History Main / NinjaLog

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', the

* ''Literature/RhythmOfWar'': [[ImmortalAssassin Lezian the Pursuer]] can project his spirit out of his body, forming a new one elsewhere and leaving a dry shell of the old one behind. This can be a deadly distraction, as people who don't know about his abilities sometimes continue to attack the remains while he comes up behind them.

* In ''[[VideoGame/ScottPilgrim Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game]]'', the fourth boss Roxy, a [[McNinja half-ninja]], has this as one of her attacks. After faking the player out with the log, [[DoppelgangerAttack she attacks from all four corners of the screen, centered on the decoy.]]

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Shiage Hamazura creates a makeshift smokescreen. Shizuri Mugino laughs and attacks his silhouette, only to find it was a stack of cardboard boxes. She incredulously asks if he's a ninja.

* One level of ''VideoGame/ApeEscape'' features ninja enemies that turn into these upon taking hits.
* Used in a strange way in ''VideoGame/TrioThePunch'': each time Kamakura the ninja (one of the player characters) takes a hit, he briefly turns into a log, but this is only a visual effect that doesn't actually prevent the damage from the hit. (Unless maybe it's supposed to be a visual representation of MercyInvincibility?)
* At least once in the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series, Ninja Kirby has been able to swap himself with a log. Though normally he opts to swap out and disappear with an explosion.
* The ninja Benikage from ''VideoGame/RumbleRoses'' does this. Several of her counters and special moves involve her disappearing in a puff of smoke and leaving behind a wooden log that falls on the opponent's head or rolls under their feet. Since there is really nowhere for her to hide it makes it look like she is actually transforming into a log and back again rather than substituting it somehow.
* This is [[LoveableRogue Stealth]] [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elf's]] chief ability in ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}''. If you take the Straw Pook Savant upgrade path, you can make them spinning blades that explode on destruction, killing most enemies in moments.
* ''[[VideoGame/SengokuSNK Sengoku 3]]'' has this as each character's desperation move.
* A game mechanic in ''VideoGame/NarutoClashOfNinja'': Using a Substitution will let you [[ComboBreaker break out of a combo]] and get a free hit on your opponent, but costs three-fourths of your [[ManaMeter chakra.]] The ''[[VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm2 Naruto]] [[VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStormGenerations Ultimate]] [[VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm3 Ninja]] [[VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStormRevolution Storm]]'' series does this as well, taking either a portion of your chakra or a unit from a substitution gauge, depending on game.
* In ''[[VideoGame/ScottPilgrim Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game]]'', the fourth boss Roxy, a [[McNinja half-ninja]], has this as one of her attacks. After faking the player out with the log, [[DoppelgangerAttack she attacks from all four corners of the screen, centered on the decoy.]]
* Valentine of ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' (who is a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot ninja nurse]]) does this with a bag of medical supplies for her {{ukemi}}.
* The Korean MMO ''VideoGame/BladeAndSoul'' has a very literal invocation of this trope with the "Decoy" skill for its totally-not-a-ninja Assassin class: time its use well, and if you're hit during the short window it's active, you automatically dodge the attack, enter stealth & slip behind the enemy where you're perfectly set up for a powerful counterattack, while a freshly-sliced wooden log takes your place.
* The idea is used for an outfit in ''VideoGame/{{Miitomo}}''; a log suit with a few shurikens stuck to it, released alongside more traditional ninja garb.
* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' has Ninjis and their paper counterparts. When attacking them, one has to alternate moves (for example, if one is attacked via jumping, the next Bro. has to attack it with the hammer) or else they will change to a log and stay protected..
** The Ninjis were already able to do this in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar''.
** Ditto in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing''.
* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/WiiPlayMotion'', as the boss ninja in ''Trigger Twist'' still takes some damage when he uses this technique.
* Appears in ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'' as a special item. When used, all enemies attack the log instead of the player until the log breaks or a timer runs out. Also comes in an explosive variant that blows up when hit, damaging nearby enemies.
* In ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'', Sasuke pulls off this trick several times in his route and somehow always has the time to draw glasses on his decoy logs before the swaps. Chalk it up to RuleOfFunny.
* The ninja girl Ibuki in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' leaves one of these as part of her V-Reversal. In other SF media she has been shown capable of putting her pet Tanuki in her place or even nothing at all.
* ''VideoGame/RumbleRoses'' has Yasha, who's opponents never learn to not try to german suplex her after she whiffs a high kick. They will always end up with a log on their arms.
* In ''VideoGame/ForHonor'', one of the Shinobi's post-battle signatures is this, involving the Shinobi disappearing and leaving a log behind.

