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Stromboli wrote:The funny thing is there really isn't that much to know about ninjas.

They were pretty much hitmen who knew certain martial arts particular to their region.

They were criminals without honor who ran around stabbing people for money. The iconic ninja suit is not necessarily true: they often dressed like peasants, merchants, or guards. They used anything they needed to finish the job: depending on what was available.

"Assassin" is a better term. They weren't good at direct head-on conflicts, and their job often involved hours of tedious hiding and information gathering to make one kill. Most of them had some honor, though. A select few were the thug kind you were describing. They weren't used in large scale battles, instead, during times of war, large groups of Samurai provided a main force while the ninja/Shinobi tried to sneak behind the lines and kill higher ranking soldiers.

I'm slightly surprised that ninjas didn't wear those suits. I can understand why they wore disguises, but surely a completely black suit that covers the whole body (except the eyes) would be very helpful for sneaking.

I'm wondering if there were other assasins avalable in japan, I.E assasins that weren't ninjas. I imagine they wouldn't be as effective, but you never know.