How "Ninja" is Final Fantasy XIV's Ninja Class !? - Which Ninja

Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV!? Yeah, probably so. But have you heard about about the game's Ninja Job class? Have you heard how it has some of the most INSANE esoteric shinobi history that makes up the classes game mechanics? Well CHECK IT OUT!
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Research Books and Media:
Bansenshukai
Naruhodo Ninja Ozukan
The Ninja Shinobitte Nanja?
Ninja Attack!: True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws
#finalfantasyxiv #finalfantasy #gaijingoombah

[@GaijinGoombah]

Thanks for watching everyone! I mean it when I say there was some SUPER HIDDEN esoteric crap when it comes to the Ninja Job and I wish I had looked into it sooner!

[@gurshansarai9761]

Bro gaijin pls do a vid on the SHINOBI NO MONO 1962 film plsssss

[@gamerkingdom1442]

Hey Gaijin! I got you a good one! I recently saw a video of Monster Hunter Rise, showing the process of making the Soundtrack for the game, and it hit me! Why don’t you make a video of the Japanese Instruments used, and their histories!! That’s something I’m interested to see, and I hope others are as well!

[@namelessentity1167]

Gaijin Goomba so far we have been looking at the real life parts of ninjas and inspiration behind current cultural ninjas however what would ninjas be like if they had the ability to use Magic?

[@jdfigs5916]

Just throwing it out there but maybe you guys can do a ninja break down on kitana from mortal kombat because I think you can find some ninja elements in her character

[@metalmilo]

Have you ever thought about how the phantom thieves (persona 5) make great ninjas?

[@JoCat]

fun prank to play on your ninja friends: rearrange the mudras on their hotbar

[@GaijinGoombah]

OOOOOH that is EEEEEVIL!!!!

[@TammyJerkChicken]

EVIL!!!!!!!

[@SpazzingEagle]

Anything but the mudras!

[@Stevetheanimeninja]

You monster!

[@Inhaledcorn]

YOU MONSTER

[@aboundedsumo7984]

Gaijin: "I could do months of cultural analysis videos on XIV alone" Me, a XIV and Gaijin fan: "Dew it"

[@MrRavenBlackwing]

I second this statement. DO IT!

[@edvance1030]

@@MrRavenBlackwing I third this statement. DO IT!

[@Castersvarog]

Seriously, do it. I want to see that happen.

[@kurisu7885]

Yes please!

[@Lorekeeper72]

Yes, I would very much like that too

[@UndeadForsaken]

"I could do months worth of cultural analysis videos..." Ok, if u wanna force us, who are we to stop you.

[@otakon17]

Look out, GG is threatening us with a good time!

[@kurisu7885]

I had no idea how much I wanted this until now.

[@Leoofmoon]

"What else could ninja be in s mmo? Tank?" *laughs in ffxi*

[@Timmir00]

Honestly I think Rogues, Ninjas, and the adjacent could be a cool tank class if done correctly. FFXI is just one of the few games I know who actually experimented with it.

[@Leoofmoon]

@@Timmir00 in Xi ninja was a damage dealer bit their dodge made them great takes who rarely took damage

[@alexdavid878]

instantly thought of ffxi too. Ironic since the emphasize item base mechanics probably closer to a real ninja.

[@markedred]

Yeah, I don't think they intended FFXI Ninjas to be tanks at all. It's just their Evasion was so good it ended up working that way in the end. Not sure if the devs kept encouraging it after that.

[@SilverNightbane]

Ah yes... the "Agility Tanks"

[@thegamer101n]

What I love about ffxiv ninja is that for all the fantastical parts of the job, how they're portrayed in the story from the msq and the jobquests is very close to history and it shows how much care the devs put in for the job

[@generalvash]

The thumbnail makes it seem like you went into the future and played a game we have to wait for

[@GaijinGoombah]

oooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo...

[@signor_zuzzu]

It would be interesting to see on this show Pokémon ninja trainers, like Koga for example, I think he never talked much about how ninja used animals to do their bidding

[@akirandrake414]

The funny thing is I'm currently leveling Ninja in FF14 RIGHT now!

