# Ninja powers



## NinjaI (Dec 7, 2012)

I am writing a book about Ninjas and only a few of them have special powers/abilities and I am wondering if I should keep their powers very limited or perhaps expand on them more, I don't want their powers to be too unrealistic or unnatural.  Also I am trying to figure out the origin of their powers, were they born with them, did something happen to them to give them powers, etc..

Right now the main character along with a few others have this certain power/ability (can read minds) that no one else has, I am trying to give the bad guys in the book a power that is only found in them that could coincide with the good guys powers to even out the playing field. 

One idea I have is to give the bad guys the power of mind control and only have a selected few be able to do it, just like the good guys where only a select few have the power of reading peoples minds.

I am still in the early stages of development, I am about 100 pages in with about 20 pages of ideas and story lines to expand upon, but if I can expand upon their powers I will be able to write more about them and their powers can lead to more interesting plots and story lines.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
thanks
NinjaI


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## psychotick (Dec 7, 2012)

Hi,

I'd say keep these powers limited, simply because they might intrude on the concept of a ninja. A ninja is a trained warrior, and everything he can achieve is by skill, skill based on practice, study and discipline. Now give him the power of say levitation and his skill in climbing nearly unclimbable walls is immediately undermined. Give him heat ray vision and why does he need to be able to fight with his fists etc?

It's sort of like giving a master swordsman a gun. At some point you have to wonder, why was he made a swordsman at all?

Cheers, Greg.


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## NinjaI (Dec 8, 2012)

Greg

thanks for the input - I was thinking the same thing, if I could think of some natural powers or perhaps enhanced natural senses that they need to train to enhance them maybe more realistic and add to the lure of the ninjas so I may give the ninja those but I agree anything like levitation and heat ray vision would be going too far. 

thanks
NinjaI



psychotick said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'd say keep these powers limited, simply because they might intrude on the concept of a ninja. A ninja is a trained warrior, and everything he can achieve is by skill, skill based on practice, study and discipline. Now give him the power of say levitation and his skill in climbing nearly unclimbable walls is immediately undermined. Give him heat ray vision and why does he need to be able to fight with his fists etc?
> 
> ...


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## craenor (Dec 8, 2012)

Just for my two cents...

In my mind, Ninja is almost synonymous with mystery. There should always be something in reserve, always something just not quite understood, if that makes sense. The powers of the Ninja should be shown in abstract without ever a clear indicator of the limitations, nature, origin, or the like. 

Clearly you have to balance that without enough description so the reader can grasp what's transpired, but I would still keep the how's and why's kind of vague.


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## NinjaI (Dec 9, 2012)

I like how you described that - I think I will try and keep the origins of their powers vague and keep it a mystery as to how they got them - 

I left it vague in the beginning of my story as to how he is able to see into peoples minds and haven't given him any new powers yet, still trying to figure out if they will gain more powers or not

thanks for the input

Ninja!  



craenor said:


> Just for my two cents...
> 
> In my mind, Ninja is almost synonymous with mystery. There should always be something in reserve, always something just not quite understood, if that makes sense. The powers of the Ninja should be shown in abstract without ever a clear indicator of the limitations, nature, origin, or the like.
> 
> Clearly you have to balance that without enough description so the reader can grasp what's transpired, but I would still keep the how's and why's kind of vague.


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## Saigonnus (Dec 9, 2012)

I think perhaps you should research some of the more awe-inspiring martial arts skills; whether via photos, articles etc. (like balancing the body's weight on one hand (or three fingers). I think anything that the ninjas have should be something within the realm of "human" instead of "magical" Though of course things very few people can do. 

Think about that show Super Humans by Stan Lee, they kind of explore those strange things that humans are capable of.


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## NinjaI (Dec 10, 2012)

That is a great idea, and after I read this I thought of looking in the guinness book of world record as well, and Ripleys believe or not, I should be able to find some out of the ordinary yet humanly possible things to do

thanks for the input

NinjaI



Saigonnus said:


> I think perhaps you should research some of the more awe-inspiring martial arts skills; whether via photos, articles etc. (like balancing the body's weight on one hand (or three fingers). I think anything that the ninjas have should be something within the realm of "human" instead of "magical" Though of course things very few people can do.
> 
> Think about that show Super Humans by Stan Lee, they kind of explore those strange things that humans are capable of.


