Как на английском пишется ниндзяго

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать разговорную лексику.

Перевод «Ниндзяго» на английский

В восьмом сезоне мы продолжим смотреть историю о легендарных Ниндзяго.

In the eighth season, we will continue to watch the story of the legendary Ninjago.

Игра основана на популярной коллекции конструкторов Ниндзяго и мультсериале.

Game based on the popular collection of designers and the Ninjago animated series.

Ниндзяго Сити был перестроен в футуристическое чудо и теперь полностью взаимосвязан.

NINJAGO City has been rebuilt into a futuristic wonder and is now completely interconnected.

Шестеро молодых ниндзя должны защитить свой родной остров, который называется Ниндзяго.

Six young ninjas are tasked with defending their island home of Ninjago.

Да и трейлер «Ниндзяго» (2017), в котором раскрывались бы подробности картины, еще не вышел.

Yes, and the trailer «NINJAGO» (2017), which revealed the details of the picture, has not come out yet (UPD.

Это был четвертый сезон, где финальная битва состоялась в Ниндзяго Сити, после первого, второго и третьего сезонов.

This was the fourth season where the final battle took place in Ninjago City, following seasons one, two and three.

Геймерам предстоит помочь ниндзя вернуть украденные воспоминания и силы, помешав Ронину исполнить коварный замысел, который навлечет на Ниндзяго еще большую беду.

Gamers have to help the ninja to reclaim the stolen memories and powers, preventing Ronin to fulfill insidious plan, which will draw Ninjago even more trouble.

Новая Земля была в мире некоторое время, но Тьма в конце концов проявилась, чтобы уравновесить Свет Ниндзяго.

The new land was at peace for a while, butdarkness eventually manifested to counterbalance the light of Ninjago.

Играйте полюбившимися ниндзя, чтобы защитить Ниндзяго от злого Лорда Гармадона.

Play as your favorite ninjas to defend Ninjago from the evil Lord Garmadon.

Лего Ниндзяго — это серия конструкторов, которая включает некоторые элементы предыдущей серии Ниндзя.

Ninjago LEGO is a contemporary set that incorporates elements from the already outdated Ninja series.

После событий Небесных границ, новая тьма угрожает Вселенной Ниндзяго.

After the events of Skybound, a new darkness threatens the Ninjago universe.

Ко времени мультсериала, его вид давно вымер, а скелет был выставлен в Музее истории Ниндзяго.

By the time of the cartoon series, its species was long extinct, with a skeleton on display in the Ninjago Museum of History.

С восстановлением естественного порядка, темнота над Ниндзяго Сити исчезла, и Ллойд приземлился вскоре после этого.

With the natural order restored, the darkness over Ninjago City faded away and Lloyd landed shortly thereafter.

Описание: В Ниндзяго новая угроза, и имя ей — Ронин.

There is a new threat in Ninjago, and he goes by the name of Ronin.

После встречи с Ву, Ния и Кай присоединились к нему, в его стремлении защитить Ниндзяго.

Upon meeting Wu, Nya and Kai joined him in his quest to protect Ninjago.

Этот акт уравновешивал силы Света и Тьмы, гарантируя, что Оверлорд никогда не сможет вернуться в Ниндзяго.

This act balanced the forces of light and shadow, ensuring that the Overlord could never return to Ninjago.

В Ниндзяго племя змей, называемое Гипнобрай, обладает силой гипноза.

In Ninjago a snake tribe called the Hypnobrai have the power of hypnosis.

Добро пожаловать в Ниндзяго — далёкую волшебную страну, полную тайн и секретов!

Welcome to Ninjago, a mythical land far away, full of secret places.

Ниндзяго были результатом краудсорсинга: первая версия набора состояла из врагов в виде скелетов, так как тесты показали, что это были самые популярные злодеи среди аудитории мальчиков 6-ти лет.

Ninjago was crowdsourced: its first iteration featured skeletons as enemies because tests proved they were the most popular baddies among six-year-old boys, globally.

После успешной защиты во время речи Императора Ниндзяго, Ниндзя приглашают во дворец.

After successfully defending them during the Emperor of Ninjago’s speech, the Ninja are invited into the palace.

Ничего не найдено для этого значения.

Результатов: 96. Точных совпадений: 96. Затраченное время: 75 мс

Documents

Корпоративные решения

Спряжение

Синонимы

Корректор

Справка и о нас

Индекс слова: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900

Индекс выражения: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Индекс фразы: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Lego Ninjago is a Lego theme that was created in 2011 and a flagship brand of The Lego Group. It is the first theme to be based on ninja since the discontinuation of the Lego Ninja theme in 2000. Whilst it retains some elements of the previous theme, it is based on a more detailed storyline set within a fantasy world, primarily underpinned by the computer-animated television series Ninjago.

Lego Ninjago

The logo used between 2011 and mid-2019
Subject	Ninja, Dragons, Snakes, Skeletons, Nindroids, Classical element, Martial arts, Spinjitzu
Licensed from	The Lego Group
Availability	2011–present
Total sets	466[1]
Characters	Lloyd Garmadon, Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, Nya, Sensei Wu, Lord Garmadon, Misako, P.I.X.A.L
Official website
TV Series	Ninjago (TV series)

The theme focuses on a group of six teenage ninja, led by the legendary Green Ninja, Lloyd Garmadon. The main ninja characters are defined in the story as «Elemental Masters», which means that they each possess elemental powers. The ninja are trained in the fictional martial art of «Spinjitzu» by their ancient and wise teacher, Master Wu, giving them the ability to fight against the forces of evil.

Ninjago enjoyed phenomenal popularity and success in its first year, and a further two years were commissioned before a planned discontinuation in 2013. However, after a brief hiatus, the line was continued after feedback from fans and has been in production ever since. The Lego Group developed the theme into a media franchise aimed primarily at young boys and pre-teenage boys, which has produced books, video games and theme park attractions. The popularity of the TV series and the toy line resulted in the production of The Lego Ninjago Movie, released in 2017, which was the third film in The Lego Movie franchise. On January 14, 2021, the Ninjago theme celebrated its tenth anniversary, making it one of The Lego Group’s longest-running and most successful original brands.

OverviewEdit

The main focus of the line is the formation and consequent exploits and trials of a group of teenage ninja, battling against the various forces of evil.^[2] The theme originally introduced five main characters with an original storyline set in a fictional world that fused the ninja theme with dragons, modern vehicles and futuristic mech-robots.^[3] In the theme’s storyline, the ninja characters are trained in the art of «Spinjitzu» a fictional martial art that allows them to fight their opponents.^[4] The storyline is set within the fictional world of Ninjago, a place inspired by East Asian culture.^[5] Simon Lucas, Senior Creative Director, commented, «With Lego Ninjago, we took inspiration from a Japanese starting point, but it developed into something of a massive mashup of cultures, not just one particular culture.»^[6]

Concept and creationEdit

Tommy Andreasen’s original 2009 concept drawing depicting the main characters

BackgroundEdit

The origin of the Ninjago theme lies in the earlier Lego Ninja theme, which was released in 1998. This theme was based on Feudalistic Japan and featured ninjas, fortresses, catapults and horses. It originated in the Lego Castle theme that had been in existence since 1978. In 2000, Lego Ninja was replaced by Lego Knights. These themes eventually resulted in the introduction of the Ninjago theme, which included some of the original concepts of the Ninja theme, such as the dragons and fortresses, but also introduced modern day elements.^[3]

ResearchEdit

The focus on ninja was also the direct result of ethnographic research of children’s interests. The Ninjago product development team in Fort Lee, New Jersey spent several days monitoring groups of eight to ten-year-old boys to gauge their reactions to various concepts and storyboards, including ninjas, underwater adventures and futuristic cities. The chosen concept then went through several rounds of testing to refine the final product in order to produce a successful line. This rigorous testing and development resulted in the Ninjago line being delayed by a year.^[7] Cerim Manovi, Senior Design Manager for the theme stated, «Ninjas crystallised themselves because we were, like: ‘What’s the greatest hero entry point?’ We showed them superheroes, everything – but ninjas just grabbed kids right there.»^[8]

During the development process, the Ninjago team took a trip to the Iga Ninja Museum, located three hours to the north of Tokyo, Japan in order to get inspiration for the theme. This allowed the designers to gather historic details from the 15th century ninja building, whilst also developing ideas about how to give these historic elements a contemporary appeal.^[7]

Story conceptEdit

The initial story concept for the theme originated in a rough sketch created by Tommy Andreasen on a Friday evening in 2009. The sketch depicted several elemental ninja and the word «Spinjago». This idea was later developed into the fictional martial art of «Spinjitzu», which was a combination of the words «spin» and «ninjitsu». The development team later used this as the basis for the minifigure spinner action toys. The rough sketch was sent to an artist in Canada called Craig Sellars who created an internal concept image of the characters over the weekend.^[9]

The Ninjago theme then employed the use of an original story that would appeal to young teenage boys, by creating a cast of characters that focused on a group of ninja heroes and a wide variety of villains.^[3] Senior Creative Manager, Tommy Andreasen commented, «It wasn’t until we started developing a fantasy theme that we saw it actually can become a building toy as well. So you can put a ninja on a dragon — the kids found that appealing and very natural. But figuring out the enemies of the ninja was more of a challenge and we tested a lot of things there».^[10]

Character and universe developmentEdit

The ninja characters were given different coloured costumes and unique elemental powers, which gave them distinctive personalities. The team also came up with the concept of «Spinjitzu», which was the main fighting method in the story. Andreasen commented, «we wanted to make sure that it was something that would look great on TV, lightning coming out of tornadoes and stuff like that. The toy representation of that was the spinner».^[10] The fantasy element was later combined with the introduction of advanced technology into the Ninjago universe. Although the original intention was to remain true to the historical setting, the Ninjago team decided that technology could be introduced without having a detrimental effect on the characters.^[11]

The introduction of skeletons as the main villains in the storyline was also the result of research with children. The children in the research groups were given the choice of six options, including monkeys, skeletons, robots and lizard people. The overwhelming preference was for skeletons, which the children considered to be «real» fantasy villains.^[7] Andreasen recalled, «As it turned out, if you took the fantasy to where they were battling skeletons, that made total sense for the kids. We could push it one step further — it’s fine that these skeletons have these skeleton themed monster trucks and stuff like that. At that point, you could really start to see a product assortment».^[10]

Writers Dan and Kevin Hageman came up with the initial idea for the ninjas’ distinctive flying base, Destiny’s Bounty. Their idea was that it would be a «windmill that turned into a helicopter and flew around». However, the idea to use a junk ship for the ninja base was suggested by Tommy Andreasen. The vessel has changed design over time both in the series and in toy form. Design Manager Michael Svane Knap commented, «One of the approaches that we have is that you need to try and boil it down to what makes an icon. What is the detail that means this is the Bounty? We are not confined in the same way as Star Wars, where it needs to be a Millennium Falcon that can only look one way.»^[12]

BrandingEdit

The brand name «Ninjago» was formed from a combination of two words: «ninja» and «Lego». Andreasen noted that this fell into place naturally, saying «It’s universally recognised, it works in any language and it has a good dynamic to it. It’s short and to the point. We added ‘Masters of Spinjitzu’ to it just for flavour».^[10]

Fictional languageEdit

The Lego Ninjago universe incorporates a fictional written language that has been displayed on numerous occasions in both the Ninjago television series and in the Lego Ninjago construction sets. The written language uses a unique alphabet of symbols that resemble the visual style of Chinese characters. The characters can be deciphered to translate the words that are commonly displayed on signs and advertisements in the Ninjago universe.^[13] With the release of The Lego Ninjago Movie, a Ninjago Language Translator was released to accompany the film.^[14] In April 2020, the lead writer of the Ninjago television series, Bragi Schut stated on Twitter that the language is called «Ninjargon».^[15]

Launch and successEdit

Lego Ninjago was developed as a Big Bang project with a goal to double the sales of the previous Big Bang product line, Lego Atlantis. The design team set a target for the Ninjago line to deliver 10% of the company’s total revenue. This was particularly ambitious, as no Lego theme had ever achieved this target, not even the successful Bionicle theme. By late April 2009, a full range of Ninjago products had been defined, which totalled 17 sets in the first year of its release. Alongside the Lego Ninjago product line, a variety of other media was created, including a Ninjago board game for Lego Games, a themed world for Lego Universe, a video game with TT Games that launched in April 2011, and the development of the animated Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu TV series that launched in January 2011. The launch of the TV show and the overwhelming popularity of the theme resulted in a 20% increase in sales in the first quarter of 2011, with the Ninjago line making the highest single-year sales for any Lego original product line in the company’s history.^[7]

With its initial launch in early 2011, the Ninjago line was intended to continue for a limited run of three years. However, the strong sales performance of the line combined with the company’s increased engagement with online communities resulted in The Lego Group reversing this decision. The company had begun to use online forums, such as Lego Cuusoo, to engage with fans and obtain customer feedback relating to its product range. The Ninjago brand was consequently extended past the end of 2013 and has been in production ever since.^[16]

In February 2021, Design Manager Michael Svane Knap commented on the ongoing appeal of the theme by stating, «When Lego Ninjago was originally created more than 10 years ago, it was as much luck as it was skill that made us get to where we are today. Everyone involved back then was quite new and inexperienced with creating a franchise. However, everyone involved pushed 110% to make it work and really brought their A-game. Throughout the years, the Ninjago theme has managed to stay relevant with its changing stories. It’s kept kids engaged in the universe… The changing story has allowed us to bring variety to the team. We’ve taken the ninja through everything from battling snakes, robots, sky-pirates, biker gangs and samurai.»^[17]

Ninjago television seriesEdit

The Lego Ninjago sets are based on the 3D computer-animated Ninjago television series (originally titled Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu). The series was created by Michael Hegner and Tommy Andreasen.^[18] Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu was animated in Denmark by Wil Film ApS for the first ten seasons. The production was relocated to WildBrain Studios in Canada for the eleventh season and the series was retitled Ninjago. Regular seasons of the show were released each year from 2011 to 2022, along with one pilot season and one extended special.^[3] The series and the product line were created to coexist, with the storyline and products running alongside one another. This close connection is created out of a collaboration between product designers and storywriters. Design Manager Michael Svane Knap has elaborated on this by stating, «The product is important to us, but it’s as important that we tell an engaging story from the beginning. We start developing with a lot of concept boards, so we know where we want to go…Often the writers also come up with new characters or new plot developments that we can then integrate into the products where possible. Both story and product are really tight together».^[12]

In 2022, a new series for the brand was announced at San Diego Comic Con that is due to be released in 2023.^[19]

Main charactersEdit

The main characters featured in this theme are based on the central characters of the Ninjago television series. The show focuses on a team of six teenage ninja, who are «Elemental Masters» and trained in the art of Spinjitzu by their teacher, Master Wu.^[3]

• Lloyd Garmadon — The legendary Green Ninja, Elemental Master of Energy and the son of Lord Garmadon and Misako.^[20][21]
• Kai — The red ninja, Elemental Master of Fire and older brother of Nya.^[22]
• Jay — The blue ninja, Elemental Master of Lightning and boyfriend of Nya.^[23]
• Zane — The white/titanium ninja, Elemental Master of Ice, «nindroid» (android) and boyfriend of Pixal.^[24]
• Cole — The black ninja and Elemental Master of Earth.^[25]
• Nya — The grey/blue ninja, Elemental Master of Water, former Samurai X, younger sister of Kai and girlfriend of Jay.^[26][27]
• Master Wu — The Master of Creation, wise sensei of the Ninja and younger brother of Lord Garmadon.^[28]
• Lord Garmadon — The Master of Destruction, older brother of Master Wu and father to Lloyd.^[29][30]
• Misako — Lloyd’s mother and Garmadon’s estranged wife.
• P.I.X.A.L. (Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form) — a female «nindroid», Samurai X and girlfriend of Zane.^[31]

Construction toysEdit

SpinnersEdit

The Ninjago toy line began with the development of spinners, which were created as a way to introduce children to the wider theme. Senior Creative Manager, Tommy Andreasen explained, «We had the idea of the action toys. The challenge was how can you actually make a minifigure come to life and play fight with it? That’s how the spinner came about. The first iterations of the spinner were actually built from Bionicle elements and looked more like a throwing star with a ninja on top».^[10] With the release of the Pilot Season of the Ninjago TV series in 2011, the first Ninjago spinner toys were launched.^[32] The spinners involve placing a Lego minifigure on either a spinning or flying disk. The first generation incorporated a two-player battle game involving exchanges of weapons and collectible cards. The second generation was released in 2015 and consisted of a ripcord mechanism to launch the spinner into the air, recreating the art of «Airjitzu» in the Ninjago TV series.^[32] The most recent release of Ninjago spinners was in March 2022.^[33]

PlaysetsEdit

Since 2011, Lego Ninjago themed playsets have been released in waves each year to correspond with each season of the Ninjago television series.^[34] The playsets feature some of the main locations, vehicles, mechs, weapons and characters from the corresponding season. According to Bricklink, there have been 466 Lego Ninjago sets released since 2011.^[1] Each season has corresponding boxed sets, either released in one or two waves across a given year. Design Manager Michael Svane Knap commented on the design process stating, «In our development of the toys, we always start with the story. Our first priority is to tell a good story both in the physical products and in the content we’re creating. And the ninja is always the constant starting point of the concept… They each bring their own unique thing to the story and products.^[17]

In 2011, the Ninjago theme released 39 toy construction sets that were based on the Pilot Episodes. The product range included the spinner toys and skeleton-themed playsets, such as skull monster trucks, and vehicles, dragons and locations from the season, including Garmadon’s Dark Fortress, Ice Dragon Attack and the Fire Temple.^[35] In 2012, the Ninjago toy line was based on the first season titled Rise of the Snakes. It introduces Lloyd Garmadon and focuses on the snake-like Serpentine. The product line featured dragons and snake-themed vehicles from the season, including Fangpyre Truck Ambush, Epic Dragon Battle and Ultra Sonic Raider.^[36]

In 2013, Lego Ninjago was based on the second season Legacy of the Green Ninja, which focuses on Lloyd Garmadon becoming the «Golden Ninja». The toy line included The Golden Dragon set, which featured the character in his golden minifigure form and was later rereleased as part of the Ninjago Legacy line in 2019.^[37] In 2014, the toy line was based on the third season, Rebooted. The season focuses on advanced technology and this was reflected in the nindroid-themed playsets, such as OverBorg Attack and Nindroid MechDragon. The toy line also included the Kai Fighter, Thunder Raider and X-1 Ninja Charger, which were all rereleased as part of the Ninjago Legacy line.^[38]

2015 was the first year to feature two Ninjago seasons in one year and the toy line released sets based on the fourth season titled Tournament of Elements and the fifth season titled Possession. The fourth season focuses on Master Chen and the snake-like Anacondrai and its associated toy range included locations and vehicles from the season, including Jungle Raider, ElectroMech and Enter the Serpent.^[39][40] The fifth season features an army of ghosts led by Morro, and the toy line included ghost-themed vehicles, dragons and locations from the season, including Final Flight of Destiny’s Bounty and the Temple of Airjitzu.^[39] In 2016, the Ninjago playsets were based on the sixth season titled Skybound and the 45-minute special Day of the Departed. The Skybound sets focused on Nadakhan and his band of sky pirates and included pirate-themed locations and vehicles from the season, such as Tiger Widow Island, Misfortune’s Keep and The Lighthouse Siege.^[41] The Day of the Departed sets included the Ultra Stealth Raider, Samurai X Cave Chaos and Rock Roader.^[42][43]

In 2017, the Ninjago playsets were based on the seventh season titled Hands of Time, which focuses on time travel and the main antagonists Krux and Acronix.^[44] The playsets included vehicles and locations from the season, including Destiny’s Shadow, Dragon Forge and Dawn of Iron Doom.^[45] A second wave for the year was replaced by The Lego Ninjago Movie toy line, which introduced new hair pieces for the ninja characters that were adopted and used in subsequent waves.^[44] The eighth season, which was released in 2018 and titled Sons of Garmadon, focuses on a criminal biker gang and the associated sets included the vehicles and locations of the season, including Street Race of Snake Jaguar, Ninja Nightcrawler, S.O.G. Headquarters and the Temple of Resurrection.^[46][47] The ninth season Hunted focuses on a band of Dragon Hunters and was accompanied by a wave of playsets featuring dragons, including Firstbourne, Stormbringer and the Dragon Pit.^[46][48] The tenth season March of the Oni focuses on an evil race named the Oni and was accompanied in 2019 by a minifigure pack of Oni villains.^[49]

In the second half of 2019, Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu was released, which focuses on themes of fire and ice. The wave of sets included vehicles and locations from the season, including Fire Fang, Lloyd’s Titan Mech, the Land Bounty and Castle of the Forsaken Emperor.^[49][50] This was followed in 2020, by the release of two seasons titled Prime Empire and Master of the Mountain. Prime Empire’s video game theme was reflected in its playsets, which included three arcade pods, dragons, vehicles and locations from the season, such as Jay’s Cyber Dragon, Kai’s Mech Jet and Empire Temple of Madness.^[51][52] Master of the Mountain focuses on the evil Skull Sorcerer and the dungeons of Shintaro and its associated wave of sets included Spinjitzu Burst spinners and several playsets that can be used as a role playing board game, including the Skull Sorcerer’s Dungeons.^[51][53] In 2021, Lego Ninjago released two waves based on The Island and Seabound. The first wave featured island-themed vehicles and locations from The Island such as Catamaran Sea Battle, Lloyd’s Jungle Chopper Bike and The Keepers’ Village.^[54] The second wave introduced the sea-themed vehicles and locations of Seabound, including Ninja Sub Speeder, the Hydro Bounty and Temple of the Endless Sea.^[55]

For the 2022 Spring range, the designer revealed the concept behind a wave of sets named Ninjago Core. Niek van Slagmaat explained, «We were asked to come up with a line of Ninjago that would not only stand on its own without content but also be the epitome of Ninjago toys» and continued, “After the specialized launches like Prime Empire and Seabound, the markets asked for a wave with the classic Ninjago identity. We would not get any story continuing content in order to make sure we could get started on 2HY 2022 as early as possible. Thus, Core was born.»^[56] The wave comprised various playsets that feature in the corresponding Ninjago Core shorts, including Lloyd’s Legendary Dragon, Jay’s Thunder Dragon EVO, Kai’s Fire Dragon EVO, Lloyd’s Race Car EVO and Zane’s Power Up Mech EVO.^[57] An additional four sets were released in March, consisting of Kai’s Spinjitzu Ninja Training, Lloyd’s Spinjitzu Ninja Training, Jay’s Spinjitzu Ninja Training and Ninja Training Center.^[58] Nine new sets that correspond to the fifteenth and final season of the original series titled Crystalized were released in summer 2022. The sets are based on the season’s storyline and include Nya’s Samurai X Mech, The Crystal King and The Crystal King Temple.^[59][60]

In 2023, nine new sets were announced for release on 1 January 2023, including Kai’s Ninja Race Car EVO, Lloyd’s Mech Battle EVO, Cole’s Earth Dragon EVO, Kai’s Mech Rider EVO, Jay’s Lightning Jet EVO, Jay’s Titan Mech, Zane’s Ice Dragon Creature, Creative Ninja Brick Box and Nya’s Water Dragon EVO.^[61] In addition, thirteen sets were announced for release in Summer 2023, including Kai Dragon Power: Tornado Spinjitzu, Nya Dragon Power: Drifting Spinjitzu, Lloyd Dragon Power: Cyclone Spinjitzu, Kai and Ras Care and Motorcycle Battle, Imperium Dragon Slayer Hound, Zane Dragon Power: Spinjitzu Race Car, Sora’s Transformable Racing Bike, Heatwave Transforming Lava Dragon, Lloyd and Arin Ninja Team Mechs, Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores, Elemental Dragon vs. Empress Mech, Destiny’s Bounty: Race Against Time and Nya and Arin’s Baby Dragon Battle^[62]

Ninjago LegacyEdit

In 2019, the Ninjago Legacy line was introduced as a sub-theme of the main Ninjago construction toy line, to celebrate the legacy of the theme over the course of almost ten years.^[63] Ninjago Legacy recreates earlier Ninjago playsets released in previous years with updated designs.^[32] The Ninjago Legacy line gave Ninjago fans the opportunity to revisit sets from previous years in relation to specific seasons.^[63] Senior Model Designer Michael Svane Knap justified the decision to recreate the original sets by stating, «When a lot of these sets originally came out, it was back in 2011 and 2012. The way we build with Lego bricks, the way we actually put sets together, has changed a lot. This means we have new elements; we have new ways of making the build even better.»^[64] In 2019, the first Legacy wave reimagined previously released vehicles like Jay’s Storm Fighter, Cole’s Earth Driller, Kai’s Blade Cycle & Zane’s Snowmobil, and also included the Monastery of Spinjitzu.^[65] In 2020, the Legacy wave included the Golden Mech, which was based on Ninjago Season 2, Thunder Raider and Kai Fighter, which were based on Season 3, Jungle Raider, which was based on Season 4, and a reimagined Destiny’s Bounty.^[66] In 2021, the Legacy wave included Overlord Dragon, which was based on Season 2, X-1 Ninja Charger, which was based on Season 3, Boulder Blaster, Jay’s Electro Mech and Tournament of Elements, which were based on Season 4, Zane’s Titan Mech Battle, which was based on Season 5, and Ultra Sonic Raider.^[67]

Tenth anniversaryEdit

On 14 January 2021, the Lego Ninjago brand celebrated its tenth anniversary.^[68] To mark this milestone, The Lego Group released a limited number of playsets in the Ninjago Legacy line that include exclusive collectible golden minifigures of the main ninja characters.^[69]

To celebrate the tenth anniversary, Ninjago City Gardens (set number: 71741) was released on 1 February 2021 as part of the Ninjago Legacy line. The set contains 5,685 pieces, surpassing the previously released Ninjago City set, making it the largest Ninjago set ever produced.^[70][71] It was designed to connect smoothly with the previous Ninjago modular sets. The playset, similar to the earlier Ninjago City set, is a high rise that contains multiple small shops, including Chen’s Noodle House and Ice Planet. The set features two apartments, a tea balcony, «The Ninja Zone», a rooftop garden, the Ninjago Museum of History and a Ninja Control Tower. Additionally, a small temple island build attached to the set displays a statue of the character Zane. The set includes a «Golden Wu» which is part of the collection of collectible golden minifigures for the 2021 Ninjago wave.^[72][73]

The collection of Golden Legacy minifigures was completed with the release of the Summer 2021 Ninjago sets in June 2021, which include golden minifigures of the Ninjago characters Nya and Zane.^[74]

JuniorsEdit

Ninjago themed sets have also been produced as part of the Lego Juniors theme and, more recently, as part of its successor product range 4+. These sets were specifically designed to be simpler to build with fewer pieces and slightly larger building elements. The Ninjago 4+ sets are aimed at children aged four and above, such as Kai’s Fire Dragon set, which is part of the Ninjago Legacy sub-theme.^[75]

BrickHeadzEdit

Several Lego Ninjago characters have also been released as part of the Lego BrickHeadz theme. A range of 10th anniversary BrickHeadz was announced in May 2021, which included Golden Lloyd, Nya Samurai X, and Firstbourne Dragon as buildable characters.^[76]

Film adaptation and toy lineEdit

On 17 September 2013, Warner Bros. announced that it was developing an animated film based on the Lego Ninjago theme.^[77] The Lego Ninjago Movie premiered on 16 September 2017 at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles.^[78] To coincide with the release of the film, The Lego Group released The Lego Ninjago Movie toy line, which included 15 building sets and collectible minifigures based on the film.^[79] The largest sets in the line were Ninjago City (set number: 70620) and Ninjago City Docks (set number: 70657), with Ninjago City being listed as one of the largest Lego sets ever released.^[80] The line was eventually discontinued by the end of 2019.^[81]

Media franchiseEdit

Since its launch in 2011, The Lego Group has developed the Ninjago brand into a media franchise that has produced an extensive variety of media and merchandise, including books, magazines, video games and app games, and theme park attractions.^[82]

Theme park attractionsEdit

Several theme park attractions have been launched at Legoland resorts within Lego Ninjago World, a themed area of the parks.^[83] In September 2015, a puppet-style live show made its debut at Legoland Malaysia Resort, titled Lego Ninjago and The Realm of Shadows.^[84] This was followed by the introduction of Lego Ninjago: The Ride at the same park in June 2016, an interactive attraction manufactured by Triotech, which uses Maestro hand gesture technology in place of a hand-held device.^[85] In March 2016, Lego Ninjago World was launched at Legoland Billund Resort.^[86] A similar themed area was introduced at Legoland Deutschland Resort in April 2017.^[87] It was later launched in May 2017 at Legoland Windsor Resort.^[88] In the same month, it was introduced at Legoland California and Legoland Florida.^[89] Lego Ninjago: The Ride was introduced at Legoland Windsor Resort in 2017.^[90] Ninjago World at Legoland Windsor also includes a swinging boat ride designed to resemble Destiny’s Bounty.^[91] In addition, several Ninjago-themed attractions at Legoland resorts were designed to test balance, agility, speed and creativity, including Zane’s Temple Build, Kai’s Spinners, Cole’s Rock Climb and Jay’s Lightning Drill.^[92] In 2018, Legoland California premiered a short 4D animated film attraction titled Lego Ninjago: Master of the 4th Dimension, which was then rolled out in Legoland parks and Legoland Discovery Centres in 2018.^[93][94] On 29 May 2021, Lego Ninjago World was introduced as one of seven themed lands with the opening of Legoland New York.^[95] In November 2021, a Lego Ninjago World themed land was announced for the upcoming launch of Legoland Shanghai Resort in 2024.^[96][97] In 2022, Lego Ninjago Weekends were launched on 11 June until 10 July 2022 at Legoland Windsor Resort.^[98][99]

PublicationsEdit

A wide variety of books and magazines have been published based on the Ninjago characters, including children’s story books, colouring books and activity books. From 2011, a series of children’s reading books were published, written by Tracey West, which focus on the stories and characters of Ninjago.^[100] Several graphic novels have been written by Greg Farshtey, which provide stories based on the Ninjago characters.^[101] Regular editions of a Lego Ninjago Character Encyclopedia are published, which provide facts about the characters, minifigures, vehicles and locations from the Ninjago universe. The book has appeared in the top position on The New York Times Best Seller List.^[102] A long-running Lego Ninjago magazine is also published each month, which includes puzzles, activities and stories about the Ninjago characters.^[103] According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), the Lego Ninjago magazine achieved an average circulation of 54,000 between July and December 2021, ahead of the Lego City magazine at 32,153 and the Lego Star Wars magazine at 45,133.^{[104][105][106]} In March 2021, Random House announced the publication of four titles based on the Ninjago brand, including a chapter book series, a guide book called The Book of Elemental Powers, and a hardcover book collection titled 5 Minute Stories.^[107] In September 2021, The Lego Group released a tenth anniversary box set that contains the 2017 book titled The Book of Spinjitzu, poster, stickers and golden Lloyd minifigure.^[108] In November 2021, a five-part comic book series for release in 2022 was announced for the Ninjago brand, starting with the first title LEGO Ninjago: Garmadon.^{[109][110][111][112][113][114]} In September 2021, the first two Lego Ninjago Spinjitzu Brothers books titled The Curse of the Cat-Eye Jewel and The Lair of Tanabrax were published by Penguin Random House. The Maze of the Sphinx was published on 3 May 2022 to continue the prequel story of Wu and Garmadon.^[115] The fourth book titled The Chroma’s Clutches was published on 6 September 2022.^[116]

Video games and appsEdit

The characters from the Ninjago theme have appeared in a wide variety of video games and mobile apps. In the same year as its initial launch, the Ninjago brand was introduced into the gaming world with the development of a video game titled Lego Battles: Ninjago, which was released on 12 April 2011. It was produced by TT Games and developed by Hellbent Games.^[117] In the same year, a Ninjago themed world was introduced to the massively multiplayer online game Lego Universe on 20 September 2011.^[118] On 22 March 2012, an app developed by The Lego Group titled Rise of the Snakes was released for iOS. It was produced to accompany the first season of the television series titled Rise of the Snakes.^[119] On 21 January 2014, a game was released for iOS titled Lego Ninjago Rebooted, which was developed by The Lego Group.^[120] It is an action game that involves running and dodging obstacles while navigating a tower.^[121] On 29 July 2014, a video game titled Lego Ninjago: Nindroids was also released. The two games are based on the third season titled Rebooted.^[122] An action game titled Lego Ninjago: Tournament was released on 23 January 2015 for iOS, developed by The Lego Group, which was based on the fourth season titled Tournament of Elements.^[123] In the same year, another video game titled Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin was released on 24 March 2015 based on Possession the fifth season of the show, which was developed by TT Fusion.^[124] In 2016, the sixth season of the show titled Skybound was accompanied by the release of a web and app game titled Lego Ninjago: Skybound. It was developed by The Lego Group and is a side-scrolling platform game.^[125] To accompany the release of The Lego Ninjago Movie, an action-adventure video game titled The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game was released in 2017 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.^[126] The game was released on 22 September 2017 and featured the characters and locations from the movie.^[127] On 26 April 2018, a mobile riding game titled Ride Ninja was released for Android and iOS to coincide with the eighth season of the show titled Sons of Garmadon. It was developed by Amuzo Games and published by The Lego Group.^[128]

The Ninjago characters have also made appearances in various other Lego games. On 27 September 2015, Lego Dimensions was released, which is a video game developed by Traveller’s Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.^[129] The game offers an additional Ninjago Team Pack that includes figures and vehicles from Ninjago.^[130] The Lego-themed sandbox game, Lego Worlds also includes the Ninjago characters as playable characters. It was developed by Traveller’s Tales, published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and released on 7 March 2017.^[131] The game offers downloadable content of the Ninjago characters and locations based on The Lego Ninjago Movie.^[132] On 19 September 2019, a mobile fighting game for iOS devices titled Lego Brawls was released, which was published by The Lego Group and developed by RED Games.^[133][134] The game includes playable Ninjago characters and Ninjago-themed events.^[135] In 2020, a role-playing battle game titled Lego Legacy: Heroes Unboxed was released on Apple’s App Store, Google Play and Microsoft Store.^[136] It was published by The Lego Group and developed by Gameloft Toronto and features the Ninjago characters as playable minifigures.^[137]

Other media and merchandiseEdit

In 2015, the Lego Ninjago characters appeared in several videos on the Lego YouTube channel that recreate American Ninja Warrior in Lego form. The Ninjago characters are depicted taking part in several obstacles from the course, including the Warped Wall, Salmon Ladder and Spider Climb.^{[138][139][140][141][142]}

In 2019, The Lego Group partnered with Nickelodeon to become the global sponsor of the Kid’s Choice Awards. The campaign featured stop-motion animated content that included the characters from the Ninjago TV series, which was released across television, digital and social media on 7 March 2019. The story involved Lord Garmadon plotting a mission to steal a slime cannon, resulting in the Lego Ninjago characters having to defeat him.^[143]

In May 2021, the Ninjago characters Jay and Nya appeared in Ninja Vlogs, 3D animated vlog-style videos, which were produced using motion capture and real-time rendering. The new content format allowed viewers to provide an input to the story and aimed to move beyond broadcasting to children to engaging them in conversation.^[144]

The Ninjago brand has also produced clothing and accessories for children and young adults, including collaborations with Adidas and Hype in 2021.^[145][146]

In 2022, the Lego Ninjago brand also produced a plush toy collection.^[147]

In December 2022, a Lego Ninjago Master Class web short was released on YouTube. It features Tommy Andreasen, Nikolaj Severin, Tommy Kalmar and Ina Sta. Maria teaching about drawing Ninjago minifigures.^[148]

Awards and nominationsEdit

In 2011, Fire Temple (set number 2507) was announced as one of the must-have «DreamToys» for Christmas in the Construction category by the Toy Retailers Association.^[149]

In 2012, Fire Temple was awarded «Activity Toy of the Year» for inspiring creative play through various forms of activity at the 12th Annual Toy of the Year Awards, which is held at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.^[150]

In 2013, the Ninjago theme was nominated for «Property of the Year» by the Toy Association.^[151]

In 2015, Master Wu Dragon (set number 70734) was a winner of «DreamToys» in the «Build It And They Will Thrive» category by the Toy Retailers Association.^[152]

ReceptionEdit

The Ninjago line is one of The Lego Group’s most popular brands with young boys.^[5] In 2011, the Toy Retailers Association listed the Fire Temple set on its official list of ‘dream toys’ for the festive season, which predicted the 12 products that would be the bestsellers in that year.^[153] In September 2011, Marketing Week listed the first wave of Ninjago spinners as one of the top ten bestselling toys of the year.^[154] In 2012, toy retailer Toys «R» Us included the Ninjago Epic Dragon Battle set (9450) on its annual Hot Toy List, which it considered to be a cross-section of the best new toys of the season.^[155] In the same year, Ninjago ranked as one of the top five Lego properties of 2012, which together accounted for 50 per cent of all construction sets sold in the U.S. in that year.^[156] In 2014, the ninth volume in a series of Ninjago graphic novels by Greg Farshtey titled Night of the Nindroids entered The New York Times Graphic Novel Bestseller List at the top position, the eighth volume in a total of 12 to do so, and passed the mark of 2 million sales for the series.^[157][158] In 2015, the Ninjago line was listed as one of the top five bestselling themes in The Lego Group’s Annual Report.^[159] In 2016, Toys «R» Us included the Ninjago Samurai X Cave Chaos set (70596) on its list of top toys for Christmas 2016.^[160] In the same year, Ninjago was listed as one of the top themes driving revenue in The Lego Group’s 2016 Annual Report.^[161] Ninjago was also listed as one of the top selling themes in the 2017 Annual Report.^[162] The popularity of the Ninjago theme continued through to 2018, when it was named as one of the year’s best selling themes, despite an overall fall in profits for the company in 2017.^[163] In September 2019, Ninjago was listed as one of the top selling themes driving revenue growth in the first half of 2019.^[164] Due to the long-term popularity and indefinite continuation of the Ninjago line, the brand is described as an annual evergreen Lego product range.^[165][166] Ernie Estrella for Syfy Wire commented that Lego Ninjago, «is one of Lego’s long running, home-grown franchises, and is arguably its most successful one.»^[3]

See alsoEdit

• Lloyd Garmadon
• List of Ninjago characters
• Ninjago (TV series)
• List of Ninjago episodes
• The Lego Ninjago Movie
• The Lego Ninjago Movie (Lego theme)
• The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game
• Legends of Chima
• Nexo Knights
• Lego Monkie Kid
• Lego Games

ReferencesEdit

External linksEdit

• Official Ninjago website at lego.com

This article is about the TV series. For the line of lego toys, see Lego Ninjago. For the 2017 film adaptation, see The Lego Ninjago Movie.

Ninjago
Original logo of the series until 2019
Also known as	Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (2011–2019)
Genre	Action Adventure Science fantasy Martial arts Superhero
Based on	Lego Ninjago
Developed by	Tommy Andreasen Robert May Tommy Kalmar Cerim Manovi Michael Svane Knap
Directed by	Michael Hegner Justin Murphy Peter Hausner Martin Skov Michael Helmuth Hansen Trylle Vilstrup Thomas Østergaard Poulsen Jens Møller Per During Risager Frederik Budolph Peter Egeberg Wade Cross Daniel Ife Shane Poettcker
Voices of	Jillian Michaels Sam Vincent Vincent Tong Michael Adamthwaite Paul Dobson Brent Miller Kirby Morrow Andrew Francis Kelly Metzger
Opening theme	«The Weekend Whip» by The Fold (seasons 1–7, 11–13, and 15) «Ninjago Overture» by Jay Vincent and Michael Kramer (seasons 8–10 and The Island–season 14)
Ending theme	«The Weekend Whip» by The Fold (pilot episodes–episode 41) Various music by Jay Vincent and Michael Kramer (episodes 42–210)
Composers	Jay Vincent Michael Kramer
Country of origin	Denmark Canada
Original languages	English Danish
No. of seasons	15
No. of episodes	210 (+4 pilot episodes, 1 special and several shorts) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Torsten Jacobsen (2011–2018) Erik Wilstrup (seasons 1–10) Dan Hageman (season 4, 5, 6, and 8–9) Kevin Hageman (season 4, 5, 6, and 8–9) Irene Sparre (2016–2019) Keith Malone (seasons 10–15) Bragi Schut (seasons 10–15) Jill Wilfert (seasons 10–15) Tommy Andreasen (seasons 11–15) Josh Scherba (seasons 11–15) Kirsten Newlands (season 11) Amir Nasdarabi (seasons 12–15)
Producers	Erik Wilstrup (pilot episodes) Irene Sparre (seasons 1–6) Louise Barkholt (2016–2019) Tommy Andreasen (2016–2019) Nelson LaMonica (2016–2019) Simon Lucas (seasons 8 and 9) Cerim Manovi (seasons 8 and 9) Robert May (season 10) Vicky Kjaer Jensen (seasons 10–15; co-producer, 2016–2019) Ryan Pears (seasons 11–15)
Running time	22 minutes (seasons 1–10) 11 minutes (seasons 11–15)
Production companies	Wil Film ApS (pilot episodes–season 10) WildBrain Studios (seasons 11–15) The Lego Group
Distributor	The Lego Group
Release
Original network	Cartoon Network (Scandinavian TV channel) (Denmark) Teletoon and YTV (Canada) Cartoon Network (United States, 2011–2020) Netflix (United States, 2021–2022)
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Original release	January 14, 2011 – October 1, 2022
Chronology
Related	Legends of Chima Nexo Knights

Ninjago (previously known as Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu until 2019) is a computer-animated television series produced by The Lego Group. It was created to coincide with the Lego Ninjago line of construction toys, which is based on the characters and events of the series. It centers on the fictional world of Ninjago, telling the story of a group of six teenage ninjas and their battles against the forces of evil. The series was created by Michael Hegner and Tommy Andreasen, two Danish film producers. The storyline was written by Kevin and Dan Hageman until the ninth season; their successor as the head writer was Bragi Schut. The show features a large ensemble cast of voice actors who had recurring roles in the series. The English-language voice cast was recorded in Canada for its entire run. The music was scored by composers Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent.

