Shinobu Jacobs

Shinobu Jacobs
Also known as	Scarlet Jacobs
Age	18 (NMH) 21 (NMH2) 30 (TSA) 32 (NMH3)
Nationality	American
Family	Tim Jacobs (father) Noboru Jacobs (grandfather)
Occupation	Assassin Dojo Master
Affiliation	United Assassins Association (formerly)
Status	Alive
Weapon	Three Girl Rhumba's Sword Jacob's Ladder
First appearance	No More Heroes
Played by	Kimberly Brooks

Shinobu Jacobs is a major character in the No More Heroes series. In the original No More Heroes, she is the eighth-ranked assassin in the United Assassins Association, and the third boss battle in the game. She later becomes an ally to Travis Touchdown, appears as a playable character in No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, and Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, and has a supporting role in No More Heroes III.

Appearance and Personality

Shinobu is an African-American teenage girl, with a large white afro. In No More Heroes, she wears a school uniform, switching to a black dress and stockings in No More Heroes 2. In Travis Strikes Again and No More Heroes III, she wears a new black and yellow ninja outfit. After her initial fight with Travis, she obtains a prosthetic arm, and later gains two after losing both arms to FU. She exclusively wields katanas, and seems to have an affinity for Japanese culture. However her knowledge is somewhat limited, as she seems to not know what "Moe~" means, seemingly only repeating it after hearing it from Travis.

Shinobu is initially a cold-hearted assassin, intent on avenging her father's death. She is shown to have no issues killing her fellow students after they witnessed her conversation with Travis. She mistakenly accuses Travis of being her father's killer, and begs for him to kill her after their fight. She goes on to gain a loyalty to Travis, later saving him in his fight against Jeane and begins viewing him as her Master. In No More Heroes 2, Shinobu is fully devoted to Travis and trains with the hope of being as strong as him. She develops romantic feelings for him, but these seem to disappear after he rejects her. Years later in Travis Strikes Again, Shinobu acts more confidently towards Travis, even threatening to kill him, but still refers to him as her Master. Shinobu is kind towards the innocent, and takes in local children to train them at her dojo, shielding them from her life as an assassin. In No More Heroes III, Shinobu remains a trusted friend of Travis, and works to defend the Earth from FU's alien invasion.

History

Backstory

Shinobu, real name Scarlet Jacobs, was the daughter of the renowned swordsman Tim Jacobs. Her father was murdered—sliced in two by an unknown assailant with a beam katana—and Shinobu swore to take revenge. She became an assassin, and eventually came to be ranked eighth in the United Assassins Association.

No More Heroes

Shinobu first appears in Santa Destroy High School, when Travis Touchdown walks in on her with a group of students. She asks him to wait for her in the hallway, and executes the students who witnessed them with her katana. She requests that they fight somewhere else, and leads Travis to an abandoned building on the campus. She points out that Travis didn't strike when her back was turned, and accuses him of toying with her. When Travis revealed his beam katana, she believed he was the one who killed her father, and lunged at him. At the end of their fight, Travis severed her arm. She begged Travis to finish her, and called him a liar when he claimed to have never met her father. Travis delivered a suplex, and told her that Jacobs was one of his mentors, and that he was a fan of his video tapes. Shinobu again begged Travis to kill her, but he told her to return when she was stronger, and kill him before killing herself.

Shinobu appeared again at the end of Travis's final battle with his half-sister Jeane. Travis was punched through the chest by Jeane, but Shinobu plunged from the sky and severed her arm, telling Travis to finish it. After Jeane was killed, Shinobu walked away without saying a word.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

In the years that followed, Shinobu came to view Travis as her Master, and wished to become strong like him. She traveled overseas and trained to become the champion of Asia. She was eventually contacted by Sylvia Christel, who made arrangements for her to assist Travis's ascent in the rankings. She met with Sylvia in the UAA office, who asked her to eliminate two of the top ten assassins. Shinobu questioned why she couldn't eliminate them all, but Sylvia brushed her off. Shinobu threatened to kill Sylvia if she double-crossed her, and left.

She first went to the Santa Destroy Bank, and fought through goons until reaching Rank 9, Million Gunman, in the bank vault. He scoffed at his opponent being a young girl, and Shinobu said that if he killed her he could fight Travis. At the end of the battle, Shinobu closed the distance, and asked if he had any last words. He asked for her name, before she severed both of his arms and decapitated him with her katana. She tells his severed head her name, before slicing it into pieces. Shinobu later visited the grave of Georgy Bishop, where she met Bishop's pen-pal, Miike. He asked her to deliver Rose Nasty to Travis. She was contacted by Sylvia, who asked her to head to the next match. After the call, Miike had disappeared. Next, Shinobu arrived at an abandoned warehouse where she encountered Rank 8, the revived New Destroyman. The two halves of Destroyman mocked her for being a woman, and questioned why Travis wasn't there to fight them. They attempted to trick her with an electric handshake, but the trick failed when she ripped off Destroyman's arm. At the end of the fight, Shinobu severed one Destroyman's head and cut it to pieces, before the other half attempted to restrain her. Shinobu broke off her prosthetic arm to escape, and plunged her sword into the other Destroyman's head, spinning around before jumping away as the pair exploded.

