Line #63 Literature/BloodNinja


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6	[[quoteright:297:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blood_ninja.jpg]]
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8	''Blood Ninja'' is a 2009 action-fantasy novel written by Nick Lake.
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10	The novel starts with young [[TheHero Taro's]] sickly father's death at the hands of ninja. Another ninja immediately pays a visit and assassinates the other ninja. He then convinces Taro's mother to fake her death and flee, giving her a messenger pigeon. Taro's own escape isn't easy, though - a horde of the first ninja's allies come to take him by force, and even with the backup of his [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friend Hiro]], [[WhamEpisode Taro ends up dying in the fray]].
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12	Immediately the "good" ninja takes Taro and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent bites into his neck]], effectively bringing him BackFromTheDead, just in time to start the story. This ninja, named [[TheMentor Shusaku,]] proceeds to explain how all [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot ninja are vampires]] and, since Taro has been turned, he will also become a ninja. Together with Hiro, they will journey to the home base of Shusaku's ninja clan and later, find Taro's mother.
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14	A sequel, ''Blood Ninja II: The Revenge of Lord Oda'', was released in 2010. A second sequel will be released in 2012.
15
16	Do not confuse with [[RobeAndWizardHat bloodninja]].
17
18	!! The novel and its sequel contain the following tropes
19	%%* {{Acrofatic}}: Hiro.
20	* BackFromTheDead: Taro, as outlined on the back of the novel. In the sequel, [[spoiler:Kenji Kira]].
21	* BadassNormal: [[TheBigGuy Hiro,]] [[ActionGirl Yukiko,]] [[LadyOfWar Heiko.]]
22	%%* HandicappedBadass:[[spoiler:Shusaku]] in book two.
23	* BadBoss: Oda Nobunaga kills and maims those in his employ for the most insignificant reasons.
24	* BerserkMode: Taro gets locked into this after [[spoiler:passing the DespairEventHorizon in a fight]], and again after passing it halfway through the sequel. He snaps out of it both times.
25	* BigBad: UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga gets this again.
26	* BlindWeaponmaster: [[spoiler:Shusaku]], after getting burned virtually everywhere.
27	* BloodlessCarnage: Averted. For a young adult novel, ''Blood Ninja'' can be quite bloody and gory at times.
28	%%* BowAndSwordInAccord: Taro.
29	%%* BoisterousBruiser: Hiro.
30	* BookEnds: Literally. The first novel's prologue and epilogue both describe [[spoiler:Yukiko's FaceHeelTurn]], from two different points of view.
31	* BunnyEarsLawyer: Tokugawa is... rather odd, but extremely intelligent.
32	%%* ChekhovsGun: The Buddha Ball
33	* TheChessmaster: Tokugawa's said to be not just two steps ahead - he's playing a whole different game.
34	%%* CrazyPrepared - UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu.
35	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Hiro, sometimes.
36	%%* DefeatEqualsFriendship: [[spoiler:Little Kawabata]].
37	%%* DemBones: [[spoiler:Looks like Kenji Kira got what he wanted]].
38	* DrivenByEnvy: The male Kawabatas. Kawabata-''tousan'' [[spoiler:killed Shusaku's love because he wanted her]] and the son has burning desire to beat and kill Taro.
39	%%* DualWielding: Yukiko, by book two.
40	* EscapedFromHell: Subverted with [[spoiler:Kenji Kira]], who ''does'' escape from hell, but by sneaking out through a door someone left open.
41	%%* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Yukiko.]]
42	* HealingFactor: Vampires heal really quickly.
43	* HighPressureBlood: The ending of the second novel has someone literally explode into blood. Yes, that's right.
44	* HeroicSacrifice: Both [[spoiler:Shusaku and Heiko]], until [[spoiler:Shusaku comes back]].
45	* HonorBeforeReason: Taro holds this sort of mentality, but Shusaku repeatedly [[{{Deconstructed}} warns him of its impracticality]].
46	* IAmNotLeftHanded: Oda ruined his right arm in a former battle, but regained his sword-saint status by training his left arm, except that he found out that while his right arm is weak, it's still ''fast''...
47	* InstantExpert: ''Everyone'' - or at least, all the ninja students - are said to "progress to the sword ... naturally, as if they hand spent their early childhoods wielding katana".
48	* {{Invisibility}}: Shusaku is [[spoiler:BlessedWithSuck]] - he had the Heart Sutra tattooed over his body, rendering him inivsible to other ninja. However he has to remove his clothes for it to work...and ninja burn in sunlight.
49	* IronicEcho: "''You told me there was no honor in this [[spoiler: .... Do you believe it still?]]''"
50	%%* JidaiGeki
51	* KingIncognito: [[spoiler: Taro is Tokugawa's son, hidden in the village he grew up in.]] And [[spoiler: Endo Shusaku was a former lord of Tokugawa's]].
52	* LifeDrinker: ''Gaki'', or hungry ghosts, maintain form and presence by feeding off the life of others. Taro can see them, humans can't.
53	* MasterOfUnlocking: Taro takes Heiko on a mission with him specifically because she is this.
54	* NeverLearnedToRead: Both Taro and Hiro. They were peasants, after all. In the sequel, Hana teaches Taro to read.
55	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: All you really need to know about the novel is that it features vampire ninjas.
56	* {{Orochi}}: Taro draws inspiration from this for a particular revenge scheme.
57	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Well, for starters, they're ninjas.
58	%%* PeriodPiece
59	* PurpleProse: The author gets pretty florid describing Hana's beauty.
60	* PutOnABus: Taro's mom for book one. She returns in book two.
61	%%* RebelliousPrincess: Oda no Hana.
62	* RescuedFromTheUnderworld: Taro pulls off a rescue in the second novel.
63	* RevengeBeforeReason: Yukiko, in the sequel, tries to squeeze as much pain out of Taro as possible... which ultimately [[spoiler:blows up in her face]].
64	* TechnicalPacifist: The Buddha Ball itself. Sure, it won't harm things directly, but...
65	%%* TheRival: "Little" Kawabata, to Taro. For a while, anyway.
66	* TheUndead: We've got vampires, ghosts that feed off your life force, and walking skeletons by the end of the second novel.
67	%%* ToHellAndBack: In the sequel.
68	* TomboyPrincess: Hana, said to have "the soul of a man".
69	%%* TwistEnding: A MASSIVE ONE, for the first novel.
70	%%* WarriorMonk: More than one sect of them, even, in book two.
71	* WeakenedByTheLight: The sun has this effect on vampires.
72	* WeatherControlMachine: The Buddha Ball can control nature.
73	%%* WellDoneSonGuy: Little Kawabata, very, very much.
74	* WhamLine:
75	** "The truth is, Taro...[[spoiler:you are Lord Tokugawa's son.]]" closely followed by "[[spoiler:Lord]] Endo Shusaku at your service."
76	* WholesomeCrossdresser: Heiko briefly [[spoiler:pretends to be Taro so they kill her instead of him.]]
77	* YouKilledMyFather: Oda sent the ninjas who killed Taro's dad. [[spoiler:Well, not his ''biological'' father, but still...]]

Context Literature / BloodNinja