#this means like other than Skylor or any of the ninja

[legokingfisher]

“Neuuroo 😁 master of mind👀...! Versus. 👹BOLOBO.👹👹👹 masterof nnature!”

[illusion-of-sea-axes]

How would the other ninja + Master Wu react to see Kai as an Anacondrai?

(CW I drew some partially topless Kai in this. Also. This got way longer than I thought it would)

Well they don't really have a whole lotta time to process that initially. The first time everyone sees it is when Kai shows up on his elemental dragon with Skylor and then they immediately head off to Ninjago to stop Chen. There's time to talk on the dragon ride over the ocean and the brief stops at the underground HQ.

I feel like there'd be much more of a reaction to the Mark of the Anacondrai itself, because it amplifies Kai's betrayal. Him having it suggests he's turned not just to Chen's side, but also joined the Anacondrai cult as well. This would probably mean Nya and Garmadon don't automatically realize "oh he's playing a longer con" even after he winks at them in the snake pit. (It also means Sensei Garmadon sees another parallel with himself and Kai later on, in that they both took on the marks and then later turned on Chen)

I figure that Chen would relish in that and would actively have Kai show off the Mark. So, all the masters see Kai's mark when they interrupt the Ceremony. He has to explain himself to them very quickly after the Ceremony fight to avoid getting attacked (especially if any of them saw him going bonkers with Chen's Staff)

(I do think it'd be fun though if the guards at the factory gossiped about one of the Elemental Masters getting the Mark of the Anacondrai, though, so that the imprisoned masters are all suddenly worried that one of the few left in the fight have switched sides)

Jay would probably make a joke about Kai's new ink, Cole would point out how dangerous his plan was once he hears about it, and Zane would agree. Zane also ices the tattoo to help with the pain and swelling, even if its not as effective after, like, however long he's had it (timeline is iffy but it's not more than like three days I think).

(If you wanna keep the angst going, too, the fact that Kai essentially goes missing while searching for Skylor would probably bring up some doubts in the other masters, and maybe even his own team, about whether he could still be pulled onto Chen's side -especially with Skylor as a possible bargaining chip- at that point.)

Once Kai's been turned into an Anacondrai though, not a whole lot changes. Jay's initial reaction is also jokes because... what else are you supposed to say to your friend who has turned into a snake man? Cole is probably the one to prompt him to try and play with the invisibility ability cause That's a Cool Power, Dude. Generally looking on the upside with it. Zane's got a little bit of scientific interest in the whole transformation.

Lloyd just. Doesn't fully process it. He does promise Kai immediately though that they'll turn him back to normal (because its Lloyd. He feels responsible for his big brother being in this situation even though he shouldn't). He's genuinely relieved when they start turning back when the spell begins to wear off.

Kai does not like Lloyd putting responsibility on turning him back on himself, especially cause Kai betrayed and still definitely feels bad about it and the act he had to put on for it to work.

The Ninja all do pay close attention, though, because they're obviously worried about Kai's well being, but also... What if Kai likes being an Anacondrai (once he adjusts to fighting like one)? What if he wants to stay that way? What if Kai's turning to Chen's side wasn't entirely fake?

Kai sticks close to Skylor during their time as Anacondrai as much as possible because he's kinda freaked out by himself and doesn't want everyone to keep looking at him like.... well, like he's turned into a snake man.

Wu doesn't have any notable reaction to Garmadon as an Anacondrai, but I feel like he'd be very confused and a little freaked out on why one of his students is also one now. He gives Kai a very disapproving look when he learns how it happened because that was incredibly dangerous Kai. He doesn't really scold him though cause 1. Not the time. 2. Kai's plan worked. 3. No one knew that the mark would turn him into a snake.

Also, you didn't mention the folks at Kryptarium, but they almost definitely poke fun at Kai for being a snake now when they recognize him. Pythor finds it very funny that one of the Ninja is now a snake.

The worst reaction to Kai's Anacondrai form is definitely when they land in Ninjago City and people start freaking out because there are Serpentine on a Dragon made of Fire.

[thesinglesock]

Guys, not only is Skylor a playable character in the LEGO Ninjago Movie Videogame, she has the second most skills (just one less than the Golden Ninja), AND she is also the ONLY character besides Lloyd who is a Master Builder. Which is a LEGO Movie exclusive thing and the only reason Lloyd has it is because he got a cameo in the LEGO Movie. Skylor has not appeared in any LEGO movie, and yet they gave her this.

which imo feels like them confirming that she does exist somewhere in the LEGO Ninjago Movie universe. and MAN I'd love to see that.

I can imagine her being introduced as this New Orange Ninja that no one knows where came from, and she gets the main gang's attention by doing a bunch of vigilante justice stuff. She keeps slipping away before they get a chance to talk to her, so they all think she's super mysterious and cool (Except for maybe Lloyd who has trust issues and is very skeptical, which the others tease him about). The weirdest part? They apparently have ALL of the same powers they have. combined.

Around the same time, this new girl starts in the grade above them, and she has some classes together with Kai, who immediately takes a liking to her and starts inviting her to eat lunch with him and his friends. Which is a little clumsy considering they use lunchtime to discuss ninja stuff, but they're being really careful abour keeping their double lives a secret to her by a combination of whispering, speaking in pig latin, and kicking each other under the table when someone is about to let something confidential slip.

To us, the Audience, it is immediately obvious that Skylor, the new girl is the orange ninja, but by LEGO Ninjago Movie logic, no one can figure it out until she herself reveals it to Kai, who in turn lets her in on their secret, without talking to Lloyd first, and there's some slight drama before she gets to start training with them.

But oops!! She's been evil the whole time!! Except not really. She's just doing what her Evil Dad tells her to do, but honestly she's been feeling bad about it the whole time, so it only takes one 🥺"I'm not- I mean, we are not our evil dads"🥺 monologue from Lloyd to fully sway her away from the dark side and turn on Chen. And that's when she reveals that she has one power she kept secret from even him: Being a Master Builder.

also afterwards Lloyd invites her to the secret master builders' club, but that happens off screen and the only indication that it happens is that she gets a small cameo in the LEGO Movie 3. the end.

[nonbinarykai]

righhhhht and she was loyal!!! she loved her dad!! she loved him and he just (would have) let her die!!!!! and later in crystalized (i think the seasons kinda blur together lmao) she talks about wanting a family?? and??? that felt so loaded to me? its not just about wanting the stability (that kai cant give, but this is not about him. i have my own thoughts about the smith siblings and their commitment issues, but thats for later) but family? she just. is a family person. she was INTRODUCED as a family person, and i know ninjago probably sidelining her wasnt some intentional thought out desicion, but i like to headcanon it as her SPECIFICALLY not joining the ninja bc. theyre so obviously a family. and. she just needs to distance herself from that a bit, to find out whi she is outside of a group (*frantically writes a 15k character study following her throughout her journey into self discovery bc FUCK it makes me (someone who grew up in a cult) a bit insane)

and and. the tattoo?? like she was marked along with the rest of his followers, no different than a pawn, a mere minion. does she still have the tattoo?? that permanant physical reminder?? bc chen changed her, irrevocably. even after she turns back from becoming a LITERAL SNAKE AGAINST HER WILL (body horror angst, anyone?) she still has a mark.

i just. i want to give her more love and attention bc god holy shit. AND SHE COULD HAVE REALLY INTERESTING DYNAMICS WITH THE GROUP!!! IF PEOPLE JUST REMEMBERED HER!!!!!

she has to have formed some sort of bond with nya and lloyd after hunted. does she talk to him abt evil dads? i want to see her bond with zane over their love of cooking. does jay ever tell her abt her role in sky bound? they could talk abt their experiences turning into snakes lmao.

and her element is so interesting!!! literally absorbing others powers how cool is that?? what are the specifics? is there a time limit to how long she can use the power once she has it.

anyway this is getting too long but you get it. she needs to come back in dragons rising. she needs to bond with jordana over being ex-cult kids following her redemption, bc that girl is getting redeemed.

(i apologize for any typos i tried to be careful)

Can’t believe you didn’t mention how Cole’s fav restaurant is canonically Chen’s noodles which means he probably has ended up seeing skylor a lot and it’s possible they became friends.