[@graywolfdracon]

The Matrix has you.

[@Sandman382]

I can't STAND Ninja. It's just one level of complexity too high for me to enjoy playing. I have enough trouble trying to keep track of monk and its multiple combos with different facings. >.< And yet I find myself enjoying healer usually aside from when I want to rip the arms off my team myself. :P Good to see that some people actually enjoy it though, it was really popular for awhile during stormblood and then I just stopped seeing them....and then I stopped playing because Covid did a number on my ability to pay for it.

[@akirandrake414]

@@Sandman382 See for me, that's Red Mage. I just can't get a good handle on it. It just feels off to me. Ninja seems pretty simple to me as long as I can remember the Jutsu combos. Since I basically just keep Doton and Futon up and Slash at the enemies. I plan to make use of the teleport skill and the Raiton Jutsu to pull off some crazy stuff once I get the passive that resets the Teleport skill for every use of Raiton.

[@Cyanoblades]

Hey me too, wtf

[@cameronholtan3407]

Level 51 Ninja Potato reportin' in..

[@alextalbain9269]

Final Fantasy online is my favorite mmorpg ever and I can't ever stop coming back to it

[@johnhoftb]

Huh, while I know y'all we're wanting to focus on the historical aspects of the names, I thought there'd be a token mention that some of the ninja arts do have crowd control, which is useful for a ninja.

[@diersteinjulien6773]

2:20 "what else could the ninja be? A tank?" Fun thing is, Ninja WAS (well, could) used as a tank in FF11, which didn't have set in stone roles for classes. It was a very rarely seen in games "evasion tank". Relying on shadow copies and illusions to grab the ennemy's attention and not getting hit at all (because a couple hits would be enough to kill him)

[@masterofchaos7282]

Hope to see a Shadow which ninja someday. Also you’ve got 16 on the thumbnail, not 14.

[@adventurejedi2490]

Some characters you could analyze: Gray Fox (Metal Gear Solid) Daredevil (Marvel) Vega (Street Fighter) Snake Eyes and/or Storm Shadow (GI Joe) Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assaasins/Shadows (DC)

[@SamuriX2010]

"I could do months of content on ffxiv alone" Please do :D

[@MADAOSushi]

"What could Ninja be other than dps? A tank?" ....*smirks in FFXI*

[@Leo_Noved]

Hey I know that Red armored Dragoon! I remember a few months ago when i first started playing I was said to a friend "it would be pretty cool if Gaijin did a video on Yugiri." At the time I thought that was pretty good idea, but playing through the game for the first time you didn't really see her do a whole lot which makes me think that's the sign of a good Ninja.

[@Ladywizard]

Well doesn't help that the 2.x voice actress got brutally murdered so she was left out of heavensward out of respect

[@Leo_Noved]

@@Ladywizard I didn't know that I thought they just changed her VA like everyone else from ARR.

[@Keairan3]

Nin's job questline is honestly my second favorite job questline in the game. The first being Dark Knight. And yeah, the parallels to real ninja culture in the quests is big (not so much the 60-70 questline, but that doesn't matter so much.)

[@patrickcunzio1428]

I would love to see more FFXIV. I love the game. Gotta check your streams of it.

[@BemusedOwl]

I'm just imagining the ninja using katon and a fire escape door falling from the sky onto the enemy

[@SuperBrainSandwich]

I was bummed you didn't go into detail about certain points of the ninja job quests (especially some of the ones in Bronze Lake), but I understand your reasoning. I'm glad you FINALLY did this! Funny thing is I just got my Nin to 80 literally the night before you released this!

[@pkthunder3]

Yes, I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to see more FFXIV content from you.

[@Blade_Corps]

Ugh, I remember seeing the stream for this going live and I was at work like NOOOOO, I could log in and help him around x.x

[@kazekamiha]

Ninja is one of two classes I've yet to get to 80; but I still have it at 50.

