History Series / AmericanNinjaWarrior

As of 2020, the ''American Ninja Warrior'' is hosted by former stand-up comedian and the winner of ''The New Celebrity Apprentice'' show Matt Iseman (since Season 2) along with former [=NFL=] player Akbar Gbajabiamila (since Season 5).

''American Ninja Warrior'' is a reality show inspired by the bi-annual competition in Japan, ''Sasuke''[=/=]''Series/NinjaWarrior''. In fact, for the first three seasons, the prize for the show was being a member of the 10 American athletes who were flown to Japan to compete among the ''Ninja Warrior'' All-Stars. It [[ChannelHop currently airs]] on {{Creator/NBC}}, and it's the sole surviving show from Creator/{{G4TV}}.

* BattleCouple: Chris Digangi and Jesse Labreck are engaged. Brent Steffensen & Kacy Catanzaro also dated for a while before breaking up due to Kacy pursuing the professional wrestling career.

** James McGrath, in his last ''three seasons'', went out on the exact same obstacle in Stage One- the Jumping Spider. To make his hatred of the obstacle even worse, two out of the three times he fell on that obstacle, he tore the labrum in one shoulder- a different shoulder both times.

* YourWorstNightmare: As Geoff Britten admits in the interview before tackling National Finals of 2015 season, Stage 1 makes him uncomfortable due to the lack of upper body obstacles - where he's most efficient at. Despite the initial fear, he manages to complete Stage 1... '''''and beat the entire Mount Midoryama course, as well.'''''

*** However, due to the episodes airing out of order of how they’re filmed (each city’s qualifiers and finals are filmed over two consecutive nights, but aired a couple months apart so that all the qualifiers are together and all the finals are together), this is technically untrue- Maggi Thorne was the first mother to climb the Warped Wall. She was just unlucky enough to have that episode (a Finals episode) air later than when Sandy scaled the wall (a Qualifying episode).

** And they’re both quite partial to reminding competitors to “keep them L’s”- i.e. keeping arms at a 90° angle while on an upper body obstacle.

** 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, them completed the Finals with stitches that were less than 24 hours old. Badass.
**

*** However, due to the episodes airing out of order of how they’re filmed (each city’s qualifiers and finals are filmed over two nights, but aired weeks apart so that all the qualifiers are together and all the finals are together), this is technically untrue- Maggi Thorne was the first mother to climb the Warped Wall. She was just unlucky enough to have that episode (a Finals episode) air later than when Sandy scaled the wall (a Qualifying episode).

** And they’re both quite partial to reminding competitors to “keep them L’s”- i.e. keeping arms at a 90° angle while on an upper body obstacle.

* MeaningfulName: David Campbell aka ''The Godfather''. He is the first to build a ''whole obstacle course'' in his backyard for further training; since then, many top competitors followed his example over the years.
** Sam Sahn aka ''The Survivor''. While living in Cambodia as a child, Sam learned how to overcome many challenges - both physical and mental.

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

* WolverinePublicity: Many veterans are given greater focus than the rest, but the "Ninja Couple," Brent Steffensen and Kacy Catanzaro stand out the most, especially after Kacy skyrocketed in popularity for being the first woman to climb the Warped Wall and complete a City Finals course.

** [[PintSizedPowerhouse Kacy Catanzaro]], and how! She is the first woman to ''EVER'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfZFuw7a13E complete a city finals course]] and qualify for the Las Vegas finals, and the fact that she is just 5 feet tall and 100 pounds takes the trope UpToEleven.

** Jessie Graff, a stuntwoman who was the first woman to sit on top of a leaderboard, and only one of six people who completed the devastating Hourglass Drop. She did this again in Season 8 by conquering the astoundingly difficult Wedge. Then she became the first woman to complete Stage 1 of the Final.
** Meagan Martin, after a string of bad luck in city finals courses, conquered Season 8's finals course in Indianapolis, coming in eighth place.

** Speaking of Daniel Gil... he was ''so close'' at summiting Mount Midoryama, but came just short by several seconds. Season 12 became a ''huge'' redemption for him, as he managed to beat every single course and advance to the Power Tower Playoffs where he defeated every opponent and was crowned to be the third American Ninja Warrior.

** Also in season 6, rock climbers Michelle Warnky & Meagan Martin also successfully climbed the Warped Wall and completed a qualifying course for the very first time. Later in Mt. Midoriyama Stage 1, Martin became the first woman ever to complete the fourth obstacle, the Jumping Spider, but she timed out on the Warped Wall.
** Stuntwoman Jessie Graff, who in season 7 completed a qualifying course as well and made it until the ninth obstacle in a Regional Finals course, becoming the second woman (after Catanzaro) to made it to Las Vegas without being wildcarded. Later in Mt. Midoriyama Stage 1, just like Martin in season 6, she timed out on the Warped Wall.
** Eventually, in season 8, Graff reached Mt. Midoriyama without being wildcarded for a straight second year in a row. She passed all obstacles in Stage 1, including the Jumping Spider ''and'' the Warped Wall, and hit the buzzer, becoming ''the first woman ever'' to complete Stage 1 in Mt. Midoriyama.

