THE TIMELINE

1920: Shinyuki is born.

1944: Shinyuki leaves his ninja clan. He embarks on a tour of duty in the Philippines. Presumibly, Shinyuki’s clan is the most powerful and ancient elite in Japan, the only one to worship the noble Bushido code.

1945: WWII is finally over, but Shinyuki doesn’t know/realize it. He starts living alone in the jungle, believing the war is still going on elsewhere.

1962: Late months. X is born in the United States of America.

1963: X’s parents move to Philippines. They are two diplomats.

1964: The parents got killed in an accident. X is found by Shinyuki and renamed Joe. The kid is then raised and trained by the keeper of the Kobudera magic secrets.

1970: Sean Davidson is born.

1972: Despite the tender age of the child, Shinyuki provided to “imprint” incredible ninja skills to Joe via Kobudera ancient and secret “body memories”/conditioning procedures.

1975: Joe becomes amnesiac after being accidentally involved in a mine blast. Police finds him unconscious and severly wounded. Once awaken, he just remembers the name Shinyuki gave him. His life goes downhill from this point forward. Joe fastly turns into a rebel hellraiser at the reform schools.

1977: Joe legally adopts the surname Armstrong and a second name: T.

1978: Joe almost kills a man. He is only 16, thus giving him the voice to either enlist or go to jail. He must have picked jail this time (Note: episode reported in AN1 by Sgt. Rinaldo in an ambiguous and confused way).

1979: Los Angeles. Robbers invade one hallway where an important Karate tournament is set. Sean is one of the first few to walk in the presence of one of the robbers, then is held hostage in front of his dad. Sean’s father is gunned down by the robber, while trying to run to save his son’s life.

Izumo, sensei and close friend of his father takes in Sean as his son/student.

1980: Japan. Sean is beginning his training. “Ultimate physical power can be achieved by your mind and soul - over your body”. Sean learns this as a teen during his training and these are the same word that goes through his mind before he finally takes down The Cobra in AN3.

 

1983: Joe joins the Army. He is sent to a Philippines military base under the command of Colonel William T. Hickock.

1985: Midyear. The events of AN1 occur. Joe Armstrong assumes the identity of American Ninja for the very first time and defeat mobster Victor Ortega and the Narajama clan (gone rogue). Shinyuki, disguised as Master, dies in the process. The corrupt leader of the clan, Black Star Ninja, is killed in a final duel with American Ninja. Joe is 22, soon-to-be-turned 23.

1986: Pvt. Joe Armstrong and Cpl. Curtis Jackson are recruited by the United States Army Rangers.

1987: Joe Armstrong keeps operating as the mysterious masked vigilante known as American Ninja. Joe and Patricia Hickock’s romantic relationship ends.

1988: Sean is trained in “Disguise and illusion: Hensōjutsu. The ancient art of impersonation” (AN3).

1989: The events of AN2 occur. At Blackbeard Island (Carribeans), Joe defeats drug lord Leo Burke a.k.a. The Lion. Burke was aided by the skilled assassin known as Tojo Ken. Burke’s overall mad scheme was to combine artificially implanting of progressive “warrior genes” in normal soldiers’s physiology and severe brainwashing in order to obtain ninja-like warriors and sell them to other terrorists. Plan wasn’t properly working anyway, because the so-called Super-Ninjas were less strong and balanced in the first phase of their evergoing mutation, the maggot stage. Thus, American Ninja managed to defeat The Lion and stop his criminal empire before the Super-Ninjas would turn into an effective threat for human kind.

Joe starts a relationship with Alicia Sandborn.  

1990: Curtis quits the Rangers (AN3. Curtis: “I can’t believe I’m looking for Ninjas. I thought I stopped doing this when I left Joe back in the Army”). He starts competing in Karate tournaments as Powerhouse Jackson or simply Powerhouse.

1991: Joe resigns from the Rangers. He then joins the 1^st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1^st SFOD-D) and becomes an elite Operator, often working for the Central Intelligence Agency as well.

1993: The events of AN3 occur. Sean Davidson and Curtis Jackson meet each other and join their forces to fight the international terrorist known as The Cobra - who is supported by the clan of the Snake-Ninjas and the female warrior Grace.

Few months later, Sean is introduced to Joe by mutual friend Curtis and joins the Army.

 

1995: Once completed his tenure as soldier, Sean joins the Delta Force. He discards any type of ninja garb in favour of his pocket kit as warrior wherever it is needed (as seen in AN4). Sometimes he assists Joe in his escapades as American Ninja.

1997: Joe resigns from the Delta Force. He also puts on hiatus his American Ninja persona and joins the Peace Corps. In order to make a difference as volunteer, he moves to Africa and start working as teacher for children. It seems like Joe increasingly grows reluctant to use violence again.
 

1999: The events of AN4 occur. Sean Davidson and his sidekick Carl Brackston are captured. Joe becomes American Ninja again in order to rescue his former protégé. He incorporates a black belt to his costume as sign of advanced expertise and newfound wisdom.

Once freed from captivity, Sean fights along with his mentor against the vicious triad consisting of British psychopath criminal Colonel Scott Mulgrew, Sheikh Ali Maksood and a mysterious clan led by its lethal leader: Super Ninja. One member of the clan is also affiliated to the Kobudera; via hypnosis he discoveres Sean’s connection with the universally renowned anti-terrorism vigilante American Ninja; disguised as Sean, the occult Ninja is even able to successfully deceit Joe. In the final duel with Super Ninja, Joe is unmasked and wears a golden ninja outfit stolen from a guard.

2005: the events of AN5 are occurring in an alternate universe. On this parallel Earth, ninja clans are still active, magic is very prominent and ninjas use to wear colorful suits. Sean Davidson’s counterpart in this world, Joe Kastle, exposes himself as American Ninja for the very first time in order to overcome the terrorist known as Glock and his henchman: the Viper. In the process a young kid, Hiro, is adopted by Joe as his “little brother”. He is Master Tetsu’s grandnephew and himself a ninja disciple. Joe lost his younger brother, Jimmy Kastle, in a fight many years before. While saving the day, Joe Kastle wears a rudimentary ninja garb.

 

 

 Legenda:

 AN1 = American Ninja (1985)

AN2 = American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987)

AN3 = American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989)

AN4 = American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990)

AN5 = American Ninja 5 (1993)

 

Fan fiction conceived and written by Tiziano Caliendo. Based on the American Ninja movies. All rights reserved, MGM (AN 1-4) and Warner Bros. (A5). Characters created by Gideon Amir and Avi Kleinberger.