1st Stage: The initial stage that all competitors appearing in the national finals will begin on. In Sasuke Vietnam, the 1st Stage course was split into part 1A and 1B, starting from the third obstacle to the final obstacle, so that this data combined all buzzers from both two-stage parts.
2nd Stage.
3rd Stage: This data has been normalized across international seasons, based on the presence of a mid-stage buzzer separating a timed Stage 2 from an untimed Stage 2B. It is very common in Europe to have the 2nd and 3rd Stage run back to back and referred to jointly as the 2nd Stage. In this case, the untimed section of the 2nd Stage will be classified as the 3rd Stage, as the format and obstacles exactly match those seen elsewhere.
Final Stage: The tower climb that appears as last round of competition. This will be the 4th Stage in all seasons unless otherwise noted.
Final Duel: In some series, the last round will feature an untimed final stage where multiple competitors race for the fastest time to be decide a champion. This has been seen in American Ninja Warrior seasons 12 and 17, Ninja Warrior Germany All Stars, Ninja Warrior UK season 6, Ninja Warrior Poland season 10, and Super Ninja.
Always used as the first round of preliminary heats, 1st Lite Stage is a truncated versions of a normal stage 1 course that have appeared in every single preliminary round in ninja history. 1st Lite stages are almost always referred to as Heats or Qualifiers. A 1st Lite Stage contain between four and seven obstacles, and (outside of their initial appearance in Sasuke 13) represent the portion of a classic 1st Stage course from the starting line up to the Warped Wall, 2/3rds through the stage. However, the following series use the timed section of the 1st Lite Stages:
Appearing as the second preliminary round in more than two-thirds of ninja series, the 2nd Lite Stage features a modified version of the 2nd Stage. In seasons with two preliminary rounds, these are referred to as semifinals. In those with three preliminary rounds, they are referred to as Daily Finals. It is untimed, and features an initial slider or balance obstacle, followed a set of upper body and balance obstacles. In the majority of seasons, the hallmark of this stage is a Salmon Ladder followed by an imbalanced hanging obstacle such as Unstable Bridge. In nearly all cases, a 2nd Lite stage will end with a shortened tower climb; either a cargo net, rope climb Spider Climb, or Invisible Ladder.
In Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros seasons 4–8, American Ninja Warrior 15–16, Ninja Warrior Polska season 10 and Ninja Warrior Germany All Stars, the 2nd Lite stage did not contain any Salmon Ladder, instead being a race between two competitors, with the best result within the pair advancing regardless of overall results.
Formally known as an "Extended Course", the Ext Stage appears as the second preliminary round in the USA, Denmark, Netherlands, UK, Sweden, Türkiye and Australia, and the third and fourth preliminary rounds in Hungary. This is an untimed course that is a combination of a 1st Lite Stage, immediately followed by a 2nd Lite stage with the first obstacle removed. In many cases, the Ext Stage's first six obstacles will exactly match the preceding 1st Lite heat, referred to as the "Front Half". The remaining three to four 2nd Lite obstacles are known as the "Back Half". In Ninja Warrior UK, the Front Half is timed and is called "Semifinal Stage 1" and features its own buzzer, with the Back Half called "Semifinal Stage 2".
Another Stages, signified by a lowercase Alpha, are short three to four obstacle courses that are used after the completion of a stage in order to grant either an advantage, a prize, or as the losers brackets of a Double elimination round.
Hashigo (梯子) is an extra round featured in Ninja Warrior Germany and Ninja Israel that consists of a super-sized Salmon Ladder of 20 to 40 rungs. It is used as an α Stage. Hashigo additionally appeared as the 3rd Stage in Ninja Warrior Germany All Stars
- Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros season 5 and 6, where the first four obstacles of the heat had an exceptional long time limit.
- Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros season 7, where the first two obstacles of the heat had an exceptional low time limit of 20 seconds (22 for women). However, time out at one of the first two obstacles did not result in an elimination, instead competitors lost the chance to attempt the Mega Wall.
- Ninja Israel season 4, where the first three obstacles of the heat had an exceptional low time limit of 30 to 40 seconds (50 for women).
- The original trials in Sasuke 13.
Advantages
Beginning in summer 2020, every series outside of Sasuke and Super Ninja added α Stages following the heat and semifinal rounds. A reduced number of competitors (usually 2 or 4) will race on a shortened stage, with the fastest overall earning an advantage to use during the competition. Initially, these races occurred almost exclusively on stages known as Power Towers, however this later branched out to short 3-4 obstacle courses, as well as the Hashigo challenge. In Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros, advantages are granted based on the results of the semifinals course, with no α Stage.
Beginning in 2019, many series added a new, taller Warped Wall during preliminary rounds called the Mega Wall, where only one attempt was allowed, and a cash prize is earned for completion. In recent years, you must reach the Mega Wall under a certain time limit to be allowed any attempt. In Ninja Warrior: Le Parcours des héros, the Mega Wall has the additional power of guaranteeing the competitor an extra spot in the National Finals, in addition to normal advancement.
Speed Pass
This advantage allows the competitor to skip from the initial heats directly to the National Finals. In this case, competitors will still compete in the semifinal rounds for a chance to win additional rewards.
Golden Ticket
Similar to the Speed Pass, this advantage allows competitors to skip one (or in Ninja Warrior Polska season 10, two) preliminary rounds, with the competitor not appearing at all.
Speed Pass
This advantage allows the competitor to skip from the initial heats directly to the National Finals. In this case, competitors will still compete in the semifinal rounds for a chance to win additional rewards.
Golden Ticket
Similar to the Speed Pass, this advantage allows competitors to skip one (or in Ninja Warrior Polska season 10, two) preliminary rounds, with the competitor not appearing at all.
Safety Pass
This advantage allows the competitor a second run on either the 1st or 2nd Stage (or in American Ninja Warrior seasons 15–16, only the 1st Stage) if they fail or time out at any point. Competitors are given time to rest between their initial run and their Safety Pass run.
Joker
Similar to the Safety Pass, the Joker allows competitors a second try on either the 1st or 2nd Stage. Unlike the Safety Pass, Joker runs begin at the exact obstacle they failed, rather than from the beginning, and the time remaining on the clock is retained from their original run.
Guestlist
Exclusive to American Ninja Warrior season 12, competitors who win this guarantee their two groupmates a spot in the National Finals, even if they had not qualified.
Matchmaker
Exclusive to Australian Ninja Warrior season 6, this advantage allows competitors to break seeding rules and choose their opponent in their semifinals race.
Headstart
Exclusive to Australian Ninja Warrior season 4, this advantage awards competitors ten seconds during the semifinals before the timer begins, allowing them to potentially overtake an opponent if the leaderboard is close.
