The shinobi armor is a another reference to another fighting game character, as was the Hayabusa in Halo 3.
The proof? Well its merely left up to my interperation but its pretty obvious if your a tekken fan. Simply looking at the Shinobi armor it has distinct visual similarities to samurai armor despite being named after the Japanese Term of Ninja; Shinobi.
this is very similar to an infamous Tekken Character named: Yoshimitsu, whom despite dressing very much like a Samurai; is in essence A Ninja.
Though while it may seem like i’m looking too deep into things, you have to admit that the similarities between both the Shinobi Armor and Yoshimitsu are startling .
A good theory but ultimately I think you are reading a bit too much into it. Having played most of the Tekken games myself, I can assure you that Yoshimitsu was not the first thing I thought of when I first saw the Shinobi armour. Shinobi is a spiritual successor to the Hayabusa. I assume 343i wanted to continue having Japanese based armour in the game. Now, could they have drawn inspiration from the character? Maybe. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the armour is based on him.
I personally believe the armour has something to do with the games composer, Kazuma Jinnouchi, who was born in Japan, but that’s just me and a theory for another day.
Shinobi translated is simply a ninja/covert agent in ancient Japan. I think it’s a nice touch, and gives ode to the ide of sending in a Spartan to do “shady” work. I don’t think it needs to be more than inspired design, honestly.
They do not look similar enough to justify your conclusion in my opinion.
Interesting, I did not know that!