Certain historical groups and figures have attained a type of pop-culture immortality. Ninjas were, by and large, simple peasant farmers concerned mainly with espionage and guerilla warfare. Every medium of pop culture has reimagined them as the most skilled assassins and warriors known to man. Imagine this lethal archetype enhanced with the fantastical technology of the sci-fi future, and the Cyborg Ninja is born.
Both cybernetic enhancementsand ninja skills existon a list of traits that can be applied to just about any fictional character to make them considerably cooler. The combined concept has only solidified over the generations to become a ready-made archetype in any given sci-fi work.
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The Cyborg Ninja is a character who uses the fantastic abilities afforded to them by robot parts tobecome a pop-cultural ninja. They have all the skills and powers of a ninja, with the added benefit of chrome. Some sci-fi settings use cybernetics as a stand-in for the magic or superpowers of a more fantasy-oriented universe. The supposedly mystical arts of the ninjas are mostly explained by trickery and clever resourcefulness, but a suite of cybernetic augmentations will do the trick. These warriors will typically stick to traditional ninja weaponry, eschewing the firearms that would be common to the setting. They’re also likely to have a preference for cloaking technology and sleek design. The Cyborg Ninja could fit into almost any role. They’ll pop up as heroes, villains, henchmen, and everything in between. The combination of the supposedly ancient art of ninjutsu and thefuturistic technology of science fictionis a match made in heaven.
Like so many other developments in the world of cyberpunk science fiction, the popularity of the Cyborg Ninja can be credited in large part to William Gibson. Gibson was one of many sci-fi authors who worked to define the subgenre throughout the 80s. His 1981 short storyJohnny Mnemonicisn’t his most remembered work, but it is an interesting piece of development for the concept. The story is largely overshadowed by itslegendarily poorly received 1995 film adaptation, but it did introduce the concept of a Japanese assassin into his universe.Mnemonicfeatures an unnamed killer hired by the Yakuza who uses a monofilament wire concealed in his thumb as a weapon. The concept returns in Gibson’s much better-known novelNeuromancer. Not only does that work introduce the vat-grown ninja Hideo, but it also mentions offhandedly that Johnny Mnemonic was murdered by a ninja between stories. This laid a lot of the groundwork that would continue throughout the trope’s ongoing prominence.
Cyberpunk literature has the unfortunate thread of orientalism running through it from its earliest days. Concerns about Japan’s booming economy came through in depictions of a world run by salary men in expensive suits. As a result, American understandings of Japanese culture informed much of the central designaesthetic of cyberpunk fiction. A lot of this unpleasant subtext still dominates the genre, but Japan has taken its own look at the Cyborg Ninja trope.Ninja Sentai Kakurangerwas the 18th iteration of Japan’s belovedSuper Sentaifranchise. Translated into the hitPower Rangersempire in America,Sentaishows are heavily influenced by both cybernetic sci-fi and ninjas. The 1994 series introduced a host of ninja mechs that remain influential. Tons of mecha series in Japan introduce ninja elements to spice up their design aesthetics.
Video games are the primary home of the Cyborg Ninja for obvious reasons. TheMetal Gearfranchise has several, most notably Raiden.Metal Gear Rising: Revengenceis built almost entirely around Cyborg Ninjas. The main character ofGhostrunneris a classic cyber-ninja design. Over a dozenMega Manbosses are robots made to resemble powerful ninja warriors.The Ninja Warriorsis an arcade beat ‘em up about a trio of metal ninjas. Yoshimitsu fromTekkenandSoul Caliburis regularly given a selection of cyborg parts.Borderlands 2features Zer0, a taciturn killing machine with the power to become invisible. TheMortal Kombatfranchise has a long-running plot thread about the Lin Kuei ninja clan undergoing the process of turning their entire membership into robots.Genji Shimada remains oneof the most straightforward examples of the trope and one of the most beloved characters inOverwatch. There are truly dozens of other examples across the world of interactive media because this is one of the most video gamey tropes in existence.
The Cyborg Ninja is an example of combining simple concepts to maximize what people love about both. Though elements of their presentation bring up some unfortunate truths about their subgenre, the simplefun of a cybernetically enhancedJapanese assassin stands on its own. From enemy mobs in video games to the lead role in sci-fi classics, there will undoubtedly be countless more Cyborg Ninjas in the future. We may not be able to see them coming, but we know they’ll never fully disappear.
