No worries, I just hope you and yours are okay after that car wreck. To answer your question, Wolf was trained by Lady Butterfly and I feel she ticks off a LOT of 'Ninja' boxes. With that in mind I'd say Wolf is a Ninja, but one with more of a focus on defending his young lord over spy duties. I'd say even his missions reflect that, as he spends a lot of the game infiltrating various places, eavesdropping on various enemies, and yes killing obstacles to his young lords safety.
To be absolutely clear Wolf wasn't as much standard spy/assassin, as a bodyguard (we shouldn't remember that shinobi work in different tasks). It mean that he didn't really need hide his presence, even if he could be stealthy when he wanted. As scaring off potential threats and being recognizable as representative, was in fact sort of his job and we still don't know his real name (well, he is Raikoh Minamoto, but we never learn it from the game). That also explain (beside his immortality) his amazing fencing skills, as a bodyguard he usually focus more on direct confrontation then sneaking. Still undeniably Shinobi work. As for Owl.. well.. in this universe people can grow big. In fact it is possible that Owl was originally way smaller and just grow over time, but still kept his position as commander and master. After all same thing happen to Wolf, as for reminder (SPOILER) he is Sculptor.
Sekiro was trained at least partly by lady butterfly, as stated by the Remnant: Lady Butterfly key item "The Butterfly was appointed by the Owl to serve as one of Wolf's teachers in Shinobi techniques."
I would never take the life style of a Samurai. "That is your freedom, I don't get to choose." Is a cop out, screw what is expected of you and live your life. My hero in my project he is a royal but he does what he wishes, no fear of dishonor, because to his family "Not being yourself makes for a poor leader." imagination is far better than a code because it is flexible. Samurai were cool don't get me wrong, but any structure the forces one to accept what is chosen for them, that is a bad clan system. Think of Eddie Murphy's Coming To America finding love that isn't due to your station. The girl he was originally supposed to marry being "My favorite is your favorite" is terrible.
@Plokman040 Tokugawa Shoganate look the origin history up. Not all samurai clans were the same during the Sengoku Jidai. It's actually a misconception everyone wanted to even be shogun
@@wildwaymartialarts I'm sure Gaijin will say much the same, Samurai and Knights were more alike than many think. Some would kill someone for bad wine (Saki is a wine right? I don't know as I don't drink anything but a new years shot of Jerger with my dad) others would learn common crafts. Stan Sakai made it a great point on how Samurai were not the same as each though to a degree were equal rank, Usagi cares for his home and the good people and while he hold his Ronin status still holds firm to his teachings. But Usagi also will try to prevent bloodshed if he can, like the duel his master was forced to do, he pleaded to sense but understood his honor. But still it is too strict a life for me, but then again Japan is too much for me and I don't mean that in a bad way. Two reasons I could never stay in Japan, my feet would never work there as like Gaijin my feet bow out and his is mild compared to mine (My femur is so bent you could use it as a literal bow!) and no spots to set no dice. Second if there is one thing I can't stand it is sweating in summer, and I learned my lesson in Florida Illinois may get hot but please no. Me and my dad both say if we had to pick we would rather freeze than sweat.
But he can be a Ninja with a clear purpose to defend his lord. It also may explain his name "The Wolf". As the noble creatures are predators that are both stealthy hunters and vicious animals when the right situation arises. As such, whose to say he can't be a hybrid of both codes? More over aside from his garb I agree makes him stand out, maybe he needs no mask cuz he is not a ninja that hides in plain sight but just like his name, he is a vicious guard dog to be released from the shadows when his master is in danger. Going by the intro sequence shown and how he was recruited it is possible no one knew who he was until he became the wolf and thus "The Wolf" is the only identity he is known by in which case what need is there for a mask when you yourself do not exist only the persona society has given you.
There is a quote I think rather fits "The Lion and Tiger might be stronger, but a wolf doesn't preform in a circus." He's a wolf, being used for the thing he's good at, hunting and killing from the shadows. Ironically, Raptors and wolves where some of the first Shinobi if you think about it.
sure but his armor doesnt exactly makes him not standout among publics doesnt it, plus hiding among public or not im pretty sure that you need to wear a mask when you are inflirtating or doing missions in enemy base or etc
max felson You don't need a mask to hide in public (in fact, it's actually impractical to wear one in public unless your secondary job is with entertaining people (aka Kabuki))
Honestly, he seems like someone with both the training of a samurai and a shinobi. And while he leans heavily on the ninja stuff, he'll still use his skills and training as a swordsman and samurai as needed. Which seems pretty ninja to me, using your strengths to gain advantage.
according to Metatron, Shinobi were actually very frequently also samurai. I don't see why Sekiro cannot be both, as it would justify his combat skill and his code to defend his master as well as the fact he can choose not to go full-on-100% ninja constantly.
Xayte I may very well be wrong, but didn't "Shinobi" at one point mean a Ninja that upheld the the way of Bushido? Because we all know that for the majority of their existence, the Samurai rarely if ever upheld Bushido, with only up until their waning years, ending in the Meiji Era. I think.
+Joshua Fogg The way it was explained to me is to think of "Shinobi" as having the same connotations when we think of the word "spy". Samurai was not an occupation, it was a social class. Shinobi, however, WAS an occupation. You could have samurai who were not shinobi, but many (maybe not all) shinobi were indeed of the Samurai social class.
Xayte So happy to see I’m not the only one who fully understands this concept. I said from the get go Wolf was a fantastic representation of a “ninja” samurai. You explained it brilliantly.
No it's because Wolf does not have Samurai status in the game's story, but either way it was a job so he can still have a different motivation than simple intel gathering.
Hey, Gaijin! You forgot to mention the most ninja mechanic of all: The eavesdropping! Also, that coat is definitely orange and that scarf is off-white.
Orange isn´t that bad as a colour for hiding. Tigers will agree ;-) 1) some hues of orange will blend well with dry grass and red earth (even more so when dirty) 2) deep orange or red can´t be seen at night any more than deep blue. 3) More for tigers: most animals can´t see red! You can illuminate them with red light and they think that they´re hidden in darkness! Red and Orange don´t stand out from green to them during the daytime. (Similarly, we can´t tell ravens appart, but they see UV light and thus...)
@@edi9892 I noticed this during the hirata state areas that wolf is almost indistinguishable when he is besides a wall near a fire. Dunno if it was intentional or not, but it looked pretty neat for a camoflauge.
Dude, that orange garb, and yellow scarf is obviously the disguise of his previous mission. When he returned to his memory of hirata estates he was already wearing that. It's obviously one of the ninjas disguises, that of a monk. HUUUUUGE EDIT!: THAT WOULD ALSO EXPLAIN WHY YOU TAKE PRAYER BEADS FROM YOUR ENEMIES!
only problem being you literally time travel back to that. I mean you still have your grappling hook, can take new prosthetic tools back, etc. also how does him being maybe being disguised as a monk (idk if this was how a monk dressed in this period) justify him needing prayer beeds beads to increase stats? pretty sure they're all just buddhists and these beads are generally desirable - doubt it has much to do with the way he dresses
Maybe. Tho in the opening cutscene with child wolf, he's wearing an oversized orange robe while scavenging. Adult wolf seems to be wearing the same orange robe but worn down with time. Guess Owl never give him a new shirt
Regarding "The Iron Code" that Owl raises Wolf on, I think that was more of a controlling tactic used by Owl. In the lore, Owl and Wolf are considered rouge shinobi, meaning they have no initial allegiances, unlike the Nightjar shinobi who are currently loyal to Ashina (likely hired or outright created and trained by Ashina). While Wolf was trained by Lady Butterfly for his shinobi training and by Owl for more of his combat based training, Owl had much more control over what Wolf learned. It's no stretch of the imagination to believe that "The Iron Code" was completely fabricated by Owl in order to manipulate his "son" in order to help him obtain his ultimate goal. (SPOILER) It is the immortality gained from the heir's bloodline. EDIT: Also the shuriken in Sekiro goes even further than you explained in the video. At a certain level, you unlock the ability to dash attack towards your target after successfully hitting the opponent with your shuriken. The shuriken itself will do a small amount of posture damage if the opponent deflects it, but its main purpose is to help you close the distance fast and deal a strike while they are distracted.
