History Series / AmericanNinjaWarrior

* BaldHeadOfToughness: Kevin Bull has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alopecia_universalis alopecia universalis]], a condition that prevents the growth of any sort of body hair. He's made it to Stage 3 in Vegas in the past and once dismounted Cannonball Alley ''upside down''.

* MrFanservice: Many men are eye candy with chiseled, athletic physiques with ''very visible'' six (or eight) pack abs, huge veiny biceps and other other muscles on par with statues of Greek gods, so getting to see them flexing, sweating and groaning as they take on the obstacle course can be nothing short of breathtaking.

* MrFanservice: Many men are eye candy with chiseled, athletic physiques with ''very visible'' biceps and other other muscles on par with statues of Greek gods, so getting to see them flexing, sweating and groaning as they take on the obstacle course can be nothing short of breathtaking.

* MrFanservice: Many men are eye candy with chiseled, athletic physiques with _very visible_ biceps and other other muscles on par with statues of Greek gods, so getting to see them flexing, sweating and groaning as they take on the obstacle course can be nothing short of breathtaking.

* MrFanservice: Many men are eye candy with chiseled, athletic physiques with _very visible_ abs, biceps and other other muscles on par with statues of Greek gods, so getting to see them flexing, sweating and groaning as they take on the obstacle course can be nothing short of breathtaking.

** Season 15 ups the ante by having several competitors ''repeat'' Kaden Lebsack's streak of two attempts at Stage 4 - namely, the aforementioned Daniel Gil and R.J. Roman. Not only that, but the amount of people successfully beating Stage 3 had been increased to a staggering '''eight''' athletes. Out of those "Great Eight", only ''two'' managed to secure Total Victory - Daniel Gil and Vance Walker, with the latter edging out the former by more than a second and successfully claiming the $1,000,000 prize, as well as becoming the third American Ninja Warrior.

* AlmightyJanitor: Isaac Caldiero, the first winner of the competition, works as a busboy, a fact that was mentioned by the commentators several times during his run on Stage 3.

* BattleCouple: Chris Digangi and Jesse Labreck are engaged. Brent Steffensen & Kacy Catanzaro also dated for a while before breaking up sometime before Season 8.

* ClifftopCaterwauling: Many competitors will scream in triumph after hitting a buzzer, from the top of the Warped Wall, the tower of a City Finals course, above the cargo net of Stage 1, etc.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: At every National Finals since Season 4, ninjas' clothing indicates their respective qualifying city.

* CoolOldGuy: Pretty much everyone over 50. Jon Stewart (not to be confused with a [=DC=] Comics character or a TV show host) manages to ''defeat'' Denver City Finals of Season 6 ''despite being '''52 years old!''''' As Matt Iseman later pointed out, Stewart was ''older than Abraham Lincoln'' who was elected President of the United States ''at 51!''

* CurbStompBattle: In 2014 special "USA vs. Japan", [[spoiler:the Japanese all wiped out, with the final result 6-0 USA.]]

** As of recent seasons, Kaden Lebsack is the only one who holds the distinction of defeating the previously undefeatable ''Stage 3'' '''''twice.''''' With the conclusion of Season 15, Daniel Gil and R.J. Roman joined that list.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: ''The Wedge'' is where you have to hop a bar wedged in a wedge-shaped gap.

* EnsembleCast: Since there are so many competitors, no one competitor is really considered TheAce anymore. Generally, 1 to 2 competitors in each region get the most hype, but there are still many competitors who put on great runs and gain the respect and adulation of the fans, particularly walk-on contestants, or contestants with inspirational stories.

** The shortest woman, and person in general, to scale the Warped Wall is Barclay Stockett who stands at 5’ even.

** Modified as of season 8, the steps now escalate, and the Warped Wall was increased by 6 inches.
** Season 10 added the "Mega Warped Wall" for the Qualifiers. This wall is 18 feet high. The regular Warped Wall is still there. Also, the successful climb on Mega Wall awards the competitor $10,000.

** ''American Ninja Warrior Junior'' was announced on 2018. Set to premiere on October 13, 2018, the competitors are children who are superfans of the show, mentored by fan-favorite ''ANW'' competitors.

** Emphasised ''even more'' in Season 12. Due to 2020 being a very special year, the top ninjas bring along their best friends to give a shot at the competition.

** Arguably the Venice qualifiers (and subsequently city finals) from Season 7. [[spoiler:A particularly devastating obstacle, the Hourglass Drop, caused competitors to fail at never-before-seen rates. Only 7 people cleared the qualifier and only 1 person (who obviously TookALevelInBadass) cleared the city finals course, both record lows. The Hourglass took out so many people that several competitors who failed to clear it the second time were still able to move on to Vegas.]]

** Season 8's Los Angeles city final had an absolutely brutal obstacle called The Wedge. Only two competitors, Josh Levin and [[ActionGirl Jessie Graff]], were able to complete it.

* YankTheDogsChain: [[spoiler:Andrew Lowes]] seemingly cleared the First Stage in Season 5, only to be told after a commercial break by co-host Jenn Brown that the judges ruled that he had run out of time.

** After Kacy finished a City Finals course in Season 6, no woman replicated that feat again until Season 11- when ''two'' women did it in one night! Both Michelle Warnky and Jesse Labreck completed the course. Also noteworthy is that Warnky had completed the City Qualifiers with blood pouring down her face after hitting her head, then completed the Finals with gnarly-looking stitches that were less than 24 hours old. Badass.

** David Campbell, Ryan Stratis, Brian Kretsch, and Lorin Ball ("The Originals") are the aversions of this trope - they continued competing for well over a decade, and all of them bar Stratis (who is currently done competing due to injuries) are still going, hoping to achieve Total Victory.

** Season 15 ups the ante by having several competitors ''repeat'' Kaden Lebsack's streak of two attempts at Stage 4 - namely, the aforementioned Daniel Gil and R.J. Roman. Not only that, but the amount of people successfully beating Stage 3 had been increased to a staggering '''eight'''. Out of those eight athletes, only ''two'' managed to secure Total Victory - Daniel Gil and Vance Walker, with the latter edging out the former by more than a second and successfully claiming the $1,000,000 prize, as well as becoming the third American Ninja Warrior.