** Other notable female competitors include Nika Muckelroy, Tiana Webberley, Sarah Schoback, Natalie Duran, Joyce Shahboz, Alyssa Beird, Barclay Stockett and Jeri D'Aurelio.

** David Campbell, Ryan Stratis, Brian Kretsch and Lorin Ball ("The Originals") are the aversions of this trope - they're still competing for well over a decade.

* DramaticUnmask: David "Flip" Rodriguez, a competitor who wears a half-mask while competing on ANW and freerunning, during the Season 7 qualifiers. [[spoiler:It worked, as he cleared the qualifying course, although perhaps subverted by the fact that he is for all intents and purposes a regular guy under the mask. Flip later revealed he wore the mask because of cripplingly low self-esteem due to the fact that he suffered DomesticAbuse as a child.]]

* HandicappedBadass: Anyone who suffered serious injuries not long before the competition, as well as several amputees. In one particular instance, Artis Thompson III was awarded with a ''Run of the Night'' after crawling through Log Runner ([=3rd=] obstacle) ''with his prostetic leg.''

* LightningBruiser: ''A necessity''. In order to successfully tackle many obstacles on [=ANW=] courses, the competitors have to be both strong as rock climbers and quick as olympic runners. Isaac Caldiero and Drew Dreschel are the best examples.

** In season 11, Michelle Warnky and Jesse "Flex" Labreck became the second and third women to complete a City Finals course, respectively.
** Also in season 11, Sandy Zimmerman became the "first mom" to climb the Warped Wall, after the commentators repeatedly noted throughout the season that no mothers had done so.

* 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!''
** Other instance comes from Vietnam veteran Chuck Mammay, who managed to compete in [=ANW=] while being '''''over 70 years old.'''''

* BadassGrandpa: 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!''

** Possibly averted by Kacy Catanzaro in Season 6.

** David Campbell and Ryan Stratis are the aversions of this trope - they're still competing for well over a decade.

** Isaac Caldiero and Geoff Britten absolutely qualified when they became the first men to complete the entire course, with Caldiero edging out Britten's time in stage four to become the first American Ninja Warrior.

** In season 11, Michelle Warnky and Jesse Labreck became the second and third women to complete a City Finals course, respectively.

** Other notable female competitors include Jesse Labreck, Tiana Webberley, Sarah Schoback, Natalie Duran, Joyce Shahboz, Alyssa Beird and Jeri D'Aurelio.

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

* CelebrityEdition: Celebrity specials were produced for the Red Nose Day charity telethons in 2017 and 2018, pairing up various celebs with notable Ninja Warrior competitors. The standout celeb was Creator/StephenAmell in 2017, who did as well as any regular competitor and even insisted doing the salmon ladder, despite it not being part of the Celebrity Edition course, since he was known for doing it on [[Series/{{Arrow}} his own show]]. The regular show occasionally has celebs show up to compete as well; they're mostly pro athletes but Brennan Mejia from ''Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge'' also once had a go.

** Lampshaded in the season 7 premiere, where one of the commentators says, "Fear not, ladies. We have no shortage of [[MrFanservice man-candy]] here tonight!" after one of the more attractive contestants failed the second part of the course.

* IncrediblyLamePun: Both hosts, but more often Akbar, use the competitor's profession to make a terrible pun on nearly every run. Some examples:

As of 2020, the ''American Ninja Warrior'' is hosted by former stand-up comedian Matt Iseman (since Season 2) and former [=NFL=] player Akbar Gbajabiamila (since Season 5).

** ''Season 12 itself (2020)'' is a major case. Due to [=COVID-19=] pandemic drastically changing everything around the world, the format of American Ninja Warrior had to be changed along with it. To elaborate: instead of the usual structure "City Qualifiers - City Finals - National Finals", it adopted a much simpler one: 4 weeks of Qualifiers followed by 2 weeks of Semi-finals followed by last 2 weeks of the Finals. The entirety of the competition is confined within the walls of The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. 50 top competitiors were allowed to bring 2 more people each along with them (either former competitors, members of their family, fans, or co-workers), having a total amount of competitors to 150 - much less than in any prior season. The top price is reduced to $100,000; however, the successful climb on the (completely optional) Mega Wall would bring the competitor additional $10,000. And of course, medical testing combined with social distancing as much as possible are mandatory.

