#ninjago serpentine war

[woffles-4-waffles]

Garmadon as an Anacondrai General? A drawing of @kim2248 's cosplay! >:3

[darkeeveeanimatesus]

Serpentine War

the difference shading makes.... this took so long, but i love it.

[toastingpencils37]

Looking at the obviously abandoned village on Chen's Island, I'm thinking that either:

a) Prior to Chen and Clouse being exiled to said island, the people living there were forced to leave

b) They were not forced leave, and when Chen and Clouse arrived and took over the island, they forced the people to leave the village and instead help to build up his criminal empire, with the inhabitants (and more importantly, their descendants) becoming Anacondrai cultists

(sadly the least likely knowing the era of Ninjago history we're talking about) c) some point a while before Chen's exile, the people kinda just left the village for some other reason that had nothing to do with Chen or the Serpentine War. (I'd hope it's option "c" but seeing as how the Elemental Alliance imprisoned the Serpentine the way they did with little to no apparent remorse, I just don't think that one's as likely.)

or d) The village wasn't there whatsoever prior to Chen's exile, and after he started building up his empire, they were building the village, but then abandoned it, possibly while it was still being built (but then there would possibly be issues of "How long did it take for Chen to build up his empire?" "How long would it have taken to build said buildings, and how much longer and how much more energy would've had to be spent building Chen's palace buildings specifically" and "How long would a village have to be left alone to start looking like that?" etc etc)

[everyfandomsprincess]

This actually makes a lot of sense, considering how it's very likely that none of them went to an actual school so that's why they were never formally taught about the Serpentine War or the other Elemental Maters.

Dr. Julien was likely living in Birch Wood Forest during the war and it's possible that he told Zane about it to keep him safe and similar reasons could be for Jay. And Cole (who likely went to a performing arts school) definitely heard about the Serpentine Wars from Lilly (who's own father fought in them)

But considering how Kai and Nya grew up, without parents they were likely never told about the Serpentine and instead probably heard it from other kids/villagers and Kai thought it was ridiculous. (which if your heard about the Serpentine when your a little older than yeah it would sound ridiculous)

There's a scene in the first episode of season 1 suggesting that as of the start of canon, the Serpentine have faded into nothing more than myth. Naturally, this has led a lot of the fandom to question how this could be possible since the Serpentine War only happened ~40-50 years ago. There are plenty of still-living people in Ninjago who were present for this war - hell, even Ed and Edna were probably alive during the war. How could the existence of the Serpentine, a race that has been around and at conflict with the humans for over a thousand years, suddenly blink out of public awareness in just 40 years?

After some consideration, I think I've come to a pretty simple answer, if you'll indulge me as I overanalyze the silly lego show once again.

In order to understand the situation, let's take a look at the scene in question one more time.

The key thing to note here is that out of the four, Kai is the only one who doubts the existence of the Serpentine. Jay, Cole, and Zane all treat the subject with a heavy amount of importance and trepidation (and a bit of fear). Zane even explicitly insists that they're real. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong but Kai is perhaps the only character in the entire show that we've seen expressing this kind of doubt about the Serpentine.

In my opinion, this means the Serpentine aren't just a myth and are instead a known part of Ninjago's history, and the belief that the Serpentine are a myth is a belief exclusive to Kai and Kai alone. Which...honestly feels pretty in-character for him, ngl.

(Why, then, are the Serpentine taught in schools but the ninja all somehow didn't know about the existence of other elemental masters? Great question! Unfortunately I cannot explain that without going on a long and rambling dissertation-length essay, and I don't have the brainpower to write all that. Long story short? Ninjago's education system is in fucking SHAMBLES and we shouldn't be surprised about any gaps in anyone's knowledge.)

[crowleycorvid]

I'm so. I love this drawing a lot

I hope it is clear every time I draw him how genuinely in love with this character I am Wu they could never make me hate you

[get-acronixed-meme]

MEME HOUR: Elemental Alliance pt. 1

[fandomsnrambles]

Do we (as a fandom) talk about how chaotic & feral Wu was as a child?