@@bajocontinuo3 I keep seeing g you comment this sort of thing. He has been streaming the game on Twitch and is pretty good. At best you are making a joke that nobody finds funny and at worst you are just sort of being a jerk and making a bunch of assumptions. Please show a little respect.
Honestly, the lack of "traditional" Ninja garb doesn't bother me in the least, because I'm pretty sure real historical Shinobi didn't wear such distinctive outfits much to begin with. But if you need a justification, just assume Lone Wolf is a Ninja 'disguised' as a Samurai.
Plus despite what Goomba says, Wolf's clothes don't really stand out much from his environment. He's surrounded by red earth on the ground, hides on roofs that blend in with his vest and pants, and his earth tones blend in with most of the areas he's in.
He is a great ninja. Because combining samurai and ninja techniques does have some historical significance. That is what I see in Sekiro. A ninja who realized the need for direct combat as such trained and hybridized the subversive and ideological concepts of ninja techniques with the sword play and precision of samurai techniques.
More like Samurai and Ninja were not exclusive..Antony Cummins goes over this in his vid about Sekiro. Samurai is a social status and ninja is a job. A samurai could be a ninja or vice versa..many of the notions we have of Samurai and Ninja are from the Edo period where the two started to become heavily romanticized by the Japanese people such as the whole "One on one honorable combat" of the samurai. This game takes place during the Sengoku period where the samurai and Lone Wolf act much more true to how they would have during that time period and not the romanticized versions we are familiar with today.
@@ShinKyuubi THANK YOU!--- This needs to be said Which was I kinda had a problem with Gaijin saying that because Sekiro fights in combat a lot and being loyal to a lord (Kuro), that makes him more Samurai then Shinobi... Implying as if they are separate entities...
I don't know going to have to disagree with the "Shinobi Code" thing - my perception was that was specifically Owl's thing, and more of a tool for controlling his subordinates (or more specifically Wolf) than a real code as Owl clearly answers to no master other than himself. You'll notice that Owl is the only one who really ever brings it up besides Wolf himself - and when you mention it to Isshin he immediately fingers you as being the kid that Owl brought up. Furthermore rejecting the "code" is a pretty big plot point in the game.
Antony Cummins goes over this game on his channel...yes THAT Antony Cummins..the one who is behind a good bit of ninja books. Here's the thing about the Lone Wolf of Sekiro..it's during the Sengoku Jidai where what he's doing is FAR more true to how a ninja during that time would be likely to operate. Many of our ninja and samurai perceptions comes from the Edo period where they started to get romanticized in Japan. Also GG I noticed again in your references..specifically at 3:57 and 4:00 it's shown that nuts are also used..from the looks of it specifically Japanese chestnuts, to hold metsubushi. This puts even MORE cred to the Deku nut used by the Sheikah of Legend of Zelda..especially since the nuts shown at 3:57 look very similar to the Deku nut..hell at 4:00 you see the chestnut flying through the air and hitting the target to release the cloud of metsubushi.
Don't forget that sekiro is a reference to lone wolf and cub. Being like the man who assassinated people despite being more like a samurai and having him act closely like a ninja. Same could be applied to sekiro.
It's wrong to assume shinobi=ninja. Ninja were specifically a rebellious group of persevering people who rose up against the empire. Sekiro is a shinobi, trained from birth as an intelligence gatherer and tactical fighter, considering he was chosen to protect the young emperor his role would be the equivalent of the secret service. Samurai clans could either be shinobi(intel), ronin(without masters), kenin(house samurai), I'm sure there were more specializations but Google isn't helping me right now.
@@jasonleejames_official But That still means that he has experience as a swordsman or samurai to a degree. Maybe less of a ninja but still a bit like 1?
@@jasonleejames_official while indeed Kurou was initially intended to be a "prince", he's not a young emperor in the game (commonly referred to as Miko-sama instead)
@@jasonleejames_official no, I'm saying that he's not a royalty. At best just an heir from a noble family (probably the Hirata family). In easier to understand words, I'm very sure he can never be an emperor. Also this is the Sengoku Period, the emperor is mostly isolated and nobody rarely able to meet him so it's impossible for them to treat a future emperor to be like how they treat Kurou in the game (being kidnapped, hold captive and stuff).
@richard conaway I don't know of any iteration of Snake Eyes who spoke in the bulk of the story's present. Him being a forced mute is pretty darn consistent. If a version of him can/will speak, it's usually a matter of time before he is silent. That said, the renegades version is pretty darn ninja. Heck, he actually decided to teach the Joes how to use a kusarigama, not a sword.
I definitely liked how at 9:44 you're explaining how useful it is to stay on the high ground for a ninja, and yet doing the one thing a ninja wouldn't do : jumping right into a fight before gathering any information (eavesdropping) !
Just hearsay, maybe somebody else has a real source; but I heard once that shinobi actually dressed in ruddy colors that wouldn’t show bloodstains so that they could kill and blend in without constantly changing garb. Also, having a covered face would be immediately suspicious. As we see from the Hirata Estates memory, Sekiro is the official shinobi of Lord Kuro, so his seemingly cowardly absence from the battle to protect the Hirata estates is noticed by the locals that Sekiro questions.
Most shinobi just dressed like normal people, so as to draw no suspicion. What we have characterized as being ancient Ninja clothing is actually just ancient Japanese clothing as a whole.
To answer the question of 'who trained Wolf' it was mentioned in Lady Butterfly's fight that Wolf was surprised to see her as an enemy, since she was the one who trained Wolf in the art of Ninjutsu. And his Shinobi master is obviously Owl. Owl is known to be a legendary Master Shinobi. It was mentioned in parts of the game that NPC's, upon recognizing Sekiro, start with 'You are the one who was picked up by the Great Shinobi Owl'. Even Isshin knows and recognizes him based on his dialogue if you give him a Dragonspring Sake. Owl also has connections to the Ministry making him obviously well known. And you can also consider Isshin to be a half master to Sekiro, since he gave him the Ashina skill tree which helped him far more. The Iron Code is a mixture of a samurais oath and of a Shinobi. Those two rules alone shows that Sekiro isn't just some kind of Ninja. The first code states that the will of his father/mentor is above all else, I'm pretty sure this is a standard and normal clause when taking in a disciple or accepting a master, less being picked up by one during the most hectic war of Japan. Second Code is to protect your master at all cost. Sure Owl ordered him this but this also shows the samurai code, where to retrieve and protect your master is above all else.