Anyways I agree. I feel like it makes sense that even though skylor was abused she still loved her father. Thats unfortunately why a lot of abused kids stay with there parents to try to make it work. But I also wish skylor had more agency in choosing to go against her father other than “boy told me to”.

Speaking of which I do wish we saw more of skylors social life outside of whatever *he* shows us. It genuinely makes alot of sense for skylor to have some connection to the other ninja in some way. The only indicator of ppl she hangs out with is chamillie and that’s it. I want to see her have a group of friends that are completely detached from the ninja. Like regulars at her restaurant.

[abcwordsurge]

hi bee my buddy bee! can you kinassign ninjago characters to some wttt characters? like which character is like who. i havent watched ninjago since i was a little kid,, so i cant remember much but id love you to tell me about it :^]

the absolute delight I felt when I saw this ask was incredible. I had a long car drive this afternoon (well, as of the time of posting, yesterday) and thinking about this ask was the perfect way to spend it. of course, now it's time to write down all those thoughts. this is going to get LONG. (if you want to hear about ninjago, then, heh, you came to the right place.) I'll put it all under a cut. first, though, you are absolutely wonderful and thank you so much for this ask :]

gonna go in order of when I thought of them. which means, first up is my favorite ninja!

--

Nya - Rhode Island

the most obvious reason for this connection is the mutual hot headedness. they are both so quick to anger, and both tend to hold grudges for far longer than is normal.

but it's more than that. both of them feel an urge to compensate for what they perceive as a disadvantage. for Rhodey, of course, it's his height. (he is, as always, very self conscious about his height.) for Nya, it's her gender. I mean, she spent four seasons being excluded from the other ninja for her gender, and for plenty of the other seasons, she was still pushed to the sidelines. of course she has a little bit of internalized misogyny. (side note- I do think that's why she seems so determined to not enjoy traditionally "feminine" things. because she thinks it makes her weak. I'd actually love to write a fic where she goes on a girl's day out with Pixal and Skylor and learns to respect feminity and start dealing with her internalized misogyny. but anyway.)

last thing for this duo: Nya is, of course, the master of water, and Rhodey is the ocean state. it's just perfect

--

Kai - Ohio

the best description I've ever seen of Kai was something along the lines of "he's not hot headed so much as he is reckless and in a bit of a rush." Ohio is much the same. he's called the Florida of the midwest, but he can't quite reach the levels of chaos that Florida sets. he's just... reckless and in a bit of a rush.

beyond that, both of them are definitely comic relief sorts of characters. both are goofy and a little airheaded, and both are pretty intense in a very amusing way. still, both are very friendly and like to be around people (even if they tend to be somewhat overbearing, and tease people more than they might like)

and I would be remiss not to mention their mutual pyromania. that's half the reason I thought of them as a duo so quickly.

--

Cole - Loui

this one's pretty straightforward. they're both very relaxed and down to earth (cough cough master of earth cough). they're both loyal to a fault. although reasonable on their own, if they have the right partner, they can be quite chaotic. for Loui, that partner would be, of course, Florida. for Cole, it could really be any of the other ninja in the right circumstances- but the first to come to mind is Jay. (or maybe Kai. it depends.)

they also both love food. for Loui, this manifests more as making and sharing food. for Cole, it's more so... eating food. (he has tried, countless times, to cook for his friends, but it never goes well. Zane has all but banned him from the kitchen.)

--

Faith - New York

interestingly enough, this is the only pair on this list where I thought of the state first, then came up with a connecting ninjago character. now, Faith is a very minor character, so just so you know, she's a dragon hunter in season nine.

she and York both have massive anger issues, and tend to take them out physically (either by yelling / making general sounds of annoyance, or by kicking things around). they're both quite gruff, pretty no nonsense, don't take crap, etc. neither of them are very friendly, but they're competent, and useful to have around. good people at heart, but it takes a while to get to that heart.

--

Harumi - Nevada

this started as "they're both attractive and they know it." both absolutely have the potential to be villains. it's realized for Harumi, but for Nevada it's more of a theoretical "what if they got bitter at their unfair treatment and to 'fix' things they burned down the entire nation." they're both good actors, and good liars.

the biggest reason I kinassigned them, though, is because in the end, they'd both follow orders. for Harumi, this happens in season fifteen. she always seems to end up in a spot where her freedom is dependent upon doing what's told of her. as for Nevada, well. we've seen it in their joining the table video. they literally have to do what Gov says.

--

Jay - Cali

both of them will talk your ear off if given the chance. I feel like both tend to feel like outsiders, both are desperate to be liked and feel like part of the team, and both are kinda losers (/aff).

Jay is very quick to share what he's feeling, and his attitude is very much "if I think it, you hear it." Cali is this way too, in a sense, though usually it's more facts and correcting other people for Cali. but the main point is that they're both certified yappers.

--

Pixal - Iowa

I absolutely love both of these characters, and both of them are very underrated. they both tend to blur into the background, and they're far too easy to ignore. (which makes sense for Iowa, since there are fifth states and Ben can't exactly give all of them all of his attention, but Pixal? come on, ninjago writers, you can at least pretend to care about her existence.)

however, when they do show up, both of them are genuinely very nice, both are dedicated and detail-oriented, and if given the chance, both can be quite sassy. ("every part of me is annoyed!" is a Pixal line that lives in my head rent free. I love her.)

--

Wyldfyre - Massachusetts

when I started this list, I told myself, "no dragons rising characters," in a useless attempt to not be writing till the sun goes down. but come on. this is just too perfect. both of them are energetic and kinda rude and very impatient, both of them are loud and obnoxious at times (/aff), and both of them are far too eager to start a war.

the real thing though? both of them care so, so much about their family. for Mass, that's the northeast (especially Maine and New York come to mind- "no one gets to kill you but me" is an iconic protective Mass quote). for Wyldfyre, that's Kai and Heatwave. (side note- Kai and Wyldfyre are The duo ever, they're so cute together. if you don't know who they are, I want to be clear, it's like a father daughter dynamic ((Wyldfyre is WAY younger than Kai)), and it's hilarious.)

--

Skylor - Arizona

both are hot, though with Arizona it's temperature, and with Skylor it's, well, look at her. also don't tell me Ari wouldn't have hair just like Skylor's. he would love that long red ponytail look.

also, both are very dangerous. Arizona has his rough terrain and all the animals and cacti that want to kill you, and Skylor has super op powers (they had to change the conditions of her powers in the later seasons because otherwise there wouldn't be any drama- Skylor would just win the war all by herself). however, despite what they could do to either hurt or help people, I think if given the chance, both would be totally chill and, I dunno, run a noodle shop for the rest of their life. and y'know what? love that for them.

--

Zane - Alaska

ok, last one, finally. I at first saw the connection between these two that they are both very cold. they're both quite reasonable and intelligent, not to mention large and basically indestructible. (has anyone counted how many times Zane has died so far? seven, maybe? and he's still kicking!)

in a bit deeper sense, though, they're both outsiders. for Alaska, this is, of course, due to geography. for Zane, it's because he's a nindroid, and despite his best efforts, he doesn't quite understand what it's like to be human. they are different in that Alaska tries to avoid the others and Zane tries to understand and be a part of the others, but nonetheless.

--

alright! this is far, far from a comprehensive list. I didn't do all of the characters- hell, I didn't even do all of the main characters. but that is all of the strong connections I can make between characters, and besides, I think this post is long enough haha. this was so fun to answer, thank you so much for asking this, you are incredible <3 /p

[bibliophilesince2003]

Ninjago... Dead or Not Dead?

I'm here to discuss whether "new" Ninjago is better than "old" Ninjago, or vice versa. I see so many opinions float around, and some comments people make are extremely harsh or confusing. For my own claims, don't worry, I'll back them up with evidence and genuine consideration.

I would like to start by saying that I started watching Ninjago when it first came out in 2011. I was around 8 years old at the time. My younger siblings soon became invested in the show, and we watched it together. There are seven seasons total that I would consider "old" Ninjago that aired from 2011-2017. About a year later, what I would call "new" Ninjago aired with seasons 8-15. Dragons Rising is the current Ninjago show.

