Ninja Warrior (franchise)

"Ninja Warrior" redirects here. For other uses, see Ninja Warrior (disambiguation).

Ninja Warrior
Also known as	Sasuke
Genre	Sports entertainment Obstacle course
Created by	Masato Inui
Directed by	Ushio Higuchi (1997–2011) Masato Inui (1997–2005, 2012–present)
No. of episodes	191 seasons (as of January 2026) (list of episodes)
Original release
Release	27 September 1997 (1997-09-27) – present
Related
American Ninja Warrior Australian Ninja Warrior Kunoichi Ninja Warrior UK Sasuke Sasuke Ninja Warrior Indonesia Sasuke Vietnam

Ninja Warrior is a sports entertainment reality television franchise that began airing in 1997, and has since aired in 157 countries ^[1] and been adapted in a total of 26 countries. The series began as a segment called Sasuke ^[2] on the show Kinniku Banzuke . It began airing internationally in 2005 which led to massive expansion and widespread success. Adaptations began planning immediately, with American Ninja Challenge , Sasuke Malaysia and Sasuke Singapore being the first small-scale adaptations which sent their winners over to Japan. The first large scale adaptation was the fourth season of American Ninja Warrior in 2012, with twenty-two more adaptations launching between 2014 and 2019.

In Ninja Warrior, a group of competitors attempt to complete a four-stage obstacle course. Falling any obstacle, falling in the water, running out of time or losing a head-to-head race results in the competitor being eliminated. ^[3] Many seasons operate an additional qualification system where as many as 1000 hopefuls take on a series of one to five qualification heats to earn a spot in the finals course.

History

1997–2006: Sasuke and Kunoichi

See also: History of Sasuke (Ninja Warrior Japan)

During the 1996 run of Kinniku Banzuke , a small event called Spider Walk appeared. The course featured a short, 9 obstacle time trial based on the Ninja skill of stealthily walking between walls in alleyways and hallways. Later in 1997, following the debut of the first multi-stage course Hand Walk Tower, assistant producer Masato Inui was tasked with creating a larger, multi-stage course that expanded upon Spider Walk to cover a full array of other ninja skills. Despite being intended as a one-time event, the heavy success of Sasuke led to its ongoing renewal with a new tournament every six months, as well as a full array of spinoffs, most notably with Kunoichi , an all-women's season.

After Kinniku Banzuke ended in 2002, and it's sequel Taiiku World ended in 2003, Sasuke and Kunoichi were launched as standalone specials which have continued ever since.

2007–2019: international expansion

In Summer 2007, G4 launched American Ninja Challenge , a reality show where contestants could audition and take part in a series of challenges to win a spot on Sasuke. After four successful seasons, interest in America grew high enough that G4 decided to ramp up production. 2009 saw the debut season of American Ninja Warrior , where hundreds of competitors competed in shorter preliminary stages to win one of ten spots in Sasuke's 23rd tournament.

In November 2011, Ushio Higuchi's Monster9 filed for bankruptcy as a result of financial mismanagement, legal disputes and settlements with stage acrobat group Muscle Musical and plummeting viewership. As a result, Sasuke, Kunoichi and Sportsman No. 1 all went into hiatus during legal proceedings, and were subsequently cancelled by TBS. As a result of this cancellation, G4 made the decision that for the first time ever, they would host their own full scale tournament in Las Vegas, and as a result American Ninja Warrior's fourth season saw 100 competitors complete a course in the US, with Japan cut out of the format. Due to the higher production costs, G4 decided to move the program to NBC to attract higher viewership. This new format was a massive success, however G4 would shut down at the end of 2014, two years after an end to Japanese Sasuke broadcasts in the United States.

Behind the scenes, the success of American Ninja Warrior led TBS to believe they could market the series to a much wider audience, and the idea of the ASEAN Open Cup was conceived. Sasuke would expand into ASEAN countries which would feature shorter courses and special events, which would then act as qualifiers for Sasuke. The project was piloted with the launch of Sasuke Singapore and Sasuke Malaysia in 2012, sporting half length 1st Stage courses followed by the Final Stage tower. The first ASEAN Open Cup was held in Malaysia featuring teams from ASEAN regions, Japan and the United States, giving competitors a chance to win a spot on Sasuke. Following this event, interest died off, and the ASEAN Open Cup was discontinued as a failure.

Despite the previous failure to expand into ASEAN countries, 2015 saw massive expansion through Europe and Asia, with localized versions being produced in China, Denmark, Indonesia, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Vietnam. This trend continued with France, Germany and Italy in 2016; Austria, Australia, Egypt, Hungary, Netherlands, Russia and Spain in 2017; and Israel, Romania and Switzerland in 2018. 2017 additionally saw a full reboot of Kunoichi, featuring redesigned courses more akin to Sasuke.

In the United States, NBC decided to expand the portfolio of the series by creating several spinoffs. The international crossover series American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World featured top competitors from each international version competing in a head to head competition. Team Ninja Warrior saw teams of three racing against other members for the fastest times. American Ninja Warrior Junior featured kids racing each other for the fastest times. These formats proved popular and saw their own international adaptations in China, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel and Vietnam.

In Japan, Ushio Higuchi had created a new company called GoldEggs following the dissolution of Monster9, and in 2017 attempted to launch his own unlicensed successor to Viking called KuroOvi: The Ultimate Hero. He would once again use Sasuke and Kinniku Banzuke content in an attempt to promote his series, as well as featuring many competitors from Sasuke, Viking, and Kunoichi. The series would also feature simultaneously released English dubs. The series was a financial failure, with the English broadcast being cancelled after only one month due to an average viewership of under 150 views per episode.

2019 saw new versions licensed in Mongolia and Poland, which to date are the most recently produced new adaptations of Ninja Warrior.

