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Shinobu Jacobs

Shinobu

Shinobu in No More Heroes.

ShinobuTSA

Shinobu in Travis Strikes Again.

Shinobu Jacobs (NMH3)

Shinobu in No More Heroes III (In-Game).

Real name Scarlet Jacobs
Nickname Shinobu Jacobs
Age 18 (No More Heroes)
21 (No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle)
28 (Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes)
30 (No More Heroes III)
Species Human
Nationality Unknown
Relatives Tim "Master" Jacobs (father) ✝
Noboru Jacobs (Grandfather)
Affiliations United Assassins Association (Formerly)
Occupations Assassin
Ranking No. 8
Ranking match Santa Destroy High School
Splash taunt "What's that in your hand, a toy?"
Alter ego High school student
Ally(s) Travis Touchdown (master)
Bad Girl (roommate)
Badman
Enemy(s) Galactic Superhero Corps
Notable kills Three high school students
Million Gunman
New Destroyman
Weapon Three Girl Rhumba's Sword (No More Heroes)
Jacob's Ladder
Status Alive
Debut No More Heroes
Battle theme "Season of the Samurai"
Voiced by Kimberly Brooks (English)
Eri Kitamura (Japanese)

Scarlet Jacobs, better known by her pseudonym Shinobu Jacobs (シノブ・ジェイコブス) is a main character in the No More Heroes video game series. She is introduced as an 18-year-old assassin, the youngest confirmed ranked member of the United Assassins Association, and a high school student at the local Santa Destroy High School. Her nationality is unknown, although she is presumably American. She is ranked eighth in the UAA.

Personality and Appearance[]

In No More Heroes, Shinobu is shown to be impatient and bloodthirsty. She doesn't seem very interested in fighting Travis until he pulls out his beam katana, accusing him of murdering her father (see below). Her honor is important to her, as shown when she demands to be killed upon Travis sparing her. By the end of the game she seems to have warmed up to him, saving him in his battle with Jeane. She goes to great lengths to hide her profession as an assassin from her fellow classmates, even killing a group of students who overheard Touchdown challenging her to a Ranking Battle. She also tells Travis it's hard to hide her true self around her fellow students. Shinobu appears to be of African-American descent with her hair styled into a white afro that has a flower decoration in it and wears a school uniform, though her classmates don't seem to wear a uniform. Her sword also seems to have trinkets similar to cell-phone charms on the scabbard.

By No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, Shinobu has adopted a few of Travis' habits and considers him her master. She always affectionately calls him master even when he tells her not to. Her feelings are later shown to be romantic, and she is very disappointed when Travis rejects her advances. While still as bloodthirsty when fighting, she seems more calm than she was in the first game. Her outfit has changed to a black dress with stockings and high heels. Like her previous counterpart from No More Heroes, she seems to enjoy taunting her enemies throughout her battles.

By Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, she dons an entirely new outfit consisting of a yellow two-piece ninja garb that exposes her cleavage, right leg, and midriff, a black scarf, and a shoulder guard on her left shoulder. In No More Heroes III, both of her arms past the elbow, including the right arm with the prosthetic forearm, get ripped off by Jess Baptiste VI (FU), requiring new prosthetic arms. In both games, her crush on Travis is much more downplayed, and is now treated more as a proper master/student friendship.

Story[]

Shinobu is first encountered at Santa Destroy High where Travis Touchdown finds her in class, she is initially surprised to be challenged to a Ranking Battle in the middle of class. She tells Touchdown to wait outside while she kills a small group of students who overheard Touchdown challenging her to a Ranking Battle. Shinobu is impatient and seems to want to get the fight over with. However when Travis pulls out his beam katana she becomes angry accusing him of killing her father. It is likely that Touchdown's twin brother Henry was the one who killed Shinobu's father, as it isn't until Touchdown activates his beam katana that Shinobu's overall tolerance of him harshens and she proclaims that she will finally avenge her father, as Henry wields a beam katana similar to Travis'. The two square off, during which Touchdown severs Shinobu's right hand with his beam katana. Touchdown then reveals he had idolized Shinobu's father so much that he watched all of Jacobs' tapes until they wore out, but had never actually met him in person. Shinobu insists he's lying and tells him to kill her, Touchdown ignores Shinobu's cries, opting to spare her life so the two could face each other again in the future.

Although it is implied that Touchdown could not kill her because of his discomfort in killing a woman, and reinforced with his victory against Holly Summers, in the pre-fight phone call Sylvia sardonically defines Travis as nothing but a cold-hearted assassin "...because that is all you ever do. What? Am I wrong?". Travis begrudgingly agrees but Shinobu's actions make him think twice when he realises she is not a killer for superficial reasons but for reasons similar to his own: they both want to find who killed their parents. Shinobu later appears with her right hand reattached, to save Touchdown from being killed by Jeane in the climax of his final Ranking Battle after it is assumed Shinobu had followed Travis in secret to learn of his reasons up the ranks. This 'kindred spirit' relationship would play a profound part in shaping her for the sequel.

