Ninjago/Characters
Allies
Kai the Red Ninja
The Red Ninja and Master of Fire. Kai was once a blacksmith and owned a small shop with his sister Nya originally run by their late father. When the Skulkin Army took Nya hostage, Kai was forced to master Spinjitzu and eventually teamed up with the other ninja to seek the four fabled weapons of Spinjitzu to stop Lord Garmadon.
- Big Brother Instinct: To Nya.
- Big Brother Mentor: He, and the rest of the ninjas, are aiming to become this towards Lloyd.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a scar over his left eye on his mini figures in the sets.
- Hot-Blooded
- Katanas Are Just Better: Flaming swords are even better.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's arrogant, hotheaded, and has overestimated his abilities, but he generally cares for Nya and the other ninja.
- The Lancer: And the main character.
- Playing with Fire: He is the ninja of fire and his dragon is fire based.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Cole's blue.
- Supporting Protagonist: He is not The Hero nor is he the Green Ninja, but he's still the main character.
Jay the Blue Ninja
The blue Ninja and Master of Lightning. Jay was raised in a junkyard with his parents, Ed and Edna, whom he eventually abandoned and journeyed to Ninjago City to test his inventions, which ultimately failed. However, Sensei Wu saw the Lightning within him and trained him with Cole and Zane at the Monastery, eventually meeting Kai and joining forces to find the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu. Being the fastest of the ninja, he learns Spinjitzu at the Caves of Despair, and helps the others learn it as well. After foiling Garmadon's plans, he obtains the Nunchucks of Lightning and the lightning Dragon, Wisp, both of which he keeps thereafter.Is the smartest one on the team after Zane.
- The Big Guy: To an extent, he isn't exactly "big" but he sure is powerful
- Fighting with Chucks: His Weapon of Choice
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine.
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Kid Appeal Character
- Shock and Awe
- Blow You Away: He gains this after gaining his true potential.
- Official Couple: With Nya.
- Unusual Eyebrows: He's missing a chunk of his eyebrow.
Cole the Black Ninja
The Black Ninja and Master of Earth. He is the leader of the ninjas. Originally, Cole was a mountain climber testing his strength when Sensei Wu discovered he had the power to become a ninja, and brought him to the Monastery to train alongside Jay and Zane. Eventually, Sensei brought the four ninja together and sent them on a quest to defeat the plans of his evil brother and to find the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu. After finding and defeating Garmadon and rescuing the weapons, Cole acquired the first golden weapon, the Scythe of Quakes, along with the Earth Dragon Rocky. Strong and athletic, Cole often develops the ninjas' plan of attack against their foes.
- Badass: There is a reason he's the leader of the four ninja.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows
- Calling Your Attacks: Triple Tiger Sashe!
- Cool Car: He gains one in "Snakebait".
- Dance Battler: After he unlocked his true potential.
- Dishing Out Dirt
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Phlegmatic.
- The Hero: But not the main character at least.
- Lovable Jock
- Missing Mom: His mother is never mentioned in "The Royal Blacksmiths" or previously.
- The Nicknamer: Is he ever, he calls almost everyone by a nickname at some point.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Kai's red.
- Sinister Scythe
- Super Strength: After gaining is full potential.
- Supporting Leader
- Team Chef: He seems to be the one who does most of the cooking for the group though he apparently isn't very good at it.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: What was holding him back from gaining his true potential was his father's approval.
Zane the White Ninja
The White Ninja and Master of Ice. Zane has no memory of his past or his parents, being a homeless orphan all his life. Sensei Wu found him "testing himself", however, and seeing the Ice within him, brought him to the Monastery to train with the others. After apprehending Lord Garmadon and defeating the Skulkin Army, he uses the Shurikens of Ice in battle and keeps the Ice Dragon, whom he names Shard. Gifted with the sixth sense, Zane appears to have the wisdom to tell the future, and is the wisest and stealthiest of the ninja, and is the apprentice of Sensei Wu. However, his odd behavior and absence of a sense of humor makes him the target of the others jokes, often called "Snowman" or "Frosty", which Zane usually doesn't understand. But then something very stunning reveals the truth behind his past and personality. Zane discovers a workshop that holds blueprints of himself, proving he's actually an android. Afterwards, he remembers he had a "father:" a man who built him to be the son he never had. Unfortunately, Zane outlived him, but his father switched off most of his emotions right before collapsing on his deathbed so he would never feel the pain of loss. Zane sheds a single tear and re-activates his emotions- and unlocks his full potential.
