| “ | For the Master, there is no beginning, nor end. Forever alone, he disappears into the breeze | „ |
| ~ Shinobi 3DS Ending. |
Jiro Musashi (in Japanese: ジロー・ムサシ Hepburn: 武蔵次郎, Musashi Jirou) Is the protagonist of Shinobi 3D and the father of the series' legend Joe Musashi.
About[]
Originally from the Kamakura period Jiro Musashi is a brilliant young shinobi from the Obororyu and the young commander of the ninja clan. As a master shinobi, Jiro has served the imperial family, his genius skill and intellect making him the valued asset of the Oboro and the pride of the emperor, earning a golden medallion from his lord and emperor as a gift for his valor, loyalty and service.
When his village was attacked by the ZEED Ninja Army, Jiro and his fellow Oboro fought them off. After defeating a mysterious humanoid creature in ZEED's base, he watched his village be consumed by a flash of blue light. Before the energy could consume him he cocooned himself with his Shinobi Magic, and as both the energy of the blast and his spell clashed, Jiro was flung 800 years into the future, where ZEED had taken control. Trapped in the future and his clan destroyed, Jiro fights to survive this unknown world, avenge his fallen clan, and rebuild the Oboro anew.
History[]
Jiro Musashi was born into the Oboro ninja clan, and trained since childhood in the martial tradition of Obororyu Shinobi-no-waza;the tradition that would be known as Oboro style Ninjitsu. As he grew, Jiro mastered his art and became a master shinobi in record time. His skills in combat, magic, and espionage made him a valued asset to the imperial family, earning the pride of the Japanese emperor.
One day, in the Eighth Year of Kencho (1256 AD), Jiro was sent on a mission to assassinate the lords of the ZEED Group; Ninja that defied the Emperor's will. Using his superior skills, the young shinobi easily slaughtered their forces, but the lords escaped from him. Confident that he'd find them soon enough, Jiro returns to his village to resume his Ninja training, seeking to hone his skills to perfection and fulfill his mission in due time.
Attack on Oboro and Catapulted Through Eras[]
A few days after his mission, Jiro trained with his master and was awarded his license of Full Proficiency in the arts of the Oboro Shinobi. But while the two silently celebrated, Jiro's village came under attack by ZEED. After repelling the attackers from the village, Jiro and his mentor see a mysterious light shine in the sky. Sensing something ominous, Jiro prepares to investigate. His lover gazes at him, and it is presumed he promised he'd return to her safely.After tracking down ZEED survivors in the caverns, Jiro would find himself in an unnaturally snow covered area, where he would meet a dangerous woman capable of controlling the element of ice and cold at will. Wasting no time, Jiro fought against the demonic Yuki-Onna in mortal combat, and cut her down where she stood. But no sooner did the monstrous woman fall dead to the ground did a firefly land on Jiro's blade. Jiro immediately knew it was a warning of impending danger as a mysterious light struck the village releasing a devastating explosion that destroyed the village and the surrounding area. Quickly using a Ninjutsu spell to protect himself from the blast, the energy from the explosion and Jiro's Ninja magic barrier clashed, and Jiro would be flung backwards landing unconscious in an unknown jungle.
A helicopter appears after sensing abnormal energy readings, and upon seeing Jiro, special forces soldiers, led by Colonel Sarah Krieger, pick him up hoping to find answers. As a firefly lands on Jiro's shoulder, Jiro wakes. The confused ninja thinks he's been taken prisoner, and kills the soldiers who brought him aboard, but spares Sarah, who bears a striking resemblance to the lover he lost. Sarah leaps out of the chopper with a parachute and Jiro watches her leave before escaping the shot down chopper.
Escape From Zeed City; The Blood Jungle[]
Jiro descends into an unknown city and every where he looks he sees that ZEED had taken control. To escape the corrupt city, Jiro battles his way through a swath of ZEED enforcers, battling advanced weapons he has never seen before. As he dashes through the streets of the city, he notices the sounds of gunfire and sees Sarah skillfully destroying ZEED enforcers with minimal effort before escaping the carnage via helicopter. Jiro watches her depart and begins to believe that there's far more to her than he original thought.
As he makes his way out of the city he catches a glimpse of a man in black and gold robes wearing a blood red Oni mask before he vanishes in a puff of smoke leaving Jiro to battle another of ZEED's monstrocities. After defeating the monstrous Cryoborg Jiro escapes the exploding transport and escapes into the Blood Jungle, where he is attacked by Zeed forces and an H43 Attack Chopper. Jiro wastes no time in dispatching his enemy before going into hiding.
Investigation; An Alliance is Born[]
After the battle Jiro trecks through the forest, and he comes across the sight of a ZEED air raid on an aircraft carrier. Deciding to assist the Massive Carrier in its moment of need, Jiro repels the ZEED forces and slips past the security as he stows away on a jet fighter as he battles Zeed Forces attacking the jet he's on while anticipating the aerodynamic changes of the vehicle.
