Did I wake you motherfucka? — Ninja Ninja

Ninja Ninja (ニンジャニンジャ, Ninja Ninja) is apparently the deuteragonist of the series (the main protagonist being Afro). Ninja Ninja is one of the most mysterious characters of the series, as he is known to suddenly appear or disappear at particular moments almost as if he was always or was never there, be it during a battle Afro is caught in, or when Afro seems to be almost completely alone. He is likely a figment of Afro's imagination to cope with severe psychiatric trauma from unbearable sights and actions of death. Being that Afro is an emotionless murderer, his mind may well have created Ninja Ninja to hold his other emotions excluding Anger and hatred ; He often hangs with Afro as his self-appointed "Road Dog". Another possible understanding of Ninja-Ninja that would also be relevant to his regular Buddhist inspired spiritual practices is that Ninja Ninja represents Afro's "[Mind"], which tries to affect Afro through voicing doubts and fears. Contrasting Ninja Ninja against Afro's actions in this context gives Afro a different set of characteristics. As to say, he has fears, doubts and anxieties yet continues onward in spite of them.

In manga, Ninja Ninja is also one of the 2 guardians of the world. He guards the wearer of the Number Two Headband. Takimoto guards the one that wears the Number One Headband. This proves that Ninja Ninja is indeed real.

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Personality Edit

Ninja Ninja is a very talkative man always making smart remarks on and about Afro﻿'s decisions, is never afraid to speak his mind, and talk about how good the women on his and Afro's odysseys look. Overall, Ninja Ninja is a "Tell it how it is" kind of guy.

Ninja Ninja informs Afro of various dangers that he hasn't acknowledged such as Brother 2 spying on him, Soshun following him or of Brother 6 and his RPG Launcher. He also expresses concern for Afro losing his humanity and losing touch with his feelings. Ninja Ninja is also quite cowardly, running away a safe distance from any battle Afro engages in while commenting on Afro's performance and giving pointers on how to beat certain opponents. Ninja Ninja seems to be the opposite of Afro. He's outspoken, makes sexual references with regard to the women he and Afro have seen, and talks to Afro's opponents, though they ignore him or don't care about him enough to listen to him.

Afro generally doesn't speak to Ninja Ninja, and when he does it is usually one liners, mostly telling him to shut up when he has gotten too annoying for Afro's patience. Afro even threatened him with his sword when he was on a boat with him.

Ninja Ninja is revealed to be a force of Nature or a figment of Afro's imagination in episode 5 when he steps in front of Afro in order to take a killing blow from Jinno/Kuma. At this point he engages Afro in a final conversation, reminding Afro of his choice of vengeance and telling him to stick to his principles before disappearing in a burst of green energy. When this happens he tells Afro it was "the bomb hanging out with" him.

Ninja Ninja is speculated to be a solid representation of Afro's emotions, often commenting on an event before or after it happens with a running commentary common with thought or strong emotion. They way he is brought into the series supports this, as after he has seen all his friends die, and his teacher by his own hand, the shock was so immense that he showed no emotion, which then manifested itself in this complete reversal of just about everything Afro is. Afro continually attempts to silence this inner voice, generally during a long ramble, by simply saying "Shut up".

Ninja Ninja, although apparently imaginary, has done things which suggest he is real in some form. For example, he removed the Afro Droid's chip and took the drink offered by Brother 3. He also took Okiku's comb and placed it in Afro's Hair. He is also seen through a set of binoculars, so it is safe to assume others can see and interact with him but choose not to due to being focused mostly on acquiring The Number 2 Headband or Killing Afro. The fact that others can also see him is supported by the fact that Justice himself claimed to do so (and is even aware that Ninja Ninja is "imaginary").

Appearance Edit

Ninja Ninja's clothes are likely a reference to his name, being that they are typical of a common ninja. He wears a blue attire and has a white afro which stands in contrast to Afro's own hair. He wears a pair of red sunglasses and a long scarf. He is also shown carrying a small knife in the first episode.

History Edit

Past Edit

Ninja Ninja first appeared to Afro after the Battle at the Bodhi tree, when all his friends and Sword Master had been killed, and tells him to shed no tears, he'll follow Afro as his "Road Dog". Since then follows Afro, encouraging him to do certain deeds such as take advantage of Okiku's advances and kill Brother 6.

Afro Samurai Edit

Ninja Ninja alway traveling with Afro and he is always with him, even when he's fighting. Ninja Ninja sometimes helps him and sometimes annoys him.

At the beginning of Episode 5, it is revealed that Ninja Ninja was the one that was "killed" by Kuma's strike; a symbolic way of showing that Afro has come to terms with the loss of his friends at this point in his journey. Also about halfway through the episode when Afro finally meets Justice again, Justice states that he watched him shed his imaginary friend (Ninja).

Afro Samurai: Resurrection Edit

Ninja Ninja reappears as Afro's "Road Dog" to give the viewer insight of what's happening or giving smart remaining speeches in most if not all serious situations, he appears after Afro's defeat at the hands of Sio and Jinno/Kuma, In Afro Samurai: Resurrection at the last minute Ninja Ninja escapes before the battle with Rokutaro's clone, but Afro can still hear his voice after the battle. Ninja Ninja reappears asking Afro "if it will ever end?" possibly referring to the cycle of revenge the headbands seem to cause or just Afro's journey. Ninja Ninja shouts to Afro as he walks away but does not seem to follow him.

Video Game Edit

Ninja Ninja also appears in the Afro Samurai official video game. He acts as a comedic relief﻿ character but the game utilizes him as a guide in case the player gets lost on his or her journey. Ninja Ninja will sometimes be squatting down, waiting for the player to approach him. If this happens, Ninja Ninja will induce a cruel game called "Body Part Poker" meaning Afro's slicing off specific body parts of his enemies resulting in Ninja Ninja flipping over cards. There are three cards, all the player has to do is cut off three body parts complementing each other before the cigarette in Ninja Ninja's hand burns out. Ninja Ninja also has his own part in the storyline entitled "Ninja Ninja's Story" which takes place after Afro is swarmed and overcome by androids. Ninja Ninja elaborates that all of his so called friends are dead and that he can't face Justice without any regrets, so to test and prove if he's ready he suggests Afro has to kill him to see if he's ready. After the battle, Ninja Ninja says that he's been holding on to Afro's Emotions and he asks if Afro is ready for this hard burden. He then says it was fun hanging with Afro and bids him a final farewell as his cards block the screen for a second and he disappears.

Abilities Edit

In the anime, Ninja Ninja has no fighting skills but he does notice weaknesses in opponents and points them out to Afro. He also encourages Afro on to greater deeds and is a very good climber. He may also be un-killable as he is Imaginary or a Force of Nature who appears when Afro suffers great stress and loss such as at the Battle of the Bodhi Tree and After Sio disturbs Rokutaro's grave. In the Afro Samurai (video game), he can disappear and reappear in any place to signal Afro on where to go, in "Ninja Ninja's Story" Ninja Ninja has a sword in order to fight Afro, he appears to have skills like jumping over a horizontal sword swing, and cloning himself to overpower Afro. In the manga, he implies that he is more than capable of killing Afro if he wanted to, which is further reinforced when Afro seriously attacks with a horizontal sword swing, only for Ninja Ninja to easily dodge his slash and appear behind him with a kunai pressed to his throat.

Trivia Edit