American Ninja Warrior 12

American Ninja Warrior 12 was the twelfth season of American Ninja Warrior, and the first season after Drew Drechsel's total victory on American Ninja Warrior 11. Originally, the season would host three cities for qualifying rounds in Los Angeles, Washington DC (new city), and St. Louis, with the national finals being held in Las Vegas. While the age limit for competitors was still 19 years of age, some competitors as young as 15 had initially received special invitations from the producers to compete (American Ninja Warrior Junior competitors were the usual suspect).

However, on March 12th, 2020, due to growing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles taping was postponed less than 48 hours before it was scheduled to begin. As the pandemic continued to escalate in the coming days, the St. Louis and Washington DC tapings were also postponed. The producers initially reiterated their intention to film the season at a later date, but did not immediately specify when and how it would happen.

In late July 2020, some competitors shared via social media that the current season was filming with a set season debut in due time. NBC officially confirmed this on August 12th, 2020, and announced the premiere date of September 7th, 2020.

As the season was filmed during the pandemic, some significant changes were made:
 * The entire season was filmed inside The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, which was one of the original taping locations. There was no tour as there had been in the past, and there would be no Las Vegas national finals and the second striaght season where a round had been recorded indoors after Seattle/Tacoma of American Ninja Warrior 11.
 * The season featured 50 top competitors from the previous seasons, with each choosing two people from their community to compete with them (these could be rookies or returning competitors). This made for a total of 150 competitors, much less than approximately 500 which were originally scheduled to compete.
 * The whole season was taped without a live audience, but family and close friends were able to watch the runs remotely in real time. Competitors had their two teammates on the sidelines to offer support while they were running.
 * Mandatory health and safety protocols were put in place for all competitors, including regular COVID-19 testing, social distancing as much as possible, and wearing masks while not competing.

The competition format was also very different. Competitors would compete in three rounds across eight episodes:
 * The first four episodes were the qualifiers episodes. The qualifiers course featured six obstacles, with the Results from each episode advancing to the semifinals along with the top 3 women. In addition, the top 2 competitors from each qualifiers episode would face off on the Power Tower, with the winner being able to take their two fellow competitors to the semifinals regardless of whether or not they finished in the top 12.
 * The next two episodes were the semifinal episodes. Competitors who qualified would run a ten-obstacle course, with the top 12 in each episode advancing to the finals along with the top 2 women.
 * The finals would take place over the last two episodes. Competitors who qualified would run a ten-obstacle course, with the Results being placed in a playoff bracket on the Power Tower (there was no special advancement rule for women). The winner would receive the cash prize of $100,000.

In addition, there were other important details to note:
 * Finishing a course did not guarantee advancement. If more competitors finished the course than the quota that had been set, only the fastest finishers would move on (a very similar rule to what was used during the first four seasons of American Ninja Warrior).
 * The competitor groups did not actually compete as a team; the only time they being significant was during qualifiers on the Power Tower, as the winner got to take their entire group to the semifinals regardless of how they fared.
 * The Mega Wall was still in play during the qualifiers, but the rules were reverted to those used on American Ninja Warrior 10. Competitors were given just one attempt to scale the 18-foot Mega Wall, and would earn $10,000 upon successfully doing so, but if they failed, they were given just one attempt to complete the regular 14.5-foot Warped Wall. During the broadcast, the producers edited out some of the failed attempts, and instead just showed the competitors completing the regular 14.5-foot wall as if they did not attempt the Mega Wall at all.

Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used to differentiate the episodes in between the qualifiers and semifinals for simplicity sake and to avoid confusion:
 * QF - Qualifiers
 * SF - Semifinals
 * EP - Episode

QF EP 1
Original Airdate: September 7th, 2020.

Obstacles
① Shrinking Steps

② ~Weight for It

③ ~Ring Chaser

④ ^Rib Run

⑤ *Slingshot

⑥ Warped Wall / Mega Wall

^ - New Obstacle

~ - Fan-created Obstacle (Obstacle Design Challenge Winner)

* - Modified Obstacle (Compared to Previous American Ninja Warrior Seasons)

QF EP 2
Original Airdate: September 14th, 2020.

Obstacles
① Shrinking Steps

② Lunatic Ledges

③ ~Ring Chaser

④ ^Rib Run

⑤ Ferris Wheel

⑥ Warped Wall / Mega Wall

^ - New Obstacle

~ - Fan-created Obstacle (Obstacle Design Challenge Winner)

QF EP 3
Original Airdate: September 21st, 2020.

Obstacles
① Shrinking Steps

② Lunatic Ledges

③ ^Beehive

④ Spinning Bridge

⑤ Ferris Wheel

⑥ Warped Wall / Mega Wall

^ - New obstacle

QF EP 4
Original Airdate: October 5th, 2020 (due to a scheduling conflict, NBC decided to move the airdate of Episode 4, which was originally scheduled for September 28th, 2020).

Obstacles
① Shrinking Steps

② Off the Hook

③ ^Beehive

④ Spinning Bridge

⑤ ^Sideways

⑥ Warped Wall / Mega Wall

^ - New obstacle

SF EP 1
Original Airdate: October 12th, 2020.

Obstacles
① Shrinking Steps

② Off the Hook

③ ~Clockwork

④ ^Burn Rubber

⑤ +Sideways

⑥ Warped Wall

⑦ Salmon Ladder

⑧ ~Corkscrew

⑨ ^The Dungeon

⑩ Spider Trap

^ - New obstacle

~ - Fan-created Obstacle (Obstacle Design Challenge Winner)

+ - Modified Obstacle (Compared to American Ninja Warrior 12's Qualifiers Course)

SF EP 2
Original Airdate: October 21st, 2021.

Obstacles
① Shrinking Steps

② *Spring Forward

③ ~Clockwork

④ ^Burn Rubber

⑤ Slingshot

⑥ Warped Wall

⑦ Salmon Ladder

⑧ ~Corkscrew

⑨ ^The Dungeon

⑩ Spider Trap

^ - New Obstacle

~ - Fan-created Obstacle (Obstacle Design Challenge Winner)

* - Modified Obstacle (Compared to Previous American Ninja Warrior Seasons)

Finals
Original Airdate: October 28th, 2020 & November 6th, 2020 (due to a scheduling conflict in regards with the elections, NBC decided to move the airdate of Episode 8, which was originally scheduled for November 4th, 2020).

Obstacles
① Shrinking Steps

② Spring Forward

③ ^Falling Shelves

④ Diamond Dash

⑤ Spin Hopper

⑥ Warped Wall

⑦ Salmon Ladder

⑧ *Slam Dunk

⑨ ^Dragonback

⑩ Spider Trap

^ - New Obstacle

* - Modified Obstacle (Compared to Previous American Ninja Warrior Seasons)