Just chill out peeps, it's just a stereotypical generalization, nothing more. Even the MK Team themselves call the group of characters of whom wore masks and looked similar, but were just palette-swapped "ninjas".

In fact, if you keep pressing on your techinical philosophies, remember that the plural form of "ninja" is "ninja". But you still call them "ninjas" right? So you see, you've been incorrect also.

But no one is going to stop calling them "ninjas", so just go with the flow, and just live with the double-technicality of it.

GAWSH.

@Icebaby: Youre being a bit nitpicky. You know as well as I do that there is a certain "look" that people will say a ninja has.

You probably had the basic black ninja costume right? Ask a kid if thats a ninja they will say yes. Ask them if Scorpion is, they will say yes. Ask them if a Samurai with a mask is, they will say no.

@NS: You're point is essentially the exact same point I'm trying to get across...

We must fight the forces together! Strength in numbers!

Actually, being a ninja has absolutely nothing to do with how you look or dress. It is pure skill, it is the culture, the techniques, the art of fighting and the training that lies behind it.

The whole black-clothes and masked appearance that has become the popular look of ninja characters actually comes from the backstage people in a Kabuki theatre. They were dressed in all black with a hood and mask, so the audience could see that they weren't an actual part of the scene.

It has later become the "ninja look" in modern media.

No, in ancient Japan, ninjas were mere farmers and such who had a secret clans where they trained in the deadly arts of ninjutsu and offered their services to shoguns (warlords) or fought the oppression of said shoguns.

THAT is what the Shirai Ryu is - a secret ninja clan from ancient Japan - and that is what makes Scorpion a ninja!

Lin Kuei might be a clan of assassins, spies, thieves and warriors as well, but they can never and will never be a ninja clan for one simple reason: The Lin Kuei is Chinese! And ninjas are Japanese.

And that's the same reason why all the others aren't ninjas and never will be ninjas as well!

"It has later become the "ninja look" in modern media. "

Therefore people call anyone with that look a "ninja" now. Not historically accurate. But thats the cold hard truth. And its valid on its own terms, as long as you don't claim they are a historical ninja.

Nope. For some odd reason, it made me look like Rikimaru from Tenchu, and he doesn't have anything similar going on with Scorpion. I just had similar looking hood.

Your whole statement boils down to "if you look like a ninja you are a ninja" and it is such a high level of ignorance! Now, I might sound like an arrogant bastard saying this, but you can choose to believe or say whatever you wish and I will still be the one who is right.

P-P-P-Pwnage.

I honestly don't believe you are even reading my posts.

All your points are COMPLETELY VALID if someone claims Sub Zero is a historical ninja.

But nobody is claiming that. What do you call People with the stereotypical ninja look? Nobody has called them anything but ninjas. People have STEREOTYPED for so many years that if you tell an average Joe on the street to describe a ninjas hes gonna give you something historically inaccurate.

No, real ninjas arent actually like the MK characters (except maybe Scorpion, but lets assume they are all like Ermac or Sub for the sake of simplicity).

But since society has created a false ninja for so many years that its become a pop culture symbol, you can't deny its existence.

If I call Sub Zero a ninja I'm not saying hes the same kind of ninja as a real one.

You may HATE that the mainstream has done that. But they DID it, and you can't keep people from calling fake ninjas, ninjas.

No no, I completely get what you are saying. Popculture states that as long you look like a ninja, you're a ninja. Still doesn't make it right though.

Historically. No.

But its created a second meaning of the word, that would be incorrect during Ancient times.

So youre correct when saying my point boils down to "If you look like a stereotypical ninja, you can be called a ninja" but at least I have a reason behind it. Since society has been doing that for so long, its made up another meaning for the word. Every definition of the word "ninja" is not equal.

4 pages to feed a troll thread? Niiiiice.

I've been wondering that for 14 years.