Hey Gaijin. Just a few notes for your research. Wolf was trained at an early age by the boss "Lady Butterfly" in the art of ninjitsu as confirmed in a few item descriptions. His general martial arts prowess probably came from Owl as well. Owl's boss fight is actually very good albeit heavily emphasized to be more flavor than anything as a demonstration of some of the intensity and variety a Shinobi brings when they are locked into those inescapable one on one battles. Again, more a game thing than reality, but it did happen as you stated. Sekiro makes conscious motions to stab through weak joints and unguarded spots on enemies rather than through their armor. Doesn't lend itself any points but it is really nice as a logical real world touch. Finally, his colors are definitely out of place and he doesn't wear a mask, but his outfit /is/ very patchy and off color in nature, lending more to orange and brown than red and yellow. This is only noteworthy because Selkirk takes place almost entirely at twilight, and I believe this is intentional design choice by From Software. Remember, Japan is their home turf and they are huge history/fantasy nerds. They would be aware of the nature of camouflage and its uses, and I believe they intentionally designed Sekiro to fit into the specific setting they designed rather than going with traditional ninja color patterns and ideas because they wanted the game to take place during the daytime most of all. -alternatively, it's possible that his palette is supposed to blend in with fire as well, perhaps he's a specific type of Shinobi for Ashina that operates under specific conditions. It is confirmed that Owl, Lady Butterfly and Isshin Ashina know each other, so potentially Sekiro was supposed to be another arm of that group, aping the real world emperor who had Shinobi bodyguards. I'm not a history buff nor am I an expert on Japanese culture, but I can sort of piece together From Software logic as a lifelong player of their games. This is just my take though, the beauty of these games is that every subtlety can be interpreted many ways. Great video overall, but this is info I'm not sure you were aware of at the time of writing the script.
I will keep asking until I get the answer I need from YOU GOOMBA!!!! What is the music that plays when you analyse these ‘ninjas’, I know noteblock remix does the music but what is the name of track? It’s so great but I can’t find it anywhere :(
ShinKyuubi dude did you not read what I put? I know it’s him that did the music BUT we don’t know the name of the track, trust me I would’ve found it by now if the link was directly to the video and not the channel
Loved this episode!nice work again dude!I've never played sekiro cause I can't,buy I've seen some playthrough and I'm glad you did a video about the game!
You know I'm starting to see that Gaijin's grading appears to be more the Idealism of the ninja while Goomba's grading seems to be the more literal and accurate side of the coin. (Even if they are the same person haha :P)
Isn’t the hybridized code because owl was using sekiro for a specific purpose, and he was meant to blend in to samurai society as a guard dog? Not every ninja was a spy, and not every ninja was raised to be one....
Can you please make a video on the basic of Ninja. Like a guide to what makes a good Ninja. What they wear, how they would act, they're ideology. Knowing things like this are very useful for us artist and writers to know how to design a ninja.
You can also look up Antony Cummins, whose research team Translated the three major shinobi (shoninki, Bansenshukai, and ninpiden) texts into English language. He's been mentioned on the channel in the past and has his own RUclips channel.
@@jamcalx He even released a vid about this game..and at the same time I got this vid notification I got one from his channel about Dark Icelandic magic
@@GaijinGoombah So just break it down into several parts and release each one in between your other videos. And you can even use popular media to help explain it all.
I'm pretty sure Tengu had strong connections to Shinobi, both through Yamabushi/Shugenja (as both Ninja and Tengu like disguise themselves as one), and directly since Tengu's magical powers were often confused and tied in legends with Shinobi stealth techinques.
Wolf's more brightly colored outfit may be a small homage to Naruto's orange colors, and it stands as a testament to Wolf's skill, and by extension that of the player, in that they can remain hidden even with such a distinct outfit, showcasing how Wolf avoids being seen at all rather than relying on camouflage, which makes sense given how Owl is the one who taught him and he obviously had to learn how to be stealthy despite his large size, with his namesake implying he remains silent and high out of sight until he strikes. However there _are_ some areas around Ashina castle where the color of Wolf's clothes breaks up his outline a bit due to the lighting and color of the stonework, meaning his outfit may only be intended for the areas he's expected to operate in as Kuro's bodyguard, rather than out in the woods. Also, the fact that he's a bodyguard to a lord means hiding his identity isn't exactly a necessity, and being instantly recognizable would help in avoiding Kuro being tricked by someone pretending to be Wolf. As for combat? Again, Wolf is expected to act as Kuro's bodyguard, which means he's expected to be able to hold his own without running away as that would be him abandoning Kuro, but the game still encourages you to play intelligently, even if it sometimes denies you the ability to progress without engaging in open combat; pick your battles, run away if needed, use every trick at your disposal, punish your opponent for every misstep they make, and don't hesitate to get in the thick of things if that is what is needed to win. And in terms of the weapons and items sometimes being associated with yokai like the Tengu, remember that shinobi were often regarded as mythical in their own right, with many of their tricks being mistaken for magic, and in the world of Sekiro that actually has merit because magic is a very real thing that is not only present in the world, but can also be utilized by the player through Wolf.
Do modern spies wear uniforms when on the job? Probably not. Better yet, is a spy (employed by, say, the CIA) not a part of the CIA because they are a spy?
About Sekiro's outfit, Ashina's province is anything but green. If anything, his color scheme is perfect for the wooden interiors of Ashina Castle, or the autumn leaves of Senpo Temple. The classical navy blue would also be quite conspicuous in the snowy mountains of Ashina, too.
Malcolm Neill Illuso’s Man in the Mirror for stealth, Peschi’s Beach Boy as a tool, Prosciutto’s The Grateful Dead as a smoke bomb and Risotto’s Metallica as weaponry
Recently found this channel and series, and have to wonder if you're intending on ever covering my favorite ninja series (even more than Joe Musashi's "SHINOBI"), and this seemed the best video to ask on. FROM SOFTWARE'S TENCHU, perhaps focused on Rikimaru, Tatsumaru, Ayane, or Tesshu, the doctor. Great videos so far.
From what I’ve seen, I definitely think he leans more towards the Samurai side of things, but I absolutely love the research put into this. All of the really interesting weapons and techniques, so cool!!
You guys said nothing about his sword's length, yes it is true a ninja was a master in every weapon they could get their hands on (if you didn't mention that than I would), but another thing you mentioned in the past is that Ninja's used short swords (Goombah's argument on Genji's sword), and his sword's length is more samurai-ish On another note start mentioning that a lot of time's Samurai worked as Ninja Still this looks like an AWESOME game
Gaijin Goombah Media Plz do Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir Cultural reference and Which Ninja And Gegege no kitaro 2018 episode 23 about 3 Yokai in the show for Yokai Watchers
First of all, I love that you did Sekiro!! This is one of my favorite games of all time and I'm happy you chose to do it. Now to answer your question, I believe he is both. In the games lore, you learned that he was trained by more than one master, who taught him how to fight and another taught him essentially the shinobi ways. So I think that's why he is able to fight so well, his shinobi code should be more of a samurai one, and the clothing, well that I got nothing haha
Hey, on the matter of the Camouflage, consider the Ashina region as a whole. It's much more mountainous than it is forested, and when the sun shines on the stone of the mountains and the stonework of the fortresses, it reflects a more orange-ish red. Something that Blue or Green would've stood out against far more.
Always felt that Sekiro was more Ronin. Also I'd like to argue that he might have not really had a choice when picking out attire, as I can only assume he escape capture at the very start of the game.
When I skimmed the Bansenshukai when I was bored a couple weeks ago It did mention some stuff about loyalty to one’s feudal lord but with the qualifiers that you shouldn’t serve an unworthy lord. So that could be where Sekiro’s “ninja code” comes from.
In reference to his clothing not being good camouflage, I'm reminded of the concept of "blending in by standing out" where, if you stand out enough, people will subconsciously ignore you out of sympathetic embarrassment(or something like that).