2019–2025: format variations, COVID-19 and IOC certification

By 2019, more than 60% of the international adaptations that had been produced had already ended, with the high costs of production compared to viewership being a primary factor. ^[4] The situation worsened significantly following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when production was suspended globally on large scale TV series. American Ninja Warrior's 12th season featured modified rules and courses to distance competitors, while the remaining global seasons were postponed until late 2020 or into 2021. The change in market and year away from broadcasting significantly impacted viewership, with returning series seeing greatly reduced ratings across the board, leading to many series being cancelled after 2022. Additionally, productions in Israel and Russia ceased due to the 2022 Ukraine invasion and 2022 Gaza–Israel clashes. By mid 2023, only five countries had series in active production: Japan, the United States, France, Germany and Poland.

In order to regain interest in the series, many adaptations began introducing changes to the format. American Ninja Warrior introduced twists such as the Safety Pass, Speed Pass, Power Tower and side by side racing – all changes that would be seen extensively abroad in the 2020s. Sasuke would remain the only series that remained true to the roots of the series.

Following the failure of KuroOvi, GoldEggs sought to create a chain of ninja gyms across Japan titled Ninja Park, which would additionally host in-person competitions under the banner Ninjathlon. As part of this process, GoldEggs would file trademark ownership claims over several iconic Sasuke obstacles in both Japan and the United States. While unsuccessful in the US, Higuchi and GoldEggs were able to successfully claim six obstacles in Japan. As a result, beginning in Sasuke's 40th tournament, several obstacles were renamed to avoid legal injunctions, most notably with the Spider Walk being renamed to Spider Run, and Cliffhanger Dimension being renamed to Cliff Dimension. The trademark registration for the Spider Walk was rejected on November 8, 2022. ^[5]

Following the conclusion of the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) voted to remove Equestrian from the Modern Pentathlon following concerns of Animal rights. Due to extremely low viewership, the UIPM aimed to bring in a new discipline that would make the event more appealing to viewers. Following several rounds of testing and votes, the UIPM voted to add obstacle racing to the modern pentathlon beginning with the 2028 Summer Olympics. ^[6] The course would be standardized and obstacles would be licensed directly from Sasuke and TBS, finally fulfilling Ushio Higuchi's initial dream of creating a new sport after 35 years. Conversely, Sasuke's 39th tournament debuted a new final stage featuring a Speed climbing zone, with a layout variant of the normal standard.

Due to Japan's success in winning 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze in Skateboarding during its debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics, TBS launched Kasso four months prior to the 2024 Summer Olympics to build up hype for the event. ^[7] Kasso is an official spinoff that fuses Sasuke's format with skateboarding in the style of Skeboarder from Kinniku Banzuke . While the show was a failure in Japan and was cancelled shortly after broadcast, the first tournament netted an unexpected 6 million views internationally within one year, prompting the immediate revival and international licensing of the series by TBS. ^[8] The second tournament was confirmed and, like the previous one, it resonated around the world. ^[9]

Following this announcement, TBS would invest heavily into the Sasuke brand. In 2024, TBS broadcast the first ever Sasuke World Cup shortly after the 2024 Summer Olympics, featuring a total of 35 top ninja competitors from Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the United States. ^[10] In January 2025, TBS rebooted Kunoichi and Sasuke Junior. ^[11] In March 2025, TBS debuted a new spinoff format called Hanzo that brought in elements of swimming, shooting, fencing and running to align the format more closely with the Modern Pentathlon. ^[12] American Ninja Warrior and Ninja Warrior Poland would both alter the formats of their 2025 seasons to feature side-by-side racing brackets similar to the IOC standard instead of the original Survival Attack format, an element that was previously seen on Ninja Warrior UK's sixth season.

2025–present: franchise reboots

Beginning in 2024, renewed interest in the series began with discussions occurring to expand the franchise into new regions. During the Media City Qatar conference in May 2025, series lead Masato Inui confirmed they were planning to expand Ninja Warrior into a more globally connected franchise with networks helping each other and collaborating.

On September 7, 2025, TBS announced during VTV's 55th Anniversary press conference that the Vietnamese version of Sasuke will be rebooted after seven years that followed the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. ^{[13] [14] [15]}

On October 7, 2025, TBS announced a licensing agreement with Banijay Entertainment under which it will hold the international rights to the Ninja Warrior format, outside territories where there already active versions of the franchise (including Asia, France, Germany, Poland, and the United States). ^{[16] [17]}

Format

Course structure

Ninja Warrior consists of four stages of increasing difficulty; as well as a handful of preliminary rounds used to determine which competitors will appear in the finals. The object is to hit the buzzer at the end of each course before the allotted time expires. If a competitor goes out of bounds, runs out of time or comes into contact with the water in any of the pits below the course, they are eliminated from the competition.

Preliminary Rounds

In most seasons, preliminary rounds consist of a short, 6 obstacle course ending in the warped wall. This round will allow a set amount of competitors to advance, although will allow more than that amount to advance if there are more clears than expected. Some recent seasons will additionally specify a set amount of female competitors who will advance on their own leaderboard.

After this is typically a semifinal round, where a course modeled roughly after the second stage, and often containing a salmon ladder will follow the same rules. In America, the semifinals course attaches the salmon ladder and additional obstacles to the end of the first preliminary course and has them attempt them back-to-back.

First stage

The First Stage primarily tests one's general athletic abilities, with a focus on balance, agility, and speed. While obstacles change from season to season, the course always generally features the following structure, both on Sasuke and abroad:

• An opening segment featuring a "step" obstacle such as the Quadruple Steps, a "sliding" obstacle such as the Log Grip and a balance obstacle.
• Since 2000, the Warped Wall or a variation of it will appear in this stage.
• Since 2000, trampoline obstacles are almost always present.
• Most obstacles are ground based obstacles, or fluid swinging obstacles.