This kid broke a treaty with the serpentine and went on their land and nearly started a war.

I wonder if Garmadon was fighting to keep him on a leash…

[chaellooo]

DROPS DIS AND ROONS AWAE (I'm sorry this is my first time ever attempt on drawing pregnant body 😭😭😭 I didn't bother to look up for references bcs im stubborn)

[drowsydregon]

i feel like i've talked abt this before but i'll never not bring it up/complain abt it

i wanna know which EM signed off on the anacondrai tomb

"hey you know that tribe of serpentine that could've singlehandedly killed all of us, and is known for being a cut above all the other serpentine ?? let's put them in a giant, obvious horn in the middle of the desert and hope that a locked door is enough to stop them. oh there's also cracks in the ceiling but we're gonna ignore that"

[al-luviec]

For requests: could you draw TimeShadows (Krux x master of shadow)?? Pls!!! 🥺👀

running away with my head in my hands

[grumpy-zane]

'Researching, are we?'

[master-jarrus]

Ninjago Star Wars Au species list

I will not debate anyone over these

Starting up:

Jay, half human, half twi'lek, his mother is the twi'lek. When he was born he was shipped to the Huts on Tatooine but his little carriage pod dropped and was picked up by Jawas. He has mechanical wings he made himself and specializes in marketing for the Jawas because he's adorable

Force sensitive

Ed and Edna: Jawas who find Jay are the main ones who raise him but I'm fairly certain jawas take the whole village approach.

Cole: Togurta. Togurta's are very strong and agile but people always seem surprised when they actually show case their strength. This seemed very fitting for Cole.

Force sensitive

Kai and Nya: human nautolan hybrids but it has been so long since the nautolan was introduced they don't have many traits other than large dark eyes and Nya is able to breathe under water. (They don't know its nautolan, which is kit fistos species for those who don't know)

Force sensitive

Nya is stronger in the force but she uses chants to help her focus (like the og dathomirian witches)

Zane: zane is a kyber crystal powering a droid. He more specifically the crystal then the body because kyber crystals are sentient

Force sensitive

Pixal: same deal as zane but her crystal faced torture (from the mining process) zane heals her later but she still struggles (fun fact ahsoka's kyber crystals were corrupted and tortured but she rescued and healed them and that is why they are white)

Force sensitive can only manipulate it through the dark side

Garmadon and Wu: Diathim (also referred to as angels) and part zabrak (i went back and forth on that because beskalisks have four arms but then I drew it and just fit well for them) angels are considered the most beautiful creatures while zebraks tend to be considered evil. Both are capable of good and evil.

Very force sensitive

Garmadon isn't strictly a sith. More of just acts as he sees is needed. He does tend to use the dark side a lot though

Garmadon is missing his lower wings and has mutated arms with cyber supports

Misako: Chiss, intellectual tend to try to logic their emotions away (think a blue spock) the Diathim have prophecies. She wanted to study them. She and Garmadon fall in love

Lloyd: Diathim, zabrak and chiss. Very tall. Blue skin, red eyes, has all of his wings but also has a set of lower arms that do not have cyber supports.

Force sensitive, just dripping midiclorians to the point he boosts the sensitivity of those he is around

Struggles with acting in anger and will accidentally hurt his lightsabers original kyber crystals that he will wear on a necklace and pours into whenever he meditates

Rei: human, mandalorian black smith

Force sensitive

Maya: human nautolan hybrid also unaware of the nautolan she just thinks it's the force she is trained like the og dathomirian witches

Force sensitive

Lily: Togruta

Force sensitive

Lou: Togruta dancer and singer, gets paid for it

Harumi: human, not force sensitive but will later inject midiclorians to try be able to use the force and will become dependent on them