I would like to point out something that you mentioned, the yokai. now I know that you have a lot more information regarding ninja than I do, but I have watched so many episodes of this, and there is one thing that you constantly hammer home it's that ninja will use any tool, any weapon, any "Thing" that they can to get an upper hand in order to survive the mission, so if a ninja had access to a jar spirit and a brew of any of the medicinal brews you say they had access to I see no reason they wouldn't use them great show, can't wait to see what the patrons choose next ^-^
Great video as always. Quick point on how Sekiro was trained. While his father, Owl, likely taught him swordsmanship it is revealed in some item text that Sekiro's ninja skills were taught to him by Lady Butterfly, a rather small old lady who uses allot of more ninja like techniques.
from what I have seen with this video, they went with a fusion between the two styles. I have no doubt that there are Ninja in history that would have been mistaken as samurai especially in the clans mentioned that were so duty bound to certain lords/clans. My thought on this is, who better to act as a go-between from the "cloak & dagger" spies ninja were typically supposed to be and "warrior" allies than one of their own not only trained with ninjutsu but also as a warrior. While a mountain of a man might not be able to pull off a majority of the techniques that would require the smaller builds, it is highly unlikely that a clan wouldn't use one of their own that happened to become a massive man once full grown to pose as a more typical warrior for such missions, especially if a target was hiring mercenaries it would give them a man on the inside to gather such knowledge. In short, the "teacher" could have been taught extensively as a ninja in their youth but as they outgrew the requirements could have been repurposed for a role more fitting and allow him to still be able to teach others a number of techniques.
I've been waiting since the game came out for you to do this.Also you are so right,in this game you can't wait to bait out some attack you have to fight and end it quickly because in Sekiro HESITATION MEANS DEFEAT
Really good episode, dude! I wish I had the console to play Sekiro... By the way, could you please do a little mini episode on The Messenger? I say little episode because I don't think there's a whole lot to unpack, but I'd love to see it analyzed nonetheless!
There should be two things to note, one you can get a small glimpse of Sekiro's training by ways of Lady Butterfly's memory, where in which it details that she was one of Sekiro's shinobi teachers, second later in the game when The Sculptor leaves the Dilapidated Temple he leaves a few tools so that Sekiro can still fit and upgrade his shinobi prosthetic showing us that he is indeed capable of smithing techniques and thus according to the last video covering Taki an even better candidate as a shinobi.
His supposedly bright tunic has the look of parched earth and his scarf has the color of wheat at harvest, both of which are fine counter shades in a wilderness environment during the day.
In my opinion you can be a little less harsh on ninja that teleport, use invisibility, etc because in a world where that was available would a shinobi not use them? I'm sure if you drop a shinobi into a world of technology or magic they would abuse it to its fullest potential. That's why I feel even Mesa from warframe is a better shinobi then on might give her credit for. She even has a was to make enemy weapons jam.
I get so excited when you upload a video, glad I subscribed. For future Which Ninjas could you cover Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot from Mortal Kombat? especially since Noob Saibot literally sticks to the shadows and uses a clone in combat.
One thing he says in the video is that Wolf is too much like a samurai... well, he need to also remember that a lot of ninja were also samurais. Just this little nugget of facts to anyone reading this.
Sorry about the handful of mistakes in this video. I lost the day of editing due to a car wreck. But I had a lot of fun doing this.
Feel better buddy. This was still awesome
No worries, I just hope you and yours are okay after that car wreck. To answer your question, Wolf was trained by Lady Butterfly and I feel she ticks off a LOT of 'Ninja' boxes. With that in mind I'd say Wolf is a Ninja, but one with more of a focus on defending his young lord over spy duties. I'd say even his missions reflect that, as he spends a lot of the game infiltrating various places, eavesdropping on various enemies, and yes killing obstacles to his young lords safety.
To be absolutely clear Wolf wasn't as much standard spy/assassin, as a bodyguard (we shouldn't remember that shinobi work in different tasks). It mean that he didn't really need hide his presence, even if he could be stealthy when he wanted. As scaring off potential threats and being recognizable as representative, was in fact sort of his job and we still don't know his real name (well, he is Raikoh Minamoto, but we never learn it from the game). That also explain (beside his immortality) his amazing fencing skills, as a bodyguard he usually focus more on direct confrontation then sneaking. Still undeniably Shinobi work. As for Owl.. well.. in this universe people can grow big. In fact it is possible that Owl was originally way smaller and just grow over time, but still kept his position as commander and master. After all same thing happen to Wolf, as for reminder (SPOILER) he is Sculptor.
Still waiting for the day WN talks about some modern day examples of ninja, such as Sam Fisher and Snake Eyes
I hope you're okay!
Sekiro was trained at least partly by lady butterfly, as stated by the Remnant: Lady Butterfly key item "The Butterfly was appointed by the Owl to serve as one of Wolf's teachers in Shinobi techniques."
Major Colin one of his teachers. Which means there were more!
Samurai is more of a class while shinobi is a job. They're not mutually exclusive.
I would never take the life style of a Samurai. "That is your freedom, I don't get to choose." Is a cop out, screw what is expected of you and live your life. My hero in my project he is a royal but he does what he wishes, no fear of dishonor, because to his family "Not being yourself makes for a poor leader." imagination is far better than a code because it is flexible.
Samurai were cool don't get me wrong, but any structure the forces one to accept what is chosen for them, that is a bad clan system. Think of Eddie Murphy's Coming To America finding love that isn't due to your station.
The girl he was originally supposed to marry being "My favorite is your favorite" is terrible.
@Plokman040 Tokugawa Shoganate look the origin history up.
Not all samurai clans were the same during the Sengoku Jidai. It's actually a misconception everyone wanted to even be shogun
@@wildwaymartialarts I'm sure Gaijin will say much the same, Samurai and Knights were more alike than many think. Some would kill someone for bad wine (Saki is a wine right? I don't know as I don't drink anything but a new years shot of Jerger with my dad) others would learn common crafts.
Stan Sakai made it a great point on how Samurai were not the same as each though to a degree were equal rank, Usagi cares for his home and the good people and while he hold his Ronin status still holds firm to his teachings.
But Usagi also will try to prevent bloodshed if he can, like the duel his master was forced to do, he pleaded to sense but understood his honor.
But still it is too strict a life for me, but then again Japan is too much for me and I don't mean that in a bad way. Two reasons I could never stay in Japan, my feet would never work there as like Gaijin my feet bow out and his is mild compared to mine (My femur is so bent you could use it as a literal bow!) and no spots to set no dice.
Second if there is one thing I can't stand it is sweating in summer, and I learned my lesson in Florida Illinois may get hot but please no. Me and my dad both say if we had to pick we would rather freeze than sweat.
@@Plokman040 sake is a rice wine, yes.
As to humidity, I'm Texan lol
@@wildwaymartialarts Fair, I have never been to your neck of the US.
Also thank you.
But he can be a Ninja with a clear purpose to defend his lord.
It also may explain his name "The Wolf".
As the noble creatures are predators that are both stealthy hunters and vicious animals when the right situation arises.
As such, whose to say he can't be a hybrid of both codes?
More over aside from his garb I agree makes him stand out, maybe he needs no mask cuz he is not a ninja that hides in plain sight but just like his name, he is a vicious guard dog to be released from the shadows when his master is in danger.
Going by the intro sequence shown and how he was recruited it is possible no one knew who he was until he became the wolf and thus "The Wolf" is the only identity he is known by in which case what need is there for a mask when you yourself do not exist only the persona society has given you.
Dark-Slayer dayum boy. Here take this thumbs up *hands him a thumbs up*
Reminds me of the inugami Gaijin described in his InuYasha video. So would Sekiro be an Inugami Shinobi Samurai?
