Let's face it,ninjas were HOT in the 80s. You got whiteboy american ninjas,ninjas kidnapping the President,mutated teenage turtle ninjas,scarf-wearing 2D ninjas and generally a lot of guys in pantsuits. Since ninjas have covered such an array of media,it's best if you name your favorites by genre:

1) Movies

Sho Kosugi



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3xLaBYnShU

Kosugi-san is the embodiement of awesome. He actually is an accomplished ninjutsu master and his movies -specially Revenge of the Ninja and Pray for Death- epitomized everything that was godly about ninjas back in the day. He'll be appearing in the upcoming Wachowski brothers flick,Ninja Assassin.

2) Comics/Animation

Storm Shadow





C'mon,does this one requires explanation?

3) Videogames

Joe Musashi (Shinobi)



Y'know,even with all the great videogame ninjas that have come over the years the one that retains that Sho Kosugi-like level of ninja-ness is still old Joe. Too bad most people remember this series for the inferior home console ports and not the awesome arcade game (still waiting for that XBLA port,Sega!)



Honorable Mention: Scorpion

Goemon Ishikawa
Stephen k Hayes
and Kitchen

oh wait, you guys probably won't get that reference.

Hm, thought Goemon Ishikawa was a Samurai...

Raphael
Michelangelo
Donnatello

1. Joe (from Joe and Mac Caveman Ninja)

2. All 3 characters from Ninja Warriors (SNES)

3. Shinobi (PS2)

no he was a ninja who was boiled alive. Goemon Ishikawa in the Lupin the 3rd anime and manga is suppose to be his decedent and is a samurai.

AS for Kitchen, that comes from a scene in the movie Moon Child where this Australian guy gets a kanji tattoo. He asks the character played by Gackt (I forget his name) what the kanji means, and it means Kitchen but Gackt tells him its the name of a famous ninja.

I'm guessing you know all of your Asian history from animé?

1. Joe Musashi from Shinobi!
2. Slade from Shining Force II!
3. Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden!

I thought Goemon was sort of a rob from the rich give to the poor type or something like that. There seems to be so many stories based around him, I could be mixing it up. Folklore and all that. Just know that Goemon is based on an old Japanese story, not necessarily anime.

1. Batman
2. Shredder
3. Donald Duck (in some SNES game)

Snake eyes, Raf, Leonardo

Snake Eyes




Batman - Yes Batman trained as a Ninja and used the techniques in many continuities of the DCU.


Sub-Zero

1. Xevoz Shadow Blade


2. Izuna


3. Prowl

Sub Zero is technically not a ninja,but I'll let it "slide"...

scorpion
shinobi
raph from ninja turtles

Joe Musashi
Hattori Hanzo (from Shodown, not the real guy)
Ninja Hattori-kun

No love for Sasuke,anyone?