Cyrus: human, tries to create kyber crystal droids like zane but the mining process corrupted all of them including the prosthetics he tried to make that were powered by crystals. He chooses to be wheel chair bound after the incident but he is ambulatory with regular prosthetics he just finds it exhausting

Morro: zabrak, becomes a malevolent ghost but will later settle down into a regular force ghost who follows wu around

Force sensitive

Serpentine: sub species of hutt. Made them native to dathomir and the moons

Let me know who else you want to know

You will for sure get art of Garmadon. We will see about the others

[darkeeveeanimatesus]

Serpentine War WIP

this is going to be FUN

[iamsonormalaboutninjago]

ARE THEY THE FORBIDDEN FIVE???

okay okay okay I’m kinda stupid for saying this cause-

What we know about the forbidden five is that they took over ninjago before- and these kids are in Chima

Although it’s possible they go back to Ninjago the same way Garm got to the Wyldness

Idk BUT STILL!!

[crossroads-of-the-raven]

The Hands of Time, Morro the Elemental of Wind, The Cursed Realm, Who Sent Him There and how Chen is at the center of everything | Ninjago

So first off, I've had this theory for the longest time that Morro wasn't supposed to be in the Cursed Realm and besides that, that he was being taken advantage of by the Preeminent.

When Morro first appears at the very end of Season 4, we hear a voice say Morro's name in a whispered raspy voice.

Now, I've heard many people say that, that is literally just Morro announcing his own name but personally I always thought that the voice sounded similar to a different ghost, i.e. Bansha.

Bansha is a ghost who has the ability to control others from a distance and even communicate between Realms, as seen when she forced Misako to fight Wu and when she communicated with Fenwick, the Master Writer, to allow her, Morro and his ghostly entourage into the Cloud Kingdom. As well as, later when Wu and Misako are acting as distractions so the Ninja can sneak into Stix. Bansha is able to use herself to allow Morro to communicate through her to his old teacher.

This, along with Morro's change of heart at the end of Season 5 (even though ghosts aren't supposed to be able to change) is what initially made me suspicious; then something else came up.

Manipula-Chen (Chen Starts a Time War) by rinkunokoisuru on Ao3 brought up something that I knew in the back of my head but never really thought about.

rinkunokoisuru brings up that one little fact that Season 4 repeated so often that I'm surprised I forgot. Chen's manipulation of the Elemental Masters during the Serpentine War.

Now you might be asking - why is that important, what does that have to do with Morro? Well think about it, who else did Chen manipulate other than a young Garmadon.

Garmadon went to train with Chen and sometime after, Wu takes in Morro, eventually training him to become the Green Ninja.

We already know that Chen was intercepting Wu's mail, considering he was able to steal his love letter to Misako, so whose to say that he also wasn't spying on Wu and Morro's training sessions.

This brings me to another piece of information that was brought up recently by @ataraxixx - that information being that on Morro's back is the Japanese kanji for 'evil'.

Now I know that everyone has made their jokes about Morro being an edgy emo Hot Topic kid for wearing the kanji for 'evil' - but as I thought about it, I began to wonder, "why would a kid who wants to be the hero, die with the kanji for 'evil?"

(And incase your wondering, Morro originally had a dragon on his back just like Wu, when he was younger.)

Going back to rinkunokoisuru's story - in the story, it's suggested that Clouse's dark magic might have played a part in Krux and Acronix's betrayal and possibly play a part in the betrayal of the other Elementals.

With Morro I could believe that and I'll explain why in just a moment but with Krux and Acronix, something just wasn't clicking fully even though I liked the theory. Until I was rewatching episode 3 of Season 7 (A Time of Traitors) for my, 'Morro comes back to life' rewrite.

As I was watching the scene where Kai is discussing the Vermillion war helmet with Dr. Saunders, something came to mind. The helmet is definitely a Vermillion helmet but when Kai said it looked familiar he realized that Krux and Acronix were wearing the exact same helmet in the painting of their fight with Garmadon and Wu. At that moment I realized that they were also wear those same helmets when Wu is congratulating the remaining loyal Elementals on their victory during the Serpentine War.

