In my own stories, my philosophy for reviving characters is: Don’t bring them back and pretend like nothing happened. They were just *dead,* so explore how it affects and changes them… along with everyone else. Death is a wound, and wounds take time to heal. By the looks of it, Ninjago seems to do this pretty well.
I've always liked thinking like this when it comes to bringing back characters. It honestly baffles me how people go "if you revive characters a lot then death doesn't matter!" even tho regardless if you can bring back characters faster than Dragon Ball Z does it doesn't take away from the fact that death is a physically and emotionally traumatizing experience to go through, especially now that you're alive again; that shit _hurts_ , and when you bring someone back I agree that you gotta show that it hurts
In one big story me and some online friends made, there are a few instances of people being resurrected. It affects someone in some way. Here’s some of my own experiences from this story, which could help some aspiring writers… assuming you’re willing to read the long paragraphs. -One girl brings her wife back minutes after she dies because the Life/Death God hates the antagonist responsible for bending natural law and is willing to give that chance. But it comes at the cost: she must completely give up her ability to use magic. She’s a Necromancer, which technically shouldn’t exist by decree of said natural law. Only reason she can’t bring back her beloved with it is because Necromancy has some pretty serious side effects… especially to the undead. Not to mention she already did this with her older brother and he was basically a screeching shadow demon until one of the gods decided to make him an angel, but that also meant him having to leave his sister behind, only rarely being able to visit. Without her magic, she was effectively useless because she had no other abilities. But she’s lended the god’s scythe temporarily and has to very quickly learn how to use it because the final battle was coming up. -One character written by me experiences the death of two different girlfriends, and the revival of one. I’ll actually name them this time since these are my characters: Meet Kazi, the boyfriend. The death of Jacklynn, his first girlfriend, scars him tremendously. He hunts down her older brother, Darryl- one of the story’s main characters- (There were five writers, and we all had usually 1-2 main characters each, mine were Darryl and another girl named Leslie; who was more vengeful than Kazi was over Jacklynn’s death) who is responsible for killing her. Although Darryl was just as traumatized because he was faced with no choice but to do this, and after years of running away, he turns himself in- putting his neck on the line. Kazi chooses to save Darryl because he was out in the world, witnessing Darryl fighting to save it. Kazi ends up finding a new girlfriend in the form of Ellie, another member of this friend circle. This happens a couple years after Kazi and Darryl reconcile. But she too dies… at the hands of Kazi himself after Ellie is possessed by the master of the same antagonist mentioned in the previous paragraph. This scars him so much he nearly commits suicide, but is stopped last second by Darryl. Shortly after the spectacle of one revival, Kazi is offered to bring Ellie back to life. He takes it, but it costs him too. He loses most of his magic (Not all, since he needs it to survive, he’s an Elemental) and his physical strength. He’s in less-than-ideal health for the rest of his life. Ellie, meanwhile, despite only being resurrected for the series epilogue episode, is utterly terrified. She’s quit the military and fighting altogether, it’s implied she avoids talk about her initial death, and is mentioned to frequently have nightmares about it. It’s the very end of the series, but it’s clear it’s going to leave a permanent mark on her life after the epilogue. Side note: it’s heavily ironic to talk about this friend circle without once mentioning Ayloth, the sixth guy. He dies at Leslie’s hands, which is heavily ironic considering they’re exes. But that’s the push Leslie needs to change to a protagonist, like with Kazi seeing Darryl save the world. Darryl kills Jacklynn, Leslie kills Ayloth, and Kazi kills a possessed Ellie. Oh, how I love making my characters suffer. -Then we have the prince brothers, both of which are betrayed by their best friend (whose undead spirit becomes an antagonist later, although neither of them are there to witness it) and killed… well, one of them. The elder brother is placed in a spot of healing which keeps him alive for 300 years. When he finally awakens, he’s in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar world, so much different than what he was used to. This makes him susceptible to manipulation, as he was the heir to his kingdom before he and it both fell… and he *really* wanted that throne. The younger brother was properly killed. But his soul was saved by the gods in preparation for a long-destined calamity. 10 years before it happens, he is resurrected along with one other guy and must prepare for it. He suffers the same issue with being in a changed world, but he is more adamant about it. He does not succumb to sins like his older brother- who is the only thing left from his old world. But he fights very bravely, as he has nothing to lose. But he and his brother have conflict. The younger is willing to move on, but the older dwells on it, and has severe trust issues because they were betrayed before. The younger is very optimistic while the older is pessimistic. This is probably why the younger is the survivor between the two. Admittedly these two are a bit “ehh” in terms of resurrection plots because neither of them were really present in the plot beforehand, unlike the rest of the people. Both of them died offscreen long before the story began and nobody had any connection to them until they were revived. The only person who did was killed before they were introduced. But my final example will be that of a character who had an onscreen death and revival. -The guy who gets brought back alongside the younger prince was essentially an NPC to be escorted and the mission failed. He watched his people be slaughtered, because the genocide of his people was the key to collecting an ancient artifact. He was the last one to go, but right before that, he watched his friends die. He is resurrected by one of the gods in preparation to the final arc’s calamity, and as an incentive, his friends are reincarnated with specific traits so he can recognize them. He hesitantly accepts and meets the younger prince brother. After the decade timeskip, he has found none of them and he’s incredibly ticked off. He doesn’t want any of this higher purpose stuff. He just wants his friends back, and if not, to just be reincarnated himself. (Since there is no afterlife, only reincarnation.) It’s only until midway through the arc we meet a new character. After getting to know them, he realizes they are one of his reincarnated friends. He meets the rest of them soon after, and although they don’t quite recognize them, they all feel like they do and become friends. He has his friends back, but their relationship is never the same because these people- despite having the same souls- are undeniably different people than his friends. Only small traces remain. All in all, resurrection can be viewed as a method of character development. But like everything, the key to it is execution. One day, you can move on from the wound that is dying, but it takes time to get there, like everything else. One day you can accept that you died and got revived, but you won’t shrug it off on day one. Sometimes, you never get over it; it was, and always will be. Permanent change and damage is valid character development, like losing a limb. And it’s not just the victim; how many other characters reacted to it? How will their loved ones react seeing them brought back? Will they become overprotective? Will they go into denial? Did they leave out of grief and must be found? And one more question… *do they, or you, want you to die again?*
I really like that throughout season 8-10 Garmadons voice changes significantly symbolizing how he is slowly becoming more human again and having a personality. In season 8 his voice was very deep, and zombie like. Season 9 sounded like a mixture or season 1 and season 8 Garmadon. And finally in season 10 he sounds very similar to his season 1 counterpart.
