TMNT Masters or Students

aabxx · 04-20-2008, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scandia

In 2k3 they are at the intermediate rank of Chuunin.

That's correct. Chuunin = "middle ninja". So they've all achieved a great level of maturity but are not elite ninjas yet.

However, consider this. Karai has always been portrayed as one of the leaders of the foot clan. In the mirage version, she was even ranked above Shredder, in fact being THE leader of the japanese foot clan.

Obviously she's not a middle ninja. To lead a ninja clan, you have to be the highest ranked ninja. Maybe she seems too young to be a true master but that's her rank anyway. I suspect Karai was an exceptional ninja who quickly rose to jounin (high ninja) and then reached the top because of connections/circumstances. Or maybe she's just that good. Who knows. Now, in season 4 of 2k3, Leonardo not only successfully infiltrates the american foot base all by himself, he also challenges Karai and defeats her convincingly. At that time, Leonardo was genin (low ninja)... now, that doesn't seem quite logical does it? How can a mere low level ninja beat a ninja master?

In the 2007 movie, Karai is attacking Leonardo with a sword while Leonardo is not even drawing his swords instead using his body to avoid her attacks. In the end he even evades her blade by "simply" using his hands around her blade and turning it to the other side. If that didn't look like a high rank ninja to you, I don't know what would. That training in south america transformed him to something beyond his brothers when it comes to ninjutsu. Well, actually he was already better than them before he left... which is why he left to begin with.

Exactly the same thing happens in 2k3. Leonardo is criticizing Splinter for failing to teach him anything new. By accident, Leonado ends up hurting Splinter, and Splinter then realizes Leonardo must progress through a new sensei at that point. Now that doesn't make sense. Why would a genin need to go abroad to learn new things from a new sensei?

So Leonardo might "officially" only be a chuunin by the time of fast forward but he's no ordinary chuunin. He's already technically able to beat certain ninja masters at that point. His brothers are not as good but considering how many foes they defeated before fast forward, it's hard to imagine they were genin for that long... so Splinter sure takes him time with those ranks, is my conclusion. And that rank doesn't mean everything. Michelangelo became the champion of the multiverse as a "low ninja".

As for the mirage comics. Well... they're in their thirties. Master Splinter is dead. So they've all deserved to be called ninja masters at that point.