Lego Ninjago (stylized as NINJAGO) Masters
of Spinjitzu is a current line of sets produced by
Lego. It uses elements from the previous
Ninja series. There are several changes from the
previous series. These include the removal of the Shogun and
Bandits, and the introduction of the Skeleton Army and the
Serpentine. Also noticeable is the inclusion of vehicles
which imply a more modern setting than the feudal Japan
setting of the previous incarnation. The series also has a
shortened theme song entitled "The Weekend Whip" by "The
Fold".
The theme centers on the world of Ninjago, home to both
modern cities and ancient villages. Ninjago was created by
the First Master of Spinjitzu using the Four Golden Weapons:
the Sword of Fire, the Nunchuks of Lightning, the Scythe of
Quakes (earth) and the Shuriken(s) of Ice. No one could hold
them all at once because of their immense power. His son,
however, was consumed by evil (later revealed to be from a
bite from the Great Devourer) and wanted the Four Weapons
for himself. He was found out by his younger brother Wu and
they fought, and the older brother, Garmadon, was banished
to the Underworld. Peace reigned for many years, but then
Garmadon sent Skeletons from the underworld to steal the
Weapons. Wu found four teenagers to train as ninja, Cole,
Jay, Zane, and Kai, one of whom, Kai, had a sister, Nya,
captured by the Skeletons.
In the early 2012 series, The Serpentine,
an ancient race of snake people split into five tribes (Hypnobrai,
Fangpyre,Constrictai, Venomorai, and Anacondrai), were released by Lloyd
Garmadon, son of Lord Garmadon, and later by Pythor, the last of the
Anacondrai tribe. The ninja had to capture the Serpentine staffs while
fighting the Serpentine. The later 2012 story focused on the Four Fang
Blades that were used to awaken the Great Devourer. Another theme in the
2012 series was to figure out the identities of the Green Ninja,
destined to defeat Lord Garmadon, and Samurai X, a mysterious Samurai
using an exo-suit against the Snakes. "He" is Nya in disguise
The next line, which will be released from late 2012 to
early 2013, concentrates on fighting
stone
warriors, as well as the final battle between Lord Garmadon and the
Green Ninja, who is revealed to be Garmadon's son, Lloyd. Lloyd
eventually becomes the Golden Ninja allied with the ninja, who now
possess elemental swords.
Main Characters
Kai --the Red Ninja, Master of Fire. Impatient and headstrong,
he joined the team in order to save his sister, Nya. His weapons of
choice are swords.
Jay --the Blue Ninja, Master of Lightning. He is a constant
joker and always concerned about his looks. His weapons of choice
are nunchuks.
Cole --the Black Ninja, Master of Earth. He is the team leader
and is very strong. His weapons of choice are scythes.
Zane --the White Ninja, Master of Ice. He is very smart but is
distant at times, though it was later revealed that this was due to
his being a robot. His weapons of choice are shurikens.
Nya --Kai's sister. Having been treated as unequal by the ninja,
she became the mysterious Samurai X. Her weapons of choice are
daggers.
Lord Garmadon --the Dark Lord, Lloyd Garmadon's father and
Sensei Wu's older brother. Lord Garmadon seeks to possess the
Weapons of Spinjitzu, and later other means, so that he may recreate
Ninjago in his own image. His weapons of choice are deceit and his
Thunder Bolt.
Sensei Wu --Lord Garmadon's wise younger brother. He hid the
golden weapons of Spinjitzu and trained the Ninja to protect them,
though he is impatient with them at times. His weapons of choice are
his wisdom and his staff.
Lloyd Garmadon --The son of Lord Garmadon. He teamed up with the
ninja to defeat the Serpentine. It was later discovered that he was
destined to be the Green Ninja and defeat his father.
Pythor P. Chumsworth --The last remaining Anacondrai serpentine.
He united the Serpentine, excavated the four Fang Blades, and
awakened the giant snake known as the Great Devourer, but was
himself consumed by it.
Skales --The General of the Hypnobrai. He allied with Pythor
with promises of forever being his right-hand man, and eventually
became king of the Serpentine.
Samukai --The King of the Underworld and Garmadon's ally. He
collected the Four Weapons and betrayed Garmadon but was eventually
destroyed by their power
On the same day as the release of the
original 17 sets, a board game from the
Lego Games theme was released in the United Kingdom using elements
from the Ninjago theme.[3]
The first two episodes of the TV series,
Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, entitled "Way of the Ninja" and
"King of Shadows" aired during 2011, both lasting around 30 minutes. Due
to their popularity, the first season, consisting of thirteen episodes,
was commissioned for 2012, and was broadcast from December 2011 to April
2012.[4]
A video game, entitled
Lego Battles: Ninjago, was released on April 12, 2011, on the
Nintendo DS. It is the sequel to the 2009 game
Lego Battles and was developed by Hellbent Games and published
by
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and
TT
Games. A Ninjago themed world was added to the now shut-down
massively multiplayer online game
Lego Universe.[5]
3 iPad and iPhone apps have also been released
The 2011 sets focused on the Ninja protecting the Four
Weapons from the Skeletons. Most sets were of a Skeleton
vehicle such as the Skull Truck or a dragon, such as the
Lightning Dragon, which always has the Ninja and Golden
Weapon of its element. Most 2012 sets were of a Ninja
vehicle and/or a Serpentine building, sometimes holding
their staff.
Spinner Game
In addition to the standard Lego sets there is a Ninjago
game which focuses on the Ninjago martial art Spinjitzu. In
the game, 2 players put Lego minifigures with weapons onto
tops with Lego studs and spin them toward each other, and
usually one of the characters will be knocked over. Battle
cards can be played to improve a spinner or give an
advantage. Some cards require the player to add special Lego
elements onto their spinner.
