Everything You Need To Know About the LEGO Ninjago Universe

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TV Movies

The LEGO Ninjago universe is a mystical and diverse world filled with dragons, armies made of stone, pirates who raid the skies, and android warriors. In preparation for the upcoming LEGO Ninjago Movie scheduled to hit cinemas September 22 this year, we break down everything you need to know about the complex and unique Ninjago universe.

What Is Spinjitzu?

It’s impossible to talk about Ninjago without talking about Spinjitzu, the martial art that nearly everyone uses in the show. If you watched the movie trailer, took a look at some of the promotional images, or even read the synopsis, you’d encounter this mystical combat technique. So what exactly is it?

Spinjitzu is the main martial art used in the world of Ninjago. To master this technique, a user has to tap into their Elemental energies (we’ll cover those later) and then spin rapidly. The result, a tornado-like vortex of energy useful for knocking out your enemies or even changing into your clothes faster than Superman. The color of the vortex varies based on the user.

The ninja aren’t the only ones who can utilize this martial art – Lord Garmadon is a master of Destruction and his purple tornado wreaks devastation to anything that crosses its path.

What Are the Elements?

The elements are the source of every Elemental Master‘s abilities and are a mystical and easily confusing subject.

The four main protagonists of the movie, Kai, Zane, Cole, and Jay, are all masters of one of the four Main Elements: Fire, Ice, Earth, and Lightning. Each element grants the master abilities associated with their element. For example, Kai, as a Master of Fire, is also granted pyrokinetic abilities, such as shooting flames.

Sensei Wu, the teacher of the four ninja, isn’t a master of any one of the main elements. Instead, he is a master of one of the Elemental Essence Powers – Creation. The other Essence Powers are the Golden Power (the Green Ninja, Lloyd is a master of this element, but in the movie, he will probably master the next element), Energy, Darkness, and Destruction (Lord Garmadon’s element).

These elements only make up a fraction of the total number of elements, but all the others are considered secondary and are related to one of the four main elements. For example, Water is associated with Ice, Metal with Earth, and so on. There are also secondary elements that stand alone and aren’t paired with a main element, including Gravity, Speed, and Light, among others.

How Do You Become an Elemental Master?

You may have noticed that there aren’t two Fire Ninja or several Masters of Air. The reason for this is that a ninja’s Elemental Power is hereditary, meaning your power is passed down from your parents. You don’t instantly become a Master though – you still have to train to gain mastery of your element.

For example, Kai, the Master of Fire, is the son of the former Master of Fire, Ray, who is the son of the former Master, and so on, all the way back to the First Elemental Master of Fire.

Kai also has a sister. However, she inherited Water which was her mother, Maya‘s element.

The Ninjago Universe

Home to everyone in the Ninjago world is Ninjago Island, one of two land masses. The other land mass is the Island of Darkness or the Dark Island. The geography on these islands are radically diverse, with soaring mountains, volcanos, rocky deserts, and seas.

Ninjago City is the only major city on the island and is as modern as any other city with soaring skyscrapers, cars, and an aquarium. However, Ninjago has many smaller villages which appear in the series much like a stereotypical rural farming village.

Ninjago is one of 17 separate realms but the LEGO Ninjago Movie will likely only feature the one realm. If you are familiar with the LEGO franchise, you will remember the world of Chima which is another one of the realms.

Ninjago Weapons

Yes, the ninja do use weapons. Quite a few, actually. From the images of the movie, it looks like they will be using the Golden Weapons.

There are four of Golden Weapons: the Sword of Fire, Nunchucks of Lightning, Shurikens of Ice, and Scythe of Quakes. Each one corresponds to one of the four ninja’s elements, giving them special abilities related to their element.

Other notable weapons include the Elemental Blades, which have similar abilities to the four Golden Weapons, but they all appear as swords.

Dragons?

Yes, there are dragons in the world of Ninjago. Every Elemental Master has a corresponding dragon, and each dragon is a physical manifestation of the souls of their Elemental Masters. To gain access to your dragon, you have to have full mastery of your fears.

As mentioned earlier, the ninja use weapons and some of those weapons are extremely powerful. Before they were included in the ninja’s arsenal, the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu were guarded by dragons.

Dragons play a rather large role in the show, so it’s entirely plausible that we will see them pop up in the movie as well, whether as transportation for the ninja or as a challenge for the ninja. We could possibly even see a secondary storyline where the ninja have to battle dragons to get the weapons of Spinjitzu.

What Are Nindroids?

If you have seen images or watched the trailer for the upcoming movie, you may have noticed one of the ninja is less than human. Zane is actually what is called a Nindroid, an advanced combat robot. However, he is still fully capable of emotion and has a strong bond of friendship with his fellow ninja.

As a Nindroid, Zane has increased stamina and durability compared to his organic comrades. He can also store data and calculate courses of action through a panel on his wrist. He doesn’t age and still looks like a teenager despite being over 40 years old. Even though he is a robot, his power source comes from within and doesn’t need to recharge.

Ninjago is a complex universe, and the characters of the upcoming movie are no different. In preparation for the upcoming LEGO Ninjago Movie scheduled to hit cinemas September 22 this year, we also broke down everything you need to know about the characters.