History Main / FrogNinja

* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'': One of the Future Riders is Rentaro Kagura: Kamen Rider Shinobi, who gains his armor from a giant robot frog called Kurogane Oogama (lit. Iron Toad). In the Rider Time: Shinobi miniseries, he fights against Yaminin and his Niji no Hebi clan of Ninjas. This goes doubly for his teacher: [[MentorArchetype Master Gamano]]. Beyond his name [[JustForPun being a pun]][[note]]''Gama no Shishō'' or ''"Master of Toad"''[[/note]], he's a far more capable ninja than his pupil, and is able to turn into a wall scroll of a frog. [[spoiler:Jury's out on [[EvilMentor whether or not he's a good guy, though]]]].

** As [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Jakanja]] are an order of evil ninjas with AnimalMotifs, one of their generals ([[TheBrute Chuuzubo]]) is naturally frog-themed.

** The fangame ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'' invokes this trope even more by hiding a BonusBoss fight against Shadow Man (along with his robot frog mount) in Toad Man's stage, while Toad Man [[TookALevelInBadass suddenly becomes a lot more agile and ninja-like in his moveset]].

Compare CatNinja. Sometimes associated with FrogMen.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' takes the aesthetic with Greninja in particular a step further by including a seldom-used TCG ability called Battle Bond, which--for lack of better description--combines Greninja's aura with that of its trainer. In this case, Ash. It's an ability that takes a while for them to perfect, but it helps Ash get his final badge and make it to the Final of the Lumiose Conference, going further than he'd ever gone in any prior region.

What animal would you associate with a ninja? [[CatNinja A cat]]? [[NobleWolf A wolf]]? [[DragonsUpTheYinYang A dragon]]? A... [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg frog]]? Odd choice, but okay.

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':

** Likewise, his counterpart Adam's ninja spirit animal in Season 3 of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' (and before that, the non-canon ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie'') is that of a frog. He also pilots the Frog Ninjazord. He's not quite happy about this initially.
--> '''[[Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie Dulcea]]''': What's wrong, Adam?\\
'''Adam''': ''[embarrassed]'' [[ThrowItIn I'm a]] ''[[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway frog]]''.
** ''Series/ShurikenSentaiNinninger'': The main gun sidearm of the core Ninningers, the Gama Gama Juu[[note]]Toad Toad Gun[[/note]] is a golden gun in the shape of a frog. Its finisher is a beam in the form of its tongue. These also serves as their alarm system to warn them of active Youkai.

[[folder: Films -- Animation]]
* Le Frog's henchfrogs in ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'' are all black-clad stealthy martial artists, but differ from the standard version by being villains, and [[NationalAnimalStereotypes French]].

[[quoteright:300:[[Anime/PokemonXYTheSeries https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ash_greninja_9.png]]]]

[[quoteright:300:[[Anime/{{Pokemon}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ash_greninja_9.png]]]]

* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime takes the aesthetic with Greninja in particular a step further by including a seldom-used TCG ability called Battle Bond, which--for lack of better description--combines Greninja's aura with that of its trainer. In this case, Ash. It's an ability that takes a while for them to perfect, but it helps Ash get his final badge and make it to the Final of the Lumiose Conference, going further than he'd ever gone in any prior region.

'''Adam''': ''[embarrased]'' [[ThrowItIn I'm a]] ''[[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway frog]]''.

[[OlderThanRadio Ever since the 19th century]], ninjas and frogs (or toads) have been synonymous with each other over in Japan, in part due to the epic 19th century poem-turned Kabuki show ''Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari'' and the influence it had.

* ''LightNovel/LogHorizon:'' Leonardo is an Assassin-class player who dresses like a frog, emulating the hero from [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles his favorite cartoon]]. This is mostly WritingAroundTrademarks, but it also makes sense in the context of the trope.

%%* ''Film/TheMagicSerpent'' is directly based on Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari, but with just a hint of {{Kaiju}}s.

* ''Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari'', a 19th century poem, is unmistakably the TropeMaker. The titular Jiraiya (formerly Ogata Hiroyuki) was a deposed prince who learned ninjitsu and Yamabushi magic under the frog sage [[TheMentor Senso Dojin]] alongside his love Tsunade, who studied [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Slug Magic]], both to defeat the evil Snake Spirit Orochimaru and stop his plan to conquer all of Japan and eventually the world.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Toei's 1966 movie ''Film/TheMagicSerpent'' is directly based on Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (See Literature), but with just a hint of {{Kaiju}}s.

[[folder:Literature]]
* As said above, the 19th century poem ''Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari'' is unmistakably the TropeMaker. The titular Jiraiya (formerly Ogata Hiroyuki) was a deposed prince who learned ninjitsu and Yamabushi magic under the frog sage [[TheMentor Senso Dojin]] alongside his love Tsunade, who studied [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Slug Magic]], both to defeat the evil Snake Spirit Orochimaru and stop his plan to conquer all of Japan and eventually the world.
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'': One of the Future Riders is Rentaro Kagura: Kamen Rider Shinobi, who gains his armor from a giant robot frog called Kurogane Oogama (lit. Iron Toad). In the Rider Time: Shinobi miniseries, he fights against Yaminin and his Niji no Hebi clan of Ninjas.
** This goes doubly for his teacher: [[MentorArchetype Master Gamano]]. Beyond his name [[JustForPun being a pun]][[note]]''Gama no Shishō'' or ''"Master of Toad"''[[/note]], he's a far more capable ninja than his pupil, and is able to turn into a wall scroll of a frog. [[spoiler:Jury's out on [[EvilMentor whether or not he's a good guy, though]]]].

* ''VideoGame/Persona4'' has Yosuke's initial Persona, the "[[Webcomic/Hiimdaisy disco ninja]] [[MemeticMutation frog]]" Jiraiya.

* ''VideoGame/Persona4'' has Yosuke's initial Persona, the "disco ninja frog" Jiraiya.

** ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger'': Ninja Black is named Jiraiya and pilots frog-themed mecha, two frog-faced humanoid mechs followed by an actual frog-shaped one. For bonus points, when performing its special attacks, he stands atop the frog akin to how the literary Jiraiya is often portrayed in artworks.

* ''Videogame/SenranKagura'': In some games, one of Asuka's Ninja Arts is to summon a huge toad to slam onto multiple enemies.

** Likewise, his counterpart Adam's spirit animal in Season 3 of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' is that of a frog. He also pilots the Frog Ninjazord.

What animal would you associate with a ninja? [[CatNinja A cat?]] [[NobleWolf A wolf?]] [[DragonsUpTheYinYang A dragon?]] A... [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg frog?]] Odd choice, but okay.

Compare: CatNinja, Sometimes associated with: FrogMen

* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'': One of the Future Riders is Rentaro Kagura: Kamen Rider Shinobi, who gains his armor from a giant robot frog called Kuragane Oogama (lit. Iron Toad). In the Rider Time: Shinobi miniseries, he fights against Yaminin and his Niji no Hebi clan of Ninjas.

** Jiraiya is able to summon a giant toad, can partially transform himself into one, and has a snake-themed enemy. Most importantly, he is an {{Expy}} of the TropeMaker himself.