Ninjago (TV series)


Ninjago is a Danish-Canadian computer-animated television series produced by The Lego Group. It was created to coincide with the Lego Ninjago line of construction toys, many of which are based on elements of the series. It centers on the fictional world of Ninjago, telling the story of a group of six teen Ninja and their battles against the forces of evil. The series was animated in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Wil Film ApS for the first ten seasons, subtitled "Masters of Spinjitzu". Animation was relocated to WildBrain Studios in Canada starting with the eleventh season. The English-language voice cast has been recorded in Canada for its entire run.
Ninjago began with two pilot episodes in January 2011, which were followed by two 13-episode seasons that aired from January to November 2012. Both the Lego theme and the series had an intended shelf life of three years, so the second season was originally intended to be the last. However, continued success of the series and its product line led to the show continuing ever since with thirteen seasons being produced as of 2020.
The series was created by Michael Hegner and Tommy Andreasen, two Danish film producers. In Denmark, where the series' original production companies are located, Ninjago premiered on Nickelodeon. It airs on various Nickelodeon networks internationally and on Cartoon Network in the United States, United Kingdom and Poland. In Canada, the series is broadcast on Teletoon and YTV.

Overview

The show is mainly set in the realm of Ninjago, a place loosely inspired by East Asian myths and culture. While featuring several historically designed buildings and traditional clothing, Ninjago is in a modern setting, incorporating large metropolises with skyscrapers, current-age vehicles, modern electronics, semi-robotic exo-suits, and other futuristic technology.

Synopsis

Pilot Episodes (2011)

Long before time had a name, the First Spinjitzu Master created the realm of Ninjago with the four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu: the Scythe of Quakes, the Shurikens of Ice, the Nunchucks of Lightning, and the Sword of Fire. Before he passed, his sons swore to protect the weapons from evil, but the older brother, Garmadon, was taken over by darkness and aimed to wield all four weapons so he could recreate Ninjago in his own image. In the ensuing battle between brothers, the younger brother Wu cast Garmadon down to the Underworld, hiding the weapons across the land and placing a guardian at each hiding spot. In anticipation of Garmadon's return, Wu seeks out four talented young Ninja to learn the ways of the Ninja, master the art of Spinjitzu, and find the Golden Weapons before Garmadon and his minions can claim them for their maniacal machinations.

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

Since Lord Garmadon's disappearance, peace has returned to Ninjago. Rather than prepare for his return, the Ninja have become lazy, playing video games and eating junk food instead of continuing their training. With their guard down, they find themselves thrown back into action when Garmadon's son Lloyd releases the five warring tribes of Serpentine, a race of snake-people who once ruled over Ninjago before being sealed away in underground tombs. Now led by the treacherous Pythor P. Chumsworth, last of the fearsome Anacondrai, the vengeful snakes seek to find the four Silver Fangblades to awaken the Great Devourer, an indestructible giant serpent that grows the more it consumes. To stop them, the Ninja make new allies as they try to overcome emotional barriers and unlock their True Potential and trying to learn the identity of the legendary Green Ninja spoken of in a prophecy.

Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja (2012)

With the Golden Weapons now in Lord Garmadon's possession, the Ninja begin training Lloyd so that he can face his father one day and save Ninjago, something which he was afraid to for the sake of their bond. Garmadon works to thwart the prophecy by recruiting the masterless Serpentine and merging the Golden Weapons into the powerful Mega Weapon. After Garmadon's last attempt ended with Lloyd being aged into a teenager, like his four mentors, he attempts to change the events of the past. The original four Ninja follow Garmadon and use the Golden Weapons of the past to destroy the Mega Weapon, restoring the timeline and sending the Golden Weapons into space.
While Garmadon ends up on an island with a disembodied voice called the Overlord, the venom of the Great Devourer seeps into catacombs beneath Ninjago and animates the Stone Army, trapping the Serpentine underground in the process. Along with Misako, Lloyd's mother, the Ninja travel to the Dark Island to stop Garmadon. The Ninja fail to stop the countdown to the final battle, and the Overlord is revealed to be the dark lord from the prophecy. He possesses Garmadon and heads to Ninjago, with the Ninja in tow. After they found a way out of the Island, Lloyd uses his newfound Golden Power to defeat the Overlord, purge Garmadon of his evil, and become the Golden Ninja.

Season 3: Rebooted (2014)

After the Overlord was defeated by Lloyd, Ninjago City was in complete ruins. However, a man named Cyrus Borg believed that if they worked together, they could achieve anything. In a matter of weeks, Ninjago had been rebuilt into a futuristic metropolis, and was now New Ninjago City.
Without an enemy to fight, Ninja became teachers at Master Wu's Academy. One day, they received clearance for a field trip to Borg Industries. But upon arrival, they learn that the Overlord survived the final battle and is trapped in the Digiverse as a virus. Cyrus Borg realizes this and gives the Ninja the Techno Blades, which are the keys to destroy the Overlord.
The Overlord uses P.I.X.A.L. to create an army of Nindroids from Zane's blueprints and plans to capture Lloyd, as his Golden Power will help him escape the digital realm. The hard drive containing the Overlord is later stolen by Pythor, revealed to have survived being eaten by The Great Devourer.
He captures Lloyd, and the Overlord drains him of most of his Golden Power. Though the Ninja defeat him in the Digiverse, the Overlord escapes the digital realm half-formed. Lloyd then splits his remaining Golden Power among the four Ninja therefore restoring their Elemental abilities, knowing that the power would be a big responsibility for him to bear alone.
The Overlord, needing to complete his transformation, sends the Nindroids to space to retrieve the Golden Weapons from the constellation Arcturus, which they succeed in doing. The Overlord becomes the Golden Master, fulfilling an old Serpentine prophecy, and wreaks havoc on New Ninjago City. With no other option, Zane sacrifices himself to destroy the Golden Master. However, he survives, trapped in the systems and rebuilds himself using titanium.