There is a quote I think rather fits "The Lion and Tiger might be stronger, but a wolf doesn't preform in a circus." He's a wolf, being used for the thing he's good at, hunting and killing from the shadows. Ironically, Raptors and wolves where some of the first Shinobi if you think about it.
sure but his armor doesnt exactly makes him not standout among publics doesnt it, plus hiding among public or not im pretty sure that you need to wear a mask when you are inflirtating or doing missions in enemy base or etc
max felson You don't need a mask to hide in public (in fact, it's actually impractical to wear one in public unless your secondary job is with entertaining people (aka Kabuki))
Honestly, he seems like someone with both the training of a samurai and a shinobi. And while he leans heavily on the ninja stuff, he'll still use his skills and training as a swordsman and samurai as needed. Which seems pretty ninja to me, using your strengths to gain advantage.
11:30 Hestation is defeat, heard that alot during a certain boss fight
Yup, me too. Beat the rage demon in a couple days, still haven't taken that one down.
Come, Sekiro!
@@Zardinen Don't you mean... Kami damn sword saint? lol
Had to use 3 or 4 tears for this fight these words were so annoying xD
The damn guy had me quitting the game for abt a week. Lol
according to Metatron, Shinobi were actually very frequently also samurai. I don't see why Sekiro cannot be both, as it would justify his combat skill and his code to defend his master as well as the fact he can choose not to go full-on-100% ninja constantly.
Xayte I may very well be wrong, but didn't "Shinobi" at one point mean a Ninja that upheld the the way of Bushido? Because we all know that for the majority of their existence, the Samurai rarely if ever upheld Bushido, with only up until their waning years, ending in the Meiji Era. I think.
+Joshua Fogg The way it was explained to me is to think of "Shinobi" as having the same connotations when we think of the word "spy". Samurai was not an occupation, it was a social class. Shinobi, however, WAS an occupation. You could have samurai who were not shinobi, but many (maybe not all) shinobi were indeed of the Samurai social class.
Xayte So happy to see I’m not the only one who fully understands this concept. I said from the get go Wolf was a fantastic representation of a “ninja” samurai. You explained it brilliantly.
No it's because Wolf does not have Samurai status in the game's story, but either way it was a job so he can still have a different motivation than simple intel gathering.
As in Supernatural's Metatron?
Hey, Gaijin! You forgot to mention the most ninja mechanic of all: The eavesdropping!
Also, that coat is definitely orange and that scarf is off-white.
Orange isn´t that bad as a colour for hiding. Tigers will agree ;-)
1) some hues of orange will blend well with dry grass and red earth (even more so when dirty)
2) deep orange or red can´t be seen at night any more than deep blue.
3) More for tigers: most animals can´t see red! You can illuminate them with red light and they think that they´re hidden in darkness! Red and Orange don´t stand out from green to them during the daytime. (Similarly, we can´t tell ravens appart, but they see UV light and thus...)
@@edi9892 I noticed this during the hirata state areas that wolf is almost indistinguishable when he is besides a wall near a fire. Dunno if it was intentional or not, but it looked pretty neat for a camoflauge.
I think they said red and yellow because that's what Goombah wears
Dude, that orange garb, and yellow scarf is obviously the disguise of his previous mission. When he returned to his memory of hirata estates he was already wearing that. It's obviously one of the ninjas disguises, that of a monk.
HUUUUUGE EDIT!: THAT WOULD ALSO EXPLAIN WHY YOU TAKE PRAYER BEADS FROM YOUR ENEMIES!
That's a very slick example of Yo-nin
This is an awesome theory
only problem being you literally time travel back to that.
I mean you still have your grappling hook, can take new prosthetic tools back, etc.
also how does him being maybe being disguised as a monk (idk if this was how a monk dressed in this period) justify him needing prayer beeds beads to increase stats?
pretty sure they're all just buddhists and these beads are generally desirable - doubt it has much to do with the way he dresses
Maybe. Tho in the opening cutscene with child wolf, he's wearing an oversized orange robe while scavenging.
Adult wolf seems to be wearing the same orange robe but worn down with time.
Guess Owl never give him a new shirt
Regarding "The Iron Code" that Owl raises Wolf on, I think that was more of a controlling tactic used by Owl. In the lore, Owl and Wolf are considered rouge shinobi, meaning they have no initial allegiances, unlike the Nightjar shinobi who are currently loyal to Ashina (likely hired or outright created and trained by Ashina). While Wolf was trained by Lady Butterfly for his shinobi training and by Owl for more of his combat based training, Owl had much more control over what Wolf learned. It's no stretch of the imagination to believe that "The Iron Code" was completely fabricated by Owl in order to manipulate his "son" in order to help him obtain his ultimate goal. (SPOILER) It is the immortality gained from the heir's bloodline.
EDIT: Also the shuriken in Sekiro goes even further than you explained in the video. At a certain level, you unlock the ability to dash attack towards your target after successfully hitting the opponent with your shuriken. The shuriken itself will do a small amount of posture damage if the opponent deflects it, but its main purpose is to help you close the distance fast and deal a strike while they are distracted.
This spoils the lore more but the nightjar are directly trained by the ashina government though I won't spoil how we know if you don't want
Oi. Never forget what the the Sword Saint says.
Hesitation spells defeat. Never hesitate.
Couldn't that be a connection to the test of lethal intent
To answer the question at the beginning, he was taught by Lady Butterfly. Not Owl
@@bajocontinuo3 I keep seeing g you comment this sort of thing. He has been streaming the game on Twitch and is pretty good. At best you are making a joke that nobody finds funny and at worst you are just sort of being a jerk and making a bunch of assumptions. Please show a little respect.
By both
@@christianhdzm He was physically trained by owl, but Butterfly taught him to be a shinobi
Not just that, the description on her memory said she served as ONE of his teachers meaning there were more people that taught him.
They do refer to him as “Great Shinobi Owl” though so his point about him being to big to be a ninja still stands
Honestly, the lack of "traditional" Ninja garb doesn't bother me in the least, because I'm pretty sure real historical Shinobi didn't wear such distinctive outfits much to begin with. But if you need a justification, just assume Lone Wolf is a Ninja 'disguised' as a Samurai.
Yeah. A lot of ninja actually disguised as farmer
Traditional ninja garb=traditional japanese clothes
@@lassim3111They might have had the stereotypical outfit underneath, but running around dressed AS a ninja would have been disastrous.
Plus despite what Goomba says, Wolf's clothes don't really stand out much from his environment. He's surrounded by red earth on the ground, hides on roofs that blend in with his vest and pants, and his earth tones blend in with most of the areas he's in.
Plus, for game design purposes, in a 3rd person game, you need to be able to see your avatar.
Accuracy < ability to play.
He is a great ninja. Because combining samurai and ninja techniques does have some historical significance. That is what I see in Sekiro. A ninja who realized the need for direct combat as such trained and hybridized the subversive and ideological concepts of ninja techniques with the sword play and precision of samurai techniques.
More like Samurai and Ninja were not exclusive..Antony Cummins goes over this in his vid about Sekiro. Samurai is a social status and ninja is a job. A samurai could be a ninja or vice versa..many of the notions we have of Samurai and Ninja are from the Edo period where the two started to become heavily romanticized by the Japanese people such as the whole "One on one honorable combat" of the samurai. This game takes place during the Sengoku period where the samurai and Lone Wolf act much more true to how they would have during that time period and not the romanticized versions we are familiar with today.
@@ShinKyuubi nice to see another Antony Cummins viewer!