I have almost finished Dragons Rising. So, yes, I am aware of all the little details and therefore ready to provide my own thoughts. I am an old Ninjago fan at heart and grew up with the show, but if I'm to have an opinion about what's new I might as well know what I'm talking about.

New Ninjago fans say that old Ninjago fans are "blinded by nostalgia" and old Ninjago fans say that new Ninjago fans don't understand the point of the show.

Ok, first of all, is "old" Ninjago perfect? No, of course not. The fight scenes are extremely slow at times. The animation? Less detailed. As a kid, I didn't really care. As an adult, sure, it's painful to watch. However, animation is such a small part of any show, and there is more to life than things that are aesthetically pleasing, especially when it comes to criticism. On a deeper, plot-centered level, "old" Ninjago surpasses "new" Ninjago. You cannot watch "old" Ninjago and tell me that the plots aren't creative and exciting, with a good balance of humor, brotherhood, and pain. "New" Ninjago, for the most part, was pretty decent and added depth to the characters. I liked Lloyd's new voice actor. Some aspects of "new" Ninjago irked me, like Kai's lack of emotion when Nya quite literally became one with the ocean, Kai losing his powers yet again and wallowing in self-pity, or Cole becoming more and more of an insignificant character with few lines, save season 13.

The biggest thing, though, was lack of creativity and a shift in character development that is unneeded or backwards. Characters can develop, sure, but they shouldn't be an entirely new personality without cause. The ninja were extremely weak or extremely overpowered. In reality, they should remember most of what they've learned and continue to grow.

Dragons Rising is - pardon my aggression - a piece of crap. Now, I think it had promise in the beginning, and I was excited with the introduction of new characters.

Arin and Sora have distinct personalities and interesting backgrounds. It went downhill pretty quickly. I dislike Wyldfyre with a passion. A Kai and Skylor alliance would have been better. Not only does Wyldfyre act like she's consumed ten energy drinks, but she's wrecked Kai's personality. Their banter is humorous and realistic, but shouldn't Kai know how to handle an impulsive person? Lloyd was practically their little brother in "old" Ninjago. Kai was impulsive and confident in his own actions, perhaps even a little "mean" to Lloyd when Lloyd needed a serious wake up call, but he never purposefully put Lloyd in danger. He was willing to take the hit in a lot of situations. Now, we see him running away screaming his head off while Wyldfyre is throwing hands. Kai... you've faced worse than a giant rock monster, buddy. The humor in Dragons Rising makes me want to tear my hair out sometimes. I get it's a kid show, but they could do better. "Old" Ninjago had some pretty grim details, but there was always a ray of hope or humor that just made sense in the moment. Mainly, the ninja being true brothers and absolutely roasting each other. In comparison, the humor in Dragons Rising is forced and cliche.

"Why would you touch the scary painting, Jay?"

"I didn't know it would do that, Cole!"

Compared to...

"I guarantee the sewers won't have any security."

*cut to them being chased*

"I was wrong!"

I'm not saying that "old" Ninjago doesn't come with its own share of cliche humor, I'm just saying that it's significantly less compared to Dragons Rising. It's also sprinkled, not dumped.

So, Arin and Sora get the spotlight, and the ninja seem to weaken more and more every day.

If you're a new Ninjago fan, I can see why Dragons Rising wouldn't bother you, though I would question your sanity if you found the cliche humor even remotely funny every single time. But the ninja aren't themselves. "Old" Ninjago gave us characters with exaggerated personalities for a reason, and "new" Ninjago provided some interesting plots with improved animation. "New" Ninjago is where it should have ended, and Dragons Rising can rot for all I care. The more I see Dragons Rising ignore or discount previous lore, the less I want to give it a chance.

[askthatoneanacondraikaiguy]

So I know Nya would start beating people up if they talk crap about Anacondkai, but what does Kai do?

What do the other ninja do?

Early on, the ninja definitely are very protective of Kai (and Skylor, when they're around her) from people who are mean to Serpentine.

As time goes on and more people become attached to their Red Ninja again, the people who are overtly awful to him are outnumbered and usually the crowd will turn on them or shut them down. If someone were to loudly call Kai names in the street, they would be ripped apart by the bystanders.

But Kai's earlier reactions tend to be, just... Nothing. He doesn't know how he's supposed to react, because he's got his own feelings to deal with about being an Anacondrai, and he's a ninja. He is caught between being offended on his own behalf, confused, and in a sort of self-deprecating agreement.

It always feels like it comes out of nowhere to Kai, at least until it becomes normal enough he starts expecting it (which is unfortunate for him). I don't know how to explain it, but it's like when I was a kid and someone yelled "You throw like a girl!" during dodgeball and I was just baffled because I was a girl at the time (and yet I was still insulted).

Jay usually will insult the shit-talker back. No holds barred, he can be mean and he will be mean. It doesn't really help Kai but it usually gets the asshole to go away or turn his attention elsewhere.

Nya usually gives one opportunity for the person to step back ("what'd you just say?") before threatening to beat them up, because she can and she will. Out of all of them, she's the most likely to throw hands about people talking bad about Kai.

Cole will usually purposefully get closer to Kai and wrap an arm around him or put a hand on his shoulder, to make it very clear that Kai is still part of the team, and if you insult one part of the team, you are insulting the rest of the team. This may also include him loudly complimenting Kai's fighting skills or how he handled himself in a fight to drown out the asshole in the corner. Cole is the second tallest of the team and he can be very physically imposing when he wants to be (especially when he's wearing his ninja uniform and you can only really see his eyes)

Zane doesn't ever get physical. He'll either express confusion towards the person talking shit (even if he's fully aware what they meant), ask them to leave, or he'll just ignore them and follow Cole's lead by getting close to Kai and discreetly reminding him that the rest of the team is here for him. He'll also usually try to guide them towards the exit, whether that be a vehicle or an alleyway, so that they get away from the asshole sooner rather than later.

Pixal doesn't necessarily like Kai that much but she's also usually offended on Kai's behalf because insulting Kai and insinuating he's a lesser Ninja or of worse character because he's an Anacondrai makes no real sense to her. Especially as more time goes on and Kai clearly shows himself to be capable and just as heroic.

When she's Samurai X, she probably kicks at least person for being rude about Kai near her.

(Though thinking about Samurai X, Nya assuming Skylor is now Samurai X is extra funny because in order for that to happen, Skylor would have to be using the Element of Form to make herself bipedal again)

Once Kai's been widely embraced by the people of Ninjago as the Anacondrai Ninja and he's more comfortable as himself, he starts reacting more openly to insults and such. Either by brushing them off "i'd like to see you save Ninjago without any legs" or "Wanna bet?" when anyone insinuates he's a bad ninja or bad person because he's an Anacondrai. After enough time, he might even mention the fact the Serpentine actually helped the citizens of New Ninjago City when the Overlord attacked by bringing them down underground.

[mislamicpearl]

Random thoughts about Ninjago DR S2 part 2 (first three episodes)

SPOILERS

THE ADMINISTRATION! AGENT WALKER MENTION! Ugh, but if only Arin and Sora had mentioned him in front of the others!

The two of them acted more like actual ninjas in that first minute sneaking around than I think any of the OG ninja have done in 17 seasons lol.

For some reason that "dispel the vapor!" joke made me laugh hard.

Lloyd in the opening using rising dragon technique instead of Kai is both cool and sad at the same time🥲

Not really digging Wyldfyre's new hair style.

Kinda weird how Cole is nowhere to be seen in the first episode and only Zane is shown to have been training with the dragon masters.

Also his kids completely disappeared?? They weren't with Geo either, where'd they go???

Aww Lloyd... just, Lloyd. I love you baby boy.

Nya was going full aunt on Wyldfyre and I'm HERE for it!

KAI SIGHTING!!! Yes I am going to freak out every time they show Kai. Also have he and Bonzle eaten anything since they were sent to the back rooms?? How long has it been anyway?

Tournament of elements and Chen mentioned!

I completely forgot that Geo was an EM, because his power is really stupid...

Also did he just decide to go back and live in the realm of lost things or whatever it's called...?

Woah woah WAIT was that Ninjago City? It still exists??? And it looks normal? Is that where all the missing side characters are???