The series was in continuous production for over a decade and celebrated its tenth anniversary on January 14, 2021. It began with two pilot episodes in January 2011, which were followed by two 13-episode seasons that aired from December 2011 to November 2012. Both the Lego theme and the series had an intended shelf life of three years with the second season planned as the original ending. However, the success of the series and its product line led to the show continuing production, with thirteen more seasons, a special, a feature film adaptation, and a four-episode miniseries being released. Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu was produced in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Wil Film ApS for its first ten seasons. The production was relocated to WildBrain Studios in Canada for the eleventh season, and the series was retitled Ninjago. The series concluded on October 1, 2022, with the second part of the fifteenth season being released on Netflix in Australia and New Zealand.

In Denmark, where the series’ original production companies are located, it premiered on Cartoon Network. It aired on various Cartoon Network feeds internationally. In the United States, it aired on Cartoon Network until 2020, when premieres moved to Netflix. In Canada, the series was broadcast on Teletoon and YTV.^[1]

Synopsis[edit]

The show is largely set in the fictional realm of Ninjago, a place loosely inspired by East Asian myths and culture. While featuring historically designed buildings and traditional clothing, Ninjago exists in a modern setting centered around the large metropolis of Ninjago City, which features skyscrapers, current-age and futuristic vehicles, modern electronics, mechanical exo-suits (mechs), and other futuristic technology.^[2] The plot focuses on a group of six teenage ninja fighting against the forces of evil, who are also defined as «Elemental Masters», several characters who have elemental powers.^[3][4]

The series began with the ninja team being formed and trained by their ancient master Sensei Wu in the fictional martial art of «Spinjitzu», which is the main fighting method depicted in the show.^[5] The ninjas’ base is a flying junk ship named «Destiny’s Bounty», which has varied in design over the course of the series.^[6] The pilot episodes introduced the original four ninja characters named Kai, Cole, Jay and Zane and Kai’s sister Nya, while the central character Lloyd Garmadon was introduced in the first season, titled Rise of the Snakes.^[7]

The series incorporates a detailed fictional lore, which is woven into the storyline using character dialogue and flashbacks.^[8] The lore mainly focuses on the history of the First Spinjitzu Master and his creation of the island of Ninjago:^[9]

Long before time had a name, there was the Realm of the Oni and the Dragon…The Dragon had the power to create. The Oni had the power to destroy. Their war was never ending. But a child arrived, born of both worlds. The child understood the power of both. Without one, you could not have the other. But when the Oni and the Dragon fought over which side the child should choose, the child abandoned their world to start a new one called Ninjago.

— Season 8, Episode 3, The Oni and the Dragon

Cast and characters[edit]

• Lloyd Garmadon (voiced by Jillian Michaels in Seasons 1–7 and Sam Vincent in Seasons 8–15^[10]) is the Green Ninja and Elemental Master of Energy, which grants him the ability to manipulate energy. He is the current leader of the ninja, son of Garmadon and Misako, nephew of Master Wu and the grandson of the First Spinjitzu Master. He frequently wields either a katana or dual katanas. Lloyd makes his debut in the first season following the pilot episodes as a mischievous child wanting to be an evil warlord like his father, which results in childish schemes that are foiled by the original four ninja. Lloyd is reformed by the ninja and Master Wu, before discovering his destiny as the prophesied Green Ninja. While initially mischievous and naive, Lloyd is tempered by experience over the course of the series to become a mature, wise and skilled ninja. Although he is depicted as the youngest member of the team, Lloyd’s character has been developed to be its natural leader.^[11]
• Kai (voiced by Vincent Tong) is the red ninja and Elemental Master of Fire. Like Lloyd, he frequently wields either a katana or dual katanas. His elemental power grants him limited pyrokinesis and heat resistance. Kai is fiercely loyal to his friends and family, often willing to do anything to ensure their safety. He often acts on emotion instead of reason, causing him to be hotheaded, cocky, and rash. He also has a strong sense of responsibility towards his friends. Kai is the older brother of Nya and son of Ray and Maya. His love interest is Skylor Chen.^[12]
• Cole (voiced by Kirby Morrow from the pilot episodes–Season 14^[13] and Andrew Francis^[14] in Season 15) is the grounded and solid black ninja and Elemental Master of Earth. He frequently wields a scythe and, in recent seasons, a war hammer. His elemental power grants him limited earth manipulation and super strength. Described as the original leader of the ninja, he is loyal to his friends and family and has a special love for food, especially cake. He is the son of Lou, a member of a barbershop quartet, and Lilly, the previous Elemental Master of Earth.^[15]
• Jay Walker (born Jay Gordon) (voiced by Michael Adamthwaite) is the blue ninja and Elemental Master of Lightning. He frequently wields nunchucks and more recently, a kusarigama. His elemental power grants him limited electricity manipulation. He is also a skilled mechanic and is technologically savvy. Jay is inventive and quick-witted, often using comedy to alleviate stressful situations. He is easily excitable and prone to freaking out when in crises but, like the other ninja, is intensely loyal to his friends, especially his girlfriend Nya. He is the son of Cliff Gordon and the previous Elemental Master of Lightning, but was adopted and raised by Ed and Edna Walker.^[16]
• Zane (voiced by Brent Miller) is the white/titanium ninja and Elemental Master of Ice. He frequently wields three-pointed shuriken and, more recently, a bow and arrow. His elemental power grants him limited cryokinesis. Zane is intelligent and calculating, often providing intel to the ninja when required. Initially, he lacks normal social skills, such as a sense of humour, but it is later revealed that Zane is secretly an android (or «nindroid»), a fact unknown to both the ninja and Zane himself. Though he is still logical and matter-of-fact by nature, his brotherhood with the other ninja has enabled him to develop more human characteristics. He is the son/creation of Dr. Julien.^[17]
• Nya (voiced by Kelly Metzger) is the grey/blue ninja, Elemental Master of Water and the original Samurai X. She frequently wields a sword and, more recently, a trident. In early seasons she wears red as Samurai X and later, dark red. Since the release of The Lego Ninjago Movie, she has primarily been depicted in gunmetal grey. Her elemental power grants her limited hydrokinesis. Although she is not an original member of the ninja team, Nya joins when her skills as the Elemental Master of Water are needed to defeat the ghosts and the Preeminent in Season 5. Tough and determined, she refuses to let anyone tell her what to do. Though she can sometimes be stubborn, Nya cares about her friends and family, often making the most mature decisions of the group and serving as emotional support. Her boyfriend is Jay Walker. As a skilled mechanic, she often constructs vehicles for the other ninja. Nya is Kai’s younger sister and the daughter of Ray and Maya.^[18]
• P.I.X.A.L. (Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form) (voiced by Jennifer Hayward) is a female nindroid who makes her debut as an assistant to her creator/father Cyrus Borg in the third season. She joins the ninja team after being influenced by her fellow nindroid Zane. She is disassembled in Season 4, but is then uploaded into Zane’s system as an artificial intelligence. In Season 7, she secretly rebuilds herself and becomes the new Samurai X. She often provides technical support to the ninja while serving as Zane’s love interest.^[19]
• Sensei/Master Wu (voiced by Paul Dobson, Caleb Skeris as a baby, Madyx Whiteway as a child) is the wise, ancient master of the ninja who frequently wields his father’s staff. He is Lloyd’s uncle, younger son of the First Spinjitzu Master and brother to Garmadon. Because of his Oni heritage, Wu has lived for over a thousand years.^[20]
• Lord/Sensei Garmadon (voiced by Mark Oliver, Kai Emmett as a child) is Lloyd’s father, Wu’s older brother, Misako’s estranged husband, and older son of the First Spinjitzu Master. Garmadon is the main antagonist of the pilot episodes and a secondary antagonist in the first two seasons. In Season 2, he is cleansed of evil and becomes a sensei to the ninja. In Season 4, he is sacrificed to the Cursed Realm and resurrected in Season 8 as a being of pure evil. After conquering Ninjago, his reign of terror is finally brought to an end by Lloyd and he is imprisoned in Kryptarium Prison. In Season 10, he is released to help the ninja defeat the Oni, after which he walks free. In Season 15, he reappears to help the Ninja fight the Overlord. Because of his Oni heritage, Garmadon has lived for over a thousand years.^[21]

Episodes[edit]

Production and development[edit]

Concept[edit]

In 2009, The Lego Group proposed to make an original intellectual property about ninja, which focused on four ninja with elemental powers. The Lego Ninjago theme concept originated in the Lego Ninja theme, which was released by The Lego Group in 1998. This theme was then replaced by Lego Knights in 2000.^[2] In 2011, Lego Ninjago was launched and included some of the concepts from the Lego Ninja theme, such as dragons and fortresses, but also combined this with a modern setting. The Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu television series was created by Michael Hegner and Tommy Andreasen, two Danish film producers.^[2][22]

During the early development of the concept, The Lego Group conducted ethnographic research with children to determine their interests. Cerim Manovi, Senior Design Manager for the theme recalled, «Ninjas crystallised themselves because we were, like: ‘What’s the greatest hero entry point?’ We showed them superheroes, everything – but ninjas just grabbed kids right there».^[23] The Lego Group had been attempting to develop a toy line based on ninjas for several years but a product range had never been successfully developed due to the limitations of the concept. This changed once the idea was developed into a high concept fantasy theme. Researchers at The Lego Group began testing ideas for enemies and eventually skeletons were chosen as the main antagonists in the storyline, following research conducted with six-year-old boys.^[23] The skeletons were considered to be the perfect adversaries for the ninjas because they looked inherently evil and fantastical. Other initial concepts for the enemies, such as snakes and robots were rejected, but then used later in subsequent seasons of the series. The ninja characters were given different coloured suits and unique elemental powers to make them more interesting and give them individual personalities. The motivation for the ninja characters was initially presented as a fight about obtaining four golden weapons.^[24]

The first concept drawing was created by Tommy Andreasen in late 2009, which depicted five elemental ninjas with their elemental tornadoes and included the word «Spinjago». This would later become the fictional martial art of «Spinjitzu», a combination of the words «spin» and «ninjitsu». Andreasen recalled being called into a meeting on a Friday evening where he created the rough concept sketch of the characters. He then contacted an artist in Canada named Craig Sellars, who painted an internal concept image of the characters over the weekend and sent it back on the following Monday. Andreasen recalled that this was a «linchpin moment» that was the beginning of the concept and the television series.^[24] The Ninjago brand name was a combination of the words «ninja» and «go», which was split from the end of «Lego». The series title was also used as the main ninja battle cry.^[25]

Writing[edit]

Kevin and Dan Hageman were the screenwriters for the Ninjago television series from the initial development phase until the ninth season. They became involved in the project after being invited to pitch an early story concept for a Lego-based movie that would eventually be titled The Lego Movie. After making a successful pitch to The Lego Group for the film, the Hageman Brothers were asked to write the story for a 44-minute animated television special based on an original Lego property about ninjas. Initially it was intended to be a one-hour special, but the Hageman Brothers decided that they wanted to make it into a saga similar to a high-end blockbuster movie, «like Star Wars with ninjas».^[24] They took their inspiration from movies and television shows of the time, including films produced by Marvel and Steven Spielberg. Dan Hageman recalled, «We’re looking at Star Wars. We’re creating a land and there’s magic in this land, there’s weapons in this land, there’s vehicles in this land…we wanted to make something not necessarily that would appeal to children, but that would appeal to us». Kevin Hageman noted that there was a lot of disposable entertainment for children at that time. He explained, «We wanted something that treats the kids intelligently, also emotionally intelligently. They understand drama. Let’s give them a story that’s going to continue because it’s serialised…we thought of it more as one giant movie or a miniseries. I think that really added a lot of depth, a lot of heart, to Ninjago that you don’t see on other shows».^[26]

The Hageman Brothers were presented with the basic concepts and characters for the show, such as the ninja, dragons and spinjitzu, but developed the characters’ motivations and personalities. They decided that the characters were imperfect and were motivated by their relationships. They also decided that Kai needed to be the main character of the Pilot Episodes because the special was limited to 44 minutes, so they agreed to centre the story around one character, rather than a large ensemble cast, and to give Kai a specific motivation.^[24] For this reason, the Hageman Brothers came up with the character of Nya, the main female character in the story. Kevin Hageman explained, «We wanted this to be a show that boys and girls like, and I wanted strong, young female characters in it — so we created Nya». Tommy Andreasen explained that the character of Nya was employed as an emotional reason for Kai to get involved because, «he didn’t want to be a ninja, but his sister was kidnapped by this evil Lord from the underworld».^[27]

The character of Lloyd Garmadon was conceived by Dan and Kevin Hageman.^[28] Andreasen stated, «The Hagemans came up with the idea of Lloyd, the son of Garmadon. As soon as they introduced that idea, we knew Lloyd was going to be the Green Ninja and we were going to build that mystery up over 10 episodes».^[27]

The Hageman Brothers eventually left the show after nine seasons when Bragi Schut took over as writer.^[29] Kevin Hageman asked Bragi Schut to become involved in the series due to his background of working in film. Despite not having any prior knowledge of Ninjago, Schut became familiar with the story and continued it with the same approach as the Hageman Brothers, ensuring that it included «a combination of humour, heart and adventure».^[24]

On 8 September 2022, Bragi Schut, the lead writer of the original series from the tenth to the fifteenth season, confirmed he will not be working on the new series on Twitter by stating that Crystallized was his last season.^[30]

Animation and format[edit]

The first ten seasons were produced in Copenhagen, Denmark, by the animation studio Wil Film ApS. Erik Wilstrup, the CEO of Wil Film, first became aware of the project in October 2009 when The Lego Group was exploring ways to create branded entertainment using animation. Wilstrup and his team proposed a variety of animation styles before agreeing that computer-generated imagery (CGI) was the best option. Wilstrup elaborated further on the production of the series by describing Wil Film as «a spider in the middle of a wide web and a responsible driver of it all». He explained, «Specifically we have a team of designers in Berlin, while the voice recordings sit with BLT in Canada. The score is produced by Jam Hollywood in Los Angeles, the animation is done at GDC in China and all preproduction, storyboarding, blocking, post-sound, on-line and grading is done in our studio in Copenhagen.»^[31]

The production was relocated to WildBrain Studios in Canada for the last five seasons. This marked the use of new animation styles, including anime-style 2D animation, as a way to experiment with the storyline and add new creativity to the show.^[32] With the release of Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu, the run-time for the show was revised from 22 minutes to 11 minutes.^[33] This was a particular cause of concern with fans of the show. Tommy Andreasen commented on the 11-minute format by stating, «it was a way for the broadcasters to make it easier to programme». He has also remarked on the positive nature of the new runtime, stating, «Once you’re working with 11 minutes it’s not just the same idea stretched over two 11s. Now it’s a new idea in every episode, and it really makes you risky and fresh — and able to tell stories very efficiently…If there’s something I would like Ninjago TV show to be, it’s this creative playground, where you should never know exactly what you can expect».^[34]

Character design[edit]

Following the initial concept sketch created by Tommy Andreasen in late 2009, concept artwork depicting the main ninja characters was created in 2010, with a character drawing of Lloyd and sketches to summarise the first two Ninjago seasons. In addition, sketches of Nya were first produced by Tim Ainley, depicting the character as a samurai, followed by character, model and part designs.^[25]

In the eighth season, the appearances of Lloyd and the ninja were noticeably different from their appearances in previous seasons. Sons of Garmadon implemented a new phase for the ninjas’ designs, which were now based on the designs of their movie counterparts in The Lego Ninjago Movie.^[35] The design change aimed to help new fans of the movie transition to the television series. The start of the season marked updated appearances for each of the main characters, including changes to their hair and faces, and these new appearances have continued to be used throughout subsequent seasons. Although Lloyd looks almost identical to his movie design, he was given a new voice actor Sam Vincent, who took over the role from Jillian Michaels, while the other ninja retained their original voice actors.^[36] Design Manager, Michael Svane Knap explained that these changes were inspired by the movie in terms of the detail level. He commented, «We pulled in some of the character designs from the movie into the TV show afterwards. That was born of wanting to get more uniqueness to the characters. Something that added a lot of character to these ninja that we didn’t have before were the hairstyles for them, so we managed to create something that was completely unique for Ninjago with how the characters looked».^[37]

Music[edit]

The title sequences for seasons 1–7, 11–13, and 15 feature The Weekend Whip, a song performed by The Fold, which is the show’s official theme song. The Weekend Whip was remixed each season to reflect the theme.^[38] Seasons 8–10 and The Island–season 14 feature music by composers Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent, with Ninjago Overture as the main theme.^[39][40][41]

Jay Vincent and Michael Kramer scored the soundtrack for the series since the beginning of the show. Michael Kramer had previously created a martial arts track that Vincent and Kramer decided was perfect for the show and this music piece Ninjago Overture was chosen as the main theme for the show. Although they were initially hired to write some original music for the characters, they decided to score the entire pilot special.^[24] The music plays a significant role in the storytelling, particularly in terms of helping viewers to distinguish between the heroes and villains. Kramer explained that there were ground rules that were established from the beginning of the show, stating, «One thing that we try to stick to, not always but generally speaking, is that bad guys usually have more bowed instruments and good guys usually have more wind instruments. The idea of friction being more bowed or struck instruments». The music is also used to underpin the drama in the show. Kramer remarked on this stating, «These characters are real for us. That allows us as composers to really dive deep into that drama. And I mean, it gets really heavy — especially in Season 10 with the Oni — it got really dark, really dramatic».^[42] The soundtrack incorporates a wide variety of traditional musical instruments from around the world, which were carefully chosen to illustrate each character or land in which the season is set. Jay Vincent commented that, «because Ninjago is set in this vast universe, we get to respectfully but enjoyably explore other cultures of the world that we might not be familiar with».^[24]

The Fold became involved in the show through Jam, a music production company in Copenhagen. The producers wanted to include modern concepts within the show, so they were looking for a catchy pop song. After being initially approached by Michael Kramer, The Fold came up with The Weekend Whip, which was designed to be listened to outside the context of the show and was described as «the dance that the ninja do on the weekend when they are off». The demo was included in the pilot season and recorded in studio a year later.^[24]

In January 2021, The Lego Group released a soundtrack video on YouTube titled Ninjago: A Musical Journey, which celebrates the music of the show in four parts.^[43] The complete Ninjago: A Musical Journey (2011–2020) video was released on the Lego YouTube channel on 6 June 2021, comprising 2.5 hours of music and images.^[44]

Release[edit]

Launch[edit]

The Lego Group launched Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu in January 2011 with the release of two 22-minute animated specials that aired on Cartoon Network in January and March. These pilots introduced the main characters and the Ninjago universe to its target audience. Following the success of the pilots, The Lego Group announced the release of the first season on 23 March 2011, titled Rise of the Snakes, which aired at the end of 2011 and consists of 13 episodes. The series continued to be written by Dan and Kevin Hageman. Jill Wilfert, Vice President of licensing & entertainment at The Lego Group commented, «We’re thrilled to be working with Wil Film and Kevin and Dan Hageman to add yet another dimension of story and engagement to our newest original property».^[7]

Suspension and continuation[edit]

The Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu series and accompanying product line had originally been planned as a three-year project. The conclusion of the second season titled Legacy of the Green Ninja emphasized the end of the show in its season finale, with the character of Lloyd becoming the «Golden Ninja» and defeating the main antagonist, the Overlord, in an epic battle of light and darkness. However, due to the incredible sales performance of the Lego Ninjago product line, the series was continued. Senior Creative Director Simon Lucas recalled the company’s decision to extend the series, stating, «we had six weeks to say what we would do with Ninjago. How do you bring it back? We had the final battle in the story. Immediately I connected with Kevin and Dan Hageman, and we just agreed that this world we’d created, the characters and the story had so much more to give. We actually struggled to filter ideas, because we had so many». The continuation of the series allowed the writers to open up their ideas about what the theme could be. It also pushed them to change the Ninjago series each year, which contributed to the success of the show. Kevin Hageman opined, «If we just kept doing the original theme and just had different adventures… Ninjago would not still be here today. I think it’s truly here because the restrictions forced us and Lego to keep redesigning and rethinking Ninjago and it kept becoming this beautiful big universe where anything is possible».^[45]

Broadcast[edit]

In the United States, the two pilot episodes of Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, later split into four episodes total, were shown on Cartoon Network on January 14, 2011. They were released in Europe on January 24, 2011.^[46] The pilot episodes follow the four original ninja as Sensei Wu brings them together to defeat the evil Lord Garmadon. Due to the popularity of the pilot episodes, the first season was launched from 2 December 2011 to April 2012 alongside a new line of sets marketed as «Rise of the Snakes».^[47] The pilot episodes were released on DVD in March 2011, and the first season became available on DVD in Region 1 on June 26, 2012.^[48] The series as a whole has an estimated budget of kr 37 million (approximately £4.6 million or US$6.7 million).^[49]

Season 1, Rise of the Snakes follows the four original ninja as they battle the Serpentine, unlock their «true potential», and attempt to discover the identity of the fabled Green Ninja. The first five episodes of season 1 aired in Canada on November 25 and the first two in the United States on December 2. The season once again aired in Canada and the United States from January 11, 2012, to April 11, 2012.

Season 2, Legacy of the Green Ninja premiered on July 18, 2012, to an audience of 2.8 million. Season 2 focuses on Lloyd, as he trains to become the Green Ninja in preparation for the final battle, where he will have to face and defeat his father.

Season 3, Rebooted premiered on January 29, 2014. Season 3 focuses on Zane as he and the other Ninja fight to defeat an ancient evil reborn as a new, technological threat. In the United Kingdom, the series premiered on 21 July 2014 on Cartoon Network.^[50]

Season 4, Tournament of Elements premiered on February 23, 2015, in North America and Great Britain on Cartoon Network.^[51] Season 4 follows the ninja as they travel to a mysterious island to fight in the Tournament of Elements and search for a missing Zane. Season 4 also mainly focuses on Kai and introduces Skylor.

Season 5, Possession premiered on June 27, 2015, in the United States. The Lego Group released the trailer for the fifth season on June 8, 2015 . Season 5 focuses on Nya training to become the Master of Water while the other ninja battle Wu’s first student, Morro, a vengeful ghost who has possessed Lloyd.^[52]

Season 6, Skybound was released on June 8, 2016. It focuses on Jay as he and the ninja try to prevent Nadakhan the Djinn and his Sky Pirates from terraforming Ninjago into a new Kingdom of Djinjago.^[53]

A Halloween special titled Day of the Departed was released on October 29, 2016, featuring the return of many of the series’ past villains. The special focuses on Cole, who is slowing fading from existence.^[54]

Season 7, Hands of Time was released in May 2017. The plot focuses on Kai, Nya and their parents, with the main villains being the Elemental Masters of Time (Acronix and Krux) and their army of Vermillion Warriors, who are trying to rewrite history.

Season 8, Sons of Garmadon was released April 16, 2018 in the United States. It follows the ninja as they try to prevent a criminal organization called the Sons of Garmadon (SoG) from resurrecting Garmadon using the three Oni Masks.^[55] The season introduced character redesigns to make the main characters resemble their The Lego Ninjago Movie counterparts.

Season 9, Hunted premiered on June 30, 2018, in Australia. The season follows Lloyd and the Resistance fighting to take back New Ninjago City, while the other ninja try to escape from the First Realm.^[56]

Season 10, March of the Oni premiered on April 19, 2019. It follows Garmadon and the ninja as they try to stop a demonic force of darkness called the Oni from destroying Ninjago and the sixteen realms. It featured only four episodes and is the shortest season to date.^[57]

Season 11, Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu, premiered on June 22, 2019. It follows the ninja as they come face to face with an enemy from Wu’s past, then try to rescue Zane from a dark and mysterious Ice Emperor. The season saw the introduction of an 11-minute episode format and a new, more stylized animation style. It was split into two fifteen episodes parts, The Fire Chapter and The Ice Chapter.

Season 12, Prime Empire premiered on July 19, 2020, in the United States. It focuses on Jay as he and the ninja enter the video game Prime Empire to face the misunderstood Unagami.

Season 13, Master of the Mountain premiered on September 16, 2020, in the United States. It focuses on Cole as he and the ninja journey to the distant mountains of Shintaro, unaware of the sinister secrets that lie in the cavernous dungeons below.

A four-episode miniseries titled The Island premiered on February 27, 2021, in France, and on March 7 in Canada of the same year.^[58][59] It follows the ninja as they embark on a rescue mission to a mysterious and uncharted island.^[60]

Season 14, Seabound premiered on April 4, 2021, in Canada on Teletoon. In the United States, the episodes have not yet aired on Cartoon Network, however the LEGO channel on YouTube currently has the episodes. Seabound was also released on Netflix on November 19 of the same year. Its plot centres around the water ninja, Nya, after she loses control over her elemental powers and journeys into the oceans surrounding the island of Ninjago.^[60]

Season 15, Crystalized premiered on the official Lego YouTube channel on May 20, 2022 in North America.^[61] The season involves the ninja encountering a new group of ninja and being locked up in Kryptarium Prison alongside their old enemies.^[62]

Future[edit]

In 2022, the Ninjago team announced at San Diego Comic-Con that a new series will make its debut in 2023 for the Lego Ninjago brand.^[63][64] On 10 October 2022, Tommy Andreasen announced the end of his involvement with the series in a letter posted on Twitter.^[65]

Home media[edit]

Name	Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu Release Date
US	UK
Pilot episodes	27 March 2012[66]	2 June 2014[67]
Rise of the Snakes	26 June 2012[68]	23 June 2015[69]	16 February 2015[70]	2 November 2015[71]
Legacy of the Green Ninja	5 March 2013[72]	31 August 2015[73]
Rebooted	5 August 2014[74]	15 August 2016[75]
Tournament of Elements	21 July 2015[76]	7 November 2016[77]
Possession	16 February 2016[78]	27 March 2017[79]
Skybound	14 March 2017[80]	17 July 2017[81]
Day of the Departed	7 February 2017[82]	22 January 2018[83]
Hands of Time	3 October 2017[84]	2 October 2017[85]
Sons of Garmadon	8 January 2019[86]	1 January 2019
Hunted	N/A	N/A
March of the Oni	N/A	N/A

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Ninjago has received largely favourable reviews from critics. Reviewer Lien Murakami for Common Sense Media gave the Pilot season a three out of five star rating, describing it as «exciting and funny» and noting that «the ninja characters learn lessons of patience and teamwork from their wise sensei». However, the review also opined that the show «is essentially an extended advertisement for the Lego Ninjago toy line».^[87] Melissa Camacho for Common Sense Media gave Tournament of Elements a three-star rating and commented on the «positive messages» and «character strengths» in the series stating, «Lessons about loyalty, loss, sacrifice, and teamwork are emphasized throughout.»^[88] Possession also received a three-star rating from Common Sense Media, and reviewer Melissa Camacho commented, «loyalty, teamwork and sacrifice are common themes, making this a solid choice for action lovers. The loss of a loved one also is a central theme in this series installment.»^[89] Dave Trumbore for Collider commented on Skybound, giving the show a four-star rating and stating that it is «a fun romp through the mythology in the modern era that emphasizes teamwork, cooperation, and loyalty throughout, all while providing a highly entertaining and action-packed series».^[5] Skybound also received a three-star rating from Common Sense Media, which noted that the season, «contains some positive messages about friendship, patience, loyalty, and gender equality.»^[90] Common Sense Media gave Hands of Time a three-star rating, with Melissa Camacho commenting that the season had good messages, fantasy violence and, «some fun moments, especially when the teens banter with one another. But central to the show is their effort to help Ninjago, a well as their master, by using their powers accordingly.»^[91] Camacho also gave Hunted a three-star rating and commented, «they’re a loyal team and do what they believe is right in order to ensure that good triumphs over evil. If you’re a Lego Ninjago fan, Hunted won’t disappoint.»^[92] Barry Hertz for The Globe and Mail commented, «Ninjago is a 10-season-long commercial for one of the world’s most expensive toy-lines. Yet, its crass existence is consistently and miraculously outweighed by the imagination of and creative powers behind the long-running series. Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu should be terrible, but it is instead one of the more enjoyably complex and mythology-heavy series out there — no matter whether you’re the babysitter or the babysat.»^[93]

Ratings[edit]

The Ninjago series achieved immediate success with its target audience and maintained strong ratings from its initial launch. The Pilot Episodes, which were released on Cartoon Network, were the highest rated program with boys in their time slot across multiple airings.^[7] The first season of Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu achieved the top position on Wednesday nights from 7 to 9 pm with children aged 2–11 and 9–14. The Season 2 premiere scored the top telecast of the day with children aged 2–11, boys aged 2–11, boys aged 6–11 and boys aged 9–14 and ranked the highest in its time period among children aged 6–11 and children aged 9–14. It also increased average ratings from between 124% and 184% compared to the same time period for the first-season premiere in the previous year. The total number of viewers increased by 30%.^[94] The third season averaged a triple digit viewer increase with children and boys, with the January 2014 release ranking as the top telecast of the year with boys aged 2–11 and boys aged 6–11.^[95] In 2015, the fourth season titled Tournament of Elements maintained its popularity by achieving the top position for telecast of the day among boys aged 2–11 and aged 6–11, and the top position in its time period among children aged 2–11, children aged 6–11 and all boys.^[96] With the release of Season 5: Possession, the show achieved rank 22 in the top 100 Monday cable originals on 29 June 2015 with 2.05 million viewers.^[97] The release of Season 6: Skybound achieved the rank of 28 in the top 150 original cable telecast for 24 March 2016 with 0.98 million viewers.^[98] The release of Season 7: The Hands of Time achieved the rank of 77 in the top 150 Monday cable originals on 15 May 2017 with 0.73 million viewers.^[99] The release of Season 8: Sons of Garmadon achieved the rank of 109 in the top 150 Monday cable originals on 16 April 2018 with 0.50 million viewers.^[100] On 11 August 2018, Season 9: Hunted Part 1 was ranked at 84 in the top 150 original cable telecasts with 0.45 million viewers.^[101] Season 9: Hunted Part 2 achieved a rank of 67 on 18 August 2018 with 0.50 million viewers.^[102] On 19 April 2019, Season 10: March of the Oni ranked at position 86 with 0.44 million viewers.^[103] Ninjago:Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu ranked at position 81 on 22 June 2019 with 0.31 million viewers.^[104] Prime Empire ranked at 83 on 19 July 2020 with 0.28 million viewers.^[105] On 13 September 2020, the release of Master of the Mountain achieved a rank of 89 in the top 150 original cable telecasts with 0.18 million viewers.^[106]

Awards and nominations[edit]

The Ninjago series has been nominated for and won several awards. In 2012, the director Peter Hausner was nominated in the category of «Directing in a Television Production» at the Annie Awards.^[107] The show was also nominated at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2012 in the category of «Branded Entertainment, Best Fictional Program, series or film». In 2012, the composers Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent were nominated at the BMI Film & TV Music Awards, which they won.^[108] They were also winners at the 2016 BMI Film & TV Music Awards.^[109] In 2015, Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent were nominated at the Annie Awards for «Outstanding Achievement in Music in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production».^[110] In 2016, the show was nominated for a Kids’ Choice Awards in the category of «Favorite Cartoon».^[111] In 2018, it received a nomination for «Best Sound Design: Television Programme» at the Music + Sound Awards.^[112] In 2020, Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent were nominated for «Outstanding Music Direction and Composition» at the Daytime Emmy Awards.^[113][114] In 2020, Ninjago received two nominations in the Animation Program or Series category of the Leo Awards for Art Direction and Sound.^[115] In 2021, the series received four nominations in the Animation Series category of the Leo Awards for Art Direction, Direction, Sound and Voice Performance, resulting in Kenny Ng winning Best Art Direction for Superstar Rockin’ Jay.^[116][117] In 2022, Ninjago received four nominations in the Animation series category of the Leo Awards, including program, direction for The Turn of the Tide, art direction for Nyad and sound for Assault on Ninjago City.^[118]

Themes and analysis[edit]

Light and dark[edit]

One of the most dominant aspects of the Ninjago series is the theme of duality, or light and dark (with reference to the yin and yang). In the fictional realm of Ninjago, the two main elements are creation and destruction, which are the definition of good and evil, and are shown to either create life or destroy it. The main characters that have been depicted wielding this power are Master Wu, who represents creation and Lord Garmadon who represents destruction, being the direct descendants of the First Spinjitzu Master, the legendary fictional creator of Ninjago. Many villains throughout the series have been defined by darkness and destruction, most prominently the Oni, while the main character Lloyd Garmadon has been associated with light, particularly when he was shown to have achieved his «Golden Power» in the second season.^[3]

Teamwork[edit]

The importance of teamwork has also been a fundamental aspect that runs through the series. Senior Designer Christopher Stamp commented, «The characters are flawed and individually they are not complete, but as a team they complete each other. You follow the characters’ development, it allows a form of natural evolution so as you go through the stories. The example I always come back to is when Cole questions if he is really important to the team, would the team still exist if he wasn’t there? That led us to introduce ghosts to the world of Ninjago, what if he’s a ghost? Then we realize when he actually becomes invisible, the team doesn’t function the same way without him.»^[119]

True potential[edit]

The series presents recurring moral lessons beneath the story that are intended to be absorbed by the viewers. In particular, the main character Master Wu has been depicted repeatedly placing emphasis on overcoming the internal obstacles that can hold a person back from achieving greatness. This theme was also illustrated by the main ninja characters conquering their personal obstacles and achieving their «true potential». Tommy Kalmaar, Story and Entertainment Manager commented, «Beneath the icons of dragons and ninjas there’s this compelling full narrative around kids gaining confidence, finding their inner voice, learning something new about themselves, realizing something, and suddenly they can do more.»^[24]

Influence and legacy[edit]

From its launch in 2011, the Ninjago series achieved continued popularity amongst its target audience, who are mainly primary aged children and teenagers, but it also gained a dedicated fan community. The Ninjago writers ensured that children are able to relate to the main characters by making them teenage heroes, and this made them consistently popular characters. In 2017, Christopher Stamp, Senior Designer at The Lego Group, noted that Lloyd and the ninja are relatable to children due to their inherent flaws, stating, «What is the main thing that has caught kids’ attention? Why is it so relatable? I have thought about it a lot. For me personally, it has got to be the characters. None of the characters are perfect, they are all flawed and I think that is something everyone can relate to.»^[119]

From 2011 to 2022, the Ninjago series included storylines that aimed to teach about the importance of friendship, inclusivity and confidence.^[120] In 2017, Lego design manager, Michael Svane Knap commented, «It’s always important to develop good characters that engage with the kids and encourage them to watch. The story that we have been telling from the beginning has been focused on family, collaboration and emotions and these are the keystone for telling a good Ninjago story».^[121] The Ninjago series was in continuous production for over a decade, resulting in many children having grown up following the series and developing into adult fans. Knap remarked, «Some have grown up with Lego Ninjago and are now expressing their gratitude and telling us how they have learned lifelong skills».^[120]

On 5 February 2019, Ernie Estrella for Syfy Wire remarked that, «Ninjago is one of Lego’s long running, home-grown franchises, and is arguably its most successful one.»^[122]

Tenth anniversary[edit]

On 14 January 2021, the Ninjago series celebrated its tenth anniversary. This milestone reflected the continued popularity of the show amongst its audience.^[123] Tommy Andreasen, Senior Manager and co-creator explained, «Originally, the Ninjago theme was supposed to end after season 2 in 2012. It just shows an incredible commitment from our fans that we are still going strong 10 years later».^[124] In April 2021 a three-hour documentary produced by four Ninjago fans was released on YouTube, titled Ninjago — Ten Years of Spinjitzu: A Documentary. It recounts ten years of the series and features interviews with Tommy Andreasen, the Hageman Brothers and various voice actors from the show.^[125] In June 2021, The Fold released a song titled Ten for Ninjago to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the show.^[126]

Merchandise[edit]

The Ninjago TV series was launched to coincide with the release of its product line, Lego Ninjago in January 2011. In its first year, 17 Lego construction toy sets from the product line were released.^[127] After that, Ninjago-themed playsets were released each year to correspond with each season of the TV series.^[2]

Mini-movies[edit]

Several mini-movies have been produced alongside the Ninjago television series, which provide additional information about the characters.

Pilot Episode Mini-movies — six short films that take place immediately after the Pilot Season, released in 2011^[128]
Chen Mini-movies — five mini-movies that focus on Master Chen and his chair from Season 4, released in 2015^[129]
Tall Tales — six mini-movies that focus on the Sky Pirates of Season 6, released in 2016^[130]
Wu’s Teas — a collection of 20 Ninjago shorts that focus on Master Wu’s tea shop, released in 2017^[131]
Happy Birthday To You! — a one-minute Ninjago short, released on Netflix on 14 September 2017
Ninjago: Decoded — a mini-series of ten episodes which takes place between Season 7 and Season 8, released on 27 November 2017^[132]
Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu — six Ninjago: Legacy films from the Lego website that take place between Season 9 and Season 10, released 19 December 2018^[133]
Prime Empire shorts — six Ninjago shorts that provide additional background information about Season 12, released in 2020^[134]
Ninjago: Reimagined — five Ninjago Legacy shorts in different animation styles released in 2021 alongside the series’ 10th anniversary^[135]
The Virtues of Spinjitzu — six Ninjago shorts in which Master Wu teaches the ninja about the six fundamental virtues of Spinjitzu, released in 2022.^{[136][137][138][139][140][141]}

Film adaptation[edit]

Lloyd Garmadon and the main ninja characters are the protagonists of The Lego Ninjago Movie, which was released in 2017. Although the plot is not directly related to the Ninjago television series, Lloyd retains his role as the Green Ninja and leader of the secret ninja force.^[35] Warner Bros. announced the development of an animated film based on the Ninjago television series on 17 September 2013. The film was directed by Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher and Bob Logan and produced by Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The original writers for the Ninjago television series, Dan and Kevin Hageman were also writers for the film.^[142] The Lego Ninjago Movie premiered on 16 September 2017 and the cast included Dave Franco as Lloyd, Jackie Chan as Master Wu and Justin Theroux as Lord Garmadon. The plot involves the main ninja characters battling against the main antagonist of the film, the evil warlord Lord Garmadon.^[143]

Other media[edit]

In addition to the Ninjago television series and The Lego Ninjago Movie, the ninja characters have appeared in magazines, video games, colouring books, graphic novels, children’s books and theme park attractions.^[144]

Theme park attractions[edit]

The ninja and Master Wu appear in an interactive theme park ride called Lego Ninjago The Ride at Legoland.^[145]

Lloyd, the ninja and Master Wu appear in a 4D short animated film entitled Lego Ninjago: Master of the 4th Dimension, released in Legoland on 18 January 2018. The film can be experienced by visitors in all Legoland theme parks except Legoland New York. The plot focuses on Master Wu teaching the ninja a lesson about the Scroll of the 4th Dimension, which affects gravity and organised matter.^[146]

Publications[edit]

Since the beginning of 2012, a 36-page Lego Ninjago Magazine has been released in the UK and the Netherlands every month. It contains a comic strip as well as various facts, puzzles, posters, competitions and other activities. Each edition also includes a free Lego gift which is often a minifigure of Lloyd, one of the ninja, or a villain from the series.^[147]

Various accompanying books to the series have been produced that feature Lloyd and the ninja. A total of 12 graphic novels have been published, written by Greg Farshtey.^[148]

Video games and apps[edit]

The ninja appear as playable characters in a wide variety of video games and mobile games, including Lego Battles: Ninjago (2011), Lego Universe (2011), Lego Ninjago: Nindroids (2014), Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin (2015), Lego Ninjago: Tournament (2015), Lego Dimensions (2015), Lego Worlds (2017), The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game (2017), Lego Brawls (2019) and Lego Legacy: Heroes Unboxed (2020).