As the jet fires a sidewinder missle, Jiro jumps on using it as a means of transportation to the Zeed Stratobase before him. As he infiltrates he takes down many ZEED soldiers and goes deeper into the base's crumbling laboratory, where he comes face to face with its monstrous Super Soldier. Taking advantage of its seeminig lack of combat intelligence, Jiro defeats the seemingly invincible beast by exposing its back, the only place unprotected by its bio armor. As the Anti-ZEED forces' attacks intensify and destroy the lab, Jiro barely escapes and grabs onto the chopper as the base explodes. But a few seconds later, Jiro begins to lose his grip on the chopper's rail, and nearly falls to his death before being saved by Sarah. After finally coming to an understanding, Jiro and Sarah become comrades at last.
Jiro and Sarah Strike at ZEED; A Betrayal Uncovered[]
Jiro and Sarah hold a strategy meeting, as they prepare to infiltrate a top secret base belonging to ZEED. With the less obvious entrance being underground, Jiro; understanding his part, leaves the helicopter to infiltrate the underground base. As he cuts his way through Zeed forces and experimental hazards, Jiro is attacked by the monstrous bioshark Mechalodon. After defeating the Mechalodon, Jiro trecks through the magma filled caverns with Mechalodon still giving chase. Eventually he found himself attacked by both the bioshark and the Lava Crawler. Dodging the ravenous shark monster Jiro destroys the Lava Crawler and ascends out of the depths.
Jiro makes his way through the Shadow Temple, where the inner sanctum of ZEED is said to be. Jiro traverses various dimensional gates within the deadly and complex maze as he cuts down many of the ZEED forces while heading to the spaceship as it takes off.
In the control room of the ship is where he finds Sarah under attack by ZEED's leader, the Shadow Master. Jiro saves Sarah from being killed by the Shadow Master's blade and tells her to escape. But is shocked when Sarah's accidental gunfire breaks his mask, revealing Jiro's own master as the Shadow Master's true identity.
It is revealed that the Shadow Master survived for 800 years due to the demon mask that he wore, given to him by the mysterious alien known as Orn as the surviving Oboro were abducted to be used to create the ultimate interstellar space army. Jiro, enraged by his former mentor's treachery prepares to end the Shadow Master's life. After a lengthy struggle, Jiro defeated his traitorous sensei, but lowers his sword not able to strike the final blow. Seeing this as a sign of weakness, the Shadow Master grunts a sinister laugh before he strikes the control console, causing a malfunction of the shuttle and perishes in the crash. After escaping the crashed shuttle, Jiro goes deeper into the space ship that houses the true mastermind of the Oboro Village Assault.
The Sword of the Stars; A New Path Awaits[]
Jiro goes deeper into the ship where comes face to face with the mastermind behind the events; an ancient alien Orn. Orn reveals that he masterminded the assault of the Oboro Village, corrupted Jiro's mentor, and led to the death of Jiro's lover, who is revealed to be reincarnated as Sarah. Jiro and Orn battle to the death. Despite Orn's advantage of self regeneration in the ship's core, Jiro emerging victorious. But Orn chastises Jiro, saying he sees a victory but has no idea what he's done. As Orn's body disintegrates, he shouts joyfully "At last, I am FREE!" as the ship explodes. Jiro cocoons himself in a Barrier Ninjutsu and descends through the vacuum of space into the Earth's atmosphere. After several minutes of falling, Jiro lands in the mountains, and walks away unscathed. With his vengeance complete, Jiro disappears into the winds, his whereabouts unknown.
Appearance[]
Jiro is a young man of lean muscular build that wears a white Shinobi shozoku with leather and armor plates. He carries a golden amulet that according to the Shinobi 3DS comic book was given to him by the Emperor, and a golden Oboro Emblem on his belt. His helm is modeled in the same manner as Hotsuma and sports the trademark red scarf. Strapped to his back is a tachi (太刀 long sword) that appears to have been passed down in the Oboro Ninja Clan, presumably the Oborokage Sword mentioned in Revenge of Shinobi's Japanese Manual. In his unlockable unmasked appearance, Jiro has his hair tied in a Japanese ponytail, resembling Kage from "Legend of Kage".
Jiro has a indigo black eyes, but curiously, his eye color shifts from indigo black, to blue to brown, presumably due to animation issues.
Personality[]
As heir to the legacy of Oboro, Jiro is a loyal and righteous young man. Acting in service of the emperor, he undertakes savage missions of stealth and assassination in order to preserve the Empire's prosperity. He is also seen to be a very loving man, as he stares at a woman, his unnamed lover, with great affection and cherishes each member as family. Jiro also has a deep connection with Mother Nature, and so he shows deep respect and appreciation to the natural world.
As a man of Justice, he adheres to the teachings of the Shinobi, and is ready to lay down his life for the greater good, but is also intolerant of treachery, as is seen when the Shadow Master reveals himself to be the Ninja elder he was training with that betrayed Oboro to ZEED. He is not without a soft side though, as despite everything the Shadow Master had done, he still cared, as shown when he was about to cut him down, Jiro is hesitant to kill his own teacher. Also to his lover, he held great affection, and shows similar emotion to Sarah to a degree.
