Ninja works it
| Ninja works it |
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| Original YTMND: |
| Ninja works it. |
| by thenixfactor |
| October 23, 2004 |
| Worthy Spinoffs: |
| Used Music: |
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Ninja Works It was originally submitted late in October 2004 by thenixfactor and became one of the most popular sites on YTMND. It showed a ninja breakdancing to the song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" by Daft Punk. The site subsequently ushered in the first dancing fad on YTMND. Various spinoffs were created showing other people dancing to the song. It is worth noting that "Ninja Works It" wasn't the first site to use the song; the first was merely titled Work it harder. "Ninja" wasn't even the first of thenixfactor's sites to use the song; he had used the same clip in his previous sites Vash works it! and Break it down!, but neither of these received much attention, especially compared to "Ninja".
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was included on Volume 2 of the YTMND Soundtrack. A picture from the original site was used as the cover for Volume 13. The song was also featured in the moderator's favorite "Making a ytmnd (refresh)".
Origins of image
The actual ninja in this animation is taken from a 1984 Atari, Apple II/e game called Karateka designed by Jordan Mechner of Prince of Persia fame. The title is derived from a Japanese word meaning 'practitioner of karate'. User thenixfactor did not create the actual image of the ninja dancing, as he revealed that he was in possession of the animated gif of unknown origin for some time.
Song and Image Overuse
The "Work it" fad is widely considered a NARVish fad since most sites merely add a gif of something dancing to the same music. The image has also been overused; currently, thirty different YTMND sites, and at one time as many as 72 sites used the image. Though thenixfactor did not create the image, neither did any of these people.