Hmm, so, Roby... not a fan of this character so far. I mean he's funny but I'm really not big on the whole influencer personality he has going on. At least he doesn't seem to be a jerk (except to his uncle lol)

Oh and he's gonna be the boyfriend/love interest of Wyldfyre the writers talked about huh? (Way to make that obvious.) That's... odd. Too early to judge the ship of course but it's a little strange to see Wyfy swooning over this type of guy (much less that she would swoon over anyone really).

NEW Master of Shade??? WHAT! What about, you know, Shade? He was cool! He was part of the resistance! Lego stop replacing the old characters for no reason!!

And of all the EM's to keep and bring back, you kept invisible man guy? Um excuse me, what about Karloff and Neuro? IF YOU REPLACE THEM I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!

Speaking of, where the FRICK is Skylor???? Like if you don't want her on the show (YET) at least give her a mention or something?? Or explain why she's not there? Seriously, wouldn't the ninja at least wonder if they might run into her?

Or JAY FOR THAT MATTER??? Ugh it bugs me so much that aside from Nya asking Lloyd about Jay in season 1, none of the OG ninja ever ask or wonder about the ones who were missing, or ever make it an objective of theirs to find each other.

Roby: the winner gets to take the loser's powers.

Ninja: What if the winner is evil?

Roby: Nah I have the cup and can take back the powers any time, and you can totally trust me bro.

Seems kinda sus.

Oh, Beatrix's twin sister showed up, that's neat and unexpected! (I forgot she had an elemental power tbh.) Already like her way more than Beatrix.

The Merge apparently: You get an elemental power, you get an elemental power, everyone gets an elemental power!

Seriously, these elemental powers are really becoming like quirks or devil fruits now (@ MHA and One Piece fans). I wonder if Arin's "quake" friend will have any significance moving forward.

Him fanboying over Cole and Nya was cute though.

I know nothing has really happened yet, but SHEESH Cole and Zane feel like they're just THERE. These characters used to have more of a presence even when they didn't have something to do. Honestly I think the cast has just gotten too big for the writers to know what to do with, which is why they keep putting at least one or two of them (usually Zane *grumbles*) in timeout.

Dang, what's happening with Jordana is messed up.

Ngl I'm glad snail guy got kicked out, was never a fan of him.

Definitely intrigued by weird horned geckle hybrid guy (didn't catch his species name).

'"There is an imposter among us!"

JAAAAAAAY WE GOT A JAY SIGHTING LET'S GOOOOO!

[serenthest4r]

I love that the RGB siblings + Cole have kids now (Lloyd and Arin, Kai and Wildfyre, Nya and Sora, Cole and Fritz, Spitz, Bonzel) but I desperately need the others to adopt a lonely child.

I've decided (because i couldn't stop thinking about it)

Jay - He's got really attached to this one kid (a 9 yr old merlopian girl named Neptune) who's constantly running around the administration, she causes so much destruction and annoyance and he seems to be the only one that likes her. He can't figure out why but he feels deeply connected to her and has kind of stepped in as her father figure. (he subconsciously feels drawn to her as she reminds him of Lloyd before he was aged up) Also she's the elemental master of illusion which is how she causes so much havoc around the administration :)

Zane/Pixal - When they find Pixal she's picked up a set of twin sisters, Keira (elemental master of light, meaning she can make light) and Lucia (elemental master of darkness, meaning she can take light) they're from the realm of madness and hate each other with a burning passion. This is mostly because they see giving as a weakness and taking as a strength so Keira envies Lucia and Lucia thinks she's better than Keira. The only reason Pixal has brought them with her is so they don't get into a massive fight and almost kill each other.

Skylor - A serpentine boy she's named Kia follows her everywhere, she thinks he's around 5 but she can't be sure as he's mute and no one seems to know sign language. He's happy to help out as long as Skylor buys him drawing supplies and at this point they've become family.

Vania - She takes in any people in need and has a group of kids who call themselves the 'sky ninja' they're mostly from Ninjago with the exception of a boy from cloud city. Everyone in this group has a role as one of the ninja and their friends and Vania was honored to find out she was included.

Ed and Edna - It's basically kidnapping at this point but Jay must have at least 100 siblings now.

[snazzilystoopid]

The Ninja ft. Their musical preferences/hcs

Here are my hcs on what type of music each ninja prefers, plus a few extra bits!!

Enjoy hehe

Kai

You'll never find someone who loves rap more than him

His favourite song is Candy Shop and he uses its audio to all the thirst traps he makes 😭

(Yes I hc that he makes thirst traps)

He had a phase where he listened to Pass Out by Tinie Tempah on repeat

He got so embarrassed because he got caught singing along to the Boy's a Liar pt 2

Jay didn't let him live it down for like a week

Other than rap he likes the songs I Love You Hoe, Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Cole introduced those songs to him

He definitely uses the rose gold Beats headphones

Skylor borrows them all the time

Jay

Kpop. Just Kpop.

He legit forced Nya to go out to get the BTS meal with him

Lit by Oneus used to be his favourite song, now it's The Feels by Twice

He HATES Stray Kids

He stans BTS, Twice, Dreamcatcher and NCT

If not Kpop, then The Weekend

Stargirl Interlude>>

Him and Cole woke everybody up singing this song at the top of their lungs at like 2AM

He sings into Nya's hairbrush

When he's feeling extra romantic and confident he'll sing "I just wanna see you shine, because I know you are a stargirl" to Nya

He sounds terrible but she loves it

He owns a bunch of lightsticks

A proud photocards collector

Bash any if his favourite artists on twitter/chirp and he won't hold back. Trust me.

When The Feels was first released he cried like a baby because that day they had a mission and he couldn't find his airpods

The poor boy was so upset he couldn't listen to it but Cole offered his headphones to him

He broke them and Cole nearly smashed his face in but dw Zane fixed it because he's wonderful

Zane

Zane loves classical music, he taught himself to play the violin and he plays it for Pixal in their free time

Classical is his favourite genre, but he's an all-rounder

He doesn't listen to music much so he just has one playlist with a bunch of completely different songs

Loves a bit of Florence + The Machine

Pixal introduced her songs to him

He has so many favourites in the classical genre but outside of it his favourite song is probably Spectrum by Florence + The Machine

He and Pixal dance to the song 2002

It's her favourite song and whenever they go on dates Zane makes sure to play it when they're driving back home afterwards

Cole

He's probably going deaf bc his headphones are on like 24/7 (I also forgot to mention he's a DJ in my Cole hcs)

His headphones are personalised

Evolved from a nightcore kid to a slowed + reverb teen/young adult

The others sometimes spy on him while he's singing to the music when he's alone, because he'll never sing in front of anyone and his voice is angelic

His favourite songs are #brooklynbloodpop and Am I Dreaming (from atsv), but dw he's got WAY more favourites

Fluxxwave, CRYSTALS, Luxxid Diamondz, Kurxxed Emeraldz, yeah those type of songs but slowed + reverb

He loves some soft rock aswell

Slowed songs bring out his romantic side, you'll definitely find him sitting by a window while he's blasting the slowed version of What Do You Mean into his ears

Or you'll come across him laying on his bed with his eyes closed, you can hear the slowed Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift from his headpones even though you're literally at the door

Thats how loud it is

AC/DC>>>> HE LOVES THIS BAND SM HE COULD TALK ABT IT FOR HOURS

He owns a bunch of their merch as well

Nya

SZA FOR LIFEEEE

All The Stars and Good Days>>>>

You can hear SZA songs coming from her room all the time and everyone gets sick of it

Obsessed with Rihanna songs as well

OH NA NA WHATS MY NAMEEE

ahem anyways

She loves it when Jay sings to her even though he sounds like a dying cat

MARINA. SHE LOVES MARINA.

