Since man first realized that swinging a stick or throwing a rock could inflict bodily harm, there has been fighting. As these fights became more and more important, so too did the sticks and rocks. I have decided to start a several part post on the history and myth behind legendary weapons in some of our favorite video games to get a better appreciation for the thought that goes into weapon design.

Part III - Ninja Gear

I am afraid I may make some enemies with this post, as I may be dissolving much of the mysticism surrounding Ninja-lore that the Ninja themselves worked hard to establish. The role of the Ninja was generally to infiltrate an enemy castle/fife and then gather information, i.e. espionage. In feudal Japan, espionage meant blending in with the faceless masses, therefore running around in a black outfit with a sword hurling shuriken would not have been the best idea. True Ninja tactics were much more subtle.

Shuriken

Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII wielding a giant shaken

In the Final Fantasy series, as well as many video games, characters portraying Ninja generally throw shuriken. These shuriken are flat, sharp, star-shaped discs thrown with a quick flick of the wrist. This style of shuriken is actually called a shaken, and historically were rarely used in combat by actual Ninja. Such a weapon, if captured, would immediately give away one’s intentions of causing harm.

It is possible that Ninja may have used some type of throwing weapon, but most likely, it would have been bo-shuriken. The definition of a bo-shuriken is anything metal, sharp and around 6-10 inches long. They could have been nails, or other objects one could find in a hurry. They would not be thrown unless absolutely necessary, since, as we will learn, the Ninja’s primary skill was hand to hand combat. A bo-shuriken had the versatility of being thrown or being used as a dagger, but they were also subtle. If captured, a Ninja could quickly come up with a story about being a wandering carpenter for hire or etc. This subtlety and versatility would make a bo-shuriken a much more ideal weapon to a Ninja than a shaken.

Sword

Hotsuma wielding the legendary Akujiki on the cover of Shinobi for PS2

The game Shinobi features a Ninja with a cursed blade that drains his life. A sword to a Ninja would probably be the dumbest thing to carry around. In Feudal Japan, only those in the Samurai class (and in some cases Merchant class) were allowed to carry swords. When attempting to invade an enemy territory, illegally wearing a sword would attract much unwanted attention. There is some evidence to suggest that Ninja may have carried short, straight swords, but most likely it was not during infiltration.

Kunai

An Assassin in the MMORPG Maple Story throwing “steelies”, a weapon modeled after the pop-culture notion of a Kunai.

Many video games and anime feature characters throwing kunai with great accuracy as weapons. Actual kunai were designed as blunt, crude tools used for digging, and possibly masonry. Their metal was very low quality, and they were heavy and unbalanced so throwing them would have been clumsy. I can not entirely discount the use of kunai as a weapon by Ninja for the same reasons I mentioned earlier. They were versatile since they could be used as a stabbing tool, and could be sharpened easily since their blades were made with poor quality metal. Also, they were subtle since they were a popular tool of the sixteenth century. This made them easy to find in a pinch, and offered a valid alibi if captured. Since they were used in a number of professions, such as masonry and jobs involving horticulture (like medicine making, a job that often required travel) it wasn’t hard to come up with an excuse for having a kunai.

Magic

Sheena Fujibayashi performing ninja summoning magic in Tales of Symphonia

Many games such as Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden have characters that can use Ninja abilities such as elemental attack. The Ninja themselves enjoyed spreading the belief that they had supernatural abilities. One common belief was that Ninja could transform into animals. Some Ninja would dress animals up to perpetuate this very notion.

The Ninja’s true strength came from their unconventional method of getting things done. During the era that the ninja thrived, fighting was very structured. There was always a winner and a loser, and the loser always died. It was an accepted fact, but costly in terms of lives. Since Ninja often had to relay important information, their death would mean their mission was a failure. To prevent this, they began utilizing a variety of techniques that emphasized survival. To the average Japanese warrior of this era, their tactics seemed cowardly.

If threatened with capture or death, a Ninja’s primary goal would be escape. This meant hiding, or employing misdirection. Misdirection could be something as simple as throwing something to create a sound down an adjacent allyway or etc.

If that wasn’t enough, Ninja-style martial arts had many debilitating blows. This meant attacking tendons, muscles and pressure points which would leave an enemy nearly paralyzed.

If captured, a Ninja’s next goal would be to create an alibi to inflict doubt among his captors. This could often be more psycological than one could imagine.

Since these tactics were never seen in feudal Japan, it is understandable that they may be seen as supernatural or magical. Being skilled at hiding creates the myth of invisibility, creating doubt in captors becomes mind control etc. As stories are passed on by word of mouth, they become more grandiose and eventually become legend.

Previous articles:
- Part 1: Lances and Spears
- Part 2: Katana

Roy history, weapons 0 comments

Since man first realized that swinging a stick or throwing a rock could inflict bodily harm, there has been fighting. As these fights became more and more important, so too did the sticks and rocks. I have decided to start a several part post on the history and myth behind legendary weapons in some of our favorite video games to get a better appreciation for the thought that goes into weapon design.