- Artificial Human
- The Ageless: What caused him to out live his creator.
- An Ice Person
- Expy: A Ridiculously Human Robot with No Sense of Humor hmmmm... where has one heard this before...
- Badass Bookworm
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic.
- Fuuma Shuriken
- Immortality: Implied to have it as a robot, outliving his creator.
- Man in White
- No Sense of Humor: He has one, but his humor switch is normally switched off.
- Ridiculously-Human Robots: The reason why he doesn't have humor is because he has a convenient switch of humor turned off, but for good reason - so he wouldn't feel grief when his creator died.
- The Smart Guy
Sensei Wu
Spinjitzu Master of all elements. He uses the power of wisdom and creation, and mentors the ninja to help them against their foes. He is the son of the first Spinjitzu master and brother to the evil Lord Garmadon
- Cain and Abel: With Lord Garmadon.
- Light'Em Up
- Man in White
- Old Master
- The Obi-Wan: He thought he was going to fall into this trope's normal line of action, except he didn't.
- Parental Substitute: To the ninjas and Lloyd.
Nya/Samurai X
Sister of Kai and the former owner of Four Weapons, Nya was held captive by Samukai on Lord Garmadon's orders, seeing her as a potential pawn in his conquest for power. She was finally rescued by her brother at the Fire Temple and awaited his return from the Underworld. She eventually moved in at the Monastery with the four ninja, where she trained to perhaps become a future Master of Spinjitzu. Headstrong and couragous, she is determined to prove she can become a ninja and prove her brother wrong, so she adopted the mysterious persona of Samurai X, a high-tech crime-fighting samurai clad in red armor and uses a large robot as a means of transportation. She also has a mutual crush on Jay.
- Action Girl
- The Chick: She manages to play this role without being officially apart of the Five-Man Band.
- Everything's Better with Samurai
- It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": While never referenced in-series, her name is pronounced Nia as opposed to the more Japanese esque way.
- Official Couple: With Jay.
- Mini-Mecha: As Samurai X.
- Name's the Same: "Samurai X" is an alternate name for the anime Rurouni Kenshin in parts of the English-speaking world.
- Samurai X Is a Girl
Lloyd Garmadon the Green Ninja
The childish son of Lord Garmadon who believes he is destined to follow in his father's footsteps as a dark alchemist overlord. Kicked out of his Boarding School for Bad Boys, Lloyd is shown to be immature and has a dire love for candy, as well as a former grudge against the ninja for humiliating him. Lloyd wreaked havoc on Ninjago by releasing the Hypnobrai, Fangpyre and Anacondrai tribes, however each took advantage of his unintelligent behavior and betrayed him, leaving him to be defeated by the ninja. However, Sensei Wu, his only uncle, took pity on him and convinced him to fight against the Serpentine, which he accepts. He later becomes the Green Ninja, meaning he is prophesied to defeat his father, Lord Garmadon.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Post Heel Face Turn.
- All Your Powers Combined: In Zane's dream he is shown using the powers of all the other ninja.
- Big Bad Wannabe
- Blond Guys Are Evil: Pre Heel Face Turn.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Also pre Heel Face Turn.
- The Chosen One
- Disc One Final Boss
- Dude in Distress: Kidnapped from "The Snake King" to "The Green Ninja" by Pythor.
- Evil Is Petty: All of his evil deeds revolve around stealing candy and doing other child like things. He was also kicked out of boarding school for not having the drive to commit actual evil.
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: He rises above the others and becomes the Green Ninja.
- Overlord, Jr.
- Punny Name: Lloyd Garmadon, son of Lord Garmadon
- This confuses the ninja in the first episode thinking that Lord Garmadon came back when it was only his son Lloyd.
