#PLEASE TALK TO ME ABOUT NINJAGO | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lunar-eclipse-bunnies · 2 years

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ninjago analysis? theory? fuck it im talking about a 10+ years old childrens lego franchise

so obviously one of ninjago's main themes aside from found family and reformation/growth is protection, right? the main job of the bounty's crew is to protect ninjago, be it from petty criminals to timeline-altering threats, and the ninjas will always be there to protect their home and the people who live in it

and each ninja has their own motivations to continue protecting ninjago, right? zane has his main directive, nya and kai are defending their home and found family, cole is living up to his mother's legacy, etc. and each of their motivations (as well as their backstories) inform the style of protection/defense they chose to embody, which led me to make:

this. the Active to Passive, Protective to Defensive alignment chart. very basically, active = without prompt, passive = with prompting, defensive = coming from a place of self-centeredness and protective = coming from a place of selflessness. i know it looks bare bones and some choices seem questionable, so please allow me to explain each of my choices;

COLE

cole's style of protection is what led me thru this rabbit hole, when i heard his motivational mantra in his dedicated half-season 13;

"I will always stand up to those who are cruel and unjust."

this is what puts him in the active quadrant, along with his previously shown tendencies towards responsibility, stubbornness and refusal to give up on his ideals, no matter the situation. he is undeniably active in his protection, from being turned into a ghost making sure the mission doesn't go awry in season 5, to when he's traumatized, dropped from several hundred stories in the air into an oni-infested ninjago, but makes it to his vehicle anyway and comes back hardly (physically) injured in season 10, all the way to late season 13 when he stands firmly in his and his mother's ideals, honoring her legacy and not only defeating the skull sorcerer, but uniting the geckles and munces, freeing the upply AND liberating princess vania to run shintaro as a free and just society, almost singlehandedly thanks to him and the promise he made to his mother. now onto his second alignment; his actions and brand heroism is extremely selfless; cole doesn't need to find a reason to care or feel motivated to fulfill his ninja duties, his motivation is that there needs to be someone to do it so it might as well be him. when he's initially captured and sent to work with the geckles and munces in season 13, he immediately treats both sides as equals, tries to unite them and show them both of their groups are worthy of respect and liberation; he doesn't get jealous, like kai, or let his cowardice or anxiety overpower him, like jay, he selflessly focuses on freeing those who have been unjustly hurt by a cruel dictator. even before season 13, he's kind and nurturing to baby wu, uses the group's break up at the end of season 3/beginning of season 4 to help and be useful with his super strength; even when he knows revealing his identity could affect how he's seen in his workplace, he immediately gives his lumber job up to save a coworker from a nasty accident. he is a selfless, active protector of ninjago and i adore him for that.

ZANE

after hearing cole's quote/motivation, i got further down the rabbit hole when i remembered zane's:

"I protect those who cannot protect themselves."

his puts him squarely in the passive quadrant, as well as his in-character tendencies to avoid conflict (whether out of social ineptitude or strategic purposes) (coughcough season 8 getting cole kidnapped and saying nothing COUGH) and his need to be prodded in some way to act. zane, as a character, needs it proven to him that someone needs to be protected for him to protect them. not in a negative way, rather a logical one; why would he protect someone if they are fully capable of doing it themself? the only exceptions to that rule appear to be protecting people he loves (even though they are capable of protecting and defending themselves) but that self-sacrifice and burning need to protect comes from his selfless desire to see those around him succeed from his productivity or lack thereof. zane is undeniably selfless, and a pretty good god damn protector. his character might change if someone gave him the same effort he puts into protecting those he loves, but no one has quite allowed him that. in fact, i haven't seen crystalized yet because i can't find where it's been released, but the fact that zane turned off his emotions in order to keep being a productive, supporting member of the team in the wake of nya's death is a terrifying prospect and i hope he's given some therapy (or a dedicated protector of his own) very soon.

"A ninja never quits."

while this may just seem like i'm searching for motivational quotes to assign to each character, this quote really solidifies wu's alignment as a solely protective character for me; a ninja never quits, but to do so one must use all skills at their disposal, whether the actions in and of themselves are passive (prompting and teaching his students so that they may use those skills for themselves) or active (every time he fights his kids, every time he fights a big bad, every time he fights his brother, etc) his overall goal is to protect who and what he loves for the sake of their continued well being. he sacrifices himself MULTIPLE TIMES in canon for the sake of his students and family succeeding in the mission and growing as people; his selflessness is undeniable. the guilt wu feels whenever his past comes back not to haunt him, but his students, his family, permeates in his voice lines and character animation. while i know and understand wu is not a wholly good character, his morals are steadfast, and his grand-paternal streak is a mile wide.