[@dracone4370]

There's a series called Gaikotsu Kishi-sama Tadaima Isekai e o Dekake-chuu (Skeleton Knight In Another World), which is a light novel series (but I've been reading the Manga translation, I haven't heard about an anime adaptation for the series just yet), and in that series, there is a shinobi character, Chiyome (her clan of beastfolk learned ninja arts when someone who supposedly knew Shinobi arts fell into the world of the story and basically lived with her clan and taught them the way of ninja). Chiyome doesn't fall into some of the more noticeable fantasy ninja tropes, but she does fall into a few of them, just not the way most shinobi in the media do. Interestingly, Chiyome's elemental magic isn't fire, that distinction goes to a character she considered an older brother who sadly got turned into a high-functioning undead before we met him in the series proper, and instead her magic centers around water and manipulation of that elemental force, but she usually uses it in combat to make spears and shuriken and the like that basically disperse into puddles of water after making contact with the target. A lot of talk about shinobi using elemental forces to their advantage on this channel, but it's mostly been talk about fire and how much of friend to a shinobi fire is, but what about wind and water. From what I've managed to gather about shinobi, in this series, they have philosophical approaches that sound very much like they are taking their approach to things as if they were water (and in our modern era, electricity to some degree) with taking the path of least resistance, move as with purpose but in a way that won't immediately catch the attention of others, be as one with the environment around you as possible, reshape your approach when obstacles make themselves known to you, be as light and flexible as possible within any and all constraints placed upon you, alter the form of yourself to better stay discreet; all of those sound very much like they need to be as fluidic as water to me. So, just how much does water play into historical shinobi approaches? How important was water to historical shinobi? Can think of any shinobi in popular media that would be a good fit for talking about shinobi and their relationship with water?

[@johndipietro9301]

Aw yeah, I've been WAITING for this one. (Level 80 Ninja BTW) I will note - in FFXI, Ninja accidentally ended up a Tanking job. I'm unaware of the specifics, but basically, the game has a subjob system, and Ninja was a popular choice in either main or sub with a more traditional tank because the insane evasion combined with tanky resistance made it really hard to kill one.

[@kokoroh8754]

Also the concept of the mudras in game is really easterly. The ability to control ones mind body and soul or aether in game to cause magic. And then there's the relics Such as Kannagi, Yoshimitsu, or Sasuke blades just to name a few. Or the Hattori and Iga artifact gear sets. The old removed actions of using poison derived from nature. Or even the fact they use speed and surprise to deal with foes over other melee jobs use of brute force. Also the fact that hiding lets you reset things so your mind is calm for the battle ahead.

[@AxelRize]

Do it! Make a sub series!

[@jedimasterpickle3]

So happy you did this. I'm not super high level on NIN (~58 last I checked), but I knew this had to be a great episode given how flashy the job is in XIV.

[@anti-macro]

I'm a Ninja main and had absolutely no idea the skills had so many references in them. The game translates the ninjutsu moves as "fire release", "lightning release" etc so it's easy to just discount them as run of the mill elemental attacks without much of a second thought. Loved the video, hope you'll revisit FFXIV again in the future!

[@OhNoTheFace]

I actually remember being so sad when the fun rogue job became so naruto later. (I did not research ahead)

[@terradraca]

Would like to see more of this. I'm especially curious about Susano and the samurai job quest which definitely feels like it was pulled from the pages of old samurai stories.

[@CalamitasDeus]

I believe we speak for all when I say you absolutely should do an entire series on FINAL FANTASY XIV.

[@LadyMeiun]

Oh yeah, I would ABSOLUTELY want you to do some videos on the various cultural things in this show!

[@SpecterCry]

I'm a huge fan of FFXIV and the areas you named in this video are some of my favorites in game so I would love to hear more about the cultures that inspired them so I'm down for a month of content like that, would be awesome ^^

[@eleoralindsay3416]

I love this show It’s both entertaining and a great source of casual knowledge on things like stealth and survival that I personally have made great use of hiding in the woods from a bunch of Boy Scouts

[@jxk6634]

A good game to check out would be Styx: Master of Shadows. A goblin with arcane powers and a dagger has to infiltrate locations, extract information, and assassinate targets. It has parkour, sound manipulation, environment manipulation, and other features. The combat system encourages you to stealth because it is ineffective. Similar to Dishonored but less combat

[@vustvaleo8068]

well the game has FANTASY in its title so realism be damned, lol.