Online media[edit]

On 24 August 2020, The Lego Group released a short film on the Lego YouTube channel titled Lego Ninjago Explained — Everything You Need to Know about Lego Ninjago. The film offers a humorous account of the series in the style of Honest Trailers.^{[149][150][151]}

On 28 May 2021, Lego Life launched the first episode of Ninja Vlogs, a video series aimed at children aged six to 12 years old. The vlog was hosted by the Ninjago characters Jay and Nya and was the first time that The Lego Group used motion capture and real-time rendering in media content.^[152]

See also[edit]

• The Lego Ninjago Movie (Lego theme)
• The Fold

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Ninjago at Lego.com
• Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu at IMDb
• Ninjago at IMDb

This article is about the island. For other uses, see Ninjago (disambiguation).

Ninjago

Ninjago (LEGO Universe)

Ninjago (The LEGO Ninjago Movie)

Ninjago, also referred to as Ninjago Island,^[2][3][4][5] is a landmass that was created by the First Spinjitzu Master after he left the Realm of Oni and Dragons. It is the primary location of the realm of the same name.

History

Beginnings

Before the creation of Ninjago, the First Spinjitzu Master was born and lived in the Realm of Oni and Dragons. Because the Oni and the Dragons could not live in peace, the First Spinjitzu Master escaped into another realm.^[6] This realm was ruled by Wojira, and the First Spinjitzu Master battled her with the help of the Keepers and the Merlopians. One warrior, Nyad, pried the Amulets of Wojira from her head, forcing Wojira into a deep sleep. The First Spinjitzu Master gave the amulets to the Keepers and Merlopians,^[7] and shortly after, he created the Ninjago using the power of the Golden Weapons^[8] (which he had created by forging the gold from Golden Peaks in the Temple of Light).^[9]

Soon afterward, however, the Oni pursued the child into this realm, creating a temple deep within Primeval’s Eye, where they depicted their origins on the walls of the temple. They would also seal away the Oni Mask of Hatred within the temple, which could only be taken by a being with Oni blood, like Wu or Lloyd.^[10]

It was a land of light and peace, but that peace was not to last; darkness soon appeared to counterbalance the new land of light. From this darkness, an evil entity known only as the Overlord appeared to challenge the First Spinjitzu Master for control of Ninjago.

The battle between light and darkness raged for many years, with neither side gaining a significant advantage for long.^[11] In order to break this stalemate, the Overlord created a Temple of Fortitude that could resist the power of the Golden Weapons,^[12] as well as the Stone Army, a legion of indestructible warriors to aid him in the battle against the First Spinjitzu Master. Unable to overcome the newly-bolstered forces of darkness, the First Spinjitzu Master used his powers to split the land of Ninjago in half, with the Overlord and most of his forces trapped on what would become known as the Island of Darkness. By splitting the land in two, the First Spinjitzu Master balanced the forces of light and darkness, ensuring that the Overlord could no longer maintain his physical form.^[11]

Rise of the Serpentine

During the formation of Ninjago, the First Spinjitzu Master created a warlike race of humanoid snakes called the Serpentine,^[13] or they migrated to Ninjago from another realm.^[14]

At some point, the humans had also defeated the Serpentine’s god figure, the Great Devourer, and the mighty snake was sealed beneath the Lost City of Ouroboros, and needing to retrieve the four Fangblades to unseal it.

Thousands of years after Ninjago’s creation, Garmadon went to train with Master Chen, who wanted to join the Serpentine, Wu was training Morro, the Master of Wind. Morro wanted to be the Green Ninja, but in the end, the Golden Weapons did not choose him. Morro then told Wu that he would find the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, and he died and was sent to the Cursed Realm.^[15] Over the millennia, tensions grew high between man and snake, but it was only when Master Chen deceived both sides did war break out. The Serpentine attacked first, attempting to conquer the land and subjugate humanity. However, the humans, with the aid of the Elemental Masters, banded together and fought back, eventually defeating the Serpentine, and the five tribes were separated and sealed away in great tombs all across Ninjago. Chen was exiled to a secluded island, and the generals of the Anacondrai were banished to the Cursed Realm.^[16]

Elemental Masters vs. the Hands of Time

After the Serpentine War, when the Elemental Masters of Time, Krux, and Acronix, betrayed Wu, Garmadon, and the rest of the alliance to rule Ninjago, a fight ensued in the forest below the Monastery of Spinjitzu. The entire Elemental Alliance was no match for the Masters of Time, being easily defeated one by one by the duo.^[17] Knowing what needed to be done, Wu orders Ray and Maya to follow him back to Ignacia.^[18]

Ray and Maya forged four Time Blades out of Chronosteel and Wu and Garmadon used them to battle the Time Twins at the Monastery of Spinjitzu. When Wu and Garmadon gained the upper hand in battle, the Time Twins blasted their Elemental Power towards the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master, but they absorbed them with the Time Blades, which caused the Time Blades to strip the Time Twins of their powers, thus rendering them to normal men. Afterward, knowing that the power to control Time was too dangerous, Wu and Garmadon disposed of the Blades through a Time Vortex. However, Acronix and Krux followed their stolen power and became lost in time along with their stripped power for forty years.^[17]

However, almost immediately after Krux and Acronix entered the Time Vortex, Krux was spat out in the woods below the monastery, where he ran off to begin his forty-year plot of revenge, unaware of the Reversal Time Blade landing behind him. Eventually, the Blade was found by Ray and Maya, with Wu ordering them to dispose of it in the Boiling Sea.^[18]

Wu vs. Garmadon and Krux’s revenge

Following the defeat of the Time Twins, Ninjago returned to the peace but it would not be for long, as the seeds of a new conflict had already been sown centuries ago; in its infancy, the Great Devourer had bitten the young Garmadon, infecting him with darkness.^[19] The Devourer’s venom eventually corrupted Garmadon completely, transforming him into a black-skinned, power-hungry villain seeking to conquer Ninjago and remake it in his own image.

When Garmadon attempted to take the Golden Weapons for himself, he was opposed by Wu, his younger brother. After a fierce battle with the Golden Weapons, Garmadon was struck by lightning and dropped into the Underworld,^[20] where he was confronted by Samukai’s Skulkin forces. Deformed by his fall and hungry for revenge against Wu, Garmadon defeated Samukai in battle and took control of the Skulkin, becoming the King of the Underworld.^[21]

Following that, Wu decided to hide the Golden Weapons in different places of Ninjago and having placed four Dragons as guards. Wu then decided to make a map to locate them and gave them to his trusted friend, Ray, the father of Kai and Nya, in case they needed to be retrieved after his death.^[22] Shortly after appeared Krux, who underwent a new identity, Dr. Saunders, went to seek Ray and Maya for revenge. He threatened to harm Kai and Nya if they don’t go with him to make the armors for their future army of Serpentine, the Vermillion. Not wanting their children to get hurt, the two agreed before being led away from their blacksmith shop.^[18]

Pilot episodes

After the defeat of Lord Garmadon, Wu became the master of the Monastery of Spinjitzu, passing down the teachings of his father to a new generation of ninja. When Lord Garmadon resurfaced to resume his hunt for the Golden Weapons, Master Wu gathered four promising young men (Cole, Jay, Zane, and Kai) to train in the art of Spinjitzu and oppose Lord Garmadon’s Skulkin forces.

The forces of good and evil clashed repeatedly during the hunt for the Golden Weapons, but the Underworld ultimately prevailed, with Samukai claiming the four weapons for himself in a bid to destroy Lord Garmadon and reclaim his position as King of the Underworld. However, the combined power of the Golden Weapons overwhelmed Samukai, disintegrating him and creating a portal. Lord Garmadon revealed that the attempted act of treachery was the final step in his true plan—to gain access to a realm where he could become strong enough to safely wield the Golden Weapons. Although the villain promptly escaped through the portal, his departure left Ninjago largely safe once more, and the ninja took the Golden Weapons back to the Monastery of Spinjitzu—both to protect them and to enhance their powers against the next threat to the world.

Rise of the Snakes

The peace left in the wake of Lord Garmadon’s disappearance was soon interrupted by the emergence of a new enemy: Lloyd Garmadon, son of the onetime dark lord. However, Lloyd was nowhere near the threat level of his father, being a young boy whose concept of «evil» was stealing all of the world’s candy for himself. Despite having slacked off considerably since their adventure in the Underworld, the ninja easily stopped Lloyd’s first attack on Jamanakai Village, leaving him to be mocked by the villagers he had previously tricked. By chance, the ninja learn of a prophecy about a green ninja who is destined to defeat the dark lord.

Unfortunately, the ninjas’ «mercy» would have unforeseen consequences; enraged by his humiliation, Lloyd escaped Jamanakai Village and fled to the Glacier Barrens. There, he discovered and opened a strange tomb containing the Hypnobrai, one of the five tribes of Serpentine sealed away long ago. A stroke of luck and clumsiness on Lloyd’s part led to him gaining control of the Hypnobrai through their General, Slithraa, enabling him to actually become something of a threat to the world of Ninjago. After a few failed schemes, however, Lloyd was betrayed by Skales, the scheming second-in-command of the Hypnobrai, who defeated Slithraa in a Slither Pit and became the new general of his tribe.

This only led to more problems for the ninja, as Lloyd sought out another tribe of Serpentine to help him take his revenge on the Hypnobrai. An attempt to gain the allegiance of the Fangpyre appeared promising, but General Fangtom was revealed to be a good friend of Skales from before their imprisonment, forcing Lloyd to flee once again. In the meantime, the ninja discovered the ability to transform the Golden Weapons into powerful vehicles, shortly after being forced to release their dragons in order to let them molt at the Spirit Coves, and also discover an ancient pirate ship, the Destiny’s Bounty, that they convert into a flying base.

The real trouble came when Lloyd sought out the most powerful and dangerous Serpentine tribe of all; the Anacondrai. With their numbers reduced to one due to hunger and cannibalism, a cunning individual named Pythor P. Chumsworth soon lived up to his tribe’s reputation by leading the ninja into a trap before betraying Lloyd and stealing the Map of Dens. Following this, Master Wu took in his wayward nephew, hoping to turn him to the side of good.

Using the Map of Dens, Pythor freed the remaining Serpentine tribes and united them to gather the four Fangblades to awaken the Great Devourer. When Lloyd is captured by the serpentine, Wu leaves to seek out Garmadon to get his help in rescuing him. During the hunt for the fangblades, the ninja begin to unlock their full potential one by one, during which Zane is revealed to be a Nindroid, and Nya joins the team as Samurai X. Wu returns with Garmadon and declares a truce until Lloyd is freed. During the hunt for the third Fangblade, Kai saves Lloyd at the cost of losing the Fangblade and realizes he is destined to become the green ninja.

Desperate to stop the Serpentine, the ninja perform a daring raid to steal the Fangblades from the Serpentine’s lair and do so with help of Garmadon and the Skulkin. However, before the ninja can destroy the Fangblades, Pythor, who snuck aboard the ship, steals them back and manages to revive the Great Devourer, but is devoured by it along with Wu. The ninja end up fighting against the Great Devourer in Ninjago City, but even with the Golden Weapons and the return of the Ultra Dragon, it takes Garmadon wielding all four Golden Weapons at once to destroy the creature. After the Devourer is destroyed, Garmadon disappears with the weapons and Wu is revealed to have survived

Legacy of the Green Ninja

After defeating the Great Devourer, Lord Garmadon took the Golden Weapons, and the ninja begin training Lloyd at Dareth’s dojo so that he can face his father one day and save Ninjago, something which he was afraid to do for the sake of their bond. Garmadon works to thwart the prophecy by recruiting the masterless Serpentine and merging the Golden Weapons into the powerful Mega Weapon.After Garmadon’s last attempt ended with Lloyd aging to a teenager like his four mentors, he attempts to change the events of the past so Lloyd’s would not become the Green Ninja. The original four ninja follow Garmadon and use the Golden Weapons of the past to destroy the Mega Weapon, restoring the timeline and sending the Golden Weapons and the Mega Weapon into space.

Garmadon ends up betrayed by the Serpentine and washes up on an island with a disembodied voice called the Overlord and makes an alliance with him. Meanwhile, the venom of the Great Devourer seeps into catacombs beneath Ninjago and animates the Stone Army, the Overlord’s personal army, trapping the Serpentine underground in the process. Due to the Stone Army’s indestructibility, the ninja, along with Misako, Lloyd’s mother, travel to the Dark Island to stop them and Garmadon. On the way to the Dark Island, the Destiny’s Bounty is damaged, forcing the ninja to dock at a island prison where they meet Dr. Julien, Zane’s creator, who was revived by Samukai to make his vehicles, who helps them get to the Dark Island. On the island, the ninja find the Temple of Light, the forging place of the Golden Weapons, where they unlock new powers capable of defeating the Stone Army. Despite their efforts, the ninja fail to stop the countdown to the final battle, and Nya is capture and corrupted with evil. Garmadon reveals his ultimate weapon, Garmatron, a weapon that fires concentrated evil that corrupts Ninjago and the Overlord is revealed to be the true Dark Lord from the prophecy. He betrays and possesses Garmadon and heads to Ninjago. After the ninja escape the Island with the help of the Ultra Dragon, they fly to a corrupted Ninjago City to fight the overlord. With the help of his allies, including Dareth who takes control of the Stone Army, Lloyd confronts the transformed Overlord uses his newfound Golden Power to defeat him in a blast of golden light. In the aftermath of the battle, Nya and the rest of Ninjago are restored to normal, and even Garmadon is purged of the evil inflicted by the Great Devourer’s venom.

Rebooted

With the apparent defeat of the Overlord, Ninjago City is reborn as New Ninjago City, a futuristic utopia, while the ninja—minus Lloyd—Wu, and Nya take over Lloyd’s old boarding school and turn it into Wu’s Academy. On a field trip to the city, they visit the technology company Borg Industries, only to learn a horrifying truth from Cyrus Borg: the Overlord has been reborn as the Digital Overlord, a computer virus that has infected Borg’s systems. Seeking to escape the Digiverse, he wants to steal Lloyd’s Golden Power to create a physical body for himself. Cyrus also equip the ninja with the four Techno Blades, which can hack any machine and together, reboot the system and destroy the Overlord for good. The ninja escape New Ninjago City, but Wu is captured while distracting the Overlord’s army. The Overlord then creates an army of nindroids to hunt down Lloyd and the Techno Blades.

The ninja flee to a monastery where the reunite with a reformed Garmadon, who has vowed to give up fighting. After capturing P.I.X.A.L, Cyrus’s android assistant who was corrupted by the Overlord, and freeing her with the Technoblades, the ninja split up. Lloyd and Garmadon go into hiding to train Lloyd’s golden powers and hide from the Overlord while the others work to remove the Overlord from the system. Meanwhile, Nya becomes conflicted with her relationship with Jay when a matchmaking machine determines Cole is her perfect match.

The ninja manage to disable the power to New Ninjago City, rendering the Digital Overlord powerless, but Pythor, who survived being eaten by the Great Devourer, takes the hard drive containing the Digital Overlord and allies with him. While trying to get back to New Ninjago City, Zane uses his power source to revive P.I.X.A.L , whom he has grown close to. Pythor reactivates the nindroid army along with Wu, who has been turned into a cyborg under the control of the Overlord, while the ninja learn from the freed and reformed Serpentine that the Overlord seeks to become the Golden Master, an evil entity with the same power as the First Spinjitzu Master. Lloyd is eventually capture and is slowly drained of his golden power, forcing the ninja to directly plug their minds into the digiverse to reboot the system. With the help of Garmadon, who breaks his vow of nonviolence to help save his son, the ninja reboot the system, purge the Overlord, free Wu from his control, and save Lloyd, but the Overlord manages to escape in his incomplete body.

Lloydsplits his power among the rest of the ninja to prevent the Overlord from taking it, forcing the Overlord and Pythor to find an alternate source of Golden Power: the Golden Weapons. The ninja stowaway on a rocket to prevent the nindroids from retrieving the remains of the Golden Weapons from a comet, but fail and become stranded on the comet. Against all odds, the ninja return to Ninjago and confront the Overlord, who has turned the remains of the weapons into armor and become the Golden Master in New Ninjago City. Cyrus comes up with a plan to use a special pill to shrink the Golden Mast to a harmless size, but Pythor takes the hit and shrinks instead. On the verge of defeat, Zane sacrifices himself to destroy the Golden Master’s body and his nindroid army. After the battle, Zane is hailed as a hero and dubbed «the Titanium Ninja», but P.I.X.A.L discovers traces of Zane still exists in the system.

Tournament of Elements

With the loss of Zane and the love triangle between Cole, Jay, and Nya further straining the team, the ninja go their separate ways. When Lloyd tries to convince the team to reunite, they get a message from Chen stating Zane is alive and will be freed if the ninja participate and win his Tournament of Elements. When the ninja leave for the ferry to Chen’s Island, they are joined by Garmadon, who reveals his history with Chen, and that the Tournament is between other Elemental Masters. Early into the Tournament, the ninja learn the losers of each round are stripped of their Elemental Powers by Chen and his cult followers using a special staff, and that he plans to steal all the competitor’s powers for himself.

During the tournament, a rebuilt Zane awakens in Chen’s prison and begins trying to break out. During his escape attempts, he learns P.I.X.A.L, who was captured with him, has had her body destroyed, but saves her mind by downloading it into her system. However, he is quickly recaptured by Clouse, Chen’s second in command.

In the second round of the tournament, Cole and Jay are made to fight each other in an attempt by Chen to divide the ninja further, but it backfires when Jay and Cole repair their friendship and Cole choses to forfeit the match. Allying with the Elemental Master of the Mind, Neuro, the ninja learn Chen is gathering elemental powers to perform an unknown spell. Chen’s next attempts to defeat the ninja during Lloyd’s match, when he turns the other competitors against him in game called Thundernblade, but the ninja bring them on their side by revealing Chen’s true plans. Meanwhile, Nya goes to help the ninja, unintentionally bringing Dareth along with her. When Cole is brought into Chen’s noodle factory as a prisoner, he reunites with Zane and the two concoct a plan to free all the prisoners.

With Dareth’s help, Nya is able to go undercover in Chen’s palace as a kabuki and relays a message from Cole to the ninja that Zane has been found. The ninja learn Chen has put a spy in their alliance and try to determine who it is, but they fail to do so. Dareth gets captured, compromising Nya’s cover and forcing her to flee into the island’s jungle. Chen makes the next round a manhunt for Nya and during the round, Kai discovers Skylor, the Elemental Master of Amber who can copy powers whom he developed an attraction to, is Chen’s spy and daughter. After defeating Clouse, who gets sucked into the Curse Realm by his own spell, Garmadon and Lloyd find Nya, who reveals Chen is planning to use the stolen powers to perform a spell that will turn him and his cult into Anacondrai, the mightiest of the Serpentine tribes. Chen makes his move and has his followers capture the remaining competitors.

When Chen has the prisoners stripped of their powers, Skylor, who had also developed feelings for Kai, convinces Chen to spare him from being sent to the factory. Chen tries to convince Kai to join his side, promising to reveal secrets about his parents that Wu has hidden from him. Lloyd, Nya, and Garmadon try to defeat Chen, they are seemingly betrayed by Kai, who gave them up to save his sister. However, Kai’s true plan was to convince Skylor to turn on father and steal the staff. At the same time, the captured competitors break free from Chen’s factory by building a rotor jet. Kai destroys the staff, restoring all the stolen powers, and the Elemental Masters take control of the island, though Chen escapes with Skylor as a prisoner.

Despite losing the staff, Chen realizes Skylor has absorbed all the powers needed to perform the spell and turns himself an his followers, as well as Skylor and Garmadonm into an army of Anacondrai that overwhelm the Elemental Masters and head for Ninjago. Zanes discovers how to conquer his trauma from fighting the Golden Master and creates an elemental dragon to fly to Ninjago, as well as teaching the other Elemental Masters how to do so.

The Elemental Masters scatter to find Chen and his army while the Ninja learn the transformation spell is only temporary without the essence of a real Anacondrai. The ninja go to protect the only remaining Anacondrai, the shrunken and imprisoned Pythor, but fail and Pythor is captured. Chen uses Pythor’s essence to complete his army’s transformation and reveals he made Garmadon take credit for a love letter written by Wu to Misako, which won her heart; causing Wu to become infuriated at his brother. The Elemental Masters, the ninja, and the citizen of Ninjago face Chen’s army in the Corridor of Elders in massive battle. Pythor, unwilling to let Chen rule Ninjago instead of him and disrespect his tribe, brings Clouse’s spellbook and suggests unleashing the cursed spirits of the Anacondrai generals to defeat Chen’s army. Since the spell requires someone to take the place of the freed cursed souls, Garmadon, wanting to make up for all the wrong he’s done in his life, volunteers to sacrifice himself. Garmadon’s family forgive him for all he’s done and Lloyd performs the spell, unleashing the Anacondrai generals who curse Chen’s Army and take their revenge on Chen for all his deceit, condemning them to the Cursed Realm. Arcturus, the head general of the Anacondrai, praises Pythor and restores him to normal size before he and his generals pass on.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Elemental Masters go their separate way and the ninja commemorate Garmadon’s life, building a statue of him in the Corridor of Elders, and burn Clouse’s spellbook. Unbeknownst to them, a ghostly figure surrounded by wind has escaped from the Cursed Realm.

Possession

Some time after the battle with Chen’s Army, Wu retires by opening a tea shop called Steep Wisdom and Lloyd continues to mourn the loss of his father. While on a solo mission, Lloyd is attacked by a Morro, who was released from the Cursed Realm when Garmadon opened the portal, who possesses him and strips the ninja of their elemental powers. Morro attacks Steep Wisdom to steal Wu’s Staff, which is revealed to hold the clues to find the First Spinjitzu Master’s tomb. The staff is lost to Morro, but not before the ninja record the clues to the tomb. Wu explains his history with Morro and the ninja decide to follow the clues to the tomb to find and free Lloyd. Morro unlocks the first clue and uses the Allied Armor of Azure to summon Ghost Warriors to aid his search.

Misako determines the first clue to finding the tomb is Airjitzu, a martial art that allows the user to fly. Zane discovers the scroll that teaches the technique was stolen by a thief named Ronin who is hiding out it the town of Stiix, something Morro is unaware of. Nya stays behind at Steep Wisdom and is told that while her father was the Elemental Master of Fire, her mother was the master of Water and she has inherited her powers. On the way to Stiix, the ninja are attacked by one of Morro’s ghost warriors, but defeat him after learning Ghosts are destroyed by water.

The ninja find Ronin, but without Lloyd to lead them, they struggle to work as a team and they lose the scroll of Airjitzu to Morro. In exchange for the ninja’s shares of Steep Wisdom, Ronin reveals there is another way to learn Airjitzu. The ninja travel to the Temple of Sensei Yang, the creator of Airjitzu, to learn the technique. The ninja confront the ghost of Sensei Yang and pass his test, earning a scoll of Airjitzu, but Cole becomes a ghost when he fails to leave the cursed temple before sunrise.

At Steep Wisdom, Nya struggles with her Elemental training and Wu discovers her weakness, she gives up when confronted with failure. Ronin arrives and Nya, believing she be of more use as Samurai-X, takes him to her cave where they discover Morro and his Ghost Warriors are stealing her equipment. While Nya is able to destroy Morro’s summoning armor, she and Ronin are overwhelmed by the ghosts and are only saved when Nya taps into her Elemental Powers.

After learning Airjitzu, the ninja follow the next clue to the Wailing Alps. At the top of the mountain is a portal that leads to the Cloud Kingdom Realm, where the Sword of Sanctuary, a weapon that can see the future and bypass the traps guarding the tomb. The ninja manage to make it into the Cloud Kingdom before Morro and meet Fenwick, who reveals the reason Morro is trying to find the tomb is because it is the resting place of the Realm Crystal, a crystal that can access any realm. With the crystal, Morro can release his master the Preeminent, the embodiment of the Cursed Realm, who will curse every realm if she is freed. Fenwick betrays the group to Morro to ensure his own safety, allowing Morro to get, but another citizen on the Cloud Kingdom thwarts him and gives the ninja the chance to escape. Kai fights Morro and Lloyd begins fighting back against Morro’s possession, allowing Kai to escape with the sword of Sanctuary.

With the sword in hand, the ninja try to find the location of the tomb while Nya continues training. With Ronin’s surprising help, Nya is able to make progress on mastering her powers, but Ronin reluctantly steals the Sword of Sanctuary to repay a debt for his soul for the Soul Archer, one of the ghost warriors. When Ronin gives the sword to Morro, he double crosses him and possesses him to trick the ninja. The ninja are led into a trap in the Caves of Despair, the same place where Morro died, but escape and Ronin reveals the tomb’s true location. They follow Morro through the tomb and overcome its traps, during which Jay sees a vision of the future where he is with Nya, and find the Realm Crystal before Morro. However, Morro holds Lloyd hostage to trade for the Realm Crystal and despite the ninja regaining their Elemental Powers, Morro escapes with the crystal, thought Lloyd is freed in the process.

Morro fortifies himself in Stiix and uses the crystal to summon an army of Ghost Warriors to protect him as he summons the Preeminent. The ninja storm Stiix with new vehicles built by Cryus Borg, though Wu has to sell Steep Wisdom to pay for them. Thanks to help from a remorseful Ronin, Lloyd manages to get in position to destroy the Realm Crystal and prevent the Preeminent from entering Ninjago, but Morro stalls him by reveal Garmadon is trapped inside the Cursed Realm. The Preeminent sucks Lloyd into the Cursed Realm and goes on a rampage in Stiix, forcing the Ninja to evacuate the citizens. Inside the Cursed Realm, Lloyd reunites with his father who tells him to destroy the Preemenent even though it will mean he will die with it. Lloyd engages in battle with Morro to reclaim the realm Crystal and ultimately becomes stranded in a different realm with the Sword of Sanctuary. Back in Ninjago, the ninja evacuate the citizens of Stiix on boat, but the Preeminent follows with mech made from the buildings of Stix that allows it to resist the ocean’s water. Nya unlocks her true potential by accepting the idea and overcoming her fear of failure and creates a tidal wave that drown the Preeminent, pulling it and the Ghost Warriors into the sea. Morro is the only Ghost Warrior to escape, but the Preemenent tries to take him with her into the ocean. Despite Wu’s attempts to save him, Morro finally accepts his fate and tells Wu that he can only save those who want to be saved, biding him farewell as he gives him the Realm Crystal and lets himself perish in the sea. The ninja use the Realm Crystal to bring Lloyd back and he reveals he saw what would happen with the Sword of Sanctuary and that he has decided to become a master like his father.

Skybound

In the wake of the Preeminent’s defeat, the ninja have become celebrities, but Nya is struggling with her new status on the team while Jay struggles dealing with his feelings for her, which were renewed when he saw his future with her in the First Spinjitzu Master’s tomb. The ninja learn that Clouse had escaped the Cursed Realm and heading toward the remains of Stiix.

The following events were undone due to Jay’s final wish, and thus, did not happen in the current timeline.

Jay’s unresolved feelings end up stalling the ninja’s pursuit, allowing Clouse to find the Teapot of Tyrahn and frees Nadakhan, the wish granting Djinn who was once the captain of an ancient pirate crew. Nadakhan quickly tricks Clouse into «wishing it all away» and traps him inside the teapot. He then learns that his crew has been scatter among the realms, except for Delara his lover, who perished, and vows to rebuild his crew. Discovering the ninja know of the Realm Crystal’s location, Nadakhan frames them for crimes, turning them into fugitives, and captures Wu and Misako in the teapot after learning the location from the latter. The ninja learn about Nadakhan framing them and search for clues about him, but are captured one by one by Ronin and Nadakhan steals the Realm Crystal and reforms his pirate crew.

The ninja are sent to Kryptarium Prison, where they meet Captain Soto, the one who originally trapped Nadakhan. Soto reveals Nadakhan’s one weakness is the deadly Venom of a Tiger Widow spider, which can weaken him enough to capture him, and agrees to give up the location of the island where it’s found if the ninja break him out of prison. After the ninja escape prison with Soto, he reveals the map to the island is on a lantern on the Sky Pirates ship and that Nya is a doppelganger of Delara.

After Nadakhan rescues his crew from the other realms, he decides to return to his homeland, Djinjago, because the age of pirates has passed. However, upon arrival, he finds the realm on the brink of destruction. He finds his father, the Djinn king Khanjikhan, reveals that when the ninja destroyed the Preeminent, the embodiment of the Cursed Realm, the sister realm of Djinjago, it caused Djinjago to begin falling apart. Khanjikhan names Nadakhan the next Djinn king and gives him he Djinn Blade, a weapon that can wield the powers of the souls trapped inside, so Nadakhan can avenge Djinjago. Nadakhan uses the blade to absorb the power of the souls he has trapped in the teapot, escapes back to Ninjago just after Djinjago is destroyed, and vows revenge on all of Ninjago. The Sky Pirates modify their ship to fly so they can conquer Ninjago

While hiding from the law and searching for Nadakhan, Nya talks to Jay about his feelings and states they can only be friends. Nadakhan takes advantage of Jay’s feelings for Nya to tempt him into making a wish that he wasn’t born in junkyard. The wish results in Jay learning that he was adopted as a baby and this deceased birth father was an actor named Cliff Gordon and Jay inherits his wealth and estate. Nadakhan appears again and tries to get Jay to use his second wish but Jay just accidental wishes he wasn’t alone, prompting Nya to arrive and forcing Nadakhan to leave. Later, Cole figures out that Jay made a wish to try and win Nya’s heart, but agrees keeps it a secret. In order to separate the ninja, Nadakhan has his Sky Pirates attack Ninjago city. Thought this provides the ninja the opportunity to steal the map to Tiger Widow Island, Nadakhan manipulates Kai into wishing himself inside the blade. With the power of the souls he has absorbed in the Djinn Blade, Nadakhan begins lifting pieces of Ninjago into the sky to rebuild Djinjago.

The ninja travel to Tiger Widow Island to get the venom needed to stop Nadakhan, but during the trip Nadakhan captures Zane in the Djinn Blade after deleting P.I.X.A.L.. Cole reveals Jay’s wishes, believing Jay’s secrecy is the reason Kai and Zane were captured, creating a rift between him and the remaining ninja. Jay is forced to get the venom from the Tiger Widow for his actions, but the Sky Pirates attack. Jay is kidnapped and the pirates leave the remaining ninja stranded, though the ninja managed to save the venom.

On Nadakhan’s ship, the Sky Pirates try to break Jay’s will to make him wish himself into the Djinn Blade, but Jay holds out. Jay manages to send out a message during a failed escape attempt and is brought to speak with Nadakhan. Nadakhan reveals the real reason he is rebuilding Djinjago is to marry Nya; for once a Djinn king marries on Djinn land, he is granted unlimited wishes for himself. Jay tries to convince the Sky Pirates that Nadakhan will turn on them when he gets married, but they don’t believe him.

The other ninja manage to escape Tiger Widow Island with the help of the police, who realized the ninja’s innocence, and Nya learns Airjitzu in the process. They then try to rescue Jay by infiltrating the Sky Pirates, but they end up captured. Before Nadakhan can force Nya to marry him by threatening the other ninja, the ninja use Nadakhan’s wishes against him and the sky pirates. Lloyd uses one of his wishes to become wise as Wu, but becomes old as him as a side effect. When the ninja are cornered and only Lloyd and Jay have a wish left, Lloyd uses his new wisdom to tell Jay his last wish can stop Nadakhan if it said from the heart and gives and Nya the chance to escape with his last wish. Nadakhan forces Clancee, the only member of the Sky pirates who hasn’t used his wishes, to wish Cole and Lloyd into the Djinn Blade and Flintlocke, the Sky Pirates’ first mate, realizes Nadakhan will betray them upon seeing his desperation to wed Nya.

Nya and Jay go into hiding at Dr. Julien’s old prison to figure out Jay’s last wish should be and meet Echo Zane, a crude remake of Zane. While alone, the two reflect on their feelings and their future and figure out what their last wish should be, to turn Nadakhan into a mortal human, stripping him of all his powers. Flintlocke decides to mutiny against Nadakhan, but fails and Nadakhan forces Clancee to use his second wish to find Nya and Jay. The Pirates attack the island prison and despite putting up a good fight, Nya lets herself be captured and sends Jay to safety with traveler’s tea after admitting her true feelings for him.

Jay ends up in his parent’s junkyard and his father encourages him to gather a makeshift team of the ninja’s allies to rescue Nya. The team manages to sneak onto New Djinjago and free the other ninja from the Djinn blade. The group realizes that when Nadakhan is turned mortal, new Djinjago will collapse onto Ninjago, causing complete destruction, and send the replacement team to prepare it for the worst. The ninja fail to stop the wedding and Nadakhan becomes all powerful, quickly banishing his crew except for Flintlocke and Dogshank, and then reincarnates Delara in Nya’s body. The ninja manage to escape and find the Tiger Widow venom, which is still capable of stopping Nadakhan and allowing Jay to make his last wish. With Flintlocke’s help, the Ninja hit Nadakhan with the venom, but Nya is hit in the process, killing her. A mournful Jay wishes that Nya had taken his hand and that the Teapot of Tyrahn was never found. Nadakhan, being hit with the venom and with Jay’s wish being pure, has no choice but to grant it, and recent events are undone.

The following events occurred after Jay made his final wish, and thus, happened.

Jay’s wish reverses time to the point where the ninja were stalled finding Clouse and only Jay and Nya remember what happened and get back together. When Clouse tries to find the Teapot of Tyrahn, the citizens of Stiix find him and chase him off, leaving the teapot to be taken away to a junkyard. As Nya and Jay celebrate, Yang’s temple floats in the distance.

The Realm of Shadows

Clouse had somehow escaped the Cursed Realm and planned to plunge Ninjago into darkness by using Bandit, a young YinYang Dragon. He also gathered a force of Shadow Minions to help him capture Bandit.

Dark Island Trilogy

After the events of Skybound, a new darkness threatens the Ninjago universe. Fishermen vanish from the seas, a violent storm brews off the edge of Dark Island, and Master Wu senses a growing imbalance between good and evil. When Misako and Ronin disappear, they leave behind one clue—a warning to stay away.

Day of the Departed

On the Day of the Departed, the ninja gather to remember their passed loved ones but are reminded of old foes by the Ninjago Museum of History’s new Hall of Villainy exhibit. Cole, whose ghostly state has been growing worse, receives an unexpected message from Yang and sets out to confront the villain in revenge for his transformation. He unwittingly plays into Yang’s hands by delivering to him the Yin Blade, and Yang takes advantage of the Yin-Yang Eclipse to revive some of the old enemies of the ninja to pit them against them. As these revived foes—joined by Pythor—hunt down the various ninja with Yang sets out to open the Rift of Return, which will allow him to return to being human.

As Cole fights again Yang’s enslaved students, the other ninja defeat their old enemies and send them back to the Departed Realm. Wu is warned of Yang’s plan by the reformed Morro, who peacefully returns to the Departed Realm after making amends, and the ninja rush to save Cole. Cole confronts Yang and learns Yang used the Yin Blade to try and live forever because he was afraid of being forgotten, but it backfired and cursed him and his students. Cole defeat Yang with his new Earth Punch and tells him that he will be remembered as the one who created airjitzu, causing Yang to see the error of his ways. The two make amends and Cole and Yang’s student pass through the rift of return, becoming human once more, while stays behind due to the curse, though he is at peace with his fate. The curse on Yang’s temple is lifted and the ninja make it their new base.

The Hands of Time

Forty years after the first Serpentine War, Acronix, one of the Time Twins, passes through a time vortex and is challenged to a fight by Master Wu. Though Wu initially defeats Acronix, the arrival of the Forward Timeblade shifts the battle in his favor and Acronix strikes Wu with the «Time Punch», causing Wu to begin rapidly aging. The ninja come to his aid and seemingly destroy Acronix, but escapes alive unbeknownst to them. Acronix reunites with Krux, posing as museum curator Dr. Saunders, who reveals his army of Vermillion Serpentine: the spawn of the Great Devourer. Using the Vermillion warriors, the time twins kidnap Cyrus Borg and damage Zane.

Kai goes to the history museum to try and learn more about the time twins, but discovers Krux’s deception and fights him and Acronix with Nya’s help. During the fight, Krux claims Kai’s parents were allied with them during their betrayal of the original elemental masters before escaping with his brother and the captive Cyrus Borg.

With Wu incapacitated and rapidly growing older, Lloyd is put in charge as the replacement master, but the other ninja don’t listen to him. The Time Twins send the Vermillion to steal all the metal they can find, including inside Nya’s Samurai-X Cave where Zane is being repaired. The ninja ignore Lloyd’s order to protect Wu and go to stop the Vermillion warriors and Lloyd joins them after realizing he made the same mistake Wu did fighting Acronix: fighting alone. They stop a group of Vermillion, but they launch another attack at Mega Monster Amusement Park forcing the ninja, including Zane who has been repaired, except for being unable to speak with P.I.X.A.L, to head their next, except for Jay, who believes the Vermillion will attack his parents’ junkyard.

During the Vermillion’s hunt for metal, the Slow-Mo Timeblade arrives in the present and the Time Twins order the Vermillion to retrieve it as they force Cyrus borg to build something for their ultimate weapon. The Vermillion get to the Timeblade first and us it on the ninja, except for Jay who was protecting his parents. Jay and his father create the lightning bike, which allows Jay to rescue the ninja and even take the Timeblade. However, the victory is short lived when the Time Twins attack the temple to reclaim the Timeblade. During the battle, the ninja are aided by Samurai-X, but was someone other than Nya. Despite their efforts, the ninja lose the Timeblade and Wu is taken captive as well. In the aftermath of the battle, Kai finds his father’s blacksmith symbol on one of the Vermillion’s helmet, creating further doubt in Kai about his parents.

While the ninja for the Time Twins, Nya goes to find out who the new Samurai-X is and Kai goes to his parent’s shop to see if they really were traitors. Nya confronts the new Samurai-X, but passes on the title to her after confirming she is a worthy sucessor, despite not learning her identity. Kai finds a secret chamber in the shop with prototype Vermillion Armor, confirming that his father is making weapons for the Vermillions. The other ninja learn from Skales the location of the Time Twin’s base, and that they are building an entire army of Vermillion warriors. Kai reveals what he’s learned about his parents with Nya, but overcomes his doubts after talking with Skylor.

The ninja sneak into the Time Twin’s swamp base and find the Vermillion have been kidnapping builders to build their equipment. During the ninja’s infiltration, the Pause Timeblade arrives in the present and is recovered by the Time Twins. Kai finds and confronts his father, Ray only to find his mother, Maya, there as well who reveals they were the forgers of the Timeblades and Krux forced them to work for them after the Serpentine war by threating Kai and Nya. The reunion is cut short by the Time Twins, who force Kai and Nya to go fetch the Reversal Timeblade, because it is only way to reverse Wu’s aging.

The other ninja find Cyrus Borg and discover he was kidnapped to build an apparatus that could harness the Timeblade’s powers for the Iron Doom, the Time Twin’s ultimate weapon built to travel through time. Kai and Nya are taken to the boiling sea, where the Reversal Timeblade was hidden inside a buried temple underwater when it first arrived. The siblings recover the Timeblade with the help of their parent’s Fusion Blade and the fusion dragon, but the Time Twins steal it before they can save Wu and Ray is also struck with the Time Punch. The twins then return to their base, stop the other ninja before they can disable the Iron Doom, and activate the weapon’s time travel capabilities to open a Temporal Vortex to the past. Kai and Nya follow the twins through the Temporal Vortex with Wu and emerge in the moment just after the twins were originally defeated. The twins use the Vermillion against the past elemental masters, but Kai and Nya pose as their parents to help fight them off. The twins then have the Iron Doom fuse with the Vermillion to become alive and stronger, using it to force the alliance to surrender. The change outcome begins to affect the future, but Kai and Nya use the fusion dragon to fight back. The Time Twins then decide that if they cannot change the past, they will travel the future to where the ninja will no longer exist and escape through another Temporal Vortex. Fortunately, the ninja find the Reversal Timeblade of that time and use it to cure Wu and go back in time before the twins could escape to the future. They follow the twin through the vortex as their efforts restore the future and infiltrate the Iron Doom. When the twins overwhelm Kai and Nya, Wu sabotages the Iron Doom by removing the Reversal Blade from its time apparatus and sends it along Kai and Nya back to the present. Wu stays behind and faces twin to finish the fight as the Iron Doom becomes lost in time.

