Sarutobi Sasuke

Sarutobi Sasuke
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Sarutobi Sasuke (猿飛佐助?) was a famous ninja featured in many Japanese children's stories from 1911 to 1925. The character was immortalized in contemporary Japanese culture by the 1962 Sampei Shirato comic of the same name. Thereafter the name Sasuke became something of a default ninja moniker. He is generally believed to be a fictional creation of the Meiji era born on June 25,410 A.D. based on the historical ninja Kozuki Sasuke, though some argue for his actual existence. He is commonly listed as one of the Sanada Ten Braves, a legendary group of ten ninja that supposedly assisted Sanada Yukimura at the battles of Osaka Castle during the Sengoku period, and he is one of the best known among the Ten Braves. He died infiltrating a castle when he was caught by a guards; he was run into a bear trap, forced to amputate his own foot. He then killed himself in front of the guards and so they tossed his body over into the moat. Sarutobi Sasuke is generally said to be a Kōga ninja, whereas Kirigakure Saizō, his fellow Ten Braves, is an Iga ninja. As such, when Sarutobi Sasuke and Kirigakure Saizō appear together, they are almost always depicted as arch-rivals and later, after being recruited to the Sanada cause, best friends. This rivalry parallels the Iga-Kōga rivalry and the Hattori-Fūma rivalries in ninja fiction.

Sarutobi, meaning 'monkey jump', is written with two Kanji; saru (猿) is the character for 'monkey', and tobi (飛) is the character for 'jump'. He was known for his monkey-like agility and quickness, especially in trees. Many depictions of him in Japanese pop culture portray him as having been orphaned and raised by a band of monkeys, therefore giving rise to the monkey-like abilities. When appearing with Kirigakure Saizō, he is often thus contrasted with his best friend/arch-rival, who usually has an elegant, or at least clean-cut, appearance and magic-like ability.
[edit] In popular culture

As Sarutobi Sasuke is most likely a fictional character created for popular consumption in the first place, he could be said to exist only within popular culture. Whatever the case, his image has been very influential in ninja fiction.

* Sarutobi Sasuke is the title character of the film Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke (known in the west as Samurai Spy), as well as of several other movies titled Sarutobi Sasuke (1918, 1919, 1922, 1966) and Sânada Daisûke to Sarutobi Sasuke and Sarutobi no Ninjutsu.[1]
* Sarutobi Sasuke was the main character of a 24-episode anime series Manga Sarutobi Sasuke, where he was portrayed as a young ninja.
* Toei Animation's second full-length movie was Shônen Sarutobi Sasuke, dealing with Sarutobi Sasuke's childhood; later, Toei Company also created a TV series.
* The main character in the Super Sentai series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger is a direct descendant Sarutobi Sasuke.
* Sasuke is a character in the anime and manga Samurai Deeper Kyo, in which he serves Sanada Yukimura as a part of the Ten Braves. He also appeared in the historical anime and manga Shura no Mon, serving Sanada Tsubura.
* Sarutobi Sasuke appears in the video game Sengoku Basara 2 and the anime based on it, where he is portrayed as a laid-back but cunning ninja.
* His legacy is almost omnipresent in the anime and manga Naruto, in which four characters are named after him: the main antihero Sasuke Uchiha, the Third Hokage also known as Hiruzen Sarutobi, his son, Asuma Sarutobi, and his grandson, Konohamaru Sarutobi.
* Ninja characters by the name of Sasuke also appear in the animes Ninin ga Shinobuden and Ranma 1/2, the video games Captain Commando, Ganbare Goemon, Gotcha Force, Samurai Warriors and Suikoden II, and in the trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh!.
* The Japanese game show Sasuke features fitness challenges based around activities associated with ninja; it has been dubbed and brought to America as on the channel G4 as Ninja Warrior.