“One ninja will rise above the others and becomes the Green Ninja, the ninja destined to defeat the Dark Lord.”
The Prophecy of the Green Ninja arc is the first arc in the first generation of Ninjago. It tells the beginning tale of the original four Ninja, Nya, Sensei Wu, Lloyd, and Garmadon up until the Final Battle.
The original lore of Ninjago and the main cast are introduced, as is the titular Prophecy of the Green Ninja, which dictates that one Ninja will rise above the others to become the Green Ninja and defeat the Dark Lord. The arc ends with Lloyd becoming the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master and defeating the Overlord, purifying Garmadon, and saving the day.
The Ninja as a whole are the focus of this arc, which turns into focusing more on Lloyd as the seasons continue. Garmadon and the Overlord are the overall main antagonists of the arc.
The seasons the arc is made up of are the Pilot Episodes, Rise of the Snakes, and Legacy of the Green Ninja, and it is made up of 28 episodes.
It is succeeded by the Master Trials.
Chronology[]
Pilot Episodes (2011)[]
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.
The focus character for this season was Kai, and the main antagonist was Samukai. The Golden Weapons are the collectible weapons and the Skulkin were the villainous faction for this season.
Rise of the Snakes (2012)[]
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.
The focus character for this season was Lloyd, and the main antagonist was Pythor. The Four Silver Fangblades are the collectible weapons and the Serpentine were the villainous faction for this season.
Legacy of the Green Ninja (2013)[]
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.
The focus character for this season was Lloyd, and the main antagonist was the Overlord. The Elemental Blades are the collectible weapons and the Stone Samurai Warriors were the villainous faction for this season.
Characters Introduced[]
- Acidicus - Paul Dobson
- Bizarro Cole - Kirby Morrow
- Bizarro Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
- Bizarro Kai - Vincent Tong
- Bizarro Zane - Brent Miller
- Brad Tudabone - Kathleen Barr
- Captain Soto - Alan Marriott
- Chokun - Michael Dobson
- Cole - Kirby Morrow
- Dareth - Alan Marriott
- Dr. Julien - Mark Oliver
- Ed - Colin Murdock
- Edna - Jillian Michaels
- Falcon - Paul Dobson
- Fangtom - Mackenzie Gray
- Fang-Suei - Michael Adamthwaite
- Garmadon - Mark Oliver
- Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
- Kai - Vincent Tong
- Kozu - Paul Dobson
- Kruncha - Brian Drummond
- Lloyd Garmadon - Jillian Michaels
- Lou - Kirby Morrow
- Mezmo - Michael Adamthwaite
- Mystake - Mackenzie Gray
- Mother - Kelly Metzger
- No-Eyed Pete - Paul Dobson
- Noble - Paul Dobson
- Kruncha - Brian Drummond
- Nuckal - Brian Drummond
- Nya - Kelly Metzger
- The Overlord - Scott McNeil
- Patty Keys - Cathy Weseluck
- Postman - Michael Adamthwaite
- Pythor P. Chumsworth - Michael Dobson
- Rattla - Paul Dobson
- Samukai - Michael Kopsa
- Skales - Ian James Corlett
- Skalidor - Michael Dobson
- Slithraa - John Novak
- Spitta - Vincent Tong
- Stone Warrior - Scott McNeil, Alan Marriott
- Wu - Paul Dobson
- Zane - Brent Miller
Battles[]
- Kai & Wu vs. Skulkin Army
- Kai vs. Cole, Jay, & Zane
- The Ninja vs. Rocky
- Kai vs. Garmadon's shadow
- Wu vs. Garmadon
- The Ninja vs. Lloyd Garmadon
- The Ninja vs. Hypnobrai
- The Ninja vs. Cole
- The Ninja vs. Fangpyre
- The Ninja vs. Lloyd & Pythor
- The Ninja vs. Serpentine
- Pythor vs. Serpentine Generals
- The Ninja vs. Samurai X
- Zane vs. Treehorns & Treehorn Queen
- Jay vs. Serpentine
- Spin Harmony vs. Treble Makers
- Kai vs. Garmadon
- The Ninja, Skulkin, and Garmadon vs. Serpentine
- The Ninja, Samurai X, and Wu vs. Serpentine
- Wu vs. Pythor
- Lord Garmadon vs. The Great Devourer
- Ninja vs. Serpentine Generals
- Pirates vs. Ninja
- Ninja vs. Bizarro Ninja
- Ninja vs. Ninjaball Run racers
- Ninja vs. Grundle
- Ninja vs. Garmadon and Shadow Garmadon
- Ninja vs. Giant Stone Samurai Warrior
- Ninja vs. Leviathan
- Ninja vs. Stone Samurai Warriors (2x)
- Lloyd vs. Garmadon
- Lloyd vs. Overlord Dragon
Episodes[]
Series Impact[]
- Garmadon's evil form strongly resembles that of an Oni. It is implied in later seasons that the bite of the Great Devourer counteracted the Balance inside of Garmadon, letting his quarter Oni blood become dominant.
