TIE Fighter

The TIE Fighter (タイファイター) is an obstacle introduced in SASUKE 32, replacing the Log Grip from SASUKE 31.

Competitors must prop their hands and feet against a set of glass panels, position themselves similarly like the Spider Walk and slide down a track to reach the safety platform at the other side. The track has one 30cm drop.

To make this obstacle easier for women, a board was used to cover the left side of the glass panel, thus giving traction to prop themselves easier.

This obstacle took out major competitors including Takahashi Kenji, Asa Kazuma, Yoshinaga Katsumi and Darvish Kenji. In SASUKE 33, both Asa and Darvish took revenge on TIE Fighter, but Takahashi failed it for the second consecutive time. In the same tournament, it also notably took out Yamada Katsumi.

In SASUKE 35, the red-striped mat after the obstacle was disheveled and slippery, causing some competitors to slip and almost go off the course.

This obstacle has a similar concept to the Frame Slider, which was used as the second obstacle on American Ninja Warrior 5 in Venice Beach.

Wing Slider
Due to the expiration of the license before SASUKE 36, the TIE Fighter was renamed the Wing Slider (ウィングスライダー), and was redesigned to reflect this. The hexagons were changed to a set of smaller rectangular diagonally-placed panels in a similar fashion of a bird's wings, giving the competitors less space to place their bodies within the obstacle. Throughout the span of its six appearances, even though the obstacle has a decent knockout rate. the obstacle was replaced by Silk Slider in SASUKE 38, due to the hassle to thoroughly sanitize as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating a replacement.

Etymology
The obstacle was originally named the “TIE Fighter”, after a type of starfighter in the Star Wars movies that goes by the common name, formally as the TIE/LN starfighter. The panels of the obstacle are designed to look like the wings of the TIE Fighters. The phrase 'TIE' is translated into katakana for this obstacle, while the English spelling is used in the Japanese version of the movies. The name was officially licensed until it expired before SASUKE 36, meriting a change of design and name of the obstacle.

Competitors' Success Rate

 * All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found

タイファイター 鈦戰機