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In Pixels, Josh Gad's character battles several chibi-style ninjas that are assaulting a school bus. I do not recognize what video game these ninjas are from.

screencap of a ninja from the trailer

What game are they from, or are they from a fictional game like the "Lady Lisa" character, or were they sourced from 1980's pop culture, like the Smurf must have been?

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  • youtube.com/watch?v=Gs4b560L18Q# Unfortunately I cannot comment to your post, the ninjas can be seen in the featurette I linked above (at around 1:15). I think they are not from a particular game, there are a lot of mobile games with similar ninjas.
    – Francisco V.
    Jul 26, 2015 at 8:17
  • Maybe you should ask at gaming.stackexchange.com
    – TroyAndAbed
    Jul 28, 2015 at 18:08
  • @TroyAndAbed - it's a film reference question, so technically it belongs here, but you're welcome to ask there for me.
    – JoshDM
    Jul 28, 2015 at 18:40

4 Answers 4

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As explained by agent86 in his answer on gaming.stackexchange:

The ninjas are from a fake 80's videogame created for the movie, called Dojo Quest:

Here's an article about the licensed games in the movie:

The filmmakers licensed characters from real-world video games for the movie, but they opted to craft a fictional title starring a ninja-fighting heroine named Lady Lisa (played by Ashley Benson), who serves as an unconventional love interest for Gad's character. To promote "Pixels," Sony released a side-scrolling mobile game resembling "Dojo Quest."

"Lady Lisa was in the first draft of the script, and I thought it would be fun to create just one game that didn't exist back in the '80s," said Columbus. "It never occurred to me not to do it. I felt like we could get away with it. A character like Lara Croft could've worked, but I loved the fact that Josh Gad's character has been pining for this woman all his life."

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  • The problem from a plot standpoint (beyond all the other glaring problems with this film) is that while Lady Lisa was shown (briefly) in the 80's, her ninja antagonists were nowhere to be seen until their appearance in the final battle. Poor plotting.
    – JoshDM
    Jul 29, 2015 at 2:29
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I have no idea why a 2003 game is in there (they're all supposed to be from the 80s?), but this looks exactly like I-Ninja. Here's a still from the film and some I-Ninja pics for comparison. Note in particular the eyebrows and the eye-hole pattern. If this is supposed to be a new character, it's at the very least heavily influenced by this one...

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[OK, maybe it's not an exact replica (they removed the headband and added sleeves), but the design is too similar for this to be a coincidence. Either they purchased the rights, ripped I-Ninja off or I-Ninja ripped off some old, hitherto unknown source that Pixels used.]

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  • Mighty Bomb Jack is somewhat similar in detail and chibi-style, so I figure there must be something else from the eighties period that they are sourced from. I'm going to steal your still for the question.
    – JoshDM
    Jul 26, 2015 at 12:48
  • Bomberman might actually be closer... (though still not a ninja)
    – Walt
    Jul 26, 2015 at 13:09
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    The outfits are not accurate enough for me; I'll hold out for something closer than I-Ninja.
    – JoshDM
    Jul 27, 2015 at 5:01
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I think they are from the arcade game Nibja Kids and Lady Lisa looks to be based off the main character from an old taito arcade game called Legend of Kage.

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I think they are supposed to be from ninja gaeden a popular one in the 80's along with vs.excitebike,moon patrol,choplifter, etc. I could go on and on about some of my favorites

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  • Ninja Gaiden's ninjas look nothing like these Pixels characters. I suggest consulting Google Images.
    – user9311
    Nov 1, 2015 at 19:20
  • Agreed but its in the right time frame even though they were capcom and not atari
    – Kevin
    Nov 2, 2015 at 14:36
  • Was kinda hoping to find a better answer here myself
    – Kevin
    Nov 2, 2015 at 14:39
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    There is a better answer; Dojo Quest - made for the movie. Scroll up.
    – JoshDM
    Nov 2, 2015 at 17:36
  • Ninja Gaiden is far from the same time period. It's 88 and not Capcom, it was made by Tecmo ... And others have said nothing like these characters in the movie.
    – user33539
    Apr 16, 2016 at 21:52

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