#sharkanalysis

[sharksandjays]

This is sort of going off my recent artwork but I really wanted to take a moment to talk about Jay's adaptability. Specifically weapons. With the other ninjas, they seem to stick to one thing. Kai seems to always stick to a sword, Zane a long distance weapon, Cole an impact-based weapon, and Nya a spear-type weapon. (Lloyd still has the same sword he's had since season 11.) And while Jay does stick to chained weapons, he shows a lot of comfort with continously changing weapons in situations of need.

Personally, I think it's to make up for his element. Lightning is an incredibly powerful element that is likely very difficult to control. He probably doesn't WANT to use it much outside of his usual shocks and power outages. Unlike Lloyd, he doesnt need that much power because he's usually not fighting The Big Bad.

So he makes up for it with variety. With hand to hand combat, agility, speed, adaptability of weapons.

I mean, just look at all of them.

(And dont get me STARTED on how insane it is that he reguarly uses kusarigamas. That's RIDICULOUSLY DIFFICULT TO MASTER. I think this guy needs a ton of respect just for using chained weapons.)

But the coolest thing, to me at least, is that it looks like he specifically trained in the other ninjas weapons. (Maybe the others did too? But i dont really see it as much with them.)

This scene in crystallized is what got me.

Cole literally just threw his weapon to Jay, trusting him to know how to use it. And Jay kicks butt.

I wonder if a little 15 yo Jay trained in the training yard for hours, frustratedly hacking at something with a katana, then training with a hammer, switching to a spear, then to a bostaff, then to sai, and just keeps going and going until he's comfortable with all of them. He cant be the weak man on the team. If his power isnt going to cut it, then he needs to master weapons. Master combat. He wont be the weak link. He refuses to.

Anyways sharkanalysis is back

[sharksandjays]

guys you don’t understand. I need Jay being an antagonist in DR. I need him to hate the ninja. I need him to fight them.

Doc Wyatt said, in response to someone saying “glad to know Jay can just send someone to the hospital”, that Jay “pulls his punches when needed.”

If Jay doesnt know the ninja. If he percieves them as a threat. Will he pull his punches?

Or will Kai suddenly realize how insanely powerful the lightning ninja is.

Will Nya realize how many kill or he killed instincts the pirates in s6 gave him.

Will Zane realize how cold and calculating Jay can be.

Will Lloyd get scared because his older brother is looking at him with cold hatred.

Will Cole cry because his best friend is trying to hurt them. To kill them.

Will they all realize that Jay is no longer a ninja, but a threat, an enemy.

And when one of them becomes an enemy, they cant afford to have mercy. Because a creation element sided with hate is too powerful to exist.

They have to turn him back or they have to kill him.

[sharksandjays]

anybody else notice that lloyd is just having so much fun fighting in dragons rising? Of course, with the more serious villains like the Imperium and stuff like that he can become serious, but overall you see him smile a lot more while fighting.

And it's just super cool to me because it's sorta hinted throughout the seasons that the ninja think of certain villains as below them. Like uhh i forgot who but didn't kai or someone call the Mechanic a "third tier" villain in season 6, whereas nadakhan was first tier.

And it could be associated with arrogance but honestly? I just think the ninja know their jobs. Their jobs are to basically keep ninjago together and the citizens alive. Anyone that is a major threat can be handled by them, whereas anyone less than them will be handled by the police force.

But the thing is, the ninja LOVE fighting! They spar all the time, of course to keep their stamina up, but also because they find it fun! Cole was ITCHING to fight for half of the older seasons, and Kai always rushes into them. Even Jay seems to have fun with them. It makes sense that they would see low-level villains that they can easily beat as a game, as something amusing. And yes, there's probably an ego boost in there. Like "lol look at that guy that i just beat in 0.5 seconds while the police are struggling for a day to find and arrest him."

So I honestly just see Lloyd in Dragons Rising as having fun. Low level thugs like the guards in Imperium that he can just flaunt his skills to and maybe add a few flourishes to the fight that he'd never be able to use in a real fight...maybe a little flip that Jay had taught him, or a special spin that Kai showed him. And when he's fighting Wyldfire he's just!! Amused!!!