Why would they be wearing Vermillion helmets?

Thinking back on Season 7.

When Kai first shows Wu the helmet in episode 3, Wu tries to say the line, 'time waits for no one' the same line is said completely by Krux during his fight with Kai at the Museum in the very same episode.

To be fair, it's a pretty common line but I think it was ment to indicate that Wu recognized the helmet as one that the Time Twins wore.

Now you might be asking, why wouldn't he recognize it as a Vermillion helmet?

To that I say, one of the best ways for something to be forgotten is for it never to be spoken of. Which is exactly what we find out in episode 7 (Secrets Discovered) when the Ninja - minus Kai and Nya - speak with King Scales in the sewers.

The Vermillion Warriors were the first generation progeny of the Great Devourer with the same instincts to consume everything, they were something that was so feared by the Serpentine that they were not spoken of, with Scale even going out of his way to find out where they are so his people could avoid them.

Now this is pure speculation, but I wonder, what if a non Serpentine/Vermillion wearing a Vermillion helmet could have an adverse or even corruptive effect on someone, considering Vermillion armor is ment for a nest of Vermillion snakes to nest inside of to form a single Warrior.

(Side Note: this is where all you Snake!Jay fans can come in as to why your boy wasn't affected when he put on the helmet in episode 3. And on that note, shameless plug for my theory post as to there being a Serpentine curse on the Jiang/Smith family - on Ray or Maya's side - as the reason why Jay and Skylor both were turned into snakes thus implying that the same thing has happened to Maya or Ray and as such using this convoluted theory as to why Kai wasn't affected when he wore the Vermillion helmet, implying that like the Snake!Jay theory, that Kai and Nya might have some Serpentine passed down to them from one of their parents' own transformation.)

Getting back to the matter.

Where would Krux and Acronix get a Vermillion helmet in the first place - the answer, from a man who find war entertaining and has a vast collection of hard to find/hard to get artifacts with a particular fascination with Serpentine warriors.

A.k.a. Master Chen.

Even if you go with the theory that the Vermillion helmets are not corruptive, there is still the matter of Clouse's dark magic.

On that note, let's get back to Morro and his connection to Chen and Clouse.

Imagine if you will.

You are mad Cult Leader, anticipating the eve of war between the Serpentine and all of Ninjago. While your pupil, the Elder son of the FSM, may or may not stay on the side of evil, you have been watching his younger brother train his first student to become the Green Ninja, something, which if he is successful, could be a possible problem.

Now again, speculation.

Wu was able to gather every Elemental to fight in the Serpentine War, even if some of them eventually turned traitor. I wonder if during Morro's training, if as part of Morro's training, if he was introduced to the Elementals as a sort of know your allies interaction. Basically, baby Ninja Morro getting to meet the Elementals who were all probably older then him (teen to elder) considering how old Morro looked when he ran away.

Continuing the speculation.

Let's say that Chen's spies told him that Morro was outside of Wu's protection. Let's say that Chen had already begun seducing a certain Elemental to his side (traditional methods or magical methods, you decide). Now let's say Chen had this Elemental go to Morro with a present - a medallion of protection. Let's say that Morro accepts this medallion because it's from his allie and let's say that the medallion has two images - one on top that would soon crumble away and one beneath (the kanji for evil) that actually held a curse that would send the wearer to the Cursed Realm.

And who do we know that can send people to the Cursed Realm - the answer, Clouse.

In Season 4 episode 8 - Clouse attempts to send Garmadon to the Cursed Realm, only for said Sensei to kick the sorcerer into the Cursed Realm, the portal closing behind him.

Later, to defeat Chen's Anacondri Army, Lloyd uses a spell from Clouse's magic books to open a portal to the Cursed Realm, thus allowing the Anacondri Generals to curse Chen and his army, sending them all to the Cursed Realm.