[[folder:WebAnimation]]

* ''Anime/NinjaScrollTheSeries'': In one of the episodes an experienced ninja uses a stray cat in this manner. In another, the geezer Dakuon uses a log that happens to be stuffed full of lit dynamite.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is one of the more well-known examples. It overuses the "substitution jutsu" left and right, often showing a character's death in slow-mo, when it's ''painfully'' obvious they aren't going to die so easily. This could be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since most of the main characters live in what translates to "The Village Hidden in the Leaves". Trees are ''everywhere''. Most ninja travel faster leaping through trees than they do running. Although rare, characters are occasionally seen using other things as well, like mud, shadow clones, and on one occasion, a giant plush frog.
** Played with a couple episodes in, when Naruto makes a bunch of [[MesACrowd Shadow Clones]] to fight Kakashi, and when one is about to attack him Kakashi substitutes ''one of the other clones'' for himself.
** Played with again later, where Sakura runs into this fight using only the "Log Substitution" technique (and making it painfully obvious via hand signs that she's using it). After three or four times getting attacked and swapping herself for a log, she ''doesn't'' use the technique, but still does the hand signs for it, taking two kunai to the arms in the process. Her opponent, assuming she's swapped again, turns away, and doesn't realize she didn't swap out until he has a kunai in one arm and Sakura's teeth in the other.
** After the first couple story arcs though, the technique pretty much ceases use entirely. This is most likely because the author realized the extreme vagueness of when it can or cannot be used sort of killed the drama and logic behind a lot of action scenes.
** Towards the end of the main series, Sasuke is given Six Paths power by the Sage of Six Paths, along with Naruto. This power gives him the Rinnegan in his left eye. It has the unique ability to allow Sasuke to teleport anywhere he can see within a certain range. This also allows him to focus on an object or a person, and then swap places with them.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' of all places, although not by a ninja. Guts uses this tactic despite being one of the tallest human characters. At one point he actually attaches his armor to a log and throws it at Wyald. Wyald of course falls for it, since immediately before this he's distracted by what he believes to be Guts hiding behind a tree; it's really just a body Guts hung up there for that reason.
* Trafalgar Law in ''Manga/OnePiece'' has this as one of the many uses of his switching power. He even uses a literal log in one instance.
* Recca from ''Manga/FlameOfRecca'' is a ninja, and so, of course, masters the Substitution Jutsu. He usually uses a doll that looks like himself, or just his uniform, for it, and a surprising number of powerful foes falls for it -- probably because they focus so much on his spectacular ability to conjure fire, that they forget his Ninja Training. Actually spoofed in the very first volume of the manga. When saving Yanagi from several punks, Recca immediately spreads a sheet that looks like a tree log to look like he vanished and replaced with log. [[PaperThinDisguise It doesn't work, obviously]].