@@Crusty783 would you ever want to write a letter to Tommy Anderson asking him if he would want to be the CEO of LEGO and wait for him to write back to you that you could turn into a long form video because then if Tommy Anderson is the CEO of LEGO then he would still have partial control over Lego Ninjago
*flashbacks to me watching True Potential for the first time and thinking Garmadon had been recast only to feel like I was losing my mind when I saw it was the same VA*
I still kind of wanted a new Master of Wind to appear in a later season and the reason they got his powers was because he bumped into them outside the museum as he was returning and the next master compliments his costume and Morro just laughs and thanks him before walking away.
@@rogue_2k374 sadly unlike sirens in borderlands the elements seem to be lineage based instead of passed on upon death well the ones used by wojira and the first spinjitsu master the others seem like you can maste it but can also be passed down by lineage
@@dudesayshi2191 From what the lore points towards, Its inherited by the next generation(from parent to child), with the parent losing the elemental power. And if the elemental master dies before they can pass it on to their children, then it goes to a random person. how their chosen by that element(like with the destiny island girl in the new series) is still kinda unknown. only thats how it happens. So we potentially got new masters of time running around somewhere who are unaware of their abilities, and new similar elemental powers can manifest(like the new elemental master of heat, which was so similar to fire that there was some confusion for a bit between the ninja).
Across the board, this show has way better writing then it really should. Also, while morro slaps, I'll never not think that Zane in the tournament, and just that whole season, are the best of the whole show (of what I've seen, I stopped watching sometime before 2019)
Didn't really think about it too much but Morro's redemption in DotD is done brilliantly. Whereas Harumi's redemption on the other hand is missed potential and built on extreme plot convenience. But somehow, I still like Harumi in Crystalized but it doesn't compare to how amazing it could've been.
@@QUBIQUBED Yes I agree this to some extent, but Crystalized didn't conclude there characters yet and there is a small possibility that they can somehow fix it. One thing I do like about Lloyd and Harumi's dynamic in Crystalized was how similar they are as characters.
Garmadon is a very interesting character, as I see it, Emperor Garmadon is not just the revived version of Garmadon, but specifically the revived part of Garmadon that died in season 2. Emperor Garmadon is the hatred and anger given to Garmadon by the great devourer, with little trace of his humanity left. Sensei Garmadon + Emperor Garmadon = Lord Garmadon.
I don't think I will ever get over that scene of Garmadon looking at a photo of himself and his son, and not recognising the person next to Lloyd. It often felt like he genuinely couldn't _comprehend_ feeling affection for anyone, and it was just. So painful to watch. The scene of him trying to smile, as he looked at other pictures of the ninja laughing, was also a big oof. It's such an interesting take on the "came back wrong" trope. If we take Garmadon from the earlier seasons, the evil side of him was like a thick, and I mean _thick_ shell around the person he really was. Sometimes he would have moments of clarity, and his love for his family powered through the venom of the Great Devourer, but it was still there, something that Lloyd had to pretty much tear off of him in the finale of the second season. And when he was brought back in the later seasons, I think what was brought back was just the shell, with some residual "meat" still inside, but only bits and pieces of it. Just one part of a person can't exist on its own, especially if it's a corrupted facet of their identity that shouldn't have existed in the first place. Season eight Garmadon onward scares me. Not because of the violence he so casually inflicts, or the visible bones and tissue peeking through his armour, or the unhealthy and cruel methods he resorts to, but because of how few of him remains. And not only in terms of who he used to be, but also in terms of sentience, conscience, discernable personality. Although he got better later down the line, I still can't help feeling put off by him because of that. This is the same show that tends to open and end with "JUMP UP, KICK BACK, WHIP AROUND, AND SPIN!", can you believe it?
If I had a nickel every time a villain got swallowed by a giant snake, and survived, I would have 2 nickels. Which is strange, because it happened twice.
I believe Harumi coming back was done partially bad n partially well. The most obvious negative is her death had a large impact and is now anti climatic, but the fact she was angry at lloyd for not finding her, ruins the fact she had done the act of saving someone out of the kindness of her heart. On the other hand, remember one of her most iconic lines… “The greatest villain is the one you never knew was there in the first place”. The fact she was in the background of previous seasons even when we didn’t know she was there was a great choice. Then when she learns the Over lord is the reason the great devourer appeared (in turn killing her parents), she snaps and turns on him like her character should, not just because of a Lloyd or garmadon speech but of her own accord. There were both Pros AND cons to this twist🤷♀️
What irks me about her is her sudden sympathy for Lloyd in Crystalized. No justification, no reasonable explanation(Saving a family does not automatically mean forgiving what you believe your worst enemy had done to you.). She shouldn't suddenly be sympathizing with Lloyd on any grounds
@@lanztersgaming9653 yep! Forgot to mention, she shouldn’t be in love with Lloyd. her just manipulating him was so cool and added to her character. Like you said, where’d all her hate go? The only explanation is when she learned the overlord was really the reason her parents perished, but that was the LAST episode sooo…
the moment where garmadon and vinny talk is so simple but I think that's why it works. it's just a random conversation with a pretty standard answer, but it matters so much within the context. I always loved how ninjago has so many interesting ways to make important character moments even on the simplest day-to-day things
It was both goofy and impactful because it emphasizes the belief that the only real way to stop true evil is in the small acts of kindness, because through those acts you stop evil from taking root in the weaker souls who just need a little charity to be swayed. Garmadon was in a pivotal moment when he first met Vinny, and he was the first person to not really hate him. He showed him trust despite having no reason to do so. And because of it he technically saves the entirety of creation.
Honestly Morro was one of the only good Day of the Departed villians since he actually has a true motivation, and that was to help his Master, and Ninja.
My favorite character resurrections are Morro’s, Garmadon’s, Zane’s, but also Mr.E’s! I like how after Garmadon killed off Mr. E, Harumi brought him back, and instead of revealing it was Echo Zane or giving him a voice to use, they keep him the exact same way he was in Season 8 and 9, A merciless machine who follows orders without question. Every time he’s on screen you feel intimidated by his silent but deadly persona. Yes, he doesn’t have much in the terms of character development and backstory, but he does bring good things to Ninjago that not many characters are able to give to the show, and I just want to say that Mr.E is an extremely underrated character and has a really good resurrection!
And now in Tommy's words, he is "Mr. P" for pancake lmao Yeah, he could've had interesting development in Crystallized, without being Echo. But being a terminator like Cryptor also works
@@gamejitzu Mr. P for Pancake?!?! 😂 Sorry, first time I heard that one! 😆 Yeah-he could’ve had a more interesting story in Crystalized, but I’m fine with what we got.