The family jewels, How to be a heartbreaker, Hermit the frog, she could go on and on

Also PinkPantheress>>

It's rare, but she sings along to her songs sometimes and her voice is actually beautiful

Lloyd

ONE OF THE BIGGEST SWIFTIES IN ALL OF NINJAGO

Like 75% of his main playlist is just Taylor Swift

Molly (forgotten remix) is his favourite song

He loves going out on drives late at night while blasting this song out of the speakers

He's almost as bad as Cole, he plugs in his ears with his earphones literally all the time but doesn't play music that loud

Style by Taylor Swift>>>>

Argues with Cole about whether it should be"He looks so pretty like the devil" or "He looks up grinning like a devil" from Cruel Summer

He thinks it's the first one

He also loves Middle by DJ Snake

He used to listen to Galantis a lot but Kai bullied him for it

(Little does he know Kai used to sing Runaway (U and I) in the shower almost everyday)

That is all! So sorry that these are all so random 😭

Their music tastes are really messy and chaotic just like them hehe

I hope yall enjoyed this though 🤭

[the-ninjago-historian]

Hey! So, a post you reblogged a bit back inspired me to consider making my own fan season and for some reason decided the first step was the intro. And in between messing with that, I was thinking about into the deep, of course, so I was wondering if you had an idea for what its intro would be like/had plans for it, since you talked about animating it a few times. Would it be like the older seasons, a scene for each character next to their name, or more like the newer seasons, panning through the area with shots from the season overlaying various points? If it’s the former, would you stick to just the ninja and Wu or are other characters (*Cough* Vainia *Cough* Skylor *Cough*) now a main enough part of the cast to get a scene? If it’s the latter, what events/locations/characters would you have it tease?

OH MY GOODNESS. HI!!!🤩 This is such a great ask to wake up to! Also, I INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE YOU'RE OWN FANSEASON?!?! I can't believe it. Hehehehe! That's awesome! I'm so happy that I could do that for you! I'm not sure what post it was though. Lol.

Now, your question! The thing is, actually animating it is VERY far in the future. Since I simply don't have the means or skills for it. So, I haven't really given much thought. EXCEPT for the intro! I did a imagine a few scenarios. While it's hard to write down on paper, I'll try to explain some of the basics! First off, yes it would be the like the older seasons. With each character's name popping up next to them. And this would include Wu and Vania! In addition, as their names are shown, the Ninja's corresponding Elemental Beast mentor would also appear behind them. (Either as a silhouette or in full view.) Also, the intro would start on the Deep Lands, then up to the surface world. But describing what it would show on the surface gives away a few too many spoilers than what I'm comfortable showing. So I'll just say it shows Vangelis and his army. And I really can't say what events I would tease, since I don't want to spoil anything with that either. But yeah! That's about it!

Also on a side note, you don't have to come up with the intro first! Especially if you not going to be animating it for a long time. My best advice would be just to figure out what the season is about and then just write out any scenes in your head. That's what works best for me anyway. If you need help writing it, my inbox and dms are always open! I've helped people with their personal writing before, so I'm sure I could help you out if needed!

Thanks for the ask! And good luck! - ✒️🐉

[screamsindepression]

Okay! So them my beloveds!

Dareth:

• I'd have him run the dojo still HOWEVER I'd make it more of a wrestling (or kick boxing) type dojo I feel like Dareth and his body type would be good for it?

• He'd take more of a fun older brother role for the gang helping them with their struggles

• Like when the whole Nya Jay fights happen (but healthy) Dareth helps them both understand where the other is coming drom

• And his NOT sexists in any way! His our loveable big brother

Ronin:

• okay so hear me out he takes Kai AND Nya under his wing only bc I liked Nya & Ronin's whole thing (until someone ruined it!) and I feel like Ronin can help Kai as well

• Ronin would still be a thief but he doesn't back stab the ninjas at all (he does with Wu tho) his got a soft spot for kids

• Ronin is like a mix of a fun/strict older brother for the gang he helps them find out things ta help but if it's ta dangerous he'll put them in a time out box for no danger bs

• Ronin gets a way better redemption (look I remembered now!) arc where he saves Nya from becoming one with the sea

Toxica:

• I'd give her some more lines firstly and flesh out her character more

• She'd be more protective over the girls on the island keeping an eye on them

• She'll also take Nya (and later Skylor) under her wing so they can have a cool gal as a teacher/role model

• Toxica also gets a gf in Camille and is a SIMP

Camille:

• Oh her powers would definitely be explored more! She'd however take Garmadon under her wing there

• She'd be able ta help him with getting used ta the change in his body again and they'd become quick friends

• Camille is like a fun big sister who'd kick yer ass for being a useless gay

• She'd also be useful if the whole evil Chen & Clouse thing still happens given she can change forms

Shade:

• He definitely doesn't hit on Nya! None of that here....he does however hit on Garmadon (I think it'd be funny-)

• Shade's powers come in handy ta get information on what's happening around the island

• Also he can hide in others shadows bc well yes

• his a pretty cool guy overall and helps the gang out

Neuro:

• Now he was tricky I liked how he was in canon HOWEVER one thing I'd do is make him the gangs therapist

• Neuro's power is also used ta get any missing information bout the tournament and island

• I also allow him ta melt brains if need be

• And,,,,he/they Neuro supremacy

Mr. Pale:

• NOW HEAR ME OUT HERE making him Shade's twin

• He takes Jay under his wing surprisingly and helps Jay figure out more bout himself

• Pale is more of a healer than fighter in my opinion

• I give him a gun tho

Karlof:

• Bear I mean um! He takes Cole under his wing becoming like an older brother/uncle figure

• Their elements are so similar yet different so they'd work well together

• Karlof doesn't do the whole coat thing like in canon his just vibing peacefully bc leave that man alone

• Anywho! Karlof would have probably (in my opinion) lived in a snowy cold area before the tournament happens

Jacob:

• Make him blind look idk why but it's interesting with his element

• Again! His powers would be useful ta help get information

• Jacob ends up befriending Garmadon as well the two are a nice duo

• Jacob also smokes don't ask me why

Griffin:

• Okay him and Lloyd are a duo the chaos they'd bring? Beautiful

• Anywho Griffin surprisingly is a librarian in my thoughts

• So him Neuro and Zane would bond over that

• But he ends up teaching Kai and Lloyd anything they missed out on for school on the sides

Gravis:

• His pretty tricky however! He and Zane are a duo they'd be interesting ta see

• Gravis is pretty chill has some anxiety but overall keeps a level head

• Still he'd be the first ta ask why the fuck are there "kids" here at a tournament ta go against adult's not that he thinks the ninjas can't fight just doesn't enjoy the idea of them having ta fight more adults

• Gravis does befriend Zane once Gravis loses and helps start getting Zane back

Bolobo:

• Now this might seem wild but him and Kai as a duo

• Bolobo is Jacob's weed supplier tho he grows it himself

• He and Ash are somewhat childhood friends let the adults have friends from child hood and all that

• Bolobo is kinda laid back and can get some information bout the island through the plants

Ash:

• Ash idk why but he'd have worked as a bartender before the tournament

• He 💯 knows Kai from after Zane dies and Kai spiraled

• Ash doesn't really say anything bout it but keeps an eye on Kai and the others

• Also he 💯 blows ash in someone's eyes it's happening one way or another

Okay so I didn't expect my lil rant ta get so much views so! Here I am with some mini ideas on a remake of the OG show! And the movie just a bit:

• even amount of seasons ta explore everyone's flaws and arcs

• I thought bout it and the movie itself while interesting I'm thinking of instead Lloyd having lived with Nya & Kai (totally not ta get him a better childhood never....it is)

• Nya would still be kidnapped but for an actual purpose given she knows where Lloyd is so it's not just um yeah we making shit up as we go

• I'm debating with Wu but I'd keep him the way he is for the most part

• He'd be better in canon but his got so many problems he doesn't know how ta tell his students things

• Wu still tries ta help and actually helps them learn things while still being kids

• Morro would've still died but Wu learned from his mistakes

• Morro still would be a bad guy but his problem with Lloyd wouldn't happen instead his anger is all directed at Wu

• After that Wu would actually get the therapy and help he needs ta get

• Morro would get his good character (totally remember how ta spell the actual word-) arc and help Cole out

• And Lloyd DOESN'T fight Garmadon simply because his not the great evil and Lloyd's a kid

• Also the whole aging him up thing? Never happens

[wolfiegirlxox]

Ninjago Role Swap AU!

This started as an AI!Jay AU that popped into my head while I was trying to go to sleep that quickly spiraled into a swap AU that made me me lay awake for an hour thinking as much through as I could.

