Ninjago Theory/Headcanon: The Source of Zane's Powers

[Aanchir]

One thing about LEGO Ninjago that a lot of people seem to be confused about is how Zane has the elemental power of ice when, as a Nindroid, he can't be biologically descended from an Elemental Master. Apparently a kid asked about it at the LEGO Ninjago panel at SDCC earlier, and the creators of Ninjago said even they hadn't firmly decided. I've had a theory/headcanon about this for a while and I figured I might as well pitch it in a topic of its own.

 

Actually, this theory/headcanon rests on the fact that there are actually TWO major things nobody in the story seems to understand about Zane. One is how he got his elemental powers. The other is the nature of his power source. Zane's power source seems to be intricately connected with at least some of his ninja powers: when Zane gave Pixal a half of his power source in Season Three, he and she could synchronize to perform Spinjitzu. The fact that his elemental powers might also be tied to his power source is not far-fetched.

 

And the idea that elemental powers can be contained in an OBJECT as easily as in a person was reinforced in Season Four, when Master Chen used a crystal from his island in his Staff of Elements to steal the elemental powers of the current Elemental Masters. The crystal was mined from his island, and later, used a cave full of the same crystals to steal elemental powers from Skylor.

 

Here's my theory: The original Elemental Master of Ice did not have any descendants. Knowing that his elemental power would be lost if he perished without passing on his power, he used that same type of crystal to absorb his own elemental power before passing away. Later on, through some turn of events, the crystal passed into the ownership of Dr. Julien. Eventually recognizing its unique powers, he used it as a power source in the construction of his most unique creation: his Nindroid son, Zane. Of course, like all the other Ninja, Zane was not able to unlock his elemental ice Spinjitzu until after training with Sensei Wu, and was not able to tap into his elemental ice powers in other ways until he obtained the Shurikens of Ice.

 

What do you guys think?

[The 1st Shadow]

 

Here's my theory: The original Elemental Master of Ice did not have any descendants. Knowing that his elemental power would be lost if he perished without passing on his power, he used that same type of crystal to absorb his own elemental power before passing away. Later on, through some turn of events, the crystal passed into the ownership of Dr. Julien. Eventually recognizing its unique powers, he used it as a power source in the construction of his most unique creation: his Nindroid son, Zane. Of course, like all the other Ninja, Zane was not able to unlock his elemental ice Spinjitzu until after training with Sensei Wu, and was not able to tap into his elemental ice powers in other ways until he obtained the Shurikens of Ice.

 

What do you guys think?

Here's what I think. You're probably right on most of it, but what if Dr. Julien was the last Elemental Master of Ice?

 

He wasn't married, presumably, and didn't have children of his own. But the distinguishing detail comes from the flashback Zane has of him:

 

"You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

 

Why would he say that? All he ever taught Zane to do was cook, clean, build, and play. He never taught him anything in the way of fighting or defending. So, what about Zane was meant to be protective? Makes me think Julien knew exactly what he was putting into his creation. He knew good and well that he was putting the legacy of the Ice Masters into his robot son, and therefore, that he was built to protect.

 

Also, consider that Kai and Nya's father and mother were supposedly present when the original Elemental Masters fought a war against the Anacondrai with Garmadon and Wu. Assuming the narrative isn't being screwy with us, that would put Dr Julien as either a kid or a teenager during that war, so his father (or mother) would have passed the power on to him, and then his creative nature may have led him to experiment with his power at some point, possibly putting it into the crystal then.

 

Knowing that he didn't have any children, he would have gone with the next best thing and put the Ice crystal/power source into Zane.

[Ghidora131]

Wait, Ninjago has a plot?
 
And more importantly, someone's trying to make it make sense??
 
...
 
 

Knowing that he didn't have any children, he would have gone with the next best thing and put the Ice crystal/power source into Zane.

