The Future of Ninjago

[Banana Gunz]

Every year, it's become a drip of joy to see the new season of Ninjago start and see what honest fun and adventure will meet the ninja this time around. For me, the show isn't particularly ground breaking in its story telling ideas all the time or even quite on the level of other things that interest me, but it's fun and a surprisingly smart show considering its demographic. To me, this is perhaps a sign that children being exposed to so much media so consistently and on such a saturated level is making it harder to keep their attention and making cheap and easy content with no thought isn't quite going to cut it anymore. But regardless of what the show may be saying about the state of modern children in a modern world and how media and toys are being branded and show cased to them (a subject that I could literally go on about endlessly), I think something fun to talk about would be the possible future of the line itself.

 

Kids nowadays with there being such a constant demand to grab and hold their attention, perhaps need two things to keep them hooked and invested story-wise. First off, there's consistency and characters they can be attached to. The Ninjago show is quite brilliant and almost revolutionary for LEGO to have a single cast of characters considering the theme's long run time. No other theme has quite matched up with running for so long with a central and organized cast that's clear and easy to follow, distinguish and associate. The other aspect necessary, would be new and fresh ideas. Ninjago has also been pretty successful with this, every year introducing new characters and story lines as well as themes and plot ideas that tie in well with what's already been established. Whatever your argument may be for the shows "inconsistency" or "unplanned" way of being written, it does well for what it is especially for LEGO.

 

The main cast of Kai, Jay, Cole, Zane, Nya, Wu, and a little later Lloyd, are prominent and important figures that have interesting arcs that though aren't always addressed consistently through every season, are focused and easy for young children to spot out. But to me it's the second element that makes me worried: the part about keeping things fresh. Sure, it's not terribly difficult to come up with a new idea for each year. Whether it be robots, pirates, or anything else, there's always inspiration to keep going and making sets. Unfortunately, there always seems to be a point in story telling, especially when the story isn't planned far into the future where it feels like the creators ran out of ideas and things become less interesting. Now normally for LEGO this wouldn't be an issue considering most of their themes don't last more than a few years, but Ninjago has been going on for a while and LEGO has no plans to stop, even announcing it to be an ever green theme.

 

Having a main cast of characters is brilliant to keep children involved, as it'll keep them coming back to see how they're doing and what perils await them and what futures lie ahead. Unfortunately, eventually even that can get old for many. Ninjago is already about five years old, having debuted in 2011 (fact check?). When you think about it, the original sets were listed as being target towards 6-14 year olds. Usually when kids reach about the 12-14 age range they will already be phasing out of it naturally, looking to more "big kid" things to enjoy, and are less likely to get into new themes. So a kid from anywhere between 6 and 11 in 2011 by now will be anywhere on the later end of the age range onward, and likely losing interest. Now of course, most of this is assumption and it varies per person for sure, but the main point is that eventually the kids that grew up with Ninjago and loving those characters would have likely moved on. They were the ones that stuck with the ninjas since the beginning and have the strongest attachment to them. Kids that are younger today and getting into Ninjago probably aren't running into this problem right away, but I can imagine eventually there being too much of a distance between the roots of the characters and where they are today. So what's the solution?

 

Well, it's not an immediate "threat" and there sure is no panic to start rebooting the theme or changing things. Adding and removing characters to the main cast has kept things relatively fresh, but remember Ninjago is now an EVERGREEN THEME, meaning LEGO has NO plans to stop. So this is all looking to future. For now, I like most others would love to see the ninjas we have now have their stories completed and have an excellent finish. Getting rid of them would be absolutely ridiculous since they are basically the heart and soul of the series. I think in a few to several years, it would be smart to take an interesting turn with the theme and freshen things up to be more open to newer kids who are less attached to the characters (and of course as long as kids love the sets they'll love the theme, but this is all about the story, as story can be a huge and more important selling point that many think, even in the case of LEGO).