Part II –Katana

The development of the sword in Japan is quite unique in that the end result, the katana, is arguably the most deadly melee weapon man has ever created. Each sword being meticulously folded and pounded creating a perfect balance of blade flexibility and sharpness. So much work went into the construction of a katana, that it was believed that a bit of the bladesmith’s soul inhabited the weapon. For this reason many blades were simply named after the forger. Two of the most famous bladesmith’s had a bit of history, for this reason I will lump them into their own category:

The Legend of Masamune and Muramasa

A legend tells of a test where Muramasa challenged his master, Masamune, to see who could make a finer sword. They both worked tirelessly and eventually, when both swords were finished, they decided to test the results. The contest was for each to suspend the blades in a small creek with the cutting edge facing the current. Muramasa’s sword, the Juuchi Fuyu (10,000 Winters) cut everything that passed its way; fish, leaves floating down the river, the very air which blew on it. Highly impressed with his pupil’s work, Masamune lowered his sword, the Yawaraka-Te (Tender Hands), into the current and waited patiently. Not a leaf was cut, the fish swam right up to it, and the air hissed as it gently blew by the blade. After a while, Muramasa began to scoff at his master for his apparent lack of skill in the making of his sword. Smiling to himself, Masamune pulled up his sword, dried it, and sheathed it. All the while, Muramasa was heckling him for his sword’s inability to cut anything. A monk, who had been watching the whole ordeal, walked over and bowed low to the two sword masters. He then began to explain what he had seen.

“The first of the swords was by all accounts a fine sword, however it is a blood thirsty, evil blade as it doesn’t discriminate as to who or what it will cut. It may just as well be cutting down butterflies as severing heads. The second was by far the finer of the two, as it doesn’t needlessly cut that which is innocent and undeserving.”

This simple story reflects on the Japanese duality of the weapon. Should it be used for protection or for killing?

• Masamune(正宗): A blade typically representing holiness or the pinnacle of Katana craftsmanship.
• Found in: Final Fantasy VII, wielded by the games major villain, Sephiroth. Obviously Sephiroth does not represent holiness in any form. However, his ideals of cleansing the world of humans by summoning a meteor, could be seen as considering himself to be like a God. These delusions of grandeur stem from his lineage with the Ancients, a race of nomadic people in the world of the game.

• Muramasa(村正): A blade said to be cursed with a never ending blood-thirst.
• Found in: Final Fantasy Tactics, the blade, when equipped is a crimson red color. The Iado (or draw out) ability of the Muramasa causes the souls of each person who died to the sword to attack the enemy, and cause confusion and death sentance. The Samurai who uses the ability shouts: “Summon all ghosts of the sword! Attack! Muramasa!”(刀に宿りし幾千の、亡霊の呼びて いざ抜かん！　村正！) In comparison the Masamune when drawn out casts haste and regen on allys within range.

If this article interested you, come back next Wednesday for the third installment of History of Video Game Weapons: Part III – Ninja Gear!

Previous articles:
- History of Video Games Part 1: Lances and Spears

Roy history, weapons 0 comments

Since man first realized that swinging a stick or throwing a rock could inflict bodily harm, there has been fighting. As these fights became more and more important, so too did the sticks and rocks. I have decided to start a several part post on the history and myth behind legendary weapons in some of our favorite video games to get a better appreciation for the thought that goes into weapon design.

Part I –Lances & Spears
The benefits of these weapons are fairly obvious: increased range. That scary looking guy in the picture is a Yamabushi (山伏), or roughly mountain monk. They were known to typically use naginata (長刀) or a Japanese style of spear which had a long curved blade at the end. These are also the guys who would live in the mountains, meditate under waterfalls, walk through fire, and die on their feet. They chose to use naginata as it gave them the advantage of range. In a country where the most fearsome adversary (a Samurai) uses a katana (刀), a mid-length weapon, that little difference in range can present a huge advantage.

Japan is not unique in the spear being an impressive element of military technology. Each nation who experienced the early stages of warfare, can vouch for having made the same discovery. For that reason there are a variety of famous or legendary spears which you may have noticed in the video games you play:

Longinus 

• The spear that is believed to have stabbed Jesus in the side while he was on the cross per John 19:31. The Roman soldier wielding the spear was named Longinus, thus his spear carries his name as was customary at the time, though the actual Latin would read: Lancea Longini, or “The Lance of Longinus”. Since the lance was covered in Jesus’s blood, it is generally given a holy attribute in games.
• Found in: Disgaea 1 & 2.  The Longinus, or Holy Longinus, is the second best spear in the game, meaning that if you want to acquire the best spear in the game, you will need a Legendary Longinus.

Gungnir 

• According to Norse mythology, Odin–the God of all Gods–carried the spear Gungnir. Its name is roughly translated to “Unwavering One”, as it never missed its target, and would always return to Odin’s hand. The spear was forged by the Sons of Ivaldi, a group of blacksmith dwarves. The supreme power of Gungnir is what led to a rival group of dwarves to forge Mjolnir, or Thor’s Hammer.
• Found in:  Final Fantasy Series.  When you summon Odin in some versions, like Final Fantasy VII, Odin will perform ”Gunge Lance“ or “Steel Bladed Sword” (zantetsuken) depending on the battle.  Gunge Lance is just a bizarre translation.

Gae Bolga 

• A spear carried by a legendary Irish warrior by the name of Cuchulainn. The spear’s name means “notched spear”, as it had a series of notches along the blade. These notches made extracting the weapon from an unlucky individual especially painful. For this reason, the spear is occasionally given a thunder attribute in games. The spear was made out of a single bone taken from a dead sea monster by the name of Coinchenn.
• Found in:  Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.  Cu Chulainn is a demon who you can get to join your Protagonist in battle.  He is equipped with the Gae Bolga.

These are only a few legendary spears, but they are the ones which appear the most in video games. Try to keep your eyes open for them! If this article interested you, come back next Wednesday for the second installment of History of Video Game Weapons: Part II –Katana!

Roy history, weapons 2 comments