if your gonna take a thief just for runnin away that is kind of dumb. the ninja is more of the reason i pick a thief over a BB or a second fighter. Not to mention he is cheaper than a 2nd fighter and has more absorb than the master will ever have. he uses armor that no one else at the end should or can use so thats never an issue. his katana is the third best sword in the game. AND he has an average black magic spell catalog where bb/master cant ever use magic and the knights selection for magic is rather crappy. o and he can still run away if necessary. i wouldnt say that thieves pwn, but there better then a lot of other choices in my eyes.