LEGO Ninjago (formerly subtitled Masters of Spinjitzu) is a CGI comedy-action family television show that airs on Cartoon Network and Netflix in the United States. The series is separated into three major sections, Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, LEGO Ninjago, and Ninjago: Dragons Rising. They all exist in the same continuity as each other.
The pilot episodes were released on January 14, 2011, and the first two episodes of the first season were released on December 2, 2011. It has currently amassed 18 seasons, 1 TV special, 2 mini-series, a movie, and 270episodes.
The show is set primarily on the fictional Ninjago, a world which draws inspiration from East-Asian legends and culture, while taking place in a modern setting.
Long before the events of the series, the First Spinjitzu Master used the power of the Golden Weapons to create the world of Ninjago. Trained in the legendary art of Spinjitzu by the wise Master Wu, a group of young Ninja (Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane, and eventually Lloyd and Nya) with mastery over the Elements fight to defend their land against those who wish to conquer it. Each season focuses on a different one or more of the Ninja and features a different group of varied antagonists.
Masters of Spinjitzu (2011-2019)[]
The first and longest generation of Ninjago. This generation is also referred to as the Masters of Spinjitzu Era or the WilFilm Era, as all 10 of these seasons were animated by WilFilm with the subtitle "Masters of Spinjitzu."
The beginning of the Ninja's story and the introduction of the legendary Green Ninja of legend. In this phase the Ninja face off against the likes of Lord Garmadon in order to fulfill the Prophecy of the Green Ninja and defeat the Dark Lord once and for all.
Sensei Wu must assemble four Ninja to wield the four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu before his evil brother, Garmadon, the King of the Underworld, takes them first. Wu finds Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane, and the four of them embark on a quest to find them all, fighting off Garmadon's Skulkin army in the process of learning the martial art of Spinjitzu. This installment of the series is often referred to as a season by older fans but are more well known as "the pilot episodes," as the episode numbers depicted reset at the start of Rise of the Snakes.
Since Lord Garmadons disappearance into the Realm of Madness, Ninjago has been at peace, but the young ninja have grown lazy. While Garmadon lurks in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike, the ninja meet his young son, Lloyd, who carelessly unleashes a fearsome new enemy upon Ninjago– the ancient tribes of the Serpentine. The leader of the Serpentine, Pythor, hatches an evil plan to bring back the legendary, all-consuming snake, the Great Devourer.
Lord Garmadon has disappeared with all Four Golden Weapons and now he controls the Serpentine. Meanwhile, the Ninja intensify their training of young Lloyd so he will be strong enough to defeat Lord Garmadon in the final battle. To gain evil power, Lord Garmadon goes to the Golden Peaks to convert all Four Golden Weapons into the weapon of creation – the Mega Weapon. After discovering the legend of the ancient Overlord, the Ninja embark on a quest to the Dark Island to defeat the Overlord and the Stone Army, so Lloyd does not have to face his father. This was intended to be the original finale to the series, but because of the overwhelming fan support and demand for more, the series was greenlit for a Season 3.
Main antagonist: Lord Garmadon
Final boss: The Overlord Dragon
Villainous faction: Stone Army
Mascot Ninja: Ultimate Spinjitzu Master Lloyd
Ninja Suits: Kimono
Episodes: 13
Whip: The Weekend Whip
Collectible Weapon: Elemental Blades
Released: July 18, 2012
Pilot: Darkness Shall Rise
Finale: Rise of the Spinjitzu Master
Master Trials arc (2014-2017)[]
Each of the six Ninja must go through trials in their own individual season. Zane learns that it's not about numbers, it's about family, Kai learns to think of people other than himself, Lloyd gets over the loss of his father, Jay learns that patience is a virtue, Cole learns to be "seen," and Nya and Kai each learn to embrace the past and the future. Each focus Ninja also gets a special edition suit, not like the others.
Victory in the final battle between the Golden Ninja and the Overlord has ushered in a new era of peace and begun a technological renaissance. Ninjago City has been rebuilt into a futuristic wonder and is now completely interconnected. Welcome to New Ninjago City. The ninja have found there is very little need for their heroics and have become teachers at Wu’s Academy. But peace is an illusion, as the Overlord began to digitally manifest itself inside of the "Digiverse," which connects all of New Ninjago City together.
After the loss of Zane, the Ninja are split up. When hope of finding him at a Master Chen's Tournament of Elements rises up, they find that there are more Elemental Masters like them, and the Tournament is not as innocent as it seems.