Ther''s also probably an added "PLEASE these ppl think they can beat ME?" to the mix. Again, it might look like arrogance...but think about this. It's deserved arrogance. Lloyd has literally beaten the master of evil itself. Twice. And here's this 15 year old Kai equivilant raving about killing him. It must be really amusing to him. He is very skilled, professional, and powerful. He knows his worth. Humility is hard to have when you were forced to carry the burden of the world at 9 years old.

[sharksandjays]

i dont care how many posts im repeating guys

jason was so small

he was so small

HE WAS SO SMALL

He was so small

You know what they say about small coffins…

[sharksandjays]

guys.

guys Built To Protect plays when Jay recharges the ship.

guys.

[sharksandjays]

oh, kai…

[sharksandjays]

I think something that Dragons Rising is doing so so well is making the ninja cooler.

I know that sounds weird. But listen. The ninja aren't the main characters anymore! Wanna know who the main characters are? Arin and Sora. Two 15 year olds. Two kids, one of which was raised learning about the ninja and how cool they are.

And the thing is, they are cool! But in the older seasons, the ones focused on the ninja themselves, we focus on the flaws (because the whole point of their seasons are character development.) We don't see them as cool as they are because the narration is from their point of view. Everything that they do is just day-to-day stuff. And, honestly, we get desensitized to all the things we'd normally think is cool because to them its normal!

I think my first epiphany of this was back in season 2 i think when Jay, who is generally perceived to be the weakest of the ninja, easily judo flips Darreth like its nothing, and we know that guy isn't the lightest of people. I saw that and went "huh." because if it wasn't him interacting with a normal citizen i wouldnt think anything of it. If it was him sparring with lloyd or something id be like "yeah whatever ninja do that." but it wasnt until i saw it from outside the ninja's perspective that it really made me think wow these kids are cool.

And thats exactly what dragons rising is doing. Arin is the main character. Our narrative point of view is coming from his eyes. We focus less on the ninja's flaws and more on what makes them awesome. We are looking at them through an inexperienced, child based, point of view. When seeing Lloyd do fancy sword maneuvers would have been normal because pshaw everyone does that is now really cool because wow you dont see that every day.

Dragons Rising allows us to go huh. These are ninjas that have been training and fighting for more than 10 years together. They are really freaking COOL for that.

So Arin, i'm behind you kid. I get your ninja fandom too.

[sharksandjays]

Once again rambling about Jay and his awesome power. One thing I've noticed about him, especially with his power, is that it seems to tax him a lot more than the others' does. Probably because of the power and intensity of lightning. I've seen so many posts about how Jay uses a very small voltage when he fights because he doesn't want to hurt people, but what seems to be supported by the canon is that it also hurts him. Every time he deals with pure lightning bolts (rather than just shocks), he seems to hurt himself in the process. This is proven in season 14 when he is literally sparking after recharging the ship.

And judging by his expressions, it's affecting him. It hurts and exhausts him.

And in season 6 and season 8 we see how dealing with direct bolts of lightning affects him. In season 6, he screams when it hits him.

And in season 8, he gets physically exhausted for a moment after redirecting.

At least from what I have seen, this is very different from the other ninja, who seem to be able to control their elements-for the most part-at different intensities without it affecting them. (Aside from Lloyd.)

Which just brings me to the point that I personally believe that Jay's power is the most powerful of the creation elements. He doesn't use it to its full potential (and KO enemies, like he could) because, while he can handle like 900 million volts (in season 6 he's struck by like 3 direct bolts of lightning, and survives), that doesn't mean he will be combat ready after that.

This might also be why Wu brought him into the team early (with Cole). He probably needed a lot more training on pain tolerance, keeping the mind and body calm, and probably lots of other endurance training. (Which is indirectly canon with how well he was able to handle Nadakhan's mental and physical torture vs the other ninja.) His power is so unpredictable, and so his training must have been very rough when he first got his powers, which is once again supported by the canon as both Nya and Lloyd talk about how he destroyed the South(?) Wing of the Monastery with an electrical fire while practicing his powers. Wu probably had to focus on his control a lot more than with the other ninja (probably like how he had to with Nya, if you think about it. Lightning and Water are both hard to control, so concentration would be key to learn for both of them, which is ironic with Jay's fanon ADHD).