- The Dragons introduced in the Pilot Episodes are said to be able to ferry between realms. At the time it is not known that Wu and Garmadon both have a quarter Dragon blood in them.
- Kai & Nya's parents are absent in the pilots, and it is implied that they died. Ray is shown in a flashback being given the Map of the Golden Weapons by Wu, but his design is different than how he later appears. At the time it is unknown that the two of them are being held captive by Krux.
- The Destiny's Bounty is discovered in Season 1, but it will be unknown until the next season that it once belonged to Captain Soto and his pirate crew.
- Zane is revealed to be a robot in Season 1. This plot point was written into the series for this season, as the writers felt that Brent Miller's performance of Zane gave him a robotic voice, so they rolled with it.
- It is revealed that he was built by roboticist and inventor Dr. Julien.
- Cole is revealed to once be a dancer. His father, Lou, is a member of the Royal Blacksmiths, a quartet. He was originally supposed to be a dancer but quit when his father was too overbearing.
- It is revealed in Season 8 that he quit because his father focused too much on dancing and didn't show any emotion over the loss of his wife.
- Garmadon is revealed to have escaped through the vortex at the end of the pilots to the Realm of Madness where he would harness his evil enough to gain four arms to possess the Golden Weapons.
- The "Dark Lord" spoken of in the Prophecy of the Green Ninja is mistakenly believed to be Lord Garmadon, but it is in fact the Overlord, who enters in Season 2.
- The Serpentine are locked in their respective tombs as of the beginning of Season 1, having been placed there by the Elemental Masters during the Serpentine War.
- The Great Devourer is introduced in Season 1, and it is later revealed that her offspring are their own tribe of Serpentine known as the Vermillion.
- Pythor is eaten by the Great Devourer in Season 1, but it will be unknown that he survived until Season 3.
- The video games featured in Season 1, including Fist to Face Fury and Sitar Legend will be revealed in Season 12 to have been developed by video-game designer Milton Dyer.
- The Great Devourer rampages through Ninjago City, which sets off the events that start Sons of Garmadon.
- The Ninjago City Museum makes its first appearance in Season 2, although Doctor Sander Saunders does not appear yet.
- The Serpentine sarcophagus seen in the museum will later be revealed to be that of one of the ancient Hypnobrai that Aspheera and the Pyro Vipers once belonged to. It is possible that Char is currently entombed in it.
- Krux, under the guise of Sander Saunders, builds his army of Vermillion behind the walls of the museum in secret.
- The serpentine portraits on display in the museum are said by Skales to be fakes. In Season 4 it is revealed that Master Chen has the authentic paintings on display on his island.
- The Overlord is destroyed in the center of Ninjago City, which will eventually become the birthplace of New Ninjago City and the location of Borg Tower (as well as the birthplace of the Digital Overlord.)
- The Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu are destroyed in the past in the episode Wrong Place, Wrong Time, as they are shot into space. They will eventually land on Delta V, a comet flying in the solar system nearby. Because of a time paradox, the Golden Weapons will be sent there more than once and turn into a huge ball of Golden Metal.
- The guts of the Great Devourer that seeped over the city at her death continue puddling through the city. Her guts dripping onto the Stone Samurai Warriors is what causes them to be awakened.
- It's revealed in this season that the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago and was at war with the Overlord at the beginning of Time. In order to defeat him, he bisected Ninjago in half, turning the Overlord's side into what will become known as the Dark Island.
- It is revealed that Dr. Julien apparently has been alive all along, after supposedly having died before rebooting Zane. He was imprisoned in a lighthouse guarded by a Leviathan for years, forced to build the weapons and machinery for Garmadon's Skulkin Army. When Samukai never returned, Julien was left all alone to fend for himself in the lighthouse for years before the Ninja showed up.
- Season 2 marks the introduction of the character Noble, who is introduced as the principal of Darkley's School for Good Children. He is later seen in the series as the warden of Kryptarium Prison in Season 4 onwards.