Second stage

Those with enough skill to complete Stage One then take on an even more grueling set of obstacles in Stage Two, which typically has a shorter time limit, and a focus on lache and balance based upper body obstacles.

While obstacles change from season to season, the course always generally features the following structure, both on Sasuke and abroad:

• Since 2001, the first obstacle has been a "sliding" obstacle, such as Chain Reaction.
• In most series, an upper body balance obstacle revolving around grip and stability such as Metal Spin or Unstable Bridge was present mid-stage.
• Since 2007, the Salmon Ladder has been present as the 2nd or 3rd obstacle.
• Historically, the 2nd Stage has ended with Wall Lift, or a variation of it.

Third stage

The Third Stage has no overall time limit unlike the other stages, however there is a resting time limit that specifies the maximum amount of time a competitor may wait between obstacles. This varies between 30 and 120 seconds depending on the season. In each rest area, competitors can apply "sticky spray" to improve their grip. While the first two stages focus on speed and agility, this course almost exclusively tests one's upper body strength and stamina.

While obstacles change from season to season, the course always generally features the following structure, both on Sasuke and abroad:

• An opening obstacle with a very low fail rate that exists only to burn stamina, such as Propeller Bars, Rumbling Dice and Drum Hopper.
• Since 2002, An obstacle that features grip based transfers between stationary objects, such as Lamp Grasper, Devil Steps, Floating Boards, Sidewinder, or Swing Edge.
• Since 1999, Cliffhanger, or its variants.
• Since 2007, a harder grip area, such as Spider Flip, Hang Climb, or Vertical Limit.
• A final dismount from a ring or bar, such as Pipe Slider or Flying Bar.

Final stage

The goal of the Final Stage is to reach and hit the button at the top of a 15-30m tower before time expires. Reaching the top is referred to as kanzenseiha (完全制覇), translated roughly as "Total Victory". The Final Stage's time limit is between 30 and 45 seconds. ^[a]

The original Final Stage was a Rope Climb with a 30 second time limit, which has been used in many international adaptations. ^[b]

The second main variant sees a two section final with the bottom being a momentum based climb on Spider Climb or Ladders, and the upper being a Rope Climb.

In 2016, a new version of the Final Stage featured three sections, adding an extra tall Salmon Ladder between the Spider Climb and the Rope Climb. In some regions, this was adapted to only have a Salmon Ladder and Rope.

In 2021, Japan debuted a new Final Stage with a variant of the IFSC standard Speed Climbing wall replacing Spider Climb, 57% the height of the normal speed climbing standard. ^[c]

Racing

In the 2020's several series began incorporating elements of head-to-head racing into the courses. Initially these appeared in the preliminary rounds, with later seasons making either the first or second stage a race. Some regions like Poland and the UK have opted to shift their entire season to racing, including the Final Stage.

Ninja Warrior around the world

Below is a complete list of the countries with their own international adaptation of Sasuke/Ninja Warrior.

This list includes all officially licensed series, as well as unofficial series. Officially licensed series must be via TBS, while unofficial series must specifically have a significant and unmistaken overlap in the format and obstacles to be eligible form inclusion, and should have connections with Sasuke or Ninja Warrior via direct mentions, footage, succession, competitor overlap or legal dispute. In addition, the broadcasts must have been a made-for-tv series, meaning that broadcasts of public events and league competitions will not be included.

For an overview of all international seasons, see List of Ninja Warrior seasons.

For a list of the best performances each season, see List of best results on Ninja Warrior.