Considering all this, what if Chen had already been luring Skylor's mother to his side and convinced her to give a young wandering Morro a false seal of protection that would send him to the Cursed Realm upon his death (what if Chen had laid hints to lead Morro to a swift death in the Caves of Despair, not long after or even had Skylor's mother unknowingly give those hints when she gave him the medallion)

(Two Side Notes:

First: I personally I think Skylor's mother would have been tricked by Chen into giving Morro the medallion but if you want her to have been evil and do it willingly then that's your call.

Second: I don't think it's too farfetched an idea that the symbol transformed into a large medallion that was tied around Morro when he became a ghost. Almost like it shifted to chain itself to him.)

Now consider, the speculative Green Ninja is dead and the Serpentine War begins. The Elemental Alliance has gathered and some question are asked of Wu.

Where is Morro?

How long has he been gone?

Why didn't you go after him?

War continues, Garmadon goes to help his brother and after some time Chen see the war begin to wane so he sows discord among the Elementals and soon the alliance has fallen apart with only a few Elementals remaining loyal.

Gravity survived an attack by Clouse's pet Serpent and Earth while having briefly turned traitor has returned to the Elemental Alliance - but that's fine because the Time Twins are still wearing the Vermillion helmets.

The five tribes are being locked away (the Venomari by Water/Maya and the Anacondri by Fire/Ray) and the Serpentine War has ended. The Anacondri Generals have been sent to the Cursed Realm, Chen and Clouse are now confined to Chen's island (possibly having already hidden Skylor's mother there). But all that is still just fine. For someone so incredibly fascinated by the Serpentine, one has to wonder how much he knows.

Chen has spies and willing pawns everywhere, how else could he open a successful restaurant chain on the mainland.

Did he know about the prophecy of the Golden Master. Did he know that when the Serpentine are released from their tombs, that they would unleash the Great Devourer. Did he know that the Devourer would head straight to the stone army where her Venom would bring the warriors to life.

Or possibly, I wonder.

If when Krux came out of the Time portal not long after entering it - his younger twin brother, nowhere in sight and personally desiring revenge - did he go searching for a way to get vengeance, possibly from the one who first gave him and his brother the helmets.

Was Chen the one to set Krux on the path towards using the Vermillion Warriors.

In Season 7 episode 3, Krux tells Kai that his parents were traitors who worked for the Hands of Time, however, in Season 4 episode 7 Chen tells Kai that there are dark secrets about his parents.

Of course, Chen could have been lying, however ...

Did Chen know that Krux had kidnapped Ray and Maya?

Did Krux ever have the Jiang/Smith parents do work for Chen in payment for the Vermillion Warrior eggs?

~~~~~

Like many of my post ideas, this one got kinda long and rambling.

Something else I wanted to include was that I recall that someone was lamenting that Morro didn't have fangs like the other ghosts and I wondered why, but then I thought of this.

Cole, Garmadon, Chen and Clouse - four people who were cursed/sent to the Cursed Realm (only two of which were evil) and all four of them, in ghost form, are lacking fangs; just like Morro.

(Side Note: Admitably, Garmadon might just be a special case of - Son of the FSM. Personally, I'm in the boat of, give the Dragoni fangs but that's neither here nor there at the moment)

One more thing before you ask if the other ghost have a kanji for evil on them, I checked. Most ghost with a visible (or partially visible) symbol on their back all have the same Cursed Realm emblem - Morro is the only one with kanji.

[agenericplaceholdername]

Reminder that the Craglings are intelligent beings who have their own society and even poetry, and Wu and Garmadon respond to them by immediately attacking. The biggest crime the Craglings committed was walking slowly toward them WITH THEIR HANDS UP.

Will they re-form later? Hopefully, but for the Spinjitzu Brothers, murdering innocent rock people is just an average day.

You have to wonder where Lloyd got his "all life has value" ideology from because it clearly wasn't his father or mentor.