Kai and Nya use the Reversal Timeblade to cure Ray, but everyone mourns the disappearance of Wu. Lloyd is made the ninja’s master once again and he decides to get rid the remaining Timeblade and that the ninja will not rest until Wu is found.

Sons of Garmadon

One year has passed since Master Wu became lost in time, and the ninja are still searching for him. Unfortunately for their search, a mysterious group of bikers who worship Lord Garmadon pose a new threat to Ninjago. After Lord Garmadon is resurrected, the ninja fail to stop Garmadon and he takes over Ninjago as its new emperor, but Kai, Zane, Jay, Cole, and a young Wu escape to the Realm of Oni and Dragons.

Hunted

A week after Emperor Garmadon takes over Ninjago City, Lloyd, Nya, and the remaining team forms The Resistance. They find out their friends are alive, and team up with the Elemental Masters to wait out and resist until their friends return.

Meanwhile, Cole, Jay, Kai, Zane, and Wu are stranded in the first realm. There they encounter the Dragon Hunters, a race of people that exploit the Dragons for their elemental power. The stranded ninja fight back against the Hunters and learn about the legend of the Dragon Armor and the Firstbourne Dragon, and they seek it out with the help of Faith.

The ninja and Wu return to Ninjago with the Armor, and they reunite with the others to take down Garmadon and the Sons of Garmadon. After the battle ends, Garmadon warns Lloyd that «they» are coming. Lloyd tells Master Wu that he thinks «they» are the Oni, and without Garmadon’s power holding them back, they will come soon.

March of the Oni

Shortly after Garmadon was defeated, he was locked in Kryptarium Prison. Lloyd would see him and tell him what he was really told the last time he saw him. Garmadon promised he would help stop the Oni if he were to be released, but Lloyd doesn’t believe it. Unfortunately, the Oni teleported to Ninjago via the Realm Crystal and plunged Ninjago City into darkness.

Lloyd and Garmadon confront the Omega, the leader of the Oni and tried to destroy the Realm Crystal. Lloyd destroyed the Realm Crystal, but it was not enough; however, the Golden Armor was used against the Oni to hold them back until Lloyd and Garmadon could flee.

When the ninja attempted to save some people at NGTV station, Cole, unfortunately, falls into the darkness because of an error of Nya. Lloyd and Garmadon are saved by P.I.X.A.L. and barely make it to the Destiny’s Bounty with enough fuel.

With the Golden Armor the only way to stop the Oni, Kai, a former blacksmith, reforges them into the Golden Weapons. Just as they were finished, the Oni are seen marching along the Mountain of Impossible Heights to the Monastery of Spinjitzu. A lengthy battle ensues with the Oni having the upper-hand until Cole returns with the rebuilt Earth Driller.

Despite the new addition, they are forced to flee into the Monastery with the Oni overpowering the ninja. With very little hope, Lloyd suggests that they all perform the Tornado of Creation. They successfully defeat the Oni and all the Realms the Oni invaded are purified from the darkness.

Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu

The ninja stopped training, as they thought there were no villains to fight. One day, NGTV’s Gayle Gossip went to an unexplored pyramid and interviewed a former explorer, Clutch Powers, but he insisted that he wouldn’t explore it. With Clutch’s help, the ninja went in the pyramid but accidentally release Aspheera, who took Kai’s fire. Everyone but Kai went to the Ninjago Museum of History after barely escaping the pyramid, and Aspheera released Pyro Vipers and her second-in command. After a long battle, Aspheera and her generals took the first scroll.

Aspheera eventually found her way to Wu, who is the “treacherous deceiver” and a battle is made between the Ninja and Pyro Vipers. Aspheera is defeated but before giving up she unintentionally sends Zane to the Never-Realm. Wu later gains this information from their last encounter.

Prime Empire

The Mechanic is breaking into a warehouse to find the Prime Empire motherboard but is shortly captured by the Ninja. The Ninja later go into an arcade which is the criminal’s hideout. Jay finds the legend video game called Prime Empire, reaches Level 13 and is taken into the game.

Later, the Ninja come to the conclusion that they need to enter the game to save Jay and others trapped in the game.

After Nya, Cole, Kai and Lloyd hope into Prime Empire. Zane & P.I.X.A.L. are out to find Milton Dyer, who they believe at the time is Unagami but The Mechanic attacks them and kidnaps Zane. P.I.X.A.L finds Milton Dyer and they attempt to rescue Zane and Wu.

Shortly after Unagami and Jay on the Blue Dragon come out of the Manifestation Gate and plan to get Unagami and Milton to talk out their problems. A battle ensues between Unagami and the Lightning Ninja until they reach Borg Tower. Milton and Unagami make amends and Unagami frees anybody that originated in Ninjago and in Prime Empire.

Master of the Mountain

The Ninja are invited to Shintaro which is on the northern side of Ninjago. The Ninja shortly find out that there is a evil called the Skull Sorcerer enslaving Geckles & Munce. After being split up, having the 2 tribes make amends and learning about the Spinjitzu Burst and connections to the Earth. The Ninja finally defeat the Skull Sorcerer and free the Dungeons of Shintaro.

The Island

Lloyd is checking the monitors for in case of any crimes he tells P.I.X.A.L. that he isn’t ok with the Police using Ronin to help round up criminals but is soon alerted by Cecil Putnam who tells him that Wu, Misako and Clutch Powers are lost at sea. The Ninja pull up whatever information they can about the uncharted island, they learn of Twitchy Tim and asks for his help for information of him of the island, to which he agrees to.

Seabound

In a grassland, the Ninja find Miss Demeanor smuggling Vengestone but she escapes when Nya‘s attempt to catch her ends up backfiring and almost harming an entire village.

Wu and the Ninja except for Nya all learn of Wojira to see what could be disruptive to Nya’s powers. They all come to the conclusion that they need to contact Maya. She is called and comes to help Nya.

Later, while Nya is being trained, Zane & P.I.X.A.L. go to a water rescue and find an energy burst that is disruptive to anything linked to water. The other Ninja gain this information and head out into the sea.

After running into Merlopians and Kalmaar, Nya calls Cole and tells them of their situation. Wu, Misako, Ray, Kai & Cole get to the Explorer’s Club and confront Clutch Powers about the Storm Amulet, only for Kalmaar to arrive and a battle to begin between the Ninja and Merlopians. When the battle ends, Kalmaar ends up with the Storm Amulet and awakens Wojira.

Ninjago is then sunken underwater as Wojira terrorized Ninjago City. But Nya in her new form defeats Wojira and lowers down the sea to its normal level for Ninjago to stand. An memorial is held in Nya’s honor.

Crystalized

With the ninja team disbanded for a year, the New Ninja sought out to protect Ninjago from criminals. Cole is able to reunite the ninja team to deal with a Vengestone operation by Miss Demeanor and her henchmen, but the New Ninja defeat them and arrest the criminals.

Later, when Nya returns to the ninja, the team decide to illegally break Aspheera out of Kryptarium Prison in order for her to steal Nya’s powers with her staff and return her back to human, at the cost of themselves being sentenced to five years in Kryptarium Prison. When the ninja hear that a mysterious villain, known as the Crystal King, is recruiting the ninja’s enemies such as Aspheera, Pythor, Vangelis, and the Mechanic, the ninja break out of jail with the help of Dareth and Nya (whom as taken the personna of Samurai X again), and has Lloyd infiltrate the Council of the Crystal King as the Mechanic. However, Lloyd is captured by the Kabuki Mask, who is revealed to be Harumi, and has the Crystal Council break into the Monastery of Spinjitzu and steal the Weapons of Spinjitzu, corrupting them and allowing the Crystal King, who is actually the Overlord’s new identity, to take form. Lloyd is able to escape their clutches, though the Overlord makes the Crystal Temple airborne and awakens his Crystal Warriors to attack Ninjago, turning people into Crystal zombies.

The Overlord and his crystal army begin attacking Ninjago City, corrupting more citizens and separating the ninja team, though they are able to reunite again, and by discovering an ultimate power known as Dragon Form, the ninja gather their past allies and unlock their Dragon Forms, striking against the Crystal army, and regaining their Golden Weapons back. However, the ninja soon learn that the Overlord’s ultimate goal is to corrupt all life in Ninjago by possessing the elements of Creation. The ninja are forced to unite the Golden Weapons, unleashing their elemental energy to destroy them. However, the Overlord ends up crystalizing all life in Ninjago, though the Golden Ultra Dragon is created and used by the Green Ninja, Lloyd, in order to defeat the Overlord once and for all, freeing all of Ninjago and its inhabitants from the Overlord’s evil power and restoring the Balance.

Geography

Ninjago is home to very diverse geography, with rocky locations such as the Caves of Despair and icy locations such as the Frozen Wasteland and Glacier Barrens.

It contains a mountain range known as the Mountains of Impossible Height and another location known as the Floating Ruins. Two volcanoes are known to exist, one containing the Fire Temple and the other, Torchfire Mountain, having the highest temperature in all of Ninjago.

It has the Toxic Bogs (home to the Venomari Tomb), the Sea of Sand (home to the Anacondrai Tomb and the Lost City of Ouroboros), and the only known city in Ninjago, Ninjago City. Other towns include Jamanakai Village, Stiix, and Ignacia.

At the end of the Stone Wars, the First Spinjitzu Master banished the Overlord by splitting Ninjago into two different landmasses in order to prevent the Overlord from taking over. This action resulted in the Island of Darkness itself and the Island of Ninjago becoming two separate landmasses.

Locations

Cities, towns, etc. Ignacia Jamanakai Village Metalonia Ninjago City Nom Ouroboros Shintaro Mountain Spinjago (non-canon) Stiix Hono Mizu (formerly; now at the bottom of the Boiling Sea) Village in the valley Village of Haru (destroyed) Landmarks and environments Birchwood Forest Blackwood Forest Caves of Despair (destroyed[15]) Crashcourse Canyon Desert of Doom Echo Canyons Corridor of Elders Floating Ruins Forest of Tranquility Cemetery of Souls Frozen Ice Pond Frozen Wasteland Glacier Barrens Golden Peaks Gypsy Cove Haunted Hill Hiroshi’s Labyrinth Mountain of a Million Steps Mountains of Impossible Height Primeval’s Eye Sea of Sand The Teeth Spirit Coves Torchfire Mountain Toxic Bogs Vermillion Swamps Wailing Alps Structures Anacondrai Tomb Benny’s Arcade Emporium Biker Tavern Borg Store Borg Tower Buddy’s Pizza Chan’s Theater Chen’s monastery Cliff Gordon’s estate Concert Hall Constrictai Tomb Dareth’s apartment Dareth’s TV studio Ed & Edna’s Scrap N Junk Fangpyre Tomb Fire Temple Four Weapons Blacksmith Fur Mart Garbage depot Garmadon’s monastery/Steep Wisdom Gas station Grand Sensei Dareth’s Mojo Dojo Hanging Temple Hidden workshop Hiroshi’s Labyrinth Stronghold Hypnobrai Tomb Ice Fortress Kiddie Arcade Kryptarium Prison Laughy’s Library of Domu Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts The Mechanic’s headquarters The Mechanic’s warehouse Mega Monster Amusement Park Monastery of Spinjitzu Mystake’s Tea Shop Ninjago City Aquarium Ninjago City Bank Ninjago City Hospital Ninjago City Police Station Ninjago Doomsday Comix Ninjago Museum of History Old electronics warehouse Oni Temple (destroyed) Repo yard Royal Palace Temple of Resurrection Pyramid (Desert of Doom) (destroyed) Pyramid (Sea of Sand) Samurai X Cave Serpentine’s underground fortress Palace (Shintaro) Steeper Wisdom (non-canon) Tomb of the Stone Army Temple of Airjitzu (formerly; now in the sky) Temple of Fortitude Tower of Tears (destroyed; non-canon) Venomari Tomb Vermillion Dome of Doom Storm Farms Wong’s Costume Wu’s Academy Yang Tavern

Status as a realm

Despite being referred to as a realm, Ninjago is not a realm of its own. «Ninjago» is the name of the island and the planet is referred to as «Ninjago» as a shorthand,^[23] but the planet is part of a larger universe that constitutes the «realm of Ninjago.» This can be inferred because outer space, as seen in «The Void» and «The Titanium Ninja,» exists as the broader setting of the island and planet. Additionally, while it is commonly understood that the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago, this statement refers to the landmass, not the realm, as the Temple of Light and Golden Peaks existed before the rest of the land was created.^[24][25]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Ninjago

Trivia

The Trivia on Ninjago needs to be organized. You can help the wiki by organizing the following information chronologically based on how the information applies to the series. This template can be removed once the section has been organized.

• When the island of Ninjago is seen in «The Stone Army», both it and the Island of Darkness are shown to resemble a dragon. The two islands are positioned to resemble a «yin-yang» formation, symbolizing the balance between light and darkness.
  • Ninjago and the Dark Island, apart from small islands scattered around, appear to be the only landmasses on the planet.
• Presumably, in a wheeled vehicle, it would take around 4-5 days to traverse the island from far north to far south.^[26]
• More information about Ninjago was revealed in building instructions of set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu.
• Although there is no official complete map of the world of Ninjago, Tommy Andreasen has confirmed one fan map as partially canon.^[27] However, the location of Astor City from LEGO Ultra Agents is not canon to the world of Ninjago,^[28] because the theme in general is not canon to Ninjago.^[29]
  • This map was updated on August 13, 2021 with 2021’s locations.^[30]
• The word Ninjago was created by combining the words Ninja and LEGO.^[31]
• The official 2021 map and Captain Soto’s map (see below) were released at a higher definition via PDF on the LEGO webiste.^[32]
• When asked about the appearance of ordinary objects such as traffic cones, Tommy Andreasen noted, «I am definitely picky in that department. Sometimes you needed to argue: ‘why would people in this strange fantasy society come up with a design which is this similar to something in our world?’»^[33]
• When asked what Ninjago’s original realm name was prior to the First Spinjitzu Master creating it, Tommy Andreasen answered, «Ninjago is the continent. Idk. The Infinite Sea?»^[34]
• When asked if Ninjago is a country, Tommy Andreasen said, «No country. The more we define N[injago] the less awesome it will become.»^[35] In a later tweet, he stated Ninjago is «a place, country, island.»^[36]
• The reason why Ninjago runs a UK and Hong Kong plug and socket system^[37] is according to Tommy Andreasen because «The European standard one would have take 400+ hours to render.»^[38]
• Even though Earth is one of the Elemental Powers in Ninjago, the planet is not called Earth. In the world of Ninjago, «Earth» simply means dirt or soil.^[39]
• Tommy Andreasen is unsure if Ninjago has a Prime Minister or President as they «don’t get hung up on politics.»^[40]

Gallery

The images on Ninjago need to be organized. You can help the Wiki by adding images to the appropriate section on «Ninjago.» This template can be removed once images have been organized.

Promotional media

In Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu

In other media

Concept art

References

Locations
Landmarks	Kingdoms, cities and villages: Abandoned village · Coastal village · Farmers’ village · Holy City of Domu · Hono Mizu · Ignacia · Jamanakai Village · Keepers’ Village · Kingdom of Shintaro · Merlopia · Metalonia · Ninjago City · Nom · Oni land · Ouroboros · Serpentine village · Spinjago (non-canon) · Stiix · Valley of the Sphinx · Village in the valley · Village of Haru · Village of the Formlings Jungles and forests: Birchwood Forest · Blackwood Forest · Forest of Tranquility · Glimwillow Woods · Hiroshi’s Labyrinth · Jankikai Jungle · Primeval’s Eye · Toxic Bogs · Uncharted jungle · Vermillion Swamps · Wildwood Forest Mountains, caves and canyons: Caves of Despair · Corridor of Elders · Crashcourse Canyon · Crystal Caves · Dungeons of Shintaro · Echo Canyons · Firstbourne’s nest · Floating Ruins · Geckle Strong-Cave · Golden Peaks · Hollow’s Bluff · Ice Cave · Haunted Hill · Mala-Wojira · Mines of Shintaro · Mino Pit · Mouth of Eternal Shadows · Mountain of a Million Steps · Mountain of Madness · Mountains of Impossible Height · Munce Home-Cave · No Man’s Bluff · Rock-Bottom · Samurai X Cave · Shintaro Mountain · Story cave · Tallest mountain of Ninjago · The Teeth · Torchfire Mountain · Wailing Alps Tombs and graveyards: Anacondrai Tomb · Cemetery of Souls · Constrictai Tomb · Fangpyre Tomb · Graveyard of ships · Hypnobrai Tomb · Lost Tomb of Impending Peril · Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master · Tomb of the Stone Army · Venomari Tomb Water areas: Black River · Boiling Sea · Endless Sea · Frozen pond · Hollow’s Trench · Lightning Lagoon · Northern Ocean · River of Darkness · Shadow Bay · Spirit Coves · Tartarus Trench Islands: Ninjago · Chen’s Island · Dark Island · Dyer Island · Glacial Glacier · Glacier Island (non-canon) · Island of the Keepers · Lighthouse Island · Squawk Island · Tiger Widow Island Deserts: Desert of Doom · Sea of Sand Other: Arctic (non-canon) · Blind Man’s Eye · Billy Badlands · Bottomless pit · Chen’s camp · Chrono Crater (non-canon) · Dead’s End · Dead Man’s Squall · Delta V · Digger’s Deep · Digiverse · Dream World (non-canon) · N line · Frozen Wasteland · Glacier Barrens · Ice labyrinth · Manifestation Gate · Mega Monster Amusement Park · Ninjago (LEGO Universe) (non-canon) · Ninjago wharfs · Ninjago Zoo · Outer space · The Pit · The Pit (Shintaro) · Rift of Return · Route 22 · Route 23 · Storm belt · Strangler’s Path · Temporal vortex
Buildings and establishments	Temples, palaces, fortresses and monasteries: Anacondrai Temple · Castle of Ice · Chen’s monastery · Chen’s Palace · Fire Temple · Garmadon’s Dark Fortress · Garmadon’s monastery · Hanging Temple · Ice Temple · Lloyd’s treehouse fortress · Merlopian Palace · Monastery of Spinjitzu · Mountain monastery · Ninja Dojo Temple · Oni Temple · Palace (Shintaro) · Pyramid (Desert of Doom) · Pyramid of the Sphinx · Royal Palace · Skull Keep · Serpentine Pyramid · Serpentine’s underground fortress · Temple of Airjitzu · Temple of Felis · Temple of Fortitude · Temple of Light · Temple of Madness · Temple of Resurrection · Temple of Wojira Stores and establishments: Benny’s Arcade Emporium · Biker Tavern · Borg Industries · Borg Store · Buddy’s Pizza · Chan’s Theater · City Bank · City Hall · City Jail · Concert Hall · Dairy Dragon · Dareth’s TV studio · Darnagom Enterprises · Ed & Edna’s Scrap N Junk · Explorer’s Club · Four Weapons Blacksmith · Fur Mart · Garbage depot · Gas station · Geckle courthouse · Grand Sensei Dareth’s Mojo Dojo · Kai’s dojo · Kiddie Arcade · Kryptarium Prison (Cell one) · Laughy’s · Library of Domu · Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts · Mystake’s Tea Shop · Ninjago City Aquarium · Ninjago City Bank · Ninjago City Hospital · Ninjago City Police Station · Ninjago Doomsday Comix · Ninjago Harbor · Ninjago Metro · Ninjago Museum of History · Ninjago Park · Noodle factory · Repo yard · Ronin’s pawn shop · Serpentine library · Steep Wisdom · Steeper Wisdom (non-canon) · Storm Farms · Twitchy Tim’s gas station · Vast Industries · Dance class · Wong’s Costume · Wu’s Academy · Yang Tavern Houses and apartments: Cliff Gordon’s estate · Dareth’s apartment · First Spinjitzu Master’s house · Hero’s Suite · Sally’s farm · The Mechanic’s headquarters · Vermillion Dome of Doom Other: Borg Tower (Borg Tower vaults) · Chen’s Coliseum · Chen’s Royal Arena · Dragon’s Forge · Hall of Villainy · Hidden workshop · Hiroshi’s Labyrinth Stronghold · Munce arena · Old electronics warehouse · Oni stronghold · Palace gardens · Pythor’s base · S.O.G. Headquarters · Sewers · The Mechanic’s warehouse · Tower of Tears (non-canon)
Prime Empire	Battle arena · Disco · Fire wall · Forest of Discontent · Marketplace · Glitch · Infinity maze · Okino’s house · Place of swords · Scott’s garage · Shifty’s table · Side-scrolling platforms · Sushimi’s sushi restaurant · Terra Karana · Terra Technica · Terra Domina
Realms	Chima · Cloud Kingdom · Cursed Realm · Departed Realm · Djinjago · Never-Realm · Ninjago · Realm of Madness · Realm of Oni and Dragons · Underworld
Other	Ethereal Divide · Grasslands
The LEGO Ninjago Movie locations	Ninjago · Ninjago City · Bridge of Fallen Mentors · Canyon of General Unhappiness · Firing Room · Garmadon’s Volcano Lair · Ham’s street food stall · Jungle of Lost Souls · Koko’s apartment · Lost Generals’ Lair · Ninja Mech Garage · Ninjago Beach · Ninjago High School · Ninjago Tower · Temple of Fragile Foundations · Wu’s temple

This article is about the island. For other uses, see Ninjago (disambiguation).

Ninjago

Ninjago (LEGO Universe)

Ninjago (The LEGO Ninjago Movie)

Ninjago, also referred to as Ninjago Island,^[2][3][4][5] is a landmass that was created by the First Spinjitzu Master after he left the Realm of Oni and Dragons. It is the primary location of the realm of the same name.

History

Beginnings

Before the creation of Ninjago, the First Spinjitzu Master was born and lived in the Realm of Oni and Dragons. Because the Oni and the Dragons could not live in peace, the First Spinjitzu Master escaped into another realm.^[6] This realm was ruled by Wojira, and the First Spinjitzu Master battled her with the help of the Keepers and the Merlopians. One warrior, Nyad, pried the Amulets of Wojira from her head, forcing Wojira into a deep sleep. The First Spinjitzu Master gave the amulets to the Keepers and Merlopians,^[7] and shortly after, he created the Ninjago using the power of the Golden Weapons^[8] (which he had created by forging the gold from Golden Peaks in the Temple of Light).^[9]

Soon afterward, however, the Oni pursued the child into this realm, creating a temple deep within Primeval’s Eye, where they depicted their origins on the walls of the temple. They would also seal away the Oni Mask of Hatred within the temple, which could only be taken by a being with Oni blood, like Wu or Lloyd.^[10]

It was a land of light and peace, but that peace was not to last; darkness soon appeared to counterbalance the new land of light. From this darkness, an evil entity known only as the Overlord appeared to challenge the First Spinjitzu Master for control of Ninjago.

The battle between light and darkness raged for many years, with neither side gaining a significant advantage for long.^[11] In order to break this stalemate, the Overlord created a Temple of Fortitude that could resist the power of the Golden Weapons,^[12] as well as the Stone Army, a legion of indestructible warriors to aid him in the battle against the First Spinjitzu Master. Unable to overcome the newly-bolstered forces of darkness, the First Spinjitzu Master used his powers to split the land of Ninjago in half, with the Overlord and most of his forces trapped on what would become known as the Island of Darkness. By splitting the land in two, the First Spinjitzu Master balanced the forces of light and darkness, ensuring that the Overlord could no longer maintain his physical form.^[11]

Rise of the Serpentine

During the formation of Ninjago, the First Spinjitzu Master created a warlike race of humanoid snakes called the Serpentine,^[13] or they migrated to Ninjago from another realm.^[14]

At some point, the humans had also defeated the Serpentine’s god figure, the Great Devourer, and the mighty snake was sealed beneath the Lost City of Ouroboros, and needing to retrieve the four Fangblades to unseal it.

Thousands of years after Ninjago’s creation, Garmadon went to train with Master Chen, who wanted to join the Serpentine, Wu was training Morro, the Master of Wind. Morro wanted to be the Green Ninja, but in the end, the Golden Weapons did not choose him. Morro then told Wu that he would find the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, and he died and was sent to the Cursed Realm.^[15] Over the millennia, tensions grew high between man and snake, but it was only when Master Chen deceived both sides did war break out. The Serpentine attacked first, attempting to conquer the land and subjugate humanity. However, the humans, with the aid of the Elemental Masters, banded together and fought back, eventually defeating the Serpentine, and the five tribes were separated and sealed away in great tombs all across Ninjago. Chen was exiled to a secluded island, and the generals of the Anacondrai were banished to the Cursed Realm.^[16]

Elemental Masters vs. the Hands of Time

After the Serpentine War, when the Elemental Masters of Time, Krux, and Acronix, betrayed Wu, Garmadon, and the rest of the alliance to rule Ninjago, a fight ensued in the forest below the Monastery of Spinjitzu. The entire Elemental Alliance was no match for the Masters of Time, being easily defeated one by one by the duo.^[17] Knowing what needed to be done, Wu orders Ray and Maya to follow him back to Ignacia.^[18]

Ray and Maya forged four Time Blades out of Chronosteel and Wu and Garmadon used them to battle the Time Twins at the Monastery of Spinjitzu. When Wu and Garmadon gained the upper hand in battle, the Time Twins blasted their Elemental Power towards the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master, but they absorbed them with the Time Blades, which caused the Time Blades to strip the Time Twins of their powers, thus rendering them to normal men. Afterward, knowing that the power to control Time was too dangerous, Wu and Garmadon disposed of the Blades through a Time Vortex. However, Acronix and Krux followed their stolen power and became lost in time along with their stripped power for forty years.^[17]

However, almost immediately after Krux and Acronix entered the Time Vortex, Krux was spat out in the woods below the monastery, where he ran off to begin his forty-year plot of revenge, unaware of the Reversal Time Blade landing behind him. Eventually, the Blade was found by Ray and Maya, with Wu ordering them to dispose of it in the Boiling Sea.^[18]

Wu vs. Garmadon and Krux’s revenge

Following the defeat of the Time Twins, Ninjago returned to the peace but it would not be for long, as the seeds of a new conflict had already been sown centuries ago; in its infancy, the Great Devourer had bitten the young Garmadon, infecting him with darkness.^[19] The Devourer’s venom eventually corrupted Garmadon completely, transforming him into a black-skinned, power-hungry villain seeking to conquer Ninjago and remake it in his own image.

When Garmadon attempted to take the Golden Weapons for himself, he was opposed by Wu, his younger brother. After a fierce battle with the Golden Weapons, Garmadon was struck by lightning and dropped into the Underworld,^[20] where he was confronted by Samukai’s Skulkin forces. Deformed by his fall and hungry for revenge against Wu, Garmadon defeated Samukai in battle and took control of the Skulkin, becoming the King of the Underworld.^[21]

Following that, Wu decided to hide the Golden Weapons in different places of Ninjago and having placed four Dragons as guards. Wu then decided to make a map to locate them and gave them to his trusted friend, Ray, the father of Kai and Nya, in case they needed to be retrieved after his death.^[22] Shortly after appeared Krux, who underwent a new identity, Dr. Saunders, went to seek Ray and Maya for revenge. He threatened to harm Kai and Nya if they don’t go with him to make the armors for their future army of Serpentine, the Vermillion. Not wanting their children to get hurt, the two agreed before being led away from their blacksmith shop.^[18]

Pilot episodes

After the defeat of Lord Garmadon, Wu became the master of the Monastery of Spinjitzu, passing down the teachings of his father to a new generation of ninja. When Lord Garmadon resurfaced to resume his hunt for the Golden Weapons, Master Wu gathered four promising young men (Cole, Jay, Zane, and Kai) to train in the art of Spinjitzu and oppose Lord Garmadon’s Skulkin forces.

The forces of good and evil clashed repeatedly during the hunt for the Golden Weapons, but the Underworld ultimately prevailed, with Samukai claiming the four weapons for himself in a bid to destroy Lord Garmadon and reclaim his position as King of the Underworld. However, the combined power of the Golden Weapons overwhelmed Samukai, disintegrating him and creating a portal. Lord Garmadon revealed that the attempted act of treachery was the final step in his true plan—to gain access to a realm where he could become strong enough to safely wield the Golden Weapons. Although the villain promptly escaped through the portal, his departure left Ninjago largely safe once more, and the ninja took the Golden Weapons back to the Monastery of Spinjitzu—both to protect them and to enhance their powers against the next threat to the world.

Rise of the Snakes

The peace left in the wake of Lord Garmadon’s disappearance was soon interrupted by the emergence of a new enemy: Lloyd Garmadon, son of the onetime dark lord. However, Lloyd was nowhere near the threat level of his father, being a young boy whose concept of «evil» was stealing all of the world’s candy for himself. Despite having slacked off considerably since their adventure in the Underworld, the ninja easily stopped Lloyd’s first attack on Jamanakai Village, leaving him to be mocked by the villagers he had previously tricked. By chance, the ninja learn of a prophecy about a green ninja who is destined to defeat the dark lord.

Unfortunately, the ninjas’ «mercy» would have unforeseen consequences; enraged by his humiliation, Lloyd escaped Jamanakai Village and fled to the Glacier Barrens. There, he discovered and opened a strange tomb containing the Hypnobrai, one of the five tribes of Serpentine sealed away long ago. A stroke of luck and clumsiness on Lloyd’s part led to him gaining control of the Hypnobrai through their General, Slithraa, enabling him to actually become something of a threat to the world of Ninjago. After a few failed schemes, however, Lloyd was betrayed by Skales, the scheming second-in-command of the Hypnobrai, who defeated Slithraa in a Slither Pit and became the new general of his tribe.

This only led to more problems for the ninja, as Lloyd sought out another tribe of Serpentine to help him take his revenge on the Hypnobrai. An attempt to gain the allegiance of the Fangpyre appeared promising, but General Fangtom was revealed to be a good friend of Skales from before their imprisonment, forcing Lloyd to flee once again. In the meantime, the ninja discovered the ability to transform the Golden Weapons into powerful vehicles, shortly after being forced to release their dragons in order to let them molt at the Spirit Coves, and also discover an ancient pirate ship, the Destiny’s Bounty, that they convert into a flying base.

The real trouble came when Lloyd sought out the most powerful and dangerous Serpentine tribe of all; the Anacondrai. With their numbers reduced to one due to hunger and cannibalism, a cunning individual named Pythor P. Chumsworth soon lived up to his tribe’s reputation by leading the ninja into a trap before betraying Lloyd and stealing the Map of Dens. Following this, Master Wu took in his wayward nephew, hoping to turn him to the side of good.

Using the Map of Dens, Pythor freed the remaining Serpentine tribes and united them to gather the four Fangblades to awaken the Great Devourer. When Lloyd is captured by the serpentine, Wu leaves to seek out Garmadon to get his help in rescuing him. During the hunt for the fangblades, the ninja begin to unlock their full potential one by one, during which Zane is revealed to be a Nindroid, and Nya joins the team as Samurai X. Wu returns with Garmadon and declares a truce until Lloyd is freed. During the hunt for the third Fangblade, Kai saves Lloyd at the cost of losing the Fangblade and realizes he is destined to become the green ninja.

Desperate to stop the Serpentine, the ninja perform a daring raid to steal the Fangblades from the Serpentine’s lair and do so with help of Garmadon and the Skulkin. However, before the ninja can destroy the Fangblades, Pythor, who snuck aboard the ship, steals them back and manages to revive the Great Devourer, but is devoured by it along with Wu. The ninja end up fighting against the Great Devourer in Ninjago City, but even with the Golden Weapons and the return of the Ultra Dragon, it takes Garmadon wielding all four Golden Weapons at once to destroy the creature. After the Devourer is destroyed, Garmadon disappears with the weapons and Wu is revealed to have survived

Legacy of the Green Ninja

After defeating the Great Devourer, Lord Garmadon took the Golden Weapons, and the ninja begin training Lloyd at Dareth’s dojo so that he can face his father one day and save Ninjago, something which he was afraid to do for the sake of their bond. Garmadon works to thwart the prophecy by recruiting the masterless Serpentine and merging the Golden Weapons into the powerful Mega Weapon.After Garmadon’s last attempt ended with Lloyd aging to a teenager like his four mentors, he attempts to change the events of the past so Lloyd’s would not become the Green Ninja. The original four ninja follow Garmadon and use the Golden Weapons of the past to destroy the Mega Weapon, restoring the timeline and sending the Golden Weapons and the Mega Weapon into space.

Garmadon ends up betrayed by the Serpentine and washes up on an island with a disembodied voice called the Overlord and makes an alliance with him. Meanwhile, the venom of the Great Devourer seeps into catacombs beneath Ninjago and animates the Stone Army, the Overlord’s personal army, trapping the Serpentine underground in the process. Due to the Stone Army’s indestructibility, the ninja, along with Misako, Lloyd’s mother, travel to the Dark Island to stop them and Garmadon. On the way to the Dark Island, the Destiny’s Bounty is damaged, forcing the ninja to dock at a island prison where they meet Dr. Julien, Zane’s creator, who was revived by Samukai to make his vehicles, who helps them get to the Dark Island. On the island, the ninja find the Temple of Light, the forging place of the Golden Weapons, where they unlock new powers capable of defeating the Stone Army. Despite their efforts, the ninja fail to stop the countdown to the final battle, and Nya is capture and corrupted with evil. Garmadon reveals his ultimate weapon, Garmatron, a weapon that fires concentrated evil that corrupts Ninjago and the Overlord is revealed to be the true Dark Lord from the prophecy. He betrays and possesses Garmadon and heads to Ninjago. After the ninja escape the Island with the help of the Ultra Dragon, they fly to a corrupted Ninjago City to fight the overlord. With the help of his allies, including Dareth who takes control of the Stone Army, Lloyd confronts the transformed Overlord uses his newfound Golden Power to defeat him in a blast of golden light. In the aftermath of the battle, Nya and the rest of Ninjago are restored to normal, and even Garmadon is purged of the evil inflicted by the Great Devourer’s venom.

Rebooted

With the apparent defeat of the Overlord, Ninjago City is reborn as New Ninjago City, a futuristic utopia, while the ninja—minus Lloyd—Wu, and Nya take over Lloyd’s old boarding school and turn it into Wu’s Academy. On a field trip to the city, they visit the technology company Borg Industries, only to learn a horrifying truth from Cyrus Borg: the Overlord has been reborn as the Digital Overlord, a computer virus that has infected Borg’s systems. Seeking to escape the Digiverse, he wants to steal Lloyd’s Golden Power to create a physical body for himself. Cyrus also equip the ninja with the four Techno Blades, which can hack any machine and together, reboot the system and destroy the Overlord for good. The ninja escape New Ninjago City, but Wu is captured while distracting the Overlord’s army. The Overlord then creates an army of nindroids to hunt down Lloyd and the Techno Blades.

The ninja flee to a monastery where the reunite with a reformed Garmadon, who has vowed to give up fighting. After capturing P.I.X.A.L, Cyrus’s android assistant who was corrupted by the Overlord, and freeing her with the Technoblades, the ninja split up. Lloyd and Garmadon go into hiding to train Lloyd’s golden powers and hide from the Overlord while the others work to remove the Overlord from the system. Meanwhile, Nya becomes conflicted with her relationship with Jay when a matchmaking machine determines Cole is her perfect match.

The ninja manage to disable the power to New Ninjago City, rendering the Digital Overlord powerless, but Pythor, who survived being eaten by the Great Devourer, takes the hard drive containing the Digital Overlord and allies with him. While trying to get back to New Ninjago City, Zane uses his power source to revive P.I.X.A.L , whom he has grown close to. Pythor reactivates the nindroid army along with Wu, who has been turned into a cyborg under the control of the Overlord, while the ninja learn from the freed and reformed Serpentine that the Overlord seeks to become the Golden Master, an evil entity with the same power as the First Spinjitzu Master. Lloyd is eventually capture and is slowly drained of his golden power, forcing the ninja to directly plug their minds into the digiverse to reboot the system. With the help of Garmadon, who breaks his vow of nonviolence to help save his son, the ninja reboot the system, purge the Overlord, free Wu from his control, and save Lloyd, but the Overlord manages to escape in his incomplete body.

Lloydsplits his power among the rest of the ninja to prevent the Overlord from taking it, forcing the Overlord and Pythor to find an alternate source of Golden Power: the Golden Weapons. The ninja stowaway on a rocket to prevent the nindroids from retrieving the remains of the Golden Weapons from a comet, but fail and become stranded on the comet. Against all odds, the ninja return to Ninjago and confront the Overlord, who has turned the remains of the weapons into armor and become the Golden Master in New Ninjago City. Cyrus comes up with a plan to use a special pill to shrink the Golden Mast to a harmless size, but Pythor takes the hit and shrinks instead. On the verge of defeat, Zane sacrifices himself to destroy the Golden Master’s body and his nindroid army. After the battle, Zane is hailed as a hero and dubbed «the Titanium Ninja», but P.I.X.A.L discovers traces of Zane still exists in the system.

Tournament of Elements

With the loss of Zane and the love triangle between Cole, Jay, and Nya further straining the team, the ninja go their separate ways. When Lloyd tries to convince the team to reunite, they get a message from Chen stating Zane is alive and will be freed if the ninja participate and win his Tournament of Elements. When the ninja leave for the ferry to Chen’s Island, they are joined by Garmadon, who reveals his history with Chen, and that the Tournament is between other Elemental Masters. Early into the Tournament, the ninja learn the losers of each round are stripped of their Elemental Powers by Chen and his cult followers using a special staff, and that he plans to steal all the competitor’s powers for himself.

During the tournament, a rebuilt Zane awakens in Chen’s prison and begins trying to break out. During his escape attempts, he learns P.I.X.A.L, who was captured with him, has had her body destroyed, but saves her mind by downloading it into her system. However, he is quickly recaptured by Clouse, Chen’s second in command.

In the second round of the tournament, Cole and Jay are made to fight each other in an attempt by Chen to divide the ninja further, but it backfires when Jay and Cole repair their friendship and Cole choses to forfeit the match. Allying with the Elemental Master of the Mind, Neuro, the ninja learn Chen is gathering elemental powers to perform an unknown spell. Chen’s next attempts to defeat the ninja during Lloyd’s match, when he turns the other competitors against him in game called Thundernblade, but the ninja bring them on their side by revealing Chen’s true plans. Meanwhile, Nya goes to help the ninja, unintentionally bringing Dareth along with her. When Cole is brought into Chen’s noodle factory as a prisoner, he reunites with Zane and the two concoct a plan to free all the prisoners.

With Dareth’s help, Nya is able to go undercover in Chen’s palace as a kabuki and relays a message from Cole to the ninja that Zane has been found. The ninja learn Chen has put a spy in their alliance and try to determine who it is, but they fail to do so. Dareth gets captured, compromising Nya’s cover and forcing her to flee into the island’s jungle. Chen makes the next round a manhunt for Nya and during the round, Kai discovers Skylor, the Elemental Master of Amber who can copy powers whom he developed an attraction to, is Chen’s spy and daughter. After defeating Clouse, who gets sucked into the Curse Realm by his own spell, Garmadon and Lloyd find Nya, who reveals Chen is planning to use the stolen powers to perform a spell that will turn him and his cult into Anacondrai, the mightiest of the Serpentine tribes. Chen makes his move and has his followers capture the remaining competitors.

When Chen has the prisoners stripped of their powers, Skylor, who had also developed feelings for Kai, convinces Chen to spare him from being sent to the factory. Chen tries to convince Kai to join his side, promising to reveal secrets about his parents that Wu has hidden from him. Lloyd, Nya, and Garmadon try to defeat Chen, they are seemingly betrayed by Kai, who gave them up to save his sister. However, Kai’s true plan was to convince Skylor to turn on father and steal the staff. At the same time, the captured competitors break free from Chen’s factory by building a rotor jet. Kai destroys the staff, restoring all the stolen powers, and the Elemental Masters take control of the island, though Chen escapes with Skylor as a prisoner.

Despite losing the staff, Chen realizes Skylor has absorbed all the powers needed to perform the spell and turns himself an his followers, as well as Skylor and Garmadonm into an army of Anacondrai that overwhelm the Elemental Masters and head for Ninjago. Zanes discovers how to conquer his trauma from fighting the Golden Master and creates an elemental dragon to fly to Ninjago, as well as teaching the other Elemental Masters how to do so.