PIXAL

OH BOY I'M EXCITED FOR THIS ONE

"Was I more... useful? Inside the computer? ... I want to be a useful member of the team... I like having a body, but if you require my assistance in your headset--"

pixal's character is inherently selfless. it may as well be in her code, but according to the narrative of ninjago, from her introduction as a personal assistant in season 3 to her gaining nya's approval to continue being samurai x around season 8/9, every one of pixal's actions are actively protective, arguably moreso towards the citizens of ninjago (although that could be more attributed to pixal trying to honor nyas samurai x legacy, which actively focused on aiding the people of ninjago rather than actively fighting anyone, at least during her initial debut). she cares so much about being useful, of being productive in her protection, that she weighs the pros and cons of losing her body AGAIN (something she admits she does not want, her one selfish desire). she is actively thinking about how to aid the ninja's, how to make their future missions easier, and therefore how to protect the entirety of ninjago safer and more protected thanks to the ninjas. much like cole, her protective streak requires no prompting; no matter what kind of trouble is being made, she will be in the samurai x suit, in the sky, in the ninja's headsets, etc, she's nearly everywhere at once, willing to get her hands dirty to protect what she values the most. it's almost funny, the closest pixal has come to being a ninja is being zane's head mate for the better part of 3 seasons, and yet she has the most dedication and drive out of the entire main cast, seconded only by nya.

KAI

"all my training to become the best ninja wasn't in preparation to become the green ninja. it was... to protect him!"

while i would have used the cookie quote for both smith siblings, i feel this quote from season 1 really speaks to the heart of kai's character for me. he's a solid active/defensive character for me, mostly because he is consistently characterized as a stubborn, hot-headed and self-centered individual who is prone to defensive outbursts or periods of time (mostly during missions) where he will deliberately ignore whoever is in charge of or organizing the mission. these outbursts and disproportional moments of confidence are unprompted, and often lead to dysfunction in the team and it's dynamics. which leads to the second half of his alignment, his defensiveness, evidenced by his habit of centering himself in conversations and plans; while most of his seasons 1-2 characterization has passed, that age-old self-centeredness has remained. i'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's actually quite in-character and makes sense for his backstory! as he was a child saddled with raising a baby sister solely on his own, with no parental guides and few if any good role models, it's no wonder he would act (out) like this once given a semblance of stability and family. but that doesn't excuse the actions he has taken as a result of his childhood; he centers himself, likely because in his life before the monastery, he had to prioritize actions he takes and decisions he makes to keep him and nya afloat, but that relationship with responsibility is far from healthy and doesn't translate well into a healthy, loving family dynamic. i chose the quote i did because this is a paradoxical statement; kai's confidence says he's the best ninja, but reality says he is not the green ninja, the legendary ninja. before this point in the series, kai had been convinced HE would be the green ninja, so much so that the scene where wu sees if nya is almost breaks him and ruins their sibling bond. an aftershock of this happens when lloyd is reveled to be the green ninja, but either his lack of an intimate emotional bond with lloyd or his experience with this brand of disappoint make kai's reaction much less jealousy-prone and a lot more self aggrandizing. his self-centering, like his unprompted action, is instinctual, and a core part of his character and being.

NYA

this is another one i'm excited to get into <3 so bear with this long ramble please

"that's just the way the cookie crumbles."

i know this quote is much more recent than the others, and much more different, but nya has always been a different, more dynamic character than the rest. she is, like kai, both active and defensive, but much more muted than him. she centers herself because no one in her life, before or after the monastery and the bounty, have allowed her that. samurai x becomes her solely unblemished and untainted outlet to express her identity, but even that is stripped from her by master wu in season 5 when he rushes her into becoming the water elemental, and samurai x is stolen from her not long after. she voices her discomfort with both of these events, in season 5 and after, but she is given no sympathy, no understanding; once again, her selfishness has been stripped without her consent. she is forced to protect, to be selfless, despite what she wants. and the other half of her alignment, her activeness, is completely unprompted by anything. she is ingenuitive, building surprise mechs and road vechicles, keeping the bounty afloat, keeping comms and screens running, with no need to be asked to. there is a kind of selflessness in that, but if nya didn't do it, who would? and who would do it as well as she does? nya's relationships and role on the team and in the family force her to be selfish as a coping mechanism; everyone is a little selfish, everyone has a concept of their Self and feeds it, grows it from time to time, except nya, whose Self has been trampled on by nearly everyone in her life (her mother, borther, sensei, "boyfriend"). she is selfish, but i think she deserves to be.

JAY

okay, this is probably going to make some jay stans mad, but there are some undeniably dark truths about jay i will never get over.

