Ninjas, which all-purposely translates to stealth assassins, are actually much more impressive than their colorful surreal representatives seen in the entertainment industry. Many people would have never harmed another person in their life, or never gone on any sort of stealth mission either, and still could have been called  ninjas. It is a broad term for a concept, rather than an occupation, but the type I will be referring to for the time being is the common, generic assassin ninja.

          In Japan, from the 1000s AD to as recent as the 1800s, Ninjas were prominent (or, more accuratly, not prominent). For anyone who practiced the life of such a stealth assassin, you never, ever wanted to let anyone know. not even your employer wuld know, and he/she would call you by your alias. Almost every ninja would have a "normal" job, which looked like their only job. Farmers, fishermen, merchants, mercenaries, any occupation could be a good front. Even the family of a ninja did  not know the truth. In fact, many actually had two families, both unaware of the other's existence. In this case, the Ninja could lead two normal lives, and made it unbelievably difficult to track them down. There is at least one recorded Ninja who had four families, in four different households, each one at least ten miles from the next. Even more amazing than this quintuple life was the fact that no one except himself ever knew, until he died (not in action), and all four families showed up to his funeral ceremony.

          The work of a Ninja varied depending on his or her (female ninjas are called Kunoichi) employer and skills. A common task was an assassination, for which Ninjas were called due to their miraculous ability to slip in and out without anyone noticing the murder, sometimes for days. Another usual job was reconaissance, spying on an enemy army, or a private meeting, to find out important information. This leads to the "Ninja Mind Read" ability, where people thought that ninjas were reading their thoughts, but in reality the Ninja had heard or seen something earlier without being detected. The last common task for a ninja was to steal. Be it by orders from an employer or military superior, or the Ninja's own desire, they were expert thieves.

          The idea that Ninjas are always fighting is very inaccurate. In truth, Ninjas never wanted to fight. If a Ninja had to fight, that meant he or she had already failed. Don't forget: the task of a Ninja is to be completley unseen, unheard, and unknown.It is true that they were excellent fighters, but it was only in case of emergencies when fighting was absolutely nessecery. Many times, it was better to run away.

          Ninjas are, for some reason, often confused with samurai. This mix-up is understandable, seeing as they were both legendary Feudal Japanese warriors, but they are very different. Samurai worriors were noblemen, who dressed in extravegent armor, rode on horseback, and had to obey the strict code of honor known as the Bushido. Ninjas could be anyone--rich or poor (though they usually became rich from being paid notoriously high Ninja-prices), dressed in black, almost never wearing armor (it would hinder movement), and lived outside the rules. Also, the famous Katana was a sword for samurai, and was curved and decorated, while a ninja's sword was straight and plain, with a square hilt that can be used as a quick-ladder. Another interesting diffrerence regarding swords was that samuria treated their swords with high respect, as a sacred instrument, which held an esteemed place in the house. A ninja's sword was a muti-purpose tool/weapon which they would just toss on the ground when they got home. In fact, ninjas preferred to leave the sword behind, when they could.

          Now, for the subjet of a ninja's supernatural abilities. Ninja's were talented--very talented--but they were not magical. The things that they do that seem like magic were impressive movements and techniques, or tricks. For example, the legend that they could kill you with a glance or a hand gesture. There is some truth in this, but it is all in the mind of the enemy. Back in an era before modern science and medicine, and people were very superstitious, a rumor like "The Glare of Death" would frighten and be believed by anyone. So, when a Ninja gave a guard or other enemy the glare, or touch, or gesture of death, the enemy would literally be scared to death, by result of a heart attack, or other bodily catastrophe. Such events were seen in American history as well, when westward expansion created conflict with native americans. There are several occurances where imprisoned indians would die after just two or three hours of imprisonment, without being harmed or poisoned or diseased. So, much of the Ninja's magic was all in the minds of the enemy.

          Another impressive aspect was their multi-weapon proficience. Aside from the sword, Ninjas were amazing hand-to-hand fighter, and could use the sai, the short and long bo, a pair of small scythes, as well as a shythe on a rope, chains, and the famous shuriken. Shurikeni were throwing stars, having 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 points. A Shurikem could also be a needle or dart, that could be thrown with deadly accuracy in the hands of a master.