Pirates versus Ninjas
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Pirates versus Ninjas or vice versa refers to a joke about a supposed debate in various internet subcultures. The meme raises the question: Who would win in a fight, pirates or ninjas? The question's humor is partly based on the fantasy that pirates and ninjas are two of the most formidable opponents in physical combat, as well as the fact that their stereotypes are extreme opposites of each other (e.g., ninjas are silent and wear black clothes, while pirates bluster and wear colourful, more attention-grabbing outfits). However, because both pirates and ninjas have been heavily stereotyped in video games, movies, and television shows, many people use these stereotypes to make a quasi-logical argument in favor of one over the other for comedic value. The debate assumes that both pirates and ninjas are as represented in popular culture, rather than in history (for example that ninjas wear black and that pirates say "Arrrr!").
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[edit] History
The ninja humor website Real Ultimate Power, followed by REAL Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book, is credited with sparking the debate. Another work, Ninja Combat and Psychology by Sensei Edward F. Leffingwell, Jr., added fuel to the fire with its rational, step-by-step analysis of the ninja ethos.[1] Ninja Burger has added to the myth by creating a rival fast food chain, Pirate Pizza, as well as starting the Day of the Ninja movement to balance out International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
The 1982 musical film, The Pirate Movie, contains a shipboard fight scene between pirates and ninjas, predating Real Ultimate Power by two decades.
The 1989 arcade game Skull & Crossbones is possibly the first example of the Ninjas vs Pirates rivalry in a video game. Taking on the role of a Pirate (One-Eye as Player One or Red-Dog as Player Two), one of the stages on your travels requires you to enter and plunder a Ninja Camp.
In the Soul Calibur series, Taki (a ninja) killed Cervantes de Leon (a pirate).
The 1998 PlayStation ninja video game Tenchu has a level that involves the ninja eradicating Portuguese (Spanish in the North American version) pirates from a Japanese village. This predates the entire "Pirates Versus Ninjas" debate by a number of years.
In June 2002 the webcomic author Scott Kurtz of PVP Online took a fictitious holiday from his comic and in its place he ran a new strip title Pirate vs. Ninja [2]. This was done in mocking response to alternative comics artists who protested the treatment of alternative comics in the story arc which immediately preceded the Pirate vs. Ninja storyline. The comic ran for five days, after which PVP returned to publication.
In 2004, the video game Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal featured a secret level that could be found by entering a code, giving you a two player fighting game between a robot ninja and robot pirate (both of which appeared in the game). This was most likely in response to the internet debating.
In the MMORPG World of Warcraft (launched 2004), eating a "Savory Deviate Delight" will cause your player character to turn into either a Pirate or a Ninja. The effect will read as "Arrrrr (Transformed)" or "Flip Out (Transformed)". The effect is merely cosmetic, changing your appearance for one hour (or until cancelled or killed).
In Animal Crossing: Wild World, one of the personality questions an animal might ask you is "What do you like more?" One of the choices is "Pirate Ninjas."
On July 17th, 2006, a popular listing [3] appeared on the auction site eBay detailing the struggles of a Pirate who had his family reunion wiped out by Ninjas, requesting bids on his used crossbow so that he could afford Kung-Fu lessons as a prerequisite for revenge. Occasionally, other creatures are added for a more complex debate. An example of this could be seen in the Atomic Sock Monkey Press role-playing game Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot. The 2007 released World of WarcraftCCG also contained a card game, based on Hearts called "Pirate versus Ninja", as a way to encourage people to collect the Upper Deck Entertainment (U.D.E.) points printed on the cards.
Askaninja.com has run weekly podcasts on ninja related questions. On one episode, he critiques Pirates of the Carribean; Dead Man's Chest, and is talking about everything wrong with the movie, and states that if the movie was called Ninjas of the Carribean, it would have been a much better movie. The ninja also says that he can easily defeat the Kraken without a problem, where the pirates could not pose a challenge to it in the movie.
[edit] Other similar debates
The debate can also be compared to other fanwankery, such as whether the U.S.S. Enterprise of Star Trek could take on a Star Destroyer of Star Wars, whether Skeletor of He-Man could defeat Mumm-Ra from Thundercats, whether a Necromancer would best a cleric, whether Samus Aran from Metroid could beat Master Chief from Halo, whether Link from The Legend of Zelda could beat Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, or whether The Smurfs or The Snorks could prevail in a genocidal free for all. The main difference between this and other fan competitions is that neither pirates or ninjas were initially created as a video game, TV show, or other form of media by one company. On the PLATO computer system in the mid- to late 1970s, members of the comix notesfile fell into "Superman vs. The Flash" or "Superman vs. The Hulk" debates, mostly during summer hours when classes were not in session.
