Introduction:

Supplementing the Ninjutsu background given in the Player's Guide, I've tried to make a mythical clan of chinese Ninja around the Lin Kuei, the Ninja clan which figures rather prominently in Mortal Kombat. You see, I found ninjutsu, as it was described in the Player's Guide, to be very 'honorable' and 'just'. And I feel that it just ain't so - historically or otherwise.

Obviously, the Player's Guide wasn't meant to be very historically correct, but even so I wanted an alternative to the clan that was referred to in the Player's Guide. Therefore, I developed the Lin Kuei as a real ninja clan for use in Street Fighter. Many of the weapons referred to as common ninja weapons for the Lin Kuei, can be found in the 'gear' section - there's a link on the left to it, so you can't miss it.

Background:

The legendary ninja clans were mainly founded in Japan in the 13th century, and became the spies, assassins and security specialists in Feudal Japan. They hired themselves out to whomever could find them - and pay the price they demanded.

The Lin Kuei was a clan of ninja who moved their activities from Japan to China around 1310, and established a network there. They kidnapped children in the age five to six years old, and trained them in secret caves or forest hideouts to be gifted acrobats, scholars, and ruthless stone cold killers.

They were able to use any weapon, and even to improvise weapons from common things such as paper rolled together so tight it could be used as a dagger, or the common sand-in-a-sock sap.

Lin Kuei elders would train the children - both boys and girls - to be proficient in many professions, such as carpenters, fishermen, priests, and even beggars, so that they had many disguises to become invisible in - and make themselves useful in the time between missions.

Many young died during the training - some couldn't hold their breath for five minutes and drowned; others were not quick enough to avoid the weapons of their trainers; yet others froze or thirsted to death when they were left naked in deserts or on mountaintops. Those who survived became Lin Kuei.

Now, in the 20th century, the Lin Kuei have adapted their tactics. Instead of kidnapping children, they now adopt them en masse from various adoption agencies, training them on secret farms spread all over the world. Even though China is still their heartland, the Lin Kuei have also spread to Latin America and other places in Asia.

The Lin Kuei control several large companies, and often work undercover on identities from these companies when on assignments. They still are the best in the business, and they still take assignments from the highest bidder. And even as time passes, the supply of assignments don't dwindle - on the contrary, business has increased for the Lin Kuei through the years.

One exception exists, however. The Lin Kuei cannot operate in Japan - other secret ninja clans are rather cagey when it comes to their home turf. Even so, the Lin Kuei are continually searching for a foothold of some sort in Japan - but so far, they have been unsuccessful.

As the Lin Kuei have no qualms working for M. Bison, Shadoloo has mostly left them alone. Better to have trusted hirelings, after all, than traitorous slaves. The Lin Kuei can be bought - and have over 600 years of history to show that when they are bought, they stay bought.

Current situation:

The Lin Kuei has only one goal - to become bigger. Even though they have spread across the world, they are still fairly few. They number about 2 000 genin, 300 chunin, and only 20 jonin. They also recognize the dangers inherent in dealing with Shadoloo, and try to stay on M. Bison's good side - if, indeed, he can be said to have one.

Still, just as a precaution, they have taken ten of their very best ninja to a secure location, where they are being trained to be ready in case M. Bison through Shadoloo tries to destroy the Lin Kuei.

Somehow, the Lin Kuei have secured a contract stating that they may turn down assignments from M. Bison. And, even more miraculous, M. Bison seems to have accepted this. The Spanish ninja master, Vega, is obviously against the Lin Kuei, but the power struggle hasn't broken into the open - yet. The Spanish ninja clan number far fewer than the Lin Kuei, and Vega recognizes that even though he is personally powerful, even he might be overmatched by the chunin and jonin of the Lin Kuei.

Clan structure:

Genin, or Low Man, are the operatives for the clan. They are given the responsibility for completing an assignment the clan has accepted. Often, two or more are sent out independently, to increase the chance of a successful completion of an assignment.

Chunin, or Middle Man, are the trainers, messengers and go-betweens between the clan's jonin and their employers. The chunin are given the responsibility for much of the daily grind of the clan, and are also the ones that assign missions to genin that are available for a mission.

Jonin, or High Man, is often one of the clan's elders. The jonin decide who they will accept assignments from, and to what price. He is one of the most experienced members of the clan, and may from time to time be part of important missions. The jonin is often anonymous to everyone except his most loyal and trusted friends, so that the chance of exposure is minimized even though members of his clan may be captured.

Something which is quite special about the Lin Kuei, is that they have more than one jonin. As the size of the clan increased, it became more efficient to establish 'sub-clans' in the various districts that the Lin Kuei got business in.

Therefore, there is one jonin (with the appropriate number of genin and chunin under him) in for instance Nicaragua, one in Mexico, one in Panama, and so on. But it is the jonin for China who is the 'first among equals', that is, the one with the most respect and weight behind his proposals.

