= Hero	= Villain	= Deity
= Supporting Character		= Clergy
= Based on Real Person		= Scientist
= Real     Person	= Non-Superhero        Lead Character
= Non-Feature Lead Character
= Group	= Comic Strip        Character (Primarily)

Newest character in database (28 May 2018):
Muriel Banks - Christian (denomination unknown)

Most recently updated (2 Jun 2018):
Tom Jenson

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Number of characters in this sub-list: 19 (out of a total of 36,945 in the database).

This category is not intended to list all Ninja characters. This category is intended for characters for whom Ninjutsu and/or Ninpo is the best way to categorize their religion.

For many practitioners of Ninjutsu, their religion is Buddhism. For many others, it is a denomination of Christianity. Some are Jewish. Some are Muslims. Some state that their preferred philosophy is Zen. But what about those people who claim none of these and identify no other recognized religion or ideology as their religious preference, but instead are devoted to Ninjutsu itself more than anything else? What about those people for whom Ninjutsu itself is their primary source of values, ethics, socialization, outlook, etc.? For people such as these, Ninjutsu would indeed be classified their "religion." (We are, of course, using "religion" in the broad sense of the term, not the narrowest sense. Webster's Dictionary defines religion as "a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.") In this sense, Ninjutsu is the religion of some people, but only a minority of all those who practice Ninjutsu. This is no different than many other ideologies, lifestyles, philosophies, etc. that are practiced by many people, but constitute the "religion" of only a small subset of overall practitioners.

Ninjutsu is also known as "Ninpo." Previously we had the "Ninjutsu" category labelled as "Ninjutsu/Ninpo", but we shortened it for simplicity's sake. But the truth is, some people distinguish Ninpo from Ninjutsu. One elegant explanation of the relationship comes from the Kageshin Dojo in Northern Virginia (http://www.kageshindojoinnova.com): "Ninpo is the combination of the physical techniques of Ninjutsu and Religion." On the other hand, some people prefer to use "Ninpo" as simply a synonym for "Ninjutsu." These prefer to ignore the broader spiritual/religious/philosophical aspects attached to Ninjutsu and actively taught by some Ninjutsu practitioners and trainers.

Perhaps most importantly for this site, Ninjutsu is very clearly portrayed as the religion of numerous fictional characters. Many are said to belong to "Ninja cults" or "Ninja sects" or a "Ninjutsu religion." They are portrayed as having Ninja priests and Ninjutsu religious ceremonies, etc. However inaccurate their understanding of Ninjutsu may be, various writers for Marvel, DC and other comic book companies have chosen to identify many characters as religious practitioners of Ninjutsu. We try to accurately catalog these characters. These characters are not necessarily realistic reflections of real-life practitioners of Ninjutsu.