 A  Airing: Currently airing franchise

 R  Renewed: Franchise with an upcoming season/version

 F  Forthcoming: Franchise that has been announced but has not broadcast yet

 E  Ended: Franchise no longer airing

 P  Pending: No official renewal or cancellation has occurred

 U  Unofficial: A former series that was not licensed via TBS

Core installments

Status	Country/Region	Local title	Abbrev.	Seasons (Upcoming)	Network	Presenter(s) (Seasons)	Premiered
Ended	Arab world	Ninja Warriorبالعربي Ninja Warrior bel-arabi [18]	NWBA	1	ON E	Ahmed Fahmi Jennifer Aazar	27 March 2017
Ended	Australia	Australian Ninja Warrior (1–4, 6) Australian Ninja Warrior: Midoriyama's Revenge (5)	AuNW	6	Nine Network	Rebecca Maddern (1–5) Ben Fordham (1–5) Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff (1–4) Shane Crawford (4–5) Jim Courier (6) Leila McKinnon (6) Will & Woody (6)	9 July 2017
Ended	Austria	Ninja Warrior Austria	NWAT	3	Puls 4	Dori Bauer Mario Hochgerner Florian Knöchl	24 October 2017
Forthcoming	Cambodia	Mekong Legend [19]	MKL	0 (1)	Hang Meas HDTV		TBA
Ended	China	极限勇士Sasuke: X Warrior Ultimate Warrior	SXW	1	Jiangsu TV	Shi Zhenghan Ma Li Su Dong Zhang Chunye	9 June 2015
Unofficial		全能极限王 Challenge the Limit	CTL	1	Zhejiang TV		15 July 2015
Unofficial		奥运向前冲 Olympic Forward	OLF	2	Hunan TV		3 June 2008
Unofficial	Costa Rica	Force Masters: The Challenge	FMTC	1	Teletica		19 February 2023
Ended	Denmark	Danmarks Ninja Warrior	DNW	1	Kanal 5	Pelle Hvenegaard Christiane Schaumburg-Müller Kian Fonoudi	7 September 2015 [20]
Pending	France	Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros (1–7, 9) Ninja Warrior: Face Aux Légendes (8)	LPDH	9	TF1	Denis Brogniart (1–) Christophe Beaugrand (1–) Sandrine Quétier (1–2) Iris Mittenaere (3–8) Anaïs Grangerac (9)	8 July 2016
Pending	Germany	Ninja Warrior Germany	NWG	10	RTL	Laura Wontorra Jan Köppen Frank Buschmann	9 July 2016
Ended	Hungary	Ninja Warrior Hungary	NWH	3	TV2	Attila Till (1–) Péter Majoros (1) Vivien Mádai (1) Tibor Kasza (2) Luca Stohl (2) Zoltán Szujó (3–) Ramóna Lékai-Kiss (3–)	16 October 2017
Pending	Indonesia	Sasuke Ninja Warrior Indonesia	SNWI	2	RCTI	Fadi Iskandar (1–) Pica Priscilla (1) Sere Kalina (2)	20 December 2015
Unofficial	Iran	قهرمان Ghahreman (Hero)	GHA	2	IRIB TV3		23 March 2023
Pending	Israel	נינג'ה ישראל Ninja Israel (1–4) Ninja Israel: Dueling Season (5)	NIL	5	Keshet 12	Assi Azar Rotem Sela Niv Raskin Rotem Israel (1–3) Yarden Gerbi (4–) Yuval Shemla (5-)	25 July 2018
Ended	Italy	Ninja Warrior Italia	NWIT	1	NOVE	Federico Russo Carolina Di Domenico Massimiliano Rosolino Gabriele Corsi	17 October 2016
Pending	Japan	Sasuke	SSK	43	TBS		27 September 1997
Ended	Malaysia	Sasuke Malaysia	SMY	2	TV9		3 June 2012
Ended	Mongolia	Монгол Нинжа дайчид Sasuke	MNWS	1	MNB		29 September 2019
Ended	Netherlands	Ninja Warrior NL	NWNL	1	SBS 6	Kim-Lian Dennis van der Geest Jack van Gelder	9 March 2017
Renewed	Poland	Ninja Warrior Polska (1–9) Ninja vs Ninja Polska (10–)	NWP	11 (12)	Polsat	Aleksandra Szwed (1) Karolina Gilon (2–10) Marta Ćwiertniewicz (11–) Łukasz Jurkowski Jerzy Mielewski	3 September 2019
Ended	Romania	Ninja Warrior România	NWRO	1	Pro TV	Daniel Nițoiu Raluca Aprodu Costi Mocanu	9 September 2018
Ended	Russia	Русский ниндзя Ninja Warrior Russian Ninja Warrior	RNNW	2	Channel One Russia	Yevgeny Savin Timur Solovyov Yulianna Karaulova	26 November 2017
Ended		Русский ниндзя Russian Ninja		1	STS [21]	Vasily Artemyev Morgenstern Ida Galich	22 November 2021
Pending	Russia Central Asia Eastern Europe	Суперниндзя Super Ninja (1–2) [d] Super Ninja - International (3)	SUN	4	STS		13 February 2023
Unofficial	Serbia	Vitezovi iz Blata Mud Knights	VIB	1	RTV Pink		1 October 2011
Ended	Singapore	Sasuke Singapore	SSG	2	Mediacorp Channel 5	Mike Kasem Hamish Brown Joanne Peh	9 August 2012
Unofficial	South Korea	출발 드림팀: 복합장애물경기 Dream Team: Complex Obstacle Race	COR	7	KBS 2TV		29 August 1999
Ended	Spain	Ninja Warrior España	NWES	2	Antena 3	Arturo Valls (1–2) Manolo Lama (1–2) Patricia Montero (2) Pilar Rubio (1)	9 June 2017
Ended	Sweden	Ninja Warrior Sverige	NWSV	2	Kanal 5	Adam Alsing Mårten Nylén Karin Frick	29 January 2015
Ended	Switzerland	Ninja Warrior Switzerland	NWSW	2	TV24	Nina Havel Maximilian Baumann	16 October 2018
Forthcoming	Thailand	Ninja Warrior Thailand	NWTH	0 (1)	Ch7HD		TBA
Ended	Turkey	Ninja Warrior Türkiye	NWTU	2	TV8	Hanzade Ofluoğlu Jess Molho Hakan Akdoğan Fikret Engin Murat Özari	17 September 2014
Ended	United Kingdom	Ninja Warrior UK (1–5) Ninja Warrior UK: Race for Glory (6)	NWUK	6	ITV	Ben Shephard Rochelle Humes Chris Kamara	11 April 2015
Ended	United States	American Ninja Challenge	ANC	4	G4		11 November 2007
Renewed		American Ninja Warrior	ANW	17 (18)	G4 (2009–2013) NBC (2012–present) Esquire Network (2014–2016) USA Network (2017–2018) Telemundo (2020, in Spanish)	Blair Herter (1) Alison Haislip (1–3) Matt Iseman (2–) Jimmy Smith (2–3) Jonny Moseley (4) Angela Sun (4) Akbar Gbaja-Biamila (5–) Jenn Brown (5–6) Kristine Leahy (7–10) Zuri Hall (11–)	12 December 2009
Renewed	Vietnam	Không giới hạn – Sasuke Việt Nam	SVN	5 (6)	VTV3	Thành Trung (1-5) Hoàng Yến Chibi (5) Minh Xù (4) Tuyền Tăng (4) Phạm Anh Khoa (3) Thiều Bảo Trang (3) Nguyên Khang (1-2) Diệp Lâm Anh (1-2) Lại Văn Sâm (1)	18 June 2015

Bahrain had an officially licensed course for an in-person event, but was never recorded, so it was not included above. Licensing discussions have begun for versions in Greece, Mexico and Latin America, however no contract has been signed. ^{[23] [24]}

Spin-off series and specials

Below is a complete list of the spinoffs of Sasuke/Ninja Warrior.