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## Mindfire (Dec 10, 2012)

If you want to give Ninjas powers that don't completely ruin the idea of them being ninjas, it's best to give them magic that complements their skills rather than make them obsolete. Me personally, I chose to give my ninjas swords that can shoot lightning (a bit of an oversimplification). Judging by the direction this thread is going in however, you might want to make liberal use of this trope: Charles Atlas Superpower


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## NinjaI (Dec 11, 2012)

Clever thought - I could give their weapons some magical powers - throwing stars that split into 2 or that can catch fire, I love that idea
thanks for the input
NinjaI



Mindfire said:


> If you want to give Ninjas powers that don't completely ruin the idea of them being ninjas, it's best to give them magic that complements their skills rather than make them obsolete. Me personally, I chose to give my ninjas swords that can shoot lightning (a bit of an oversimplification). Judging by the direction this thread is going in however, you might want to make liberal use of this trope: Charles Atlas Superpower


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## Anders Ã„mting (Dec 11, 2012)

NinjaI said:


> I am writing a book about Ninjas and only a few of them have special powers/abilities and I am wondering if I should keep their powers very limited or perhaps expand on them more, I don't want their powers to be too unrealistic or unnatural.  Also I am trying to figure out the origin of their powers, were they born with them, did something happen to them to give them powers, etc..
> 
> Right now the main character along with a few others have this certain power/ability (can read minds) that no one else has, I am trying to give the bad guys in the book a power that is only found in them that could coincide with the good guys powers to even out the playing field.
> 
> ...



"Ninja powers" tend to be exlusive to either one particular individual or one particular bloodline. (In which case they are essentially the family business.) They are almost always one single special ability, X-Men style.

They can range from the kinda-sorta plausible (having abnormally long limbs, being able to freely disconnect all joints at will, having a beehive built into your body) to the very implausible (having acid for blood, having sword-proof skin, being poisonous to touch) to the blatantly impossible. (Walking through walls, literal shape-shifting, being immortal.)

They are usually explained as having been achieved via body modification, selective breeding, sheer hard training or a combination of the three. Because of this they tend to be physical in nature - even "psychic" powers like mind-control tend to have something to do with the ninja's eyes, for example.


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## Mindfire (Dec 11, 2012)

Anders Ã„mting said:


> "Ninja powers" tend to be exlusive to either one particular individual or one particular bloodline. (In which case they are essentially the family business.) They are almost always one single special ability, X-Men style.
> 
> They can range from the kinda-sorta plausible (having abnormally long limbs, being able to freely disconnect all joints at will, having a beehive built into your body) to the very implausible (having acid for blood, having sword-proof skin, being poisonous to touch) to the blatantly impossible. (Walking through walls, literal shape-shifting, being immortal.)
> 
> They are usually explained as having been achieved via body modification, selective breeding, sheer hard training or a combination of the three. Because of this they tend to be physical in nature - even "psychic" powers like mind-control tend to have something to do with the ninja's eyes, for example.



I think the beehive, acid for blood, and sword-proof skin belong in the blatantly impossible category.


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## wordwalker (Dec 11, 2012)

"Ninja powers can range..." pretty much means, writers have tried versions that way-- especially in anime. _Naruto_ uses magic with different specialties plus bloodline traits, the _Ninja Scroll_ and _Basilisk_ author used "well, somehow each one got one X-Man power"...

And we all know real ninjas had only one superpower, shapeshifting. 

I think I'm with what psychotick said at the beginning:



psychotick said:


> I'd say keep these powers limited, simply because they might intrude on the concept of a ninja. A ninja is a trained warrior, and everything he can achieve is by skill, skill based on practice, study and discipline. Now give him the power of say levitation and his skill in climbing nearly unclimbable walls is immediately undermined.



Of course, having a Batman in the comics doesn't mean Spider-Man's obsolete, or vice versa; you pick your power level and write accordingly. 

Still, I think just *calling* people ninjas works better when the powers are more limited and mysterious; when you get up to _Basilisk_ level it becomes a lot more about power than skill. We know Batman fits the adjective "crimefighter" at least as much as "superhero," but for Spidey, "crimefighter" and its sense of mood don't quite cover how much tentacle-dodging, flying-car-webbing action fills up the story.