Season 4: The Tournament of Elements (2015)

After the loss of Zane, the team is split apart, and Lloyd seeks to rebuild it. But everything changes when they find out that Zane is alive, and that crime lord, Master Chen, invites the Ninja and the other Elemental Masters to a Tournament, so that he can steal their powers in order to complete a spell that will turn him and his worshippers into Anacondrai.

Season 5: Possession (2015)

After Garmadon's sacrifice to stop Chen and the Anacondrai Cultists, Lloyd is faced with the loss of his father and depression. However, when he is possessed by Morro, former student of Master Wu and the Elemental Master of Wind, the Ninja must stop him from finding the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master and cursing the Sixteen Realms by releasing his master, the Preeminent, while learning a new fighting style, Airjitzu, along the way.
The Ninja become stronger as they find new friends, face their fears, and find secrets that have been hidden. The Ninja face many new adventures as Lloyd is possessed. They uncover the three secrets of Airjitzu, retrieve the Sword of Sanctuary, and locate the first Spinjitzu's Master's tomb.
Master Wu reveals that Nya can have the control over the element of Water as her mother did. She joins the Ninja and unlocks her True Potential to save Ninjago from being destroyed by the Preeminent.

Season 6: Skybound (2016)

Clouse, finds the Teapot of Tyrahn and frees the evil Djinn, Nadakhan, from it. Nadakhan then traps Clouse in it by making him "wish it all away." Nadakhan proceeds to frame the Ninja, making them wanted criminals. The Ninja try to find Clouse in Stiix but are forced to flee because they are chased by the citizens, who are angry with them for destroying their town. In an attempt to rescue the ninja, Misako pilots the Destiny's Bounty but it ends up crashing through the doings of the police. The Ninja manages to split up and escape but Misako gets arrested.
Meanwhile, Nadakhan finds Master Wu in the Domu library and hears him saying, "Be careful what you wish for," before imprisoning him in the Teapot of Tyrahn. When Misako is left in a room handcuffed, Nadakhan comes and tricks Misako into telling him the secret location of the Realm Crystal and also imprisons her in his teapot. Ronin is then hired by the Police Commissioner to find the Ninja and bring them to justice. While the Ninja split up into three teams of two, Jay and Cole discover that Nadakhan can shapeshift, explaining how he framed them. After Ronin cunningly captures all of the Ninja, they are brought to Kryptarium Prison.
Nadakhan goes to the location of the Realm Crystal in the Hiroshi Labyrinth Stronghold and steals it. At Kryptarium Prison, the Ninja find Captain Soto and he tells them how to catch a Djinn, the answer being to use a drop of Tiger Widow venom to weaken Nadakhan. After freeing Soto and themselves, Captain Soto tells them that the last Tiger Widow lived on an island not found on any map but in a lantern hidden on Misfortune's Keep.Meanwhile, Nadakhan freed his crew from different realms from which they were banished to. The police were focused on finding the Ninja but unknown to them, Nya and Jay were disguised as policemen and had logged in to the police system. They searched for Nadhakan's ship but found nothing.
Meanwhile, Cole and Lloyd flew on their Elemental Dragons back to the last known location of Nadhakan's ship only to find electric wiring and other metal parts. Zane and Kai went to the crash site of the Destiny's Bounty only to find the need to escape, leaving their ship behind. Meanwhile, Nadakhan and his crew visit to his home realm, Djinjago, but it was slowly falling apart. Nadhakan's father, the Djinn King, told Nadakhan that the Sixteen Realms were all interconnected. When the Ninja destroyed the Cursed Realm, they also destroyed Djinjago. Nadhakan's father gave him the Sword of Souls, a sword that had the power to hold life forces. Nadhakan then slashed the Teapot of Tyrahn with it, causing the souls of Clouse, Master Wu, and Misako to transfer into the sword. He then returned to Ninjago and swore the Ninja would pay for their actions. However, the Ninja learned much about the true enemy and got the only thing needed to stop him, though they were taken down by the Djinn one by one.
The pirates try to break Jay through different methods after capturing him to make him use his final wish but failed every time. Even after the rescue, both Jay and Nya were the only ones left and went into hiding in order to organize their plans, though Jay was shaken over the loss of their comrades. During their last confrontation, Jay was pushed into the portal made by Traveler's Tea and Nya was captured. Jay gathers a team to help him to save his comrades, though he was unable to save Nya in time.
Fortunately, Nya helped Jay to get the sword to save his friends and they crashed the wedding. Jay manages to make a final wish that all of the events transpired should not happen in the first place, mourning over the loss of Nya. Due to the venom and the purity of the wish, Nadakhan gave Jay what he wants by reversing time and return back to the point where everything started.
As both Jay and Nya realizes that they were the only ones who remembered the events, both of them embraced and rekindled their relationship, much to the others' confusion over what happened. The reunion of the Lightning and Water Ninja was broadcast all over Ninjago by Dareth. At the same time, Clouse found the teapot, but this time got chased away by the citizens, which fortunately prevented the same events from happening again. At the same time, Yang's Haunted Temple was seen floating in the sky, marking a new future challenge against the Ninja.