@@ShinKyuubi THANK YOU!--- This needs to be said
Which was I kinda had a problem with Gaijin saying that because Sekiro fights in combat a lot and being loyal to a lord (Kuro), that makes him more Samurai then Shinobi... Implying as if they are separate entities...
Ninjas werent "fighters" they only gathered information
@@taistelusammakko5088 If the Shinobi (Ninja) in question is a Samurai, they certainly can be "fighters"
I don't know going to have to disagree with the "Shinobi Code" thing - my perception was that was specifically Owl's thing, and more of a tool for controlling his subordinates (or more specifically Wolf) than a real code as Owl clearly answers to no master other than himself. You'll notice that Owl is the only one who really ever brings it up besides Wolf himself - and when you mention it to Isshin he immediately fingers you as being the kid that Owl brought up. Furthermore rejecting the "code" is a pretty big plot point in the game.
Sekiro: Players die 489 times
GIt gUD
You really are everywhere aren’t you?
Justin Y. Sekiro: Shadows Die. That’s it, they just die. And die. And die. And it never stops.
*PLAY OF THE GAME*
489 time is a lot
My first walkthrough death count Is 56 time if there is someone who can die 489 it would be Game journalist .
New Which Ninja? Better drop everything to watch.
Agreed
As Metatron said, shinobi were sometimes samurai, and some samurai were shinobi, so I agree 9/10 stars.
Antony Cummins goes over this game on his channel...yes THAT Antony Cummins..the one who is behind a good bit of ninja books. Here's the thing about the Lone Wolf of Sekiro..it's during the Sengoku Jidai where what he's doing is FAR more true to how a ninja during that time would be likely to operate. Many of our ninja and samurai perceptions comes from the Edo period where they started to get romanticized in Japan. Also GG I noticed again in your references..specifically at 3:57 and 4:00 it's shown that nuts are also used..from the looks of it specifically Japanese chestnuts, to hold metsubushi. This puts even MORE cred to the Deku nut used by the Sheikah of Legend of Zelda..especially since the nuts shown at 3:57 look very similar to the Deku nut..hell at 4:00 you see the chestnut flying through the air and hitting the target to release the cloud of metsubushi.
Don't forget that sekiro is a reference to lone wolf and cub.
Being like the man who assassinated people despite being more like a samurai and having him act closely like a ninja.
Same could be applied to sekiro.
It's wrong to assume shinobi=ninja. Ninja were specifically a rebellious group of persevering people who rose up against the empire. Sekiro is a shinobi, trained from birth as an intelligence gatherer and tactical fighter, considering he was chosen to protect the young emperor his role would be the equivalent of the secret service. Samurai clans could either be shinobi(intel), ronin(without masters), kenin(house samurai), I'm sure there were more specializations but Google isn't helping me right now.
@@jasonleejames_official
But
That still means that he has experience as a swordsman or samurai to a degree.
Maybe less of a ninja but still a bit like 1?
@@jasonleejames_official while indeed Kurou was initially intended to be a "prince", he's not a young emperor in the game (commonly referred to as Miko-sama instead)
@@shira_yone correct that he is a prince but eventually he could take on that role in the future.
@@jasonleejames_official no, I'm saying that he's not a royalty. At best just an heir from a noble family (probably the Hirata family). In easier to understand words, I'm very sure he can never be an emperor.
Also this is the Sengoku Period, the emperor is mostly isolated and nobody rarely able to meet him so it's impossible for them to treat a future emperor to be like how they treat Kurou in the game (being kidnapped, hold captive and stuff).
Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow from GI Joe.
Colonel Frontline yes!
I'd be happy to help with research. I've got a G.I. Joe book that can probably help.
YES OMG
@richard conaway I don't know of any iteration of Snake Eyes who spoke in the bulk of the story's present. Him being a forced mute is pretty darn consistent. If a version of him can/will speak, it's usually a matter of time before he is silent.
That said, the renegades version is pretty darn ninja. Heck, he actually decided to teach the Joes how to use a kusarigama, not a sword.
Sekiro is a mix of both samurai an ninja seeing as how much fighting he dose an the many items he uses
Doesn't he have a skill tree called 'Samurai' in the game? Meanwhile the rest are for stealth and his prosthetic arm.
@@Techhunter_Talon Given that is primary a Katana so you tell me
His skill trees are "Shinobi Arts" "Prosthetic Arts" "Ashina Arts" "Temple Arts" and "Mushin Arts".
@@gabbidagur Many samurai were also shinobi/ninja. It's not mutually exclusive
@@Aurilion44 i'm well aware, i'm just pointing out the games skill trees.
Never said that samurai could not be shinobi/ninja.
1:51 I love that moment of realization. =3
indeed xD
That "...Wait." Moment. :P Real Ninjas wear blue... So why he wears RED?
I definitely liked how at 9:44 you're explaining how useful it is to stay on the high ground for a ninja, and yet doing the one thing a ninja wouldn't do : jumping right into a fight before gathering any information (eavesdropping) !
Just hearsay, maybe somebody else has a real source; but I heard once that shinobi actually dressed in ruddy colors that wouldn’t show bloodstains so that they could kill and blend in without constantly changing garb. Also, having a covered face would be immediately suspicious. As we see from the Hirata Estates memory, Sekiro is the official shinobi of Lord Kuro, so his seemingly cowardly absence from the battle to protect the Hirata estates is noticed by the locals that Sekiro questions.
Most shinobi just dressed like normal people, so as to draw no suspicion. What we have characterized as being ancient Ninja clothing is actually just ancient Japanese clothing as a whole.
Best part was when and I quote "what's ninja wears a red garb with a yellow scarf... Wait"
1:44 and now goomba roasts himself by accident.
Hey Gaijin can you please do a which ninja video on Konoe Kikyo from Bravely Default.
Wolf was trained by Lady Butterfly and fathered as well as mentored by the Owl.
You should do a which ninja on Aragami Gaijin!
To answer the question of 'who trained Wolf' it was mentioned in Lady Butterfly's fight that Wolf was surprised to see her as an enemy, since she was the one who trained Wolf in the art of Ninjutsu. And his Shinobi master is obviously Owl.
Owl is known to be a legendary Master Shinobi. It was mentioned in parts of the game that NPC's, upon recognizing Sekiro, start with 'You are the one who was picked up by the Great Shinobi Owl'. Even Isshin knows and recognizes him based on his dialogue if you give him a Dragonspring Sake. Owl also has connections to the Ministry making him obviously well known.
And you can also consider Isshin to be a half master to Sekiro, since he gave him the Ashina skill tree which helped him far more.
The Iron Code is a mixture of a samurais oath and of a Shinobi. Those two rules alone shows that Sekiro isn't just some kind of Ninja.
The first code states that the will of his father/mentor is above all else, I'm pretty sure this is a standard and normal clause when taking in a disciple or accepting a master, less being picked up by one during the most hectic war of Japan. Second Code is to protect your master at all cost. Sure Owl ordered him this but this also shows the samurai code, where to retrieve and protect your master is above all else.
Hey Gaijin. Just a few notes for your research.
Wolf was trained at an early age by the boss "Lady Butterfly" in the art of ninjitsu as confirmed in a few item descriptions. His general martial arts prowess probably came from Owl as well.
Owl's boss fight is actually very good albeit heavily emphasized to be more flavor than anything as a demonstration of some of the intensity and variety a Shinobi brings when they are locked into those inescapable one on one battles. Again, more a game thing than reality, but it did happen as you stated.
