History VideoGame / MarkOfTheNinja

Published by Creator/MicrosoftStudios, the game was released on September 7, 2012, and a DLC was released on August 16, 2013 with an enhanced version for ''UsefulNotes/PlayStation4'', ''UsefulNotes/XboxOne'', and ''UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch'' scheduled to be released in fall of 2018.

Published by Creator/MicrosoftStudios, the game was released on September 7, 2012, and a DLC was released on August 16, 2013 with an enhanced version for ''UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch'' in fall of 2018.

Published by Creator/MicrosoftStudios, the game was released on September 7, 2012, and a DLC was released on August 16, 2013.

* UnskippableCutscene: Cutscenes per se are skippable, but you can't skip Ora's instructions during a mission no matter what.

* [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight "I Know You're In There Somewhere" Fight]]: [[spoiler:[[ImpliedTrope Implied]] at the very end, though not stated]].
* [[spoiler:ImaginaryFriend]]: [[spoiler:The ending reveals that Ora is a figment of the protagonist's imagination as part of the ink's influence.]]

''Mark of the Ninja'' is a [[StealthBasedGame Stealth Based]] PlatformGame developed by Creator/KleiEntertainment (the developers of ''VideoGame/{{Shank}}'') and released on XboxLiveArcade, and later on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. The player takes on the role of a {{Ninja}} of the Hisomu Clan who must track and slay the man responsible for the decimation of his clan through modern cityscapes, employing all his stealth abilities and quasi-magical feats granted to him by a [[PowerTattoo mystical tattoo]].

** Count Karajan in particular stands out. The man buys a flask of white-wine for a sending of bodyarmor for his guards, and doesn't even particularly like it. [[spoiler:.. But come the night where you infiltrate his castle, he's breaking down into a desperate, shivering coward. He even has the Terrified mark above his head when you're about to kill him!]]

* ImaginaryFriend: [[spoiler:The ending reveals that Ora is a figment of the protagonist's imagination as part of the ink's influence.]]

* MooksButNoBosses: Somewhat justified. [[spoiler:Corporal Kelly is merely a PaletteSwap of Elite Guards and Count Karajan is '''too frightened''' to even put up a fight. Azai might be just too old to fight an extremely well-trained ninja with the power of the ink]].

** With the DLC-exclusive Path Of Wisdom outfit, you can do a more VideoGame/MetalGearSolid-style pacifist run by knocking everyone out with non-lethal takedowns. And, yes: Using this ability does count for both the "Mercy" and the "Ghost" achievements.

* RealityEnsues: Go ahead and try to run into fights like [[VideoGame/NinjaGaiden other kinds]] [[{{Shinobi}} of ninja game]]. Heavily armed mooks with assault rifles, sniper rifles, and shotguns and [[spoiler:later with laser beams]] will make ''real'' short work of you.

* {{Badass}}: The main character, natch.
** The Elites (mostly) live up to their boasts: trying to stealth kill one before stunning will result in a NeckLift, and the same will happen if you fail the quick-time event even if they are stunned. In fact, even with the Hisomu Poison Dart, which normally induces enemies into a state of sheer panic, they will never get terrorized. [[spoiler:They'll still commit suicide, though]].
** Dosan didn't even use a sword when he was young. He didn't need one. Bonus points as [[BadassNormal he never received the mark]], but still was able to put a small army of bandits armed to the teeth on the line, after they threatened to turn on the Hisomu clan, ''on his own''.

** Killing and throwing a guard off a ledge is called [[AssassinsCreed Leap of Faith]].

* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Amusingly enough, Ora. The Marked Ninja somehow intercepts a few enemy transmissions during the stages, though.

--> [[spoiler:'''''Count Karajan''': *very meager* ... Where is he?... Is he gone?...'']]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Azai. After [[spoiler:the player goes rogue during the second part of the game upon learning that Azai lied about his motives for having the Marked Ninja attack Karajan, and that he plans to phase out the old ways in favor of advanced technology,]] he nontheless engages his wayward student in polite conversation, and allows said student to decide whether to kill himself or not. Bear in mind, [[spoiler:he knows full well that the Marked Ninja is suffering from the madness brought on by the toxin of his tattoos, and may well decide to murder him and the rest of the clan,]] yet he doesn't even put up a fight.

* BadBoss: Karajan. During a cutscene with his guard captain, it's revealed that he traded a shipment of advanced body armor -- armor that had been meant for his field troops -- for a bottle of expensive wine that once belonged to OttoVonBismarck, just to see what it tasted like. When Corporal Kelly implies that his men got killed because they didn't have the body armor, Karajan's sole remark is: "Then this was more expensive than I thought."

* ActionCommands: Used whenever the player character performs a [[BackStab Stealth Kill]] or picks a pocket. Failure to execute this properly will result in a ''much'' messier and nosier incident, resulting in fewer points and potentially alerting others.

* TerrorHero[=/=]TheDreaded: See immediately below
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Certain areas will have their dialogue lines changed depending on whether the Marked Ninja killed a lot of enemies or not.

* XMeetsY: ''VideoGame/{{Shank}}'' meets ''VideoGame/TheArtOfTheft'' in a ''VideoGame/{{Shinobi}}''-shaped package.
** ''VideoGame/{{Shank}}'' meets ''{{VideoGame/Thief}}'' meets [[spoiler:''Film/FightClub'']].

** Count Karajan. He starts out full of confidence that his men and defense systems will protect him, but come ''A Blade at his Neck'' and he gets progressively more panicked as he realizes the ninja is in his stronghold breaching his best defenses and elite troops to his room. [[spoiler:After the Marked Ninja starts breaching his last line of defenses, he goes as far as trying to bribe him, and then he tries to buy his forgiveness by giving up high-tech equipment to Azai. When the Marked Ninja finally gets to him, he's shown with the "terrorized" indicator over his head, and he's so out of it that he won't realize the Marked Ninja is in his safe room until he decides to make the killing move.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Azai. After the player goes rogue during the second part of the game upon learning that [[spoiler:Azai lied about his motives for having the Marked Ninja attack Karajan, and that he plans to phase out the old ways in favor of advanced technology,]] he nontheless engages his wayward student in polite conversation, and allows said student to decide whether to kill himself or not. Bear in mind, [[spoiler:he knows full well that the Marked Ninja is suffering from the madness brought on by the toxin of his tattoos, and may well decide to murder him and the rest of the clan,]] yet he doesn't even put up a fight.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: One of the regions are called T'''a'''briz or T'''e'''briz. The game gives one name, the [=DLC=] gives the other.

* OneHitKill: Sniper soldiers/bandits needs only a single bullet to send the Marked Ninja to the grave.

** Downplayed with Snipers; they can be killed with stealth attacks, but their scopes allows them to see the Marked Ninja even in darkness unless he's hiding.

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:An extremely rare example where the main protagonist does it, and you get to see his point of view. Azai's true motives also count, but his case is somewhat justified by the fact that the toxic plant that grants the Hisomu clan their powers died out a year ago, and the clan needs SOME kind of edge to survive in the modern world]].

** '''Path of Hunter:''' Grants the ability to always perform perfect stealth kills (action command will be removed and the Marked Ninja will never fumble an execution). On the other hand, items will not be restocked on checkpoints, only on Hisomu stations.