Ninja

* 8-Bit
* 16-Bit
* Quillshroom
* Shopkeeper

### Instruction Booklet Description

After his village is attacked by the Demon King, Ninja is tasked with carrying the magic scroll to the top of a mountain.

### Height

2 tiles = 40 px. = 160 cm.

> "*I wish I could just leave this place and go explore the world!*"
> ― *Ninja*
>
>

    **Ninja**, also known as **The Messenger**, is the main character of The Messenger. He is tasked by the Western Hero to carry the scroll across his cursed world. Ninja is one of the many ninjas who hail from Ninja Village.

## Profile

### Appearance

Ninja wears a green-blue ninja outfit and has a green-blue-handled sword in a green-blue sheath strapped to his back. In the future, he dons a conical straw hat with a red stripe that circumferences the brim, and he wears a red cape around his waist that functions as a Wingsuit.

### Personality

Ninja yearns for adventure, and he does not enjoy learning history lessons, which he finds boring. But during his actual adventure, he is inquisitive and asks many questions to the new people he meets and is curious about the history behind the different places he visits. For each new area Ninja visits, he can usually ask The Shopkeeper about the history of the area, for a random story, and for information about the upcoming boss fight. Ninja's curiosity compels him to ask The Shopkeeper about many different topics, such as the magic behind Time Shards, but The Shopkeeper is often reluctant to explain these topics thoroughly or at all.

Ninja is clueless about many things, such as the proper way to hold the scroll aloft at the top of Glacial Peak, wrapping his mind around the idea of how The Shop can exist in two different places in the Tower of Time at the same time, and the meaning of the metaphor "lion's den." And for the first half of his adventure, Ninja has no idea that the scroll is actually a map. But, Ninja does catch on to certain patterns, such as recognizing the layout of rooms that precede the boss room, and he gains newfound wisdom when he temporarily takes on the role of a shopkeep.

A few times, Ninja makes cheeky comments. He describes The Shopkeeper's Autumn Hills story as the long version of "when life gives you lemons." He also pokes fun at The Prophet's job, calling him "The Interpret."

Ninja likes to help people out when given the opportunity. He does various heroic deeds, such as rescuing Phobekins, defeating evil demons, and breaking brainwashed denizens free from demonic spells. He even volunteers to go to an alternate timeline that is in danger in order to protect his original timeline.

## Main Story

Ninja, disgruntled with his boring and ordinary life, is summoned to a history lesson by the Ninja Elder. Upon arrival to his lesson, the Demon King and his army attack Ninja Village, leaving Ninja as the only one left standing to confront him. After Ninja approaches the Demon King, The Bowman arrives and repels the Demon King and his army, bestowing the scroll to Ninja and tasking him to carry it to the top of Glacial Peak. After leaving Ninja Village, Ninja ventures through Autumn Hills. He enters the first shop and encounters The Shopkeeper, who claims she will support and mentor Ninja. During his journey, she gives him free upgrades necessary to clear certain roadblocks, sells optional upgrades, and provides various pieces of information and stories. As Ninja travels across the island, he makes his way through Forlorn Temple, the Catacombs, Bamboo Creek, Howling Grotto, Quillshroom Marsh, and Searing Crags, before finally reaching Glacial Peak.

At the peak, he is greeted by the Order of the Blue Robes, who instruct him to raise the scroll in order to summon the Tower of Time. After doing so, he makes his way through the Tower of Time challenge gauntlet, defeating the Arcane Golem. Ninja performs the "Test of Faith," jumping into a pit that sends him 500 years into the future. He leaves the Tower of Time and finds himself in Cloud Ruins. There, he frees a sky serpent known as Manfred from his curse, but not longer afterward, Ninja is thrown into the Underworld by Barma'thazël. After defeating Barma'thazël, Ninja is cast down a chasm towards a river of lava but is rescued at the last second by Manfred. He rides Manfred eastward across the ocean, returning back to a future version of Ninja Village, which is now inhabited by soldiers instead of ninjas. Ninja takes on the role of the Western Hero and drives back the Demon King and his army, rescuing Soldier. He bestows the scroll to Soldier, instructing him to carry it to the top of the highest mountain.