* Used in ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', of all places, when Crow attempts to tie up Jaeger, who he mistakes for a Dark Signer. A second later, the rope is tied around a pile of steel poles that weren't there before.
* Ataru Moroboshi from ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' uses these all the time, mostly to evade [[TheRival Mendô]]. He's also fond of exclaiming "[[LampshadeHanging Ninja vanish]]!" and zipping all over the place with unprecedented speed and agility.
* Corvo from the ''Monster Collection'' manga, being the setting's equivalent to ninja, does it with a chair and some of his clothes.
* Used recursively in the anime of ''Manga/SamuraiDeeperKyo''. One ninja stabs another in the back, only to have him turn into a log. The ninja who was stabbed then ambushes the first ninja, only to have him turn into a pile of dry leaves. This goes on for a while.
* ''Anime/GOnRiders'': Yuuki does this once in a later episode. Since it's a slightly {{Ecchi}} series, she leaves her clothes behind.
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Used repeatedly by Ranma throughout the series. The log trick is used against Prince(ss) Herb at the hot springs in the manga. Note that Herb is more bothered by the fact Female Ranma is no longer wearing a kimono afterward than by being tricked.
* Used, oddly enough, in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' by Han'nya after grabbing his fellow ninja Beshimi. Since the story doesn't have any mystical elements, he had to have carried the giant log through the air just so he could replace it with Beshimi.
* In an episode of ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', the resident [[McNinja German Ninja]], Schwarz Bruder is pitted in a fight against Viking Gundam. Just when everyone thinks Schwarz's gundam had been pierced by a volley of oars, a double take reveals that the boat Viking Gundam had been riding in not a second before was in Schwarz's place instead.
* Slight variance of this trope in ''Manga/SamuraiHaremAsuNoYoichi''. Tsubasa uses teddy bears instead of a log, but otherwise plays this trope straight. The lady she uses this on, Angela, is always surprised when this happens.

* In episode 118 of ''Manga/FairyTail'', Lisanna tries to attack Kain Hikaru. Kain quickly uses a property of his VoodooDoll to teleport away and teleport Elfman in his place, leaving Elfman to take the hit instead.

* ''Manga/RealBoutHighSchool'': A member of the all-girls Shinsengumi is a ninja-obsessed otaku who never did any ninja trick before. Her first one is literally the Ninja Log. While she does manage to replace herself with a log, she unwittingly knocks her head somewhere.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Shiage Hamazura creates a makeshift smokescreen. Shizuri Mugino laughs and attacks his silhouette, only to find it was a stack of cardboard boxes. She incredulously asks if he's a ninja.

* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Saizo uses this substitution trick on Sasuke during their fight, as well as once on Hanzo and Kamanosuke.
* ''Anime/CardfightVanguardVSeries'': the rebooted Nubatama clan has a few cards that do this, in the form of Evil Decoy tokens. The card art for these tokens depicts them as logs wearing karate gi, surrounded by clouds of smoke and pierced through with several shuriken and kunai. Cards that interact with them generally have effects involving switching the opponent's attacks to target the tokens instead, and the tokens themselves can intercept from the back row.
* In the first chapter of ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'', Suzu tries to kick Matsuri for [[AccidentalPervert carelessly grabbing her thighs]], and he uses his ninja training to switch places with a log... the instant ''after'' he's hit. Suzu asks what the point was, and Matsuri [[ComicallyMissingThePoint explains]] that [[WouldntHitAGirl he didn't want Suzu to hurt her leg on a log]]. Really, he was just showing off. Outside this one joke, the technique isn't used again.
* Meme of ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'' is an expert at this, due to her fear of having to interact with others. In her case, she uses small plushies which she knits herself to serve as substitutes.

* Used at least once by the Neko Ninja Chizu in ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo''.

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher:''' One story starts with the Punisher running while shooting at the ground with a submachine gun, yelling that he was coming for the BigBad, and promptly getting sniped for his trouble. [[spoiler:That wasn't Frank but a mook that Frank had forced into a Punisher outfit to draw out the bad guy. The shooting was because he was running across a ''minefield'' and told to shoot the ground to set them off before he stepped on them.]]

