezio's more ninja than most manga-derived ninja.
He also fights as a Warrior, he performs in flight, he uses high tech machinery which was developed by others.
Is it not simply enough to say that Ezio as an Assassin is more than a Ninja can be?
I don't dislike Ezio, personally I believe he's the best of all characters, but I don't think he's a better ninja for many reasons. Ezio is typically caught at some point, he typically creates a huge fuss after his actions. I think it's enough to say that an Assassin is very similar to a Ninja but not the same.
I think you've got it the wrong way around. "Ninja" is just what you call an Assassin in Japan, after all.
And the practicing Ninja teachings say he is, so yes, Ezio is the best ninja in gaming.
Oh, and since your sync rate goes down if you take damage, Ezio never got hit, except for two or three specific times in over 20 years as an Assassin. How's that for a badass untouchable ninja?
Originally posted by General Kaliero
Oh, now you've gone and riled me up.First, skilled in ninjutsu. Of course, ninjutsu, unlike Judo or most martial art disciplines, is not centralized, and there are many variations upon the basic technique. The heart of ninjutsu boils down to survival tactics, espionage, misdirection, escape, disguise, medicine.
Hmm... Those are all things Ezio knows!
In fact, let's break it down into the Juhakkei presented by the Bujinkan.
[b]Spiritual refinement
- The heart of the Assassin, as noted in their philosophies. An Assassin respects those he has killed. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. "We work in the dark, to preserve the light."Unarmed combat - Ezio is a master at unarmed combat, using handfuls of dirt to blind attackers, warding off attacks from various types of weapons, and able to disarm opponents easily, often while in a crowd. He can both incapacitate and even kill with his bare hands.
Sword techniques - Ezio can use dozens of swords as well as any master, blocking, parrying, disarming, and killing with ease.
Stick and staff techniques - Ezio can disarm soldiers with polearms and use them proficiently, able to keep fighting momentarily even if his pole is broken in half.
Spear techniques - Same thing, Ezio can knock down multiple attackers with a spear, and stab each one of them.
Naginata techniques - While naginata obviously weren't in much use in 16th century Italy, Ezio is capable of using longswords in the same way, cutting down charging horses to get to the rider.
Kusarigama techniques - While there are no kusarigama in Italy, the essence of this style is present, in that Ezio can use many farming tools found in the countryside as improvised weapons.
Throwing weapon techniques - Ezio is a master of throwing knives, able to kill guards at extreme range with efficiency and accuracy.
Pyrotechnics - Ezio uses smoke bombs and his Hidden Gun, and also knows enough to use flares as signals.
Disguise and impersonation - Multiple times Ezio has disguised himself, and others, as enemy soldiers and avoided detection, even able to speak some other languages well enough to hold a conversation.
Stealth and entering methods - Stealth is the meat of Assassin work. Whether he's avoiding being seen or blending in with a crowd, Ezio excels at it. He can also freerun to enter buildings from rooftops and open windows, avoiding detection, and can pick locks with his blades.
Horsemanship - Ezio is a proficient rider, able to strike and shoot from horseback, and even leap off his horse onto another when necessary.
Water training - Apparently the only man in Italy who can swim, Ezio can use the water as a hiding spot and as a secondary passage if possible. He's also rowed many small boats in his lifetime, and dismantled larger ones while doing it.
Tactics - Not the obvious combat tactics. This skill refers to unorthodox strategies and manipulations of politics and current events to influence opponents. Most of Ezio's Templar targets involve this kind of action.
Espionage - From pickpocketing to trailing to eavesdropping, this is most of what Ezio does.
Escaping and concealment - Freerunning, using crowds and allies as hindrances to his pursuers, hiding in places from plain sight to haystacks to gardens to wells and water... This is the rest of what Ezio does.
Meteorology - Believe it or not, Ezio does this too! The weather occasionally provides an advantage Ezio exploits to approach his targets.
Geography - As his exploits cover most of Italy, Ezio purchases maps and climbs to high viewpoints, and uses his knowledge of the areas to both find hiding places and ascertain the locations of his targets.
So every major element of Ninjutsu, as defined by the Bujinkan, the modern continuation of ninja arts, Ezio has effectively covered. It's also worth noting that in the AC universe, Assassins had been around as long as Mankind, and there were Asian Orders that influenced/became Japan's ninja.
So... Ezio's more ninja than most manga-derived ninja. [/B]
Debatable line of thought imo. The heart of baseball is swinging a bat and catching the ball (simplified, I know theres more). I can do both of those things but I am not a baseball player. Just as I can punch and kick but am not a martial artist. Ezio can do the basic elements of ninjutsu, but he doesn't practise the art itself. Also, the AC wiki says nothing of the Assassin order reaching Japan. The closest they come is the Chinese assassin Wei Yu.
Also he is still neither Japanese nor a member of a ninja organisation.
-_- that's not his sync thats his health. A.K.A. why he has health potions so there. I agreed on some things like that. Altair had it like that, the reason it starts getting unsynced near the end is because Ezio never really got that close to death on fights unless it was a cutscene.
Ezio's badass but a Ninja he is not.
It's not fuzzy. Ezio has gotten hit, he's admitted himself how he's been injured in different situations. But he's never said "I've almost been killed in a fight" because he always comes out on top. Ezio only starts to become unsynchronized when he's closer to death (or leaves the area he's allowed in but that's not the point). Altair gained bars back because he gained synchronization, that's why when he got hit he wasn't able to use Eagle eye until he regained Sync.
Originally posted by Nephthys
Debatable line of thought imo. The heart of baseball is swinging a bat and catching the ball (simplified, I know theres more). I can do both of those things but I am not a baseball player. Just as I can punch and kick but am not a martial artist. Ezio can do the basic elements of ninjutsu, but he doesn't practise the art itself. Also, the AC wiki says nothing of the Assassin order reaching Japan. The closest they come is the Chinese assassin Wei Yu.Also he is still neither Japanese nor a member of a ninja organisation.
Also you're racist, and many worldwide practicioners of modern day Ninjitsu would take offense to your claim than only Japanese people are cool enough to be ninja.
Originally posted by Phoenix3068
It's not fuzzy. Ezio has gotten hit, he's admitted himself how he's been injured in different situations. But he's never said "I've almost been killed in a fight" because he always comes out on top. Ezio only starts to become unsynchronized when he's closer to death (or leaves the area he's allowed in but that's not the point). Altair gained bars back because he gained synchronization, that's why when he got hit he wasn't able to use Eagle eye until he regained Sync.