Ninja is teleported back to the shop, where The Shopkeeper instructs him to open the cabinet, to put on a blue robe from the cabinet, and to stand behind the shop counter. The Shopkeeper goes to the Tower of Time HQ via a magical opening on the left side of the shop, leaving Ninja to act out the role of Soldier's shopkeeper. Soldier visits a couple of times, but fails to return again, prompting The Shopkeeper to return and check in on Soldier's status via the shop's scrying orb. Her reaction implies that Soldier died, so she rushes to retrieve the scroll, and she returns to place it with Ninja's belongings. Ninja is tasked once again to assume the role of The Messenger. In the Tower of Time HQ, The Prophet explains that Ninja must travel the world in search of Music Notes, crystallized forces of the world needed to breach the Music Box, an object which maintains the curse upon humanity. Ninja journeys around the island, using the Tower of Time HQ as a hub point, and relying on The Prophet to provide cryptic hints about where to go next.

Ninja gathers the six remaining Music Notes, placing them onto the wall above the Music Box in the Tower of Time HQ. Before entering the Music Box, The Shopkeeper gives Ninja a bit of history surrounding the existence of the curse placed on the Music Box, explaining that a man named Phantom is trapped within it, keeping the curse alive. Ninja enters the Music Box in an attempt to rescue Phantom. He fights Phantom, who is mind-controlled by the Mask placed upon his face, but Ninja manages to free him from the Mask and his curse. The Shopkeeper teleports them out of the Music Box, and they unite with the other Blues Robes members and Monk at the top of the Tower of Time. However, the Mask makes a comeback and attempts to eliminate them all. Ninja and his friends unite their power together, forming the Arcane Golem, which allows them to destroy the Mask and the curse upon humanity once and for all.

## Picnic Panic

*For the main article, see Picnic Panic.*
After collecting four Music Notes, a vision appears in the shop's scrying orb. Ninja asks The Shopkeeper what it means, and she explains that the demons are fighting the Order of the Blue Robes not only across time but across space as well. If the demons win in alternate timelines, it could potentially overwrite their own reality. After completing the game, a tropical palm tree pink neon sign appears next to the scrying orb, indicating that Ninja can access the Picnic Panic DLC.

Using the shop's scrying orb to create a portal, Ninja enters the alternate timeline of the Picnic Panic universe. He finds himself in Ninja Village, where the Ninja Elder does not recognize him. Ninja travels west to reach the docks, where he discusses with Ruxxtin about reaching Voodkin Island. They travel there together on Ruxxtin's skull ship, which functions as a raft. Ninja traverses through Voodkin Shore's jungle and climbs Fire Mountain in order to reach the peak. At the volcano's crater, Barma'thazël holds a group of Phobekins hostage inside of a wooden cage. Ninja demands for Barma'thazël to release the Phobekins, but instead he channels the fear from the scared Phobekins, powering the nearby Voodoo Altar with voodoo magic. The altar temporarily captures Ninja and creates a shadowy clone of him, the Dark Messenger, and a Dark Quarble as well. Barma'thazël explains that Ninja must reach the Voodoo Idols within the Voodoo Heart before his dark counterpart does, or he will lose his protector, Quarble, forever. Barma'thazël teleports away, and Quarble appears on scene, upset about the situation. Ninja and Quarble take pursuit and follow their dark counterparts into the Voodoo Heart.

Ninja races against the Dark Messenger within the Voodoo Heart in a series of different courses, attacking the Voodoo Idols at the end of each one. Eventually, Ninja wins 5 races against the Dark Messenger, destroying Dark Quarble. Ninja confronts Barma'thazël once again. Barma'thazël combines his power with the Dark Messenger, and the two fuse into a large being reminiscent of the Arcane Golem. The Artificer and The Shopkeeper arrive on scene, and together with Ninja, they form the true Arcane Golem to fight Barma'thazël in a boxing match. They win, causing Barma'thazël to return back to normal, and leaving a pulsating orb of dark energy in replacement of the Dark Messenger. Barma'thazël absorbs the dark energy into a magic seed and teleports away. Ninja and his friends free the Phobekins from their prison, and the group celebrates with a picnic at Voodkin Shore. After the celebration, Ninja sails back home to Messenger Island with Ruxxtin.