Day of the Departed (2016)

On the Day of the Departed, the Ninja hurriedly travel across the Sea of Sand, en-route to the Ninjago Museum of History. Upon their arrival, Wu reminds them of the holiday's significance: for remembering fallen ancestors and cherishing family. Dr. Saunders arrives, greeting Wu and the Ninja before presenting the museum's new exhibit, the Hall of Villainy, which houses life-sized mannequins of the major villains fought by the Ninja over the years, as well as a plaque describing the rare Yin-Yang Lunar Eclipse.
Cole finds a painting of Master Yang, as well as the Yin Blade, which is on display. Cole calls out to Saunders and asks what the weapon is, but realizes nobody is paying attention to him. Cole hears Yang's voice imploring him to "close the circle." Realizing he's fading away as one of the departed, Cole takes the Yin Blade and sets off to face Yang.
The Ninja divide for their own personal memorials: Lloyd and Misako commemorate Garmadon at the Corridor of Elders; Kai and Nya remember their mother and father at their blacksmith shop; Zane remembers his father in Birchwood Forest; Jay spends time with his mom and dad at their junkyard, and Wu goes to the old monastery to remember his father. Realizing everyone is out celebrating, Ronin decides to steal from the deserted houses. Cole arrives at Yang's Temple, which is still floating in the sky. Cole confronts Yang, who he attempts to strike with the Yin Blade but misses, instead of smashing it into an orb. Consequently, the Departed Realm is opened, and the spirits of the Ninjas' old enemies escape while Cole is detained by Yang's students.
The spirits possess five of the six mannequins in the Hall of Villainy, bringing them to life. Speaking through a painting, Yang tells the villains they can remain in Ninjago by slaying the Ninja that defeated them. Pythor then enters the museum and joins the villains as they discuss who to go after. Chen chooses to go after Kai and Nya, Pythor chooses Lloyd, Cryptor chooses Zane, Morro chooses Wu, and Kozu chooses Dareth, which leaves Samukai with facing Jay. Pythor proposes they gather reinforcements from the Hall of Sidekicks to better have the chance of defeating their enemies.
Cole is imprisoned in Yang's temple, where he learns of Yang's history. Yang taught his students to master Airjitzu, and around this time he found the Yin Blade, which contains enough dark magic to imbue immortality. Yang tested the blade on himself, but its powers backfired, turning him and his students into ghosts and defacing his temple. Yang then reveals to Cole that he plans to use the Yin Blade to tear open the Rift of Return to revive himself, while the revived villains distract the Ninja so they won't thwart his plans as Cole realizes his friends are in danger because of him. At that moment, the villains begin their attack on the Ninja all around Ninjago. With help from Eyezor and Zugu, Chen uses his dinosaur mech to attack Kai and Nya, who flee on the Raider Bikes. Cryptor and three Nindroids confront Zane in the snowy forest.
Meanwhile, Samukai fights Jay as Krazi and Frakjaw apprehend his parents, and Pythor fights Lloyd and holds the latter's mother captive. Kozu and several Stone Warriors confront Dareth, who was responsible for taking control of the Stone Army. Wu gets a bad feeling as Morro confronts him, though Wu is pained at having to fight his former student again, he states that he won't hesitate to do it. However, Morro reveals he really has no intention of revenge; instead he tells Wu of Yang's plan and they set off to reunite the Ninja.
Back at the Temple of Airjitzu, Cole breaks free and makes his way up through the temple after escaping his captors, fighting Yang's students along the way as Yang opens the Rift of Return. One by one, the Ninja defeat all the revived villains, except Pythor, who flees after realizing he can't win his fight. In the meantime, Yang does Airjitzu to reach the Rift, but Cole stops him, and a fight breaks out between them. The Ninja reunite at the museum, telling each other what happened before Wu arrives with Morro, who the Ninja prepare to attack but Wu stops them and Morro proves his innocence by unveiling Yang's plan and how the Ninja forgot Cole.
The Ninja journey to Yang's temple while Morro's spirit peacefully returns to the Departed Realm. Cole battles Yang as the Ninja fly over on the Bounty. Yang soon overpowers Cole and mocks him as being another forgotten ghost. However, with his friends approaching and calling out to him, Cole's heightened vigor makes his arms rock-solid, and with them, he shatters the Yin Blade. This act frees Yang's students, who Cole tells to cross through the Rift and after they do they become human again. Yang admits he failed his students and wanted to live forever so no one would forget him, to which Cole says he'll be remembered as the creator of Airjitzu. Together, they ascend towards the Rift, but Yang tells Cole that someone has to remain in the temple as a ghost to be the "master of the house" due to the curse. Yang then decides to settle his own "debts" and launches Cole through the Rift just as it starts to close.
The shockwave of the Rift closing causes Destiny Bounty to have a hard landing at the Airjitzu temple. The Ninja soon start to worry if Cole didn't make it in time as Jay states he'd give anything to have his friend back. At that moment, Cole emerges from behind a rock a human again. The Ninja celebrate the return of their friend before looking at the restored Temple of Airjitzu which Cole suggests they make into their new base.
Not long after, the Ninja and their allies gather around a fire outside of Yang's temple after Cole told the story. Jay asks him if he was going to tell the story every time the holiday comes to which Cole replies only if Jay admits he was scared the temple was still haunted to which the latter states that were the case but says he was wrong as there are no more ghosts. Cole confirms this while looking back to the temple and winks at Yang, who stands inside and winks back in return.

