Less Than Daily

v 4.03: proof if needed that not all roleplayers lead interesting lives

Who would win a fight between a Ninja and a Tiger? – a Scientific Experiment

I’ve found myself wondering recently, Who would win a fight between a Ninja and a Tiger?

I searched the internet, and couldn’t find an answer.  So decided to carry out the experiment for myself.

I was fairly certain the guys at Chester Zoo would say no to me fighting one of their tigers, Knowsley Safari Park was a more likely candidate as you don’t have to climb over any walls to get to the animal, just need to get out of the car when in the tiger enclosure.

The problem there was that whilst I was fairly certain a ninja could beat one tiger, taking on a whole enclosure full of them wasn’t such a good idea.  I had to rethink my plan, and came up with the following Scientific Experiment

Looking through the d&d rules it seems that monks are the closest character class to ninjas, they fight with their hands and do flashy flips and stuff.

So I rolled a level 4 monk (I chose level 4 because I’m 7th kyu ninjitsu, which is basicaly a level 4 ninja).

I then got out the Monster Manual, and.. couldn’t find Tigers.. so settled for a Leopard.

Rolling the characters, the Monk (or NinJAphee as we’ll call him) had an immediate advantage, with 31 hit points against the leopards 19.  However the Leopard had more attacks per round.

NinJAphee also had the disadvantage that he had to paint stripes on the leopard to make the test authentic, this not only lost him initiative, but also gave the Leopard a free round of attacks of opportunity whilst NinJAphee applied the paint.

Round 1:
The Leopard misses with his bite, and then fumbles with his first claw attack (possibly slipping on paint) which meant he not only missed his second claw attack, but also misses both claw attacks next round as he staggered back to his feet.

NinJAphee was unable to take advantage of the fumble as he was still painting.

Round2:
The Leopard again misses his bite, but is back on his feet for the next round.

NinJAphee rains in a flurry of blows, all of them missing.

Round 3:
The Leopard again fails to bite NinJAphee, but does catch him two hefty blows with it’s claws, one of them a crit.
NinJAphee takes 12 damage.

NinJAphee responds with a roundhouse, then a spinning hook kick, the hook kick is a crit!
The Leopard takes 17 damage.

Round 4:
The Leopard is clearly staggered and misses all his attacks.

NinJAphee has the chance to finish off his foe, but instead does an impressive backflip, followed by a cartwheel.. he looks really impressive.

Round 5:
The Leopard can’t get near to the impressively flippy ninja, and not only misses all attacks, but fumbles again tripping over it’s own tail.

NinJAphee impressively finishes a forward somersault by bringing down an axekick and killing the Leopard.

Conclusive proof in an officially sanctioned Scientific Experiment that in a fight between a Ninja and a Tiger*, the ninja will win.

Disclaimers

* Leopard
Following the results of an earlier attempt at this experiment, it is not advisable for ninja’s to fight lions

Here’s what some Passing Idiots had to say:

  1. mcphee avatar
    mcphee


    Nowadays I’d put in a lot less effort to find the answer, I’d go straight to ChatGPT.

    That’s an interesting matchup! In a direct, physical confrontation, a tiger would likely have the upper hand due to its sheer size, strength, and natural weaponry (claws and teeth). Tigers are apex predators, evolved to take down large prey.

    However, if we’re talking about a traditional ninja with skills in stealth, strategy, and perhaps some special weapons, the outcome could be different. A ninja’s tactics might involve avoiding direct combat and using cunning to outsmart the tiger. They might set traps or use their environment to their advantage.

    In a straightforward battle, the tiger’s physical prowess would dominate, but with the right strategy and preparation, a skilled ninja could potentially neutralize the tiger without direct confrontation.

    At first that does seem a sensible answer, but the AI clearly didn’t give any thought to having to paint stripes onto the Leopard, or to doing impressive flips.

    AI still has a long way to go.

    Reply

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