Clan communications are kept through the internet, using anonymous mail relays around the world - a system which is much better than the old one with snail mail and couriers. In addition to this, they sometimes use teleconferencing through encrypted satellite linkups. And, in very extraordinary instances (such as when they decided to set aside ten ninja to prepare for any betrayal from Shadoloo), they will meet in person in secret locations in China.

Distinctive marks:

Lin Kuei specialize in survival and improvisation. This makes the Lin Kuei very unpredictable - some ninja clans specialize in throwing shuriken, others in hand-to-hand combat, but the Lin Kuei specialize in making do with whatever is at hand, often creating weapons from common items they find around themselves.

This means that Lin Kuei are notoriously hard to kill, and usually successfully complete their assignments, no matter what obstacles they have to pass on their way. This is obviously just the way the Lin Kuei like it.

Lin Kuei use the classic ninja night suit, patterned after what area of use that particular suit is meant for. The black night suit is used only at night or in very dark regions, contrary to what the Hollywood movies want you to believe. There are patterns for jungle, sand-colored suits for use in deserts, white for winter, and so on. The Lin Kuei use many of the classic ninja weapons, but supplement the traditional complement of weapons with modern firearms and body armor, and the very latest in surveillance technology.

A Lin Kuei never reveals himself or herself as a ninja. Again, only in the movies (and some clans in Japan and USA, of course), the members tell others that they are ninja. A Lin Kuei's only motivation is to accomplish his assigned task - preferably while leaving the ninja able to accomplish other tasks, but that is a secondary objective.

Weaponry:

The Lin Kuei employs any and all classic ninja and martial arts weaponry, in addition to whatever they can get their hands on of modern firearms.

A New Talent for Lin Kuei:

Assassination: Every success on this skill gives the ninja another die to a damage test on an assassination attempt. The prerequisite for using this skill, is that the ninja is either undetected, or the target asleep or otherwise oblivious of the impending attack. The Sakki focus power will negate this Talent. This skill is usually coupled with either Perception or Dexterity. This skill may not be learned unless the practitioner has ties with a ninja clan - usually requiring the Background Clan Heritage.

l	You know enough to go for the solar plexus if you want to do any damage.
ll	You know that blows to the head are usually more dangerous than body blows.
lll	You have received some formal training, and usually go for the undefended spots on the body - eyes, ears or throat.
llll	You know of all the vulnerable spots and nerve clusters on the human body. An assassination is mere routine for you. You can kill with but a credit card as weapon - and leave no obvious traces.
lllll	You are a master assassin. If you want somebody dead, they are. Or soon will be.

A Lin Kuei Genin:

Str	ll	Dex	llll	Sta	lll
Cha	lll	Man	lll	App	ll
Per	lll	Int	ll	Wits	lll

Alertness:	lll	Type	Spd	Dam	Mov
Assassination:	llll	Jab	6	3	3
Insight:	lll	Strong Punch	4	5	3
Intimidation:	lll	Fierce Punch	3	7	2
Mysteries:	ll	Short Kick	5	4	3
Security:	lll	Forward Kick	3	6	2
Stealth:	lll	Roundhouse Kick	1	8	2
Style Lore:	l	Block	8	+1 Soak	-
Subterfuge:	lll	Movement	7	-	6
Streetwise:	ll	Jump	7	-	3
Disguise:	lll	Shikan-ken	5	5	3	Special
Techniques		Heel Stamp	6	1	4	Special
Punch	ll	Handstand Kick	3	8	0
Kick	ll
Block	l	Health:	lllll llll
Grab		Willpower:	lll
Athletics	lll	Chi:	lll
Focus
Sword	ll
Staff	l
Shuriken	ll

A Lin Kuei Jonin:

Str	lll	Dex	llll	Sta	lll
Cha	lll	Man	llll	App	ll
Per	lll	Int	lll	Wits	lll

Alertness:	llll	Type	Spd	Dam	Mov
Assassination:	lllll	Jab	6	5	3
Insight:	lll	Strong Punch	4	7	3
Intimidation:	lll	Fierce Punch	3	9	2
Mysteries:	lll	Short Kick	5	6	3
Security:	lll	Forward Kick	3	8	2
Stealth:	llll	Roundhouse Kick	1	10	2
Style Lore:	ll	Block	8	+2 Soak	-
Subterfuge:	llll	Movememt	7	-	6
Streetwise:	lll	Jump	7	-	3
Disguise:	llll	Shikan-ken	5	7	3	Special
Techniques		Heel Stamp	6	2	4	Special
Punch	lll	Handstand Kick	3	10	0
Kick	lll	Shrouded Moon	3	-	2	1 Chi
Block	ll
Grab
Athletics	lll	Chi:	llll
Focus	ll	Health:	lllll lllll l
Sword	lll	Willpower:	lllll
Staff	ll
Shuriken	lll