History
The Ninja prominently emerged in the 15th century. They served mostly as mercenary agents of espionage and as spies. Side jobs included those of assassin, terrorist, and other stealth activites. General sabotage and misdirection during battle were also telltale signs that a Ninja was nearby.However, thats about all we know about the secret assassin, appearing from the shadows and disappearing just as quickly - nary a wisp of air to know the Ninja was there.
On the other sword, Pirates have a great and storied history with many fantastical tales and stories surrounding the scurvy raiders of the sea. If a pirate enters a room, you’ll know it. No mystery surrounding that stench.
Piracy has been going on for centuries. There are written accounts going back as far as 1350 BC in ancient Egypt describing ships with no flags attacking other ships and plundering their goods. I mean the Vikings were essentially Pirates, except much larger and with better armor. The Golden Age of pirates ran from the late 1600’s to the mid 1700’s and includes fantstical characters such as Blackbeard and Barbarossa (not to be confused with the spiced rum). Yellowbeard may be just a wacky creation of Monty Python, but he is still a BAMF. Regardless, Pirates have a much more storied and colorful history than Ninja. Ninja history is shrouded in the darkness. This category goes to the Pirates. Ninja 0, Pirate 1
Training
Ninja training was more than just physical training, it was psychological. They had to train their minds as well as their bodies, if not more. Using methods of concentration such as Zen-Buddhism, Ninja were experts in concentration and perception. Training was intense and put the Ninja into direct conflict orientated situations. There were no practice rounds, the Ninja has to be in top physical form at all time, including a master of balance, stealth and all that gymnastics stuff for flipping and jumping off rooftops. The Ninja had to be a master of stress and conditioning, as well as being able to stand still for long periods of time without doing anything to give away his position.
The Pirate training manual? we're guessing looks something like this:
1. Show up. 2. Grab sword. 3. Drink, rape, pillage & plunder. 4. Pass out.
Besides training their livers to consume copious amounts of rum Ninja easily takes this category. Ninja 1, Pirate 1
Weaponry & Killing Style
Ninja were not short on weapons. Besides their hands and feet being deadly weapons, the Ninja had a virtual laundry list of other fun and sharp pointy things to use as killing objects. From swords, foot & knuckle spikes, throwing stars, whips, smoke bombs, batons, nunchucks and even utility belts. The Ninja was trained on the full and deadly usage of every single one of these weapons. Not to mention their stealthy and stain resistant Ninja garb. Usually black, but always with camouflage as top priority. The Ninja was always ready for battle and his senses were honed to handle any situation with the right weapon, even considering the mind as a weapon. Unless a Ninja was facing another Ninja or an army of Samurai, or Zombies, it was rare for the Ninja to engage in a bar room type brawl. The Ninja was a silent killer, a formidable enemy and that is why they were such effective killers.
If you were in a fight with a pirate, you’d know it. There’d be more than one of them, swords would be swinging around with reckless abandon and the smell of gunpowder would tinge the air. The slight advantage that Pirates have over Ninja comes in the form of the flint lock powder rifle or pistol. the Pirate’s ability to become effective killers multiplied tenfold when guns came into the picture. That went right back down when you took into account things like lack of training and sobriety. However, many pirates did train in swordplay and firing weapons, so they weren’t incompetent. Not to mention pirates had the advantage of being on a moving ship where kills can came from cannon fire and merciless killing after surrender. Pirates fought dirty, that fact is well known. There was no code of ethics when it came to engaging the enemy and killing them.
This category goes to the Ninja as the Ninja was a more effective killer with a multitude of awesome weaponry, and even if faced against a Pirate ship full of sailors, cannons and guns, one Ninja would kill them all while they slept. Ninja 2, Pirates 1
Pop Culture
How many Ninja movies have you watched lately? Our guess is not many. While there are plenty of Ninja movies that have been released over the years, such as Zombie vs. Ninja, the Samurai have gotten the red carpet treatment as far as mainstream movies. As far as films go though the discussion ends with the recent Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. Also we can't forget about The Pirates of Penzance musical which in addition to being a kick ass musical is mentioned in mainstream films such as Pretty Woman. Then there is national Talk Like a Pirate Day where you can unleash your inner buckaneer every September 19th.
In other media Ninja have influenced some of the best comic characters, just look at Batman's awesome weaponry and stealth Ninja like qualities.
When it comes down to it though, we have to go with LEGO being the final word. Pirates have been a staple of the LEGO universe for years and LEGO easily outweighs Snake Eyes as being high on the list of pop culture items in the universe. Pirates take this category. Pirate 2, Ninja 2
Conclusion
Well, final tally is Pirate + 2, Ninja + 2. Tied! While it is true that the Ninja is a much superior agent of chaos the Pirate lifestyle focusing on plundering pillaging and drinking just sounds like more fun. The Ninja handles each mission as its own and then silently moves onto the next with nary a thought to anything beyond while Pirate shenanigans relies on team work. Ninja have been rumored throughout history as having taken down rulers with espionage and spying, while Pirates have been known throughout history for wreaking havoc and terror on the seas. It was a close one folks, I can say that.
Clearly, a lot was left out (like Captain Morgan rum, Pirate Lexicon, wenches & Killer Coding Ninja Monkeys to name a few) But Duds by Dudes is always open to new categories being brought to the table to settle this debate once and for all.
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