In the three years between No More Heroes and Desperate Struggle, Shinobu has become the most prestigious assassin in Asia. She reunites with Travis after he defeats Dr Letz Shake, showing him her belt she won from her fights in Asia and revealing that Sylvia told her to come back to Santa Destroy and help Travis out. Travis claims it's his war and that he doesn't need help, but Shinobu says it's too late for any changes to be made as she has already killed two other assassins, the first being Million Gunman. Before her ranked fight with New Destroyman, she visits Bishop's grave, and meets his unnamed friend. He gives her a mysterious gift for Travis, which is later revealed to be the ROSE NASTY. Shinobu then proceeds to her next ranked fight with New Destroyman. After her fights, she finishes explaining how she defeated the two assassins and then attempts to seduce and kiss Travis. Travis rejects her advances, claiming that he "[feels] like that pervy teacher in a porn", showing his discomfort for taking advantage of a subordinate. He tries to get her to stay afterwards, but she sadly leaves.

In Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, Shinobu tracks Travis to his trailer in order to have a duel with him, only to be interrupted by Bad Dog, killing the mood. She then constantly visited Travis. In one of those visits, Henry Cooldown shows up with two members of the 'Order of the Emerald Night', having stalked Shinobu to the location of his trailer. Travis, not wanting to cause a ruckus on his trailer, suggests another place to fight Henry's goons, Shinobu suggests to go to her dojo. She explains that she started teaching martial arts and the ways of Bushido to kids to lead them to a righteous life and that she maintains the dojo with money from assassination jobs. Travis shows concern and asks her to never let kids know about her jobs.

In No More Heroes III, Shinobu takes up residence in the No More Heroes motel, with Bad Girl as her roommate. As FU and the Galactic Superhero Corps begin their invasion of the Earth, Shinobu emerges from her room alongside Bad Girl to join Travis as they prepare to fend off the alien invasion. When FU accosts the group at the motel, he incapacitates Travis with a kick to his torso, and even punched a hole through it. Shinobu attempted to attack FU, but was quickly defeated by him, who proceeded to crush and tear both of her arms off, screaming in sheer agony from the pain. FU then stomped on her head relentlessly and as he's about to kill her, Badman intervenes and strikes FU in the head with his baseball bat, only for FU to then kill him by crushing his head.

As a result of her severe injuries at the hands of FU, Shinobu was placed in a critical coma and is tended to in Naomi's Lab. When visiting her, Travis is clearly troubled upon seeing her, practically begging for her to make a full recovery after she had both of her arms crushed and ripped off by FU. Shinobu remained in her comatose state for quite some time, but eventually recovered from it, now outfitted with two prosthetic arms.

Sometime during her recovery, she hung out with Travis and Bishop as they were doing a Miike and Hideaki viewing party. Travis asks Shinobu how her arms are doing, in which she responds to him that slowly but surely, she's getting used to the sensation, but she's unable to wield her sword until she feels attuned with her prosthetic arms. Travis tells her that there's no need to rush her recovery, but she tells him that she wants to hurry up and help him. Bishop then asks Shinobu what she likes, and Shinobu responds to him that she likes her master, Travis. Bishop remarks that she's a real straight-shooter, but Travis retorts, saying that what he actually meant to say to her was what kind of movies she likes watching. Shinobu tells him that she likes watching G-style stuff, to which Bishop was immediately enthusiastic at her response and assumed at first that she liked Gundam-type movies such as Te**a Fo*ma*s, with Travis asking her if she saw the original or if she saw the film first before seeing the original. However, Shinobu is confused by what they are saying and said to them that what she meant by G-style is something like Barbatos swordplay. Travis now understood her specific type of movie preference, and asked if she was trying to get some practice in. She tells him that she is and that the broadsword action is especially helpful. Bishop remarks that she's a real studious one, with Shinobu telling him that her way is the way of the sword. Travis is amazed by the line, especially for times like these. Bishop then tells him that the "Miike" and "swords" relates to one of Takashi Miike's films, Bl*de of the Imm*rtl, to which Shinobu tells them that she loved the original and would like to watch it, pleading with them to show her the film.

As Travis is making his way to Damon Tower to confront FU, he is joined by his allies, including Shinobu, who has fully recovered and is able to wield her sword now after being fully accustomed to her two prosthetic arms. During the fight against FU, he is gradually weakened by Travis and his allies. Eventually, Shinobu and Bad Girl get their revenge on FU, with Bad Girl sending FU up in the air after hitting him with her baseball bat, and Shinobu decapitating him, causing him to physically and mentally revert back into a child. Damon Riccitiello then betrays FU by blowing him up in his own ship when he attempted to retreat back to his home, killing him.

