Saturday is the annual Day of the Ninja, but it's not just another excuse to put on ninja suits and prance about the neighborhood looking like running garbage bags with feet -- it's a celebration of the true spirit of ninjutsu and the Shinobi willing to fight for their honor whether their style of fighting is jiu-jitsu, hapkido or kickemintheballs-fu.

Today we honor their memory and sacrifice by presenting the best and worst of history's silent-but-deadly warriors.

Best Movie Ninja: Ishikawa Goemon from Shinobi No Mono
The name might not roll off the tongue, but this legendary Japanese movie hero could lop it off at the mandible before you successfully pronounced it. This series of eight movies during the late '60s and early '70s was based on the folk hero who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, Japan's "Robin Hood," who died trying to assassinate a despot who killed his wife. The films attempted to portray ninjas as they actually fought -- stealth warriors who favored furtiveness over full-on fighting. Take a look:


Worst Movie Ninja: The "Ninjas" from"Surf Ninjas"
The word "ninja" is used fairly loosely for this early-'90s kids shlock fest. Come to think of it, so is the word "movie." Two happening surfer dudes have to rescue their father, who has been kidnapped by an evil colonel who looks like a poorly wrapped baked potato. They soon learn that they are the sons of royalty and their skills as ninjas can not only save their father but also the village under the colonel's evil control. As a ninja movie, it's horrible. It would not have taken a real ninja 87 minutes to hunt and kill Leslie Nielsen.


Best Animated Ninja: Jubei Kibagami from "Ninja Scroll"
You might be surprised to learn that not all Japanese anime consists of hidden monsters that sneeze snot and exotic women with more unrealistic-looking breasts than a Benihana merger with Hooters. This hero from the "Ninja Scroll" series takes the legend and skill of the ninja and gives it an interesting twist that might look realistic but never goes so far over the top that it rips the enjoyment out of watching it. How awesome is he? Well, here's a scene depicting his average lunch break.


I'd like to see Chuck Norris handle three sword-wielding crackpots while juggling his Ham and Cheese Lunchable. Speaking of ol' Chuckie ...

Worst Animated Ninja: Super Ninja from "Chuck Norris' Karate Kommandos"
The famed face puncher turned liberal kidney puncher got the Saturday morning treatment in thankfully short-lived series that featured Norris leading a band of multiethnic stereotyped crimefighters who took on the evil Claw, who was in no way a rip-off of "Inspector Gadget's" Dr. Claw since Claw has one mechanical arm and Dr. Claw has two -- and his lead henchmen SuperNinja who was in no way a rip-off of "G.I. Joe's" Cobra Commander since he is a masked villain who speaks in a high gravely accent and Super Ninja totally sucks out loud.


Best Video Game Ninja: Ryu Hayabusa from "Ninja Gaiden"
Sure he makes just about every top 10 "Ninja Video Game" list on the geek pundit market, but there's a reason. He's awesome. Sure, he may not fit the historic definition of a ninja, but video games are all about beating your enemies into a bloody mess and since the early days of the NES, he's mastered the art of kicking ass, if such an art existed and it should.


Worst Video Game Ninja: "Ninjabread Man"
There must have been a moment when some game developer out there thought "you know, 'ginger' almost rhymes with 'ninja.' Eureka!" $200,000 worth of code development and Mountain Dew Code Red later and you've got this beat-em-up that just makes you want to actually beat someone up



Best Actual Ninja: Hattori Hanzo
Quite possibly the most famous actual ninja who ever lived, this Japanese master of the late 1500s became one after a lifetime of training that gave him glorious talents by the time he turned 18. His work not only spawned a revolutionary new form of warfare and fighting, but his legend across feudal Japan made him sound like something that jumps in Stan Lee's mind during an orgasm. He could allegedly disappear before your very eyes with nothing more than a hand-held fan, capture an enemy from behind as he sat in the "seiza posture" with only a rope and possessed the unworldly talent of psychokinesis and psychomancy. He died in 1596 from natural causes, which in "ninja-speak" means "at the hands of another ninja."



Worst Actual Ninja: The "Drunken Master" of Seattle
Seattle police, fire and emergencies crews had to remove an unidentified man who impaled himself on a spike on top of a 5-foot fence as he practiced his "ninja skills." A police spokesman said the man wasn't using his warrior art because he was being chased or attacked by a pirate, the natural enemy of the ninja. Instead, he "thought he was a ninja and would be able to successfully leap over the 4 to 5-foot fence." The spokesman also said that his actions were "bolstered by alcohol." The only upside is that he didn't have his homemade "shruiken boomerang" on him at the time of the accident.