Season 7: The Hands of Time (2017)

Acronix, one of the Hands of Time, passes through a time vortex and is challenged to a fight by Master Wu. After the arrival of the Forward Time Blade, Acronix hits Wu with a Time Punch which accelerates his aging one day per hour. Even with the intervention of the Ninja, Acronix escapes and reunites with his brother Krux. Now the two Hands of Time have a plan that could change history and revert Ninjago back to its old-fashioned roots. They control an army of Serpentine known as Vermillion, from the eggs of the Great Devourer, who can form into Samurai using metal. The Vermillion began capturing Ninjago builders, including Cyrus Borg, and stealing metal. All to build the Iron Doom, which can travel time, using the Time Apparatus to utilize all four Time Blades. With Master Wu unable to fight, P.I.X.A.L. offline, three other Time Blades scattered throughout time, and a mysterious new Samurai X to learn the identity of, Lloyd leads the team to stop the Time Twins and save Master Wu. The adventure soon proves personal to Kai and Nya, when it turns out their parents could have ties to the villains.

Season 8: Sons of Garmadon (2018)

One year after Wu and the Hands of Time were lost in time aboard the Iron Doom, the Ninja have scattered across Ninjago, tackling missions while searching for their master's whereabouts. In their absence, Ninjago City has been overrun by a cult-like crime syndicate known as the Sons of Garmadon who worship the evil Lord Garmadon. When a mysterious relic known as the Oni Mask of Vengeance is stolen from Borg Industries, the Ninja are summoned by the Royal Family, who ask the heroes to protect the three Oni Masks, relics from the First Realm which when united would allow the Sons of Garmadon to resurrect a purely evil Garmadon, as well as their adopted daughter, the Jade Princess Harumi.
In order to stop the Sons of Garmadon from desecrating his father's sacrifice, Lloyd and the Ninja attempt to find the identity of their leader, the Quiet One. They attempt to determine the location of the elusive Oni Mask of Hatred, while learning secrets about the origins of Ninjago itself. In the process, Lloyd begins to bond with Harumi who has also lost her parents. But as they grow closer, the Ninja make the startling discovery that Harumi is the Quiet One.

Season 9: Hunted (2018)

With Emperor Garmadon in ruling Ninjago City with an iron fist and the original four Ninja as well as Wu are stranded in Realm of Oni and Dragons after the Colossus destroyed the Destiny's Bounty, any ally of the Ninja and citizen is hunted and imprisoned in Kryptarium Prison. Lloyd, Nya, and the rest of their remaining allies, including a portion of the Elemental Masters, form a resistance to endure and fight back against Harumi, the Sons of Garmadon, and Lord Garmadon himself. Unbeknownst to them, the other Ninja are alive and thanks to Mistaké's Traveler's Tea, they are in the Realm of the Oni and the Dragon. Here, the barbaric Dragon Hunters, led by the power hungry Iron Baron, capture Dragons and exploit their Elemental Powers to sustain their society. As Dragons are the only beings who can ferry between Realms, the Ninja and a teenage Wu must find the mythical Dragon Armor once worn by the First Spinjitzu Master himself, in order to convince Firstbourne, the mother of all Dragons, to allow them to ride her children out of the Realm so they can rejoin the fight against Lord Garmadon, and save Ninjago.

Season 10: March of the Oni (2019)

Shortly after Lord Garmadon's defeat, Ninjago is slowly returning to normal. However, Garmadon calls out to Lloyd to warn him about some dark forces that will soon conquer Ninjago, although Lloyd refuses to listen, believing that his father can't be trusted. Garmadon's warnings soon come true when the Oni invade Ninjago through the Realm Crystal and prove too much for the Ninja to handle. With no other choice, the Ninja form an uneasy alliance with Garmadon to defeat the Oni and save Ninjago from darkness. Will they prevail or will the legacy of Ninjago be lost forever?

Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu (2019-2020)

Part 1: The Fire Chapter

Six months after they defeated the Oni, the Ninja have become relaxed, lazy, and out of shape. In order to keep their skills and powers intact, they search for activity or a threat to face. Strangely enough, Ninjago has been in a state of lasting peace. However, Zane begins suffering odd visions of him being killed by Aspheera, Queen of the evil Pyro Vipers, as well as a mysterious castle guarded by the dragon Boreal and home to the Ice Emperor and his Blizzard Samurai. While Zane remains unsure about these frightening visions, the Ninja find their quest when Professor discovers a mysterious Ancient Pyramid which supposedly only a Ninja could survive exploring.
The next threat to Ninjago is close, as the tomb serves as a prison for Aspheera. After she is unwittingly released by the Ninja, she steals Kai's powers and uses them to revive her army of Pyro Vipers, preparing to conquer Ninjago and exact revenge on somebody who betrayed her thousands of years ago. The Ninja are left trapped in the pyramid, but are eventually rescued by P.I.X.A.L., and attempt to stop Aspheera's campaign of conquest. The Ninja soon learn about the Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu, which grant the user great powers, but can also corrupt them, as well as that Wu is the one that Aspheera is looking for, as he befriended her back when they were children and taught her Spinjitzu, but she betrayed him and used it for evil, taking over the Serpentine, leading to Wu and Garmadon defeating Aspheera using Forbidden Spinjitzu and imprisoning her inside the pyramid.
After Aspheera steals one of the two Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu from the museum, the Ninja go after the other, just as Aspheera and her forces attack the Monastery of Spinjitzu. Using the second scroll, the Ninja defeat Aspheera, but Zane is hit with a spell aimed at Wu and gets transported to the Never-Realm. Wu volunteers to go to the Never-Realm on his own and rescue Zane, but the Ninja overpower him and go there themselves, before Wu could warn them that there is no way of return.