After Travis defeats Damon, Shinobu is present alongside the rest of the group at Badman's funeral at sea. After Travis and Bad Girl deliver their eulogies, Bad Girl scatters her father's ashes overseas, and Shinobu and the rest of the group throw flower pedals overseas. Afterwards, FU's father, Jess Baptiste V, arrives on Earth alongside his alien armada and as he's about to begin his invasion of Earth, he is suddenly killed in seconds by future versions of Travis and Sylvia's children, Hunter and Jeane and Native Dancer, who is revealed to be Scott Touchdown, the son of Jeane and the grandson of Travis and Sylvia. Bad Girl asks who are they, with Shinobu responding to her that they are the twin children of Travis. Hunter, Jeane, and Scott explain to the group that Henry killed Travis in the future and teamed up with an alien force to destroy the planet, and asks Travis to join them to help them change the future, much to his bewilderment.

Powers and Abilities[]

Shinobu is an expert with her katana, and able to perform a ranged attack called the sonic sword (Dubbed as Gentōken by Shinobu in No More Heroes 2 ) with it. As a playable character in No More Heroes 2, she is able to Jump and is very agile. Shinobu is fairly easy to use, her attacks are strong and can easily decapitate a normal enemy should all of her attacks connect. However, Shinobu is also extremely vulnerable right after she performs her attacks in which she will taunt her enemies. This lowers her guard for attacks, a vulnerability that puts her at a slight disadvantage.

While not being able to stun her enemies as easily as Travis, she is still able to perform a melee move when her enemies are stunned. Her charge attacks are also much easier to use as it allows her attack while running or simply by standing still to unleash her sonic sword. Note that when Shinobu is running while charging her attack, she will slash through her enemies in a fast paced manner instead of releasing sonic sword.

Shinobu also comes with another advantage, which is the ability to able to jump. Pressing the B button once and then pressing the A button will result in Shinobu slashing her enemies for 3 times during airborne. Pressing the B Button twice while result in Shinobu diving down at her enemy with her blade. Also, she is able to perform deathblow attacks to downed enemies or while she is in air. Pressing the B button twice however will instantly decapitate her enemies without the need of a deathblow attack. However,do take note that this only happens when enemies are at their last block of life.

To counter her weakness, it is advisable for players to switch from low-to-high or high-to-low attacks (before the last attack connects) and then ending it with a jump attack so that Shinobu will not end up taunting her enemies which will leave her to be open for attacks that could be devastating.

Trading cards[]

Shinobu appears on three trading cards in the Design Materials set of No More Heroes. These are No. 58, No. 59 and No. 138.

Quotes[]

  • "What's that in your hand, a toy?"
  • "Such a gentleman... Are you asking out of tactical curiosity? Or are you just fucking with me?"
  • "I just turned my back... But you didn't strike. You ARE fucking with me."
  • "Liar! You, you killed him! Sliced him in two... You sick bastard!"
  • "You got the hots for me? "
  • "You've got no moe! "
  • "I'm not done yet. "
  • "What does... Moe~ mean?"
  • "Seriously, it's a long story."
  • "Only two? That's nothing. Why don't I just take 'em all?"
  • "Yeah. But not over-confident. Unlike you. I can see myself objectively."
  • "Don't forget your promise. Double cross me and you're dead."
  • "You're not worth the stain on my blade."
  • "Sorry, but I gotta make this quick."
  • "If you kill me, you can fight Travis. But that's a huge IF."
  • "Let's get to the fun."
  • "Any last words?"
  • "When the gatekeeper to hell asks who sent you, tell him it was Shinobu Jacobs."
  • "Enjoy your trip."
  • "On to the next one..."
  • "My Master's got his hands full. So I'm taking his place-- Not that it matters. The result's gonna be the same. I don't have time for this."
  • "Just shut up and fight."
  • "Was this supposed to "Spark"? Lame."
  • "Enough with your freak show! Now bring it!"
  • "That really blows. I can't believe I fell for that."