A grieving Lloyd is possessed by the ghost of Morro– the Master of Wind and Wu’s first student. In Lloyd’s body, Morro renders the other Ninja powerless before stealing Wu’s staff. It contains three hidden symbols, the path to finding the Tomb of First Spinjitzu Master. Wu knows that if Morro finds the tomb, he will claim the Realm Crystal. This relic has the power to open the fabric between realms, enabling the powerful Preeminent to enter the Ninjago world. A special 11th episode was released in 2015 as a live puppet show titled The Realm of Shadows. It is a canon installment, although it does have some continuity errors. It features the return of Clouse after he escaped the Cursed Realm.
With the defeat of Morro’s ghost invasion, the Ninja have now become huge media celebrities. But dark forces once more threaten Ninjago as the Teapot of Tyrahn is rediscovered by the ghost of Clouse, Master Chen’s former right-hand man. He allows Nadakhan, an evil Djinn and captain of the infamous Misfortune’s Keep, to escape the teapot. After reassembling his pirate crew, Nadakhan returns to his home realm of Djinjago, to find it collapsing. This destruction, caused by the ninja defeating the Preeminent, leads Nadakhan to vow revenge. He refits his ship so it can fly and prepares to attack. Now they are Sky Pirates.
Thye are a set of graphic novels that chronologically it takes place between Seasons 6 and 7, it is not considered part of the Master Trials Arc. They are one of the first graphic novels to be directly tied in with the TV show, as evident by a mural of these events being drawn on the Monastery of Spinjitzu walls in Season 10. They follow the Ninja as they return to the Dark Island to rescue Misako and Ronin after they went missing on an expedition there. Once they arrive, they discover that Clouse has returned and is using the Sky Pirates to mine for Dark Matter. Once he has accumulated enough, he manifests his Shadow Army to take the Ninja out and use his Dark Matter to corrupt the Temple of Light. The Ninja stop him, and Clouse is banished to the Underworld.
When Cole returns to Yang's haunted temple to seek revenge on the former Airjitzu Master who turned him into a ghost, he accidentally uses a powerful Dark Magic blade that unleashes the spectral forms of Ninjago's greatest villains and traps himself in the temple! While Cole battles for his freedom, the Ninja must return their ghostly foes to the Departed Realm before they gain the power to remain in Ninjago forever! It is the first installment to lack an episode count, and the first to be classified as a TV special.
Main antagonist: Sensei Yang
Villainous faction: Past villain's ghosts, Yang's students
Shortly after the Day of the Departed, Master Wu awaits his old enemy Acronix to complete a battle they began 40 years ago. But Wu never should have faced such a powerful foe alone. Acronix hits Wu with the Time Punch, which causes him to start rapidly aging! Acronix escapes and reunites with his twin brother Krux, who has been living the past 40 years in disguise as the lovable Dr. Sander Saunders. During this time, Krux has been breeding a new slithering enemy: the Vermillion Warriors. There is a special 11th episode of this season that was featured in Ninjago: Reimagined, that shows what happened to Wu and the Time Twins after the events of Lost in Time.
The Ninja are at their peak, and after the loss of Wu, they train in order to face their deadliest foe yet: the Oni. The Bringers of Doom are hinted at since the beginning of Season 8, until it leads to the final battle in Season 10. This phase can also be seen as a focus for Lloyd as a whole, as he plays a big part in all 3 seasons.
A year after the loss of Master Wu, the Ninja, led by the newly dubbed Master Lloyd, must protect the Royal Family and prevent a group known as the Sons of Garmadon from successfully reviving Lord Garmadon at the Temple of Resurrection using the Oni Masks. This is the first season to feature the redesigned Ninja originally featured in The LEGO Ninjago Movie.
While Lloyd and Nya resist Emperor Garmadon's oppressive hold on Ninjago City, Young Wu and the rest of the Ninja are stranded in a barbaric realm where fierce dragons are being hunted down by Iron Baron and his gang of Dragon Hunters. Lloyd must endure in Ninjago City, the others need to find the fabled Dragon Armor if they ever hope to get back home to stop Emperor Garmadon once and for all.
After years of training in the ancient arts to become Masters of Spinjitzu, after growing as both warriors and family, after protecting the realm from enemy after enemy, the Ninja pitch a heroic last-ditch effort against the Bringers of Doom. They are fighting for the Ninjago world and its rich history, and they are fighting for their legacy – and they will give it their everything. Why? Because they are Powerful. They are Family. They are Ninja.
Spin-Offs:Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu (6 episodes)
McGuffin: Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu
Released: April 19, 2019
Pilot: The Darkness Comes
Finale: Endings
LEGO Ninjago (2019-2022)[]
The second Ninjago generation, also referred to as the LEGO Ninjago Era or the WildBrain Era because this set of seasons dropped the "Masters of Spinjitzu" subtitle and were the first to be animated by WildBrain.