The Elemental Masters scatter to find Chen and his army while the Ninja learn the transformation spell is only temporary without the essence of a real Anacondrai. The ninja go to protect the only remaining Anacondrai, the shrunken and imprisoned Pythor, but fail and Pythor is captured. Chen uses Pythor’s essence to complete his army’s transformation and reveals he made Garmadon take credit for a love letter written by Wu to Misako, which won her heart; causing Wu to become infuriated at his brother. The Elemental Masters, the ninja, and the citizen of Ninjago face Chen’s army in the Corridor of Elders in massive battle. Pythor, unwilling to let Chen rule Ninjago instead of him and disrespect his tribe, brings Clouse’s spellbook and suggests unleashing the cursed spirits of the Anacondrai generals to defeat Chen’s army. Since the spell requires someone to take the place of the freed cursed souls, Garmadon, wanting to make up for all the wrong he’s done in his life, volunteers to sacrifice himself. Garmadon’s family forgive him for all he’s done and Lloyd performs the spell, unleashing the Anacondrai generals who curse Chen’s Army and take their revenge on Chen for all his deceit, condemning them to the Cursed Realm. Arcturus, the head general of the Anacondrai, praises Pythor and restores him to normal size before he and his generals pass on.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Elemental Masters go their separate way and the ninja commemorate Garmadon’s life, building a statue of him in the Corridor of Elders, and burn Clouse’s spellbook. Unbeknownst to them, a ghostly figure surrounded by wind has escaped from the Cursed Realm.

Possession

Some time after the battle with Chen’s Army, Wu retires by opening a tea shop called Steep Wisdom and Lloyd continues to mourn the loss of his father. While on a solo mission, Lloyd is attacked by a Morro, who was released from the Cursed Realm when Garmadon opened the portal, who possesses him and strips the ninja of their elemental powers. Morro attacks Steep Wisdom to steal Wu’s Staff, which is revealed to hold the clues to find the First Spinjitzu Master’s tomb. The staff is lost to Morro, but not before the ninja record the clues to the tomb. Wu explains his history with Morro and the ninja decide to follow the clues to the tomb to find and free Lloyd. Morro unlocks the first clue and uses the Allied Armor of Azure to summon Ghost Warriors to aid his search.

Misako determines the first clue to finding the tomb is Airjitzu, a martial art that allows the user to fly. Zane discovers the scroll that teaches the technique was stolen by a thief named Ronin who is hiding out it the town of Stiix, something Morro is unaware of. Nya stays behind at Steep Wisdom and is told that while her father was the Elemental Master of Fire, her mother was the master of Water and she has inherited her powers. On the way to Stiix, the ninja are attacked by one of Morro’s ghost warriors, but defeat him after learning Ghosts are destroyed by water.

The ninja find Ronin, but without Lloyd to lead them, they struggle to work as a team and they lose the scroll of Airjitzu to Morro. In exchange for the ninja’s shares of Steep Wisdom, Ronin reveals there is another way to learn Airjitzu. The ninja travel to the Temple of Sensei Yang, the creator of Airjitzu, to learn the technique. The ninja confront the ghost of Sensei Yang and pass his test, earning a scoll of Airjitzu, but Cole becomes a ghost when he fails to leave the cursed temple before sunrise.

At Steep Wisdom, Nya struggles with her Elemental training and Wu discovers her weakness, she gives up when confronted with failure. Ronin arrives and Nya, believing she be of more use as Samurai-X, takes him to her cave where they discover Morro and his Ghost Warriors are stealing her equipment. While Nya is able to destroy Morro’s summoning armor, she and Ronin are overwhelmed by the ghosts and are only saved when Nya taps into her Elemental Powers.

After learning Airjitzu, the ninja follow the next clue to the Wailing Alps. At the top of the mountain is a portal that leads to the Cloud Kingdom Realm, where the Sword of Sanctuary, a weapon that can see the future and bypass the traps guarding the tomb. The ninja manage to make it into the Cloud Kingdom before Morro and meet Fenwick, who reveals the reason Morro is trying to find the tomb is because it is the resting place of the Realm Crystal, a crystal that can access any realm. With the crystal, Morro can release his master the Preeminent, the embodiment of the Cursed Realm, who will curse every realm if she is freed. Fenwick betrays the group to Morro to ensure his own safety, allowing Morro to get, but another citizen on the Cloud Kingdom thwarts him and gives the ninja the chance to escape. Kai fights Morro and Lloyd begins fighting back against Morro’s possession, allowing Kai to escape with the sword of Sanctuary.

With the sword in hand, the ninja try to find the location of the tomb while Nya continues training. With Ronin’s surprising help, Nya is able to make progress on mastering her powers, but Ronin reluctantly steals the Sword of Sanctuary to repay a debt for his soul for the Soul Archer, one of the ghost warriors. When Ronin gives the sword to Morro, he double crosses him and possesses him to trick the ninja. The ninja are led into a trap in the Caves of Despair, the same place where Morro died, but escape and Ronin reveals the tomb’s true location. They follow Morro through the tomb and overcome its traps, during which Jay sees a vision of the future where he is with Nya, and find the Realm Crystal before Morro. However, Morro holds Lloyd hostage to trade for the Realm Crystal and despite the ninja regaining their Elemental Powers, Morro escapes with the crystal, thought Lloyd is freed in the process.

Morro fortifies himself in Stiix and uses the crystal to summon an army of Ghost Warriors to protect him as he summons the Preeminent. The ninja storm Stiix with new vehicles built by Cryus Borg, though Wu has to sell Steep Wisdom to pay for them. Thanks to help from a remorseful Ronin, Lloyd manages to get in position to destroy the Realm Crystal and prevent the Preeminent from entering Ninjago, but Morro stalls him by reveal Garmadon is trapped inside the Cursed Realm. The Preeminent sucks Lloyd into the Cursed Realm and goes on a rampage in Stiix, forcing the Ninja to evacuate the citizens. Inside the Cursed Realm, Lloyd reunites with his father who tells him to destroy the Preemenent even though it will mean he will die with it. Lloyd engages in battle with Morro to reclaim the realm Crystal and ultimately becomes stranded in a different realm with the Sword of Sanctuary. Back in Ninjago, the ninja evacuate the citizens of Stiix on boat, but the Preeminent follows with mech made from the buildings of Stix that allows it to resist the ocean’s water. Nya unlocks her true potential by accepting the idea and overcoming her fear of failure and creates a tidal wave that drown the Preeminent, pulling it and the Ghost Warriors into the sea. Morro is the only Ghost Warrior to escape, but the Preemenent tries to take him with her into the ocean. Despite Wu’s attempts to save him, Morro finally accepts his fate and tells Wu that he can only save those who want to be saved, biding him farewell as he gives him the Realm Crystal and lets himself perish in the sea. The ninja use the Realm Crystal to bring Lloyd back and he reveals he saw what would happen with the Sword of Sanctuary and that he has decided to become a master like his father.

Skybound

In the wake of the Preeminent’s defeat, the ninja have become celebrities, but Nya is struggling with her new status on the team while Jay struggles dealing with his feelings for her, which were renewed when he saw his future with her in the First Spinjitzu Master’s tomb. The ninja learn that Clouse had escaped the Cursed Realm and heading toward the remains of Stiix.

The following events were undone due to Jay’s final wish, and thus, did not happen in the current timeline.

Jay’s unresolved feelings end up stalling the ninja’s pursuit, allowing Clouse to find the Teapot of Tyrahn and frees Nadakhan, the wish granting Djinn who was once the captain of an ancient pirate crew. Nadakhan quickly tricks Clouse into «wishing it all away» and traps him inside the teapot. He then learns that his crew has been scatter among the realms, except for Delara his lover, who perished, and vows to rebuild his crew. Discovering the ninja know of the Realm Crystal’s location, Nadakhan frames them for crimes, turning them into fugitives, and captures Wu and Misako in the teapot after learning the location from the latter. The ninja learn about Nadakhan framing them and search for clues about him, but are captured one by one by Ronin and Nadakhan steals the Realm Crystal and reforms his pirate crew.

The ninja are sent to Kryptarium Prison, where they meet Captain Soto, the one who originally trapped Nadakhan. Soto reveals Nadakhan’s one weakness is the deadly Venom of a Tiger Widow spider, which can weaken him enough to capture him, and agrees to give up the location of the island where it’s found if the ninja break him out of prison. After the ninja escape prison with Soto, he reveals the map to the island is on a lantern on the Sky Pirates ship and that Nya is a doppelganger of Delara.

After Nadakhan rescues his crew from the other realms, he decides to return to his homeland, Djinjago, because the age of pirates has passed. However, upon arrival, he finds the realm on the brink of destruction. He finds his father, the Djinn king Khanjikhan, reveals that when the ninja destroyed the Preeminent, the embodiment of the Cursed Realm, the sister realm of Djinjago, it caused Djinjago to begin falling apart. Khanjikhan names Nadakhan the next Djinn king and gives him he Djinn Blade, a weapon that can wield the powers of the souls trapped inside, so Nadakhan can avenge Djinjago. Nadakhan uses the blade to absorb the power of the souls he has trapped in the teapot, escapes back to Ninjago just after Djinjago is destroyed, and vows revenge on all of Ninjago. The Sky Pirates modify their ship to fly so they can conquer Ninjago

While hiding from the law and searching for Nadakhan, Nya talks to Jay about his feelings and states they can only be friends. Nadakhan takes advantage of Jay’s feelings for Nya to tempt him into making a wish that he wasn’t born in junkyard. The wish results in Jay learning that he was adopted as a baby and this deceased birth father was an actor named Cliff Gordon and Jay inherits his wealth and estate. Nadakhan appears again and tries to get Jay to use his second wish but Jay just accidental wishes he wasn’t alone, prompting Nya to arrive and forcing Nadakhan to leave. Later, Cole figures out that Jay made a wish to try and win Nya’s heart, but agrees keeps it a secret. In order to separate the ninja, Nadakhan has his Sky Pirates attack Ninjago city. Thought this provides the ninja the opportunity to steal the map to Tiger Widow Island, Nadakhan manipulates Kai into wishing himself inside the blade. With the power of the souls he has absorbed in the Djinn Blade, Nadakhan begins lifting pieces of Ninjago into the sky to rebuild Djinjago.

The ninja travel to Tiger Widow Island to get the venom needed to stop Nadakhan, but during the trip Nadakhan captures Zane in the Djinn Blade after deleting P.I.X.A.L.. Cole reveals Jay’s wishes, believing Jay’s secrecy is the reason Kai and Zane were captured, creating a rift between him and the remaining ninja. Jay is forced to get the venom from the Tiger Widow for his actions, but the Sky Pirates attack. Jay is kidnapped and the pirates leave the remaining ninja stranded, though the ninja managed to save the venom.

On Nadakhan’s ship, the Sky Pirates try to break Jay’s will to make him wish himself into the Djinn Blade, but Jay holds out. Jay manages to send out a message during a failed escape attempt and is brought to speak with Nadakhan. Nadakhan reveals the real reason he is rebuilding Djinjago is to marry Nya; for once a Djinn king marries on Djinn land, he is granted unlimited wishes for himself. Jay tries to convince the Sky Pirates that Nadakhan will turn on them when he gets married, but they don’t believe him.

The other ninja manage to escape Tiger Widow Island with the help of the police, who realized the ninja’s innocence, and Nya learns Airjitzu in the process. They then try to rescue Jay by infiltrating the Sky Pirates, but they end up captured. Before Nadakhan can force Nya to marry him by threatening the other ninja, the ninja use Nadakhan’s wishes against him and the sky pirates. Lloyd uses one of his wishes to become wise as Wu, but becomes old as him as a side effect. When the ninja are cornered and only Lloyd and Jay have a wish left, Lloyd uses his new wisdom to tell Jay his last wish can stop Nadakhan if it said from the heart and gives and Nya the chance to escape with his last wish. Nadakhan forces Clancee, the only member of the Sky pirates who hasn’t used his wishes, to wish Cole and Lloyd into the Djinn Blade and Flintlocke, the Sky Pirates’ first mate, realizes Nadakhan will betray them upon seeing his desperation to wed Nya.

Nya and Jay go into hiding at Dr. Julien’s old prison to figure out Jay’s last wish should be and meet Echo Zane, a crude remake of Zane. While alone, the two reflect on their feelings and their future and figure out what their last wish should be, to turn Nadakhan into a mortal human, stripping him of all his powers. Flintlocke decides to mutiny against Nadakhan, but fails and Nadakhan forces Clancee to use his second wish to find Nya and Jay. The Pirates attack the island prison and despite putting up a good fight, Nya lets herself be captured and sends Jay to safety with traveler’s tea after admitting her true feelings for him.

Jay ends up in his parent’s junkyard and his father encourages him to gather a makeshift team of the ninja’s allies to rescue Nya. The team manages to sneak onto New Djinjago and free the other ninja from the Djinn blade. The group realizes that when Nadakhan is turned mortal, new Djinjago will collapse onto Ninjago, causing complete destruction, and send the replacement team to prepare it for the worst. The ninja fail to stop the wedding and Nadakhan becomes all powerful, quickly banishing his crew except for Flintlocke and Dogshank, and then reincarnates Delara in Nya’s body. The ninja manage to escape and find the Tiger Widow venom, which is still capable of stopping Nadakhan and allowing Jay to make his last wish. With Flintlocke’s help, the Ninja hit Nadakhan with the venom, but Nya is hit in the process, killing her. A mournful Jay wishes that Nya had taken his hand and that the Teapot of Tyrahn was never found. Nadakhan, being hit with the venom and with Jay’s wish being pure, has no choice but to grant it, and recent events are undone.

The following events occurred after Jay made his final wish, and thus, happened.

Jay’s wish reverses time to the point where the ninja were stalled finding Clouse and only Jay and Nya remember what happened and get back together. When Clouse tries to find the Teapot of Tyrahn, the citizens of Stiix find him and chase him off, leaving the teapot to be taken away to a junkyard. As Nya and Jay celebrate, Yang’s temple floats in the distance.

The Realm of Shadows

Clouse had somehow escaped the Cursed Realm and planned to plunge Ninjago into darkness by using Bandit, a young YinYang Dragon. He also gathered a force of Shadow Minions to help him capture Bandit.

Dark Island Trilogy

After the events of Skybound, a new darkness threatens the Ninjago universe. Fishermen vanish from the seas, a violent storm brews off the edge of Dark Island, and Master Wu senses a growing imbalance between good and evil. When Misako and Ronin disappear, they leave behind one clue—a warning to stay away.

Day of the Departed

On the Day of the Departed, the ninja gather to remember their passed loved ones but are reminded of old foes by the Ninjago Museum of History’s new Hall of Villainy exhibit. Cole, whose ghostly state has been growing worse, receives an unexpected message from Yang and sets out to confront the villain in revenge for his transformation. He unwittingly plays into Yang’s hands by delivering to him the Yin Blade, and Yang takes advantage of the Yin-Yang Eclipse to revive some of the old enemies of the ninja to pit them against them. As these revived foes—joined by Pythor—hunt down the various ninja with Yang sets out to open the Rift of Return, which will allow him to return to being human.

As Cole fights again Yang’s enslaved students, the other ninja defeat their old enemies and send them back to the Departed Realm. Wu is warned of Yang’s plan by the reformed Morro, who peacefully returns to the Departed Realm after making amends, and the ninja rush to save Cole. Cole confronts Yang and learns Yang used the Yin Blade to try and live forever because he was afraid of being forgotten, but it backfired and cursed him and his students. Cole defeat Yang with his new Earth Punch and tells him that he will be remembered as the one who created airjitzu, causing Yang to see the error of his ways. The two make amends and Cole and Yang’s student pass through the rift of return, becoming human once more, while stays behind due to the curse, though he is at peace with his fate. The curse on Yang’s temple is lifted and the ninja make it their new base.

The Hands of Time

Forty years after the first Serpentine War, Acronix, one of the Time Twins, passes through a time vortex and is challenged to a fight by Master Wu. Though Wu initially defeats Acronix, the arrival of the Forward Timeblade shifts the battle in his favor and Acronix strikes Wu with the «Time Punch», causing Wu to begin rapidly aging. The ninja come to his aid and seemingly destroy Acronix, but escapes alive unbeknownst to them. Acronix reunites with Krux, posing as museum curator Dr. Saunders, who reveals his army of Vermillion Serpentine: the spawn of the Great Devourer. Using the Vermillion warriors, the time twins kidnap Cyrus Borg and damage Zane.

Kai goes to the history museum to try and learn more about the time twins, but discovers Krux’s deception and fights him and Acronix with Nya’s help. During the fight, Krux claims Kai’s parents were allied with them during their betrayal of the original elemental masters before escaping with his brother and the captive Cyrus Borg.

With Wu incapacitated and rapidly growing older, Lloyd is put in charge as the replacement master, but the other ninja don’t listen to him. The Time Twins send the Vermillion to steal all the metal they can find, including inside Nya’s Samurai-X Cave where Zane is being repaired. The ninja ignore Lloyd’s order to protect Wu and go to stop the Vermillion warriors and Lloyd joins them after realizing he made the same mistake Wu did fighting Acronix: fighting alone. They stop a group of Vermillion, but they launch another attack at Mega Monster Amusement Park forcing the ninja, including Zane who has been repaired, except for being unable to speak with P.I.X.A.L, to head their next, except for Jay, who believes the Vermillion will attack his parents’ junkyard.

During the Vermillion’s hunt for metal, the Slow-Mo Timeblade arrives in the present and the Time Twins order the Vermillion to retrieve it as they force Cyrus borg to build something for their ultimate weapon. The Vermillion get to the Timeblade first and us it on the ninja, except for Jay who was protecting his parents. Jay and his father create the lightning bike, which allows Jay to rescue the ninja and even take the Timeblade. However, the victory is short lived when the Time Twins attack the temple to reclaim the Timeblade. During the battle, the ninja are aided by Samurai-X, but was someone other than Nya. Despite their efforts, the ninja lose the Timeblade and Wu is taken captive as well. In the aftermath of the battle, Kai finds his father’s blacksmith symbol on one of the Vermillion’s helmet, creating further doubt in Kai about his parents.

While the ninja for the Time Twins, Nya goes to find out who the new Samurai-X is and Kai goes to his parent’s shop to see if they really were traitors. Nya confronts the new Samurai-X, but passes on the title to her after confirming she is a worthy sucessor, despite not learning her identity. Kai finds a secret chamber in the shop with prototype Vermillion Armor, confirming that his father is making weapons for the Vermillions. The other ninja learn from Skales the location of the Time Twin’s base, and that they are building an entire army of Vermillion warriors. Kai reveals what he’s learned about his parents with Nya, but overcomes his doubts after talking with Skylor.

The ninja sneak into the Time Twin’s swamp base and find the Vermillion have been kidnapping builders to build their equipment. During the ninja’s infiltration, the Pause Timeblade arrives in the present and is recovered by the Time Twins. Kai finds and confronts his father, Ray only to find his mother, Maya, there as well who reveals they were the forgers of the Timeblades and Krux forced them to work for them after the Serpentine war by threating Kai and Nya. The reunion is cut short by the Time Twins, who force Kai and Nya to go fetch the Reversal Timeblade, because it is only way to reverse Wu’s aging.

The other ninja find Cyrus Borg and discover he was kidnapped to build an apparatus that could harness the Timeblade’s powers for the Iron Doom, the Time Twin’s ultimate weapon built to travel through time. Kai and Nya are taken to the boiling sea, where the Reversal Timeblade was hidden inside a buried temple underwater when it first arrived. The siblings recover the Timeblade with the help of their parent’s Fusion Blade and the fusion dragon, but the Time Twins steal it before they can save Wu and Ray is also struck with the Time Punch. The twins then return to their base, stop the other ninja before they can disable the Iron Doom, and activate the weapon’s time travel capabilities to open a Temporal Vortex to the past. Kai and Nya follow the twins through the Temporal Vortex with Wu and emerge in the moment just after the twins were originally defeated. The twins use the Vermillion against the past elemental masters, but Kai and Nya pose as their parents to help fight them off. The twins then have the Iron Doom fuse with the Vermillion to become alive and stronger, using it to force the alliance to surrender. The change outcome begins to affect the future, but Kai and Nya use the fusion dragon to fight back. The Time Twins then decide that if they cannot change the past, they will travel the future to where the ninja will no longer exist and escape through another Temporal Vortex. Fortunately, the ninja find the Reversal Timeblade of that time and use it to cure Wu and go back in time before the twins could escape to the future. They follow the twin through the vortex as their efforts restore the future and infiltrate the Iron Doom. When the twins overwhelm Kai and Nya, Wu sabotages the Iron Doom by removing the Reversal Blade from its time apparatus and sends it along Kai and Nya back to the present. Wu stays behind and faces twin to finish the fight as the Iron Doom becomes lost in time.

Kai and Nya use the Reversal Timeblade to cure Ray, but everyone mourns the disappearance of Wu. Lloyd is made the ninja’s master once again and he decides to get rid the remaining Timeblade and that the ninja will not rest until Wu is found.

Sons of Garmadon

One year has passed since Master Wu became lost in time, and the ninja are still searching for him. Unfortunately for their search, a mysterious group of bikers who worship Lord Garmadon pose a new threat to Ninjago. After Lord Garmadon is resurrected, the ninja fail to stop Garmadon and he takes over Ninjago as its new emperor, but Kai, Zane, Jay, Cole, and a young Wu escape to the Realm of Oni and Dragons.

Hunted

A week after Emperor Garmadon takes over Ninjago City, Lloyd, Nya, and the remaining team forms The Resistance. They find out their friends are alive, and team up with the Elemental Masters to wait out and resist until their friends return.

Meanwhile, Cole, Jay, Kai, Zane, and Wu are stranded in the first realm. There they encounter the Dragon Hunters, a race of people that exploit the Dragons for their elemental power. The stranded ninja fight back against the Hunters and learn about the legend of the Dragon Armor and the Firstbourne Dragon, and they seek it out with the help of Faith.

The ninja and Wu return to Ninjago with the Armor, and they reunite with the others to take down Garmadon and the Sons of Garmadon. After the battle ends, Garmadon warns Lloyd that «they» are coming. Lloyd tells Master Wu that he thinks «they» are the Oni, and without Garmadon’s power holding them back, they will come soon.

March of the Oni

Shortly after Garmadon was defeated, he was locked in Kryptarium Prison. Lloyd would see him and tell him what he was really told the last time he saw him. Garmadon promised he would help stop the Oni if he were to be released, but Lloyd doesn’t believe it. Unfortunately, the Oni teleported to Ninjago via the Realm Crystal and plunged Ninjago City into darkness.

Lloyd and Garmadon confront the Omega, the leader of the Oni and tried to destroy the Realm Crystal. Lloyd destroyed the Realm Crystal, but it was not enough; however, the Golden Armor was used against the Oni to hold them back until Lloyd and Garmadon could flee.

When the ninja attempted to save some people at NGTV station, Cole, unfortunately, falls into the darkness because of an error of Nya. Lloyd and Garmadon are saved by P.I.X.A.L. and barely make it to the Destiny’s Bounty with enough fuel.

With the Golden Armor the only way to stop the Oni, Kai, a former blacksmith, reforges them into the Golden Weapons. Just as they were finished, the Oni are seen marching along the Mountain of Impossible Heights to the Monastery of Spinjitzu. A lengthy battle ensues with the Oni having the upper-hand until Cole returns with the rebuilt Earth Driller.

Despite the new addition, they are forced to flee into the Monastery with the Oni overpowering the ninja. With very little hope, Lloyd suggests that they all perform the Tornado of Creation. They successfully defeat the Oni and all the Realms the Oni invaded are purified from the darkness.

Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu

The ninja stopped training, as they thought there were no villains to fight. One day, NGTV’s Gayle Gossip went to an unexplored pyramid and interviewed a former explorer, Clutch Powers, but he insisted that he wouldn’t explore it. With Clutch’s help, the ninja went in the pyramid but accidentally release Aspheera, who took Kai’s fire. Everyone but Kai went to the Ninjago Museum of History after barely escaping the pyramid, and Aspheera released Pyro Vipers and her second-in command. After a long battle, Aspheera and her generals took the first scroll.

Aspheera eventually found her way to Wu, who is the “treacherous deceiver” and a battle is made between the Ninja and Pyro Vipers. Aspheera is defeated but before giving up she unintentionally sends Zane to the Never-Realm. Wu later gains this information from their last encounter.

Prime Empire

The Mechanic is breaking into a warehouse to find the Prime Empire motherboard but is shortly captured by the Ninja. The Ninja later go into an arcade which is the criminal’s hideout. Jay finds the legend video game called Prime Empire, reaches Level 13 and is taken into the game.

Later, the Ninja come to the conclusion that they need to enter the game to save Jay and others trapped in the game.

After Nya, Cole, Kai and Lloyd hope into Prime Empire. Zane & P.I.X.A.L. are out to find Milton Dyer, who they believe at the time is Unagami but The Mechanic attacks them and kidnaps Zane. P.I.X.A.L finds Milton Dyer and they attempt to rescue Zane and Wu.

Shortly after Unagami and Jay on the Blue Dragon come out of the Manifestation Gate and plan to get Unagami and Milton to talk out their problems. A battle ensues between Unagami and the Lightning Ninja until they reach Borg Tower. Milton and Unagami make amends and Unagami frees anybody that originated in Ninjago and in Prime Empire.

Master of the Mountain

The Ninja are invited to Shintaro which is on the northern side of Ninjago. The Ninja shortly find out that there is a evil called the Skull Sorcerer enslaving Geckles & Munce. After being split up, having the 2 tribes make amends and learning about the Spinjitzu Burst and connections to the Earth. The Ninja finally defeat the Skull Sorcerer and free the Dungeons of Shintaro.

The Island

Lloyd is checking the monitors for in case of any crimes he tells P.I.X.A.L. that he isn’t ok with the Police using Ronin to help round up criminals but is soon alerted by Cecil Putnam who tells him that Wu, Misako and Clutch Powers are lost at sea. The Ninja pull up whatever information they can about the uncharted island, they learn of Twitchy Tim and asks for his help for information of him of the island, to which he agrees to.

Seabound

In a grassland, the Ninja find Miss Demeanor smuggling Vengestone but she escapes when Nya‘s attempt to catch her ends up backfiring and almost harming an entire village.

Wu and the Ninja except for Nya all learn of Wojira to see what could be disruptive to Nya’s powers. They all come to the conclusion that they need to contact Maya. She is called and comes to help Nya.

Later, while Nya is being trained, Zane & P.I.X.A.L. go to a water rescue and find an energy burst that is disruptive to anything linked to water. The other Ninja gain this information and head out into the sea.

After running into Merlopians and Kalmaar, Nya calls Cole and tells them of their situation. Wu, Misako, Ray, Kai & Cole get to the Explorer’s Club and confront Clutch Powers about the Storm Amulet, only for Kalmaar to arrive and a battle to begin between the Ninja and Merlopians. When the battle ends, Kalmaar ends up with the Storm Amulet and awakens Wojira.

Ninjago is then sunken underwater as Wojira terrorized Ninjago City. But Nya in her new form defeats Wojira and lowers down the sea to its normal level for Ninjago to stand. An memorial is held in Nya’s honor.

Crystalized

With the ninja team disbanded for a year, the New Ninja sought out to protect Ninjago from criminals. Cole is able to reunite the ninja team to deal with a Vengestone operation by Miss Demeanor and her henchmen, but the New Ninja defeat them and arrest the criminals.

Later, when Nya returns to the ninja, the team decide to illegally break Aspheera out of Kryptarium Prison in order for her to steal Nya’s powers with her staff and return her back to human, at the cost of themselves being sentenced to five years in Kryptarium Prison. When the ninja hear that a mysterious villain, known as the Crystal King, is recruiting the ninja’s enemies such as Aspheera, Pythor, Vangelis, and the Mechanic, the ninja break out of jail with the help of Dareth and Nya (whom as taken the personna of Samurai X again), and has Lloyd infiltrate the Council of the Crystal King as the Mechanic. However, Lloyd is captured by the Kabuki Mask, who is revealed to be Harumi, and has the Crystal Council break into the Monastery of Spinjitzu and steal the Weapons of Spinjitzu, corrupting them and allowing the Crystal King, who is actually the Overlord’s new identity, to take form. Lloyd is able to escape their clutches, though the Overlord makes the Crystal Temple airborne and awakens his Crystal Warriors to attack Ninjago, turning people into Crystal zombies.

The Overlord and his crystal army begin attacking Ninjago City, corrupting more citizens and separating the ninja team, though they are able to reunite again, and by discovering an ultimate power known as Dragon Form, the ninja gather their past allies and unlock their Dragon Forms, striking against the Crystal army, and regaining their Golden Weapons back. However, the ninja soon learn that the Overlord’s ultimate goal is to corrupt all life in Ninjago by possessing the elements of Creation. The ninja are forced to unite the Golden Weapons, unleashing their elemental energy to destroy them. However, the Overlord ends up crystalizing all life in Ninjago, though the Golden Ultra Dragon is created and used by the Green Ninja, Lloyd, in order to defeat the Overlord once and for all, freeing all of Ninjago and its inhabitants from the Overlord’s evil power and restoring the Balance.

Geography

Ninjago is home to very diverse geography, with rocky locations such as the Caves of Despair and icy locations such as the Frozen Wasteland and Glacier Barrens.

It contains a mountain range known as the Mountains of Impossible Height and another location known as the Floating Ruins. Two volcanoes are known to exist, one containing the Fire Temple and the other, Torchfire Mountain, having the highest temperature in all of Ninjago.

It has the Toxic Bogs (home to the Venomari Tomb), the Sea of Sand (home to the Anacondrai Tomb and the Lost City of Ouroboros), and the only known city in Ninjago, Ninjago City. Other towns include Jamanakai Village, Stiix, and Ignacia.

At the end of the Stone Wars, the First Spinjitzu Master banished the Overlord by splitting Ninjago into two different landmasses in order to prevent the Overlord from taking over. This action resulted in the Island of Darkness itself and the Island of Ninjago becoming two separate landmasses.

Locations

Cities, towns, etc. Ignacia Jamanakai Village Metalonia Ninjago City Nom Ouroboros Shintaro Mountain Spinjago (non-canon) Stiix Hono Mizu (formerly; now at the bottom of the Boiling Sea) Village in the valley Village of Haru (destroyed) Landmarks and environments Birchwood Forest Blackwood Forest Caves of Despair (destroyed[15]) Crashcourse Canyon Desert of Doom Echo Canyons Corridor of Elders Floating Ruins Forest of Tranquility Cemetery of Souls Frozen Ice Pond Frozen Wasteland Glacier Barrens Golden Peaks Gypsy Cove Haunted Hill Hiroshi’s Labyrinth Mountain of a Million Steps Mountains of Impossible Height Primeval’s Eye Sea of Sand The Teeth Spirit Coves Torchfire Mountain Toxic Bogs Vermillion Swamps Wailing Alps Structures Anacondrai Tomb Benny’s Arcade Emporium Biker Tavern Borg Store Borg Tower Buddy’s Pizza Chan’s Theater Chen’s monastery Cliff Gordon’s estate Concert Hall Constrictai Tomb Dareth’s apartment Dareth’s TV studio Ed & Edna’s Scrap N Junk Fangpyre Tomb Fire Temple Four Weapons Blacksmith Fur Mart Garbage depot Garmadon’s monastery/Steep Wisdom Gas station Grand Sensei Dareth’s Mojo Dojo Hanging Temple Hidden workshop Hiroshi’s Labyrinth Stronghold Hypnobrai Tomb Ice Fortress Kiddie Arcade Kryptarium Prison Laughy’s Library of Domu Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts The Mechanic’s headquarters The Mechanic’s warehouse Mega Monster Amusement Park Monastery of Spinjitzu Mystake’s Tea Shop Ninjago City Aquarium Ninjago City Bank Ninjago City Hospital Ninjago City Police Station Ninjago Doomsday Comix Ninjago Museum of History Old electronics warehouse Oni Temple (destroyed) Repo yard Royal Palace Temple of Resurrection Pyramid (Desert of Doom) (destroyed) Pyramid (Sea of Sand) Samurai X Cave Serpentine’s underground fortress Palace (Shintaro) Steeper Wisdom (non-canon) Tomb of the Stone Army Temple of Airjitzu (formerly; now in the sky) Temple of Fortitude Tower of Tears (destroyed; non-canon) Venomari Tomb Vermillion Dome of Doom Storm Farms Wong’s Costume Wu’s Academy Yang Tavern

Status as a realm

Despite being referred to as a realm, Ninjago is not a realm of its own. «Ninjago» is the name of the island and the planet is referred to as «Ninjago» as a shorthand,^[23] but the planet is part of a larger universe that constitutes the «realm of Ninjago.» This can be inferred because outer space, as seen in «The Void» and «The Titanium Ninja,» exists as the broader setting of the island and planet. Additionally, while it is commonly understood that the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago, this statement refers to the landmass, not the realm, as the Temple of Light and Golden Peaks existed before the rest of the land was created.^[24][25]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Ninjago

Trivia

The Trivia on Ninjago needs to be organized. You can help the wiki by organizing the following information chronologically based on how the information applies to the series. This template can be removed once the section has been organized.

• When the island of Ninjago is seen in «The Stone Army», both it and the Island of Darkness are shown to resemble a dragon. The two islands are positioned to resemble a «yin-yang» formation, symbolizing the balance between light and darkness.
  • Ninjago and the Dark Island, apart from small islands scattered around, appear to be the only landmasses on the planet.
• Presumably, in a wheeled vehicle, it would take around 4-5 days to traverse the island from far north to far south.^[26]
• More information about Ninjago was revealed in building instructions of set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu.
• Although there is no official complete map of the world of Ninjago, Tommy Andreasen has confirmed one fan map as partially canon.^[27] However, the location of Astor City from LEGO Ultra Agents is not canon to the world of Ninjago,^[28] because the theme in general is not canon to Ninjago.^[29]
  • This map was updated on August 13, 2021 with 2021’s locations.^[30]
• The word Ninjago was created by combining the words Ninja and LEGO.^[31]
• The official 2021 map and Captain Soto’s map (see below) were released at a higher definition via PDF on the LEGO webiste.^[32]
• When asked about the appearance of ordinary objects such as traffic cones, Tommy Andreasen noted, «I am definitely picky in that department. Sometimes you needed to argue: ‘why would people in this strange fantasy society come up with a design which is this similar to something in our world?’»^[33]
• When asked what Ninjago’s original realm name was prior to the First Spinjitzu Master creating it, Tommy Andreasen answered, «Ninjago is the continent. Idk. The Infinite Sea?»^[34]
• When asked if Ninjago is a country, Tommy Andreasen said, «No country. The more we define N[injago] the less awesome it will become.»^[35] In a later tweet, he stated Ninjago is «a place, country, island.»^[36]
• The reason why Ninjago runs a UK and Hong Kong plug and socket system^[37] is according to Tommy Andreasen because «The European standard one would have take 400+ hours to render.»^[38]
• Even though Earth is one of the Elemental Powers in Ninjago, the planet is not called Earth. In the world of Ninjago, «Earth» simply means dirt or soil.^[39]
• Tommy Andreasen is unsure if Ninjago has a Prime Minister or President as they «don’t get hung up on politics.»^[40]

Gallery

The images on Ninjago need to be organized. You can help the Wiki by adding images to the appropriate section on «Ninjago.» This template can be removed once images have been organized.

Promotional media

In Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu

In other media

Concept art

References

Locations
Landmarks	Kingdoms, cities and villages: Abandoned village · Coastal village · Farmers’ village · Holy City of Domu · Hono Mizu · Ignacia · Jamanakai Village · Keepers’ Village · Kingdom of Shintaro · Merlopia · Metalonia · Ninjago City · Nom · Oni land · Ouroboros · Serpentine village · Spinjago (non-canon) · Stiix · Valley of the Sphinx · Village in the valley · Village of Haru · Village of the Formlings Jungles and forests: Birchwood Forest · Blackwood Forest · Forest of Tranquility · Glimwillow Woods · Hiroshi’s Labyrinth · Jankikai Jungle · Primeval’s Eye · Toxic Bogs · Uncharted jungle · Vermillion Swamps · Wildwood Forest Mountains, caves and canyons: Caves of Despair · Corridor of Elders · Crashcourse Canyon · Crystal Caves · Dungeons of Shintaro · Echo Canyons · Firstbourne’s nest · Floating Ruins · Geckle Strong-Cave · Golden Peaks · Hollow’s Bluff · Ice Cave · Haunted Hill · Mala-Wojira · Mines of Shintaro · Mino Pit · Mouth of Eternal Shadows · Mountain of a Million Steps · Mountain of Madness · Mountains of Impossible Height · Munce Home-Cave · No Man’s Bluff · Rock-Bottom · Samurai X Cave · Shintaro Mountain · Story cave · Tallest mountain of Ninjago · The Teeth · Torchfire Mountain · Wailing Alps Tombs and graveyards: Anacondrai Tomb · Cemetery of Souls · Constrictai Tomb · Fangpyre Tomb · Graveyard of ships · Hypnobrai Tomb · Lost Tomb of Impending Peril · Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master · Tomb of the Stone Army · Venomari Tomb Water areas: Black River · Boiling Sea · Endless Sea · Frozen pond · Hollow’s Trench · Lightning Lagoon · Northern Ocean · River of Darkness · Shadow Bay · Spirit Coves · Tartarus Trench Islands: Ninjago · Chen’s Island · Dark Island · Dyer Island · Glacial Glacier · Glacier Island (non-canon) · Island of the Keepers · Lighthouse Island · Squawk Island · Tiger Widow Island Deserts: Desert of Doom · Sea of Sand Other: Arctic (non-canon) · Blind Man’s Eye · Billy Badlands · Bottomless pit · Chen’s camp · Chrono Crater (non-canon) · Dead’s End · Dead Man’s Squall · Delta V · Digger’s Deep · Digiverse · Dream World (non-canon) · N line · Frozen Wasteland · Glacier Barrens · Ice labyrinth · Manifestation Gate · Mega Monster Amusement Park · Ninjago (LEGO Universe) (non-canon) · Ninjago wharfs · Ninjago Zoo · Outer space · The Pit · The Pit (Shintaro) · Rift of Return · Route 22 · Route 23 · Storm belt · Strangler’s Path · Temporal vortex
Buildings and establishments	Temples, palaces, fortresses and monasteries: Anacondrai Temple · Castle of Ice · Chen’s monastery · Chen’s Palace · Fire Temple · Garmadon’s Dark Fortress · Garmadon’s monastery · Hanging Temple · Ice Temple · Lloyd’s treehouse fortress · Merlopian Palace · Monastery of Spinjitzu · Mountain monastery · Ninja Dojo Temple · Oni Temple · Palace (Shintaro) · Pyramid (Desert of Doom) · Pyramid of the Sphinx · Royal Palace · Skull Keep · Serpentine Pyramid · Serpentine’s underground fortress · Temple of Airjitzu · Temple of Felis · Temple of Fortitude · Temple of Light · Temple of Madness · Temple of Resurrection · Temple of Wojira Stores and establishments: Benny’s Arcade Emporium · Biker Tavern · Borg Industries · Borg Store · Buddy’s Pizza · Chan’s Theater · City Bank · City Hall · City Jail · Concert Hall · Dairy Dragon · Dareth’s TV studio · Darnagom Enterprises · Ed & Edna’s Scrap N Junk · Explorer’s Club · Four Weapons Blacksmith · Fur Mart · Garbage depot · Gas station · Geckle courthouse · Grand Sensei Dareth’s Mojo Dojo · Kai’s dojo · Kiddie Arcade · Kryptarium Prison (Cell one) · Laughy’s · Library of Domu · Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts · Mystake’s Tea Shop · Ninjago City Aquarium · Ninjago City Bank · Ninjago City Hospital · Ninjago City Police Station · Ninjago Doomsday Comix · Ninjago Harbor · Ninjago Metro · Ninjago Museum of History · Ninjago Park · Noodle factory · Repo yard · Ronin’s pawn shop · Serpentine library · Steep Wisdom · Steeper Wisdom (non-canon) · Storm Farms · Twitchy Tim’s gas station · Vast Industries · Dance class · Wong’s Costume · Wu’s Academy · Yang Tavern Houses and apartments: Cliff Gordon’s estate · Dareth’s apartment · First Spinjitzu Master’s house · Hero’s Suite · Sally’s farm · The Mechanic’s headquarters · Vermillion Dome of Doom Other: Borg Tower (Borg Tower vaults) · Chen’s Coliseum · Chen’s Royal Arena · Dragon’s Forge · Hall of Villainy · Hidden workshop · Hiroshi’s Labyrinth Stronghold · Munce arena · Old electronics warehouse · Oni stronghold · Palace gardens · Pythor’s base · S.O.G. Headquarters · Sewers · The Mechanic’s warehouse · Tower of Tears (non-canon)
Prime Empire	Battle arena · Disco · Fire wall · Forest of Discontent · Marketplace · Glitch · Infinity maze · Okino’s house · Place of swords · Scott’s garage · Shifty’s table · Side-scrolling platforms · Sushimi’s sushi restaurant · Terra Karana · Terra Technica · Terra Domina
Realms	Chima · Cloud Kingdom · Cursed Realm · Departed Realm · Djinjago · Never-Realm · Ninjago · Realm of Madness · Realm of Oni and Dragons · Underworld
Other	Ethereal Divide · Grasslands
The LEGO Ninjago Movie locations	Ninjago · Ninjago City · Bridge of Fallen Mentors · Canyon of General Unhappiness · Firing Room · Garmadon’s Volcano Lair · Ham’s street food stall · Jungle of Lost Souls · Koko’s apartment · Lost Generals’ Lair · Ninja Mech Garage · Ninjago Beach · Ninjago High School · Ninjago Tower · Temple of Fragile Foundations · Wu’s temple

This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see Ninjago (disambiguation).