Status	Country/Region	Local title	Abbrev.	Format	Seasons (Upcoming)	Network	Presenter(s) (Seasons)	Premiered
Individual Tournament Formats
Ended	Germany	Ninja Warrior Germany: All Stars	GAS	Racing Bracket	2	RTL		4 April 2021
Pending	Japan	Kunoichi (1–11) Kunoichi: Women's Sasuke (12–)	KNI	Women Only	13	TBS		21 December 2001
Unofficial		KuroOvi	KOO	Tournament	1	Family Gekijo		18 February 2018
Ended		パンクラチオン: POWER版SASUKE Panctratium: Power Sasuke	PPS	Strongman	2	TBS		27 April 2004
Ended		Sasuke Senior (Senior Only)	SSR	Trial	1			14 June 2003
Pending		Sasuke限定ステージ Sasuke Special Stage (Olympians Only)	SSS	Trial	1			31 December 2024
Unofficial		バイキング Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course	VIK	Tournament (1–3) Racing Bracket (4)	7	FujiTV		22 March 2005
Pending		HANZO (Pentathlon)	HNZ	Tournament	1	TBS		24 March 2025
Ended	Indonesia	Sasuke Ninja Warrior Indonesia: International Competition	IIC	International	1	RCTI	Daniel Mananta	25 November 2017
Ended		Sasuke Ninja Warrior Indonesia: Misi Operasi Midoriyama	IOM	Military Only	2			3 May 2016
Ended		Sasuke Ninja Warrior Indonesia: Spesial Polri	ISP	Police Only	1			15 October 2017
Pending	United States	American Ninja Warrior: Women's Championship	AWC	Women Only	5 Specials	NBC		9 May 2021
Kids Tournament Formats
Ended	Germany	Ninja Warrior Germany Kids	GKI	Elimination	2	Super RTL		17 July 2020
Airing		Ninja Warrior Kids Academy	GKA	Reality	1		Jessica Schöne	12 October 2025
Ended	Israel	נינג'ה ישראל ילדים Ninja Israel Kids	NIC	Tournament	1	Keshet 12		11 November 2019
Ended	Japan	Sasuke Junior	SJR	Tournament (1–5) Trial (6)	6	TBS		4 July 1998
Airing		Sasuke Junior Cup	SJC	Racing Bracket	2	YouTube (TBS)		24 January 2025
Pending	Russia	Суперниндзя. Дети Super Ninja Kids	SNK	Bracket	2	STS		5 May 2024
Unofficial	Thailand	ภารกิจเด็กแกร่ง Kids Stronger	KSTH	Tournaments (1) Bracket (2)	2	MCOT HD		15 September 2018
Ended	United States	American Ninja Warrior Junior	AJR	Racing Bracket	3	Universal Kids	Matt Iseman Akbar Gbaja-Biamila Laurie Hernandez	13 October 2018
Team Tournament Formats
Ended	Australia	Australian Ninja Warrior: State of Origin	ASO	Heat	1 Specials	Nine Network		16 August 2020
Ended	Denmark	Team Ninja Warrior Danmark	TNWD	Racing Heat	1	Kanal 5		4 September 2016
Ended	Germany	Team Ninja Warrior Germany	TNWG	Racing Heat	2	RTL		22 April 2018
Ended	Israel	Ninja Israel: All Stars	IAS	Racing Heat	2 Specials	Keshet 12		22 March 2021
Ended		Ninja Israel: Battle of the Hosts	IBH	Racing Heat	1 Special			8 April 2023
Ended	Japan	愛犬サスケ (AikenSasuke) Super Dog (Dog)	INS	Trial (1–3) Tournament (4)	4	TBS		13 October 2001
Ended		インテリドッグ (IntelliDog) Intelligent Dog (Dog)	IND	Tournament	2			3 May 2003
Unofficial		ドギーメイズ Doggie Maze (Dog)	DGM	Trial	1	TV Asahi		13 June 2007
Unofficial		ドッグアドベンチャー Dog Adventure (Dog)	DAV	Trial	1			8 January 2008
Unofficial		バイキング: プレミアム Viking Premium (Pair Viking) (Pair)	PVK	Tournament	3	FujiTV		3 August 2005
Unofficial	South Korea	슈퍼바이킹 Super Viking (Pair)	SVK	Tournament	2	SBS		4 November 2006
Ended	United States	American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja (formerly Team Ninja Warrior)	NVN	Racing Heat	3	USA Network	Matt Iseman Akbar Gbaja-Biamila Alex Curry Kacy Catanzaro (College Madness)	19 January 2016
Ended		American Ninja Warrior: Family Championship	AFC	Bracket	1 Special	NBC		5 September 2022
Ended		American Ninja Warrior: Couples Championship	ACC	Elimination	2 Specials			18 September 2023
International Team Tournament Formats
Ended	China	X Warrior: International Competition	XIC	Heat	4 Specials	Jiangsu TV		13 October 2015
Ended	France	Ninja Warrior: Le Choc des Nations	LCDN	Heat	1	TF1		12 July 2024
Ended	Germany	Ninja Warrior Germany: 4 Nationen Special	G4N	Heat	3 Specials	RTL		25 November 2018
Ended	Japan	Sasuke World Cup	SWC	Heat	1	TBS		21 August 2024
Ended	Singapore	Sasuke Singapore: Face-Off	SFO	Heat	1 Special	Mediacorp Channel 5		28 November 2012
Ended	United States	American Ninja Warrior: USA vs the World (formerly USA vs Japan)	UWV	Heat	7 Specials	NBC		13 January 2014
Ended	Vietnam	Sasuke Vietnam: All Stars	VAS	Heat	5 Specials	VTV3		10 September 2015
Skills Exhibition Formats
Ended	Australia	Australian Ninja Warrior: Record Breakers	ARB	Skills	2 Specials	Nine Network		7 July 2021
Ended	United States	American Ninja Warrior: All Stars	AAS	Skills	6 Specials	NBC		29 May 2016
Celebrity Charity Formats
Pending	Germany	Ninja Warrior Germany: Promi Special	GPS	Elimination	8 Specials	RTL		24 November 2017
Ended		Team Ninja Warrior Germany: Promi Special	TGPS	Racing Heat	1 Special			27 July 2019
Unofficial	Serbia	V.I.P. Izazov - Vitez iz Blata ( Zvezde Granda ) Mud Knight V.I.P. Challenge (Segment on Grand Show)	VVI	Elimination	1	RTV Pink		1 October 2011
Ended	Switzerland	Ninja Warrior Switzerland: Promi Special	SWPS	Elimination	3 Specials	TV24		4 December 2018
Ended	United States	Celebrity Ninja Warrior: Red Nose Day	CNW	Trial	2 Specials	NBC		25 May 2017
Other Formats
Ended	Japan	BODY	BDY	Preliminary Rounds	59	TBS		3 April 2005
Ended		ESCAPE	ESC	Hybrid	5			1 July 2000
Pending		KASSO (Skateboarding)	KSO	Tournament	3			18 March 2024
Pending		KISUKE	KSK	Luck	10			5 March 2024
Ended		サスケマニア Sasuke Maniac	SKM	Preliminary Rounds	108			2 July 2006
Unofficial		SARUKE	SRK	Heat	1	FujiTV		25 October 2006