Mr. F is the most competent member of the crystal council. He knocks Lloyd out on 3 separate occasions using his gun. Lloyd wasn't afraid of Mr. F using the shuriken of ice, but started running as soon as he pulled out his gun. He was the one who found out that the ninja were in the newspaper warehouse.
for me personally zane had a perfect send-off in rebooted but his resuraction worked for me cause the show was in it's early years it was the first time seeing a character get resuracted and they gave him a great storyline in season 4,lord garmadon had a great send-off in season 4 and 5 but his resuraction worked for me cause he was ruthless and scary and he was a fantastic villain in the oni trilogy and his daynamic with lloyd in season 10 was just perfect, but nya's resuraction sucks ass because the show was in it's 15th season and fans got tired of resuracting character cause it got old fans wanted a permanent death for once ,nya had a perfect send_off in seabound they should've never brought her back but they did and they turned her into a human and she got her powers back it was just terrible
Yeah Zane's sacrifice was very emotional in S3, especially since was (and still is) my favourite character, and I remember being so happy that he returned in S4.
@@moonlitm3285 same here, back then i thought that the show ended with season 3,i actuelly thought zane died for real at the end of s3,as a kid i never undertood the scene when zane was rebuilding himself i actuelly thought pixal was just happy cause borg tower wasn't hacked by the overlord enymore and when zane said are we compatible now i actuelly thought pixal remebered somthing that zane said to her off screen so during the drout between s3 and s4 i thought zane died for real and i thought that the show was over, a very depressing time to be a ninjago fan,having ninjago ending on a sad note really messed me up as a kid so when season 4 episode 35 was uploded to youtube i was actuelly surpirsed and hyped and i was shocked just like the ninjas when they found out that zane is actuelly alive
@@playcoarmboy1836 Yep pretty much the same here, I was so devastated when I saw him sacrifice himself and for some reason I still assumed he wasn't returning and then when I saw him in S4 I was so happy I saw the best and my favourite character return.
Nay resuraction was the worst because she had a perfect sendoff and really didn’t need to be revived as this couldve set up a war against the ninja being devional and confused
@@thatboiyouknow imagine if instead of crystalized we got a civil war season after seabound,just think about it, nya is gone, the team are in a bad place after nya left so we should've got a civil war season bisacly team kai vs team Lloyd
My favorite is Master Wu himself returning as a kid (don't know if this counts). It just so surreal and funny seeing this kid dropping one liners while giggling like an adorable gremlin *Ninja never quit*
Speaking of Garmadon back in season 2 where he gets possessed by the Overlord and that scene where he fights through it just for a few moments hit hard, cause you didn’t know if there was a chance to save him from the Overlord back then.
The first 7 seasons of Ninjago are still my favorite.., I don’t feel like the second studio did as good of a job, but it wasn’t bad. Rest in pieces Ninjago.
Imo they shoulda stopped at season 6-7, sure the extra content is nice and all but it still gives the feeling of beating the dead horse. You can tell when they had started running out of ideas in the later seasons
@@skylandersfan6954 I realize Wildbrain took over after season 10, but I still hated the design changes that started with season 8. That really killed my enthusiasm for Ninjago for awhile. Then when Wildbrain came along, i became further disenfranchised wit the series. Although the stories were sometimes really great, I hated the small character changes most of all. Especially how Jay, my favorite ninja, went from actual comic relief to someone you couldn’t wait to shut up. Plus, they really leaned into his cowardice, making him wimpy at times. So with the design changes brought seasons before, and his more childish demeanor (being a combination of the previous things mentioned plus something more), he felt like a foreign character to me. And then, Wildbrain also went ahead and ruined Clutch Powers. He isn’t half the man his movie counterpart was and I really feel they mishandled his character. Those are just the main things I think of off h top of my head. Plus, I feel like there was notable bad writing for seasons 11 & 15 (secrets of forbidden spinjitzu & crystallized)
Sad that Zane's story kinda fell off past Season 4 in my opinion and that Pythor's reasoning for revenge was proven wrong and yet, he falls back into his status quo just because "I said I wanted to conquer didn't I?" Yes, he said that, but it'd be a great way to show the impact of his encounter eith Arcturus and the revelations by Chen and about the Serpentine War from S4. Garmadon's return did (try to sneakily build on what came before and yes, he has a good Arc at first, but never mentions the name Harumi after her death, steps being angry about it by 9×10, and S10's character development sadly was followed up by S15 which did okay with his development, though it was a bit messy, but sadly is just him being mistreated for trying to change while other characters are encouraged to change, something which makes the show's efforts feel artificial, performative, or unreal.
Of course Lord Garmadon´s return! :) I love to see the new design in season 8 what he got from Ninjago movie and i just absolutely love how he grows as character in season 8 -10. When i watched it first time, i just couldn´t believe what happend with his character. How he destroyed Mr.E, almost killed Lloyd and Harumi, killed Mystake and his quotes! Love it! One of the best written character in the whole show!
I love the fact that up to season 7, Lloyd and Garmadon always loved each other deeply Also the fact Harumi only revived his evil part, making him different from the season 1-2 garmadon who still had his good persona inside him
Zane was my favorite since the last season i watched was season 4 at that point i learned what empathy was pretty much and the season 3 finale legitimately put a tear in my eye
Zane is my favourite character and his sacrifice was very emotional to me, I really loved the scenes, focus, plotlines and quotes he had especially in the first 4 seasons, he had very good storylines but I still love him whatever the season.
So what I like to think is Pythor is base of the Snake who eat his own tail he was obsessed with bring out the great devour hell even eaten people to just to be eaten himself by the thing he worshiped which was pretty fitting since he really never thought about what reviving the devour would case on him or his fellow serpentine Tribes which is something that could of been a more interesting story like with Scales trying to be better than him and him and Lloyd could of have a heart to heart or something
I completely agree with your choices that Garmadon coming back was the best one. Garmadon is the best character! He has a great voice actor, his character development is amazing, and he is a wonderful good guy and villain. I am a 18 year old girl, and I still love ninjago. Mostly because of nostalgia because I grew up watching it. But also because it truly is still a great show! There are so many funny jokes, that I think would fly over a little kids head, but that I get and love! Me and brother are older, but we still watch it and love it. I will never grow out of it🤣
I left Ninjago after hands of time and partly because I couldn't get use to the Ninjago Movie style but also when I went to watch some of the newer things, the characters kept coming back (Overlord and Garamdon) and it honestly felt like some story plots got reused and fakes out deaths like when cole falls off the bounty and then some how survives even though it was a big deal when he fell and Nya and Kia even talked about it with a nice moment for it to get undone since he just lived some how.
Yeah o have no idea what happened there. The big retcon they did messed up a ton for the understanding we had of the Ninjago universe, and it also took away some of the fun whimsy characters had, like originally the First Spinjitzu master was the creator of EVERYTHING, but then “Oh, no he actually only created like, two realms, all the rest were there from the beginning and he just found them one day”.