[@BanraiTeraByte]

I have an interesting suggestion choice of Which Ninja for the Patrons that might be curious: Ghost Rider. after watching these videos and learning so much about ninja culture, I actually think that Ghost Rider might be, in a really odd way, a ninja based on his powers, gear, and fighting style.

[@umbralbushido8636]

Any chance you could do a which ninja on Chipp Zanuff from the guilty gear series? I've been having a lot of fun with the latest entry and think it would be an interesting video.

[@johndipietro9301]

One thing I will note is that the Warrior of Light isn’t the best Ninja historically, but the actual shinobi from Doma are shown to be more capable of the usual ninja skills - disguise, infiltration, distraction, and information gathering is a key feature, especially in their initial appearance in the Seventh Astral Era and the early Heavensward stories. And on that note… the Warrior of Light IS actually capable of incredible disguise through the use of Glamour, and does use actual disguises in a couple of cases; further, the Scouting class of gear runs the gamut of styles, despite Ninja being the only job to use it (technically the Rogue class could, so maybe that's why?). In fact, if you’re a Ninja in a particular scene in Stormblood and NOT wearing the Artifact Gear, you’ll get a comment from a character praising you for NOT being obvious. Finally, there an interesting twist in the way that the Rogue/Ninja stealth works versus the way the Gatherer “Sneak” works. Rogue/Ninja’s Hide is absolute against non-boss foes up to 10 levels higher and is pretty much invisibility… but, you can’t move quickly with it. The Gatherers’ all gain Sneak, which hides them only from monsters up to four levels higher, but they can move freely while doing so. From a gameplay perspective, it’s clearly to allow you to safely move and gather without worrying about mobs, but even if only by coincidence, it seems reflective of how shinobi would often disguise themselves as laborers or farmers for their infiltration (something the NPCs did in the game as well to varying degrees). In fact, I can think of a few cases earlier in the game where I had an overworld mission and used Gatherer to get close to my target before switching to Ninja for the actual task. The distinction also is like that of skulking versus disguising to belong/hiding in plain sight.

[@Touhou20246]

I just want to say that the five elements mentioned in this video reminds me of Pacthouli knowledge who has the power to manipulate the five elements of metal, fire, water, wood and earth.😅

[@-The-Stranger-]

Wanna get even wilder? Look into the FFXI Ninja. They don't use Mudra to cast spells, they actually use Ninja Tools to do it. (Ex: the spell Tonko: Ichi uses Shinobi Tabi to cast, or Hojo: Ichi uses a Kaginawa to cast) The Ninja of XI has far more spells too (around 20 unique and 1-3 ranks of each one, and is required to carry A LOT of Ninja tools as a result. Pretty sure you could do a fairly lengthy video talking about them all. If you're interested, but lack the game and levels, let me know and I'll be more than happy to capture the video required for you.🐱‍👤

[@sterlingstarlight2320]

I just got to Kugane yesterday, and while I was exploring I I thought to myself: "I wonder if Gaijin Goomba will do a Culture Shock/Which Ninja" This isn't quite a Culture Shock essay, but this is also good :D

[@ReaverPrime]

As a fan of the channel and long time FFXIV player, I wholeheartedly get behind the idea of months of FFXIV content! You sir, have been tasked. Can you rise to the challenge?

[@zaheela]

Ninja Tanks.... It may be too late, but it COULD work in 14 ( As a new class....if you see how FFXI players forced the change). Blink tanking, or Dodge tanking, in which the ninja would summon shadows to absorbed a single blow (AOE was their bane), and their absurd evasion, combined with flashy diversion methods?