My swaps are:

Morro/Lloyd

Skylor/Kai (This one is so unoriginal but Kai is *super* hard to swap)

Benthomaar/Nya (Less of a swap on Nya's end)

Unagami/Jay

Pixal/Zane

Vania/Cole

And, finally Wu/Garmadon

A lil' description of what's up with each character in my ninja lineup, I'll make a separate post for the others.

Morro is the sassy little 13-and-a-half-year-old (he won't let you forget the half, it's very important) adoptive son of Wu. The ninja were initially suspicious of him, given his father, but quickly grew to love him. When he found out he was the green ninja, destined to defeat his dad, he was far from excited but found there were other aspects of being the green ninja he quite enjoyed.

Skylor has spent a large part of her teenage years helping around her dad's noodle shop. She quite enjoys cooking, learning the family recipes, and making the best food she can. When Garmadon offered to train her in her late mother's fire she was hesitant, as much as she wanted to learn her element she wanted to stay and help at the shop. But with some words of encouragement from her dad (Chen is a good dad here and I love it) she decides to go.

Bentho's adoptive family doesn't really like surface dwellers that much, some more fiercely than others, but Bentho has always been fascinated by the surface and longs to go there one day. When he find's out Kalamaar's plan to destroy the surface he knows he has to do something. After a failed attempt to stop him Bentho is visited by a strange surface dweller who says she can give him the power to protect, which he quickly accepts. He doesn't realize what that means until he meets the ninja.

Unagami was adopted Milton Dyer at a young age, the man had always wanted a son but wasn't very interested in romance, so he decided to adopt instead. When Garmadon offered him a role as a ninja he consulted his dad first and eventually decided to join. He was pretty nervous at first as he had never been away from home for so long but thanks to the other ninja's kindness he was able to adjust and the monastery became a second home to him.

Pixal was originally created but Cyrus Borg as an assistant when he started inventing new things to use for his dream of starting a company. After a while he realized that, while amazing, many of his advancements could easily be quite destructive if they got into the wrong hands. So, he got an average, unassuming apartment in Ninjago City and live a normal life with Pixal as his daughter. He did his best to teach Pixal the ways of humans and to value and protect life as best she can. When Garmadon invited her to join his ninja team Pixal was eager for the opportunity to protect both her dad and the rest of the world and easily accepted.

Vania always loved reading any adventure book she could get her hands on, filling her head with dreams of being the valiant hero, dreams that are finally coming true. Vania was as surprised as anyone to find that she was the master of earth but was equally excited to learn how to wield it. The other ninja sometimes find her excitement annoying but eventually find just how endearing it can be.

...So those wound up being much longer than I intended but there is so much information stored up in my noggin, please ask me questions I want to share more.

[ninblahgo]

Hey so curious question, what do you think the EMS reaction to being injured would be?

Hmm.. I'm going to imagine their reactions to accidentally breaking their own leg. (Maybe they tripped or smth)

I'm also going to assume you mean all the other EMs that were at the Tournament of Elements?

Imma ALSOO include the Ninja just because.

Kai:

Probably slipped or failed some epIC NINJA MOVes

Tries to deal with it himself

Actually makes a temporary cast (abandoned child stufdg)

Looks for Zane

Limping obviously

Nya:

She'd just immediately have help by her side. ... probably Kai and/or Jay

But if not, she is a strong woman and shall try to deal with it herself until she can get proper help

Qween

Is that how it goes?

I don't understand society

Cole:

"oW OW Ow ow ow‐"

"Zane? ZAAAAANNE!"

Very displeased with himself

Hopping around on his good leg while trying to find Zane

Jay:

"OOOWWWWW!!"

.....

"AW MAN‐"

More annoyed than anything

*Aggressive limping*

Eventual unending boredom (bc he can't go on missions like that)

Bored bored bored

Zane:

Either repairs himself or someone else repairs him

I don't think he feels pain? Not sure though, maybe he feels a tiny pinch of It?

Lloyd:

Will say "Ow!" Whenever he feels pain

Slowly limping his way around

*sighs loudly in annoyance once his leg is in a cast*

Obviously will have to stay away from danger for a while, so boredom. Very very boredom (it doesn't make sense, I know, I did that on purpose :)))

Skylor:

I can't imagine her breaking her leg-

She'd probably be reasonable and somehow succeed in not making it worse before she can get any proper help

Also she's the fricking Master of Amber

Just uses Gravis's Elemental Power to get around until she's completely healed

Though she'd probably be told a lot not to use the powers and rest or smth

Paleman:

*Holds his breath*

Y'know, when u hold ur breath and wait for the pain to go away? Just me? No? Yes?

"How on Earth did I get myself into this situation."

Would just sit there thinking about what to do before either calling or messaging Neuro

📩 'Hi, my leg hurts a lot'

📩 'I think it's broken'

📩 'What do I do??'

Chamille:

"Oh great."

Very much deals with it herself

As in gets herself to a hospital or something

'Frick the pain'

Probably made it worse

Ash:

Silence

Silently in pain

Messages 'the boys' (/HJ HE'S MESSAGING THE GROUP CHAT OF FRIENDS HE'S CLOSEr TO)

📩 'Heyy'

📩 'I think my leg is broken'

📩 'Im stranded'

📩 'Cant stand'

📩 'Cant walk'

Shade:

"Well this is a huge inconvenience."

Uses his Elemental Power to get around

Very irritated with the situation

'Stupid itchy cast'

Griffin Turner:

"OUCH??"

Would probably become really upset when he realises he won't be able to run for a while

... or walk without crutches

Probably gonna try to use his Elemental Power while on crutches and break his other leg lmao

Neuro:

"Ouch– shoot– FSM—"

Doesn't move

Either calls for help or waits for it

Waits for it as in waits for someone to notice

Another choice is to try and send a message telepathically

Karlof:

I doubt he'd ever break his leg

Bc 1. He can turn into metal

And 2. It's Karlof

But if he did ever break his leg

Then maybe he'll try making some kind of temporary.. thing to keep the broken bones straight

Only temporarily

50% chance he'll succeed

Depends if he takes off his giant metal glove thingys

Jacob:

Instantly calls for help

Poor guy can't really see either sooo..

📱 "Hello, I think I broke my leg– p l e a s e h e l p."

📱 "I can't even see it."

Gravis:

"Ow! Dangit!"

Already floats everywhere

Floated to the hospital like "Hello I require assistance." (I'm not very funny but the line was too boring without the last bit)

Still floats everywhere

Tox:

"UGGGHHHHHH."

Very frustrated

Probably failed a trick or something?

Impatient at first but eventually just accepts it annoyedly

Bad mood

Like‐ everyday

Bolobo:

Wraps his leg in vines

Homemade cast 👍

Okay but he might get a proper cast at some point

Summons vines to help him get around

[parachutingkitten]

Y'all suck at dissecting Kai's character, so I guess I have to do it.

And I'm not even a Kai stan. He's a bottom tier ninja for me, which I guess means you can trust me, cuz I'm not biased, but also why am I the one doing this? I don't know about y'all, but recently on my dash, the method by which Kai fans try to make him sound good is... saying the writers hate him, ignore him, and that he isn't written well? Which... I mean there is a little bit of truth to, but like yikes guys, is this the best you got? Kai is a wonderful character with plenty of attention from the writers, a meaningful piece of the cast when put in secondary rolls, fairly consistent character writing with actual progression and valuable qualities that help the team without having to be the smart one- despite what some posts might tell you.

Let's get one thing cleared up: Ninjago isn't the best written show. By high level Hollywood standards, most the character arcs are kinda weak or too heavy handed, character consistency can be iffy, and most things serve the plot rather than the characters. There is no character you can point to and say "wow, this character is written so well! No complaints!" Nya and Jay were butchered by their weird love plot, Cole's one season doesn't actually give him an arc, Zane's been nothing but the robot numbers guy for like 10 seasons now, and Lloyd seems to be incapable of doing anything but relive the same one piece of dad angst for depth. Sorry, it's true. All the characters suck when you look at it from a large scale writing perspective. So when I say Kai is well written, I mean by ninjago kids show standards- cuz that's the scale we're working on. No, you couldn't drop Kai into a well written drama, but as far as ninjago goes... he's got a lot going for him, and by no means is he the biggest victim of poor writing.