I wish the deaths in Ninjago were spaced out more honestly. Imagine if Seabound was S11 and Nya returned in S15, full Endless Sea form and fighting alongside the Ninja. And yes I know TECHNICALLY Nya didn’t die in Seabound, but come on it was totally a death
Ninja just went wild with fake out deaths in recent years. March of the Oni (which I believe was written by different writers) had two obviously fake “deaths” ( Cole and Lloyd), and then they brought back Nya and Harumi in the worst way possible! Even the Zane fakeout death in Crystalized was very clearly a fake!
I kinda like how they revived the Overlord in crystallized because the overlord is supposed to be the very embodiment of darkness so he can never truly die like in a yin Yang one can’t exist without the other.
I personally love how garmadon is brought back in the oni trilogy and I personally believe that it should have ended Ninjago as a series but whatever. The lore behind how garmadon was to be resurrected like not being the same man you recognize not having any light within him. All of it was really great even though I don't believe garmadon's character worsened at the end of the trilogy and crystallized I believe it ruined the pre-established to lure. I love garmadon crystallized but I would have preferred if he stayed true to that villainous character he displayed in hunted. Also it's a nitpick but it really does bother me I don't like how the characters in wildbrain Ninjago white irises move from the place Lego eyes normally stay at. I guess they try to mimic how our eyes work but it just looks off and weird they should change it. Anyway good video.
Mostly in the stories I have written, my characters come back to life with a comedic vibe so I don't really have to face this kind of situation where the characters death is impactful and how their resurrection ruins it. But in my recent story, I was able to make a character's return impactful without ruining it by keeping them dead. Basically my characters end up in the underworld where they encounter an old friend who sacrificed their lives for the team. This allows for great reconciliation and also some final parting words that were said.
My favourite thing about Zane's revival was that is was done in a season focussing on being stronger than united, which made sense considering the ninja were the most divided they had ever been after Zane's death. Sure they didn't tie this theme into the ninja's grief after they found out Zane was alive (I can't fully remember but they might've during episode 1 idk), but it was still a cool theme to focus on giving the events of season 3 and it made sense
Am I the only one who thinks that Nya should've never been brought back? Her death was honorable and brought out the best in her character. As well as the incredible lead up to the moment when she sacrificed herself. The entirety of seabound is about Nya and the struggle she has gone through to keep her loved ones safe. The funeral that everyone had for her, even the civilians, showed that she wasn't just the "girl ninja". Her death obviously affected the entire team as well as everyone in Ninjago. The aftermath of her death should've been explored more, she deserved more than 20 minutes to account for the loss of her character. It's amazing that unlike Nyaad, Nya had such strong attachments to the people in her life before her sacrifice that she was able to escape what was supposedly inescapable, but Nya was one of the lead characters throughout the show, if she needed to be resurrected I feel that more care and time could've been put into it. On the other hand if Nya had never been revived in the first place, it would've given us a chance to see how much the characters really did and do care about her. Rant over. .... Side rant... it sort of peeves me that Nya didn't spend more time with Kai before her self sacrifice. I understand that she loves Jay with all of her heart but Kai is her brother! When their parents left them Kai was the one who protected and took care of her, when she was revealed to be samurai-x Kai didn't out her, even though wanting to be the green ninja was a key part of his personality at the time. But don't worry, in no way am i overlooking the whole Nadikahn thing, I just think that Kai at least deserved a hug. (Although this could totally just be my inner big sibling taking over... anyways.... fun lego people! Little claw hands very haha!)
god i adore morro so much. his character is so fleshed out and real and there is so much you can build off of him. also one of my favourite things is an animation error in the scene where he finds out he isn't the green ninja -- the sword of fire is a normal katana (which is funny considering the sword of fire model was used in yang's temple)
i didnt even know they were still doing this show, the last one i watched was on the island with that girl kai liked who stole powers and they fought ghosts and I heard about a genie, this stuff sounds fire though. might take a look
As someone who missed the Ninjago craze, learning that it had a 10+ season TV series with actually good character writing blows my mind. At some point I'll have to go through and watch it.
I wish Mr. E was brought back (excluding crystallized) Him having a redemption arc potentially would have been interesting Either that or being a constant and serious threat to the ninjas A killing machine built to destroy the ninjas constantly attacking them would have been so cool
I'd say the first half of Crystalized and up until like episode 22 is the good parts about it, but after that a lot of it was Meh. The build up of the mysterious masked person going on recruiting old villians for the Crystal King to come back, leading into in my personal viewing as the most shocking reveal i've seen in Ninjago being that Harumi was all this time alive (I went into Crystalized promo/teaser free so i had no clue who the masked person was and it made the reveal even better). And seeing how in episode 13 and 14 how Harumi has in a way been pulling the strings in the background ever since she came back, how she was the vengestone buyer Vangelis mentioned durring season 13, and how throughout the timelaps of Seabound and Crystalized she's been watching the Ninja durring their time with Kalmaar's tyrany and the 1 year morn of Nya, she been planning so well that everything went according to it. And then came episode 15 which is single handedly the most beautifully coreographed episode in the entire franchise. which of course lead to the villians taking the W and destroying the monestary along with stealing the golden weapons for the overlord's ressurection, which i think was handled beautifully with the despair in Lloyd whene he sees Ninjago's greatest threat has returned. And he really shows that he means buisness this time with the episodes leading up until he splits the ninja up and destroys The Bounty, and Wu vs The Overlord was another beautifully coreographed fight (even if it was just 1 minute 20 seconds). But that's where the goods ended with the later episodes being mostly setup for episodes 29 and 30 which got pretty boring eventually
The thing about ninjago is that it’s fun to watch recaps even after watching the whole series since i was 5. Also my favorite rebirth was the overlord in season 2 it was very well told
You know, this reminds me of Brandon Mcnulty's video talking about character deaths, and that revivals should always come with a cost. And early Ninjago understood that pretty well. Unfortunately things like Nya in Crystalized is really bad because she only loses her powers for a season. I think we should have not made Pixal Samurai-X and have Nya reclaim that identity now that she lost her powers, but perhaps she works in the ability to utilize elements into her gear.
Very true. There are so many things that I've never thought about while was watching Ninjago from this video. I wish new writers will watch this video if they'd like to bring Nadakhan, Clause, Hands of Time or anybody else back to story.
Do you all remember the live-action trailer for this season with morrow on cartoon network? I tried finding it a few months back and found no results, I'm not sure if it was even a trailer I just remember there being real people dressed up as the ninjas doing parkour and promoting the upcoming season and theorising that the ninjas somehow went to the real world 😭
@Crusty783 OH my god, that's actually amazing because I couldn't tell if I was just crazy or if it was lost media, watching that was so nostalgic because me and my older brother bonded a lot watching Ninjago with each other over the years, thank you for linking that ~ I'll subscribe ❤
i think the best handled revival was pythor. the man is so intent on getting revenge on everyone that wronged him and his people, that he won't stop even when his plans literally swallow him whole. the fact that he doesn't even care if he can control the evil he unleashes to get his revenge (great devourer, golden master and the cursed) makes him a particularly troublesome villain for the ninja.