Shinobu was reunited with Travis after she arrived with Sylvia to the basement of Destroy Stadium, after Travis had defeated Rank 10, Dr. Letz Shake. She told Travis about her time training in Asia, and referred to him as her Master, which he disliked. She told Travis the story of her fights, and said that she could kill more for him. She made an advance and kissed Travis, but he rejected her since the situation made him feel creepy. After Sylvia called Travis's phone, Shinobu left the motel angry, leaving Rose Nasty in his living room. During Travis's final battle with Jasper Batt Jr., he was led to believe that Shinobu had been killed, but this was revealed to be a trick.

Travis Strikes Again

Years later, Shinobu opened a dojo in Skid Row, and cared for the children of the town. She continued her work as an assassin to eliminate the bad people of the world and fund the dojo, but kept this side of her a secret from the kids. She appears at the end of the game after locating Travis, who was hiding out and living in a trailer in the Texas wilderness. She told him to prepare for the battle ahead, and said that if he didn't bring his A-game, she'd kill him herself. The two were then interrupted by Bad Dog's barking.

She makes another appearance in Travis Strikes Back, returning to the trailer in #7: On the Eve of War to wake up Travis and tell him that he is surrounded by assassins. They met Henry Cooldown outside, who arrived with his Order of the Emerald Knight. Shinobu apologized to Travis for carelessly leading them to him. Henry departs, leaving behind his goons Kes and Rumors, with Shinobu questioning what to do with them. She then suggested bringing the two of them to her dojo. After arriving in Skid Row, Shinobu told Travis about her dojo and teaching of the children, and said that she believed Travis would return to "this side" of the world. He warned her to keep her life as an assassin secret from them, and to make sure they stay on the right path. She introduced Travis to the children, and dismissed them for the day. Shinobu asked Travis to let her handle Kes and Rumors, while he handles the others, as the two aliens Mr. Blackhole and Mr. Wormhole arrive. As the two pairs of enemies start to bicker, Shinobu feels a strong presence, as DeaDri appears to kill Travis. After the super-hero Notorious also arrives at the dojo, Shinobu comments that Travis is attracting them somehow to foreshadow the next game. Travis requested that Shinobu stay out of the fight, and he defeated DeaDri in a game of Fire Pro Wrestling.

No More Heroes III

By 2021, Shinobu began staying at the Motel NO MORE HEROES, alongside Travis and Bad Girl. After the alien invasion of Santa Destroy began, she emerged from her room and questioned who they were. She started battling the aliens, after which she suggested that Travis use his new Full Armor Mode, which he used to board the floating UFO and battle Mr. Blackhole. Some time later, FU arrived outside the motel to take revenge. Shinobu launched an attack from above, splitting FU's head in half. However, he survived, and repeatedly slammed her intro the ground, before stepping on her head and ripping off both of her arms. She was narrowly saved from death by Badman, who was then killed by FU.

Shinobu fell unconscious, and was treated in the underground lab by Dr. Juvenile. Travis arrived and was relieved to see that she was in stable condition. Throughout the game, Shinobu remained in a coma, with Travis repeatedly speaking to her about wrestling in her sleep. She eventually made a full recovery, and was fitted with two prosthetic arms. After Travis was revived from death, she appeared along with his other allies to welcome him back and prepare for the final battle. She later spoke with Travis and Buzariashvili Bishop, apologizing for the trouble. She told him that the sensation was returning to her arms, but that she couldn't wield a sword yet. They discussed their taste in movies, saying she enjoyed "G-Style" stuff. The two misunderstood and believed she was talking about Takashi Miike, but she clarified that she was talking about Gundam and Barbatos swordplay. They eventually agreed to watch Miike's Blade of the Immortal, since Shinobu likes the original. During the final battle with FU, Shinobu provided support, weakening him in order for Travis to break FU's neck. After FU was hit into the air by Bad Girl, Shinobu decapitated him, causing his head to revert back into his child form. FU boarded a ship to escape, but was killed by Damon Riccitiello.

Shinobu appeared alongside the others at Badman's funeral, which was interrupted by the arrival of King Jess Baptiste V, who was quickly dispatched by Hunter Touchdown and Jeane Touchdown, who arrived from the future. When Bad Girl asked who they were, Shinobu told her they were Travis's twin children.

Official profiles

Shinobu Ranked 8th by the UAA. A quiet high school student. 18 years old. Her real name is Scarlet Jacobs. (No More Heroes: Trading Card No. 138 profile)

Shinobu Jacobs A master of swordsmanship. Once determined to fight Travis to the death, she now sees him as a mentor and pays him the utmost respect. (No More Heroes III site profile)

Appearances

• No More Heroes
• No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
• Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
• No More Heroes III

Gallery

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  No More Heroes
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  UAA Ranker's Bible
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  Early designs
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  No More Heroes 2
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  Travis Strikes Back
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  No More Heroes III key visual
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