(fair warning, wall of text below)

The title is a bit disingenuous. There are plenty of good Kai character break downs. What I am presenting here is a more positive perspective. On the whole, I will tend to give the writers the benefit of the doubt, and credit for what they do right writing is hard guys. That's what I'm doing here. I don't see much sense in getting mad the writers on behalf of Kai, or any other character. Ninjago is a simplistic ensemble show that works because of the identifiable simplicity of its main characters with some deeper layers hidden underneath if you keep watching. They've given us a damn good show with some damn enjoyable characters, so here are some criticisms I feel are a little flawed:

First, let's get the 'focus' thing out of the way. Apparently there are people saying Kai doesn't have a season yet? Which... what? I mean, I get that the pilots aren't a full season, the first two seasons, though he is the central protagonist, aren't "Kai seasons" as we've come to define ninja focus seasons, season 7, though he gets majority focus, he shares with his sister. But like... did y'all just forget about season 4? You know, the season where he had the title card, was on the box sets, got the love interest, and the majority of the A-plot? not to mention it's the best season don't @ me Like... if season 4 isn't a Kai season, I can make a damn good argument that season 3 isn't a Zane season, and I doubt anyone wants to go down that rabbit hole. I really can't wrap my head around this one. And I get that the fandom hates season 11 for some reason, but like you can't just pretend it doesn't exist. Kai has a consistent arc across 30 episodes in which he takes his powers for granted, loses them, and learns that, not only does he have value within the team without them, but that his element is intrinsically a part of him that he reclaims, bringing them back more powerful than ever, and with new respect for them. That's one of the most solid arcs in the whole series- the location is even thematically connected to his element. That's some good stuff right there! (Quick plug for season 11 if you haven't watched it in a while. Give it a rewatch, you might be pleasantly surprised)

Not to mention the writers give him fun side stuff all the time. Lots of fears of tech and water to overcome, a deep protective streak with Lloyd, becoming a chancellor, having a true potential actually relevant to the plot as a whole, blacksmith responsibilities, befriending dragons, hanging out with his dad. Not to mention actual focus stuff we haven't talked about yet, like his whole "my dad is evil" phase, and his "I might be evil" phase with him and Skylor. And on top of that, even when he doesn't have an explicit side plot, he's always just a fun and dynamic side character to make jokes or give exposition.

Now, into character stuff. Let's start with Kai's hot headed-ness. Some people say he's been loosing this quality, and I will admit, that's true! But those that claim this makes him inconsistent... I strongly disagree. In early seasons, Kai's temper would lead him to snap at his friends or make stupid decisions that set the team back (see episode 2 Zane freak out)- these are bad things. These are character flaws, yes? Now, in newer seasons, people say that he's inconsistent, cuz sometimes he'll be hot headed, and sometimes he won't. I'd say, this is exactly how being hot headed... works? It flares up without warning, and as an individual gets control of it, it'll pop up less and less often because they're channeling it into productive things - like say directing the anger towards an enemy (see season 11 end freak out). Kai has gained control of a character flaw, and though it still pops up on occasion, the fact that it's a once in a while kind of thing speaks to his growth. I have a little brother who has this exact personality, and watching him grow up, I can tell you, this is how it is. He used to snap all the time, and he still does sometimes, but much less frequently, because he's a more mature person with better control of his emotions. This is a good thing. This is overcoming personal flaws. This is progression we're seeing.

And while you're hyper focused on this one aspect of him, things like his cocky confidence haven't changed a bit. I mean, that season 3 bit between him and Pixal, and his season 11 "fire maker" streak have the exact same energy. You can not convince me otherwise.

Another adjacent quality that hasn't been dampened is Kai's impulsiveness. This can be a good quality of his, he'll get into a fight without thinking, getting the jump on the enemy. Good stuff. But, this has become such a well defined trait of Kai's that it has been used in a comedic capacity. This is what happens when a character is extremely consistent to the extent that both the audience and the characters in universe would be able to predict their actions. Kai's impulsivity used to be a more serious quality that put himself and others at risk, and was a big power move whenever he did something rash, but it's become such a staple of the show that it's now being used for comedy. That isn't Kai's impulsivity going away, that's Kai's impulsivity being recontextualized for the sake of the show. The season 9 "Who's stupid enough to jump on that thing" isn't a joke at the expense of Kai just for being dumb, it's a joke at Kai's being so predictably impulsive that everyone already knows he'll be the one to put himself in an insane amount of danger without thinking twice (you know, something stupid that might get him killed). But because in this instance, the danger is warranted, this is bravery. It's a complement to his character- it's what ends up defeating the colossus. Why are some people so bothered by this joke?

Oh right, cuz for some reason people want to peg Kai as the smart one? Look, Kai isn't stupid, none of the ninja are. All of them have smart moments (all of them have dumb ones too) and Kai can certainly handle himself, but "smart" is definitely not one of his defining characteristics- I think some people are confusing smart for his actual strength. Connected to his impulsivity, Kai has very good simplistic instincts. He sees the big picture and looks at the most surface level solution- which when the situation calls for it, that does indeed make him smart. But the same logic that led him to think "This snake has a glowing target on its head, lets hit it" also led him to think "I'm in a video game, therefore I am immortal." Are you really going to look at me and say he figured out Lloyd was the green ninja through logical deduction and a careful consideration of the facts? No. He had a gut feeling, and he trusted it. Instincts- instincts paired with his impulsive following of said instincts is what leads him to solve problems- and sometimes, that can be extremely effective. This goes for other ninja too. Jay isn't the smartest ninja- I would really only classify Zane and Nya as having intelligence define them (hence their ship name). But Jay is extremely creative and crafty. He also knows his was around mechanics, and as such, this will lead him to come up with creative tech based solutions which are smart. But, idk about you, if I had to point to another ninja as being 'dumb' it would 100% be Jay. Kai is a lot of things. He's passionate and determined and confident and persistent. He's a good improvisor, he's powerful and he's charming! These are all wonderful qualities, he doesn't also have to be the smart one. I am the worlds biggest Pixal stan, and she's a smart, sassy, powerful character, but I'm not gonna sit here and tell you she's also hilarious and adaptable and strong willed. She's a straight man to all the ninja's antics, extremely tied to her samurai x suit, and lets people push her around all the time. That doesn't mean she can't be funny, or self interested, but when she does act these ways, it stems from her other more prominent qualities. That make sense?

And while we're clearing up what Kai isn't, please stop characterizing Kai as an overly protective brother - especially romantically. The only two times he's been romantically protective to Nya are in Wu's Teas which I mean, come on and in the pilots when Jay is literally a stranger. For crying out loud, by the end of the pilot, he's smiling when Jay and Nya hug. That's not overly protective, that's just normal, any reasonable person would react this way, protective. And it's such a great stereotype break for a kids show like ninjago, having an older brother who actually trusts his younger sister to be her own independent person who can make her own decisions. I mean, I guess it's fine if you HC differently but like... idk, I don't buy it.

Now, is there still room to criticize the writers? Yes. Hell yes. But not to an extent greater than any other character. Could he have had more of a defined reaction to events of the most recent season that I won't name for the sake of spoilers? Yes. But could Zane have reacted for more than .5 seconds at being an evil war lord for apparently 60 years? Yeah. Has Kai taken a back seat in the past 4 seasons? Yeah. But so has Lloyd- and he's literally the main character of the show. Not to mention two of those seasons have gone to people who had to wait over ten seasons to get one to themselves, and one of them is a 40 minute special. Kai's doing just fine.

Anyway. Kai is great. He's a fun, stereotype breaking, impulsively driven, ball of energy and confidence who gets a good amount of screen time and some fun side plots.

One last thing to clear up: no hate to anyone. This isn't targeted at anyone specific, this post has been a long time coming, I've just seen some weird overblown claims on various platforms over the past few months and I finally sat down to write about it.

I like the Kai content we have. After all, if the writers were really that bad at writing him, then no one would like him.