Ninjago (formerly Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu) is a CGI comedy-action family television show that aired on Cartoon Network in the United States (pilot episodes-Season 13), Teletoon in Canada, Nickelodeon in Denmark, Greece and the Netherlands (Seasons 11-15), and Disney XD in Latin America (pilot episodes-Season 7), SIC and SIC K in Portugal, and Cartoon Network in Latin America (Seasons 11-15).

The pilot episodes were released on January 14, 2011, and the first two episodes of the first season were released on December 2, 2011. The first proper season aired in February, March, and April 2012.

After Adventure Time ended on September 3, 2018, Ninjago became the longest currently-running show that airs on Cartoon Network.

In 2019, the series dropped the subtitle of Masters of Spinjitzu and the episode runtime was changed from 22 minutes to 11 minutes.

Although Ninjago stopped airing on Cartoon Network in the United States after Season 13, on November 19, 2021, it surpassed Ed, Edd n Eddy as the longest running show to have ever aired on Cartoon Network.

The series ended on October 1, 2022 with the second part of Season 15: Crystalized airing on Netflix in Australia and New Zealand. It will be succeeded by a new series.^[1]

Official description

Six young ninja with elemental powers and masters of the ancient fighting style of Spinjitzu defend their world, the mythical realm of Ninjago, against constant threat. Under the leadership of their mysterious Master Wu, they stand up to those who are cruel and unjust and protect those who cannot protect themselves. No foe is too great or too strange for the ninja to take on: Ice Samurai, skeletons from the Underworld, ghosts, robot ninja, airborne pirates, strange breeds of snake people, steampunk hunters, reanimated dragons, evil sorcerers and even villains who have escaped from a corrupted video game. Riding dragons and fighting evil is all in a day’s work for a ninja in Ninjago.^[2]

History

Creation of the series

In 2009, LEGO wanted to continue the idea of a story-driven original theme, which they had previously done with LEGO Atlantis.^[3] The company decided to do a retake on a theme that had existed for a few years: Ninja, which was a Castle subtheme that was discontinued in 2000. Taking some ideas from the old theme, they revamped it into a new one called Ninjago,^{[citation needed]} though it was originally still called LEGO Ninja.^[4]

Later, Tommy Andreasen and Thomas Fenger thought up and created the martial art of Spinjitzu.^{[citation needed]}

On January 10, 2010, the Hageman Brothers began writing the pilot episode,^[5] and on February 22, they finished the first draft.^{[citation needed]}

On May 2, 2010, the first proof-of-concept animation by WILFilm was completed, in which Kai fought a Skulkin.^[6]

Though it was initially meant to only introduce the toyline, potential was seen in the pilot, and at some point in the pilot’s production, a proper series was commissioned.^[7]

In early 2011, the pilot episodes were released. The first season released starting in December of that year and lasted a few months into 2012. The second season aired in July of that same year, with the two-season run intended to be the full run of the show.

Original ending and return (2013-2017)

Originally LEGO had planned that the series would end after two seasons. Due to fan demand, in 2014, it returned with Season 3. During this time, the production of the third season was choppy, starting out as thirteen episodes, then being reduced to two before they were able to settle on eight.

The show continued strongly in 2015, going for two seasons a year, with 2016 being a slight exception, having a season, and a holiday special in the latter half of the year. There was a small hiatus on this schedule in 2017 to make way for The LEGO Ninjago Movie. 2017 was also the first year to have nothing written by the Hageman Brothers, as David Shayne and a team of writers wrote the seventh season.

Refreshing the main cast (2018-2019)

Given the release of The LEGO Ninjago Movie expected to bring in new fans to the show, the show underwent a revitalization. The main characters were given redesigns to match their appearances in the movie. Lloyd was also given a new voice actor, to reflect him growing up in the time between the seventh and eighth seasons. The animation was also done through a new pipeline, improving the quality, and the tone became noticeably darker.

Animation studio change (2019-2022)

After eight and a half years and 100 episodes, LEGO gave the show a soft reboot, starting with Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu. The Masters of Spinjitzu subtitle was removed from the franchise’s branding, and the show became known as simply Ninjago. The animation studio changed from WILFilm ApS to WildBrain (formerly called DHX Media). With this came a more fast-paced animation style and mediums of animation beyond the 3D rendered LEGO figures occasionally being used (such as the 2D style in «The Absolute Worst,» «The Last of the Formlings,» and «Dungeon Party!»). The biggest change of all is that the runtime of the episodes was reduced from 22 minutes to 11 minutes.

Premise

The show is set primarily on the fictional island, Ninjago. It draws inspiration from a blend of East-Asian culture and popular Western media while taking place in a modern setting.

Long before the events of the series, the First Spinjitzu Master used the power of the Golden Weapons to create Ninjago. Trained in the legendary art of Spinjitzu by the wise Master Wu, a group of young ninja (Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane, and eventually Lloyd and Nya) with mastery over the elements fight to defend their land against those who wish to conquer it. Each season focuses on a different one, more, or all of the ninja and features a different group of varied antagonists.

Main plot

The show can be divided into four parts: a pilot consisting of four episodes, fifteen full seasons, a Halloween TV special, and a four-episode mini-series. There are some canon and non-canon mini-movies that take place between moments or alongside certain moments of the show.

Pilot episodes (2011)

Long before time had a name, the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago with the four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu: the Scythe of Quakes, the Shurikens of Ice, the Nunchucks of Lightning, and the Sword of Fire. Before he passed away, his sons swore to protect the weapons from evil, but the older brother Garmadon was infected with evil, plotting to obtain and wield all four weapons so he could rule Ninjago in his own evil image. In the ensuing battle between brothers, the younger brother Wu fought hard enough to cast Garmadon down to the Underworld, hiding the weapons across the land and placing a guardian dragon at each hiding spot.

In anticipation and preparation for Lord Garmadon’s return, Master Wu recruits four gifted young men—Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane—and trains them in the way of the ninja, tasking them with retrieving the Golden Weapons from their Dragon guardians. Along the way, they must unlock their Spinjitzu, become a team, and search for Kai’s younger sister, Nya (kidnapped by the Underworld’s Skeleton Army under Lord Garmadon’s orders), to learn the ways of the Ninja, master the art of Spinjitzu, and find the Golden Weapons before Garmadon and the Skulkin can claim them for their maniacal machinations while the Skulkin army and their four-armed leader, Samukai, who is the former King of the Underworld and Lord Garmadon’s second-in-command, hunt them down.

Mini-movies (2011)

Following the disappearance of Lord Garmadon, the Ninja enjoy a short period of peace. During this time, Master Wu reveals bits of the backstory to his pupils, including how Lord Garmadon fell to the Underworld and usurped Samukai. The Ninja also take some time to enjoy their new Dragon mounts and defeat the plots of the remaining Skulkin, led by their Generals: Kruncha, Nuckal, and Wyplash.

Season 1: Rise of the Snakes (2011-2012)

Ever since Lord Garmadon’s disappearance, peace has returned to Ninjago. Rather than prepare for his return, the Ninja have become lazy, playing video games and eating pizza instead of continuing their training. With their guards down, they find themselves thrown back into action when Garmadon’s son Lloyd Garmadon attacks Jamanakai Village. Although the son of Lord Garmadon is a «mischievous, childish brat» than «dark overlord», he inadvertently unleashes a much greater threat onto Ninjago—the ancient evil race of snake people known as the Serpentine, releasing the five warring tribes of a race of snake-people who once ruled over Ninjago before being sealed away in underground tombs. Now led by the treacherous scheming Pythor P. Chumsworth, last of the fearsome Anacondrai, the vengeful snakes seek revenge on the people of Ninjago for sealing them away, on the hunt to find the four Silver Fangblades to awaken and unleash the Great Devourer, a monstrous beast and an unkillable giant serpent that consumes all in its path, growing the more it consumes. Now the Ninja must stop both the Serpentine and Lloyd, all while bracing for the inevitable return of Lord Garmadon himself.

To stop them and gain more manpower, Wu and the Ninja form a shaky, uneasy alliance with Lord Garmadon, who also perceives Pythor as a nemesis because Pythor has captured and held Lloyd captive (Garmadon dearly loves and cares about his son) in addition to hating the Great Devourer because that’s what caused him to turn evil in the first place. As our heroes try to overcome emotional barriers with the evil dark lord Garmadon and team up together against this greater mutual enemy, the Ninja unlock their True Potential one by one, all while trying to learn the identity of the legendary Green Ninja destined to defeat the «dark lord».

In addition to battling the forces of evil, the Ninja must also continue their training, overcoming physical and emotional challenges alike to reach their True Potential. Along the way, they will make new allies, learn new truths, and may even discover the identity of the legendary Green Ninja.

Despite the Ninja’s efforts, Pythor and his tribe manage to collect all four Fangblades, however, the Ninja unlock their true potential and gear up, ready to take on the Serpentine army. In the end, through Kai’s realization, all of the training Kai, Jay, Cole and Zane underwent wasn’t to become the Green Ninja, it was to protect him. Lloyd is revealed to be the destined chosen one. This causes grief to Wu and Garmadon since their family has become even more divided. In the end, the Ninja, Wu, and Garmadon give a look of nervous sadness because of how heartbreaking, emotionally difficult and heart-wrenching it will be for Lloyd to battle his own father in the near future. After Wu, Nya and the Ninja are held captive after going undercover, infiltrating and spying on Pythor’s inner circle, the evil, villainous Garmadon grudgingly rescues them. Although Pythor unleashes The Great Devourer, his plan backfires when the gigantic evil snake swallows both him and Wu, going on a rampage destroying the city.

Lloyd, Nya, the Ninja and Lord Garmadon come up with a plan to defeat the giant snake. Despite the Ninja’s suspicion of Garmadon, the plan pays off. The Great Devourer is destroyed, Garmadon successfully getting revenge on the snake who’s evil venom infected and corrupted him, with Wu emerging alive, with a teapot and a cup of tea in his hands.

They discover that predictably, Lord Garmadon has slyly turned traitor to them, treacherously deserted the group with said weapons and is now ominously, schemingly plotting against them (putting his evil plans into motion to conquer the city, rule it with an iron fist, and turn the city into his own evil, tyrannical, dystopian regime). The first season ends with a bittersweet ending as the 4 ninja celebrate their temporary victory while Lloyd nervously tries to come to terms with the fact that he will have to face his own father in battle one day, knowing that the war is far from over.

Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja (2012)

The second season begins with the aftermath of the Ninja’s battle with the Serpentine. After defeating the Great Devourer, Lord Garmadon has treacherously fled and deserted Wu and the Ninja with the Golden Weapons, now plotting against them and putting his evil plans of conquering the city in motion, having taken command of the Serpentine. Gathering the remaining Serpentine under his command, Lord Garmadon travels to the Golden Peaks. At the Golden Peaks, birthplace of the weapons, he he unites the four weapons and forges them into an even more powerful Mega Weapon. With the power to create whatever he pleases, Lord Garmadon is more dangerous than ever, and the Ninja must quickly begin training Lloyd—revealed to be the Green Ninja—so he may fulfill his destiny and stop his father from remaking Ninjago in his own image. Able to create anything he pleases, Garmadon aims to interrupt Lloyd’s training and prevent him from achieving his destiny as the Green Ninja by harming the Ninja. To ensure Lloyd is ready to face his father, the Ninja combat Garmadon’s creations at every turn. But both sides are unaware of an ultimate, supernatural evil force of darkness and destruction that lurks on the fabled Island of Darkness, pulling the strings for thousands of years to conquer and consume it all. The fate of Ninjago hangs in the balance as the «Final Battle» between good and evil looms even closer.

Midway through the season, a number of complications arise: Lloyd is aged to a teenager and reunites with his mother, Misako; Skales betrays Lord Garmadon and takes command of the Serpentine; and Lord Garmadon finds himself upon the fabled Island of Darkness, where he allies himself with the Overlord, the original source of evil in Ninjago. Lord Garmadon soon gains control over the Stone Army, an ancient force of indestructible warriors. Now, the Ninja must delve into the past—both their own and the world’s—to find the power to save all of Ninjago from the most dangerous villains it has ever seen.

Season 3: Rebooted (2014)

Good prevailed in the Final Battle with Lloyd as the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master defeating the Overlord and saving both Ninjago and his once-evil father. Ninjago City was left in ruin until genius inventor Cyrus Borg led the reconstruction process bringing about New Ninjago City, a hub of futuristic technological advancements. In this high-tech age of peace, the Ninja —minus Lloyd—Wu, and Nya take over Lloyd’s old boarding school ( Darkley’s Boarding School for Bad Boys) and turn it into Wu’s Academy. On a field trip to the city, they visit the technology company Borg Industries, only to learn a horrifying truth from Cyrus Borg at the Borg Tower, center of all this innovation, they discover that the Overlord has survived his fight with the Golden Ninja in the form of a virus and has been reborn as the Digital Overlord, a computer virus infecting Borg’s systems. To escape the Digiverse, he plots to steal Lloyd’s Golden Power and become a prophesied evil known as the Golden Master and destroy the other ninja before they can use Borg’s Techno Blades to reboot the system and destroy him for good. In order to aid him, he uses Borg’s technology to copy Zane’s design and create an army of Nindroids. Leaving Lloyd under the protection of a now pacifistic Sensei Garmadon, the Ninja must find the hard-drive containing the Digital Overlord and reboot the system with Borg’s tech-hacking Techno Blades, to keep their friend safe and put an end to the Overlord’s evil once and for all.

To counter this threat, the Ninja—rejoined by Lloyd—team up with Borg’s robotic assistant P.I.X.A.L. and their old foe Garmadon, now living with Misako, as a master who practices the Art of the Silent Fist. However, they are also forced to face Wu, turned into a cyborg under the Overlord’s control, and a mysterious Serpentine warrior who has joined forces with the villain. The struggle to stop the Overlord takes the Ninja to the stars and back, with a final showdown with the Overlord awaiting them upon their return.

Season 4: Tournament of Elements (2015)

To defeat the Overlord Golden Master, Zane was forced to absorb power from the Golden Armor, «sacrificing» his life and leaving the Ninja team fractured in the process. But when notorious crime boss and noodle house owner Master Chen invites them to his Tournament of Elements; a competition between other Elemental Masters like them, with the promise of seeing Zane again, hinting that their fallen comrade may yet be alive, they have little choice but to travel to Chen’s Island. The Ninja, accompanied by Sensei Garmadon (who has a personal history with Chen and his underling Clouse and learns of the Elemental Masters, other warriors with powers derived from Ninjago’s elements), find themselves traveling to Chen’s Island and quickly making enemies. Arriving on the island, they learn Chen’s intention: to pit them against each other, with winners advancing through the rounds while the losers mysteriously vanish. However, when they discover that Chen and his cult of Anacondrai worshippers use the Staff of Elements to strip those who lose their Elemental Powers for a spell that could restart a war from Ninjago’s past, they attempt to form an alliance with the Elemental Masters.

New friends and enemies are made—Kai notably taking an interest in Skylor, master of Amber—and discover Chen’s true plan: to steal the Elemental powers of the competitors for a spell. This spell, once complete, will allow Chen and his followers to become a new army of Anacondrai, the fiercest of all Serpentine tribes, who will then wage war on Ninjago. It will take an alliance of Ninja, Elemental Masters, and more to stop this threat—and an even greater sacrifice may be required in the end.

Season 5: Possession (2015)

Chen and his Anacondrai Cultists have been banished to the Cursed Realm by General Arcturus and the Anacondrai Generals. But to free the generals, Garmadon had to take their place amongst the cursed. As a distraught Lloyd mourns the loss of his father, he is called to a solo mission where he is possessed by the jealousy ghost of Wu’s first student Morro, the Master of Wind, who escaped the Cursed Realm when Garmadon opened the portal. Obsessed with claiming this right for himself, Morro possesses Lloyd, thus leaving the other four Ninja powerless. Now, the powerless Ninja face their friend as evil ghosts from the Cursed Realm led by Morro, Master Wu’s original pupil and the Master of Wind, whom Wu once thought could be the Green Ninja, wreak havoc. It is then revealed that Morro is seeking to find the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, which can only be accessed through the art of Airjitzu, and use the Realm Crystal, a gateway to the Sixteen Realms parallel to Ninjago, to allow his master to curse all that exists. To stop him, the Ninja ally with mercenary and shady, corrupt and two-faced businessman Ronin, mastering the lost art of Airjitzu and following three clues to the tomb’s location engraved on Wu’s staff. The attempt to secure the Scrolls of Airjitzu leads the Ninja first to Stiix, where they encounter their old foe Ronin, and then to the Temple of Airjitzu, where they face the ghost of Master Yang and obtain a scroll only to suffer a severe blow, at the cost of Cole turning into a ghost.

Elsewhere, Wu is teaching Nya to unlock her powers, and she is learning to unlock her hidden potential as the daughter of the Elemental Master of Water, a formidable weapon against Morro’s Ghost Warriors. The Ninja and Morro make their way to the Cloud Kingdom in search of the Sword of Sanctuary, a tool necessary to bypass the traps within the tomb, only for Morro to capture the Realm Crystal. Using this tool, Morro returns to Stiix with a plan to unleash his monstrous master, the Preeminent, who will curse all of realms. It falls to the Ninja—including Lloyd and Nya—to face the threat of the Cursed Realm and save Ninjago. But the true key to victory lies with Nya, who learns she is the current Master of Water Waves Oceans Tides and Fluids, which happens to be a ghost’s greatest weakness.

Season 6: Skybound (2016)

In the wake of the Preeminent’s defeat, the Ninja have become celebrities because their victory over the Preeminent has brought the Ninja overwhelming fame, but Nya is struggling with both her new status on the team and Jay’s lingering feelings for her. While they struggle to continue to defend Ninjago while warding off obsessed fans, Jay tangles with seeing a future with Nya in the First Spinjitzu Master’s Tomb.

Things go further downhill for the heroes when the ghost of Chen’s right hand man Clouse, (their old foe) who survived the destruction of the Cursed Realm, unleashes the villainous Djinn, Nadakhan; captain of the Misfortune’s Keep and Sky Pirates, a wish-granting pirate who quickly captures Wu and Misako before setting out to locate his long-missing crew after framing the Ninja for a series of crimes that turns the populace against them. Framing the Ninja (by shapeshifting into them wreaking havoc across the city) and reuniting with his crew, Nadakhan learns that the destruction of the Cursed Realm has caused the collapse of its Sister Realm and his former home and kingdom of Djinjago. After returning to his home realm of Djinjago only to find it falling apart; he then receives the Djinn Blade from his father and returns to Ninjago intended on reshaping it into a new version of his home. In an effort to halt him, with their fans turned against them and their team dwindling in numbers as the Djinn turns their wishes against them to trap them in his Sword of Souls, the Ninja seek advice from Nadakhan’s old foe Captain Soto, who advises them to seek out Tiger Widow Island for the means of weakening the Djinn.

The Ninja find themselves in a battle across Ninjago to stop a vengeful Nadakhan from rebuilding his Realm with chunks of theirs. They succeed in obtaining the venom of the Tiger Widow, but in the process, Kai and Zane are trapped with Nadakhan’s blade and their power enables him to lift pieces of Ninjago into the sky in his bid to recreate Djinjago. At the same time, he sets his eyes on marrying Nya—the double of his lost love Delara—in order to gain the ability to grant himself infinite wishes. In the end, it is up to Jay—the only Ninja who hasn’t used all three of the wishes Nadakhan can grant him—to assemble a team of reserve heroes to find the right wish to save his love, home, and save his friends in order to stop Nadakhan from conquering Ninjago with infinite power.

Day of the Departed (2016)

On the Day of the Departed, the people of Ninjago light lanterns to remember those they’ve lost. The Ninja in particular gather to remember their passed loved ones but are reminded of old foes by the Ninjago Museum of History’s new Hall of Villainy exhibit. While his friends celebrate, Cole, whose ghostly state has deteriorated to the point of him randomly fading in and out of existence, receives an unexpected message from Yang. He sets out to confront the evil gjost villain and intends to exact revenge on Master Yang for turning him into a ghost during the Ninja’s attempt to learn Airjitzu, in revenge for his transformation. He unwittingly plays into Yang’s hands by delivering to him the Yin Blade (a dark magic weapon Yang once used in an attempt to gain immortality), and Yang takes advantage of the Yin-Yang Eclipse to revive some of the old enemies of the Ninja to pit them against them. Cole enters the Temple of Airjitzu and prepares to «close the circle» by defeating the Airjitzu Master. But when his gambit for revenge leads to the accidental revival of some of the Ninja’s greatest enemies, the heroes find themselves facing their vengeful foes once again as they attempt to take the Ninja’s place amongst the living using magic Departed Blades. As these revived foes—joined by Pythor—hunt down the various Ninja, Yang sets out to open the Rift of Return, leaving it up to Cole to stop him once and for all. Cole faces Yang and his students alone as, thanks to his actions, the Airjitzu Master has reclaimed the Yin Blade and plots to take advantage of a special Yin-Yang Eclipse to cut the Rift of Return which will allow him to return to the living world.

Season 7: The Hands of Time (2017)

Following the events on the Day of the Departed, both Cole and the Temple of Airjitzu have been restored. As the Ninja setup base in the temple, they find themselves stuck cleaning up the damage at the Ninjago Museum of History. Here, they learn of the Hands of Time; twin Elemental Masters of time itself who betrayed the Elemental Masters after the Serpentine Wars in belief their Element was the strongest.

Meanwhile, at the ruins of the Monastery of Spinjitzu, Wu awaits the return of Acronix, the younger of the «Time Twins», to finish the battle they started 40 years ago. Acronix, one of the Time Twins passes through a time vortex and is challenged to a fight by Master Wu. After the arrival of the Forward Time Blade, but without the rest of the team by his side, Wu is overwhelmed by Acronix who uses a move known as the «Time Punch» to accelerate Wu’s aging one day per hour. Even with the intervention of the Ninja, Acronix escapes and reunites with his brother Krux; the older twin, who has remained hidden in Ninjago disguised as Museum Curator Dr. Saunders. Now the two Hands of Time have a plan that could change history and revert Ninjago back to its old-fashioned roots. They control an army of Serpentine known as Vermillion, from the eggs of the Great Devourer, who can form into Samurai using metal. The Vermillion began capturing Ninjago builders, including Cyrus Borg, and stealing metal, all to build the Iron Doom, which can travel time, using the Time Apparatus to utilize all 4 Time Blades. With Master Wu unable to fight, P.I.X.A.L. offline, 3 other Time Blades scattered throughout time, and a mysterious new Samurai X to learn the identity of, Lloyd leads the team to stop the Hands of Time and save Master Wu. The Ninja must now battle the Hands of Time and their army of Vermillion; children of the Great Devourer, as they begin kidnapping Ninjago’s best builders and stealing metal all over the city. But as they near closer to uncovering the villains’ ultimate goal, the battle becomes personal for Kai and Nya who discover who discover shockingly dark, horrible secrets about their parents being involved with the Hands of Time when it turns out their own parents could have ties to the villains.

Season 8: Sons of Garmadon (2018)

This season was released in January 2018 in Australia and April 2018 in the United States. It takes place one year after Hands of Time, with Lloyd now a master.

One year after Wu and the Hands of Time were lost in time aboard the Iron Doom, the Ninja have scattered across Ninjago, tackling missions while searching for their master’s whereabouts. In their absence, unfortunately caused by their search, Ninjago City has been overrun by a cult-like crime syndicate known as the Sons of Garmadon who worship the evil Lord Garmadon and pose a new threat to Ninjago and the Royal Family. Their plan is to resurrect Lord Garmadon with the three Oni Masks.

With Lloyd acting as their new master, the Ninja team reunites to heed a request from the usually private Royal Family, who ask the heroes to protect the three Oni Masks (The Mask of Deception, the Mask of Vengeance, and the Mask of Hatred); relics from the First Realm which when united would allow the Sons of Garmadon to resurrect a purely evil Garmadon, with most of his soul gone, as well as their adopted daughter, the Jade Princess Harumi. In order to stop the Sons of Garmadon from desecrating his father’s sacrifice, Lloyd and the Ninja attempt to find the identity of their leader, the Quiet One, before they can determine the location of the elusive Oni Mask of Hatred, while learning secrets about the origins of Ninjago itself. In the process, Lloyd begins to bond with Harumi who has also lost her parents. But as they grow closer, the Ninja make the startling discovery that someone in their makeshift family is the Quiet One.

The animation was stepped up this season and certain changes were brought in, notably the characters’ design changes, due to the expected new fans brought in by The LEGO Ninjago Movie.

Season 9: Hunted (2018)

With a resurrected, diabolical Lord Garmadon now ruthlessly ruling a dystopian Ninjago City in ruins with an iron fist while the original four Ninja and young Wu stuck in the Realm of Oni and Dragons, after the Colossus destroyed the Destiny’s Bounty, any ally of the Ninja and citizen is hunted and imprisoned in Kryptarium Prison. Lloyd, Nya, and the rest of their remaining allies, including a portion of the Elemental Masters, form a resistance to endure and fight back against the tyrannical rule of Lord Garmadon and Harumi. Unbeknownst to them, the other Ninja are alive and thanks to Mystake’s Traveler’s Tea, they’re in the First Realm; the Realm of the Oni and the Dragon. Here, the barbaric Dragon Hunters, led by the power hungry Iron Baron, capture Dragons and exploit their Elemental Powers to sustain their society. As dragons are the only beings who can ferry between realms, the Ninja and a teenage Wu must find the mythical Dragon Armor once worn by the First Spinjitzu Master himself, in order to convince Firstbourne; leader mother and queen of all dragons, to allow them to ride her children out of the Realm so they can rejoin the fight against Lord Garmadon, and save Ninjago. While in the Realm of Oni and Dragons, the Ninja and Wu fight the Dragon Hunters in a quest to claim the Dragon Armor and get back to Ninjago. It takes place one week after the events of Season 8.

The season was aired in North America on August 11, 2018.

Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu (2018)

The ninja of LEGO® NINJAGO® are rebuilding the Monastery of Spinjitzu after it was burned down by the Hypnobrai tribe. To preserve the Legacy of Spinjitzu for generations to come, Master Wu is overseeing the making of a mural that depicts some of the most defining and epic moments in the history of Spinjitzu. Watch these all-new original stories to see how the ninja remember past LEGO NINJAGO adventures.^[8]

Season 10: March of the Oni (2019)

As Ninjago city rebuilds from Emperor Garmadon’s ransacked demolition, he calls out to Lloyd to tell him what will happen in the future, Lloyd distrusts his father’s intentions of helping him. Faith later returns from the first realm explaining what happened in the realm of Oni and Dragons. The Oni have invaded Ninjago. As demonic darkness descends upon the realm of NINJAGO, the time has come for our heroes to rise again and protect the land that all Masters of Spinjitzu call home. It is a world filled with a rich history and legacy, and it is from here where our ninja heroes must unlock an even greater power to defeat the darkness that is marching towards them. What could these shapeshifting dark forces be, why do they want to destroy NINJAGO, and how can they be defeated? Since the destructive power that escaped through the realm crystal is too powerful for our heroes, the evil dark lord Garmadon must now choose a side. Will he team up with the Ninja and fight the Oni or tear the fabled world and legacy of Ninjago apart forever?

Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu (2019)

This season takes place 6 months after the Ninja defeated the Oni in March of the Oni. The Ninja have become relaxed, lazy, and out of shape. In order to keep their skills and powers intact, they search for an activity or a threat to face. Strangely enough, Ninjago has been in a state of lasting peace. However, Zane begins suffering odd visions of him being «killed» by Snake Queen Aspheera, leader of the evil Pyro Vipers, who are invading Ninjago. As well as a mysterious castle guarded by an Ice Dragon; home to the Ice Emperor and his Blizzard Samurai. While Zane remains unsure about these frightening visions, the Ninja find their quest when Professor Clutch Powers discovers a mysterious pyramid which supposedly only a Ninja could survive exploring. Unbeknownst to them, the next threat to Ninjago is right around the corner.

Prime Empire Original Shorts (2020)

Short episodes that take place after Season 11 and during Season 12. These six short episodes are divided into before and after Jay enters Prime Empire. The first two, titled «Let’s Dance» and «Upgrade,» follow the Mechanic and his alliance with Unagami and also feature Jay and Nya in some bonding time.

Season 12: Prime Empire (2020)

When the old, legendary video game, Prime Empire, resurfaces, players, begin to disappear. In order to solve the mystery, the Ninja enter a dangerous digital world ruled by the mysterious villain Unagami.

Season 13: Master of the Mountain (2020)

This season on NINJAGO: Master of the Mountain: The ninja are invited to the beautiful Shintaro Kingdom to celebrate the young Princess Vania’s birthday. At first glance, the Ivory City looks like a pristine place, but the ninja soon uncover a dark, obscure, long-forgotten underworld: The Dungeons of Shintaro. Once inside, they must fight their way to freedom through a maze of tunnels paved with dangers and strange creatures ruled by the merciless Skull Sorcerer. The ninja must choose their path wisely…

The Island (2021)

An expedition led by Misako, Master Wu, and Clutch Powers has gone missing! With so much at stake, the ninja embark on a rescue mission to a mysterious and uncharted island full of surprises.^[9]

Season 14: Seabound (2021)

When Nya’s powers are suddenly disrupted, the ninjas travel to the the bottom of the Endless Sea for answers. They find a dangerous underwater world ruled by Prince Kalmaar, who wants to destroy NINJAGO City by waking the all-powerful sea serpent Wojira. The ninjas must find the prized amulets to stop him and keep their home safe. Will they triumph over the evil they face in the depths of the ocean?^[10]

Season 15: Crystalized (2022)

The ninja are back for another season with brand new adventures in NINJAGO®: Crystalized! This time they have been locked up in Kryptarium Prison where they are surrounded by some of their old enemies. Here they learn a mysterious Crystal King is recruiting a council of evil enemies. To find out the identity of this new enemy, they escape from prison and become fugitives. Who is the Crystal King? Why is he gathering a powerful counsel? Get ready for another action-packed mission with the ninja!

Canonical Side-stories

The Realm of Shadows

Set between Possession and Skybound, Clouse somehow escaped the Cursed Realm and is planning to plunge Ninjago into darkness by using Bandit, a young YinYang Dragon. He is also gathering a force of Shadow Minions to help him, capture Bandit.

Dark Island Trilogy

Part 1

Set between Skybound and «Day of the Departed.» After investigating the Dark Island following the disappearance of several sailors, Misako and Ronin are attacked by pirates in the midst of a storm; sometime later, their boat washes up back in Ninjago. Wu, who has been meditating for some time and sensing a growing threat, quickly assembles the six Ninja to take the Destiny’s Bounty in search of them, bringing along a mysterious crate in the process. Unfortunately, the group is caught in a storm on the way to the island that scatters them, with Kai waking up in what appears to be a vast desert. Wu wakes up and finds the Bounty damaged nearby, only for Lloyd to appear being chased by a group of angry gorillas. After eluding them, uncle and nephew get the Bounty seaworthy and begin sailing upriver, with Wu noting that the influence of Dark Matter appears to be growing stronger all around them in his journal entries.

Elsewhere, Jay and Nya awake at No Man’s Bluff and find their communicators inactive, and so begin searching for the others. They soon come across an unexpected sight: the pirates who attacked Misako and Ronin, who happen to be members of Nadakhan’s crew, though only Jay and Nya remember the events of their previous encounters due to Jay’s wish. The pirates have captured Ronin, who reveals that he was forced off their ship only for it to disappear along with Misako. As the Ninja and Pirates battle, the Leviathan appears and grabs Ronin, and Nya orders Jay to stop the Pirates while she deals with it; however, he helps free Ronin instead, and the thief unveils his new Mech and aids the Nya in driving off the sea beast. The trio then set off to find Misako.

Part 2

Lloyd and Wu continued their journey up the River of Darkness, only to notice the effects of the Dark Matter upon the environment and be affected by it themselves, with Lloyd abusing his powers before taking off alone in search of Misako. Wu is similarly affected, with an insect bite causing him to envision a dark copy of himself who taunts him for using the Ninja for his own gains; however, Wu is able to banish this illusion. Meanwhile, Zane and Cole awaken and, after encountering a large bird, find a mine where Misako and the captured fishermen are being forced to dig up dark matter. An enraged Lloyd arrives and begins attacking, but Zane and Cole are able to calm him down before going after Misako, who has fallen under the influence of the dark matter but is purified by Lloyd’s Energy.

The Sky Pirates mass for another attack, but the three Ninja and the freed prisoners are aided by the arrival of Ronin, Nya, and Jay. Elsewhere, Wu discovers that the villain behind the troubles on Dark Island is none other than Clouse, who had come to the island after failing to acquire the Teapot of Tyrahn (due to Jay’s final wish to Nadakhan). Having used his magic to forcibly recruit Nadakhan’s crew, Clouse now seeks to use the Dark Matter to corrupt the Temple of Light, which will reunite the Dark Island and Ninjago as a landmass of darkness that Clouse will control. Clouse escapes Wu aboard Misfortune’s Keep, while the Ninja acquire new vehicles created by Monkey Wretch and purified by their elemental energy. Cole then discovers Wu but is sent to search for the missing Kai.

Part 3

Kai, who has been wandering lost in the Billy Badlands, is captured by a pair of pirates but rescued by Cole, whose partial immunity to the Dark Matter enables him to reason with a partially corrupted Kai. The pair acquire new vehicles and set out to meet with the other Ninja, eventually succeeding in doing so and making their way towards the Temple of Light. Unfortunately, the final convoy of Dark Matter needed to overwhelm the Temple of Light’s defenses and corrupt it is already in motion, and the Dark Island itself is falling into chaos as a result of the evil energies. The Ninja team reunites and attempts to stop the convoy, only to be attacked by Clouse and nearly buried under a magical sandstorm. Undeterred, the heroes make their way to the Temple of Light, determined to stop Clouse or die trying.

Upon arriving at the temple, the Ninja find that Clouse’s plan is already well underway and are forced to confront his Shadow Army and Sky Pirates. Defeat seems inevitable, but Wu arrives and reveals the contents of his crate—his father’s Golden Mech, which he soon pilots into battle against Clouse. Clouse responds by creating his own Shadow Mech from the members of his army, and the two engage in battle only for Wu to emerge victoriously. The merging of Ninjago and the Dark Island is halted, the Temple of Light is restored to its original glory, and a vortex draws Clouse—unwilling to accept help from his enemies—into the Underworld. With the Sky Pirates captured and the balance restored, for the time being, the Ninja celebrate their victory.

However, after returning to Ninjago, Wu notes in his journal that he senses another threat on the horizon: something involving Kai and Nya’s mother and father and two twins he believed were lost to time. . . .

Pythor’s Revenge

After the events of «Day of the Departed» and shortly before The Hands of Time, the Ninja decide to take the day off and move into the Temple of Airjitzu. Lloyd receives a text from Dareth inviting them to a fun activity at the museum. Once they arrive, however, he reveals he needs them to clean up the mess he made during his fight with Kozu. He asks them to complete the task, claiming he needs to be present for a rumored reveal of the BorgWatch, a highly anticipated device designed by Cyrus Borg. Dareth then leaves them to fix the mess. Pythor hears it all and steals the prototype, threatening to reveal it all on tv.

The Book of Spinjitzu

Protect this book from dark forces. If it falls into the wrong hands, the knowledge contained within could put all of time and space in danger.

LEGO® Ninjago: Book of Spinjitzu contains Master Wu’s wise lessons in the wonders of Ninjago, giving readers the power to master Spinjitzu and unlock the secrets of this mysterious philosophy. Master Wu has recorded the lessons his father, the First Spinjitzu Master, taught him as a boy and has added to them throughout his life.

Now, Master Wu is sharing all that he has learned, in the hope that those with potential will become Ninjago’s great champions and continue to practice the art of Spinjitzu.

Garmadon Rulez!

The book is written in the form of young Harumi’s journal, from soon after her adoption by the Royal Family to shortly before Garmadon’s resurrection.

Fired Up!

This all-new chapter book includes three original stories about the ninja! When Master Wu calls his old student Kai, he has a special mission for him: it’s time to go BACK to his old ninja monastery and fix it up. That might sound boring, but what starts as a simple chore ends up as a ninja training jungle gym extravaganza! Plus, two more stories about classic ninja Zane and Lloyd! It contains full-color illustrations throughout three action-packed, easy-to-read adventures.

