Hama generally researched his vocabulary. If you were too young to read Clavell, Hama would be as good a primer as any. Of course, even reading Clavell does not make one an expert on Japanese culture.
Storm Shadow's name worked in the 80s. "Arashikage" would have sounded much more exotic 25+ years ago, especially to adults. But, now, yeah, the "unpronouncable Eastern name" thing is laughable.
A lot of people writing Kewl Asians actually totally ignore their cultural heritage in favour of portraying what they'd like to see a foreigner do, regardless of how relevant or borderline *xenophobic* it is.
(Emphasis above is mine.)
The correct term in this case is "romanticized orientalism". Remember, in the 80s, it was hip to be Japanese. And, the Japanese had magical healing the spiritual abilities. But, I would argue that using ninjas to tell a Greek Tragedy is not really bigoted in any sense. If nothing else, it could arguably be evidence for some ideas being nearly universal.
Short summary:
Snakeeyes and Stormshadow serve together in "the war". (It was clearly Viet Nam, but the official retellings get hazier about this as time goes on, trying to simultaneously preserve and ignore the franchise's history.) Storm Shadow, a ninja apprentice who is just finishing his training, is impressed with SnakeEyes' skills, and invites his friend to study with him in Japan after the war. (SnakeEyes is an American, and has no ninja training at this point.) SnakeEyes, (whose real name is never revealed in the original series), declines, and returns home to his family.
SnakeEyes' family is killed in a car accident with the brother of the man who will become Cobra Commander. Cobra Commander is the the American Dream completely awry, with avarice and vanity supplanting effort and pride. Cobra Commander initially tries to recruit SnakeEyes into the movement that will someday become Cobra. After nearly giving into despair and rage, SnakeEyes realizes he needs help and makes his way to Japan, where Stormshadow welcomes him.
While training together, SE's skills surpass SS'. Stormshadow's pride is wounded, and he begins to lose face in front of his uncles. Eventually, the Hard Master, (the dominant uncle), names SnakeEyes as his heir, over Stormshadow. Unknown to anyone at the time, Cobra Commander has since hired Firefly and Zartan to assassinate SnakeEyes at the dojo. Zartan begins to find inner-peace and has second thoughts, but must complete "the job" before he can move on.
Tension between SnakeEyes and Stormshadow increases.
The attempt on Snakeeye's life goes wrong, and the Hard Master is killed. It appears that Stormshadow is the murderer. Stormshadow sees the assassins fleeing in a Cobra 'copter. He joins the organization in the hopes of discovering who killed his uncle. Stormshadow's desire for revenge cuts him off from his family and friends, while sending him into a serpent's nest.
The clan fractures, with many of the members blaming Stormshadow for the clan's ruin, (as he is the one who brought the foreigner into their home), and other simply blaming Snakeeyes. Ironically, many of them would be so blinded by rage that they would later fall in with Zartan and Firefly, despite knowing the roles both men played in the fall of the clan.
While working for Cobra, Stormshadow is shown to avoid killing when possible, even when confronting Joes. He takes Cobra Commander's son, Billy, under his wing in an attempt to prevent the boy from being killed or turned into a monster like his father.
Eventually, Stormshadow and Snakeeyes discover that Zartan was the killer. (Firefly's role would be concealed for several more years.) In the course of their quest for vengeance, Storm Shadow is seamingly killed, and later reborn. Seeking redemption, he pleads for SnakeEyes to forgive him. Storm Shadow eventually abandons his vendetta against Zartan, after realizing how pointless simple revenge is.
Stormshadow's path to redeption is complicated by Zartan, (who still fears retaliation), and the Red NInjas (formerly Arashikage clan members). Zartan eventually begins the process of redemption, but at that point, Hama lost interest of the book and things went down hill.
Dom
-and that is not even getting into Kamakura and the Blind Master.