- Rookie Green Ninja
- Shock and Awe: Lightning is his resident element according to his trading card, but due to being the Green Ninja he has the ability to use all four elements.
- Fifth Ranger: His shirt even has a green number five on it!
- Tagalong Kid: Post Heel Face Turn, except he isn't really The Load.
The Skeleton Army
Lord Garmadon
The cunning and decisive ruler of the Underworld, Lord Garmadon was once the loving brother of Sensei Wu and the oldest son of the first Spinjitzu Master. When his father passed away, he swore to protect the Golden Weapons with his younger brother, but was consumed by greed and power. A battle at the Monastery broke out between Wu and Garmadon, who was banished to the Underworld where he assumed leadership of the undead legions. Vowing to return to collect the weapons and reshape Ninjago in his own evil image, Garmadon plotted many years in the shadows until finally he enacted his plan of world domination. He sent Samukai to the Surface World to collect the weapons, but Sensei Wu and the ninja foiled his plans- or so it would seem.
After uniting the weapons, Samukai was vaporized in a portal between space and time, which Garmadon escaped through to grow powerful enough to unite all the weapons. Now, Garmadon, hideously mutated with four arms, has returned from the portal to seek revenge on the ninja and his younger brother, however in an unexpected turn of events, he allies with them to stop the Serpentine. Despite his evil ways, Lord Garmadon has shown deep concern for his son and does not wish for him to follow his footsteps as a dark overlord.
- Anti-Villain: Type I and II.
- Big Bad
- Casting a Shadow/Dark Is Evil: Though he isn't very happy with being evil.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" reveals that he didn't want Lloyd to follow in his footsteps.
- Heel Face Revolving Door: He normally only switches to face when Lloyd is in trouble.
- Good Parents: When he's actually around he acts like this towards Lloyd.
- Made of Evil: Thanks to the Great Devourer biting him in his youth, it's literally in Garmadon's blood to be evil.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous
- Papa Wolf: Very much so, he brought an entire army to protect his son.
- Pet the Dog/Even Evil Has Loved Ones: To Lloyd.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Tragic Villain: Unlike some villains, Garmadon does not like being evil.
Samukai
The four-armed King of the Underworld. He was defeated by Lord Garmadon when he was banished to the Underworld, causing him to step down and allow Garmadon to control the legions of the Underworld. Samukai leads the Skulkin Army in the Surface World of Ninjago, carrying out Garmadon's orders and seeking the Golden Weapons of Spinjtizu. Soon, Samukai possessed the four weapons and betrayed Garmadon, only to be vaporized by the power of the weapons combined. His choice of weapons are four bone daggers he uses because of a mutation that granted him four hands, making him superior to all skeletons.
- Expy He is similar looking to General Grievous. He even has similar fighting moves and four arms.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous
- The Starscream: And it fails horribly.
The Serpentine
The Serpentine are snake-like creatures and act as the series antagonists.
Hypnobrai
The Hypnobrai are a blue-colored faction of the Serpentine. As their name implies, they use hypnosis. They are the first tribe to be released.
Skales
Snake General of Ice and commander of the Hypnobrai Tribe. Formerly Slithraa's second-in-command, He took his place as general after defeating him in the Slither Pit.
- The Dragon: Formerly to Slithraa. As of now, he is this to Pythor.
- Dragon Ascendant: Suggested to become this after Pythor is supposedly killed by the Great Devourer.
- The Starscream
- Sssssnaketalk: More so then all the other Serpentine.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Or rather snake scales instead of hair.
Rattla
Snake of Ice and scout for the Hypnobrai Tribe.
Mezmo
Snake of Ice and trooper for the Hypnobrai Tribe.
Slithraa
Snake of Ice and Warrior for the Hypnobrai Tribe. When Lloyd stumbled upon the Hypnobrai, Slithraa attempted to mind control him but ended up controlling himself, thus allowing Lloyd to take over the Hypnobrai tribe, much to the dismay of the others. He was formerly general of the tribe, before Skales took his place after defeating him in the Slither Pit.
