In college, I once found an amusing post card that said one of the simple truths of life. Namely, "24 highly-trained ninjas are no match for one man." Now, I know some people are going to claim this is a big pirate joke, but think about it for a moment. In martial arts movies, a lone man will easily clear the room of dozens of ninjas. I pondered this for a long time, especially in the realm of video gaming. It was certainly strange that I've probably taken out thousands of ninjas in my two and a half decades of video gaming, isn't it? Aren't ninjas supposed to be nigh unstoppable? Hey, they are every time I ever control a ninja in a video game. But thinking of my own escapades controlling ninjas made everything clear - I discovered the Law of Inverse Ninja Strength.
Now, the Law of Inverse Ninja Strength is quite simple. Quite simply, the strength of any one ninja is inversely proportional to the number of ally ninja able to assist the original ninja. For the most basic example, let's consider the Shinobi games. Your solitary ninja takes out the entire ninja population of Japan in the various Shinobi games - that's obviously only possible if the solo ninja is that much more powerful than the massive group of ninja. Even better, look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle games. At most, you have four ninjas on your side, counting yourself. And you have a whole host of wimpy ninjas that can't take nearly the number of hits you can take. However, as you eliminate more of them, they start taking more hits. Finally, when it's just down to the Shredder, he's the only ninja left against four of you, and suddenly you're succumbing to one-hit kills and taunts about becoming soup.
This is really borne out in role-playing games, though. Think, in games where you don't get to choose your party members, you only get one ninja. For the longest time, it was thought it was to increase the "cool" factor of the character, a la Edge or Shadow in the Final Fantasy series, Nel in Star Ocean 3, or Scias in Breath of Fire IV. However, the simple fact is, too many ninjas is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Look at Final Fantasy Tactics, for example. If you make a party of all ninjas, you're only going to defeat the most incompetent of foes. But if you only bring one ninja, you'll discover that he can deal with so many things nobody else can handle.
Video games are just the tip of the iceberg, really. Look at movies. How many stories have talked about a ninja clan that was almost completely wiped out by rivals, only leaving one survivor? Well, it's easy to do that, as the Law of Inverse Ninja Strength clearly shows that the clan members gathered in one spot are sitting ducks. But yet one manages to be apart from his clan members, and wreaks bloody vengeance for his fallen allies. I'm sure the cliche would have you believe that it's due to the strength he finds in his purpose. Not at all; he just gains strength by being the last of his kind.
Of course, if you want the ultimate proof of the Law of Inverse Ninja Strength, one source stands head and shoulders above the rest - The Tick, in his original comic book incarnation. When the Tick dealt with the Night of a Million Zillion Ninjas, who do you think came out on top? Naturally, the Tick did. But it wasn't his nigh-invulnerability, his apparent insanity, or any of those factors. Quite simply, when you gather a million zillion ninjas together, they're going to be as effective as a wet sponge against global warming.
I've been over and over this, and every time, the Law of Inverse Ninja Strength holds true. Heck, even in Gotcha Force - only a fool would build a team out of all Ninja Borgs in that game, despite the fact that they're incredibly sweet. And when even robot ninjas fall under this law, you know it's powerful indeed. Heck, they even wrote it into Naruto - the ninja stay in very small teams, and all the duplication techniques they use seriously weaken the user.
Now, the important thing is not just to know of the Law's influence, but to use it well. Never leave one enemy ninja alive - take them all out in one shot, while they're all weak. The last ninja standing will gain immense power. Never bring many of your own ninja - one if you can get away with it, no more than two or three if you can�t settle for just one. And always be ready to cut out another ninja on your side at the earliest convenience. After all, if they're going to run a cliche into the ground, you might as well abuse it.