* In ''WebVideo/NarutoTheAbridgedSeries'', the log is an actual character, serving as Sasuke's nemesis.
* The ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/YetAgainWithALittleExtraHelp'' makes a RunningGag out of this trope by having Leaf ninjas hold cult-like reverence for the Log, who sacrifices itself on their behalf. Other ninjas think they're all crazy. [[spoiler:The Log may have actually been controlling them ever since Hashirama's time, and is aiming to take the entire world in its name, having already brainwashed the Shodai, Nidaime, ''and'' Sandaime Hokages. ...Yeah. It's that kind of fanfic. Made darker by the revelation of the evil WorldTree and the so-far-absent controller of it. The Cult of the Log was intended to sway the Konoha shinobi to be easier to direct by the BigBad.]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In the film adaptation of ''Manga/{{Ninja Hattori}}-kun'', a more plausible trick is used on two occasions, with a character leaving their clothes behind as a decoy.

* In the original ''Film/{{Total Recall|1990}}'', when Quaid is being shot at near an alien reactor, he is wearing a holographic projector watch, which several times fools Mooks into shooting it (or in one case, each other).

* Both versions pop up in ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' when the team uses the Kakuranger and Hurricanger powers. In the Kakuranger tribute, Ninjaman pulls the trick twice against the MonsterOfTheWeek, once on foot and once [[MakeMyMonsterGrow when enlarged]] (though he uses a straw dummy instead of a log).

* Lee Van Cleef from failed 80's series ''Series/TheMaster'' (a.k.a. ''Series/MasterNinja'') does this in one episode, putting his ninja headwear over a doodad attached to an electrical transformer during a fight. Because it happens at night, his opponent doesn't notice, and ninjitsus his way to electrocution.
* In ''Series/KamenRiderGeats,'' this is one of the various ninja tropes associated with the Ninja Raise Buckle. Literally the moment Keiwa gets the buckle, [[spoiler:in the process of getting hit by the first Final Boss's attack,]] this ability activates leaving a log where he was standing.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons 3.5'', one Warlock invocation, fittingly named "Flee the Scene", is a short-range teleport that leaves a ''major image'' illusion of the caster in their place.

* ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'': Hattori Hanzo and Galford use the classic log to avoid the enemy attack and counter from unexpected directions. Also Kazuki can avoid an attack by explosive teleport, leaving his burning pants behind.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastBlade'': Zantetsu uses the log version.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'', Sheena uses this to [[spoiler:keep Richter from killing Marta]]. It remains convincing for a surprisingly long time.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', one of the kinds of monsters are ninjas who are rather fond of doing that, making them quite a pain to hurt with a sword.

* In ''VideoGame/BeatBladesHaruka'', if Narika has to abort an infiltration attempt, she teleports out and leaves a log behind. Neither Haruka nor Subaru do this, however.
* Shadow Man can do this in ''VideoGame/MegaMan2ThePowerFighters''. In the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series, one of the battlechips makes a puff of smoke, an injured dummy falls to the ground, and [=MegaMan=].exe jumps in the air and throws ninja stars at the opponent. From the third game of the series onward, [=MegaMan=] could use a Navi Customizer Program to perform this trick at any time. Like his robotic counterpart, [=ShadowMan=].exe can also use this ability, and [=MegaMan=] can copy the trick while using [[PowerCopying ShadowMan's DoubleSoul]].
* The opening of ''[[VideoGame/SengokuBasara Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes]]'' has Sasuke using this technique to diguise a rock as his master Shingen, which gets attacked by rival ninja Kasuga and her clones.

* ''VideoGame/PrinnyCanIReallyBeTheHero'': Hoshikage, in later fights with her, pulls a body switch with Master Frog when hip-pounded if said attack wouldn't stun her. Her [[{{Lunacy}} Tsukikage self]] uses a different item to escape being stunned, and also has a much faster pattern overall.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has the move Substitute, which replaces the user with a doll when the enemy {{Mon}} attacks. The anime and manga interpretations of this move have been inconsistent, but it has occasionally been used in the style of the trope.
** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Wii U/3DS'' has Greninja using the aforementioned Substitute attack in this fashion, vanishing and leaving only the doll, and sometimes literally a log, behind if it's attacked, and then counterattacking.