Last updated 6/18/09



Saturday, June 7, 2008

The Eternal Battle Part IV: Pirates vs Ninjas

I think today we'll wrap up this series with a few observations and hypotheticals.

Something I've been thinking about are the ways in which pirates and ninjas are similar, specifically in terms of the virtues that they hold in high (or low) regard and their "code of ethics" if you will. First off, courage is overrated. Sure, a pirate won't shy away from a fight and a ninja won't balk at a difficult mission. However, when success is doubtful and capture or death is probable, there's nothing wrong with turning tail or playing dirty. Cheap tricks are standard operating procedure. Second, neither faction is bound by cumbersome ideals like "honor" or "justice." You want to kill someone? Kill'em and be done with it. Someone may ask if they deserved to be killed. Well, if you piss of a pirate or a ninja, you have a killing coming your way. Scruples are for the weak!

I've also been puzzling over how difficult it would be to simulate an actual pirate v ninja battle. There are so many factors to consider!
  • Does one combatant have the element of surprise?


  • What's the locale?


  • Are both parties allowed to prepare beforehand?


  • Are there any weapons limitations?

  • How dismembered is the pirate? (eye patch, wooden leg, hook-hand, all of the above)

Anyhow, I'm afraid this determination is beyond me. Still, I present to you some hypothetical battles, which I thought would be very interesting to watch.





Ryu Hayabusa

vs.

Cervantes de Leon



Here are the vital stats:

Name: Ryu Hayabusa
Faction: Ninja
Strengths: Wise beyond his years, master of Hayabusa ninjitsu, wielder of the Dragon Sword,
can apparently blow up helicopters with shuriken
Weaknesses: Uhhh...oops. Forgot something, Tecmo?


Name: Cervantes de Leon
Faction: Pirate
Strengths: Wielder of the Soul Edge (or alternatively a pistol sword!), has a ghost ship, no longer ages
Weaknesses: Has no soul?

This one is the battle of the titans, in my mind. I tried to think of the most BA represenative of each side. Hey who knows - with all the video game crossovers recently, maybe someday we'll see DOA vs Soul Caliber?

A number of other characters came to mind, but it was too difficult to match them up considering the various media of their portrayal. I'll present them, though, for your consideration:

Ninjas: Shadow (FFVI), Snake-Eyes (GI Joe), Storm Shadow (GI Joe), Azumi (Japanese movie)
Pirates: Dread Pirate Roberts (Princess Bride), Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean), Blackbeard

And so I wrap up my discussion of pirates and ninjas (for now). Please notice the poll that's up on the right hand side of the page. I'll report on it next week if the results are significant enough.

'Til then.

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