Part 2: The Ice Chapter

The Ninja arrive in the Never-Realm and are brought to a village where they reveal their agenda and help the locals fend off the Blizzard Samurai, led by the mysterious Ice Emperor and his right-hand man Vex. The Ninja believe that Zane was captured by the Ice Emperor and decide to stay at the village, where Kai unsuccessfully attempts to regain his powers, Cole leaves to find the Traveler's Tree in order to collect some leaves for the Traveler's Tea that would help them get back home, along the way befriending Krag, the last survivor of the Yeti species, and Lloyd leaves to find Zane's mech. Along the way, he befriends a Formling named Akita, who can transform into a wolf and wishes to exact revenge on the Ice Emperor for freezing her people.
Meanwhile, the village is attacked by the Ice Emperor's dragon Boreal, forcing the remaining Ninja to flee and continue their journey. Lloyd and Akita are later attacked by Boreal as well, who kidnaps Lloyd and takes him to the Ice Emperor, revealed to be none other than Zane: after being banished to the Never-Realm decades ago, he lost his memory and was manipulated by Vex, a Formling who wished to exact revenge on his people for mocking him due to not being able to change his form. Zane was convinced that he was the Ice Emperor, the rightful ruler of the Never-Realm and the two of them then dethroned the true ruler of the realm, Grimfax. Zane used the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu to corrupt Grimfax's warriors, turning them into the Blizzard Warriors, later also freezing the Formlings and massacring the Yetis. Lloyd tries to get Zane to remember who he truly was, but fails, as the scroll corrupted him as well.
Lloyd is locked up, where he meets Akita's brother Kataru. The two soon form and alliance with Grimfax to dethrone Zane and liberate the Never-Realm. Eventually, Kai recovers his powers, destroying Boreal, and Zane recovers his all of his memories after Vex attempts to kill Lloyd. Zane stops him, before destroying the scepter to undo the effects of the Forbidden Scroll and restore peace to the Never-Realm. Afterwards, Grimfax becomes King of the Never-Realm once again, Vex is banished for his crimes, and all the Ninja say goodbye to their newfound friends and allies, returning home in Ninjago.

Season 12: Prime Empire (2020)

When the old, legendary video game "Prime Empire” resurfaces, Players begin to disappear. Jay loves games, but after playing "Prime Empire", he too enters the game. The other Ninja soon find out that the creator of the "Prime Empire" has disappeared as well, and nobody has seen him in many years. They discover that the creator's name is Milton Dyer. With the suspicion that Dyer is actually Unagami, most of the Ninja enter the game so they can stop his avatar, while Zane and P.I.X.A.L. remain outside to find Dyer in the real world. The Ninja arrive in the game while Zane, Cyrus Borg and P.I.X.A.L are escaping the mechanic. They meet Scott, who then leads them to Jay. The Ninja go to a place where they get the purple Key-tana from Okino, a NPC. Then the ninja go to Terra Technica to get the green Key-tana. They are short on money to enter the Speedway Five-Billion race because Kai spent money on a new avatar and when they are attacked by Red Visors, they have to pay money to upgrade their weapons. They enter a dance competition and win 500 credits. They sign up and start building their vehicles. Lloyd decides to let Racer Seven, another NPC who is programmed to lose, join their team. But she is followed by Red Visors when she decides to meet Lloyd at Scott’s garage. Scott ends up sacrificing himself to let them escape. The Ninja win the race but Kai and Cole are cubed. The remaining ninja go for the final Key-tana. Lloyd decides to participate in a fight to earn, where he fights a game version of Harumi. They get the Key-tana but with the consequence of Lloyd getting cubed. In the real world, Zane finds out the location of Dyer only to get captured by the Mechanic. P.I.X.A.L. finds Dyer on a roof and asks if he is Unagami. He says no, and reveals that Scott was a test player and when he asked Unagami to give Scott an intense game, Scott was trapped and when Dyer finds out, he panics and shuts the game down, but Unagami survives. Zane is forced to give the Prime Empire motherboard when Wu is captured. In the game, Jay and Nya reach the Temple of Madness with Nya getting cubed after being killed by Sushimi. Jay faces Unagami and follows him to the real world with his Cyber Dragon. Zane is used to power the real world portal, but is saved. Jay gets his powers back and lures Unagami on to of Borg Tower. Dyer, Zane, Wu, and P.I.X.A.L. arrive and Dyer apologizes to Unagami who forgives him. Unagami makes the Red Visors and Whack Rats return to the game and lets out the good NPCs, Kai, Cole, Lloyd, Nya, Scott, and other players trapped inside the game. Meanwhile, Unagami and Dyer hold hands and walk as Jay says, “He’s home.”

Season 13: Master of the Mountain (2020)