If i wrote crystalized and HAD TO REWIVE Harumi, i would, make it, so Overlord's plan to defeat lloyd is by resorecting Harumi (like she revived Garmadon) with his crystal powers, to make her torture Lloyd emotiolly. In the season, Harumi is starting to get free will, and start to resist Overlord and slowly becoming good, (Like Garmadon) and becoming an ally, and backstabing Overlord, not just for Revenge, and being useless by attacking, but telling the weakness of him, becase Harumis power comes from her words.
I honestly kind of like that the overlord came back for season 3 In season 3 it felt like he had greater spotlight and was a bigger threat Also he honestly looked way more awesome
Garmadon's resurrection was for sure the best in the series, but I actually really liked the Overlord's return in Rebooted. I think Rebooted provided a more satisfying end to his character than either of his other two defeats did, though it still could've been done better.
I've never been a fan of the resurrections, personally. It never feels like they did a good job at them. With that being said, you made a fantastic argument for Zane and Garmadon's resurrections. I never thought to look at them thematically. Maybe I spend too much time thinking about them logically (It's hard to get MatPat Syndrome out of your head sometimes). Good video.
Lol he's desperately trying to ignore nya's so called death and revival. Can't blame him for that . That season (that shall not be named ) has so many unfixable flaws , it's pathetic . Rip
I woulda talked about Harumi and Nya but I just dont have it in me to acknowledge that dumpster fire lmao. Made a crystalized review the other month that discusses that though if that interests u
@@Crusty783 I've already watched that video and it's valid . I just hope ninjago 2023 or United series are able to fix nya character arc cause they really did her dirty this season , she's basically a human taxi driver bringing the ninja's to their next destination. Too disappointing tbh .
I really felt like season C spat in the face of Garmadon’s arc. They just forgot everything and made him better for the sake of him being better, when truly that’s not how they left off. They fixed a cruel overlord… with very little compassion and humanity… by giving him a plant and teaching him to care in some camera man’s apartment? I call utter bull.
While I understand wheee you’re coming from it kind of lines up with the belief that stopping big evil comes from small acts of kindness for those who are easily swayed, taking away places evil can take root. In other words because that was confusing, you cannot truly stop evil, but by helping others you can keep it from taking root.
@@skylandersfan6954 True, but I think no amount of plant exposure can fix a murderer and a conquerer. The part that really upset me was just how simple they made Garmadon’s redemption seem. Like “well if you do these simple things he’s fixed”. But that doesn’t make sense when his issues were already so complex.
Morro was the goat in day of the departed no questions asked I really miss him. Maybe with dragons rising we could see that while it’s still hard it is easier for one to travel between the merged realms and the departed realm and morro could go out trying to find Lloyd to give him some vital information I don know I just wish we got more of him as a good guy.
A star walks into a black hole but doesn't seen phased. The black hole then turns to the star and says, "I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation."
I didn't mind the Overlord's random return in Rebooted. We spent the entirety of Season 2 being shown just how spiteful the overlord is, and how he's something fundamental to the world. Not dying properly the first time seemed pretty in character for him, to me at least.
My thoughts when Pythor helps against Chen: "Spite is such a good motivator" For real tho, from everything I remember about Pythor(been a while since I watched Ninjago), the only motivator he could have is spite, because Chen basically made his species go extinct, so Pythor would want to prove to Chen that he can't be killed off that easely.
In my opinion Moro is my favorite villain and here are three reasons why First he has a good motivation which is that he wanted to prove he could be the green ninja Second he had a great character arc Third he is just a cool villain
What I don't like with the revival of Garmadon is that it doesn't feel like Garmadon at all. Like, in previous seasons Garmadon had always had his jokey personality while evil and while I get why that was scrapped for him to be totally evil, all throughout he had evil plans, whether use the Great Devourer to get the weapons of Spinjitsu, create bizzaro ninja, bring back pirates, go back in time to his first attack to get ninja off the menu. You know the stuff. When revived, he only followed Harumi's plan and his plan to take over looked like the following: Step 1: Take over Ninjago It didn't really feel like this presence capable of complex plans to advance his goals but rather just a force of evil. Even the Overlord - the Ninjago's evil incarnate, had a plan he'd follow to achieve his goals by building the ultimate weapon and wouldn't invade until all preperations were done, while Evil! Garmadon just brute-forced himself into winning with Harumi's help. For one, it didn't feel very earned and for the other thing, it didn't feel like Garmadon in the slightest and even though that was supposed to be the point, the execution of the concept wasn't as good. In truth during the Sons of Garmadon, he could be an ancient evil chicken of incredible power and the season could run with barely any narrative changes. Of all the things March of the Oni did wrong, Garmadon is not one of them and gave us exactly what he used to be all about, but until that point Lego Ninjago Movie's Garmadon is a more faithful adaptation of the character in my opinion.
I still don't really like the resurrection of Garmadon because it feels like Garmadon's sacrifice was for nothing and plus I still don't understand how he came back evil even though all the evil he had was gone due to the Overlord. Plus, I don't really like the design choice of the new one, almost looking like a zombified corpse with his ribs sticking.
ZeroJump Oh The Part of Zane VS Cryptor Fight where Cryptor Killed Himself with his Departed Techno Blade yeah that was a Really Hilarious Villain Dead in my opinion I Thought Cryptor was really Good/Fine in Ninjago Day of the Departed tho wish His Fight with Zane was a little bit longer
What is your favorite character return in Ninjago?
Morro is just my favorite character in general
Harumi
The Mailman.
Morro
Even though I know that can’t bring his character back. I really liked the character a lot
that wouldn't be a character return then, she was never dead during Season 8 and 9 (until the building)
Zanes resurrection and his anxiety about if he's the same person reminds me of the Ship of Theseus philosophy
thats spot on actually, great way to summarise it
@@Crusty783 thank you
Zane of Ninjago.
I’d like to argue that the Destiny’s Bounty is quite literally the Ship of Theseus because it gets destroyed and rebuilt so many times
The mcu should take notes for white vision
In my own stories, my philosophy for reviving characters is:
Don’t bring them back and pretend like nothing happened. They were just *dead,* so explore how it affects and changes them… along with everyone else. Death is a wound, and wounds take time to heal.
By the looks of it, Ninjago seems to do this pretty well.
Fellow writers are always a pleasant Suprise..
Preach comrade!