 

Well, honestly the next best thing was to adopt a son and not make a machine which would prove to be incredibly inept in many different ways, question his life repeatedly, and become attached to a bird

 

I understand Zane's an incredibly advanced robot but still

[The 1st Shadow]

Wait, Ninjago has a plot?

 

And more importantly, someone's trying to make it make sense??

 

...

 

 

Knowing that he didn't have any children, he would have gone with the next best thing and put the Ice crystal/power source into Zane.

 

Well, honestly the next best thing was to adopt a son and not make a machine which would prove to be incredibly inept in many different ways, question his life repeatedly, and become attached to a bird

 

I understand Zane's an incredibly advanced robot but still

How would you transfer the power to an adopted child who doesn't share your genes? The crystals don't have to share genetic code to contain the power.

[Aanchir]

Here's what I think. You're probably right on most of it, but what if Dr. Julien was the last Elemental Master of Ice?

 

He wasn't married, presumably, and didn't have children of his own. But the distinguishing detail comes from the flashback Zane has of him:

 

"You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

 

Why would he say that? All he ever taught Zane to do was cook, clean, build, and play. He never taught him anything in the way of fighting or defending. So, what about Zane was meant to be protective? Makes me think Julien knew exactly what he was putting into his creation. He knew good and well that he was putting the legacy of the Ice Masters into his robot son, and therefore, that he was built to protect.

 

Also, consider that Kai and Nya's father and mother were supposedly present when the original Elemental Masters fought a war against the Anacondrai with Garmadon and Wu. Assuming the narrative isn't being screwy with us, that would put Dr Julien as either a kid or a teenager during that war, so his father (or mother) would have passed the power on to him, and then his creative nature may have led him to experiment with his power at some point, possibly putting it into the crystal then.

 

Knowing that he didn't have any children, he would have gone with the next best thing and put the Ice crystal/power source into Zane.

Interesting thought! It's possible that Dr. Julien could have been the elemental master of ice himself. I was assuming he wasn't, but I suppose we never really heard or saw anything from him that would outright confirm or deny that. Even though Zane spent some quality time with his father, he never actually asked Dr. Julien about what his past was like before creating his Nindroid child.

 

There are definitely a few other mysteries still unanswered about who specifically the ninja inherited their powers from. The reveal in Season 6 that

Jay is adopted

neatly explains why we'd never seen any indication of Ed and Edna Walker having any elemental affinity, and it's probably fairly safe to assume that Cole inherited his powers from his mother (assuming that elemental powers never skip a generation, since that was a possibility Nya suggested when she was having a hard time unlocking hers, and I don't think Wu ever specifically denied it).

 

Wait, Ninjago has a plot?

 

And more importantly, someone's trying to make it make sense??

 

 

...

I'm sure there are many people who have asked the same thing about Bionicle. Not only does Ninjago have a plot, in my opinion it has one of the most well-crafted and emotionally sincere plots of any LEGO theme. There are many good reasons why it's as popular as it is.

 

Well, honestly the next best thing was to adopt a son and not make a machine which would prove to be incredibly inept in many different ways, question his life repeatedly, and become attached to a bird

 

I understand Zane's an incredibly advanced robot but still

Besides the issues of elemental power inheritance, an adopted child wouldn't necessarily have any less angst or any fewer personality quirks than Zane. Not sure what the bit about becoming attached to a bird is supposed to imply either, because lots of people get attached to animals. That's an extremely normal thing that people do — Zane and his falcon friend just happened to be robots.

 

As for "why was Dr. Julien's first impulse always to build a robot", building machines was kind of his thing. The guy was a recluse who lived alone in a secret workshop in a forest, so it goes without saying that he was pretty eccentric and might not have responded to wanting a child the same way other would-be parents might. Even if he had, "hermit living alone in an underground bunker miles from civilization" might have raised some serious red flags at the adoption agency.

 

As for why he didn't just have a biological child, even setting aside the various biological reasons a person might not be able to have kids, it doesn't seem like he was particularly interested in romance.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Aanchir