After facing Orn, the perpetrator of the attack on his homeland, Jiro Musashi decides to begin the Oboro anew, hoping for the future.
Relationships[]
Jiro's Master/Shadow Master[]
Jiro's mentor was once a respected member of the Oboro, and the man who trained Jiro in Ninjutsu, the Shinobi Art of Stealth, Invisibility, and Perseverance. Jiro highly respected this man as a mentor and friend of his family. And as his student, he thought by performing dutifully for the clan, Jiro was honoring him. But unknown to Jiro, his own master was the ringleader of ZEED, a group of Ninja that defied the Japanese Emperor. After learning of his betrayal, Jiro was shocked and devastated, but more than that, enraged at what the man he called his friend betrayed him and their family. Despite this, Jiro couldn't bring himself to kill him, so the Shadow Master commits suicide by destroying the control system of the shuttle they are on and crashing into Orn's ship hanger. His corpse is visible upon start of the Secret Mission.
Colonel Sarah Krieger[]
Initially these two met on awkward circumstances. When Jiro was flung into the future, the energy that surrounded him upon landing in the future lured her and her squad there. As soon as Jiro awoke, he was confused, and believed he was being taken prisoner, so he kills the squad, but is unable to kill Sarah, whose face reminded him of his lover, back home; the woman he laments failing to save. After helping her Special Task Force fight off Zeed, Sarah begins to see Jiro for who he truly is; a fighter like her, who wants Zeed brought down for good. After Jiro is saved by her, they finally come to an understanding and become friends. As shown by how Sarah looks at Jiro, she holds a secret feeling for him. It is later discovered that she is in fact a reincarnation of Jiro's lost love, and Jiro saves her from Shadow Master, not wanting to lose her too.
Orn[]
As the mastermind behind the attack on the Oboro Village and his master's corruption into the Shadow Master, Jiro despises Orn with a passion. Orn attacked his home and used Jiro's beloved clan as a template to create the ultimate space ninja army. His actions on the village also lead to its ruin, and the supposed death of Jiro's lover. Orn is pracitically the first living being Jiro had true hatred towards, because not only did he force Jiro to be trapped in this unfamiliar world, he destroyed everything Jiro ever loved.
Abilities[]
- Taijutsu: As a master Ninja, Jiro's physical skills have been honed to perfection since birth. As a master of the Obororyu's Taijutsu, Jiro can traverse dangers and access secret areas that average men would find impossible.
- Superhuman Nature Connection: Heavily in tune with nature, Jiro can sense when threats are upon him and can tell when there is a great disturbance in the Earth. This is what saved his life when the Kamakura Period's Oboro Shinobi Village was destroyed by Orn's attack
- Master Infiltrator: An expert in the stealth aspect of Shinobi, Jiro can look for the least obvious places to infiltrate enemy territory.
- Ninjutsu Extraordinaire: A trait that would be inherited by his son Joe Musashi, Jiro has mastered the various Ninjutsu (Shinobi Magic), enabling him to decimate his foes with relative ease or to access hidden levels of strength.
- Kenjutsu Master: As a skilled shinobi, Jiro has great skill with the katana, enabling him to repel bullets, or perform gravity defying skills.
- Master Assassin: As a shinobi. Jiro is skilled in assassination, from performing stealth kills, to finding an opponent's weakness and exploiting them with relative ease, enabling him to match the likes of Zeed's entire army, and even triumph over Orn.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It is revealed on a Japanese source site that Jiro's timeline is a completely different one from previous Shinobi games, making Jiro's debut a reboot of the series. Because Jiro was catapulted into the year 2056 AD, Joe Musashi was not born in the 20th Century and thusly the continuity does not exist with the original SEGA plot, but is an alternate universe altogether.
- Jiro's circumstances mirror that of Samurai Jack; a noble warrior thrown through time and flung into the future battling his hated enemy. He also gains feelings for a woman of that time who was initially an enemy.
- The incident between the Shadow Master and Jiro mirror Masked Ninja Nakahara and Joe Musashi from the very first Shinobi game; a ninja stopping the ringleader of a criminal operation who by cruel irony happens to be his own master from the same clan the ninja belongs.
- In the Shinobi 3DS comic, Jiro's timeline is revealed to be 1256 AD, Kamakura Era Japan.
- Jiro has an affinity with nature, and so every time a firefly appears, it acts as an crisis alarm for him.
- In Project X Zone 2, Hotsuma possesses some of Jiro's attacks, further linking the fighting arts of the Oboro Style.
- Jiro Musashi is the first ninja in the entire Shinobi franchise to actually have the ability to use stealth kills on unwary foes.
- Historically Jiro could count as a proto-ninja, as the Iga shinobi from which the Oboro were born from, did not have Ninjutsu until the Muromachi period.