[@Chymai]

Omg yes! I love love love FFXIV. I’m so happy that you made a video on this! Please make more videos on FFXIV!

[@BW-CZ]

The Ninja Job Quests are so good

[@sirduke0128]

Mudras, the five elements? My intrigues are perpetually piqued

[@Frostmute19]

Aki in the background: "FINALLY!! =3"

[@isaackosmowski8421]

Yet again another great video! Love your content.

[@TomMcGregor92]

You should do those final fantasy xiv videos i love the game and would watch them all happily.

[@ssjgokuhan]

Ninja CAN tank in an MMO. While the devs did not intend it at the time, FFXI players used NIN almost exclusively as a tank. They had a spell that shrouded them behind shadow clones that would absorb damage instead of harming the ninja, plus they had high evasion and parry.

[@Mellion555]

My Dyslexia hit me real damn hard with that title; between that and the picture of Shadow I legit thought this video was about him before I saw the comment section

[@OrokuSake1]

Woooooooh!!! A new video! Your the Greatest!

[@TheCreepypro]

never would have thought to look a the ff ninja in such a way

[@trustindean5164]

Ya know I really do think it's important to note how most ninja based media is mostly based on ninja folklore rather than history Tho even then that folklore is likely inspired by real things too as to the unknowing and superstitious folk somebody who can seemingly breathe underwater, create explosions, manipulate weather, and seemingly duplicate themselves would seem like the supernatural murder machines that the folklore makes them out to be

[@user-fl8kx8xr3d]

Yay been waiting for you to cover this one.

[@BlazingViolet92]

I'd love to see one of these about the Oniwabanshu from Rurouni Kenshin.

[@Japaneseanimeguy]

Nice video but I had been expecting your thoughts on the Job's lore.

[@wrath2501]

Oh come on. Now you GOTTA do the Rogues from World of Warcraft. PLEASE!

[@stinkysylas6988]

I've been waiting for this :D p.s. please do an entire series on Shadowbringers, I think that would be cool to hear about the cultural inspirations and such.

[@khfan33]

I honestly didn't think he would make this video.

[@Ladywizard]

Funny thing that tshirt you showed happens to be my FC leader's design and she was doing her best to shut down a bunch of copycats that put it on shirts

[@zebjensen4251]

I've been wondering when you were going to get around to this one since I maimed this class a year ago

[@balazsszucs7055]

Gaijin Goomba: I could do months of cultural analysis videos on XIV alone. Palpatine: Dew it.

[@hkoizumi3134]

Gaijin: What else can ninja do? Tank? FF11 online: **coughs**

[@jacks1368]

Oh hey, you use the Rainbow Scouting set for NIN glam too. And on a lalafell no less!

[@jamessilva1259]

Ninja in Final Fantasy XIV is my favorite class to play!

[@Kytseo]

Mind if I add Eri Kamataki from Yakuza: Like A Dragon to the pot? She's not exactly the most textbook ninja, but, in her Clerk job, she does have some ninja inspiration.

[@antonioro1229]

Still waiting for the which ninja video explaining why there is a naked ayane in the opening credits of this series. I mean you have a video explaining every other ninja shown in it. Might as well do one explaining her place in it.

[@MagicalMaster]

More Which Ninja! MOAR!

[@Rubymagicalgirl88]

Fun stuff, I'd be interested in the samurai from this game.

[@aphelion4616]

My BF and I are NIN/MCH mains on our characters xD he is an Elezen and I am a Miqo... we recently got married in game. I LOVE the NIN story!! We're about to get into ShB soon!!

[@shizucheese]

Gaijin please I've been waiting for years for this I'm dying to hear your insights into the Four Lords trials and basically everything Stormblood I'm begging you.

[@Dark_Tale_1985]

Just picked this game back up again, can't recommend it enough if you are a big MMO fan. And yes, it will take you awhile to reach the Stormblood portion but Heavensward is worth going through just as much.

[@ScarletStarManor]

So, WILL you do a sub series for xiv? You still haven't made the video regarding the lalafel and tarutaru like you said all those years back

[@lyconxero457]

Ninja is currently my favorite melee class in FFXIV…at least until Reaper comes in November.

