Joe Musashi (Character)
Joe Musashi is a player character and main protagonist in Sega's Shinobi series of video games, first introduced in 1987. This original Shinobi hero has achieved great popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when it was used as one of Sega's mascot characters. During this time he was cast as the protagonist of the original arcade game as well the Mega Drive/Genesis sequels The Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, also starring in two Game Gear titles. The Mega Drive/Genesis game Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi also starred Joe Musashi in its overseas release, although the character was originally written to be his estranged son in the Japanese version. In more recent Shinobi titles, he appears as an unlockable character in the 2002's Shinobi and its follow-up Nightshade and in Shinobi 3D, which stars his father Jiro. Due to his cult following and widespread acclaim from critics, he has been lauded as one of the greatest video game ninjas of all time.
- Fighting style: Oboro Ninjutsu
- Origin: Shinobi no Sato, Japan
- Nationality: Japanese
Joe Musashi is the protagonist of Shinobi (1987), The Revenge of Shinobi (1989), The G.G. Shinobi (1991), The G.G. Shinobi II: The Silent Fury (1992), and Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (1993).
Musashi also appears as an unlockable playable character in the 2002 version of Shinobi for the PlayStation 2, and its 2003 sequel Nightshade (Kunoichi in Japan), as well as 2011's Shinobi 3D for the Nintendo 3DS. His primary weapons in most games are shuriken or kunai. He also has the sword Hazy Moon (朧月, Oborotsugi), which he is able to charge for a powerful special attack, and knows various ninjitsu skill techniques and spells.[12]
Outside of Shinobi video games, Joe Musashi is a playable character in the racing game Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, where he rides a quad bike and is able to throw fireballs, and appeared in Sonic the Comic as the protagonist of the stories "The Dark Circle", "Fear Pavilion", "The Art of War", "Way of the Warrior" and "Power of the Elements". The Shinobi series BGM compilation was released by Wave Master in 2009 as Shinobi Music Collection – Legend of Joe Musashi.