The 5 Elements Clan (五遁忍術) is an evil organization, serving as the titular main antagonists of the 1982 martial arts film 5 Element Ninjas. They are led by The Ninja Master .
History[]
The 5 Elemental Ninjas were a mysterious clan of Japanese assassins whose origins are shrouded in obscurity. One of them, however, was hired to act as a combatant between two clans of Chinese martial artists. He was one combatant out of ten working for Shifu Kang(the other nine were his students) fighting against the Tian Hao school. The ninja in question ultimately lost his duel, but poisoned the Shifu Yun of the other clan with a spiked ring after slicing himself open for his failure, While the master could overcome the poison with his inner power, doing so would make him unable to practice martial arts for one month.
Shifu Yun found a challenge note on the ninja's body, stating the superiority and locations of their ninja clan. While the Yun school could only identify ninja as "a samurai skill", the school sent 8 of their martial artists to Japan to fight their challengers. All of them were trapped by the ninjas, and ultimately died by the ninja's techniques.
The 5 Elements Clan, in a response to this, sent many of their men to team up with Kang's school against Shifu Yun. Whiel Yun's clan expected an ambush, and had his men set up traps to alert any invaders, the ninjas were ultimately able to set fire to his school without being detected, than killed anyone who tried to escape.
Fresh from their conquest, the ninjas killed Mr Kang and took over his school, the leader returning to Japan. One member of Yun's school managed to survive, however, and returned to fight the ninjas. His name is Tian Hao.
Remembering basic ninja training that he received in the past, Hao escapes from his bonds, flees from the ninja and returns to his old ninja master to complete his training. He joins three other students, who help him in his quest for revenge. Hao delivers a challenge to Mudou, who sends four ninjas. After killing the ninjas, Hao and his fellow martial arts students proceed to fight each of the Five-Element Ninjas.
Now well-trained in ninjutsu and aware of the ninjas' trickery, Hao and his fellow martial arts students easily defeat the Japanese ninjas. Mudou, however, proves to be a difficult foe. As the four Chinese ninjas face off against him, he sneaks leg shackles onto Hao. Hao uses a mysterious key his master gave to him to unlock them, and makes many unsuccessful attempts to put them on Mudou. Finally, channeling his rage over the deaths of his master and fellow students, Hao shackles Mudou's legs and pulls him down while his 3 fellow martial arts students speared Mudou. Hao himself is mortally wounded in the process. As his fellow martial arts students enquired as to why he put himself in front of Muduo's spiked feet, he dies.
Organization[]
The ninjas were a clan of assassins, and while all were able to dawn black suits and effectively sneak around at night, they also had other specialties, based off of the 5 elements of Chinese philosophy.
Metal (金)[]
The Metal Ninjas were the least stealthy of the 5 groups, dressing in golden attire and purposely using light to blind opponents. These ninja use long swords as secondary weapons. Their primary weapons, however, were their shields (often worn as hats, as shown in the image above) As well as serving the obvious defensive purpose, they were also used to reflect blinding sunlight into the eyes of their opponents, and can shoot metal blades. These ninjas are based inside of a rocky valley.
Wood (木)[]
The wood ninjas were very focused on stealth, hiding in a forest and striking suddenly and lethally. They all use tiger spikes on their palms, allowing them to more effectively climb trees. They also use standard weapons such as swords and can throw shurikens with sufficient force to go straight through a man and imbed themselves in a tree. Wood ninjas also seem fairly soft, as one was physically worn apart by 4 people with chains.
Water (水)[]
The water ninjas were, in many ways, the most ridiculous of the clan. They float through a river, under a bridge, with inflated skins around their waists and paddles in their hands, they also carry bamboo shafts to use as snorkels if they have to go underwater, and use long chords to entangle people on the land and pull themselves up.
Fire (火)[]
The fire ninjas, true to their bright element, are less concerned with stealth and more with aggression. Their primary weapons are swords, but they also use smoke bombs to blind opponents and create clouds. These ninja also make patterns of flammable material in their home, a simple field, that they can easily ignite. These ninjas seem to be experts at fighting blind, as they can attack effectively in their own smoke screens.
Earth (土)[]
The Earth ninjas stand at the top of a hill. They will bury themselves under the ground as to increase the surprise when they attack, sometimes jumping from the earth, sometimes merely stabbing upwards. They use spears and hooks as their primary weapons.