Wow this was so much longer than I thought it would be. Um... if you have other long winded rants you'd like to see from me... let me know I guess?

[kittydemon9000]

Okay so I was thinking about ToE and had ideas to add for my Not Today Destiny AU(tl:dr, Kai keeps Lloyd’s Green Ninja status secret from everyone and how canon is affected from there)

Also, before we get into it, because there was no Overlord messing with tech, THERE IS NO LOVE TRIANGLE! I am fully subscribed to the theory that the Overlord messed with it in order to split the team up, and it’s stupid that it worked. So no Love Triangle and no Jay Cole Fight. That’s important later.

ANYWAY, with Zane not dead they’d be a bit less desperate to go to the island, and without that incentive of keeping quiet they’d probably immediately go talk to Wu about this weird invite and the fact that other Elemental Masters existed.

Wu would fill them in, explain how Chen was definitely up to something, which has them all go in the first place, and Nya and Wu agree to stay behind to watch Lloyd and defend against Garmadon.

How does this exactly tie into this AU? Well, there were two extra letters sent, one to Kai and Lloyd respectively.

Lloyd’s letter explained how he was also being invited, and if he won he would be awarded some info about his mom. Lloyd knows the ninja would never let him go, so he opts to sneak there and then explain. Better to ask apologies than permission. But don’t worry, he left a note for Nya and Wu

Meanwhile, Kai’s explains how they have found knowledge of who the Green Ninja is, and if he wins he’ll get that info and can do whatever he wants with it.

These two are connected and also important later.

They go to the boat, Nya gets them some hidden trackers to be safe, Kai is secretly freaking out since “How the heck does Chen know???” and then Lloyd sneaks on too. Now, at first everyone just thinks Lloyd is just really short and keeps to himself. It’s not until they land and get to the main room that it finally clicks to Kai that it’s Lloyd when Chen points him out as the Master of Energy.

He of course, is very not happy that Lloyd is here and makes that very well known. The other ninja are equally unhappy while the rest of the EM’s are given a slight Moral Dilemma since yes they want to win, but that means there’s a chance of them fighting a literal child(it’s been….almost a year since they first met Lloyd so he’s about 10 right now).

Lloyd’s room is next to Kai’s, just on the other side so he still shares a balcony space with Skylor. Maybe one of the other EM’s finds Lloyd desperately looking for a Jade Blade and “accidentally” drops it so he can pass.

Later when Karlof is dropped through the floor more than a few cast a glance over to Lloyd, each silently dreading who will have to go against him. Nobody comments when Kai holds Lloyd close and if anyone saw Lloyd sneaking into Kai’s room that night, they didn’t say anything.

It’s that night when Lloyd explains why he came, which makes Kai panic even more. On one hand, he cannot let anyone else find out about Lloyd’s Destiny. But on the other….Lloyd could finally get answers for what happened to his mom unlike Kai who has no idea what happened to his parents

So yeah. Not a fun time.

But it only gets worse from there.

You see, at first each of the ninja let out a silent sigh of relief when they learned they wouldn’t have to fight Lloyd.

Wellllllllll since there’s no Love Triangle and no fighting between Cole and Jay, Chen has no reason to pit them against each other to further split up the ninja.

What he does instead? Changes things so instead it’s Kai vs Lloyd

Now, it’s plainly obvious to everyone that those two are very close, so they’re not looking froward to this next fight at all. Camille honestly isn’t sure if this is better or worse than if she had to go against him

At first, their fight is mostly a verbal one, trying to get the other to take the Jade Blade, with only the occasionally very wide shot to try and herd the other toward the Blade. At some point Kai ends up physically picking up Lloyd and trying to carry him over to the Jade Blade, yelling about how Lloyd has a chance to find his mom and he shouldn’t that up, but Lloyd is fighting him and immediately yells back that he doesn’t want to find her at the cost of his Big Brother and god if that isn’t a knife in the heart of the other EMs.

But Chen, being the bastard he is, decides this is boring because it’s going no where and release the bikes like canon, and then these two fight like a well oiled machine. 

But ofc, we can’t have nice things and the arena starts falling apart.

And Kai….as much as he’s terrified of Lloyd’s Destiny, he even more terrified of loosing Lloyd.

So with a bright smile and a good luck wish, he jumps.

That night when Chen takes away their rooms as punishment, none of them can be mad. They don’t comment either when the remaining ninja drag two of the bunk beds together a curl up around Lloyd. Instead of splitting them apart, it only lets them know that Chen is not their friend. He sees all of this as a game, going as far as to lure a child here with promises of finding his mother and making him fight the family he has left. 

This actually makes their Elemental Alliance work out better this time.

(Also this time Jay fought Ash, then Cole fought Camille(I’m also 99% sure the skating thing was just another attempt to split them up, so again it’s kinda useless here).

Meanwhile Kai does not have a fun time. Clouse is upset since 1) the plan was for Lloyd to be the one to loose, either by Kai winning or making Lloyd fall, since because he’s the green ninja he’s bound to be powerful and 2) because Skylor got attached to this stranger and Chen ordered him to make Kai useful to them. So now he’s trying to keep a very annoying, very loud prisoner while waiting from the Master of Mind to be captured so he can use those powers to make Kai more docile.

Unfortunately, a side affect of Kai being as loud and obnoxious as possible means he spends a lot of his time knocked out, so he has no idea how long he’s been stuck under or if any of his family are stuck under here too. At the very least he shares a wall with Karlof who tries his best to fill him in(when he learns who Kai was made to fight he also gets pretty pissed).

Later when they’re all dropped from the plane, all of them are quick to make sure Lloyd has a parachute. This time the objective is to a “Safe Zone,” but there’s only enough for four of them. However, the Safe Zones are, unsurprisingly, traps and there’s enough for everyone. Once you step in one, it descends, then vengestone cuffs fly out and trap the Master inside.

Skylor ends up finding Lloyd and offers to help him look for one. They end up talking and joking, Lloyd saying how Kai has an enormous crush on her and kept trying to impress her, but Lloyd thought she was good and would like Kai if they didn’t need to fight each other, which accidentally slams her with guilt. 

Some how she ends up slipping, maybe by accidentally revealing how she knows the locations/number of traps and Lloyd realizes she’s the spy which crushes him. He tries to fight her but she just pushed him onto the trap.

Going to the small cult area below, the remaining EMs are brought together. They try their best to keep Lloyd protected but he’s brought to the front anyway. Lloyd asks if they even knew about his mom, to which Chen reminisces about a woman they meet a few years ago who was stealing from them and how they stole some of her things, but they were mostly worthless. They honestly have no idea where she is, which just makes Lloyd mad.

Mad these people tricked him. Mad these people had the audacity to pretend to know his mom. Mad these people made Kai sacrifice himself for him.

However, they weren’t lying About having met Misako. That’s actually how they found out about the whole “Lloyd Being The Green Ninja” thing

But anyway. Chen steals their powers, Skylor is having a moral dilemma, and they start getting ready to Make Trouble in the Noodle Factory

Only this time when they go to steal the staff, they now have to fight Kai.

Only this time for real.

This is the replacement for the Staff Scene. Because of his affect under the Staff Kai…..isn’t really there. Like, he’s just a blank puppet. There’s the tiniest amount of emotion, but his eyes look empty.

At some point the staff goes flying and it turns into a mental tug of war between Clouse commanding Kai and Lloyd and the others trying to get through to him. Lloyd is luckily able to get to Kai enough for him to smash the jewel, releasing the EM powers and the control on him. It gives him the worst headache though.

And from there, canon is mostly the same for a while. The whole time this has been going on Zane has been having dreams/nightmares about an Ice Dragon and finally makes the connection to unlock it. Skylor is still captured, Chen still escapes but now Clouse is still around, Pythor is captured, TIME FOR THE END

This time around, the EMs are able to follow Chen to their base of operations and have the final battle there. They fight, and even though they’re only partially Anacondrai, they’re still hard to fight.

Clouse tries to do the whole “Banish You To the Departed Realm” thing, but accidentally summons the Anacondrai Generals as well, who are very not happy over what these humans are doing.

And yeah. That’s what I got.

I might do more in depth posts for some of the other seasons, not sure. But feel free to ask or submit ideas of your own