Sarutobi Sasuke

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Sasuke Sarutobi (猿飛佐助 Sarutobi Sasuke) 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 become something of a default ninja moniker. Most recently seen in the manga, Naruto, where two characters are called Asuma Sarutobi and Sasuke Uchiha (the Third Hokage is also called Sarutobi).

He is generally believed to be a fictional creation of the Meiji era 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. It is also said that he supposedly died in the Summer Campaign of the Siege of Osaka.

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 (adapted Chinese characters); 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 is usually has an elegant, or at least clean-cut, appearance and magic-like ability.

[edit] Popular Culture

Toei Animation's 2nd full length movie is Shônen Sarutobi Sasuke (1959) dealing with Sarutobi Sasuke's childhood.
In the early 1960's, Toei movie company created a tv series starring Seishiro Sawamura as Sarutobi Sasuke.
In the Toei series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, the main character, Sasuke, is a direct descendant of Sarutobi Sasuke.
In the popular manga and anime series Naruto, there is a character dubbed Sasuke as well as three characters said to be from the Sarutobi clan (the Sandaime Hokage, Asuma Sarutobi, and Konohamaru). Also, the Sandaime Hokage has a blood pact with the monkey king.

Sasuke is also featured as the main character in the anime Shin Shaku Sanada Juyushi.

Sarutobi Sasuke is also a playable character in Capcom's Sengoku Basara. In Devil Kings, he is renamed as Talon. In the Japanese version, he's voiced by Koyasu Takehito.

Sasuke is also a playable character in several games of the Konami series Ganbare Goemon, where he is a small robotic ninja that wields dual kunai and also uses firecracker bombs. In Nintendo 64's Mystical Ninja 2: Starring Goemon, he also transforms into a torpedo while underwater.

One of the ultimate weapons in Final Fantasy V is named "Sasuke's Katana." It is also the original name of Shadow's "Hardened" in Final Fantasy VI. This Katana has also made an appearance in Final Fantasy IV Advance, Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles with the name of "Sasuke's Blade."

In a Gamecube video game, Gotcha Force, there is a ninja character named Sasuke, which is a main character.

The anime and manga Samurai Deeper Kyo feature both the character Sanada Yukimura and his retainer, Sarutobi Sasuke. In the anime version, Sanada was voiced by Ogata Megumi, while Sasuke was voiced by Ishida Akira, Megumi's co-star in Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game has a card named "Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke" (LIGHT-TYPE/WARRIOR/4-STARS/EFFECT: If this card attacks a face-up Defense Position monster, destroy the monster with this card's effect without applying damage calculation). which portrays a cybernetic ninja wielding two kunai. It also has a series of 4 smaller "Sasuke Samurai" cards which are all weaker than the Ninja Grandmaster, yet have powerful effects. The artwork of all 4 are similar, each showing a small samurai with a circular orange/yellow head and wielding a sword (Samurai #3 has 2 swords, and Samurai #4 has a spear). However, this Sasuke is based off of the Mystical Ninja series Sasuke, because they are both made by Konami.

In the cult hit Dreamcast video game Shenmue, the player has the option to name a lost kitten, and Sasuke is one of the choices. If the player chooses Sasuke, Ryo says it will mean the kitten will grow up to be big and strong like a ninja. However, the name is rejected because the kitten is a "girl kitty".

In the video game Suikoden II, there is a ninja called "Sasuke" who you can only recruit into your party when your castle is at level 3 (with Kasumi in your party) or at level 4 (if you don't have Kasumi) and visit the hidden village Rokkaku.

The beat-em-up arcade game Captain Commando has several stock ninja enemies, one of whom is named "Sasuke".

In the anime Ranma 1/2, though notably not in the manga (he absorbed several of the character Gosunkugi Hikaru's plot functions, such as incriminating photography, because Gosunkugi wasn't introduced until much later in the plot than in the manga), Kuno Tatewaki is often accompanied by a bumbling ninja retainer named Sasuke.

In the anime Ninin Ga Shinobuden (Ninja Nonsense in the US release), which is about a ninja in-training, there is a character named Sasuke who is the right hand of Onsokumaru (The ninja master), though he is nearly impossible to identify from dozens of other similar ninjas.

In the arcade game The Ninja Kids, a character by name of Sasuke is one of the playable characters. He wields a Kusari-Gama and uses wind techniques. He is colored yellow, and his fellows, all named and armed in stereotypical ninja fashion are garbed in blue, red and green.

In Samurai Warriors the Shinobi that accompany you are named after traditional ninja as well, and one is named Sasuke. The names are not changeable.

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 fictions.