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## Mindfire (Dec 11, 2012)

wordwalker said:


> Of course, having a Batman in the comics doesn't mean Spider-Man's obsolete, or vice versa; you pick your power level and write accordingly.



Does anyone else think Batman and Spidey would make an awesome team?


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## Anders Ã„mting (Dec 11, 2012)

Mindfire said:


> I think the beehive, acid for blood, and sword-proof skin belong in the blatantly impossible category.



Depends on your standards of possibility. You can get away with a lot of crazy things if you present it as possible: "I've spent years toughening my skin until it can withstand even swords!" or "I spend years injecting myself with weak acid. It was incredibly painful, but now I'm immune and my body is mostly acid."

Can this be done in real life? No. But it's not on the same level as "I pick my own decapitated head up and stick it back on my neck, somehow" is what I'm basically saying.



wordwalker said:


> "Ninja powers can range..." pretty much means, writers have tried versions that way-- especially in anime. _Naruto_ uses magic with different specialties plus bloodline traits, the _Ninja Scroll_ and _Basilisk_ author used "well, somehow each one got one X-Man power"...



Notably, Basilisk is actually based on the book _The Kouga Ninja Scroll_ by Futaro Yamada, and the Ninja Scroll anime movie is at least done in the same style as a homage. Yamada also wrote another _24_ ninja-themed novels in the 60s and 70s. So, there's your literary precedent.

(As for Naruto, it actually shows a lot of influence from all of the above, as well as all kinds of other ninja stories.)

I think the whole thing with the bizarre powers may be influenced by the Chinese wuxia genre. Popular ninja myth often has that the ninja learned their secrets from continental martial artists and mystics. Hence, the ninja tend to be capable of similar feats as characters in kung fu stories. (And kung fu stories tend to be _full _of people doing crazy, totally impossible stuff.)



> Still, I think just *calling* people ninjas works better when the powers are more limited and mysterious; when you get up to _Basilisk_ level it becomes a lot more about power than skill.



While there is some truth to this, I think we in the west don't quite have the same idea of what a "ninja" is as people in Asia. Not to say Japanese ninja stories aren't a lot about skill and stealth, but frankly, I'm not even sure I've ever seen a authentic Japanese depiction of a ninja that didn't have _some_ kind of distinct power or special ability.


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## wordwalker (Dec 11, 2012)

Anders Ã„mting said:


> I think we in the west don't quite have the same idea of what a "ninja" is as people in Asia. Not to say Japanese ninja stories aren't a lot about skill and stealth, but frankly, I'm not even sure I've ever seen a authentic Japanese depiction of a ninja that didn't have _some_ kind of distinct power or special ability.



Could be. Westerner that I am, the idea's new enough to me that I like the back-to-basics approach-- which I guess puts me with those kids in 1938 who said "A guy in tights who can lift a _whole car?_ Whoa...."


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## NinjaI (Dec 12, 2012)

right now I have 3 of the good Ninjas all with the same powers that they can look into a persons eyes and see everything good or bad about them and I am planing at some point to make the connection that they are all related - funny you mentioned Ninja Eyes - I am thinking that for the title of the book - 

thanks for the input - I like how you compared the powers to that of the X-men because I was thinking about them as well

NinjaI



Anders Ã„mting said:


> "Ninja powers" tend to be exlusive to either one particular individual or one particular bloodline. (In which case they are essentially the family business.) They are almost always one single special ability, X-Men style.
> 
> They can range from the kinda-sorta plausible (having abnormally long limbs, being able to freely disconnect all joints at will, having a beehive built into your body) to the very implausible (having acid for blood, having sword-proof skin, being poisonous to touch) to the blatantly impossible. (Walking through walls, literal shape-shifting, being immortal.)
> 
> They are usually explained as having been achieved via body modification, selective breeding, sheer hard training or a combination of the three. Because of this they tend to be physical in nature - even "psychic" powers like mind-control tend to have something to do with the ninja's eyes, for example.


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## wordwalker (Dec 12, 2012)

NinjaI said:


> I like how you compared the powers to that of the X-men because I was thinking about them as well



Honestly, *everyone* makes that comparison. That _Ninja Scroll_ legacy just suggests it with its variety of distinct powers, plus it's an outlaw thing.


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