Damn Ninjas...

[northstarfan]

OK, so musings on Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes.

 

1) Per the first movie, this version of Snake Eyes doesn’t speak as a choice; he took a vow of silence when the Hard Master was murdered. I’m going to stick with that rather than the comic canon because I like the notion of that mutual moment of childhood trauma is something neither of these two rivals have been able to move past, even once the Hard Master was avenged. Snake can’t let go of his silence any more more than Storm can let go of his anger. (Storm doesn’t think much of Snake’s vow, for the obvious reasons, and will pick at that particular scar when the mood strikes him.) I am going to have him signing a lot, though - some ASL with the Joes, Arashikage code with Storm and Jinx.

2) Their childhood rivalry. 

2a)First movie paints Storm as murderous sociopath pretty much from the time he was a tween - he literally tries to take Snake’s head off with a cleaver when he finds him stealing food in the training center’s kitchens. This is not useful to me, so I’m reframing it as an hysterical overreaction to past trauma. Namely, the deaths of his parents.

Per previous headcanon, Storm’s mother had to kill his grandfather to be granted her birthright. She was a strong, determined, martially gifted woman, but more than a little messed up by her circumstances. One way she showed love to her son was by never deceiving him, including telling him the truth about their bloodline at an age when he didn’t have anywhere near the life experience to process it. So he had some skewed views of the world, Arashikage, and family even while his mother and father were alive. 

His parents were killed in their home by unknown invaders. His father was no warrior - he was cut down in seconds. There was no time Storm’s mother to hide her son away; he saw all of it. His mother was able to stand against the intruders and protect her son, but she was mortally wounded. Storm fought by her side, and held her as she died. The next day, the Hard Master, his grand-uncle, came to fetch him, and the training dojo became his new home.

So yeah, catching anyone - especially a stranger - sneaking in did not get a reasonable response from Storm.

2b)Storm describing anyone from Arashikage - especially Snake - as a “friend”, does not jibe with previous characterization. But apparently I wasn’t the first one to notice that. Storm to Snake from John Barber’s prequel comics: 

“I was the Hard Master’s star pupil, but when you arrived, we became equals. Neither ever able to gain the advantage. We know the same things. We know what each will do, and we know how to respond. You thought this made us friends. Heh. Maybe I did too, for a while. 

“But we weren’t. You didn’t stand by me when I needed you...”

That’s definitely a take I can work with. Wee Snake and Storm might never have liked each other all that much, probably never even confided in each other, but they were in similar positions - isolated, even among the other trainees, by their rank and life circumstances. They were constants in each other’s empty lives. Sword brothers, if nothing else. So there was enough of an attachment there for both to feel the deepest betrayal by the other when the Hard Master was murdered.

3)Given a level playing field, Snake Eyes is the better swordsman. He stayed with Arashikage until adulthood, completed his training, and has mastered most of the clan’s fighting techniques. His focus is exceptional; he pushes his emotions to the side once engaged in battle.

Storm Shadow is the better ninja. His education was far more varied than Snake’s, and he was just as driven to master what he was taught. He’s learned to be flexible, cunning, and devious. And he’s arrogant, but not foolish enough to let himelf be caught unawares on a level playing field. 

4)The attack on the Pit was the first time since childhood Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were face-to-face. There had been several near-misses through the years as Snake pursued leads on Storm, and Storm used McCullen’s resources to keep tabs on Snake, but the first time they crossed swords was while Storm had the fresh blood of Snake’s comrades in arms on his blades.

5)Storm engaging with Snake at McCullen’s arctic base was a desperate gambit. Snake was the victor in that last clash before Storm ever attacked - even if Storm Shadow had won the actual duel and killed Snake Eyes, escape was unlikely with the base surrounded by Joes. Death was preferable to surrendering to Snake Eyes and his soldier friends. And so there was nothing to lose by risking that plunge into the ocean to his presumed death, with the additional benefit of maybe getting Snake Eyes off his trail while he recovered. (Though he’d have preferred not getting run through, it was at least convincing.)

6)Snake Eyes isn’t naive enough to trust that Storm’s a friend (and, really, Storm isn’t claiming to be), but he owns his part in shaping Storm into what he is, and figures Storm's at least owed the chance to prove he isn’t an enemy. Probably the only person not giving Storm the shovel speech about Goody - at worst, he figures they’re mutually using each other.