** Before that, the first woman to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mirMEsFI07o conquer the Warped Wall]].

* YourWorstNightmare: As Geoff Britten admits in the interview before tackling National Finals of 2015 season, Stage 1 makes him uncomfortable due to the lack of upper body obstacles - where he's most efficient at. Despite the initial fear, he manages to complete Stage 1... '''''and beat the entire Mount Nidoryama course, as well.'''''

* 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.

** All-Stars specials also assign colors to each Team participating in the relay races across the Stages 1, 2 and 3.

* HandicappedBadass: Anyone who suffered serious injuries, as well as several amputees. In one particular instance, Artis Thompson III was awarded with a ''Run of the Night'' after crawling through Log Runner ([=3rd=] obstacle) ''with his prostetic leg.''

* PintSizedPowerhouse: Kacy Catanzaro, who was 5'1" and weighed under 100 lbs. While she had one of the slowest clear times on the Regional Final, the fact that she cleared it is impressive.

* TemptingFate: There's a surprisingly large frequency of the announcers commenting on how well a contestant is doing and that contestant falling within the next few seconds.

* 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.

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

** Eventually, in season 8, Graff reached Mt. Midoriyama without being wildcarded for a straight second year in a row. She passed all obstacles in Stage 1, including the Jumping Spider and the Warped Wall, and hit the buzzer, becoming the first woman ever to complete Stage 1 in Mt. Midoriyama.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: The [[TrueCompanions Wolf Pack]] can be seen as the American antecedent to the Black Tigers of ''Sasuke''.

** 2014 saw the debut of Kevin Bull, who has alopecia. He set one of the fastest times in Venice qualifying, then in the finals became the first of only four contestants to conquer the Cannonball Alley obstacle ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4OD0OfWQ98 using his feet!]]), as well as one of only two to actually complete the course (the other being veteran David Campbell, who is also bald).

** Later in season 5, famous bald rock climber & ANW veteran Brian Arnold also completed the fourth obstacle in Stage 3 and went even farther than Steffensen the previous year, reaching the eighth & final obstacle but falling on it (Steffensen fell on the sixth obstacle the previous year).

* CulturalTranslation: Despite the reality-show competition the only difference between the shows is that American Ninja Warrior has, well, American competitors. And the whole competition is more strength based than the Japanese version.

* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Stage 3 remained unconquered for ''seven years'' before finally being successfully completed by not one, but ''two'' competitors in September of 2015, with first Isaac Caldiero and then Geoff Britten finished to advance to stage four. Both men would proceed to complete the final stage, with Caldiero edging out Britten's time by just shy of four seconds, becoming the first ever American Ninja Warrior.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: The Wedge is where you have to hop a bar wedged in a wedge-shaped gap
* DownToTheLastPlay: In "USA vs. the World", Team USA and Team Europe competed in the tie-breaking stage 4. [[spoiler:Sean [=McColl=], of Team Europe, eked out a victory against American Travis Rosen by a very slim ''0.31 seconds''.]]

* HarderThanHard: Despite nearly 1,000 people trying every year, it would be seven years before anyone completed the entire course, when Geoff Britten and Isaac Caldiero finally climbed the mountain. You'd have to be as strong as a rock climber just to clear Stage One.

* MarathonLevel: The Third Stage, an untimed stage made up solely of upper body obstacles, has been known to take upwards of 10 minutes to attempt, compared to the relatively quick nature of the other stages[[note]] Stage 1 and 2 must be completed in under two and a half minutes, whereas stage 4 must be completed in under thirty seconds[[/note]]. Until the seventh season, it's never been beaten on American Ninja Warrior, and only one competitor in six years got to the last obstacle. [[spoiler:However, it was defeated four times in USA vs. The World in Season 6, although those competitors didn't necessarily have to clear or even attempt the First or Second Stages to get there.]]

** Season 10 added the "Mega Warped Wall" for the Qualifiers. This wall is 18 feet high. The regular Warped Wall is still there.

* UpToEleven: The basic premise of the second half of Season 8's All-Stars episode, it took several iconic obstacles and made supersized versions of them, such as a Warped Wall that was 5 feet taller, or a Salmon Ladder that was seven stories tall.

** 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.]]

* YourWorstNightmare: As Geoff Britten admits in the interview before tackling National Finals of 2015 season, Stage 1 makes him uncomfortable due to the lack of upper body obstacles - where he's most efficient at. Despite the initial fear, he manages to complete Stage 1... '''''and beat Mount Nidoryama, as well.'''''

** Meagan Martin, after a string of bad luck in city finals courses, conquered Season 8's finals course in Indianapolis, coming in eighth place.