## Trivia

* Ninja is not ambidextrous. Rather, he is right-handed if he is moving to the right and left-handed if he's moving to the left.
	+ The intro cutscene and the Wingsuit inventory icon depict 8-bit Ninja's sword handle to be above his right shoulder, which would make Ninja right-handed.
	+ 8-bit Ninja pulls his sword out from the top of the sheath, while 16-bit Ninja pulls his sword out from the bottom of the sheath. This is why the sheath and scroll flip positions on his back between eras. Ninja's hand is always positioned at the ready to draw his sword.
* In Version 1.0.4, during New Game + in the beginning of Ninja Village, Ninja is seen with a scroll on his back during Rope Dart animations, even though he shouldn't own the scroll yet. However, this was fixed with the Version 2.0.2 update.
* According to the "Sabotage end of year Q&A 2018" video, Ninja does not like cats, and he is allergic to cats.
* According to the "Sabobo Direct - March 2019" video, Ninja's favorite food is a bowl of vanilla yogurt with maple syrup.
* Ninja's rocket-riding pose in Forlorn Temple is a subtle reference to another video game called Shatterhand, in which the titular character makes the same pose while clinging to fences.
* As Thierry Boulanger developed the story for The Messenger, his first concept for Ninja threw a boomerang.

## Gallery

### 8-Bit Sprites

Ninja's 8-bit talk portrait icon without the scroll.Ninja's 8-bit spritesheet without the scroll.Ninja's 8-bit spritesheet with the scroll.Ninja's 8-bit death spritesheet.Ninja's 8-bit scroll-holding spritesheet.Ninja's 8-bit Game Over spritesheet.Ninja's 8-bit Power Seal-collecting sprite.Ninja's 8-bit door-entering sprite.8-bit spritesheet of Ninja shrinking.Ninja's surfing spritesheet.Spritesheet of Ninja and Ruxxtin surfing together.Spritesheet of Ninja receiving a Game Over while surfing with Ruxxtin.Spritesheet of 8-bit Ninja shaking off the effects of the Quillshroom curse.Ninja's map icon.Wingsuit inventory icon, which depicts a tiny Ninja with the Wingsuit activated.Picnic Panic cutscene, where Barma'thazël gazes at 8-bit Ninja inside of a scrying orb.
### 16-Bit Sprites

Ninja's 16-bit talk portrait icon.Ninja's 16-bit spritesheet without the scroll.An amalgamate of many 16-bit spritesheets of Ninja with the scroll.Ninja's 16-bit hurt sprite.Ninja's 16-bit climbing spritesheet.Ninja's 16-bit attacking while climbing spritesheet.Ninja's 16-bit swimming spritesheet.Ninja's 16-bit swim dash spritesheet.Ninja's 16-bit wall kick sprite.Ninja's 16-bit death spritesheet.Sprite of Ninja passing on the scroll.Combined two sprites for a full Ninja passing on the scroll.Ninja's 16-bit Game Over spritesheet.Ninja's 16-bit Power Seal-collecting spritesheet.Ninja's 16-bit back spritesheet.Ninja's Manfred-riding spritesheet.Ninja's Manfred-riding sprite.Ninja's rocket-riding spritesheet.Ninja's 16-bit door-entering sprite.16-bit spritesheet of Ninja shrinking.Shopkeeper Ninja's talk portrait icon.Shopkeeper Ninja's spritesheet.The Music Box cutscene, where The Shopkeeper gazes at 16-bit Ninja inside of a scrying orb.
### Official Sprites

"Enter The Ninja" achievement, which depicts Ninja running to the right."Man's Best Fred" achievement, which depicts Ninja riding Manfred."Tumble Hijinx" achievement, which depicts Ninja curled up into a ball, flying through the air."Walking On Air" achievement, which depicts Ninja performing a Cloudstep.Artwork of Ninja in "The Canadian Crusader" costume, posted on social media to celebrate Halloween.Artwork of Ninja in "The Botanical Brawler" costume, posted on social media to celebrate Halloween.Artwork of Ninja in "The Couldn't find a pun Crossing Guard" costume, posted on social media to celebrate Halloween.Artwork of Ninja in "The Showering Shinobi" costume, posted on social media to celebrate Halloween.Ninja traveling through Quillshroom Marsh to celebrate the 2018 Halloween Steam Sale.Ninja in a Pilgrim outfit holding a turkey leg aloft to celebrate Thanksgiving.The Holiday Shop posted on social media during the winter to celebrate the holidays. It depicts Ninja in "The Canadian Crusader" outfit.Ninja presents a cake with candles for speedrunner, KuningasEST's birthday.
### Cropped Sprites