Sekiro makes conscious motions to stab through weak joints and unguarded spots on enemies rather than through their armor. Doesn't lend itself any points but it is really nice as a logical real world touch.
Finally, his colors are definitely out of place and he doesn't wear a mask, but his outfit /is/ very patchy and off color in nature, lending more to orange and brown than red and yellow. This is only noteworthy because Selkirk takes place almost entirely at twilight, and I believe this is intentional design choice by From Software. Remember, Japan is their home turf and they are huge history/fantasy nerds. They would be aware of the nature of camouflage and its uses, and I believe they intentionally designed Sekiro to fit into the specific setting they designed rather than going with traditional ninja color patterns and ideas because they wanted the game to take place during the daytime most of all.
-alternatively, it's possible that his palette is supposed to blend in with fire as well, perhaps he's a specific type of Shinobi for Ashina that operates under specific conditions. It is confirmed that Owl, Lady Butterfly and Isshin Ashina know each other, so potentially Sekiro was supposed to be another arm of that group, aping the real world emperor who had Shinobi bodyguards.
I'm not a history buff nor am I an expert on Japanese culture, but I can sort of piece together From Software logic as a lifelong player of their games. This is just my take though, the beauty of these games is that every subtlety can be interpreted many ways. Great video overall, but this is info I'm not sure you were aware of at the time of writing the script.
I will keep asking until I get the answer I need from YOU GOOMBA!!!!
What is the music that plays when you analyse these ‘ninjas’, I know noteblock remix does the music but what is the name of track?
It’s so great but I can’t find it anywhere :(
Yes I would like to know as well.
He's got a link in the description block when you click "Show more" that links to the dude who does his music for this.
ShinKyuubi dude did you not read what I put?
I know it’s him that did the music BUT we don’t know the name of the track, trust me I would’ve found it by now if the link was directly to the video and not the channel
@@nathanx2000. lol ikr
After watching a video earlier today that insisted that Ninja never used Katana, i was hoping you'd make this
I was not dissapointed
I learn so much from each of your videos. Thank you for taking the time to impart your knowledge.
Loved this episode!nice work again dude!I've never played sekiro cause I can't,buy I've seen some playthrough and I'm glad you did a video about the game!
Probably too easy but to relate to sekiro why not do rikimaru from tenchu, Just to see where he falls among other game ninja?
What is the name of the music track that plays in these which ninja videos?
Someone plz answer this
Its amazing how much there still is to learn about ninjas in video games. Just when i think theres nothing else to learn im always suprised
dude you have no idea how much i waited for this video xD keep the good work man
...yep, the comments make more sense then this video.
dropping the ball, Gaijin.
not cool, dude. Engage with Gaijin. Don't just slam him because there were some angles he didn't consider.
You know I'm starting to see that Gaijin's grading appears to be more the Idealism of the ninja while Goomba's grading seems to be the more literal and accurate side of the coin. (Even if they are the same person haha :P)
11:54 as isshin says in-game "hesitation is defeat"
Isn’t the hybridized code because owl was using sekiro for a specific purpose, and he was meant to blend in to samurai society as a guard dog?
Not every ninja was a spy, and not every ninja was raised to be one....
You do know that some one could be a samurai and a ninja at the same time right?
Could you please cover some of the enemies in this game? That would be awesome!
Specifically:
wooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- DEAD
2:32 Ah, I see that the Ninja abide by the first rule of hitchhiking: always know where your towel is.
Owl is literally the hardest fight in the game, when you right him the second time, I think he can have the title "ninja"
...why not be both ninja and samurai? Nijamurai ( I heard that from death battle... I think)
Nijamurai sounds like a name
That is from DB Samurai Jack VS Afro Samurai
Omg, real ninja were taught what Lord Ishin teaches us?
"Hesitation is defeat."
Definitely would like to see you dive more into this game if your up for it! Thanks!
You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this video to drop
1:48 fun fact :that's the flag of Bangladesh. Also I am from Bangladesh
ভালো কিন্তু আপনার ইউজারনেম ও I'm from Bangladesh কেন? 😅
@@zireael9797 english please. Even though I am form Bangladesh I still can't read it
Can you please make a video on the basic of Ninja. Like a guide to what makes a good Ninja. What they wear, how they would act, they're ideology. Knowing things like this are very useful for us artist and writers to know how to design a ninja.
I could but that would be an exceptionally long video. That's why I like to use popular media as a platform
You can also look up Antony Cummins, whose research team Translated the three major shinobi (shoninki, Bansenshukai, and ninpiden) texts into English language. He's been mentioned on the channel in the past and has his own RUclips channel.
@@jamcalx He even released a vid about this game..and at the same time I got this vid notification I got one from his channel about Dark Icelandic magic
@@GaijinGoombah So just break it down into several parts and release each one in between your other videos. And you can even use popular media to help explain it all.
I'm pretty sure Tengu had strong connections to Shinobi, both through Yamabushi/Shugenja (as both Ninja and Tengu like disguise themselves as one), and directly since Tengu's magical powers were often confused and tied in legends with Shinobi stealth techinques.
Wolf's more brightly colored outfit may be a small homage to Naruto's orange colors, and it stands as a testament to Wolf's skill, and by extension that of the player, in that they can remain hidden even with such a distinct outfit, showcasing how Wolf avoids being seen at all rather than relying on camouflage, which makes sense given how Owl is the one who taught him and he obviously had to learn how to be stealthy despite his large size, with his namesake implying he remains silent and high out of sight until he strikes. However there _are_ some areas around Ashina castle where the color of Wolf's clothes breaks up his outline a bit due to the lighting and color of the stonework, meaning his outfit may only be intended for the areas he's expected to operate in as Kuro's bodyguard, rather than out in the woods. Also, the fact that he's a bodyguard to a lord means hiding his identity isn't exactly a necessity, and being instantly recognizable would help in avoiding Kuro being tricked by someone pretending to be Wolf.
As for combat? Again, Wolf is expected to act as Kuro's bodyguard, which means he's expected to be able to hold his own without running away as that would be him abandoning Kuro, but the game still encourages you to play intelligently, even if it sometimes denies you the ability to progress without engaging in open combat; pick your battles, run away if needed, use every trick at your disposal, punish your opponent for every misstep they make, and don't hesitate to get in the thick of things if that is what is needed to win. And in terms of the weapons and items sometimes being associated with yokai like the Tengu, remember that shinobi were often regarded as mythical in their own right, with many of their tricks being mistaken for magic, and in the world of Sekiro that actually has merit because magic is a very real thing that is not only present in the world, but can also be utilized by the player through Wolf.
but gaijin...
YOU DIDN'T MENTION THE DOG'S!
Sekiro is either a Ninja without the Uniform, or a Samurai who knows how to Ninja.
shinobi did not have a uniform. also sekiro could have been a samurai as well
Do modern spies wear uniforms when on the job? Probably not. Better yet, is a spy (employed by, say, the CIA) not a part of the CIA because they are a spy?
About Sekiro's outfit, Ashina's province is anything but green. If anything, his color scheme is perfect for the wooden interiors of Ashina Castle, or the autumn leaves of Senpo Temple. The classical navy blue would also be quite conspicuous in the snowy mountains of Ashina, too.
Yay I was so excited for you to cover this
Jigoku sensei Nube -Culture Shock and Yokai Watcher
I have an idea - What Stand from JoJo's Bizzare Adventure: Golden Wind's Villain Team - The Assassination Squad Would be Most Suitable for a Ninja?