Fangpyre
The Fangpyre are a red-colored faction of the Serpentine. Their poisonous fangs can convert machines into living biomechanical snake-themed vehicles or mutate organic lifeforms into snakes. They are the second tribe to be released.
Fangtom
Snake General of Fire and commander of the Fangpyre Tribe.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Along with the rest of his tribe.
- Multiple Head Case: He has two heads, which the official site explains is caused by him accidentally biting himself.
- Shout-Out: To Dracula, along with the rest of his tribe.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Romanian? Russian?
Snappa
Snake of Fire and scout for the Fangpyre Tribe.
Fang-Suei
Snake of Fire and trooper for the Fangpyre Tribe.
Fangdam
Snake of Fire and warrior for the Fangpyre Tribe.
Multiple Head Case: Like Fangtom above, though it's explained that his second head was caused by Fang-Suei biting him in the heat of battle thinking he was a desert slug.
Anacondrai
The Anacondrai are a purple-colored faction of the Serpentine. They have the power to turn invisible. When they were locked away their was a lack of food so they turned cannibal until only Pythor was left. According to Skales they are the most feared tribe. They were the third tribe to be released.
Pythor P. Chumsworth
Last snake of the Anacondrai Tribe. Sensai Wu reveals Pythor is their most dangerous enemy yet. He plans to unite the five Serpentine tribes to find the four Silver Fang Blades and unleash the Great Devourer.
- Big Bad: While the five tribe leaders were on even footing at first, he eventually manipulated his way into this role.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He pretends to be Lloyd's friend while in truth he only used him so he can get the map.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Slightly, he doesn't exactly say he is evil but its obvious he knows what he is doing to other people and seems proud of what he does to the ninjas.
- The Chessmaster
- Disc Two Final Boss
- Evil Brit
- Faux Affably Evil
- Hoist by His Own Petard: When he awakens the Great Devourer he's one of its first victims.
- I'm a Ancondatarian: He ate most of his tribe.
- Last of His Kind: Is the last of the Anacondrai. He's implied to have ate the others!
- Manipulative Bastard
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: Is very polite in his speech, but it's rather clear he's a monster who relishes the suffering he inflicts.
- Villainous Breakdown: He tends to freak out when he discovers that the Great Devourer isn't under his control.
Constrictai
The Constrictai are a black and orange-colored fraction of the Serpentine. They can dig underground to ambush their enemies, and have a fierce grip. They are the fourth tribe to be released.
Skalidor
Snake General of Earth and commander of the Constrictai Tribe.
- Dumb Muscle: Obviously, compared to the other generals.
Snike
Snake of Earth and scout for the Constrictai Tribe.
Chokun
Snake of Earth and trooper for the Constrictai Tribe.
Bytar
Snake of Earth and warrior for the Constricati Tribe.
Venomari
The Venomari are a green-colored cobra/viper-themed faction of the Serpentine. Their toxic venom can make anyone hallucinate. They are the fifth and final tribe to be released.
Acidicus
Snake General of the Venomari Tribe.
Lizaru
Second in command for the Venomari Tribe.
Spitta
Soldier for the Venomari Tribe.
Lasha
Scout for the Venomari Tribe.
The Great Devourer
According to a legend, once all five Serpentine tribes unite, they will be able to find the four Silver Fang Blades and unleash the "Great Devourer". The Fang Blades are said to enhance the Devourer's abilities and make it unstoppable, releasing a terrible evil that will turn day into night. According to Sensei Wu, it will keep growing as long as it consumes. Garmadon was nice until he got bit by the Devourer as a child, turning him into the villain he is today.
The Devourer slept under the Lost City of Ouroboros until Pythor put the Fang Blades into the statue of it and it rose out from underneath the city. It was destroyed by Lord Garmadon with the power of the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu.
- Bigger Bad
- Eldritch Abomination
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Was sleeping under the lost city of Ouroboros until Pythor placed the Fang Blades back in their proper place, releasing it.
Others
Jay's Parents
Jay's very eccentric, yet loving parents.