Format definitions

Bracket

Individuals or teams compete in a Single-elimination tournament or Double-elimination tournament based around brackets to determine advancement through each stage.

Dogs

A team of one dog and one human compete together, and both must clear the course for a victory. The human may not pick up their dog, but may use their body as a prop such as a bridge or ladder to help the dog along. ^[25]

Elimination

Individuals or teams are eliminated at the end of round based on their performance. Performance is typically determined by the number of obstacles cleared, and the time taken to clear them.

Heat

Individuals or teams compete in a series of heats, with teams being removed incrementally after a set number of heats is completed, or when a set number of heats has been won.

International

Groups of 4-7 competitors from around the world compete in teams to determine the best country. Typical formats have teams getting eliminated after each stage, based on heats which contain one member of each team.

Military only / police only

A format unique to Indonesia. Competitors are grouped into three teams based on their police or military unit. Competitors complete the course as normal, with a running total of how many clear for each team. Unlike all other formats, competitors must clear both the qualifier and the semifinals to advance to the finals.

Pair

A format where two competitors run the course at the same time in two lanes. Each lane has different obstacles, and in some cases one competitor must complete a task to unblock the other lane.

Pentathlon

A variant of the original format aiming to close the gap between Ninja Warrior, and the obstacle racing debuting in the Modern pentathlon at the 2028 Summer Olympics. Stages include aspects of Fencing and Laser-run not previously seen in any Ninja Warrior series, as well as an increase focus on swimming, which has only appeared in some adaptations of Ninja Warrior. ^[26]

Racing

Two competitors race head-to-head over several heats to determine a winner. This format was seen in the semifinals of many international shows, all rounds of Ninja Warrior UK season 6 and Ninja Warrior Poland season 10, as well as the finals of American Ninja Warrior season 17.

Senior only

A scaled down version of Sasuke for individuals over the age of 55.

Strongman

This group of shows follows the normal Ninja Warrior format, with obstacles focused on weightlifting skills, similar to Strongman competitions.

Trial

A single stage course.

Women only

A modified version of Ninja Warrior that features only female competitors. In Japan, the format followed the original format of the show, whereas other countries make it operate more like qualifying rounds with guaranteed advancement to each stage.

Winners around the world

Below is a complete list of competitors to achieve Total Victory. Winners are assumed to be of the nationality of their respective show unless otherwise marked. When a season has multiple winners, order is determined by the order shown during broadcast. All results are taken from their respective television broadcasts. Total Victory is achieved only when a competitor completes all stages of the original tournament format of a Ninja Warrior course. Any series with a guaranteed winner is not considered eligible for this title.

 (#)  The number of times that a competitor achieved Total Victory.

Total victories during regular seasons

As of 2025, there have been a total of 35 Total Victories achieved by 29 individuals.

Of wins to date, the United States and France have had 7, Japan has had 6, Israel has had 4, Vietnam and Australia have had 3, and Germany has had 2.

To date, only three competitors have achieved Total Victory outside their home country: David Campbell, Joel Mattli and Rene Casselly.

Only six individuals have achieved Total Victory twice: Yuuji Urushihara, Yusuke Morimoto, Clement Gravier, Yogev Malka, Vance Walker and Rene Casselly.

Rene Casselly is the only competitor to have achieved Total Victory in two different international versions.

#	Name	Series	Season	Date
1	Kazuhiko Akiyama	Sasuke	4	16 October 1999
2	Makoto Nagano		17	11 October 2006
3	Yuuji Urushihara		24	1 January 2010
4	Yuuji Urushihara (2)		27	3 October 2011
5	Yusuke Morimoto		31	1 July 2015
6	Geoff Britten	American Ninja Warrior	7	14 September 2015
7	Isaac Caldiero
8	David Campbell	Không giới hạn – Sasuke Việt Nam	2	29 September 2016
9	Nguyễn Phước Huynh
10	Lê Văn Thực
11	Tim Champion	Ninja Warrior UK	5	1 June 2019
12	Jean Tezenas	Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros	4	2 August 2019
13	Nicolas Cerquant
14	Drew Drechsel	American Ninja Warrior	11	16 September 2019
15	Zak Stolz	Australian Ninja Warrior	4	10 August 2020
16	Charlie Robbins
17	Ben Polson
18	Yusuke Morimoto (2)	Sasuke	38	29 December 2020
19	Moritz Hans	Ninja Warrior Germany	6	18 December 2021
20	Rene Casselly
21	Iliann Cherif	Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros	6	11 February 2022
22	Clement Gravier
23	Yuval Shemla	Ninja Israel	4	5 March 2022
24	Yogev Malka
25	Joel Mattli	Ninja Warrior Austria	3	28 March 2022
26	Shneor Sameach	Ninja Israel	5	3 April 2023
27	Yogev Malka (2)
28	Clement Gravier (2)	Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros	8	11 August 2023
29	Matthias Noirel
30	Daniel Gil	American Ninja Warrior	15	11 September 2023
31	Vance Walker
32	Jan Tatarowicz	Ninja Warrior Polska	9	16 April 2024
33	Vance Walker (2)	American Ninja Warrior	16	9 September 2024
34	Caleb Bergstrom
35	Rene Casselly (2)	Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros	9	8 August 2025

Total victory during women's only regular seasons

As of 2025, there have been a total of 6 Total Victories achieved by a total of 4 women, all within Japan.