I've always liked thinking like this when it comes to bringing back characters. It honestly baffles me how people go "if you revive characters a lot then death doesn't matter!" even tho regardless if you can bring back characters faster than Dragon Ball Z does it doesn't take away from the fact that death is a physically and emotionally traumatizing experience to go through, especially now that you're alive again; that shit _hurts_ , and when you bring someone back I agree that you gotta show that it hurts
In one big story me and some online friends made, there are a few instances of people being resurrected. It affects someone in some way. Here’s some of my own experiences from this story, which could help some aspiring writers… assuming you’re willing to read the long paragraphs.
-One girl brings her wife back minutes after she dies because the Life/Death God hates the antagonist responsible for bending natural law and is willing to give that chance. But it comes at the cost: she must completely give up her ability to use magic. She’s a Necromancer, which technically shouldn’t exist by decree of said natural law. Only reason she can’t bring back her beloved with it is because Necromancy has some pretty serious side effects… especially to the undead. Not to mention she already did this with her older brother and he was basically a screeching shadow demon until one of the gods decided to make him an angel, but that also meant him having to leave his sister behind, only rarely being able to visit.
Without her magic, she was effectively useless because she had no other abilities. But she’s lended the god’s scythe temporarily and has to very quickly learn how to use it because the final battle was coming up.
-One character written by me experiences the death of two different girlfriends, and the revival of one. I’ll actually name them this time since these are my characters: Meet Kazi, the boyfriend. The death of Jacklynn, his first girlfriend, scars him tremendously. He hunts down her older brother, Darryl- one of the story’s main characters- (There were five writers, and we all had usually 1-2 main characters each, mine were Darryl and another girl named Leslie; who was more vengeful than Kazi was over Jacklynn’s death) who is responsible for killing her. Although Darryl was just as traumatized because he was faced with no choice but to do this, and after years of running away, he turns himself in- putting his neck on the line. Kazi chooses to save Darryl because he was out in the world, witnessing Darryl fighting to save it.
Kazi ends up finding a new girlfriend in the form of Ellie, another member of this friend circle. This happens a couple years after Kazi and Darryl reconcile. But she too dies… at the hands of Kazi himself after Ellie is possessed by the master of the same antagonist mentioned in the previous paragraph. This scars him so much he nearly commits suicide, but is stopped last second by Darryl.
Shortly after the spectacle of one revival, Kazi is offered to bring Ellie back to life. He takes it, but it costs him too. He loses most of his magic (Not all, since he needs it to survive, he’s an Elemental) and his physical strength. He’s in less-than-ideal health for the rest of his life.
Ellie, meanwhile, despite only being resurrected for the series epilogue episode, is utterly terrified. She’s quit the military and fighting altogether, it’s implied she avoids talk about her initial death, and is mentioned to frequently have nightmares about it. It’s the very end of the series, but it’s clear it’s going to leave a permanent mark on her life after the epilogue.
Side note: it’s heavily ironic to talk about this friend circle without once mentioning Ayloth, the sixth guy. He dies at Leslie’s hands, which is heavily ironic considering they’re exes. But that’s the push Leslie needs to change to a protagonist, like with Kazi seeing Darryl save the world. Darryl kills Jacklynn, Leslie kills Ayloth, and Kazi kills a possessed Ellie. Oh, how I love making my characters suffer.
-Then we have the prince brothers, both of which are betrayed by their best friend (whose undead spirit becomes an antagonist later, although neither of them are there to witness it) and killed… well, one of them. The elder brother is placed in a spot of healing which keeps him alive for 300 years. When he finally awakens, he’s in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar world, so much different than what he was used to. This makes him susceptible to manipulation, as he was the heir to his kingdom before he and it both fell… and he *really* wanted that throne.
The younger brother was properly killed. But his soul was saved by the gods in preparation for a long-destined calamity. 10 years before it happens, he is resurrected along with one other guy and must prepare for it. He suffers the same issue with being in a changed world, but he is more adamant about it. He does not succumb to sins like his older brother- who is the only thing left from his old world. But he fights very bravely, as he has nothing to lose.
But he and his brother have conflict. The younger is willing to move on, but the older dwells on it, and has severe trust issues because they were betrayed before. The younger is very optimistic while the older is pessimistic. This is probably why the younger is the survivor between the two.
Admittedly these two are a bit “ehh” in terms of resurrection plots because neither of them were really present in the plot beforehand, unlike the rest of the people. Both of them died offscreen long before the story began and nobody had any connection to them until they were revived. The only person who did was killed before they were introduced. But my final example will be that of a character who had an onscreen death and revival.
-The guy who gets brought back alongside the younger prince was essentially an NPC to be escorted and the mission failed. He watched his people be slaughtered, because the genocide of his people was the key to collecting an ancient artifact. He was the last one to go, but right before that, he watched his friends die. He is resurrected by one of the gods in preparation to the final arc’s calamity, and as an incentive, his friends are reincarnated with specific traits so he can recognize them. He hesitantly accepts and meets the younger prince brother.
After the decade timeskip, he has found none of them and he’s incredibly ticked off. He doesn’t want any of this higher purpose stuff. He just wants his friends back, and if not, to just be reincarnated himself. (Since there is no afterlife, only reincarnation.) It’s only until midway through the arc we meet a new character. After getting to know them, he realizes they are one of his reincarnated friends. He meets the rest of them soon after, and although they don’t quite recognize them, they all feel like they do and become friends. He has his friends back, but their relationship is never the same because these people- despite having the same souls- are undeniably different people than his friends. Only small traces remain.
All in all, resurrection can be viewed as a method of character development. But like everything, the key to it is execution. One day, you can move on from the wound that is dying, but it takes time to get there, like everything else. One day you can accept that you died and got revived, but you won’t shrug it off on day one. Sometimes, you never get over it; it was, and always will be. Permanent change and damage is valid character development, like losing a limb. And it’s not just the victim; how many other characters reacted to it? How will their loved ones react seeing them brought back? Will they become overprotective? Will they go into denial? Did they leave out of grief and must be found?
And one more question… *do they, or you, want you to die again?*
@@wilhemtehlynx dude you’re probably a great writer
I really like that throughout season 8-10 Garmadons voice changes significantly symbolizing how he is slowly becoming more human again and having a personality. In season 8 his voice was very deep, and zombie like. Season 9 sounded like a mixture or season 1 and season 8 Garmadon. And finally in season 10 he sounds very similar to his season 1 counterpart.
His arc in the trilogy is so so incredible man. Love the attention to detail they had in this era of the show
@@Crusty783 would you ever want to write a letter to Tommy Anderson asking him if he would want to be the CEO of LEGO and wait for him to write back to you that you could turn into a long form video because then if Tommy Anderson is the CEO of LEGO then he would still have partial control over Lego Ninjago
*flashbacks to me watching True Potential for the first time and thinking Garmadon had been recast only to feel like I was losing my mind when I saw it was the same VA*
i legit thought they replaced his va for s8
and in season 15 he's just season 2 garmadon.