The ninja are invited to the beautiful Shintaro Kingdom to celebrate the young Princess Vania’s birthday. At first glance, the Ivory City looks like a pristine place, but the ninja soon uncover a dark, obscure, long-forgotten underworld: The Dungeons of Shintaro. Once inside, they must fight their way to freedom through a maze of tunnels paved with dangers and strange creatures ruled by the merciless Skull Sorcerer. The ninja must choose their path wisely… get ready to go deep underground. When the Ninja arrive, they meet King Vangelis and his daughter Vania, who takes an interest to Cole. Lloyd is suspicious about her because of what happened to him and Harumi. When Cole is sleeping a purple creature comes into his room and has possession of his mother’s Lilly’s necklace. Cole and Vania go the Dungeons of Shintaro and meet the Skull Sorcerer. Vania goes to alert her father while Cole fights the Skeleton warriors with whips and is captured by the Skull Sorcerer. Vania alerts the ninja and her father and the king agrees to send his soldiers down to the dungeons. The ninja go there while Vania and Wu stay and cover their absences. The ninja are then captured as well but they escape with help from the Mino creatures. They also help the Munce and Geckles escape to help them get the Shadow and Ivory Blades. Jay, Nya, and Lloyd escape with the Munce, while Kai and Zane escape with the Geckles Cole has gone to another tunnel. Nya, Jay, and Lloyd meet the Queen of Munce who takes a liking to Jay, but is annoyed when she finds out Nya is engaged to him. They both fight for him with Nya winning and her becoming the new Queen of Munce. Meanwhile on the surface, Princess Vania decides to aid Cole after he is attacked by bats. Vania takes Cole to the surface and informs Wu about the Ninja's predicament and they go to the throne room to consult King Vangelis. Vania and Cole tell Vangelis about the Skull Sorcerer, leading King Vangelis to reveal, to Vania, Wu, and Cole's shock, that he is in fact the Skull Sorcerer. Vangelis presses a button opening a trap door beneath the floor, and Cole and Wu fall into the abyss, and Vania jumps in after them. Upon surviving their landing, Wu, Cole, and Vania are met by three men who call themselves "The Lowly" who go on to reveal that they were sent by Vangelis many years ago to retrieve the Skull of Hazza D'ur, and upon returning to the surface, Vangelis chooses to keep the skull, which "The Lowly" insist must be destroyed, upon which they were banished in a similar way to Cole and Wu. The Lowly and Cole team up to make their ascent to the surface. Meanwhile, Nya and Kai try to lead the Munce and Geckles respectively to a peace meeting, when they are ambushed by the newly resurrected undead dragon, Grief-Bringer, who forces the two peoples into a stronghold, upon which the Ninja are tricked into believing that if they surrender, the Munce and Geckles can go free. However, the Skull Sorcerer chooses to enslave both the Geckles and Munce and the Ninja are captured. Meanwhile, Cole, Wu, Vania, and the newly proclaimed "Upply", make it to the surface where they are confronted by the royal guards, who were given orders by King Vangelis to arrest the Ninja. Upon fighting them off, Cole ventures back underground to fight the Skull Sorcerer. Cole is initially unable to overcome the Skull Sorcerer, but after he learns the powerful "Spinjitzu Burst", he defeats the Skull Sorcerer, and he is arrested and overthrown. With Princess Vania proclaimed the queen of Shintaro, the Ninja leave Shintaro and prepare for their next adventure.

Cast

Day of the Departed

Characters

Main

The Skulkin are a breed of living skeletons who were once ruled by Samukai. After becoming their leader, Garmadon sent the Skulkin to Ninjago to find the Four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu, to which they do so. The Skulkin are defeated by the Ninja, though Samukai tries to use the Weapons himself. The power of the weapons destroys him, allowing Garmadon to escape his imprisonment and leaving the Skulkin leaderless. However, Garmadon rebands the Skulkin and leads them to rescue the Ninja and help them steal the Fang Blades from the Serpentine, as part of the temporary alliance Garmadon made with the Ninja to stop the Serpentine's leader Pythor from unleashing the Great Devourer, the very same giant snake who turned Garmadon evil. The Skulkin are willing to help along with this because, as Kruncha comments "Everybody hates snakes."
The Serpentine are a warrior race of humanoid serpents. Originally a race created by the First Spinjitzu Master, they held a prophecy that foretold the coming of the Golden Master. Their attempts to warn the humans resulted in a war that culminated with them being driven underground, partly because both sides were manipulated by Master Chen. Released by Lloyd Garmadon, the Serpentine attempted to conquer Ninjago several times under the leadership of Pythor, Lord Garmadon, and finally Skales. However, after losing in battle to the Overlord's Stone Army, the Serpentine made a home for themselves underground and later aid the people of New Ninjago City escape the Golden Master's attack and then against Master Chen's army of fake Anacondrai. The Serpentine tribes, according to one of the show's creators Tommy Andreason, may have been transported from Chima.
A faction of cursed, corrupted spirits associated with Morro and summoned by him from the Cursed Realm through the use of the Allied Armor of Azure. The spirits of the Cursed Realm appear to have elemental abilities to transform and possess objects and organisms. As ghosts they are immune to most forms of physical attack, but are vulnerable to water as it is ever changing, which can cause them to dissolve into ectoplasm. Their only other vulnerability is to Deepstone, a substance mined from beneath the ocean floor, which can either contain them or be forged into weapons for use against them, such as the Aeroblades the ninja obtain from Ronin. While Morro leads the group in the field, their true master is the Preeminent, Queen and embodiment of the Cursed Realm.
The Sky Pirates are a motley crew of renegades who are led by Nadakhan, a Djinn from Kingdom of Djinjago.

Production and development

In 2009, LEGO proposed to make a series on ninja, deciding that there would be four ninja with elemental powers. Later, Tommy Andreasen and Thomas Fenger created the martial art of Spinjitzu.