#	Name	Series	Season	Date
1	Ayako Miyake	Kunoichi	4	25 December 2004
2	Ayako Miyake (2)		5	7 January 2006
3	Ayako Miyake (3)		6	20 September 2006
4	Rie Komiya		8	7 October 2009
5	Satomi Kadoi
6	Ayano Oshima		12	13 January 2025

Total victory during kids regular seasons

Due to the format of most children's series, only two seasons are eligible for Total Victory: Sasuke Junior and Ninja Israel Kids. To date, there have been 3 Total Victories.

#	Name	Series	Season	Date
1	Kazuki Kudo	Sasuke Junior	5	2 June 2001
2	Naoshi Hasegawa			9 June 2001
3	Geva Levin	Ninja Israel Kids	1	29 January 2020

Total victory during Super Dog

#	Dog Name	Breed	Human Handler	Series	Season
1	Dizzy Hiroyuki	Border Collie	Inoue Hiroyuki	Super Dog	1
2	Lopros Nakamura	Dobermann Pinscher	Kenji Nakamura
3					2
4	Fine Ichinose	Miniature Dachshund	Nami Ichinose	Intelligent Dog	2
5	Milo Ishizaki	Jack Russell Terrier	Yasunori Ishizaki
6	Shampoo Kosaka	Labrador Retriever	Kenichi Kosaka
7	Earth Teshigawara		Yoshio Teshigawara
8	Kenya Fukui	Cavalier King Charles Spaniel	Chie Fukui

Other notable results

Women's finals buzzers

Throughout Ninja Warrior history, it is not relatively common for women to hit buzzers due to the relative advantage men have in mixed-gender sports. There have been over 100 buzzers by women during qualifiers and 40 during semifinals, buzzers on the finals course are still quite rare. Buzzers marked as EX indicate a buzzer on a finals course that occurred during a special outside a main season, which had removed or modified the time limits.

There have been a total of 48 finals buzzers by 18 women. Of these, Jessie Graff and Olivia Vivian have each hit 8, Steffanie Edelmann and Jesse Labreck have hit 5, Addy Herman and Maurane Jelic have hit 3, and Isabella Folsom, Beth Lodge and Viktoria Kramer have hit 2.

 †  This run would have cleared in the corresponding regular season this special aired in

#	Name	Buzzer	Series	Season	Year
1	Chie Tanabe (Nishimura)	1st Stage	Sasuke	2	1998
2	Nguyễn Đinh Mỹ Linh	1st Stage	Không giới hạn – Sasuke Việt Nam	1	2015
3	Grace Jones (Sims)	1st Stage		2	2016
4	Jessie Graff	1st Stage	American Ninja Warrior	8
EX1	Jessie Graff	2nd Stage	American Ninja Warrior: USA vs the World	4	2017
5	Allyssa Beird	1st Stage	American Ninja Warrior	9
6	Jessie Graff	1st Stage	Sasuke	34
7		2nd Stage
8	Olivia Vivian	2nd Stage	Không giới hạn – Sasuke Việt Nam	4	2018
EX2	Barclay Stockett	1st Stage	American Ninja Warrior: USA vs the World	6	2019
EX3	Jesse Labreck	2nd Stage
9	Beth Lodge	1st Stage	Không giới hạn – Sasuke Việt Nam	5
10	Olivia Vivian	1st Stage
11		2nd Stage
EX4	Jessie Graff	1st Stage	Ninja Warrior Germany: 4 Nations Special	2
12	Jessie Graff	1st Stage	Sasuke	37
13		2nd Stage
EX5	Olivia Vivian	1st Stage	American Ninja Warrior: USA vs the World	7	2020
EX6	Jesse Labreck	1st Stage
14	Olivia Vivian	1st Stage	Australian Ninja Warrior	4
15	Steffanie Noppinger (Edelmann)	1st Stage	Ninja Warrior Austria	2
16	Jesse Labreck	1st Stage	American Ninja Warrior	12
17	Olivia Vivian	1st Stage	Australian Ninja Warrior	5	2021
18	Jesse Labreck	1st Stage	American Ninja Warrior	13
19	Steffanie Noppinger (Edelmann)	1st Stage	Ninja Warrior Germany	6
20	Steffanie Noppinger (Edelmann)	2nd Stage
21	Steffanie Noppinger (Edelmann)	1st Stage	Ninja Warrior Austria	3	2022
22	Ayano Oshima	1st Stage	Sasuke	40
23	Steffanie Noppinger (Edelmann)	1st Stage
24	Jessie Graff	1st Stage
25	Maurane Jelic	2nd Stage	Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros	7	2023
EX7	Addy Herman	1st Stage	American Ninja Warrior: Women's Championship	3
EX8	Isabella Wakeham (Folsom)	1st Stage
EX9	Jesse Labreck	1st Stage
EX10	Katie Bone	2nd Stage
EX11	Addy Herman	1st Stage		4	2024
EX12	Isabella Wakeham (Folsom)	1st Stage
EX13	Taylor Greene	1st Stage
EX14	Addy Herman	2nd Stage
EX15	Jessie Graff	1st Stage†	Sasuke World Cup	1
EX16	Olivia Vivian	1st Stage†
26	Nicola Wulf	1st Stage	Ninja Warrior Germany	9
27	Olivia Vivian	1st Stage	Sasuke	42
28	Maurane Jelic	1st Stage	Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros	9	2025
29	Viktoria Kramer	1st Stage
30	Beth Lodge	2nd Stage
31	Viktoria Kramer	2nd Stage
32	Maurane Jelic	2nd Stage