"you told me we were never gonna happen. i thought maybe these three wishes were the very thing that would bring us together. i had to try... in my defense, i did just find out my parents are not my birth parents... nothing? really?"

jay is selfish. i don't mean that in a mean way, but jay has proven himself time and time again that he is a defensive, self-centered character, and that trait is most obvious in his treatment of and relationship with nya, as well as the ENTIRETY of season 6. despite nya's insistence on not having a romantic relationship with jay, jay deliberately goes against her wishes, choosing to use magic to make her fall in love with him, and for what? because some ice in the previous season said they'd get together? jay would respect some magic ice over his teammate and friend's sister? and in season 10, during the final oni battle at the monastery, he decides THEN is the PERFECT TIME TO PROPOSE, depsite having plenty of time beforehand! where nya could have time to ACTUALLY THINK about her answer instead of saying yes in case one of them died! so! jay exhibits selfishness pretty regularly, like kai, which lands him in the "defensive" alignment, but like zane, he is also slotted in the passive section. he often needs to be prompted, whether through words, threats, actions, mishaps with his team, etc, to do the right thing. his cowardice is ingrained in his being and hinders him from becoming active in his defense; cole is the one who lets the remaining ninja on the tiger poison island know how jay fucked up, and during the whole conversation jay is begrudging, almost refusing to admit anything and even has the gall to act betrayed when cole outs that he used two of his wishes, and that's why he was so paranoid about the jin. he tries to soften the blow of the conversation, tries to gain any amount of sympathy, by mentioning that he found out he's adopted, CONVIENTLY LEAVING OUT that how he knew was because he WISHED HIS BIO DAD DEAD TO INHERET HIS ESTATE AND MONEY. YEAH. jay's selfishness continues through the series, even into season 12 where he is given a FUCKING CULT for being so good at video games (and even in there, he needs to be prompted to do the right thing, AND ALSO KILLS NYA. A SECOND TIME. THIS IS A BAD TREND FOR YOUR PARTNER TO HAVE) still, jay is dedicated to defending ninjago and his family, even if he requires prompting to do so correctly.

GARMADON

"People don't change. They only reveal who they truly are!"

garmadon analysis makes me so giddy, so this might get off the rails really quick, be warned. like in canon, he and wu are similar but opposites; if wu's actions are solely protective, garmadon's (even when the evil is removed from him or hasn't taken control yet) are solely defensive, no matter how they are expressed. he, selfishly but correctly, wanted to keep spinjitsu away from aspheera, he is the one who decided to climb the monastery walls for his ball because he wanted to continue playing with wu, he tried multiple times (and succeeded! what a dilf!) to claim the golden weapons and rule as he saw fit (an inherently selfish endeavor). when the evil inside him was removed, he saw to become a sensei, and teach nonviolence in his own monastery, one he controlled so strictly not even weapons were allowed on the premises for fear he would pick one up against and wield it like he used to. no matter what stage of the story ninjago is at, garmadon is a selfish individual; but like how defensiveness can be used for good, so can selfishness! because of that, garmadon makes sure his son doesn't perish in the early seasons, he warns lloyd about the arrival of the oni in the later ones, and still keeps him alive through whatever means necessary. while wu weaponizes his selflessness to protect his family, garmadon utilizes his selfishness to defend it.

LLOYD

"unless my light is bright enough!"

i'm going to be honest, i considered not including a quote to reinforce my decision with lloyd. he's square in the middle; neither passive nor active, nor defensive or protective. he does protect and defend ninjago, and his family, but the meanings of those words in the context do not apply. prompting or the lack thereof, selfishness or selflessness, i feel like niether truly encompass lloyd. and i thought that was really weird; he's the main character, right? there have to be some hard lines in there somewhere that define him, right? but then i realized something. he's just a kid. ninjago is his bildungsroman, his coming of age. even after fifteen whole seasons, he is growing as a person, as a character, learning lessons, rights and wrongs. growing into healthier coping mechanisms and shedding older, unhealthier ones; learning to love living in a family. so of course he doesn't have a protective or defensive style set in stone; his body may be of age, but he still has the mindset of a traumatized, neglected, and abandoned young boy. and like a young child, he is inconsistent, selflessly giving his life up in seasons 4 through 9, but finally claiming a selfish (and well-deserved) break from training in season 11. copying his teammate's styles of protection (aiding the impoverished with harumi, pre-reveal) and defense (warning cole against princess vania, hoping no one will repeat his mistake with harumi, deciding all princesses are like her). he is both prompted (attacking and defeating his father, deciding to make the prophecy come true because of the actions of his family) and unprompted (weaponizing the lessons he's been taught by his family, his father and his sensei) in his action. i can't in good faith say he is solely one way or another, when his emotions and actions are out of sync across the series, one trait remains consistent in his character out of all others; the 'unless' principle; the idea that, hypothetically, the best outcome could come out of the worst circumstance, he only needs to make it so.

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