Cast

Team

• Wu (Paul Dobson) (Caleb Skeris/Kelly Metzger; baby) (Madyx Whiteway; child; Seasons 9 and 11)
• Garmadon (Mark Oliver) (Kai Emmett; young; Season 9) (Dean Petriw; young; Season 11)
• Lloyd Garmadon (Jillian Michaels; Seasons 1-7) (Sam Vincent; Season 8-present)
• Kai (Vincent Tong)
• Nya (Kelly Metzger)
• Jay Walker (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Cole (Kirby Morrow; pilot episodes-Season 14) (Andrew Francis; Season 15)
• Zane (Brent Miller)
• P.I.X.A.L. (Jennifer Hayward) (Michael Donovan; as Samurai X)

Allies

• Misako (Kathleen Barr)
• Mystake (Mackenzie Gray; Seasons 1-2) (Mark Oliver; Season 4) (Tabitha St. Germain; Seasons 8-9)
• Dareth (Alan Marriott)
• Cyrus Borg (Lee Tockar)
• Ronin (Brian Dobson)
• Ed Walker (Colin Murdock)
• Edna Walker (Jillian Michaels)
• Lou (Kirby Morrow)
• Dr. Julien (Mark Oliver)
• Ray (Vincent Tong)
• Maya (Jillian Michaels)
• Nelson (David Reynolds)
• Jake (Nicholas Holmes)
• Akita (Tabitha St. Germain)
• Kataru (Cole Howard)
• Krag (Brian Drummond)
• Sorla (Patty Drake)
• Scott (Adrian Petriw)
• Okino (Alessandro Juliani)
• Racer Seven (Shannon Chan-Kent)
• Vania (Sabrina Pitre)
• Benthomaar (Cole Howard)
• Upply
  • Fungus (Ian James Corlett)
  • Korgran (Paul Dobson)
  • Plundar (Adam Trask)

Elemental Masters

• Skylor (Heather Doerksen)
• Karlof (Scott McNeil)
• Griffin Turner (Doron Bell Jr.)
• Neuro (Paul Dobson)
• Shade (Andrew Francis)
• Mr. Pale (Kirby Morrow)
• Gravis (Mark Oliver)
• Bolobo (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Ash (Brent Miller)
• Chamille (Marÿke Hendrikse)
• Tox (Ian James Corlett; Season 4) (Maggie Blue O’Hara; Season 9)
• Jacob Pevsner (Paul Dobson)

Villains

Ultimate Evil

• The Overlord (Scott McNeil)

Skulkin

• Samukai (Michael Kopsa)
• Kruncha (Brian Drummond)
• Nuckal (Brian Drummond)
• Wyplash (Michael Dobson)
• Frakjaw
• Chopov (Trevor Devall)
• Krazi (Trevor Devall)
• Bonezai

Serpentine

• Pythor P. Chumsworth (Michael Dobson)
• Skales (Ian James Corlett)
• Slithraa (John Novak)
• Mezmo (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Rattla (Paul Dobson)
• Fangtom (Mackenzie Gray)
• Fangdam
• Fang-Suei (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Snappa
• Skalidor (John Novak)
• Bytar (Kirby Morrow)
• Chokun (Vincent Tong)
• Snike (Brent Miller)
• Acidicus (Paul Dobson)
• Lizaru (Vincent Tong)
• Spitta (Kirby Morrow)
• Lasha (Brent Miller)

Stone Army

• Kozu (Paul Dobson)
• Giant Stone Warrior
• Stone Warriors
• Stone Swordsmen
• Stone Scouts

Nindroid Army

• Cryptor (Richard Newman)
• Nindroid Warrior
• Min-Droid (Michael Adamthwaite)

Anacondrai Cultists

• Chen (Ian James Corlett)
• Clouse (Scott McNeil)
• Zugu (Brian Dobson)
• Eyezor (Michael Donovan)
• Kapau (Alessandro Juliani)
• Chope (Ian Hanlin)
• Sleven
• Krait

Ghost Warriors

• Morro (Andrew Francis) (Michael Dobson; Episode 44)
• Soul Archer (Brian Dobson)
• Bansha (Kathleen Barr)
• Ghoultar (Paul Dobson)
• Wrayth (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Attila
• Hackler
• Ming
• Spyder
• Howla
• Yokai
• Wooo
• Cowler
• Cyrus
• Ghurka
• Pitch
• Pyrrhus
• Wail

Sky Pirates

• Nadakhan (Scott McNeil)
• Flintlocke (Paul Dobson)
• Dogshank (Nicole Oliver)
• Doubloon (Vincent Tong)
• Monkey Wretch (Ian James Corlett)
• Clancee (Ian James Corlett)
• Sqiffy (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Bucko (Brian Dobson)
• Cyren

Vermillion

• Acronix (Ian Hanlin)
• Krux (Michael Daingerfield)
• Machia (Kathleen Barr)
• Raggmunk (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Blunck (Brian Dobson)
• Slackjaw
• Rivett
• Tannin
• Vermin
• Buffmillion

Sons of Garmadon

• Harumi (Britt McKillip)
• Killow (Garry Chalk)
• Mr. E (Brent Miller)
• Ultra Violet (Maggie Blue O’Hara; Season 8-9) (Sharon Alexander; Season 11)
• Luke Cunningham (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Chopper Maroon (Sam Vincent)

Dragon Hunters

• Iron Baron (Brian Drummond)
• Faith (Kathleen Barr)
• Jet Jack (Rhona Rees)
• Daddy No Legs (Ian James Corlett)
• Muzzle (Brent Miller)
• Chew Toy (Scott McNeil)
• Arkade (Michael Donovan)
• Skullbreaker (Michael Adamthwaite)

Oni

• The Omega (Zach LeBlanc)

Pyro Vipers

• Mambo V (Michael Dobson)
• Mambo’s advisor (Vincent Tong)
• Aspheera (Pauline Newstone) (Ashleigh Ball; young)
• Char (Brian Drummond)
• Pyro Destroyers
• Pyro Slayers
• Pyro Whippers
• Fire Fang
• Elemental Cobras (Brian Drummond)

Blizzard Samurai

• Vex (Michael Kopsa)
• Blizzard Warriors
  • Grimfax (Brian Drummond)
• Blizzard Sword Masters
• Blizzard Archers

Unagami’s army

• Unagami/Empire Dragon (Dean Redman) (Zion Simpson; child)
• Red Visors (Sam Vincent)
• Avatar Harumi (Britt McKillip)
• Sushimi (Vincent Tong)
• Hostess (Shannon Chan-Kent)

Whack Rats

• Richie
• Ritchie (Sam Vincent)

Re-Awakened

• Skull Sorcerer (Deven Mack)
• Hazza D’ur (Michael Adamthwaite)

Keepers

• Mammatus (Paul Dobson)
• PoulErik (Brian Drummond; first head) (Vincent Tong; second head)
• Rumble Keepers

Merlopians

• Trimaar (Ron Halder)
• Kalmaar (Giles Panton)
• Glutinous (Sam Vincent)
• Maaray Guards (Michael Adamthwaite; Episode 170) (Brent Miller; Episode 171)
  • Gripe (Brian Drummond)
• Nyad (Andrea Libman)

Crystal army

• Mister F
• Vengestone Guards

Other characters

• Clutch Powers (Ian James Corlett)
• Soto (Alan Marriott)
• First Mate (Brent Miller)
• No-Eyed Pete (Paul Dobson)
• Postman (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Noble (Paul Dobson)
• Rufus McCallister (Paul Dobson)
• Gayle Gossip (Kelly Sheridan)
• Yang (Michael Donovan)
• Nelson (David Raynolds)
• Brad Tudabone (Kathleen Barr)
• Gene (Kathleen Barr)
• Patty Keys (Cathy Weseluck)
• Tour Guide
• Hyper-Sonic (Matt Hill)
• Anthony Brutinelli (Bill Newton)
• Milton Dyer (Mark Hildreth)
• Bob the Intern (Colin Murdock)
• Leroy (Kelly Metzger)
• Sky Folk
  • Vangelis (Deven Mack)
  • Vania (Sabrina Pitre)
  • Army of Shintaro
    • Hailmar (Brian Drummond)
  • Engelbert (Brian Drummond)
• Munce
  • Murtessa (Tabitha St. Germain)
  • Murt (Michael Adamthwaite)
  • Munce Sentries (Sam Vincent) (Brian Drummond)
• Geckles
  • Gulch (Andrew McNee)
  • Gleck (Brian Drummond)
  • Gliff (Bill Newton)
  • Ginkle (Tabitha St. Germain)
  • Garpo (Sabrina Pitre)
  • Groko (Peter New)

Episodes

Main article: List of Ninjago episodes

Ninjago episodes
Pilot episodes	1. Way of the Ninja · 2. The Golden Weapon · 3. King of Shadows · 4. Weapons of Destiny
Mini-movies	1. Secrets of the Blacksmith · 2. Flight of the Dragon Ninja · 3. The New Masters of Spinjitzu · 4. An Underworldly Takeover · 5. Return to the Fire Temple · 6. Battle Between Brothers
Season 1: Rise of the Snakes	1. Rise of the Snakes · 2. Home · 3. Snakebit · 4. Never Trust a Snake · 5. Can of Worms · 6. The Snake King · 7. Tick Tock · 8. Once Bitten, Twice Shy · 9. The Royal Blacksmiths · 10. The Green Ninja · 11. All of Nothing · 12. The Rise of the Great Devourer · 13. Day of the Great Devourer
Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja	14. Darkness Shall Rise · 15. Pirates vs. Ninja · 16. Double Trouble · 17. Ninjaball Run · 18. Child’s Play · 19. Wrong Place, Wrong Time · 20. The Stone Army · 21. The Day Ninjago Stood Still · 22. The Last Voyage · 23. Island of Darkness · 24. The Last Hope · 25. Return of the Overlord · 26. Rise of the Spinjitzu Master
Season 3: Rebooted	27. The Surge · 28. The Art of the Silent Fist · 29. Blackout · 30. The Curse of the Golden Master · 31. Enter the Digiverse · 32. Codename: Arcturus · 33. The Void · 34. The Titanium Ninja
Season 4: Tournament of Elements	35. The Invitation · 36. Only One Can Remain · 37. Versus · 38. Ninja Roll · 39. Spy for a Spy · 40. Spellbound · 41. The Forgotten Element · 42. The Day of the Dragon · 43. The Greatest Fear of All · 44. The Corridor of Elders
Season 5: Possession	45. Winds of Change · 46. Ghost Story · 47. Stiix and Stones· 48. The Temple on Haunted Hill · 49. Peak-a-Boo · 50. Kingdom Come · 51. The Crooked Path · 52. Grave Danger · 53. Curseworld, Part I · 54. Curseworld, Part II
Chen mini-movies (non-canon)	1. Chen’s New Chair · 2. Chair Play Chen · 3. Chair Up Chen · 4. Chairful What You Wish For · 5. Bad Chair Day
Season 6: Skybound	55. Infamous · 56. Public Enemy Number One · 57. Enkrypted · 58. Misfortune Rising · 59. On a Wish and a Prayer · 60. My Dinner With Nadakhan · 61. Wishmasters · 62. The Last Resort · 63. Operation Land Ho! · 64. The Way Back
Tall Tales (non-canon)	1. The Tall Tale of Flintlocke · 2. The Tall Tale of Clancee · 3. The Tall Tale of Doubloon · 4. The Tall Tale of Dogshank · 5. The Tall Tale of Monkey Wretch · 6. The Tall Tale of Sqiffy and Bucko
Special	Day of the Departed
Operation Heavy Metal	1. Operation Heavy Metal: Machia · 2. Operation Heavy Metal: Buffmillion · 3. Operation Heavy Metal: Blunck · 4. Operation Heavy Metal: Raggmunk
Season 7: The Hands of Time	65. The Hands of Time · 66. The Hatching · 67. A Time of Traitors · 68. Scavengers · 69. A Line in the Sand · 70. The Attack · 71. Secrets Discovered · 72. Pause and Effect · 73. Out of the Fire and Into the Boiling Sea · 74. Lost in Time
Wu’s Teas mini-movies (non-canon)	Wu’s Teas
Ninjago: Decoded	1. Legacy · 2. Vehicles and Mechs · 3. Legendary Places · 4. Ninjago’s Most Wanted · 5. The Digiverse and Beyond · 6. The Elemental Masters · 7. Beasts and Dragons · 8. Rise of Garmadon · 9. Prophecy of the Green Ninja · 10. Greatest Battles
Season 8: Sons of Garmadon	75. The Mask of Deception · 76. The Jade Princess · 77. The Oni and the Dragon · 78. Snake Jaguar · 79. Dead Man’s Squall · 80. The Quiet One · 81. Game of Masks · 82. Dread on Arrival · 83. True Potential · 84. Big Trouble, Little Ninjago
Season 9: Hunted	85. Firstbourne · 86. Iron & Stone · 87. Radio Free Ninjago · 88. How to Build a Dragon · 89. The Gilded Path · 90. Two Lies, One Truth · 91. The Weakest Link · 92. Saving Faith · 93. Lessons for a Master · 94. Green Destiny
Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu	1. Master Class · 2. Green and Gold · 3. The Weekend Drill · 4. Elemental Rider · 5. Blue Lightning · 6. Samurai X-Treme
Season 10: March of the Oni	95. The Darkness Comes · 96. Into the Breach · 97. The Fall · 98. Endings
Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu	99. Wasted True Potential · 100. Questing for Quests · 101. A Rocky Start · 102. The Belly of the Beast · 103. Boobytraps and How to Survive Them · 104. The News Never Sleeps! · 105. Ninja vs Lava · 106. Snaketastrophy · 107. Powerless · 108. Ancient History · 109. Never Trust a Human · 110. Under Siege · 111. The Explorers Club · 112. Vengeance is Mine! · 113. A Cold Goodbye · 114. The Never-Realm · 115. Fire Maker · 116. An Unlikely Ally · 117. The Absolute Worst · 118. The Message · 119. The Traveler’s Tree · 120. Krag’s Lament · 121. Secret of the Wolf · 122. The Last of the Formlings · 123. My Enemy, My Friend · 124. The Kaiju Protocol · 125. Corruption · 126. A Fragile Hope · 127. Once and for All · 128. Awakenings
Prime Empire Original Shorts	1. Let’s Dance · 2. Upgrade · 3. The Meaning of Victory · 4. The Stowaway · 5. Manhunt · 6. Gayle Gossip: A Closer Look
Season 12: Prime Empire	129. Would You Like to Enter Prime Empire? · 130. Dyer Island · 131. Level Thirteen · 132. Superstar Rockin’ Jay · 133. I am Okino · 134. The Glitch · 135. The Cliffs of Hysteria · 136. The Maze of the Red Dragon · 137. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back · 138. Racer Seven · 139. The Speedway Five-Billion · 140. Stop, Drop and Side Scroll · 141. Ninjago Confidential · 142. The Prodigal Father · 143. The Temple of Madness · 144. Game Over
Season 13: Master of the Mountain	145. Shintaro · 146. Into the Dark · 147. The Worst Rescue Ever · 148. The Two Blades · 149. Queen of the Munce · 150. Trial By Mino · 151. The Skull Sorcerer · 152. The Real Fall · 153. Dungeon Party! · 154. Dungeon Crawl! · 155. Grief-Bringer · 156. Masters Never Quit · 157. The Darkest Hour · 158. The Ascent · 159. The Upply Strike Back! · 160. The Son of Lilly
The Island	161. Uncharted · 162. The Keepers of the Amulet · 163. The Gift of Jay · 164. The Tooth of Wojira
Season 14: Seabound	165. A Big Splash · 166. The Call of the Deep · 167. Unsinkable · 168. Five Thousand Fathoms Down · 169. The Wrath of Kalmaar · 170. Long Live the King · 171. Escape from Merlopia · 172. The Tale of Benthomaar · 173. The Storm Amulet · 174. Riddle of the Sphinx · 175. Papergirl · 176. Master of the Sea · 177. The Calm Before the Storm · 178. Assault on Ninjago City · 179. Nyad · 180. The Turn of the Tide
Ninjago: Reimagined	1. Golden Legend · 2. Gold Rush · 3. A Day in the Life of a Golden Ninja · 4. Sweatin’ to the Goldies · 5. Golden Hour
The Virtues of Spinjitzu	1. Curiosity · 2. Balance · 3. Wisdom · 4. Honesty · 5. Generosity · 6. Courage
Season 15: Crystalized	181. Farewell the Sea · 182. The Call of Home · 183. The Shape of Nya · 184. A Mayor Problem · 185. Public Enemies 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5! · 186. A Painful Promise · 187. Ninjago City vs. Ninja · 188. Kryptarium Prison Blues · 189. Hounddog McBrag · 190. The Benefit of Grief · 191. The Fifth Villain · 192. The Council of the Crystal King · 193. A Sinister Shadow · 194. The Spider’s Design · 195. The Fall of the Monastery · 196. Darkness Within · 197. The Coming of the King · 198. Return to Primeval’s Eye · 199. Crystastrophe · 200. Christofern · 201. A Lesson in Anger · 202. Brave But Foolish · 203. Quittin’ Time! · 204. Return of the Ice Emperor · 205. Safe Haven · 206. Compatible · 207. Distress Calls · 208. An Issue of Trust · 209. Dragon Form · 210. Roots
Ninjago NXT	1. Noodles · 2. Oldies · 3. Shadows · 4. Volcano · 5. The Party

Videos

Main article: Ninjago (TV series)/Promo videos

DVD Releases

LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu

The pilot episodes («Way of the Ninja,» «The Golden Weapon,» «King of Shadows,» and «Weapons of Destiny») were included in a DVD released by LEGO in late 2011. The packaging depicted the four episodes as two full-length episodes, titled «Way of the Ninja» and «King of Shadows.» The combined episodes were depicted as a made-for-television movie.

LEGO Club DVD #1

A LEGO Club DVD was released in the November–December 2011 issue of the LEGO Club Magazine. If the viewer selected «NINJAGO» from the main menu, two katanas would slice across on the main menu, transforming it into the Ninjago menu. The viewer could then choose between three mini-movies: «Secrets of the Blacksmith,» «The New Masters of Spinjitzu,» and «Flight of the Dragon Ninja.»

LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu Season One

All thirteen episodes of Season 1 were released on a two-disc DVD set. The first disc contains seven episodes, from «Rise of the Snakes» to «Tick Tock,» and the second disc contains six episodes, from «Once Bitten, Twice Shy» to «Day of the Great Devourer.»

Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu: Rise of the Green Ninja

Half of Season 2 («Darkness Shall Rise» to «The Stone Army») was released on a one-disc DVD in late 2012.

Influences

Note: This section does not include episode titles referencing other movies or shows, as these are often not connected to the story besides being the title of the episode.

• The shots of the season’s mascot ninja in their hoods that used to open episodes before Season 11 was inspired by the cover art of The Last Ninja, a game released in 1987 on the Commodore 64.^[11]
• Kevin and Dan Hageman cited The Wire and Breaking Bad as examples of shows with the sort of serialized, ongoing stories that they intended to create with Ninjago. This is as opposed to the more self-contained, «disposable» episodes seen in other children’s shows.^[12]
• According to the Hageman Brothers, Wu was based the general mentor character archetype rather than any one specific character, though he may have been somewhat inspired by Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid franchise.^[13]
  • Paul Dobson based his voice for Wu current on the common mentor character archetype from martial arts movies he had seen in the past.^[14]
• Brent Miller drew his performance for Zane from Data from the Star Trek franchise.^{[citation needed]}
• Mark Oliver said he «was probably thinking about Jerry Lewis» when he came up with Dr. Julien’s voice.^[15]
• Michael Jackson’s dance moves are the basis for several moments in scenes.
  • The ninja’s Ninjago Talent performance in «The Royal Blacksmiths» is based on the video for The Jackson 5’s song, «I Want You Back.»^[16]
  • Cole does the moonwalk and says «Hee hee» in «Island of Darkness.»
  • The scene where Cole sings «Glow-Worm» in «The Oni and the Dragon» is based on the cinematography from Michael Jackson’s «Smooth Criminal» music video.^[17]
• Star Wars serves as a major influence.
  • Lloyd and Garmadon’s relationship is reminiscent of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s relationship from the original trilogy.
  • There are also more minor references in dialogue:
    • Nya says «Never tell me the odds» in «Day of the Great Devourer,» referencing Han Solo’s line from The Empire Strikes Back.
    • Wu says «I feel there is a great disturbance in the force» in «Darkness Shall Rise,» referencing Obi-Wan Kenobi’s line, «I felt a great disturbance in the Force,» from The Empire Strikes Back.
    • Zane says the Rift of Return can only be opened every 3,721 years in «Day of the Departed,» referencing C3PO’s line, «The odds of navigating an asteroid field are 3,720 to 1,» from The Empire Strikes Back.
• The Terminator franchise is referenced several times throughout the series.
  • Zane’s face with half of its robotic side revealed (seen in «Day of the Great Devourer,» «The Art of the Silent Fist,» and «The Titanium Ninja») resembles that of the Terminator toward the end of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
  • Rebooted was partially inspired by the original film.^[18]
  • The scene in «True Potential» where Garmadon rams a garbage truck into the police station is likely a reference to The Terminator when the T-800 rams a car into a police station.
  • In «Superstar Rockin’ Jay,» Beta Jay 137 says, «Come with us if you want to keep playing,» referencing Kyle Reese’s line to Sarah Connor in the original film, «Come with me if you want to live.»
• A few episodes have references to the Back to the Future franchise.
  • «Wrong Place, Wrong Time» draws heavily from the films.
    • Lloyd fading away from the photograph is a clear reference to the original film in which the Marty and his siblings slowly fade away from the McFly family photograph as a result of Marty McFly’s alterations to the timeline.
    • Master Wu says «Great Scott!» when he sees clouds of smoke rolling over Ninjago, referencing Doc Brown’s iconic catchphrase.
    • The ninja revisit the events of a previous installment just as Doc and Marty revisit the events of their first film in Back to the Future Part II.
  • In «How to Build a Dragon,» Iron Baron exclaims «Manure! I hate manure!» after being covered in dragon dung, referencing the iconic line from the film trilogy.
• Apocalypse Now is referenced a few times throughout the series:
  • The opening scene of «Island of Darkness» is inspired by the opening sequence of the film.^[19]
  • The film served as an unintentional inspiration for the Dark Island Trilogy, specifically for Wu journeying down the River of Darkness in the Destiny’s Bounty.^[20]
  • In «A Line in the Sand,» Raggmunk says, «Ah, I just love the smell of screams in the evening.» This is a reference to the line, «I love the smell of napalm in the morning.»
    • The same line is parodied in «The Calm Before the Storm» when Jay says, «I love the smell of arcade in the morning.»
  • The river seen in «The Quiet One» is inspired by the film.^[21]
• Rebooted was influenced by The Matrix.^[18]
• Cyrus Borg is based on Steve Jobs as well as Dr. Eldon Tyrell from the film Blade Runner.^[22][23] P.I.X.A.L. is also based on Rachael from Blade Runner.^[24]
• Tournament of Elements was based on the film, Enter the Dragon.^[25]
  • Clouse was named after Robert Clouse, the director of the film.^[26]
  • When Chen’s ferry arrives at the island in «Only One Can Remain,» Garmadon says, «Chen lives like a king. Here, he’s totally self-sufficient.» This is a reference to an early scene in Enter the Dragon, in which Braithwaite tells Lee about the villainous Han and his island, saying, «He lives like a king on that island. Totally self-sufficient.»
• Master Chen was based on Lo Pan from the film, Big Trouble in Little China.^[25]
• Indiana Jones is another significant influence throughout the series.
  • In «Ninja Roll,» Kai’s line «Skates, why did it have to be skates?» references the line, «Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?»
  • In «Boobytraps and How to Survive Them,» Clutch Powers’ line about Hageman, «A competitor. He was good. Very good.» is a reference to Indiana Jones’ line about Forrestal in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • Master of the Mountain was inspired by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.^[27]
• The Lord of the Rings film series can be seen as an influence at various points throughout the show.
  • In «Spellbound,» Garmadon says, «The tournament may be over, but the next Serpentine War may have just begun.» This is very similar to Gandalf’s line in The Two Towers, «The battle of Helm’s Deep is over. The battle for Middle-earth is about to begin.»
  • Beta Jay 137’s line in «Superstar Rockin’ Jay» «There may come a day when the courage of Jays fails … but this is not that day!» is similar to Aragorn’s statement in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, when Aragorn intercedes to the army in front of the Black Gate.
  • In «The Darkest Hour,» ninja almost say «You shall not pass!» one word at a time, but Zane misses the reference and says «be granted permission to traverse beyond this point» instead.
  • In a broader sense, Jay Vincent has stated «about 70% of everything I know about film music was from making a [list of musical themes] in high school and studying their every iteration throughout the Lord of the Rings trilogy.»^[28]
• Nadakhan was inspired by «Aladdin stuff. And Dracula for love story».^[29]
• Paul Dobson based Flintlocke’s voice on that of Matthew McConaughey.^[30]
• The Dark Island Trilogy was partly inspired by the Mad Max franchise, specifically Mad Max: Fury Road, being described by Tommy Kalmar as «Ninjago meets Mad Max.» This is especially prominent with Kai’s story line in the desert in Part 3.^[31]
• «Day of the Departed» was inspired by Game of Death.^[18]
• Buffmillion in «Operation Heavy Metal: Buffmillion» and Fugi-Dove in «Level Thirteen» mimic Peter Parker’s dance moves from Spider-Man 3.
• The visual aesthetic of Sons of Garmadon was inspired by Akira.^[32]
• The Oni Masks started with inspiration from BIONICLE, another LEGO theme.^[33]
• The Colossus from Sons of Garmadon and Hunted was inspired by Attack on Titan.^[34]
• The 2D-animated episodes from Season 11 and Season 13 were «inspired by the wealth of Ninjago fan art we have seen over the years. A lot of it was used to in the initial pitch to DHX.»^[35] One of these fan-artists was Joshua Deck.^[36]
• Prime Empire was inspired by the Polybius urban legend,^[37] the films Blade Runner and Tron: Legacy,^[38] and the video games Street Fighter II, Dance Dance Revolution, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Contra, and WipeOut.^[39]
• Music inspired by Prince’s «1999» is played when Jay makes his entrance in «Superstar Rockin’ Jay.»^[40]
• Much of the episode, «Dungeon Party!,» was inspired by the 1980s cartoon, He-Man, and the style of the Filmation company from the 80s.^[41]
• The Island was inspired by the setting of King Kong films, the structure of Scooby-Doo, and the story idea of «The Monster of the Misty Lake» (from the Dutch comic series, Douwe Dabbert).^[42] A scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was also likely an inspiration.^[43]
  • The structural similarities with Scooby-Doo are as follows: a character or group is shown in the first scene to be attacked by a mysterious villainous force; the next scene has the main cast getting the call to adventure; eventually, it’s revealed the monster was a costume or machine set up by an ordinary human who was hinted at earlier in the story. In the finale, Ronin even says a version of the well-known line from Scooby-Doo, «And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids.»
  • Zippy’s movement is very similar to that of Scooby-Doo himself.
• The intro of Uncut Gems was used as a concept reference for the opening sequence of Crystalized.^[44]

Production/Behind the scenes

• Some distributors consider Ninjago as two different series, the first titled Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (pilot episodes-Season 10) and the second sharing the same continuity simply called Ninjago (Seasons 11-15). However, others considered it as the same series and counted the WildBrain seasons as Seasons 11-15. The LEGO YouTube channel no longer used numbers most of the time and referred to the installments mainly by their respective subtitles, though it has used both numberings on different occasions, calling The Island «Season 3» in the video title for its trailer^[45] but calling Seabound «Season 14» in the playlist of trailers and clips from Seabound.^[46] The writers consider it to be the same series.^[47][48][49]
  • The title cards no longer included the episode numbers, because hearing a large number such as «Episode 103» could be intimidating for newer viewers.^[50]
  • Tommy Andreasen often calls the WildBrain installments «chapters».^[51]
• The animation studio change was due to a number of different reasons that Tommy Andreasen couldn’t get into, «But collaboration/ quality/ creativity were not those reasons. WilFilm is awesome!»^[52]
• The show and the sets were both influenced by each other.^[53]
  • Every major Ninjago installment has had a set wave except for Season 10.
    • However, the first Legacy wave was released the same time as Season 10, which used its ninja outfits and a couple of the sets, those being 70669 Cole’s Earth Driller and 70670 Monastery of Spinjitzu.
  • When the toys were designed but not yet finalized, the show’s writing was influencing them.^[54]
  • The writers were coming in after the sets were developed to a certain stage.^[55][56]
• After the final script of an episode was submitted and approved, it took nine months until production is completed.^[57] Multiple episodes of a season were produced at once.
  • Development was typically at least 18 months ahead of whatever the currently airing installment is.^[58] For example, while viewers were waiting for «Day of the Departed» to release in late 2016, Sons of Garmadon (which aired in early 2018) was being conceptualized.^[59]
  • There are three to five drafts made before the final script is completed.^[60]
  • Before an episode is completed, the production process was:^[61][62]
    1. Script writing
    2. Voice recording
    3. Storyboarding
    4. Animatic
    5. 3d layout
    6. Animation
    7. Render
    8. Grade and Sound
  • When teaser trailers were being created, Ninjago was creating it in a specific way so that:^[63]
    • No dialogue means no dubbing and translation needed; all countries can use one master.
    • A teaser needs to raise questions, not answer them.
    • The trailer will elaborate without spoiling the story.
• Regarding the creation of scores for upcoming seasons, «We always have a call where we talk to them about the concept and themes of new seasons. Then Michael Kramer rushes out and buys new exotic instruments.»^[64]
• There have been several occasions where a scene would be censored or removed in different countries. See here for more information.
• In order to avoid possible issues with the word «Sensei» due to different meanings in different countries,^[65][66] from «Day of the Departed» onward, usage of the word has ceased in the show. To fulfill the same purpose, the word has been replaced by «master» for all characters once referred to as «Sensei». Thus, Wu is now «Master Wu», Garmadon was «Master Garmadon», Yang is «Master Yang», and so on.
• According to Tommy Andreasen about the 11-minute episodes:
  • «I have wanted to do it since season 3, but it only become a possiblilty now with the 11 minute format. As much as I love what the 22 minute episodes provide, the 11 minutes really keeps us at our toes an give us more creative freedom … and I love creative freedom too.»^[67]
  • «We all agreed it would be a challenge. But I felt it could be done well, and I am up for a challenge. And importantly at the time, it had to be done for the show to live.»^[68]
  • «Pacing is definitely a challenge with 11 mins. And more than twice the amount of work.»^[69]
• According to Bragi Schut regarding the 11-minute runtime:
  • The intro format was reworked to allow for more time focused on the story.^[70]
  • «We prefer the 22 minute format, but we don’t get to make those decisions.»^[71]
• The Hageman Brothers once made a joke about the 11-minute runtime.^[72]
• Regarding a live-action series, Tommy Andreasen claimed the budget would be massive and he wouldn’t want it to look like a live-action Nickelodeon show. He also said, «it would remove one of the shows greatest strengths: That kids can project themselves onto the characters: No specific age, eye colour, ethnicity etc. Ninjago is flexible.»^[73]
  • When asked if Ninjago would still be a children’s shown if it was not a LEGO show, Andreasen responded, «It wouldn’t be a show.»^[74]
• According to Tommy Andreasen, concept development was going on for several years, and some of the stories were also inspired by 80’s movies.^[75]
• Tommy Andreasen has stated, «We fill in that blank when we get to it. We don’t settle on anything until we have to. One of the mantras of developing Ninjago is to walk forward into the mist, feel comfortable about being uncomfortable and trust the ideas we haven’t had yet.»^[76]
• There is a «canon bible» made to «give the developers of the Ninjago movie a quick overview of logics, events and timelines.»^[77] There is «Tons» of information in the document that is not currently known^[78] but will eventually make its way into the show.^[79]
• The promotional art made for the pilots, Season 1, and Season 4 was done by Christian Damm.^[80][81]
• According to Tommy Andreasen, images were rendered in the mid-spectrum, so darks don’t ‘close’ and lights don’t burn out. During the grading process, the contrasts are adjusted and the details thus get enhanced.^[82]
• Tommy Andreasen has acknowledged that the show often introduced more side characters than it reused.^[83] He also stated, «We love introducing new quirky characters. They are part of Ninjago’s DNA and without them it just wouldn’t be Ninjago.»^[84]
• There were often instances of characters appearing in the incorrect suits for the scene. When asked why this was the case, Andreasen explained, «3d is hard to control. Lack of quality control basically.»^[85]
• According to Tommy Andreasen, the two main factors in creating Ninjago were «to entertain in an emotionally engaging way» and to be accessible to newcomers and younger viewers.^[86][87] He also later stated that the target audiences of the show are both «Dedicated and super knowledgeable fans such of the show such as [fans whom Andreasen interacts with online], and the children who are hopefully just about to discover it and follow along for years.»^[88]
• According to Tommy Andreasen, «we [creators] only use our best ideas. What makes it into the series is only about 20% of our ideas. A lot of stuff is considered and we only use the best. Some of the stuff we don’t do is really good and painful to leave behind.»^[89]
• According to Bragi Schut, the writers tried to come up with one-word descriptions for villains’ motivations each season, as this helps give more variety to the villains.^[90]
• According to Bragi Schut, the marketing team at LEGO was making the season names but they usually ask the writers for their two cents and that normally that the season name they start with is not the one they end with.^[91]

Recurring patterns in the series

• Starting with Season 7, there has been a plot twist involving a villain in every season except seasons 10 and 14.
  • In Season 7, it is revealed that Dr. Saunders is Krux, one of the Time Twins.
  • In Season 8, it is revealed that Harumi is the Quiet One.
  • In Season 9, it is that Heavy Metal is a woman.
  • In Season 11, it is that Zane is the Ice Emperor and that Wu was the Treacherous Deceiver.
  • In Season 12, it is that Unagami is not the same person as Milton Dyer.
  • In Season 13, it is that Vangelis is the Skull Sorcerer.
  • In The Island, it is that Ronin creates a fake Wojira, although a real monster also exists.
  • In Season 15, it is revealed that Harumi is the Kabuki Mask and that the Overlord is the Crystal King.
• The show often uses various tropes or patterns from cartoons or other series:
  • The popular «Wilhelm scream» sound effect is used in a number of episodes: «Home», «The Rise of the Great Devourer,» «The Last Hope», «Rise of the Spinjitzu Master», «The Surge», «The Greatest Fear of All», «A Line in the Sand», «The Weekend Drill», «Samurai X-Treme», «The Darkness Comes», and «A Day in the Life of a Golden Ninja».
  • Objects will sometimes float in a circle around a character’s head, a play on the common animation trope that often involves birds or stars circling around a character’s head to indicate a temporary head injury. This technique is used on Brad with dodge balls in «Double Trouble,» Cole with barrels in «The Last Hope,» and Lloyd with Golden Dragons in «The Art of the Silent Fist.»
  • Sometimes when a character is struck with electricity, the character’s skeleton is shown, as seen with Stone Swordsmen in «The Last Hope,» Spitta in «Green and Gold,» Jay in «Sweatin’ to the Goldies», and Cole in «Krag’s Lament».
• All Ninjago TV installments have special weapons or artifacts that are part of the main plot of the season or special.
  • The Golden Weapons in the Pilots, Season 10, and Season 15.
  • The Serpentine Staffs and Fangblades in Season 1.
  • The Elemental Blades in Season 2.
  • The Techno Blades in Season 3.
  • The Jadeblades in Season 4.
  • The Aeroblades in Season 5.
  • The Djinn Blade in Season 6.
  • The Departed Blades in «Day of the Departed».
  • The Time Blades in Season 7.
  • The Oni Masks in Season 8.
  • The Dragon Armor in Season 9.
  • The Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu in Season 11.
  • The Key-Tanas in Season 12.
  • The Blades of Deliverance in Season 13.
  • The Storm Amulet in The Island and Season 14.
  • The Wave Amulet in Season 14.
  • The Golden Weapons/Weapons of Destruction in Season 15.
• Some villains share several similarities with other villains, such as Pythor and Nadakhan, Morro and Vex, and later Vangelis and Kalmaar. See the trivia sections of their individual pages for more information.
• The villainous factions have often had comedic duos, these being Kruncha and Nuckal, Kapau and Chope, and Raggmunk and Blunck. They are often scolded by a higher-ranking villain, these being Samukai, Eyezor, and Machia respectively.
• Every single installment, barring the exception of the TV specials, «Day of the Departed» and The Island, share significant similarities with others, such as:
  • The final two pilot episodes with the final two episodes of The Hands of Time.
  • Rise of the Snakes with both Possession and Seabound.
  • Legacy of the Green Ninja with both Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu and Crystalized.
  • The last three episodes of Rebooted with the last three episodes of Tournament of Elements.
  • Tournament of Elements with Master of the Mountain.
  • Possession with Sons of Garmadon.
  • Skybound with Prime Empire.
  • Master of the Mountain with Seabound.
  • All three seasons of the Oni Trilogy with Crystalized. See the individual pages for more information.
• There are various generalized sound effects for certain character reactions (Cole screaming, Jay attacking, Jay laughing, Nya screaming, Kai grunting) used throughout the series.
• Scenes often appear there in which Wu contacts the ninja via a computer in their vehicle to tell them something. This was seen in «The Void,» «Day of the Departed» or «Blue Lightning.»
• In Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu, Master of the Mountain, and The Island, the story of the ninja always starts in the monastery. According to Tommy Andreasen, it’s because «We like our beloved characters to rest a bit. Who would deny them that after all their hard work?»^[92]
  • In relation to this, there is a streak in Master of the Mountain, The Island, Seabound, and Crystalized where all of the premieres’ title cards are in a shot of the Monastery.
• The joke about Jay’s underwear is often repeated during the show.
  • In «The Last Voyage», he forgot to take his underwear on a journey to the Dark Island, despite his mother’s warning. He mentions it several times throughout the episode until he steals one of Dr. Julien’s boxer shorts.
  • In «The Oni and the Dragon», Harumi notices Jay’s blue boxer shorts on the bridge on the Destiny’s Bounty, to which Jay replies that they’re usually more organized, but their master was lost in time and lied that it belongs to Cole, who argues that they are blue. Kai then jokes that they’re lucky they’re not yellow.
  • In «The Darkness Comes», Jay’s boxer shorts are visible on a potted plant in a relaxation room as Jay trains with Kai how to ask Nya to be his Yang.
  • In «Unsinkable», Maya tells Jay that she will teach him how to bleach his boxer shorts.
  • In «Darkness Within», Jay states that he needs to change his pants.
• Characters often wear disguises that should be very easy to see through, but no one notices, at least for a while. This is most often seen when the ninja disguise themselves as members of villainous factions (see here for more information). Other examples include Lloyd’s snake disguise in «The Snake King», and the ninja’s tea uniforms in «Curseworld, Part I.»
• A number of installments begin with a scene that appears to be an action or chase scene but turns out to be something different than initially thought.
  • In «Rise of the Snakes,» Wu thinks he hears the ninja training, only to find out that they are actually playing to a video game.
  • In «The Invitation,» Lloyd infiltrates a high-tech facility, only for it to be revealed that he was voluntarily testing Cyrus Borg’s new system to see if it was secure enough.
  • In «Infamous,» the ninja battle Skulkin before it’s revealed that they are acting in a commercial.
  • In «Day of the Departed,» the ninja appear to be racing somewhere to save the day before it’s revealed that they were trying to get to the Ninjago Museum of History on time.
  • In «The Mask of Deception,» a group of masked figures with each of the ninja’s signature colors infiltrate Borg Tower before Lloyd appears, revealing that the masked figures are not the ninja.
  • In «Firstbourne,» a figure in a green cloak, presumably Lloyd, walks through the streets of the city after Garmadon’s takeover. The figure, however, is soon revealed to be Dareth.

Trivia

The Trivia on Ninjago (TV series) needs to be organized. You can help the wiki by organizing the following information chronologically based on how the information applies to the series. This template can be removed once the section has been organized.

• The title cards from the pilots to Season 7 use a font called «Aldo the Apache.» As of The LEGO Ninjago Movie and Season 8 of the TV series, this font was replaced with «Kunoichi.»
• The Hageman Brothers hinted at the possibility of a spin-off show,^[93] but there are no current known plans as of March 2018.^[94]
  • Andreasen noted how there could be «endless spin-offs» of the show, acknowledging the idea for a spin-off starring Dareth, Ronin, and Clutch Powers and proposing «The Wacky Adventures of the Upply» as another idea.^[95] He also once joked that there could be a «wacky adventures of the Brown Ninja» show^[96] and at another proposed a spin-off called «Borg’s Angels,» a parody based on the TV series, Charlie’s Angels.^[97]
    • When asked in 2016 if there could be more female ninja in the future, Tommy Andreasen said, «I hope we can make a kick ass girls team some day. For the sake of contrast and new opportunities», though it’s unclear whether he was referring to a new team within Ninjago or a new series altogether.^[98] At one point, however, there were plans to have a female-led spinoff show, focusing on Skylor, Nya, P.I.X.A.L., and a new character.^[99]
• The show has its own long running magazine series, which have comic stories set between episodes and seasons of the current season at the time. Most include a minifigure, most are repacked from sets but with less parts, such as Chen without his staff or cape. Sometimes there is an exclusive figure, absent from sets and canon, such as Sawyer.
  • The canon status of most of these comics is unconfirmed,^[100] though Mother Earth was confirmed by Tommy Kalmar to be canon despite its major continuity errors.^[101]

• The series, along with Legends of Chima, exists as a fictional universe within the world of Nexo Knights, another LEGO theme and TV series.^[102] Ninjago is referenced in the episode «The Golden Castle,» where Lance Richmond is offered the leading role in the film «Knightjago 3» where the characters «spin around to defeat enemies» and soon after this a Squirebot is seen practicing a villainous role with a mask that clearly resembles Lord Garmadon, supposedly meant to be Monstrox. For more information, see here.
  • The latter two are also both played by Mark Oliver, adding on another reference.
• The series often airs in other countries before the U.S., allowing fans in the U.S. to watch the newest seasons before they are officially released. Skybound officially aired in the U.S. around half a year after the episodes were first made available elsewhere.
• With the transfer to WildBrain, the «smear frame» animation technique, in which a character is stretched out to give the illusion of motion blur, is used more often than before.^[103] Vlad Tutu is an example of a character who always appears stretched out when moving.
  • Andreasen also stated that «It is meant to be watched and enjoyed. Not paused.»^[104]
  • A similar «smear frame» technique was previously used in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, where existing LEGO pieces were used to simulation motion. This is visible, for example, here.
• «Nya’s Mural» from «Wu’s Teas» is currently the only episode produced not to have a single line of dialogue.
• Characters with brief speaking roles in an episode are not always credited. Some examples are the kid at the beginning of «A Line in the Sand» and Mister Whiskers’s owner in «Questing for Quests».
• In terms of genre, Ninjago could be considered a science-fantasy story, as the villains are usually related to mystical or ancient powers or races but the ninja often use technologically advanced vehicles and weapons as well.
  • Prime Empire is the only season without any notable fantasy elements, technically making it the only sci-fi season. Rebooted and Decoded are also very technology-focused, but the main villain of both is the Overlord, who fits the category of «fantasy villain» first and foremost.
  • Michael Knap has referred to Ninjago as «a fantasy theme with a sci-fi twist to it.»^[105]

• In 2020, LEGO released a few YouTube videos (see the above «Videos» section) leading up to the 10-year anniversary of Ninjago. Two of these, «Meet the Villains of LEGO NINJAGO» and «Meet the LEGO NINJAGO Heroes,» contained a number of spelling errors and incorrect facts, and it seems that most of the trivia points were taken from the Ninjago Wiki pages for the characters.
• To celebrate the 10th anniversary, LEGO has released a four-part series called NINJAGO: A Musical Journey, which features previously unreleased soundtracks from the show.
• The word Ninjago was created by combining the words Ninja and LEGO.^[106]
• When asked about the possibility of a reboot, Tommy Andreasen said, «I’m not sure I would want to be a part of a complete reboot. That’s about new eyes. Not unless it was to interpret the concept into something VERY new, including a completely new style of execution (anime, live action or something).»^[107]
• Tommy Andreasen has noted that Monkie Kid, another LEGO theme and TV series with a different style, «helps define Ninjago because the two stories must remain unique and different. And vice versa.»^[108]
• According to the Hageman Brothers, the popularity of the sets is more important than the ratings of the show.^[109]
• Based on Cole’s meta-joke in «The Message,» Ninjago‘s target audience is children from ages 5 to 13.
• As of April 2022, Andreasen «[w]ould be willing» to make a video game based off all the seasons, but it’s «not really up to me.»^[110][111]
• According to Andreasen, they don’t have many scenes that were not aired.^[112]
• As of May 2022, there are 3620 minutes of Ninjago content Between all the Ninjago seasons, specials and shorts.^[113]
• The amount of times characters have read a title card in an episode:
  • Wu: 88
  • Lloyd: 24
  • Garmadon: 16
  • Cole: 15
  • Jay: 12
  • Zane: 8
  • Nya: 7
  • P.I.X.A.L: 5
  • Kai: 4
  • Harumi: 3
  • Maya: 3
  • Mammatus: 3
  • Dareth: 2
  • Vex: 2
  • Okino: 2
  • Gulch: 2
  • Kalmaar: 2
  • Benthomaar: 2
  • Aspheera: 1
  • Unagami: 1
  • Racer Seven: 1
  • Vania: 1
  • Murtessa: 1
  • Fungus: 1
  • Korgran: 1
  • Nyad: 1
  • Ulysses Trustable: 1
  • Hounddog McBrag: 1
  • Skylor: 1
  • Antonia: 1
• Rebooted and March of the Oni are the only seasons to not have the same number of episodes of another season.