Point is, Jay is super cool and so underrated sometimes. I really think it'd be cool if the show went more into how their powers affected them! Though speculation is also fun.

Anyways. Jay with the lightning chicken because they would be (are) besties.

[sharksandjays]

i dont like the titans show, dont get me wrong.

But something about how Meet Me In The Woods started playing in the background when Dick was coming home after Jasons death. Something about the lyrics “i took a little journey to the unknown and ive come back changed” in reference to Dick’s character. Something about the lyrics “i aint never been away so long dont look back those days are gone” in reference to Bruce and Dick’s relationship. Something about the sadness, the melancholy of that song playing amidst Dick’s grief for his brother and longing for his father.

It hurts a little.

Something about how Dick lost his baby brother and his father and his home all at once.

[sharksandjays]

yup thats right folks. its my monthly jay analysis post.

But now!!! Its about Prime Empire.

Ok guys look. Prime Empire is a terrible focus season. Jay had absolutely no character development and no power development. Nada. Nothin. Its just a “focus season” because he came up with the plan to make the villain good again and had more lines than usual (plus his little “abandoned” speech.)

HOWEVER!!! The Prime Empire shorts do say something. So, as we know, the Wildbrain seasons tend to poopoo on Jay’s character and boil him down to the funny cowardice character who is the weakest of the team. But something the shorts do attest to is the fact that Jay is STILL a ninja! The MOMENT he went into Prime Empire and saw something unjust he stood up to it. He tried to warn people. His desire to protect people goes beyond his job its his identity.

(i'm so sorry for the crappy captions. Youtube's gonna youtube.)And like the meme I posted earlier, he handled himself pretty darn well without the others. He didn't even complain about being alone. He accepted his situation pretty quickly and was already starting to fight against Unagami before the ninja found their way in. (Which you could argue could be because he is experienced with the situation in Skybound.)

And about the League…everyone makes fun of it but i beg yall to think about it for a hot moment. Who all was in Prime Empire?

Thats right. Kids.

When Jay fights the red visors in the shorts, you see the squeals of a bunch of players once they recognize him. Its very childlike and you have to realize that these people are just avatars.

All the people we saw get sucked into the game were kids. Of course theyd flock behind a ninja! And Jay had no problem taking them in and entertaining them and keeping them safe because that was his job! And they all dressed up like him and acted like him because he was their idol!!! And Jay wasnt complaining lol.

Jay acts all unsure of himself most of the time, but Skybound and Prime Empire make it canon that he is a great leader! And an even greater ninja! Sure, compared to Cole he's not as strong. Compared to Nya his personality might not stick out. His power isn't focused on like it is with Kai and Zane...and he isn't the main character chosen one like Lloyd. But these small scenes in his focus seasons remind us that he still was chosen to protect people and is very gosh darn good at it!

I mean, look at him kick red visor butt without even an OUNCE of a complaint about being without powers. (WHILE LOOKING LIKE A SOPPING WET CAT THIS MAN) But yeah appreciate this fight scene please.

Anyways, Jay doesn't get enough credit as a ninja. We forget he was trained for longer than Kai, has one of the most dangerous and powerful elements, is the reason the team can handle intense situations without freaking out, is the master of not one--but TWO chained weapons (known to be one of the most difficult types to master!), and is the ENTIRE REASON THE BOUNTY FLIES??? without ever being acknowledged for any of these! Cut him some slack guys he's awesome. Prime Empire does him so so so dirty.

[sharksandjays]

I was watching the episode where Lloyd ages up and guys-

guys the ninja were devastated.

excuse the bad quality i cant screenshot netflix

Like. This is probably the only kids show that I have seen that teaches about how maturing too early can lead to severe mental health consequences. How missing out on your childhood is devastating.

But the fact that the ninja were more upset about it than Wu was…it must have hit especially hard to them since with their parental situations they probably had to grow up too early too. They didnt want their baby brother to have to go through what they did.

Brb while i cry.

[sharksandjays]

im emo

[sharksandjays]

Sorry for the long hiatus! Life, huh?

I don't have much time for art sO i offer to you an ANALYSIS/HEADCANON POST.

Sharkanalysis is ONCE AGAIN back.

