Obaba

> "*Foul servants of the dragons, hear me! Now you shall feel the vengance of the Black Spider Clan!*"
> ― Obaba to Ryu and Momiji[source]
>
>

**Yoba**, commonly referred to as **Obaba**, is the elder sorceress of the Black Spider Ninja Clan who rose to the clan's leadership numerous times despite her advanced aging.

## Biography

### Earlier life

Born over one hundred years ago before the Dark Dragon Blade Incident, Obaba rose through the ranks of the Black Spider Ninja Clan as their sorceress. Decades prior to Muramasa's retirement, Obaba was familiar with the younger blacksmith who possessed great swordplay capabilities and found him to be a "ladies man".

### Leadership in the Black Spider Ninja Clan

Years before the Dark Dragon Blade Incident, the previous head of the Black Spider Ninja Clan died due to old age. With an opening and opportunity for leadership, Obaba assumed command of the clan.

### *Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword*

After Ryu finishes training with Momiji in the Forest of Shadows, The Black Spider Clan appears, and on Obaba's orders, kidnaps the shrine maiden and raids the Hayabusa Village. She tortures Momiji in hopes of getting information about the Eye of the Dragon, but soon discovers that Momiji infused it into her soul, meaning Obaba cannot kill her. It is later revealed that she is working for Ishtaros, the Greater Fiend of Creation. She schemes to make Ryu Hayabusa collect the eight Dark Dragon Stones, crystals released after the Dark Dragon was slain. She gives Momiji to Ishtaros, and in exchange, she is given more power than she had ever imagined, and her body is warped into a spider-like Fiend. She confronts Ryu and fights with her newly bestowed powers, but is no match for the Super Ninja of the Dragon Lineage, and is soundly defeated. As her body withers away and she meets her death, she tells Hayabusa that he will never defeat Ishtaros, and with an evil grin, she dies.

### *Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2*

Having survived under unknown circumstances, Obaba is no longer in control of the Black Spider Ninja Clan due to Genshin's rising though she manipulates other Black Spider ninjas within the clan from behind the scenes as she plots to gain the Eye of the Dragon.

Not long after Genshin leads an assault on Hayabusa Village, Obaba steals the Eye of the Dragon and gains great power. She is later confronted by the Mugen Tenshin kunochi of the Hajimon faction, Ayane. The kunochi is shocked when Obaba reveals to have taken the dragon artifact within her spider-like abdomen and proceeds to fight the kunochi. Defeated, her bottom half of her body explodes and reveals the Eye of the Dragon for Ayane to retrieve.

### *Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge*

Upon Ryu's return from the Black Spider Ninja Graveyard, the Dragon Ninja, assisted by his student Momiji, goes forth to the Sacred Hermitage in Aokigahara. There they are attacked by the Black Spider Ninja clan, led by the mysteriously resurrected Obaba. Momiji casts a barrier over herself, but Obaba tries to crush her. Ryu battles hordes of Jigumo Ninja that spawn from Obaba, while attacking the energy cores on the Spider Witch's body, destroying Obaba's arms, and finally attacking her forehead. Before the final blow is struck, Obaba knocks Momiji off, making her fall to her doom, but in the end, Obaba meets her end at Genshin's Blade of the Archfiend, and Ryu manages to rescue Momiji before she hit the ground. With her consciousness completely destroyed, Obaba's corporeal form crumbles into a flock of demonic crows.

## Abilities

Being a sorceress, she is capable of wielding powerufl forms of magic in which originated from a magical stone she carried. She was powerful enough to dispatch one of her own Black Spider ninja with a wave of her, engulfing them in flames. She is also capable of ressurecting the dead with her soul summoning.

After her transformation into a Greater Fiend, she exhibited superhuman abilities such as being able to stretch her limbs and jump incredible heights. Obaba can project magical projectiles that resemble ravens. Obaba was later able to alter her size, appearing as a giant version of her fiend form.

## Trivia

* Obaba held an attraction to Muramasa when the both of them were younger.
* Obaba was not a popular choice to become leader of the clan. Hanjuro speculated that had Genshin been present, she would have not succeeded in being the leader.
* Due to localization translation, Obaba is referred to as both a sorceress and witch, both which are synonymous.
* Obaba in Japanese is an impolite way to refer to an aged woman.
* Obaba is simply listed as "Yoba" during the voice actor credits of Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma for unknown reasons.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword* - Obaba's Biography
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 *Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword* instruction manual.
3. ↑ *Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2* - Credits list her as this. Seeing as the end credits denote character's real name, we can assume "Yoba" is her real name.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword* - Obaba's Diary
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2* - Hanjuro's Notebook.
6. ↑ Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 official website.
7. ↑ *Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2*
8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Dragon Sword`
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge*
10. ↑ *Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2*