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In Desperate Struggle, the black glove Shinobu wears over her right hand, which Travis Touchdown severed in No More Heroes, may be a reference to the glove Luke Skywalker wears over his hand in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, which had also been previously severed.
  • Shinobu bears several similarities to the main character of Afro Samurai. Both wield katanas, are presumably African-American, have afros, and are seeking revenge on a person who killed their father.
  • Shinobu's outfit in No More Heroes is based on the Japanese ganguro style. In Desperate Struggle, her outfit is based on the Gothic Lolita style.
  • In Desperate Struggle, If you save the game when playing as Shinobu, and you turn off the game, when you play the game again and on the new/load game screen, instead of Travis on a toilet you will find Shinobu is taking a shower. (Shinobu's save mode)
  • Shinobu has a tendency to mention the Japanese term " Moe~ " which in general means a strong interest in a character with specific styles or type. Like "school-girl moe~" which means a person who is highly attracted to school girls. Although Shinobu doesn't even have the slightest idea of what moe means, this is shown when Shinobu constantly asks " What does... Moe~ mean? " while showering.
  • There's a little error in Desperate Struggle: After you take the Elevator in Million Gunman's Level, she gets a new Katana in her sword scabbard.
  • Considering how much Suda51 likes pro wrestling, Shinobu training and getting better in Japan is a reference to it. Many pro-wrestlers work in Japan before getting big in their home countries.
No More Heroes
Characters Bishop Shidux · Cat Jeane · Diane · Dr. Naomi · Ermen Palmer · Henry Cooldown · Jeane · Keita Sakai · Mask de Uh · Naoko Mori · Randall Lovikov · Sylvia Christel · Talbot and Weller · Thunder Ryu
Assassins Travis Touchdown · Helter-Skelter · Death Metal · Dr. Peace · Shinobu · Destroyman · Holly Summers · Letz Shake · Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii · Speed Buster · Bad Girl · Dark Star
Locations Area 51 · ATM · Atomic Drop Ward · Bar plastic model · Bear Hug Studio · Beef Head · Body Slam Beach · Bow and Arrow Theatre · Destroy Stadium · Iron Claw Point · Job Center · K-Entertainment · Motel "NO MORE HEROES" · Naomi's Lab · Rolling Cradle Highway Bus Stop · Rounding Body Press Station · Santa Destroy High School · Santa Destroy Junction · Suplex Pizza · Thunder Ryu Bldg.
Settlements Santa Destroy, California · Speed City
Weapons Beam Katana · Blood Berry · Buster Launcher · Cross Sword · D.O.S. · Earthquake Maker · Horse Saber · Magic Double Saber · Orange II · SFX Converter · Three Girl Rhumba's Sword · Tsubaki · Tsubaki Mk-II · Tsubaki Mk-III
Vehicles Schpeltiger
Soundtracks No More Heroes Original Sound Tracks · No More Heroes Sound Tracks: Dark Side
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Characters Bishop Shidux · Cat Jeane · Dr. Naomi · Mask de Uh · Mimmy · Ryan · Sylvia Christel · Takashi Miike · Talbot and Weller
Assassins Travis Touchdown · Shinobu · Henry Cooldown · Skelter Helter · Nathan Copeland · Charlie Macdonald · Kimmy Howell · Matt Helms · Cloe Walsh · Dr. Letz Shake · Million Gunman · New Destroyman · Ryuji · Margaret Moonlight · Captain Vladimir · Alice Twilight · Jasper Batt Jr.
Locations Iron Claw Point · Destroy University · Santa Destroy Bank · Destroy Stadium · Destroy Resort · Motel "NO MORE HEROES" · Naomi's Lab · Ryan's Gym
Settlements Santa Destroy, California · Akashic Point
Weapons Beam Katana · Jacob's Ladder · Cross Sword · Earthquake Maker · Shapeshifting boombox · Le Croissant du Angel
Robots Santa Death Parade · Glastonbury
No More Heroes III
Main Characters Travis Touchdown · Sylvia Christel · Shinobu Jacobs · Bad Girl · Henry Cooldown · Dr. Juvenile · Jeane · Damon Riccitiello
Galactic Superhero Corps Leaders Jess Baptiste VI · Paradox Bandit · Sonic Juice · Sniping Lee · Midori Midorikawa · Velvet Chair Girl · Vanishing Point · Black Night Direction · Gold Joe · Mr. Blackhole · Mr. Wormhole
Troops BONE · Diversity · Chesthole · Fullface · Tripleput · Leopardon · Ice Shaver · Minoru · Captain Treatment · Space Peacock · Space Sheath
Supporting Characters Notorious · NT Kamui · Kimmy Howell · Native Dancer · Destroyman True Face · Mass-Produced Destroyman
Minor Characters Dr. Naomi · Badman · Hunter · Jeane
Locations ATM · FU's Ship · Mines · Mr. Blackhole's Planet · Space · Velvet Chair Girl's Stage · Midori Midorikawa's School · Ibaragi · Sonic Juice's Planet · Edge of Space
Settlements Santa Destroy · Perfect World · Thunderdome · Call of Battle · Neo Brazil · Damon Tower
Weapons Blood Berry · Death Glove · Kimmy Love's beam katana · Cross Sword
Armors Full Armor Mode · Full Armor Travis · Full Green Mode
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