 

So what to do? Pull a Bionicle! And no, don't start replacing the cast of characters like every two years, that's just, no. Bionicle has suffered from that somewhat in the past. My vision is that eventually in a new wave, we are introduced into a soft reboot kinda like what recently Creed and Star Wars: The Force Awakens have done. They take the simple bones of the originals and what worked there, and expand on it a bit with new characters that follow the legacies of the old. I was inspired by seeing older reflections of the ninja last season and there futures. I want to see a world where Sensei Wu has either passed on or was killed in the previous season, which in an ideal world is an epic and beautiful wrap up leaving the ninja as fully matured and walking their own paths. We already see Wu comment this season that the ninja are growing up, and though Kai may still be a bit egotistical and Jay a bit reckless, and they still struggle with their flaws as is the nature of a good character, they are more focused as a team and more responsible than they ever have been.

 

So what's the best way to follow up the ninja being fully matured and focused adults/individuals? Pull them apart! That will give an extra layer to their characters and leave their older selves with a new and interesting element. They'll still be mature and the same old characters, but they won't be the same since the split up. Eventually they reunite, making that moment all the more special and important. So the death of Wu has greatly impacted these characters, and being older and less reliant on each other it makes sense that they're finding their own lives now. In the reflections, Jay and Nya will likely be married/lovers, with the two being accomplished inventors and living somewhat fulfilled lives. Cole goes about traveling and studying the world and life itself to gain a greater understanding of his universe, and Kai likely would be living in somewhat isolated or hidden among the common crowd. The ninja know generally where they each are, but haven't talked in years. Except for Lloyd. Lloyd is gone. Like, totally disappeared, no one knows where he is. We will be introduced to a new protagonist/set of protagonists, with Kai being their introduction to the art of ninjitsu, an effortless parallel to his beginnings with Sensei Wu.

 

Lloyd will be our Luke Skywalker, our Macguffin of this season. Our new cast of characters will be on a quest to discover the dead of ninjitsu, the last known masters all gone. Through happening and circumstance, they meet Kai who eventually reveals himself as being the Master of Fire. If you want, one of the new young characters can be Lil Nelson or the new "purple ninja". Just an idea, but I'd rather it be that the new cast is entirely unknown and born into a time where they only heard stories of the old ninja masters and their victories and sacrifices. The goal will be to begin training, but what we begin to see is some development for our old characters: they're not the same without each other.

 

You see, Kai is going to find that though he is one of the most skilled and mastered in his element, he can't train these young-lings by himself. He still has that spark of arrogance that makes him a bit of a harsh teacher that frustrates the new kids. He's powerful, but he's no sensei. He's probably the most affected by the loss of Wu, and doesn't feel completely confident in his self as a ninja without his guidance. His confidence was built on that assurance of his master, the one who raised him to be a warrior. All the others are also not the same without their brother and sister hood. Cole begins to feel isolated almost. Him being a traveler and always alone is taking a toll, and he begins to feel lost. For all he studies life, it's not the same care and bond as he had with his friends. He's beginning to struggle more and more with him being a robot, and he provides an interesting internal conflict of what he really is without his brothers and if he's really even alive. Jay and Nya are also interesting. They live a happy and good marriage, but not one without some fights. They realize that for as much as they love each other, much of their relationship is built on making things, moving forward and never stopping. Because they're afraid of the slow and quiet moments. They're very eccentric personalities and though they love each other, connecting is difficult and are deep down afraid if they stop moving forward constantly, they might fall apart. Lloyd, also greatly affected by the dramatic happenings of the previous season, is out in hiding and complete isolation, as though their last adventure was a victory as usual, it was not one without terrible sacrifices... And he still faces the fact of him being the most powerful ninja, the chosen one, and whether one single being like him is un-corruptible. The other ninjas look to him as the purest force there is, but he knows he was once evil before, and feels it can happen again. Not to mention old demons come back to haunt him as he feels sorrow for never being able to have a good child hood and a stable family. Though he knows he had mastered those pains, the dynamic of "it's one thing to win the battle but it's another to be the victor" is way too interesting. Just because you can make a decision, doesn't mean it's any easier to live with it.