Broadcast and release

In the United States, two pilot episodes, later split into four episodes total, were shown on Cartoon Network on January 14, 2011. They were released in Europe on January 24, 2011. The pilot episodes focused on Kai as he goes from being a blacksmith to a Ninja to save his sister, Nya. Due to the popularity of the pilot episodes, the first season was launched from December 2011 – April 2012 alongside a new line of sets marketed as "Rise of the Snakes". The pilot episodes were released on DVD in March 2011, and the first season became available on DVD in Region 1 on June 26, 2012. The series as a whole has an estimated budget of kr 37 million.
Due to the positive reception of the pilot, a full series was commissioned and began broadcast in December 2011. The first five episodes of season 1 aired in Canada on November 25 and the first two in the United States on December 2. The season once again aired in Canada and the United States from January 11, 2012, to April 11, 2012. Season 1 focused on the four original Ninja as they try to find out who will be the Green Ninja.
Lego Ninjago was recommissioned for a second season, which premiered on July 18, 2012, to an audience of 2.8 million. Season 2 focused on Lloyd as he trained to become the Green Ninja in order to face and defeat his father.
In June 2013, Warner Bros. announced that a movie based on the toyline would be made, though it would take a different approach to the TV series. It was written by the Hageman brothers, who also wrote the story for The Lego Movie. It was released on September 22, 2017.
A third season, "Rebooted", premiered on January 29, 2014. Season 3 focused on Zane as he and the other Ninja helped defeat a new, technological threat.
In the United Kingdom, the series premiered on 21 July 2014 on Cartoon Network.
Season 4 premiered on February 23, 2015 in North America and Great Britain on Cartoon Network. Season 4 focused on Kai as he and the other Ninja try to find a new and improved Zane on a secluded island, where they participate in a tournament.
On June 8, 2015 LEGO released the trailer for the fifth season, titled "Possession." It premiered on June 27th in the United States. Season 5 focused on Nya during her training to be the Water Ninja while the others fight Wu's first student, whose ghost has possessed Lloyd.
Season 6, "Skybound," was released on June 8, 2016. It tells the story of Nadakhan, a djinn, and his pirate crew who are trying to bring Kingdom of Djinjago to the skies. Season 6 focused on Jay trying to defeat the powerful Nadakhan before it was too late.
A Halloween special called "Day of the Departed" was released on October 29, 2016, with Sensei Yang as the vllainous faction. The special focused on Cole, who is fading from existence.
A seventh season, titled "The Hands of Time," was released in May 2017. The plot focused on Kai, Nya and their parents, with the main villains being the Elemental Masters of Time and their army of Vermillion Warriors, trying to rewrite history.
The eight season, "Sons of Garmadon," featured redesigns to closely resemble visually The Lego Ninjago Movie, and was released April 16, 2018 in the US. It focused on the Ninja trying to prevent Garmadon's resurrection, albeit with no good in him, by a criminal organization, the Sons of Garmadon, via three Oni Masks.
The ninth season, "Hunted," premiered on June 30, 2018 in Australia. It is the first season where there is no one focus character due to the season's plot being split between two separate plot lines. The first trailer, released in Japan confirmed that the Elemental Masters would return as part of the resistance.
The tenth season, "March of the Oni," premiered on April 19, 2019. It focused on Garmadon and the Ninja trying to prevent a demonic force of darkness called the Oni from destroying Ninjago and all the other realms. This is the shortest season to date, featuring only 4 episodes.
The eleventh season, “Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu,” premiered on June 22, 2019. The episodes were cut down to an 11-minute format, and new art styles were used.
The twelfth season, "Prime Empire," premiered on June 19, 2020 in the United States. This season continues the trend of the 11-minute episode format, but consists of only 16 episodes rather then the previous 30, starting a new trend for seasons to come.
The series has been nominated twice for awards. Peter Hausner was nominated at the 39th Annie Awards for his direction, but lost to Simpsons director Matthew Nastuk. The composers, Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent, were nominated for the BMI TV Music Award, which they won.
All episodes feature a theme song called "The Weekend Whip," performed by The Fold. The song is remixed in each season to fit the theme, except for Season 8-10, where the song is not played at all.

