Giant Cubes

Not to be confused with The Cubes from American Ninja Warrior 15.

The Giant Cubes is an obstacle, firstly introduced on American Ninja Warrior 9 as the eighth obstacle during Daytona Beach finals.

This obstacle consists of a pole that slants downwards and two prisms hanging suspended 18 feet (5.49 meters) above the pool of water. Each prism is transparent with a 2-inch (5.08-cm) deep ledge wrapping around the top. The first prism is shaped like a cube, while the second is shaped like a frustum (trapezoidal prism).

After completing the Salmon Ladder, competitors must traverse the slanted pole. Once they reach the bottom, they must transition to the first hanging cube by using the ledges attached to the front side. After that, they must use hang on to the ledge and engage their lower body to navigate to the back end. From there, they must make a 6-foot (1.83-meter) transition from the cube to the second cube, turning around mid-air (similar to the Spider Flip) using a small footrest at the bottom to guide their transition. Finally, they must navigate around the cube, and finally jump to the landing platform.

This obstacle was proven to be incredibly difficult, as it took out several competitors like Ryan Stratis, Reko Rivera, Nick Patel, Rigel Henry, Eddy Stewart, Michael Johnson, both Brazi Bros (Lucas Gomes and Alexio Gomes), Dustin Fishman, and Royall Eason. A total of 11 competitors failed on the obstacle, typically due to struggling on the transition to the first cube or the leap to the second cube.

attempted the transition of the Giant Cubes by doing the splits during 's Daytona Beach finals — Jessie Graff attempted the transition of the Giant Cubes by doing the splits during American Ninja Warrior 9's Daytona Beach finals

Jessie Graff pioneered an unorthodox transition to the second cube: instead of making a 180-degree jump, she did the splits. She placed one foot on the second cube while planting her other limbs on the first, used her arms to reach out to the second cube, and placed her other foot on the cube once she was able to hang on with her hands. This made the transition far easier, saved upper body strength, and enabled her to clear the obstacle. She advanced all the way to the Elevator Climb.

Later that night, Travis Rosen also tried her method on the transition and successfully completed this obstacle before ending one obstacle later. On the other hand, Drew Drechsel failed to execute her method on the transition despite being nearly the same height. Although he used the intended transition, he still cleared the obstacle and the course altogether.

Other Season Appearances[]

American Ninja Warrior 10[]

On American Ninja Warrior 10, the Giant Cubes appeared as the eighth obstacle during Los Angeles finals. This time, the slanted pole was replaced with a trapezoidal board with a ledge around it and a footrest at the bottom, similar to the front face of the second cube. The ledges on the first cube were removed.

Despite these changes, the obstacle was far easier than during Daytona Beach finals on the previous season, as only four competitors fell: Anna Shumaker, Brock Taylor, Jesse Orenshein, and Joe Mardovich. These changes actually made the obstacle easier because competitors had more opportunities to engage the lower body. This obstacle was made even easier due to the fact that most competitors used Jessie Graff's technique of doing the splits in between the cubes. These competitors included Kevin Bull, Josh Levin, Nick Hanson, Grant McCartney, Tiana Webberley, Adam Rayl, Flip Rodriguez, and Sean Bryan. Anna Shumaker also tried Jessie Graff’s technique, but failed to stretch far enough and fell on the obstacle.

Other Appearances[]

Ninja Warrior Poland[]

In Ninja Warrior Poland 2, the Giant Cubes, locally called Bryły (literally Solids) appeared as the fifth obstacle in Heat 2 and Heat 6. The usual cube and the frustum were arranged in sequence. This time, to get on the first cube, competitors had to climb the rope in front of it and go from there to it. Moreover, in Heat 2, one competitor was eliminated on this obstacle.

Ninja Warrior Austria[]

On Ninja Warrior Austria 2, Giant Cubes appeared as the fifth obstacle of Heat 1, 3, 4, and 5. A rope was added at start since it was not directly preceded by any obstacle.

