The Ninja[note 1] (ニンジャ[1]?) is an enemy that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is an angular, humanoid Guardian that roams Kronos Island, being the very first Guardian encountered by Sonic the Hedgehog on the Starfall Islands.
The Ninja also has several stronger variants: the Shinobi, Kunoichi, and Master Ninja.
Appearance[]
Ninja is a tall robot with a vaguely feminine humanoid shape, standing roughly four times of Sonic's height. Its body is composed of black metal with red lights, and sports a sharp form, with a triangular eye screen, a pointed head, wide shoulders and hips, a narrow waist, thick thighs, and long pointy legs with no feet. Ninja's arms are shaped like straight blades, which are not physically connected to its body, but float nearby it. On its thighs are triangular screens with eyes projected onto them.
When attacking, the arm blades and panel lines on its head glow pink, and when being damaged, the cyber-energy corrupts Ninja's black metal skin to flash red for a brief moment. They resemble the Soldier model of their respective island.
History[]
A Ninja unit accompanying Sage, from a Sonic Frontiers promotional trailer.
At an unknown point in time on Kronos Island, one Ninja unit was seen attacking a Koco, only for the Koco to be saved by Sonic just in time. The Ninja is seen accompanying Sage, who cautions Sonic about his "reckless" behavior endangering the world.
Powers and abilities[]
In addition to being able to dash long distances and make great leaps, Ninja can use its sharp sword arms both offensively and defensively, as they allow it to attack foes from a large distance. Ninja is able to create a transparent red shield of cyber-energy to protect itself from direct attacks, they are also capable of creating an identical clone of themselves, which can dash and attack their opponent.
Battle[]
In Sonic Frontiers, Ninja is one of four Guardians to be found on Kronos Island. There are two separate encounters: the first occurs inside the ruins of an old pyramid structure found at the eastern sector of the isolated island within Kronos Island, while the second encounter takes place on a mid-range grass field in the center of Kronos Island between the hill with the yellow Chaos Emerald Vault and a steep canyon. Both fights are similar to each other, though the player may have an advantage in the second battle depending on Sonic's increased stats or learning multiple Skills at that point.
Being the tutorial boss of the game, the first Ninja encounter is mandatory for the player to advance in the isolated island. Once the player has beaten it the first time, the Ninja becomes optional for the rest of the game and will respawn when re-entering the Open Zone field and when a Starfall event occurs.
Boss guide[]
Prior the battle, Ninja is seen walking peacefully around the arena. When the player enters the battle, Ninja will turn its attention towards Sonic while it starts approaching towards him. If the player has gotten further away from it, Ninja will try to chase them down by dashing forward with a burst of speed. Ninja has two attacks, either a quick downwards swing of its blade arms, or a combination of multiple sword swings with wide range. Sonic can quickly avoid both of his attacks by performing the Dodge/Evade to retreat backward or sideways.
In a close combat, the player is instructed during the first encounter to activate Lock-On function of making a light blue target cursor pop in to have full focused view of the guardian.[2] The player can strike directly on Ninja by performing one of basic moves such as Homing Attack and then begin performing chain combo attacks for providing multiple hits. Ninja will stop moving while getting briefly stunned by multiple hits. After three or four hit combo, Ninja begins to block further direct hits by creating a transparent, red shield around it. Ninja can also block the first hit of chain combo attacks straight away if it has the player on its sight. However, the player can perform the Dodge in the mid-air to move to the guardian's side and continue doing chain combo attacks/Skills successfully.
Right after blocking, Ninja begins to charge one of its two special attacks at Sonic, that the player can Parry by holding down both action buttons.[3][4] Doing this will make Ninja become open to further chain combo attacks for short amount of time.
Different Skills can have varying effects on the guardian: using the Cyloop/Quick Cyloop around Ninja makes it lose its balance and is sent to the mid-air, while the player can continue performing chain combo attacks or use different Skills to keep the combo going before Ninja falls on its back. Performing the Parry followed by Grand Slam will have Ninja being knocked backwards onto the ground, while the player can continue doing direct hits before it gets up. Using simple moves such as Spin Jump/Stomp to attack from above or rolling over it with Drop Dash can also do slight amount of damage.
After dealing approximately 200 hit points, Ninja starts falling into pieces with multiple explosions, while the guardian's cyber-energy is evaporated into a thin air during the final explosion. After that, a Portal Gear appears to the spot where Ninja has been defeated, as the player can continue progressing in the Open Zone field.[5] During the first encounter, an ancient gate will be open for the player to advance further in the isolated island portion.
During The Final Horizon episode, Sonic will encounter a much stronger variant of the Ninja when taking Crane's Trial.
Trivia[]
- Despite the first Ninja being mandatory, players can avoid both this one and the first Tower by going through another route, marking both Guardians as optional as well.
Trivia[]
- According to the game's internal files, Ninja was originally named Blade.
- While Ninja stands about 13 feet/400cm tall, they may have been even larger at some point in development, as their concept art depicts them towering over Sonic.
- Interestingly, the "First Encounters" theme will still play for the first Ninja encountered in the game, even after defeating it once. The same also applies to the first Tower.
- Outside of Giganto and Supreme, Ninja is the only Sonic Frontiers enemy to receive artwork from Sonic Channel.
- According to Morio Kishimoto, the original version of the Ninja boss fight was so difficult, that only a few people in the development team could defeat them. [6]
Music[]
| Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Guardians: First Encounters" | Tomoya Ohtani | 1:51 | |
| "Guardian: NINJA" | Tomoya Ohtani | 2:54 |
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Screenshots[]
Promotional screenshots[]
Gameplay screenshots[]
| Gallery |
|---|
See also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Commonly written in capital letters as NINJA on in-game title and hint cards in both English and Japanese versions of the game.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Applies to the second encounter with Ninja in Kronos Island.
- ↑ Applies to the first encounter with Ninja in the isolated island of Kronos Island.
References[]
- ↑ 縦横無尽な新境地アクシ��ンアドベンチャー『ソニックフロンティア』最新ゲーム情報を公開！ (Japanese). Sega (29 June 2022). Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved on 8 December 2022. "「NINJA（ニンジャ）」華麗な攻撃を超スピードで繰り出すニンジャのような敵。攻撃を防御したり、分身して攻撃してくることもある難敵。"
- ↑ Sonic Team (8 November 2022). Sonic Frontiers. Xbox Series X/S. Sega. Area/level: Kronos Island. "Use lock on and defeat the guardian: Guardians are very powerful. They are bigger than normal enemies and have special attacks. Study their moves to find an opening. Tip: When an enemy is targeted, lock on to them by pressing
."
- ↑ Sonic Team (8 November 2022). Sonic Frontiers. Xbox Series X/S. Sega. Area/level: Kronos Island. "Parry attacks: Hold
and 
to Parry. It is unnecessary to Parry based on timing from incoming attacks. Parrying is very effective against certain enemies."
- ↑ Sonic Team (8 November 2022). Sonic Frontiers. Xbox Series X/S. Sega. Area/level: Try Again screen. "Tip: Each attack can be parried. If Sonic is about to be attacked, hold + to parry it."
- ↑ Sonic Team (8 November 2022). Sonic Frontiers. Xbox Series X/S. Sega. Area/level: Kronos Island. "Pick up the Portal Gear: Guardians will drop a Portal Gear. These gears are very important, so don't forget to pick them up!"
- ↑ “Sonic Gamers” Act.4 Please tell us about “Sonic Frontier”! (1 December 2022)
."
and 
to Parry. It is unnecessary to Parry based on timing from incoming attacks. Parrying is very effective against certain enemies."