Ninji

After the rampant success of Super Mario Bros., Nintendo quickly developed a sequel to the game, using the same engine and the same characters and enemies, but with the difficulty ramped way up. Fearing a western audience wouldn’t be able to handle the difficulty, the decision was made not to release it outside of Japan. However, when Super Mario Bros. 3 was being developed in 1988, they feared the lack of a 2 would cause confusion. In came Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic, a game developed to promote a special event for Fuji TV. Once the event was over, they had no need for the game, so Nintendo was free to repurpose the game with Mario characters and release it in the west as the new Super Mario Bros. 2. The story followed Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad as they discover a strange door in the mountains leading to a mysterious dream world called Subcon.

Not long after their foray through the door, they encounter their first enemies, residents of the dream world. Among them were the black-clad Ninji, enemies that liked to hop up and down and lunge at enemies who come too close. Like many of their fellow Subconians, the Ninji carried over into the regular Mario games and soon became staples among the regular cast of enemies, eventually seeing playability in Mario Golf: Super Rush.

In game, Ninji are quick and speedy, though light and lacking in the offense department. Their moves are based on stereotypical ninja moves and come from more recent games and RPGs that gave Ninjis more to work with than their simple hop that they were known for.

Likelihood rating: Piranha Plant clause