Ninja Warrior Germany[]

On Ninja Warrior Germany 3, the Giant Cubes (Kletterkästen, literally Climbing Boxes) appeared as the fifth obstacle in Heat 4 and Heat 5 of the Preliminary Rounds.

On Ninja Warrior Germany 7, Giant Cubes appeared as the second obstacle of Preliminary Round 4 and 5. This time, the first section was a cube and the second one an inverted frustum as usual, but a third and final flat pane of glass with a ledge on the bottom was added (similar to the one used in American Ninja Warrior 10). A lache bar was also placed after the final section.

Ninja Warrior Germany 8: Celebrity Special's Giant Cubes

The Giant Cubes reappeared as the third obstacle of Round 1, in Ninja Warrior Germany 8: Celebrity Special, with the configuration identical to that from the seventh season, with possibly some minor changes in distance between cubes.

Ninja Israel[]

On Ninja Warrior Israel 2, the Giant Cubes, locally called האקווריומים (literally The Aquariums) appeared in the final as the third obstacle in Stage Two, which was similar to the one used on the American Ninja Warrior 10. However, as a standalone obstacle, competitors must jump directly onto the trapezoid board; on it, there were two extra ledges, similar to the Cliffhanger, to help competitors reach the trapezoidal board more easily. Only Gil Marantz attempted and cleared it.

Then, on Ninja Warrior Israel 3, the Giant Cubes returned in the final as the third obstacle in Stage Two, with the same specification as in the previous season. A shocking failure happened for Gur Arad, as he missed the buzzer by a few hundredths of a second after clearing this obstacle, which lost him a chance to advance to the Third Stage. Otherwise, 10 out of 11 competitors cleared it.

Later, on Ninja Warrior Israel 5, the Giant Cubes reappeared as the fourth obstacle in Semifinal 3. This time, the obstacle feature five poles, with two poles in front of the trapezoidal board and three poles after the second cube. This time, the obstacle was more brutal, as it eliminated two of five competitors who attempted it.

Ninja Warrior France[]

The Giant Cubes (Les Cubes de Cristal, literally The Crystal Cubes) appeared on Ninja Warrior France 3 as the fourth obstacle of the Qualification 1. Since it was not preceded by any obstacle, a mini trampoline was added for the competitors to reach the first cube. The gap between the solids was revealed to be 1.8 meters (5.91 feet).

On Ninja Warrior France 5, Giant Cubes reappeared as the fourth obstacle of Path B of Qualifications 1 and 4. The red ledge on the cube only took up the left-half of the edge facing the frustum. The mini trampoline was also replaced by a pole from Pole Grasper.

Ninja Warrior France 8's Giant Cubes to Cargo Net

On Ninja Warrior France 8, the Giant Cubes reappeared as obstacle B of the Split Decision in Qualification 1, which was very similar to the one used in Ninja Warrior Poland 2 (since there was a rope as a medium to reach the first cube). After reaching the frustum, competitors must grab the cargo net (similar to the Jump Hang) as a medium to reach the landing platform.

On Ninja Warrior France: Clash of Nations, it replaced the Despicaballs, using the same modification from the last season except without the cargo net. It eliminated Henry Cookey (Team UK) and Kawaguchi Tomohiro (Team Japan).

Competitors' Success Rate[]

All results based on the NBC/Polsat/Keshet 12 broadcast and external information found

American Ninja Warrior[]

ANW	Clears	Attempts	Percentage
ANW9	8	19	42.11%
ANW10	17	21	80.95%
Total	25	40	62.50%

Ninja Warrior Poland[]

NWP	Clears	Attempts	Percentage
NWP2 (Heat 2)	15	16	93.75%
NWP2 (Heat 6)	10	10	100%
Total	25	26	96.15%

Ninja Israel[]

NWP	Clears	Attempts	Percentage
NWI2	1	1	100%
NWI3	10	11	90.91%
NWI5	3	5	60%
Total	14	17	82.35%