Home media

Reception

Critical reception

Overall, the show has been well received by critics and fans.
The pilot episodes received an overall positive reception, with critics praising the characters, plot, music and the overall exciting and fresh tone that has been brought to this LEGO theme.
The first season received genuinely positive reviews, more so than the pilots. Fans and critics praised the character development, musical score, pacing, storytelling and fun nature of the series. Mixed reception was aimed towards the annoying nature of the Serpentine, however this was an extremely minor complaint. People continued to praise how unique and surprising this theme continued to be and how well a full LEGO TV-series could work.
The second season received high critical acclaim. The first half of the season was not as acclaimed as the second half however, due to the filler nature the first six episodes had to them. The second half of the season continues to be viewed as the best run to come out of the entire franchise. The storytelling, continued character development, musical score and cinematic tone lead to continuous praise and positive reviews. Fans and critics alike felt as if the season was "the perfect way to close off this incredible TV series." While many fans and critics were saddened that the series was supposed to conclude after this season, everyone else saw it as "the highest note for the series to go out on."
Following the theme's revival in 2014, the third season, much like the second, received high critical acclaim. Fans and critics appreciated the change in tone in introducing technology as the main focus, as well as the season's pacing. The character development and musical score continued to receive praise, however the airing of the season in which two episodes were released every two months highly irritated majority of fans. The season finale was a high point of critical acclaim, still standing out as one of the series' best reviewed episodes. Many praised the season for developing the character of Zane and Garmadon, as well as the introduction of P.I.X.A.L.
The fourth season continued to receive high amounts of critical praise. The new characters - mainly Skylor, Chen and Clouse - were major highlights to majority of fans. The Mortal Kombat-esque tone present to the season was highly praised by fans, as well as the character development, music, pacing and focus on Garmadon's character. Fans describe the season as "a major step in the right direction to keep this franchise feeling fresh, fun and exciting." As of 2018, this season is often looked at as either the best or second best season of the entire series. Fans praised the introduction of other Elemental Masters, and often look at this season as Ninjago's biggest step forward into new territory.
The fifth season has received mixed to generally positive reception from fans. Critics and fans praise the genuinely darker tone to the season, as well as the characters of Morro and Ronin, as well as Nya's character arc throughout the season. The idea of ghosts and possession was also praised by fans alike. However this season holds the most criticism of any Ninjago season. The Cloud Kingdom, the more slower pacing and crossover with LEGO Legends of Chima were the main points of criticism here. However the season still received mainly positive reviews.
The sixth season received much more positive reviews however. Fans and critics commented on how unique the season is and how it stands out from other seasons. The focus on Jay and Nya and the character of Nadakhan are main points of critical praise here, as well as the higher focus on action and character development, with many people commenting on how far Ninjago has come since its beginning in 2011. Much like the fourth season, this season is seen as one of, if not, the most unique season in the Ninjago franchise, and is seen as one of the series' best seasons.
The halloween special Day of the Departed received mainly mixed reception. Whilst fans and critics praised the dark tone, recurring old characters and story idea, majority of reception was negative. This is due to the lack of development for Cole, being the focus character, the short and underwhelming action sequences and a disappointing conclusion. An alternate version of the special was released on January 31st, 2017, released for countries such as China. Though produced in Chinese, this version was far more critically applauded than the original, with many addressing how it's overall nature and pacing were "more fun and thrilling" and the fight scenes were "intense and well choreographed".
The seventh season also received mainly mixed reception. The introduction of the Elemental Power of Time was well received, as well as the story conclusion of Kai and Nya's parents - Ray and Maya - and the masters of Time themselves, Acronix and Krux. The negative reception was aimed at the more somber and dull tone present throughout the season. The animation of the seventh season was also a high point of criticism. The season finale was a high point of critical praise however. The season is often considered to be the weakest season of the series, just in front the Day of the Departed special and behind the fifth season.
The eighth season has received critical acclaim, receiving the most amount of praise since the second season. The animation, more complex storytelling, a deeper yet darker tone, new characters and in-depth character development have been extremely high point of praise so far. Prior to the season premiere however, the redesigning of the Ninja was a strong point of hate within the community. Over time however, said complaints have lowered as fans have adjusted. However, said hatred still exists. The character development of Lloyd, Zane and Cole have been high points of praise, as well as the new characters of Harumi, Mr. E, and Ultra Violet. The battle of Zane vs. Mr. E has even praised as the best battle and moment in the season. Fans also praised the larger role of P.I.X.A.L., as her character had now become "relevant". The character of Harumi in particular has been highly praised for having more complex and mature motivations compared to previous Ninjago villains. Her characterization, relationship with Lloyd, and portrayal by Britt McKillip has also been extremely well received. Fans and critics have referred to the eighth season as their favourite, with writers Dan and Kevin Hageman themselves called season eight their favorite.
The first trailer for the ninth season has been loved by fans alike so far, with many describing it as "the next perfect step for the series" and "a perfect companion season for the eighth, yet still strong enough to be its own story".

Awards and nominations

The series has been nominated twice for awards. Peter Hausner was nominated at the 39th Annie Awards for his direction on the show, but lost to Simpsons director Matthew Nastuk. The composers, Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent, were nominated for the BMI TV Music Award, which they won.

In other media

Video games

The Ninja appear as playable characters in Lego Dimensions. Additionally, a large range of Ninjago mobile games have been released. Three video games have been released.
A video game called was released in April 2011. It was based on the two pilots of the series, and it features some of the characters who appear in the original episodes.
Lego Ninjago: Nindroids is an action-adventure game for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, The game was developed by Hellbent Games and co-published by TT Games Publishing July 29, 2014. Lego Ninjago: Nindroids was announced March 2014 as the second video game based on the LEGO Ninjago line of play sets. The game was targeted at a younger audience. The game has the same plot as the third season of TV series. In the game, the player assumes the role of a Spinjitzu Master tasked with defending the New Ninjago City from The Overlord's evil Nindroid army. The game contains 30 levels consisting of puzzles and battle sequences. NintendoLife thought this game was beginning to evidence the formulaic nature of the Lego universe of video games, while JeuxVideo thought the game was repetitive. The game was in the top-10 best-selling list of games for PlayStation Vita in New Zealand in May 2017.
Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin is an action-adventure game developed by TT Fusion and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in March 2015. The game was released initially for Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, and later for iOS and Android. The game further adapts the TV series, and serves as a sequel to Lego Ninjago: Nindroids. Although non-canon to the TV series, it takes place just after the fourth season, the original voice cast don't reprise their roles for the characters, due to recording studios being in different locations, instead they are voiced by American actors. After Garmadon sacrificed himself and was sent into the Cursed Realm, Lloyd left the team to cope with losing his father. The remaining members meet the new threat Ronin, a mercenary, who partially erases the Ninja's memories. The Ninja travel to the Toxic Bogs, after which they have a vision of weapons that can restore their memories. They collect the weapons and go to see Lloyd, who takes them to see his mother for help. Once they find the Primal Fulcrum, the Ninja free Lloyd's mother from Ronin's control. Ronin freezes them and grabs the remaining elemental forges. He plans to use the Fulcrum to bring back Chen from the Cursed Realm. The Ninja chase Ronin into a portal, where the Ninja have a final battle with Ronin; he escapes and knocks the Ninja's weapons into the abyss. The ending reveals the game was a story told by Kai. In an epilogue, Dareth steals the Helmet of Darkness to control the Stone Army. Warner Brothers announced the game in December 2014. The game is single-player. It has new gameplay items, though the gameplay and characters are familiar. The game was targeted at a younger audience. Both PocketGamer and Nintendo Life said the game negatively felt the same as the previous games in the Lego series. PocketGamer praised the better graphics but was frustrated with the controls on iOS, especially with time-sensitive actions. Nintendo Life appreciated the humor but thought the graphics had issues on the 3DS. The game was in a top-10 best-selling list of games for PlayStation Vita in New Zealand in May 2017.