[@Selvokaz]

Kugane was definitely Japan-centric more so than China. Not saying you're completely wrong, but anyone who took a good look at the fictional port city would say so as well that it's entirely based on feudal Japan era.

[@ToastyCoyote]

And the Tale of Urishima Taro in the Shisui of the Violent Tides there sure is alot in Stormblood

[@ToastyCoyote]

Be kinda funny if you mentioned bunnying your mudras

[@TheNekoMimiGamer]

Can we also talk about how they raised the f2p level cap to 60 from 35?

[@drbowser166]

Another MMO that is launching an expansion based on Asian desire and folklore that I highly suggest Gaijin take a look into is Guild of Wars 2. The teaser trailer we have now is beautiful but there may not be enough he can make much of a video on. Going to a place called Cantha. It's a location fans have been clambering to go to and finally we are going there.

[@darienb1127]

I know i'm not the first person to say it, but if Ninjas had magic, they would 200% be using it! Ninjas always used whatever was available to them, and even tried to get what the latest tech was. If they had magic, imagine just how much they could stretch that. They could heal without the need of medicine, be able to summon fire without a tinderbox, and so much more! Yes they would still probably have these tools, but it would allow them to travel so much lighter to. As you said in your D&D video, If ninjas had magic to turn invisible, they would be all over that. And if this was a full fantasy setting, ninjas would most likely be on the lookout for powerful magic items as well that can benefit them and their clan. And If we were to go back a couple of videos, I don't think BOTW Impa is as bad as a Ninja as you say. Yes she's running around head first into battle, but she's using really advanced magic and technology that the Shiekah developed to her advantage. A tribe of ninjas have the single best technology in that world. I feel like that fits pretty well with what you have told us.

[@AkiterraVarlineau]

I helped get the footage for this video. :D

[@Ryu_D]

Thank you for the video.

[@flailsnail1546]

I would love if you analyzed anything from ffxiv. One of my favorite youtubers and one of my favorite games? Yes please!

[@namelessentity1167]

Escape from death for the player and escape from life for the opponent

[@luckyday5721]

Yaaaaay I was thinking si much about this as was leveling Ninja and I realised they have magic.

[@SuperAntiPaladin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the element Wood replaced with Void, and Metal was swapped for Air/Wind? What would FFXIV jutsu for those be called? Like if Huton is "wind escape" what would void escape be?

[@AllisterNovum]

Error in the thumbnail you wrote FFXVi instead ffxiv

[@GaijinGoombah]

Fix'd

[@TheAdventGamer]

I know you're the "Ninja guy" but given how much research you've put into this I'm tempted to ask what your thoughts are on Samurai and how close they are to Real life Samurai.

[@TheKillerman3333]

Okay, here me out, but what if we did a which ninja on dale gribble from king of the hill? This isn't a mem or to troll, i am being serious. Pocket sand could be a ninjitsu and he does have various ways to escape

[@brucenatelee]

Wouldn't it make sense to have the ninja class play offensive support, such as debuffing enemies and manipulation or status effects? I rarely play JRPGs, but usually there's DPS, tank, ranger, and healer, but not much depth beyond that in some ways.

[@Rogerfrasier4935]

Hey Gaijin in what period do you think Dead by Daylight's Kazan "Oni" Yamaoka lived?

[@otakon17]

0:58 of course GG plays the potat.

[@SD-vm9fl]

He is a man of culture

[@RikkuTakanashi]

Please do. I would love more in depth looks at ff14 lore!

[@alcatrazjyh6293]

5:58 - 6:02 This moment here got me laughing ngl 😆😆😆😆

[@TheCrzedmortal]

you should do one on Lo Wang from shadow warrior

[@AutisticPhantomOtaku]

How come you haven't done a video for Paper Mario The Origami King yet? I'm surprised you haven't done that already.

[@pizza924]

Hey gaijin what website do you get ur jutsus from