Storm Shadow more or less introduced the concept of the ninja to the GI Joe world, and over time the concept was expanded through Larry Hama’s G.I. Joe comics. The Arashikage ninja clan became a prominent feature, ensnaring the histories of characters like Zartan, Snake Eyes, Firefly and, eventually, Jinx.
As a ninja-loving kid, I was hungry for ninja toys of any kind, so Storm Shadow immediately became one of my favorite figures. Firefly wasn’t an overt ninja, but he was close enough to count as well. But other than alternate costumes for Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, there were very few ninja figures up until the explosion of Ninja Force. While I would have loved to get characters introduced in the comic like the Hard Master, Soft master and Blind Master, it was not to be.
However, the ninja-drought would end with the release of 1987’s Jinx figure.
Finally! A new ninja. And not just any ninja, but a ninja dressed in my favorite color: red. Red ninja had also been a thing in the Joe comics as well, but as much as I would have liked them in figure form, it was not to be.
Female figures were still a vast minority in the Joe world, so Jinx not only added color to the group but also a little novelty. I never had Lady Jaye (was she hard to find for anyone else? I don’t remember ever seeing her) and my Scarlett figure suffered a broken rubber band that was impossible to replace due to a fused screw in her back, so there was a lot of dick on the Joe side of my battles. Sure, I had cover Girl, but she was busy with the Wolverine.
Jinx came with a set of swords that could be stored on her backpack, which was always very cool. She also came with a naginata, which was different from what any other ninja had come with. I was up for any time the ninja weaponry was expanded upon, and while Jinx sliced and diced plenty of Cobra troops with her swords, I was drawn over and over to the naginata. There was something particularly brutal-looking about it, and she seemed more than capable to shredding a room full of Vipers with it. Of course I never had that many Vipers, but you get my point. Basically, like so many of my toys, she killed a lot of people.
The costume was red from all the blood, is what I’m saying.
Toys were vicious, man.
In the comics, Jinx was a capable fighter, trained by some of the same people that trained Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Weaving in the mythology of the Arashikage clan created this huge backstory that allowed for a plenty of interconnected storylines. She had a handful of decent appearances, most interestingly being made one of the trainers of Billy, who was Cobra Commander’s son. He would go on to be a skilled martial artist and be made an unofficial part of the Arashikage clan.
Jinx made a single cartoon appearance, in the animated direct-to-video special G.I. Joe: The Movie. I am…well, I don’t know how much of a minority I’m in, but I absolutely love that movie. None of it fits in with my view of the Joe property or Cobra Commander’s origins or anything, but the cartoon world was a very separate thing from my view of the property anyway so that was all in keeping with a lot of animated character beats. It was a separate thing, it didn’t have to diminish anything by its existence. However, of anything, I was never a fan of what was done with Jinx. She was essentially rendered as unskilled unless blindfolded, at which point she became a ninja superstar, due to her training under the Blind Master. While the reference to the comic lore was appreciated, it was, like many cartoon aspects of various characters, not as interesting as her comic portrayal. But then, the ninja side of the Joe universe was never given much respect on the old cartoon anyway, so it is to be expected. Surprising, but expected.
Regardless of all of that, Jinx was a standout character among the 1987 Joes for a number of reasons, but mainly that sweet sweet red.