Malcolm Neill Illuso’s Man in the Mirror for stealth, Peschi’s Beach Boy as a tool, Prosciutto’s The Grateful Dead as a smoke bomb and Risotto’s Metallica as weaponry
I would say overall Metallica hands down due to the weapons he can create as well as camouflage
Malcolm Neill agreed
Recently found this channel and series, and have to wonder if you're intending on ever covering my favorite ninja series (even more than Joe Musashi's "SHINOBI"), and this seemed the best video to ask on. FROM SOFTWARE'S TENCHU, perhaps focused on Rikimaru, Tatsumaru, Ayane, or Tesshu, the doctor. Great videos so far.
1:30 Pirates or ninjas? I believe we found the true answer here.
Ninja pirates.
He a hybrid ninja samurai or a samurai trained as a ninja
Samurai is a social class, shinobi is a job. He's both.
Leaps and bounds more ninja than Ryu Hayabusa and thats enough for me.
Man, Ive been dying for you to do an analysis on this!
From what I’ve seen, I definitely think he leans more towards the Samurai side of things, but I absolutely love the research put into this. All of the really interesting weapons and techniques, so cool!!
You guys said nothing about his sword's length, yes it is true a ninja was a master in every weapon they could get their hands on (if you didn't mention that than I would), but another thing you mentioned in the past is that Ninja's used short swords (Goombah's argument on Genji's sword), and his sword's length is more samurai-ish
On another note start mentioning that a lot of time's Samurai worked as Ninja
Still this looks like an AWESOME game
Gaijin Goombah Media Plz do Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir Cultural reference and Which Ninja
And Gegege no kitaro 2018 episode 23 about 3 Yokai in the show for Yokai Watchers
Gotta agree, love Miraculous Ladybug
Oh, that would be a crazy episode, I did not see that at all
First of all, I love that you did Sekiro!! This is one of my favorite games of all time and I'm happy you chose to do it. Now to answer your question, I believe he is both. In the games lore, you learned that he was trained by more than one master, who taught him how to fight and another taught him essentially the shinobi ways. So I think that's why he is able to fight so well, his shinobi code should be more of a samurai one, and the clothing, well that I got nothing haha
Hey, on the matter of the Camouflage, consider the Ashina region as a whole. It's much more mountainous than it is forested, and when the sun shines on the stone of the mountains and the stonework of the fortresses, it reflects a more orange-ish red. Something that Blue or Green would've stood out against far more.
Always felt that Sekiro was more Ronin.
Also I'd like to argue that he might have not really had a choice when picking out attire, as I can only assume he escape capture at the very start of the game.
Spoiler
Owl created the iron code to dupe Sekiro into securing the Divine heir for him, deception.
Been waiting for this video.
1:51 The moment Goomba became self aware.
I believe that sekiro, is the closest thing to a perfect ninja that can exist in a melee combat focused rpg style game.
9/10
Wow, the metatron would have a field day with this fool! So many mistakes in this video, I thought you were a cultural expert?
When I skimmed the Bansenshukai when I was bored a couple weeks ago It did mention some stuff about loyalty to one’s feudal lord but with the qualifiers that you shouldn’t serve an unworthy lord. So that could be where Sekiro’s “ninja code” comes from.
In reference to his clothing not being good camouflage, I'm reminded of the concept of "blending in by standing out" where, if you stand out enough, people will subconsciously ignore you out of sympathetic embarrassment(or something like that).
I was looking forward to this episode so much.
I would like to point out something that you mentioned, the yokai.
now I know that you have a lot more information regarding ninja than I do, but I have watched so many episodes of this, and there is one thing that you constantly hammer home it's that ninja will use any tool, any weapon, any "Thing" that they can to get an upper hand in order to survive the mission, so if a ninja had access to a jar spirit and a brew of any of the medicinal brews you say they had access to I see no reason they wouldn't use them
great show, can't wait to see what the patrons choose next ^-^
Loved the video and series but I didn’t see a “tenchu stealth assassin” video those are some really good ninja games
Great video as always. Quick point on how Sekiro was trained. While his father, Owl, likely taught him swordsmanship it is revealed in some item text that Sekiro's ninja skills were taught to him by Lady Butterfly, a rather small old lady who uses allot of more ninja like techniques.
from what I have seen with this video, they went with a fusion between the two styles. I have no doubt that there are Ninja in history that would have been mistaken as samurai especially in the clans mentioned that were so duty bound to certain lords/clans. My thought on this is, who better to act as a go-between from the "cloak & dagger" spies ninja were typically supposed to be and "warrior" allies than one of their own not only trained with ninjutsu but also as a warrior. While a mountain of a man might not be able to pull off a majority of the techniques that would require the smaller builds, it is highly unlikely that a clan wouldn't use one of their own that happened to become a massive man once full grown to pose as a more typical warrior for such missions, especially if a target was hiring mercenaries it would give them a man on the inside to gather such knowledge. In short, the "teacher" could have been taught extensively as a ninja in their youth but as they outgrew the requirements could have been repurposed for a role more fitting and allow him to still be able to teach others a number of techniques.
11:33 "Hesitation is defeat." -Isshin the Sword Saint
I've been waiting since the game came out for you to do this.Also you are so right,in this game you can't wait to bait out some attack you have to fight and end it quickly because in Sekiro HESITATION MEANS DEFEAT
I’ve been waiting for this Gaijin Goomba video forever! I knew Sekiro would make for an amazing history video
I was expecting this video for a long time
Waited for u to do this one for a long time
Sorry I had that trip to Japan, then horrible jet lag, then got into a car wreck.
@@GaijinGoombah Hope u saw a doctor and get some rest. Stay safe
thank you for minimizing spoilers. I think I'm only like 60% through the game and keep accidentally spoiling bits for myself.
Don't worry Gaijin! The taki episode has been suggested to me a couple times!
Great video btw 👍
Really good episode, dude! I wish I had the console to play Sekiro... By the way, could you please do a little mini episode on The Messenger? I say little episode because I don't think there's a whole lot to unpack, but I'd love to see it analyzed nonetheless!
Even though I don't understand half of the things you say and yet you make me feel smart (emphasis on 'feel')
There should be two things to note, one you can get a small glimpse of Sekiro's training by ways of Lady Butterfly's memory, where in which it details that she was one of Sekiro's shinobi teachers, second later in the game when The Sculptor leaves the Dilapidated Temple he leaves a few tools so that Sekiro can still fit and upgrade his shinobi prosthetic showing us that he is indeed capable of smithing techniques and thus according to the last video covering Taki an even better candidate as a shinobi.
His supposedly bright tunic has the look of parched earth and his scarf has the color of wheat at harvest, both of which are fine counter shades in a wilderness environment during the day.
In my opinion you can be a little less harsh on ninja that teleport, use invisibility, etc because in a world where that was available would a shinobi not use them? I'm sure if you drop a shinobi into a world of technology or magic they would abuse it to its fullest potential. That's why I feel even Mesa from warframe is a better shinobi then on might give her credit for. She even has a was to make enemy weapons jam.
I get so excited when you upload a video, glad I subscribed. For future Which Ninjas could you cover Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot from Mortal Kombat? especially since Noob Saibot literally sticks to the shadows and uses a clone in combat.
To paraphrase Noob Saibot himself, they are NOT ninja. They are Lin Kuei. They consider bring called a "ninja" an insult.
@@assassinsden7478 Pretty sure Sub-Zero said that and it doesn't mean they don't have ninja qualities.
One thing he says in the video is that Wolf is too much like a samurai... well, he need to also remember that a lot of ninja were also samurais. Just this little nugget of facts to anyone reading this.
very cool to see he lives up to the hype even with a few errors here and there really cool to learn that sword stepping technique is actually real