The 15 Gourdies in Ninja Gaiden 4, chapter by chapter
Twelve chapters, fifteen Gourdies, five of them blue ones that run if they see you. Here is each one with the exact detour to take off the main path.
Critter CollectorSilver20.25%The regular ones and the blue ones
Gourdies are small beige critters with sharp teeth, shaped like a gourd. There are fifteen, spread across twelve of the nineteen chapters.
The regular ones just stand there: you walk up and capture them by nailing a button combination. No mystery to it — the work is finding them.
The blue ones are a different matter. They spook: if they see you coming head-on, they bolt. You have to come from behind, waiting until their back is turned. There are five of the fifteen — chapters 4, 5, 8, 9 and 12 — and the table flags them.
Nothing is missable. In New Game+ you can pick a chapter and replay it on the lowest difficulty just to grab what you are short of; the game shows how many Gourdies you have per chapter, so pinning down the missing one is quick.
Almost all of them sit on detours off the main path: the pattern is that where the story sends you left, the Gourdy is right. Follow the mission route without straying and you will not see a single one.
All fifteen, chapter by chapter
Chapters 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 have none at all: if you found nothing there, it did not slip past you.
| # | Ch. | Type | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Regular | From the chapter's purgatory gate, drop back to the main path and cross the gap with the wire. On the far side, turn left instead of right: it is in front of some boxes. |
| 2 | 2 | Regular | Follow the story to a square room with a broken yellow monorail track on the left and the vendors on the right. Climb the shipping containers. |
| 3 | 3 | Regular | There is a stretch where you have to wall-run to reach a higher platform and carry on with the story. Drop down and head straight on: it is in a small room full of rubbish. |
| 4 | 4 | Blue | Right as you leave a short cave, before using the dragonfly glider a second time, turn right instead of gliding. It is on a ledge below you. Jump to the pillar behind it with the wire: throw yourself off the cliff and hit the wire immediately, since it also spooks if it sees you fall for too long. Pull up and drop in behind it. |
| 5 | 5 | Regular | In the cave system you reach a junction with three green torches above and a wall on your left covered in yellow flowers. Wall-run up it, take a left and slide under a rock wall: the Gourdy is at the end of the tunnel. |
| 6 | 5 | Blue | In the four-temple area, from the bell on the central staircase, turn right facing the temple and look up: there is a wire point with a wall-run that takes you to it. |
| 7 | 6 | Regular | You reach an area with two yellow bird-flip sections back to back. After the second, turn around and look down at the ledge on the right. Jump over. |
| 8 | 7 | Regular | At the start of the chapter, take the stairs down to the right instead of up the main path. At the end of the route is the purgatory gate, with the Gourdy right behind it. |
| 9 | 8 | Blue | Right at the start of the chapter, turn 90 degrees to the right. You will see it pacing in circles behind a closed gate. Wait until its back is turned. |
| 10 | 9 | Regular | After jumping the ramp at the end of the second surf area, you end up in front of the crystal cave entrance. Instead of going in, turn around and surf left: you will pass coral-covered fiends and can wire your way up a building. Keep going until you can glide across a large void. You land in an area with a chest; the Gourdy is hiding next to an AC unit right behind it. |
| 11 | 9 | Blue | The second time you return to the crystal dimension you have to bird-flip up a cliff. At the top, instead of going straight on and surfing again, turn right and hop along the ledge to a platform. Wait for it to turn away. |
| 12 | 11 | Regular | After a bird flip you reach a railway track with shipping containers at the back. Instead of riding the track, go around the containers and follow the path: the Gourdy is up a set of stairs. |
| 13 | 12 | Regular | Once on the far side of the void area, follow the main path to a point where you climb a short staircase and wire across two poles in a row. Instead, look among the containers to the left of the stairs. There is a chest there too; the Gourdy is in the corner behind it. |
| 14 | 12 | Blue | After the glider and a railway track you land in an area with elite enemies and two big turret enemies. Kill them all, walk through the gate and turn left to spot it. Time your approach to surprise it from behind. |
| 15 | 19 | Regular | You return to the room with the triangular steel beams. Cross the bridge, follow the path up a shaft and go through the door into the next room: the Gourdy is on the right, between three crates. |
The game tracks Gourdies per chapter, so if the trophy does not pop, open chapter select and compare against this table: the chapter that does not add up is the one to replay, and only that one.
The trophies involved
Each one links to its section inside the full Ninja Gaiden 4 trophy guide.