Character design - Synopsis update and Ninja research

I have decided to follow the route of a genre mash up where the Ninja is more of a symbolic creation based upon the dogma of its origin. The Ninja would be a constructed, well trained, steampunk robot that follows the ancient art of Shinobi as his form of power. The Ninja would be made to originally gain control over the population of the Steampunk City, however there is one that the inventor creates especially to rebel against the system to save the lives of thousands of innocent people.

Ninja research!

Ninjitsu is supposed to have originated more than 2,000 years ago as a treatise on the art of spying in the ancient Chinese book on military science called Sun Tzu. It was written by the great Chinese strategist Sun Wu who lived between 500 and 300 B.C.

Andrew Adams (1970). Ninja: The Invisible Assassins. California: Ohara. p31-190

Legends even in their own time for their amazing cloak-and-dagger deeds, the ninja were actually capable of performing feats far more fantastic than the mythological marvels accorded them by modern-day films and books. Indeed, the real-life exploits of these sinister bands of espionage experts rival anything ever dreamed up for the fictional super-agent known as James Bond.

Supernatural tales claim the ninja was able to fly, walk on water, live underwater like a fish, become invisible at will, sink into the ground, flow through stone walls, disappear in a puff of smoke and even transform himself into a snake, frog, bird of insect, Improbable as these stories may seem, there is a logical explanation for each one, a spark of truth behind the billowing screen of smoke.

Andrew Adams (1970). Ninja: The Invisible Assassins. California: Ohara. p23/24-190.

These apparent claims that stereotype the Ninja give a feel that the identity of its original source has been lost over time, becoming more of a fictional character based on a real existence. When designing a Character of this nature, this distortion of the true facts would have to be put into play to create anything of recognition to the image of a Ninja.

This is the often conceived image of a typical Ninja:

Unknown. (2011). Ninja material. Available: http://entertheninja.net/?paged=2. Last accessed 28/09/2011.

Technically my Ninja could undergo training similar to that which a real Ninja would follow.

The first step in Ninpo training is that of physical endurance. The important thing here is to polish your techniques, use your spirit, and endure physical forces until you reach a critical state where everything is on the line. The second step is that of mental and emotional endurance. If an animal encounters an enemy, in generally bares its teeth straight away and launches into a fight. However, no matter how fearsome the enemy, human beings have the ability to laugh. Even if somebody comes to cut at you with a sword, as long as your heart does not waver you can smile at them, endure the situation physically and flee without injuring them. My teacher used to say "Harmony has supreme importance in a warrior's heart." This concept of "harmony" really refers to the fact that everything in the universe is connected, everything in nature, all the seasons, love and hate, good and evil - all are interconnected aspects of a fundamental unity. The third step is the endurance of knowledge. The word "Knowledge" (Shiki) can also be interpreted phonetically as "four fears". The image here is that someone at the top of a pyramid (in the metaphorical sense too) can see clearly in all four directions, gaining in the same way a comprehensive, balanced understanding of nature's cycles (i.e the four seasons), and that this perspective frees you from fear. While mental and emotional endurance can be an active process of setting your mind to endure, enduring knowledge goes beyond both physical and emotional endurance to a level where you develop the power to understand everything without conscious thought. This means not just responding to things that have already happened, but sensing things that are about to happen and handling them naturally. In other words, enduring knowledge is connected with having a rich education, while also practising endurance with respect to ones own sixth sense and subconscious mind.

Masaaki Hatsumi, Ben Jones (2004). The Way of the Ninja: Secret Techniques. Unknown: Kodansha International. p22/24 of131.

This gives me the insight to possibly make this long process a part of which helps to keep the television series ongoing, where the Ninja Steampunk Robot is learning the ways from his Master and we follow him on his adventure into completing his training and undergoing missions on the way.