Today we are talking about ....Skybound Jay. I know this has been a topic that has been going around a lot the past few months for some reason but im in constant brainrot about it. (This also delves into the other seasons too) But I'm mainly talking about how Jay's response to trauma changes after Skybound.

In Skybound this is VERY evident with how he completely hides what happened to him on the ship. Usually Jay would infodump about what he went through but he just keeps it to himself. He just tells Cole, when he is found, that he was forced to "clean a lot." And avoided talking about his eyepatch. And when he had to explain why he couldnt summon his dragon, again he said it was because he was "too tired." When in reality, we know he was tortured a LOT.

And if you think about it, even though Nya remembers Skybound she still doesnt know what happened on the ship. Canonically, we never see Jay explaining it to her.

He literally keeps it all to himself. Which is such an interesting coping mechanism since he's so known for "panicking" and 'hiding behind his team."

You can really see Nadakhan's effects on him. He goes from stupid panicking where he's screaming and running behind his team in the earlier seasons to full on mental breakdowns like in Hunted and Crystallized where he pretty much becomes so unstable he cant function normally. Where he either isolates himself or loses hope in life.

It's such an interesting character arc for him. I'd love to see his trauma delved into more.

[sharksandjays]

Ive been reading Splinter in the Blind Mans Eye and ok. First of all, Lloyd has some serious issues. But we all knew that. What I came here to talk about today is one of those specific issues that is highlighted in this book.

His responsibility as the Green Ninja.

Listen, Lloyd has been feeling the heavy mantle of being the Green Ninja since he wore the gi for the first time. Hes been feeling the pressure on his shoulders from the ripe age of 9 years old, according to the book.

And the Ninja have been doing everything in their power to hold that away from him, to share the burden, to block him feom the full weight that could crush him. Theyve been doing that since day one, not letting him go on missions and expressing how upset and unfair it was during Childs Play when Lloyds fate accelerated.

And in the later seasons, when Lloyd takes on the mantle of being leader, they do their best to share that burden. But each time he disagrees, reminds him hes a leader, and takes on the full weight of being what Fate wants him to be.

The interesting thing is in the Wildbrain seasons, when Lloyd seems to change his mind, and let them help. While he might be making overall decisions, he tends to let Cole and Kai take over the emotional responsibility of being the leader. He allows himself to be babied sometimes. He lets his brothers and sister carry the weight of the world every once in a while.

And in SitBME we see why.

Lloyd was pushed to the edge in the MotO trilogy. He was put through things that messed him up and he’s slowly coming to terms with that. He put so much weight on himself as the Green Ninja that it was so easy for Harumi to get into his head, promise peace and understanding, and abuse him through it. He realized that his family was his strength, and while in SoG he was pushing them away constantly to go his own path, he now realized that he needs them.

The Green Gi may be a symbol to many, may be a source of strength, of responsibility. But the wearer is only a child, put through things unimaginable, sacrificing his life so that others can have theirs. Its unfair, he was paying a price that he didnt even understand, as the book says.

Lloyd realized he deserved more, in a sad way.

In Wildbrain he’s healing. Slowly, but surely. He puts trust in others, lets himself be a kid—something his siblings GREATLY encourage. He is broken, in a way. He is less trusting, and as he said himself—angrier. MotO took a toll on him, Hunted took a toll on him. But he is trying his best to heal. He is realizing that he is more than his gi, that he is a baby brother, a son, a nephew, a child. His whole purpose in life might be to be the savior of the world, but why cant he do that while playing videogames with Kai? While rambling about Starfarer to Jay? While eating candy with Cole? While learning to cook with Zane? While running with Nya?

He has fun more. He leans into his family. He accepts their hands and their swords by his side instead of behind him.

And that, my guys, is character growth.

[sharksandjays]

This is a chart that me and @finn-m-corvex HEAVILY debated before we finalized. I seek the approval of the fandom but I really think this is true.

Also Jay is in the middle because we had NO idea where he could be because he is arguably all four of those so.

[sharksandjays]

how did we all not notice that Bentho's dad literally named him after what he was when he found him. 💀. He was just an organism at the bottom of a body of water wasn't he. Let's just never tell Bentho this please.

Like imagine if Jay was in the same situation.

"Why is my name BabyFoundOnDoorstep mom?" "Well honey-"