Fun fact: Lloyd used the Silent Fist to beat Garmadon in Hunted, the same technique Sensei Garmadon was teaching back in Rebooted.
God, Hunted was amazing
hold on guys i might cry
@@Crusty783 real, when i first saw it i loved it so much its definitely one of my favorites
TO THIS POINT I HAVEN'T REALIZED!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
OMG, you're right!!!!
Morrors return is great because it was temporary plus he himself basically admits that his time has come and returns to the departed realm
I still kind of wanted a new Master of Wind to appear in a later season and the reason they got his powers was because he bumped into them outside the museum as he was returning and the next master compliments his costume and Morro just laughs and thanks him before walking away.
It also seems like a perfect way to finish his arc: a revengeful soul finally finding peace and being able to rest
@@rogue_2k374 sadly unlike sirens in borderlands the elements seem to be lineage based instead of passed on upon death well the ones used by wojira and the first spinjitsu master the others seem like you can maste it but can also be passed down by lineage
I wanted him to come for good this times.
@@dudesayshi2191 From what the lore points towards, Its inherited by the next generation(from parent to child), with the parent losing the elemental power. And if the elemental master dies before they can pass it on to their children, then it goes to a random person. how their chosen by that element(like with the destiny island girl in the new series) is still kinda unknown. only thats how it happens. So we potentially got new masters of time running around somewhere who are unaware of their abilities, and new similar elemental powers can manifest(like the new elemental master of heat, which was so similar to fire that there was some confusion for a bit between the ninja).
morro is 100% one of the best written characters in the show
I see no problem with this statement
Across the board, this show has way better writing then it really should. Also, while morro slaps, I'll never not think that Zane in the tournament, and just that whole season, are the best of the whole show (of what I've seen, I stopped watching sometime before 2019)
@@k.w.6626 Zane's a legend and my favourite character.
Best written*
@@k.w.6626 I think that the show has generally good snippets of ideas but 99% of the time I don't get why this show has such a devout fanbase.
Didn't really think about it too much but Morro's redemption in DotD is done brilliantly. Whereas Harumi's redemption on the other hand is missed potential and built on extreme plot convenience.
But somehow, I still like Harumi in Crystalized but it doesn't compare to how amazing it could've been.
They ruined Harumi and Lloyd
@@QUBIQUBED Yes I agree this to some extent, but Crystalized didn't conclude there characters yet and there is a small possibility that they can somehow fix it.
One thing I do like about Lloyd and Harumi's dynamic in Crystalized was how similar they are as characters.
I hope that girl is in prison (for being responsible of both garmadon and the overlord shit) and in therapy! she needs it
@@jissmol8738 and she killed her adopted parents too!
@@jissmol8738One more client for Sasha.
Garmadon is a very interesting character, as I see it, Emperor Garmadon is not just the revived version of Garmadon, but specifically the revived part of Garmadon that died in season 2. Emperor Garmadon is the hatred and anger given to Garmadon by the great devourer, with little trace of his humanity left. Sensei Garmadon + Emperor Garmadon = Lord Garmadon.
I don't think I will ever get over that scene of Garmadon looking at a photo of himself and his son, and not recognising the person next to Lloyd. It often felt like he genuinely couldn't _comprehend_ feeling affection for anyone, and it was just. So painful to watch. The scene of him trying to smile, as he looked at other pictures of the ninja laughing, was also a big oof. It's such an interesting take on the "came back wrong" trope.
If we take Garmadon from the earlier seasons, the evil side of him was like a thick, and I mean _thick_ shell around the person he really was. Sometimes he would have moments of clarity, and his love for his family powered through the venom of the Great Devourer, but it was still there, something that Lloyd had to pretty much tear off of him in the finale of the second season. And when he was brought back in the later seasons, I think what was brought back was just the shell, with some residual "meat" still inside, but only bits and pieces of it. Just one part of a person can't exist on its own, especially if it's a corrupted facet of their identity that shouldn't have existed in the first place.
Season eight Garmadon onward scares me. Not because of the violence he so casually inflicts, or the visible bones and tissue peeking through his armour, or the unhealthy and cruel methods he resorts to, but because of how few of him remains. And not only in terms of who he used to be, but also in terms of sentience, conscience, discernable personality. Although he got better later down the line, I still can't help feeling put off by him because of that.
This is the same show that tends to open and end with "JUMP UP, KICK BACK, WHIP AROUND, AND SPIN!", can you believe it?
If I had a nickel every time a villain got swallowed by a giant snake, and survived, I would have 2 nickels. Which is strange, because it happened twice.
kalmaar didn't survive though
@@Crusty783 is that confirmed? Pythor survived being eaten.
If I had a nickel for every time someone used this joke, I'd be filthy rich. Which isn't suprising because I see the same joke everywhere.
@@alekoo_ngdiak sorry, I thought I was the first one to think of it.
You mean 3
Pythor Wu and kalmaar all got eaten
I believe Harumi coming back was done partially bad n partially well. The most obvious negative is her death had a large impact and is now anti climatic, but the fact she was angry at lloyd for not finding her, ruins the fact she had done the act of saving someone out of the kindness of her heart. On the other hand, remember one of her most iconic lines… “The greatest villain is the one you never knew was there in the first place”. The fact she was in the background of previous seasons even when we didn’t know she was there was a great choice. Then when she learns the Over lord is the reason the great devourer appeared (in turn killing her parents), she snaps and turns on him like her character should, not just because of a Lloyd or garmadon speech but of her own accord. There were both Pros AND cons to this twist🤷♀️
what gives me the ick with harumi returning is that her death and the reasons behind it were done so perfectly that her reappearing felt so frustating
@@jissmol8738 100% agreed. Her story was done so perfectly, leaving her death as her death would’ve been too
@@jissmol8738 So bassically the new story , while having good points , doesn't make up up for the fact it lessens the previous one
What irks me about her is her sudden sympathy for Lloyd in Crystalized. No justification, no reasonable explanation(Saving a family does not automatically mean forgiving what you believe your worst enemy had done to you.). She shouldn't suddenly be sympathizing with Lloyd on any grounds
@@lanztersgaming9653 yep! Forgot to mention, she shouldn’t be in love with Lloyd. her just manipulating him was so cool and added to her character. Like you said, where’d all her hate go? The only explanation is when she learned the overlord was really the reason her parents perished, but that was the LAST episode sooo…
the moment where garmadon and vinny talk is so simple but I think that's why it works. it's just a random conversation with a pretty standard answer, but it matters so much within the context. I always loved how ninjago has so many interesting ways to make important character moments even on the simplest day-to-day things
It was both goofy and impactful because it emphasizes the belief that the only real way to stop true evil is in the small acts of kindness, because through those acts you stop evil from taking root in the weaker souls who just need a little charity to be swayed. Garmadon was in a pivotal moment when he first met Vinny, and he was the first person to not really hate him. He showed him trust despite having no reason to do so. And because of it he technically saves the entirety of creation.