Ninja in a green winter coat with a hockey stick.Ninja dressed as a large pink flower.Ninja in a crossing guard uniform with an orange slow down sign.Ninja with a showering cap for a hat, a towel wrapped around his waist, and a scrubbing brush at hand.Ninja wearing a Pilgrim hat and holding a turkey leg.Ninja in a blue winter coat with a hockey stick.Ninja holding a birthday cake to celebrate speedrunner, KuningasEST's birthday.
### Screenshots

Intro cutscene depicting Ninja noticing The Bowman's approach.Intro cutscene depicting The Bowman instructing Ninja to deliver the scroll to the top of Glacial Peak.Picnic Panic cutscene depicting the Ninja Elder instructing Ninja to head to the docks.
### Beta Content

The beta version of the intro cutscene, depicting a very blue Ninja noticing the Western Hero's approach.Beta version of 8-bit Ninja's spritesheet.Beta version of 8-bit Ninja's rope-darting spritesheet.Beta version of 16-bit Ninja's spritesheet.Beta version of 16-bit Ninja's rope-darting spritesheet.Life icon.
### Concept Artwork

Ninja from the 2007 Flash prototype of the game, "Darkest Night."Concept artwork that depicts Ninja who is about to face the Arcane Golem.Concept artwork of different Ninja colors.Demon King boss fight concept artwork that depicts a tiny stick figure of Ninja riding a rocket.Clockwork Concierge boss fight concept artwork that depicts a tiny stick figure of Ninja riding Manfred.Concept artwork of Picnic Panic's altar cutscene.Voodoo Totem boss fight concept artwork.An older version of Ninja's rocket-riding pose in Forlorn Temple before it was altered to resemble the fence-clinging pose from Shatterhand.
### Official Artwork

Ninja's Steam trading card.Ninja's Steam trading card artwork, which depicts 16-bit Ninja in Glacial Peak.Ninja's large Steam emoticon.Ninja's Steam emoticon.Ninja gazes at Quillshroom Marsh with Quarble nearby, used for the YouTube thumbnail of this video.Official T-shirt design for PAX East 2018, which depicts Ninja holding the scroll aloft.Fangamer T-shirt design, which depicts Ninja in The Shop.Key art #1, which depicts Ninja ready to face an onslaught of enemies.Key art #2, which depicts Ninja with a straw hat, ready to draw his sword.Key art #3, which depicts Ninja jumping through the air with a hoard of enemies at his heels.Picnic Panic key art, which depicts Ninja surfing alongside various characters.Special Reserve Games key art, which depicts Ninja facing off against the Demon King.The Messenger soundtrack artwork, which depicts The Shopkeeper gazing at Ninja within a scrying orb.The front of the official vinyl cover, depicting the past version of Ninja.The back of the official vinyl cover, depicting the future version of Ninja.Ninja in Shinobi No Kikan, holding the scroll aloft.Ninja in Shinobi No Kikan, sword at the ready.Ninja with a straw hat in Shinobi No Kikan.
## References

> "*AT THE WESTERN EDGE OF A FALLEN WORLD LIES A CLIFFSIDE VILLAGE...
> HARBORING THE LAST SURVIVORS OF THE HUMAN RACE, THOSE WHO CHOSE EXILE OVER DEATH...*"
> ― *Intro cutscene*
>
>
> "*(Well he seems to have time for you)*"
> ― *Ruxxtin's Staff*
>
>
3. ↑ Thierry's Lore Tidbits#December 13, 2018
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/sabotoy/status/1073010685842546694;
File:Citation Deleted Ninja Tweet.png;
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/504123242?t=0h24m42s
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Thierry's Lore Tidbits#November 16, 2018
6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRx6sx2sQcM&t=1399
7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GhRospmGv0&t=1108
8. ↑ File:Citation Shatterhand Reference.png
9. ↑ https://www.twitch.tv/videos/360549528?t=07m51s;
https://dev-diary.pinecast.co/episode/8da2ba01d2ee4828/episode-19-thierry-boulanger-the-messenger-