After facing the greatest evil the world will ever see, the Ninja have some down time. Each season in this phase "retells" the original seasons of the past through the enemy variety, almost in the right order. This phase also gives the show "the reboot treatment," reducing the plot and humor for younger audiences, changing animation studios, shortening episodes to 11 minutes, and dropping the "Masters of Spinjitzu" subtitle. Additionally, each season incorporates a certain Elemental theme dubbed "chapters." The Book of Elements refers to how each section dedicated to one Ninja's Elemental Power is referred to as a chapter.
The Fire Chapter: The Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu have been kept a secret for a thousand years. With good reason. The evil Serpentine sorceress, Aspheera, was banished along with the Scrolls – but now she is back, hungry for revenge, and ready to get her fangs on the Scrolls once more and reclaim her powers. The ninja’s powers, friendships, beliefs and loyalties will be put to the test like never before.
The Ice Chapter: Zane’s been captured by the evil Ice Emperor. The Ninja have mounted a desperate rescue mission – but if they want to see their friend again, they’ll have to battle hordes of Blizzard Samurai as they make their way through the Never-Realm, from where no Ninja has ever returned.
In the hyped video game, Prime Empire, you can be whoever you want to be. Jay, ever the avid gamer, can’t wait to start playing. But when hundreds of players, and Jay, suddenly start vanishing without a trace, the ninja need to get inside the game and find out who is playing Unagami. Now they must compete in adventures and difficult game worlds, win all three Key-tanas– and only then can they face the evil Unagami. Can they reach the final level and beat the game?
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…
Main antagonist: King Vangelis
Final boss: Skull Sorcerer & the Skull of Hazza D'ur
An expedition led by Lloyd's mother has gone missing on a remote island off the coast of Ninjago. The Ninja go on a rescue mission, and they recruit Twitchy Tim, the only person who has returned alive from this mysterious island. They track down the expedition but at the same time discover an ancient tribe of native islanders with a strange lightning-based technology. This tribe fears and worships a terrible sea creature. They manage to keep her submissive through frequent and precious sacrifices, but her anger arouses, and she demands more.
If you’re ready for the challenge, just hop on board their newly designed underwater ship, the Hydro-Bounty and let’s get this mission started! Along with Nya’s mom, Maya, P.I.X.A.L., and her fellow ninja, Jay, Zane and Lloyd, you’ll join Nya in a battle against the elements and the evil Prince Kalmaar, the Prince of Merlopia. That’s when things really get tricky. He has an evil plan to awaken an ancient sea-serpent, Wojira.
The Ninja are back for another season with brand new adventures in NINJAGO®: Crystalized! This time they have been locked up in Kryptarium Prison where they are surrounded by some of their old enemies. Here they learn a mysterious Crystal King is recruiting a council of evil enemies. To find out the identity of this new enemy, they escape from prison and become fugitives. Who is the Crystal King? Why is he gathering a powerful counsel? Get ready for another action-packed mission with the ninja!
Ninja Suits: Fugitive, Golden, Golden Dragon, Dojo, Spinjitzu Training
Episodes: 30
Whip: Crystal Whip
Spin-Offs:The Virtues of Spinjitzu (6 episodes)
Chapters: Creation (Virtues of Spinjitzu,) Golden Power
McGuffin: Weapons of Destruction
Released: May 20, 2022
Pilot: Farewell the Sea
Finale: Roots
Dragons Rising (2023 - Ongoing)[]
The third generation of Ninjago, also known as he Dragons Rising Era is the successor to the original series. It is not a reboot but does reset the episode count. These seasons are still animated by WildBrain, but they are set in the united realm.
The balance of the various realms has been upset and the resulting collision is wreaking havoc on Ninjago. The Ninja must race against time to stop the destruction before it's too late. To stop the destruction, the Ninja must embark on a quest to find the Realm Weaver and destroy it before it's too late. Along the way, they must navigate the dangerous terrain of the colliding realms and battle the various villains who seek the Realm Weaver for their own purposes.
A chilling new threat is on the horizon, and from a face that looks all too familiar. An army of glowing wolf masks? An ominous gong? Could it all be connected to the blood moon visions that are haunting Master Lloyd? Brace yourself for more epic ninja action because ninja NEVER quit!
The Forbidden Five are back and more dangerous than ever in the BRAND NEW LEGO Ninjago: Dragons Rising – Season 3! They’re hunting for special weapons to unlock the source of their dark power – the Chaos Dragon! Meanwhile, the Ninja are racing to find their missing teammates and stop the villains before it’s too late.
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