 

Ah, but Cole! You thought I forgot. You thought it was convenient for me to leave him out! Or not, I don't know your life. But Cole is hard character to tackle. As seen in last season, he has no reflection! And even now, that's something he's struggling with. And I don't buy for even a second that his ability to turn invisible has a single thing to do with it. He's becoming a darker and harder character. All the characters are different from each other, but he's now completely different. He was once the team's leader, and now he barely fits in with them. So, what does the lack of a reflection tell us should happen to him? Well, two ideas. 1) He's dead. Yes, Wu wasn't the only sacrifice. I think it would be really interesting and a strong emotional event for Cole to die. Once their stoic and fearless leader, gone. It would make for a really dramatic previous season, and give even more of an explanation for why the original ninja are so unstable. They didn't just lose their master, they lost their friend, and he's never coming back.

 

2) Now, stick with me for this one. It's a little crazy. Cole is evil. Yes, Cole haunted by all these sudden demons turn on his brethren and sister. He's so isolated, so lonely and so separated. Him being left the way he is drove him off the end emotionally. So at the end of the last season, he turns and hurts all of the other ninja like never before. At the end, it is still a victory, but the sacrifice was too much to bear. And what if HE was the one to kill Sensei Wu!?!? He blamed his Sensei for never making him strong enough to win every battle, and becoming so different. He used to be a leader, but then had even that spotlight taken from him by Lloyd. He even lost Nya to Jay. All his old demons caught up with him, and the other ninja had no choice, as sometimes it's too late, and Cole is presumed dead. Even the lack of him having a reflection is IMMEDIATELY followed by Morro smashing through. Suddenly, it makes all to much sense. Cole is the larger and main villain for this year, or perhaps the background villain pulling strings until he reveals himself and takes the full role the next season. He'll have a cool parallel to Hades of the Olympians; a dark horse who is accepted by them, but doesn't quite fit and becomes almost alien to them. I guess earth is dark like that. I personally LOVE this idea for continuing his arc. The ninja have always bickered, but you always knew they would make up and save the day. This completely breaks that trope and changes the whole villain dynamic. The most interesting villain in most stories is one with a real connection to your protagonists, like Morro.

 

So that's the world as it is. Oh, and just for the fun of it, maybe Lloyd turns out to be at the site of Wu's burnt down original dojo, or maybe that's where all our remaining ninja meet for the first time in so long, or perhaps where there is an ultimate and maybe final showdown between Cole and all the other ninja, or heck, why not all of the above.

 

Our story will now be led by a new set of young protagonists to connect with newer audiences while still treating the old characters with fullest respect and expanding them and expressing new dynamics. I just feel like it would all be a natural progression for the theme's story.

 

Oh, and all the new protagonists have different styles of uniforms. They should all look united, but not uniform like the current ones. Look to Bionicle 2015 to see how that works. Consistent, but far from the same in any sense.

 

So I guess where I'll leave this with you fellows is who should be the new protagonists, and what will they be like? What elements will they be masters of? Will they be descendants of old masters of those elements, and how will they tie in to this "future" wave? Are they even elemental masters at all?!? In general, do you like my ideas and agree with them? Add on to it and tell what you think should be changed, and what the general overall plot should be! These are just some ideas I had on the future of the series and wanted to share them!

Edited January 16, 2016 by Banana Gunz

[Petewa]

Nia, 

First of all, you misspelled Nya. Second of all...well, excuse my brashness, but this is heresy.

[Banana Gunz]

 

Nia, 

First of all, you misspelled Nya. Second of all...well, excuse my brashness, but this is heresy.

 

 

Whoops! My bad, fixed it. Hey, at least I got the other right?

 

And lol why is this heresy?