See also

• Kinniku Banzuke (known in the United States as Unbeatable Banzuke)
• Kunoichi (women's version of Sasuke)
• Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course
• Sarutobi Sasuke
• Australian Ninja Warrior
• Ninja Warrior Germany
• Ninja Warrior UK
• American Ninja Warrior
• Sasuke Ninja Warrior Indonesia
• Sasuke Vietnam

References

Notes

1. The time limit depends on the obstacles in a given tournament and the level of the competitors. The licensor makes the decision on that limit.
2. Some regions will extend or reduce the time limit from the usual 30 seconds. Some regions like France will adjust the time limit to the record by the previous winner if anyone reaches the top.
3. Supervised by Tomoa Narasaki and Akiyo Noguchi.
4. Суперниндзя is an unlicensed continuation of the officially licensed series Русский ниндзя. ^[22]

Citations

1. "Ninja Warrior". www.tbscontents.com. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
2. Sasuke (TV Series 1997– ) (Episode list). Tokyo Broadcasting System. Retrieved April 28, 2025– via IMDb.
3. "Video". Dailymotion. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
4. Brook, Stephen (July 31, 2017). "Ninja sails over first hurdle". The Australian. $17.55m
5. "Sho-gan" 商標(商標出願・登録商標) 情報. GoldEggs.
6. Rowbottom, Mike (November 12, 2022). "UIPM Congress votes for obstacle course racing to be new modern pentathlon discipline". www.insidethegames.biz.
7. "『KASSO』2週連続でお届けするスケートボード特番!凄腕スケーターたちが魅せる魂の滑走を見逃すな!". TBS. March 11, 2024.
8. "スケートボード特番『KASSO』第二弾 放送決定!". TBS. September 24, 2024.
9. "TBSが新たに制作したスケボー超巨大セット番組!スケートボード特番『KASSO』第三弾 二夜連続放送!". TBS. March 14, 2025.
10. "史上初『SASUKE』世界大会を日本で開催!世界から完全制覇者たちが集結!『SASUKEワールドカップ2024』". TBS. July 10, 2024.
11. "女性版『SASUKE』7年ぶりに新たな進化を遂げて復活!五輪金メダリストから乃木坂46まで...『KUNOICHI2025』". TBS. December 3, 2024.
12. "『SASUKE』制作チームが作る新たなスポーツエンターテインメント開幕!『HANZO』". TBS. March 18, 2025.
13. "TBSホールディングス、ベトナムの国営放送局 Vietnam Televisionと『SASUKE Vietnam』の復活および新規コンテンツ共同開発に向けた戦略的アライアンスを発表". TBS (in Japanese). September 8, 2025.
14. Mỹ, Linh (September 14, 2025). "VTV và Đài TBS (Nhật Bản) tăng cường hợp tác chiến lược". VTV (in Vietnamese). Minh Hà (photo).
15. "TBS Holdings Inc. announces Strategic Alliance with Viet Nam Television to revive SASUKE VIET NAM and Co-Develop New Content". Prensario. September 9, 2025.
16. Batey, Neil (October 7, 2025). "Banijay Entertainment picks up global rights to TBS obstacle course format Ninja Warrior". C21media. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
17. Clarke, Stewart (October 7, 2025). "Banijay To Scale 'Ninja Warrior' With New International Distribution Deal". Deadline. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
18. "انطلاق النسخة العربية من ninja warrior البرنامج الرياضى الأشهر فى العالم من مصر.. 240 متسابقا من الوطن العربى يواجهون أكبر التحديات الرياضية بكاميرا المخرج مجدى الهوارى.. والحدث برعاية "اليوم السابع"". Youm7 (in Arabic). May 21, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
19. Hang Meas HDTV (January 21, 2024). កម្មវិធីកម្សាន្តកីឡា Mekong Legend #មកដល់ឆាប់ៗនេះ... (in Khmer). Retrieved April 27, 2025– via YouTube.
20. "Ninja Warrior: Skred fra interview med Christiane". Ekstrabladet (in Danish). September 6, 2015.
21. "Kasting v novyy sportivnyy proyekt" Кастинг в новый спортивный проект. run.ctc.ru (in Russian). Retrieved August 8, 2021.
22. "Интервью с продюсером «Суперниндзя» Фатимой Гаппоевой: премьера, реалити-шоу, СТС". tv mag. February 2, 2023.
23. Batey, Neil (April 20, 2024). "Ninja Warrior heads to Latin America with Break the Format Media deal". C21media. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
24. rlekka (May 27, 2021). "Τηλεόραση: Ο ΑΝΤ1 απέκτησε ξανά τα δικαιώματα του «Ninja Warrior»! (Video)". topontiki.gr (in Greek). Retrieved April 9, 2025.
25. "体育王国". TBS (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 10, 2004. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
26. "HANZO". TBS (in Japanese). Retrieved April 8, 2025.

External links

• Sasuke 2007 (Sasuke 2007 Autumn)  – Tokyo Broadcasting System (in Japanese)
• Sasuke 2006秋 (Sasuke 2006 Autumn)  – Tokyo Broadcasting System (in Japanese)
• Sasuke 2005・(Sasuke 2005 Winter)  – Tokyo Broadcasting System (in Japanese)
• Diagrams of the 11th course with measurements  – Tokyo Broadcasting System (in Japanese)
• Ninja Warrior on Challenge
• Sasuke at IMDb