Galleries

• Animation errors
• Concept art
• Gifs

References

↑ https://twitter.com/otherland71/status/1552443424712069120 ↑ https://www.wildbrain.com/shows/ninjago/ ↑ https://youtu.be/3ruE3M2Rp1M?t=1412 ↑ https://lan.lego.com/news/overview/the-legacy-of-lego-ninjago-r210/ ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/888555662707314688 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1217155321321443329 ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/890213846446522370 ↑ https://www.lego.com/en-us/kids/videos/ninjago/tales-from-the-monastery-of-spinjitzu-trailer-1347bb399f444c11a5be4f1339a1b65e ↑ https://youtu.be/EdBKxF837aI ↑ LEGO Life ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/820313075794530305 ↑ Blocks magazine Issue 75, page 72 ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/1362512607345737728 ↑ https://youtu.be/O0mTNHiqVXM?t=366 ↑ https://youtu.be/kcsq77_1-Fs?t=162 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/795541387009818624 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1286070425278185473 ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/941322115248246784 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/779400130877423618 ↑ https://youtu.be/3mnXinRQ4Co?t=2452 ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/967220973958148096 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/776151916078325760 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1529395396564422656 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1529430489421029376 ↑ 25.0 25.1 https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/955268991882182656 ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/821038783764148224 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1280067291271573505 ↑ File:Jay Vincent LotR.png ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/965868621074444289 ↑ https://youtu.be/U5WK7_zZvKI?t=17 ↑ https://youtu.be/3mnXinRQ4Co?t=2338 ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/937000519180042240 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/942370109242396672 ↑ https://youtu.be/S3FqrPHYUmc?t=2644 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1152874571617505280 ↑ https://youtu.be/3ruE3M2Rp1M?t=515 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1225128285304213509 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1291757834321956865 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1351605093053964289 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1241788636783415296 ↑ https://youtu.be/nEkcPwSNUKE?t=7480 (live-chat) ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1371433173708603396 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1371435051259420675 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1529568754388066305 ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4SmS8zKOZQ ↑ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRNbTEZ7dhL3BAfYO4OAB5cmlqEvQAt_W ↑ https://twitter.com/bragischutjr/status/1191523508355944448 ↑ https://twitter.com/otherland71/status/1133482167558737920 ↑ https://twitter.com/bragischutjr/status/1394013768644907009 ↑ https://youtu.be/3ruE3M2Rp1M?t=938 ↑ https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3ATommyAndreasen%20next%20chapter&f=live ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1168873461512581120 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/817300182547230721 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1250457843045732357 ↑ https://youtu.be/BaZvsJNeoQs?t=318 ↑ https://twitter.com/KnapDK/status/1220615613741182978 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/855524218192224256 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1259479636142161927 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1048500144545652736 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/849360487343165441 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/806809478842585089 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/898890595229290497 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1273633107820806144 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1298283328055971840 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/777550117238894592 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/789891679230853120 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1152865468711079936 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1287375355456696325 ↑ https://youtu.be/BNkNtFulMwA?t=6232 (live-chat) ↑ https://twitter.com/bragischutjr/status/1312730380143820803 ↑ https://twitter.com/bragischutjr/status/1402043286420819968 ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/1287023949788848131 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1307774276062322688 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1368148118118731776 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1311639581968732160 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1179515281502330880 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1162366214783623169 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1186954875424391168 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1187086202765230086 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1351533928335749124 ↑ https://www.conceptartist.dk/ ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1124303566859055107 ↑ https://youtu.be/S3FqrPHYUmc?t=515 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1366768453923799046 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/850228801787252736 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1075435335532847109 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1241756681157120004 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1480550713973428230 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1383525938890043392 ↑ https://twitter.com/bragischutjr/status/1383963513970847753 ↑ https://twitter.com/bragischutjr/status/1438926128735920135 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1372958135665758210 ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/855938254968770560 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/972332974179053568 ↑ https://youtu.be/S3FqrPHYUmc?t=2200 ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20210322093249/https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/767755583915163648 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1282703232763146244 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/775721476230094848 ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20200223055823/https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/1231455645997518849 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1024232519544258561 ↑ https://twitter.com/Tommy_kalmar/status/1324036784985133056 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1166682302279294977 ↑ http://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1299674221807890434 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1299668999542845440 ↑ https://youtu.be/S3FqrPHYUmc?t=2847 ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/690942009813499904 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/984714285074059266 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1394621554697330689 ↑ https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/1066744261989687296 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1506327544114540546 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1515803248879357963 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1519395073569574914 ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1529200055051239428

General
Main	Ninjago (TV series) · Ninjago (sets)
Lists	Canon installments · Censorship · Characters · Cast and characters · Catchphrases · Connections with other LEGO themes · Episodes · Parts first used in Ninjago · Set-only vehicles · Reused designs from Ninjago · Reused designs from other LEGO themes · Symbols · Unused concepts
Galleries	Animation errors · Concept art · Minifigures · Gifs · LEGO.com images · Promo videos
Languages	Ninjargon · Old Tongue
Other	Culture of Ninjago · Frequently Asked Questions · Hair · LEGO.com · Ninjago Soundtrack · Opening sequence · Timeline · Types of gi (Other outfits)

Lego Ninjago

The logo used between 2011 and mid-2019
Subject	Ninja, Dragons, Snakes, Skeletons, Nindroids, Classical element, Martial arts, Spinjitzu
Licensed from	The Lego Group
Availability	2011–present
Total sets	466[1]
Characters	Lloyd Garmadon, Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, Nya, Sensei Wu, Lord Garmadon, Misako, P.I.X.A.L
Official website
TV Series	Ninjago (TV series)

Lego Ninjago is a Lego theme that was created in 2011 and a flagship brand of The Lego Group. It is the first theme to be based on ninja since the discontinuation of the Lego Ninja theme in 2000. Whilst it retains some elements of the previous theme, it is based on a more detailed storyline set within a fantasy world, primarily underpinned by the computer-animated television series Ninjago.

The theme focuses on a group of six teenage ninja, led by the legendary Green Ninja, Lloyd Garmadon. The main ninja characters are defined in the story as «Elemental Masters», which means that they each possess elemental powers. The ninja are trained in the fictional martial art of «Spinjitzu» by their ancient and wise teacher, Master Wu, giving them the ability to fight against the forces of evil.

Ninjago enjoyed phenomenal popularity and success in its first year, and a further two years were commissioned before a planned discontinuation in 2013. However, after a brief hiatus, the line was continued after feedback from fans and has been in production ever since. The Lego Group developed the theme into a media franchise aimed primarily at young boys and pre-teenage boys, which has produced books, video games and theme park attractions. The popularity of the TV series and the toy line resulted in the production of The Lego Ninjago Movie, released in 2017, which was the third film in The Lego Movie franchise. On January 14, 2021, the Ninjago theme celebrated its tenth anniversary, making it one of The Lego Group’s longest-running and most successful original brands.

Overview[edit]

The main focus of the line is the formation and consequent exploits and trials of a group of teenage ninja, battling against the various forces of evil.^[2] The theme originally introduced five main characters with an original storyline set in a fictional world that fused the ninja theme with dragons, modern vehicles and futuristic mech-robots.^[3] In the theme’s storyline, the ninja characters are trained in the art of «Spinjitzu» a fictional martial art that allows them to fight their opponents.^[4] The storyline is set within the fictional world of Ninjago, a place inspired by East Asian culture.^[5] Simon Lucas, Senior Creative Director, commented, «With Lego Ninjago, we took inspiration from a Japanese starting point, but it developed into something of a massive mashup of cultures, not just one particular culture.»^[6]

Concept and creation[edit]

Background[edit]

The origin of the Ninjago theme lies in the earlier Lego Ninja theme, which was released in 1998. This theme was based on Feudalistic Japan and featured ninjas, fortresses, catapults and horses. It originated in the Lego Castle theme that had been in existence since 1978. In 2000, Lego Ninja was replaced by Lego Knights. These themes eventually resulted in the introduction of the Ninjago theme, which included some of the original concepts of the Ninja theme, such as the dragons and fortresses, but also introduced modern day elements.^[3]

Research[edit]

The focus on ninja was also the direct result of ethnographic research of children’s interests. The Ninjago product development team in Fort Lee, New Jersey spent several days monitoring groups of eight to ten-year-old boys to gauge their reactions to various concepts and storyboards, including ninjas, underwater adventures and futuristic cities. The chosen concept then went through several rounds of testing to refine the final product in order to produce a successful line. This rigorous testing and development resulted in the Ninjago line being delayed by a year.^[7] Cerim Manovi, Senior Design Manager for the theme stated, «Ninjas crystallised themselves because we were, like: ‘What’s the greatest hero entry point?’ We showed them superheroes, everything – but ninjas just grabbed kids right there.»^[8]

During the development process, the Ninjago team took a trip to the Iga Ninja Museum, located three hours to the north of Tokyo, Japan in order to get inspiration for the theme. This allowed the designers to gather historic details from the 15th century ninja building, whilst also developing ideas about how to give these historic elements a contemporary appeal.^[7]

Story concept[edit]

The initial story concept for the theme originated in a rough sketch created by Tommy Andreasen on a Friday evening in 2009. The sketch depicted several elemental ninja and the word «Spinjago». This idea was later developed into the fictional martial art of «Spinjitzu», which was a combination of the words «spin» and «ninjitsu». The development team later used this as the basis for the minifigure spinner action toys. The rough sketch was sent to an artist in Canada called Craig Sellars who created an internal concept image of the characters over the weekend.^[9]

The Ninjago theme then employed the use of an original story that would appeal to young teenage boys, by creating a cast of characters that focused on a group of ninja heroes and a wide variety of villains.^[3] Senior Creative Manager, Tommy Andreasen commented, «It wasn’t until we started developing a fantasy theme that we saw it actually can become a building toy as well. So you can put a ninja on a dragon — the kids found that appealing and very natural. But figuring out the enemies of the ninja was more of a challenge and we tested a lot of things there».^[10]

Character and universe development[edit]

The ninja characters were given different coloured costumes and unique elemental powers, which gave them distinctive personalities. The team also came up with the concept of «Spinjitzu», which was the main fighting method in the story. Andreasen commented, «we wanted to make sure that it was something that would look great on TV, lightning coming out of tornadoes and stuff like that. The toy representation of that was the spinner».^[10] The fantasy element was later combined with the introduction of advanced technology into the Ninjago universe. Although the original intention was to remain true to the historical setting, the Ninjago team decided that technology could be introduced without having a detrimental effect on the characters.^[11]

The introduction of skeletons as the main villains in the storyline was also the result of research with children. The children in the research groups were given the choice of six options, including monkeys, skeletons, robots and lizard people. The overwhelming preference was for skeletons, which the children considered to be «real» fantasy villains.^[7] Andreasen recalled, «As it turned out, if you took the fantasy to where they were battling skeletons, that made total sense for the kids. We could push it one step further — it’s fine that these skeletons have these skeleton themed monster trucks and stuff like that. At that point, you could really start to see a product assortment».^[10]

Writers Dan and Kevin Hageman came up with the initial idea for the ninjas’ distinctive flying base, Destiny’s Bounty. Their idea was that it would be a «windmill that turned into a helicopter and flew around». However, the idea to use a junk ship for the ninja base was suggested by Tommy Andreasen. The vessel has changed design over time both in the series and in toy form. Design Manager Michael Svane Knap commented, «One of the approaches that we have is that you need to try and boil it down to what makes an icon. What is the detail that means this is the Bounty? We are not confined in the same way as Star Wars, where it needs to be a Millennium Falcon that can only look one way.»^[12]

Branding[edit]

The brand name «Ninjago» was formed from a combination of two words: «ninja» and «Lego». Andreasen noted that this fell into place naturally, saying «It’s universally recognised, it works in any language and it has a good dynamic to it. It’s short and to the point. We added ‘Masters of Spinjitzu’ to it just for flavour».^[10]

Fictional language[edit]

The Lego Ninjago universe incorporates a fictional written language that has been displayed on numerous occasions in both the Ninjago television series and in the Lego Ninjago construction sets. The written language uses a unique alphabet of symbols that resemble the visual style of Chinese characters. The characters can be deciphered to translate the words that are commonly displayed on signs and advertisements in the Ninjago universe.^[13] With the release of The Lego Ninjago Movie, a Ninjago Language Translator was released to accompany the film.^[14] In April 2020, the lead writer of the Ninjago television series, Bragi Schut stated on Twitter that the language is called «Ninjargon».^[15]

Launch and success[edit]

Lego Ninjago was developed as a Big Bang project with a goal to double the sales of the previous Big Bang product line, Lego Atlantis. The design team set a target for the Ninjago line to deliver 10% of the company’s total revenue. This was particularly ambitious, as no Lego theme had ever achieved this target, not even the successful Bionicle theme. By late April 2009, a full range of Ninjago products had been defined, which totalled 17 sets in the first year of its release. Alongside the Lego Ninjago product line, a variety of other media was created, including a Ninjago board game for Lego Games, a themed world for Lego Universe, a video game with TT Games that launched in April 2011, and the development of the animated Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu TV series that launched in January 2011. The launch of the TV show and the overwhelming popularity of the theme resulted in a 20% increase in sales in the first quarter of 2011, with the Ninjago line making the highest single-year sales for any Lego original product line in the company’s history.^[7]

With its initial launch in early 2011, the Ninjago line was intended to continue for a limited run of three years. However, the strong sales performance of the line combined with the company’s increased engagement with online communities resulted in The Lego Group reversing this decision. The company had begun to use online forums, such as Lego Cuusoo, to engage with fans and obtain customer feedback relating to its product range. The Ninjago brand was consequently extended past the end of 2013 and has been in production ever since.^[16]

In February 2021, Design Manager Michael Svane Knap commented on the ongoing appeal of the theme by stating, «When Lego Ninjago was originally created more than 10 years ago, it was as much luck as it was skill that made us get to where we are today. Everyone involved back then was quite new and inexperienced with creating a franchise. However, everyone involved pushed 110% to make it work and really brought their A-game. Throughout the years, the Ninjago theme has managed to stay relevant with its changing stories. It’s kept kids engaged in the universe… The changing story has allowed us to bring variety to the team. We’ve taken the ninja through everything from battling snakes, robots, sky-pirates, biker gangs and samurai.»^[17]

Ninjago television series[edit]

The Lego Ninjago sets are based on the 3D computer-animated Ninjago television series (originally titled Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu). The series was created by Michael Hegner and Tommy Andreasen.^[18] Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu was animated in Denmark by Wil Film ApS for the first ten seasons. The production was relocated to WildBrain Studios in Canada for the eleventh season and the series was retitled Ninjago. Regular seasons of the show were released each year from 2011 to 2022, along with one pilot season and one extended special.^[3] The series and the product line were created to coexist, with the storyline and products running alongside one another. This close connection is created out of a collaboration between product designers and storywriters. Design Manager Michael Svane Knap has elaborated on this by stating, «The product is important to us, but it’s as important that we tell an engaging story from the beginning. We start developing with a lot of concept boards, so we know where we want to go…Often the writers also come up with new characters or new plot developments that we can then integrate into the products where possible. Both story and product are really tight together».^[12]

In 2022, a new series for the brand was announced at San Diego Comic Con that is due to be released in 2023.^[19]

Main characters[edit]

The main characters featured in this theme are based on the central characters of the Ninjago television series. The show focuses on a team of six teenage ninja, who are «Elemental Masters» and trained in the art of Spinjitzu by their teacher, Master Wu.^[3]

• Lloyd Garmadon — The legendary Green Ninja, Elemental Master of Energy and the son of Lord Garmadon and Misako.^[20][21]
• Kai — The red ninja, Elemental Master of Fire and older brother of Nya.^[22]
• Jay — The blue ninja, Elemental Master of Lightning and boyfriend of Nya.^[23]
• Zane — The white/titanium ninja, Elemental Master of Ice, «nindroid» (android) and boyfriend of Pixal.^[24]
• Cole — The black ninja and Elemental Master of Earth.^[25]
• Nya — The grey/blue ninja, Elemental Master of Water, former Samurai X, younger sister of Kai and girlfriend of Jay.^[26][27]
• Master Wu — The Master of Creation, wise sensei of the Ninja and younger brother of Lord Garmadon.^[28]
• Lord Garmadon — The Master of Destruction, older brother of Master Wu and father to Lloyd.^[29][30]
• Misako — Lloyd’s mother and Garmadon’s estranged wife.
• P.I.X.A.L. (Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form) — a female «nindroid», Samurai X and girlfriend of Zane.^[31]

Construction toys[edit]

Spinners[edit]

The Ninjago toy line began with the development of spinners, which were created as a way to introduce children to the wider theme. Senior Creative Manager, Tommy Andreasen explained, «We had the idea of the action toys. The challenge was how can you actually make a minifigure come to life and play fight with it? That’s how the spinner came about. The first iterations of the spinner were actually built from Bionicle elements and looked more like a throwing star with a ninja on top».^[10] With the release of the Pilot Season of the Ninjago TV series in 2011, the first Ninjago spinner toys were launched.^[32] The spinners involve placing a Lego minifigure on either a spinning or flying disk. The first generation incorporated a two-player battle game involving exchanges of weapons and collectible cards. The second generation was released in 2015 and consisted of a ripcord mechanism to launch the spinner into the air, recreating the art of «Airjitzu» in the Ninjago TV series.^[32] The most recent release of Ninjago spinners was in March 2022.^[33]

Playsets[edit]

Since 2011, Lego Ninjago themed playsets have been released in waves each year to correspond with each season of the Ninjago television series.^[34] The playsets feature some of the main locations, vehicles, mechs, weapons and characters from the corresponding season. According to Bricklink, there have been 466 Lego Ninjago sets released since 2011.^[1] Each season has corresponding boxed sets, either released in one or two waves across a given year. Design Manager Michael Svane Knap commented on the design process stating, «In our development of the toys, we always start with the story. Our first priority is to tell a good story both in the physical products and in the content we’re creating. And the ninja is always the constant starting point of the concept… They each bring their own unique thing to the story and products.^[17]

In 2011, the Ninjago theme released 39 toy construction sets that were based on the Pilot Episodes. The product range included the spinner toys and skeleton-themed playsets, such as skull monster trucks, and vehicles, dragons and locations from the season, including Garmadon’s Dark Fortress, Ice Dragon Attack and the Fire Temple.^[35] In 2012, the Ninjago toy line was based on the first season titled Rise of the Snakes. It introduces Lloyd Garmadon and focuses on the snake-like Serpentine. The product line featured dragons and snake-themed vehicles from the season, including Fangpyre Truck Ambush, Epic Dragon Battle and Ultra Sonic Raider.^[36]

In 2013, Lego Ninjago was based on the second season Legacy of the Green Ninja, which focuses on Lloyd Garmadon becoming the «Golden Ninja». The toy line included The Golden Dragon set, which featured the character in his golden minifigure form and was later rereleased as part of the Ninjago Legacy line in 2019.^[37] In 2014, the toy line was based on the third season, Rebooted. The season focuses on advanced technology and this was reflected in the nindroid-themed playsets, such as OverBorg Attack and Nindroid MechDragon. The toy line also included the Kai Fighter, Thunder Raider and X-1 Ninja Charger, which were all rereleased as part of the Ninjago Legacy line.^[38]

2015 was the first year to feature two Ninjago seasons in one year and the toy line released sets based on the fourth season titled Tournament of Elements and the fifth season titled Possession. The fourth season focuses on Master Chen and the snake-like Anacondrai and its associated toy range included locations and vehicles from the season, including Jungle Raider, ElectroMech and Enter the Serpent.^[39][40] The fifth season features an army of ghosts led by Morro, and the toy line included ghost-themed vehicles, dragons and locations from the season, including Final Flight of Destiny’s Bounty and the Temple of Airjitzu.^[39] In 2016, the Ninjago playsets were based on the sixth season titled Skybound and the 45-minute special Day of the Departed. The Skybound sets focused on Nadakhan and his band of sky pirates and included pirate-themed locations and vehicles from the season, such as Tiger Widow Island, Misfortune’s Keep and The Lighthouse Siege.^[41] The Day of the Departed sets included the Ultra Stealth Raider, Samurai X Cave Chaos and Rock Roader.^[42][43]

In 2017, the Ninjago playsets were based on the seventh season titled Hands of Time, which focuses on time travel and the main antagonists Krux and Acronix.^[44] The playsets included vehicles and locations from the season, including Destiny’s Shadow, Dragon Forge and Dawn of Iron Doom.^[45] A second wave for the year was replaced by The Lego Ninjago Movie toy line, which introduced new hair pieces for the ninja characters that were adopted and used in subsequent waves.^[44] The eighth season, which was released in 2018 and titled Sons of Garmadon, focuses on a criminal biker gang and the associated sets included the vehicles and locations of the season, including Street Race of Snake Jaguar, Ninja Nightcrawler, S.O.G. Headquarters and the Temple of Resurrection.^[46][47] The ninth season Hunted focuses on a band of Dragon Hunters and was accompanied by a wave of playsets featuring dragons, including Firstbourne, Stormbringer and the Dragon Pit.^[46][48] The tenth season March of the Oni focuses on an evil race named the Oni and was accompanied in 2019 by a minifigure pack of Oni villains.^[49]

In the second half of 2019, Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu was released, which focuses on themes of fire and ice. The wave of sets included vehicles and locations from the season, including Fire Fang, Lloyd’s Titan Mech, the Land Bounty and Castle of the Forsaken Emperor.^[49][50] This was followed in 2020, by the release of two seasons titled Prime Empire and Master of the Mountain. Prime Empire’s video game theme was reflected in its playsets, which included three arcade pods, dragons, vehicles and locations from the season, such as Jay’s Cyber Dragon, Kai’s Mech Jet and Empire Temple of Madness.^[51][52] Master of the Mountain focuses on the evil Skull Sorcerer and the dungeons of Shintaro and its associated wave of sets included Spinjitzu Burst spinners and several playsets that can be used as a role playing board game, including the Skull Sorcerer’s Dungeons.^[51][53] In 2021, Lego Ninjago released two waves based on The Island and Seabound. The first wave featured island-themed vehicles and locations from The Island such as Catamaran Sea Battle, Lloyd’s Jungle Chopper Bike and The Keepers’ Village.^[54] The second wave introduced the sea-themed vehicles and locations of Seabound, including Ninja Sub Speeder, the Hydro Bounty and Temple of the Endless Sea.^[55]

For the 2022 Spring range, the designer revealed the concept behind a wave of sets named Ninjago Core. Niek van Slagmaat explained, «We were asked to come up with a line of Ninjago that would not only stand on its own without content but also be the epitome of Ninjago toys» and continued, “After the specialized launches like Prime Empire and Seabound, the markets asked for a wave with the classic Ninjago identity. We would not get any story continuing content in order to make sure we could get started on 2HY 2022 as early as possible. Thus, Core was born.»^[56] The wave comprised various playsets that feature in the corresponding Ninjago Core shorts, including Lloyd’s Legendary Dragon, Jay’s Thunder Dragon EVO, Kai’s Fire Dragon EVO, Lloyd’s Race Car EVO and Zane’s Power Up Mech EVO.^[57] An additional four sets were released in March, consisting of Kai’s Spinjitzu Ninja Training, Lloyd’s Spinjitzu Ninja Training, Jay’s Spinjitzu Ninja Training and Ninja Training Center.^[58] Nine new sets that correspond to the fifteenth and final season of the original series titled Crystalized were released in summer 2022. The sets are based on the season’s storyline and include Nya’s Samurai X Mech, The Crystal King and The Crystal King Temple.^[59][60]

In 2023, nine new sets were announced for release on 1 January 2023, including Kai’s Ninja Race Car EVO, Lloyd’s Mech Battle EVO, Cole’s Earth Dragon EVO, Kai’s Mech Rider EVO, Jay’s Lightning Jet EVO, Jay’s Titan Mech, Zane’s Ice Dragon Creature, Creative Ninja Brick Box and Nya’s Water Dragon EVO.^[61] In addition, thirteen sets were announced for release in Summer 2023, including Kai Dragon Power: Tornado Spinjitzu, Nya Dragon Power: Drifting Spinjitzu, Lloyd Dragon Power: Cyclone Spinjitzu, Kai and Ras Care and Motorcycle Battle, Imperium Dragon Slayer Hound, Zane Dragon Power: Spinjitzu Race Car, Sora’s Transformable Racing Bike, Heatwave Transforming Lava Dragon, Lloyd and Arin Ninja Team Mechs, Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores, Elemental Dragon vs. Empress Mech, Destiny’s Bounty: Race Against Time and Nya and Arin’s Baby Dragon Battle^[62]

Ninjago Legacy[edit]

In 2019, the Ninjago Legacy line was introduced as a sub-theme of the main Ninjago construction toy line, to celebrate the legacy of the theme over the course of almost ten years.^[63] Ninjago Legacy recreates earlier Ninjago playsets released in previous years with updated designs.^[32] The Ninjago Legacy line gave Ninjago fans the opportunity to revisit sets from previous years in relation to specific seasons.^[63] Senior Model Designer Michael Svane Knap justified the decision to recreate the original sets by stating, «When a lot of these sets originally came out, it was back in 2011 and 2012. The way we build with Lego bricks, the way we actually put sets together, has changed a lot. This means we have new elements; we have new ways of making the build even better.»^[64] In 2019, the first Legacy wave reimagined previously released vehicles like Jay’s Storm Fighter, Cole’s Earth Driller, Kai’s Blade Cycle & Zane’s Snowmobil, and also included the Monastery of Spinjitzu.^[65] In 2020, the Legacy wave included the Golden Mech, which was based on Ninjago Season 2, Thunder Raider and Kai Fighter, which were based on Season 3, Jungle Raider, which was based on Season 4, and a reimagined Destiny’s Bounty.^[66] In 2021, the Legacy wave included Overlord Dragon, which was based on Season 2, X-1 Ninja Charger, which was based on Season 3, Boulder Blaster, Jay’s Electro Mech and Tournament of Elements, which were based on Season 4, Zane’s Titan Mech Battle, which was based on Season 5, and Ultra Sonic Raider.^[67]

Tenth anniversary[edit]

On 14 January 2021, the Lego Ninjago brand celebrated its tenth anniversary.^[68] To mark this milestone, The Lego Group released a limited number of playsets in the Ninjago Legacy line that include exclusive collectible golden minifigures of the main ninja characters.^[69]

To celebrate the tenth anniversary, Ninjago City Gardens (set number: 71741) was released on 1 February 2021 as part of the Ninjago Legacy line. The set contains 5,685 pieces, surpassing the previously released Ninjago City set, making it the largest Ninjago set ever produced.^[70][71] It was designed to connect smoothly with the previous Ninjago modular sets. The playset, similar to the earlier Ninjago City set, is a high rise that contains multiple small shops, including Chen’s Noodle House and Ice Planet. The set features two apartments, a tea balcony, «The Ninja Zone», a rooftop garden, the Ninjago Museum of History and a Ninja Control Tower. Additionally, a small temple island build attached to the set displays a statue of the character Zane. The set includes a «Golden Wu» which is part of the collection of collectible golden minifigures for the 2021 Ninjago wave.^[72][73]

The collection of Golden Legacy minifigures was completed with the release of the Summer 2021 Ninjago sets in June 2021, which include golden minifigures of the Ninjago characters Nya and Zane.^[74]

Juniors[edit]

Ninjago themed sets have also been produced as part of the Lego Juniors theme and, more recently, as part of its successor product range 4+. These sets were specifically designed to be simpler to build with fewer pieces and slightly larger building elements. The Ninjago 4+ sets are aimed at children aged four and above, such as Kai’s Fire Dragon set, which is part of the Ninjago Legacy sub-theme.^[75]

BrickHeadz[edit]

Several Lego Ninjago characters have also been released as part of the Lego BrickHeadz theme. A range of 10th anniversary BrickHeadz was announced in May 2021, which included Golden Lloyd, Nya Samurai X, and Firstbourne Dragon as buildable characters.^[76]

Film adaptation and toy line[edit]

On 17 September 2013, Warner Bros. announced that it was developing an animated film based on the Lego Ninjago theme.^[77] The Lego Ninjago Movie premiered on 16 September 2017 at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles.^[78] To coincide with the release of the film, The Lego Group released The Lego Ninjago Movie toy line, which included 15 building sets and collectible minifigures based on the film.^[79] The largest sets in the line were Ninjago City (set number: 70620) and Ninjago City Docks (set number: 70657), with Ninjago City being listed as one of the largest Lego sets ever released.^[80] The line was eventually discontinued by the end of 2019.^[81]

Media franchise[edit]

Since its launch in 2011, The Lego Group has developed the Ninjago brand into a media franchise that has produced an extensive variety of media and merchandise, including books, magazines, video games and app games, and theme park attractions.^[82]

Theme park attractions[edit]

Several theme park attractions have been launched at Legoland resorts within Lego Ninjago World, a themed area of the parks.^[83] In September 2015, a puppet-style live show made its debut at Legoland Malaysia Resort, titled Lego Ninjago and The Realm of Shadows.^[84] This was followed by the introduction of Lego Ninjago: The Ride at the same park in June 2016, an interactive attraction manufactured by Triotech, which uses Maestro hand gesture technology in place of a hand-held device.^[85] In March 2016, Lego Ninjago World was launched at Legoland Billund Resort.^[86] A similar themed area was introduced at Legoland Deutschland Resort in April 2017.^[87] It was later launched in May 2017 at Legoland Windsor Resort.^[88] In the same month, it was introduced at Legoland California and Legoland Florida.^[89] Lego Ninjago: The Ride was introduced at Legoland Windsor Resort in 2017.^[90] Ninjago World at Legoland Windsor also includes a swinging boat ride designed to resemble Destiny’s Bounty.^[91] In addition, several Ninjago-themed attractions at Legoland resorts were designed to test balance, agility, speed and creativity, including Zane’s Temple Build, Kai’s Spinners, Cole’s Rock Climb and Jay’s Lightning Drill.^[92] In 2018, Legoland California premiered a short 4D animated film attraction titled Lego Ninjago: Master of the 4th Dimension, which was then rolled out in Legoland parks and Legoland Discovery Centres in 2018.^[93][94] On 29 May 2021, Lego Ninjago World was introduced as one of seven themed lands with the opening of Legoland New York.^[95] In November 2021, a Lego Ninjago World themed land was announced for the upcoming launch of Legoland Shanghai Resort in 2024.^[96][97] In 2022, Lego Ninjago Weekends were launched on 11 June until 10 July 2022 at Legoland Windsor Resort.^[98][99]

Publications[edit]

A wide variety of books and magazines have been published based on the Ninjago characters, including children’s story books, colouring books and activity books. From 2011, a series of children’s reading books were published, written by Tracey West, which focus on the stories and characters of Ninjago.^[100] Several graphic novels have been written by Greg Farshtey, which provide stories based on the Ninjago characters.^[101] Regular editions of a Lego Ninjago Character Encyclopedia are published, which provide facts about the characters, minifigures, vehicles and locations from the Ninjago universe. The book has appeared in the top position on The New York Times Best Seller List.^[102] A long-running Lego Ninjago magazine is also published each month, which includes puzzles, activities and stories about the Ninjago characters.^[103] According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), the Lego Ninjago magazine achieved an average circulation of 54,000 between July and December 2021, ahead of the Lego City magazine at 32,153 and the Lego Star Wars magazine at 45,133.^{[104][105][106]} In March 2021, Random House announced the publication of four titles based on the Ninjago brand, including a chapter book series, a guide book called The Book of Elemental Powers, and a hardcover book collection titled 5 Minute Stories.^[107] In September 2021, The Lego Group released a tenth anniversary box set that contains the 2017 book titled The Book of Spinjitzu, poster, stickers and golden Lloyd minifigure.^[108] In November 2021, a five-part comic book series for release in 2022 was announced for the Ninjago brand, starting with the first title LEGO Ninjago: Garmadon.^{[109][110][111][112][113][114]} In September 2021, the first two Lego Ninjago Spinjitzu Brothers books titled The Curse of the Cat-Eye Jewel and The Lair of Tanabrax were published by Penguin Random House. The Maze of the Sphinx was published on 3 May 2022 to continue the prequel story of Wu and Garmadon.^[115] The fourth book titled The Chroma’s Clutches was published on 6 September 2022.^[116]

Video games and apps[edit]

The characters from the Ninjago theme have appeared in a wide variety of video games and mobile apps. In the same year as its initial launch, the Ninjago brand was introduced into the gaming world with the development of a video game titled Lego Battles: Ninjago, which was released on 12 April 2011. It was produced by TT Games and developed by Hellbent Games.^[117] In the same year, a Ninjago themed world was introduced to the massively multiplayer online game Lego Universe on 20 September 2011.^[118] On 22 March 2012, an app developed by The Lego Group titled Rise of the Snakes was released for iOS. It was produced to accompany the first season of the television series titled Rise of the Snakes.^[119] On 21 January 2014, a game was released for iOS titled Lego Ninjago Rebooted, which was developed by The Lego Group.^[120] It is an action game that involves running and dodging obstacles while navigating a tower.^[121] On 29 July 2014, a video game titled Lego Ninjago: Nindroids was also released. The two games are based on the third season titled Rebooted.^[122] An action game titled Lego Ninjago: Tournament was released on 23 January 2015 for iOS, developed by The Lego Group, which was based on the fourth season titled Tournament of Elements.^[123] In the same year, another video game titled Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin was released on 24 March 2015 based on Possession the fifth season of the show, which was developed by TT Fusion.^[124] In 2016, the sixth season of the show titled Skybound was accompanied by the release of a web and app game titled Lego Ninjago: Skybound. It was developed by The Lego Group and is a side-scrolling platform game.^[125] To accompany the release of The Lego Ninjago Movie, an action-adventure video game titled The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game was released in 2017 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.^[126] The game was released on 22 September 2017 and featured the characters and locations from the movie.^[127] On 26 April 2018, a mobile riding game titled Ride Ninja was released for Android and iOS to coincide with the eighth season of the show titled Sons of Garmadon. It was developed by Amuzo Games and published by The Lego Group.^[128]

The Ninjago characters have also made appearances in various other Lego games. On 27 September 2015, Lego Dimensions was released, which is a video game developed by Traveller’s Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.^[129] The game offers an additional Ninjago Team Pack that includes figures and vehicles from Ninjago.^[130] The Lego-themed sandbox game, Lego Worlds also includes the Ninjago characters as playable characters. It was developed by Traveller’s Tales, published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and released on 7 March 2017.^[131] The game offers downloadable content of the Ninjago characters and locations based on The Lego Ninjago Movie.^[132] On 19 September 2019, a mobile fighting game for iOS devices titled Lego Brawls was released, which was published by The Lego Group and developed by RED Games.^[133][134] The game includes playable Ninjago characters and Ninjago-themed events.^[135] In 2020, a role-playing battle game titled Lego Legacy: Heroes Unboxed was released on Apple’s App Store, Google Play and Microsoft Store.^[136] It was published by The Lego Group and developed by Gameloft Toronto and features the Ninjago characters as playable minifigures.^[137]

Other media and merchandise[edit]

In 2015, the Lego Ninjago characters appeared in several videos on the Lego YouTube channel that recreate American Ninja Warrior in Lego form. The Ninjago characters are depicted taking part in several obstacles from the course, including the Warped Wall, Salmon Ladder and Spider Climb.^{[138][139][140][141][142]}

In 2019, The Lego Group partnered with Nickelodeon to become the global sponsor of the Kid’s Choice Awards. The campaign featured stop-motion animated content that included the characters from the Ninjago TV series, which was released across television, digital and social media on 7 March 2019. The story involved Lord Garmadon plotting a mission to steal a slime cannon, resulting in the Lego Ninjago characters having to defeat him.^[143]

In May 2021, the Ninjago characters Jay and Nya appeared in Ninja Vlogs, 3D animated vlog-style videos, which were produced using motion capture and real-time rendering. The new content format allowed viewers to provide an input to the story and aimed to move beyond broadcasting to children to engaging them in conversation.^[144]

The Ninjago brand has also produced clothing and accessories for children and young adults, including collaborations with Adidas and Hype in 2021.^[145][146]

In 2022, the Lego Ninjago brand also produced a plush toy collection.^[147]

In December 2022, a Lego Ninjago Master Class web short was released on YouTube. It features Tommy Andreasen, Nikolaj Severin, Tommy Kalmar and Ina Sta. Maria teaching about drawing Ninjago minifigures.^[148]

Awards and nominations[edit]

In 2011, Fire Temple (set number 2507) was announced as one of the must-have «DreamToys» for Christmas in the Construction category by the Toy Retailers Association.^[149]

In 2012, Fire Temple was awarded «Activity Toy of the Year» for inspiring creative play through various forms of activity at the 12th Annual Toy of the Year Awards, which is held at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.^[150]

In 2013, the Ninjago theme was nominated for «Property of the Year» by the Toy Association.^[151]

In 2015, Master Wu Dragon (set number 70734) was a winner of «DreamToys» in the «Build It And They Will Thrive» category by the Toy Retailers Association.^[152]

Reception[edit]

The Ninjago line is one of The Lego Group’s most popular brands with young boys.^[5] In 2011, the Toy Retailers Association listed the Fire Temple set on its official list of ‘dream toys’ for the festive season, which predicted the 12 products that would be the bestsellers in that year.^[153] In September 2011, Marketing Week listed the first wave of Ninjago spinners as one of the top ten bestselling toys of the year.^[154] In 2012, toy retailer Toys «R» Us included the Ninjago Epic Dragon Battle set (9450) on its annual Hot Toy List, which it considered to be a cross-section of the best new toys of the season.^[155] In the same year, Ninjago ranked as one of the top five Lego properties of 2012, which together accounted for 50 per cent of all construction sets sold in the U.S. in that year.^[156] In 2014, the ninth volume in a series of Ninjago graphic novels by Greg Farshtey titled Night of the Nindroids entered The New York Times Graphic Novel Bestseller List at the top position, the eighth volume in a total of 12 to do so, and passed the mark of 2 million sales for the series.^[157][158] In 2015, the Ninjago line was listed as one of the top five bestselling themes in The Lego Group’s Annual Report.^[159] In 2016, Toys «R» Us included the Ninjago Samurai X Cave Chaos set (70596) on its list of top toys for Christmas 2016.^[160] In the same year, Ninjago was listed as one of the top themes driving revenue in The Lego Group’s 2016 Annual Report.^[161] Ninjago was also listed as one of the top selling themes in the 2017 Annual Report.^[162] The popularity of the Ninjago theme continued through to 2018, when it was named as one of the year’s best selling themes, despite an overall fall in profits for the company in 2017.^[163] In September 2019, Ninjago was listed as one of the top selling themes driving revenue growth in the first half of 2019.^[164] Due to the long-term popularity and indefinite continuation of the Ninjago line, the brand is described as an annual evergreen Lego product range.^[165][166] Ernie Estrella for Syfy Wire commented that Lego Ninjago, «is one of Lego’s long running, home-grown franchises, and is arguably its most successful one.»^[3]

See also[edit]

• Lloyd Garmadon
• List of Ninjago characters
• Ninjago (TV series)
• List of Ninjago episodes
• The Lego Ninjago Movie
• The Lego Ninjago Movie (Lego theme)
• The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game
• Legends of Chima
• Nexo Knights
• Lego Monkie Kid
• Lego Games

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official Ninjago website at lego.com