Honestly Morro was one of the only good Day of the Departed villians since he actually has a true motivation, and that was to help his Master, and Ninja.
2:26 "the great devourer does not descriminate. It consumes all life" that was the funniest shit ive heard all week
My favorite character resurrections are Morro’s, Garmadon’s, Zane’s, but also Mr.E’s! I like how after Garmadon killed off Mr. E, Harumi brought him back, and instead of revealing it was Echo Zane or giving him a voice to use, they keep him the exact same way he was in Season 8 and 9, A merciless machine who follows orders without question. Every time he’s on screen you feel intimidated by his silent but deadly persona. Yes, he doesn’t have much in the terms of character development and backstory, but he does bring good things to Ninjago that not many characters are able to give to the show, and I just want to say that Mr.E is an extremely underrated character and has a really good resurrection!
And now in Tommy's words, he is "Mr. P" for pancake lmao
Yeah, he could've had interesting development in Crystallized, without being Echo. But being a terminator like Cryptor also works
@@gamejitzu Mr. P for Pancake?!?! 😂
Sorry, first time I heard that one! 😆
Yeah-he could’ve had a more interesting story in Crystalized, but I’m fine with what we got.
Wait the P is for Pancake?!? THATS SO DUMB I LOVE IT!
@@rogue_2k374 IKR?! 😂🤣😆
Mr. F is the most competent member of the crystal council. He knocks Lloyd out on 3 separate occasions using his gun. Lloyd wasn't afraid of Mr. F using the shuriken of ice, but started running as soon as he pulled out his gun. He was the one who found out that the ninja were in the newspaper warehouse.
for me personally zane had a perfect send-off in rebooted but his resuraction worked for me cause the show was in it's early years it was the first time seeing a character get resuracted and they gave him a great storyline in season 4,lord garmadon had a great send-off in season 4 and 5 but his resuraction worked for me cause he was ruthless and scary and he was a fantastic villain in the oni trilogy and his daynamic with lloyd in season 10 was just perfect, but nya's resuraction sucks ass because the show was in it's 15th season and fans got tired of resuracting character cause it got old fans wanted a permanent death for once ,nya had a perfect send_off in seabound they should've never brought her back but they did and they turned her into a human and she got her powers back it was just terrible
Yeah Zane's sacrifice was very emotional in S3, especially since was (and still is) my favourite character, and I remember being so happy that he returned in S4.
@@moonlitm3285 same here, back then i thought that the show ended with season 3,i actuelly thought zane died for real at the end of s3,as a kid i never undertood the scene when zane was rebuilding himself i actuelly thought pixal was just happy cause borg tower wasn't hacked by the overlord enymore and when zane said are we compatible now i actuelly thought pixal remebered somthing that zane said to her off screen so during the drout between s3 and s4 i thought zane died for real and i thought that the show was over, a very depressing time to be a ninjago fan,having ninjago ending on a sad note really messed me up as a kid so when season 4 episode 35 was uploded to youtube i was actuelly surpirsed and hyped and i was shocked just like the ninjas when they found out that zane is actuelly alive
@@playcoarmboy1836 Yep pretty much the same here, I was so devastated when I saw him sacrifice himself and for some reason I still assumed he wasn't returning and then when I saw him in S4 I was so happy I saw the best and my favourite character return.
Nay resuraction was the worst because she had a perfect sendoff and really didn’t need to be revived as this couldve set up a war against the ninja being devional and confused
@@thatboiyouknow imagine if instead of crystalized we got a civil war season after seabound,just think about it, nya is gone, the team are in a bad place after nya left so we should've got a civil war season bisacly team kai vs team Lloyd
My favorite is Master Wu himself returning as a kid (don't know if this counts). It just so surreal and funny seeing this kid dropping one liners while giggling like an adorable gremlin
*Ninja never quit*
I red the ninja never quit in young wu’s voice
Speaking of Garmadon back in season 2 where he gets possessed by the Overlord and that scene where he fights through it just for a few moments hit hard, cause you didn’t know if there was a chance to save him from the Overlord back then.
Morro is such a goated character and one of ninjagos best villians.
I love how they handled his redemption that was one of the best things dotd did.
The first 7 seasons of Ninjago are still my favorite.., I don’t feel like the second studio did as good of a job, but it wasn’t bad. Rest in pieces Ninjago.
The first 6 seasons are my favourite for me.
Imo they shoulda stopped at season 6-7, sure the extra content is nice and all but it still gives the feeling of beating the dead horse. You can tell when they had started running out of ideas in the later seasons
@@MythLai Master of the Mountain and Prime Empire showed the show was still good and not running out of ideas so I don't get that
It was the same studio
@@skylandersfan6954 I realize Wildbrain took over after season 10, but I still hated the design changes that started with season 8. That really killed my enthusiasm for Ninjago for awhile. Then when Wildbrain came along, i became further disenfranchised wit the series. Although the stories were sometimes really great, I hated the small character changes most of all. Especially how Jay, my favorite ninja, went from actual comic relief to someone you couldn’t wait to shut up. Plus, they really leaned into his cowardice, making him wimpy at times. So with the design changes brought seasons before, and his more childish demeanor (being a combination of the previous things mentioned plus something more), he felt like a foreign character to me.
And then, Wildbrain also went ahead and ruined Clutch Powers. He isn’t half the man his movie counterpart was and I really feel they mishandled his character. Those are just the main things I think of off h top of my head. Plus, I feel like there was notable bad writing for seasons 11 & 15 (secrets of forbidden spinjitzu & crystallized)
Sad that Zane's story kinda fell off past Season 4 in my opinion and that Pythor's reasoning for revenge was proven wrong and yet, he falls back into his status quo just because "I said I wanted to conquer didn't I?" Yes, he said that, but it'd be a great way to show the impact of his encounter eith Arcturus and the revelations by Chen and about the Serpentine War from S4.
Garmadon's return did (try to sneakily build on what came before and yes, he has a good Arc at first, but never mentions the name Harumi after her death, steps being angry about it by 9×10, and S10's character development sadly was followed up by S15 which did okay with his development, though it was a bit messy, but sadly is just him being mistreated for trying to change while other characters are encouraged to change, something which makes the show's efforts feel artificial, performative, or unreal.
Of course Lord Garmadon´s return! :) I love to see the new design in season 8 what he got from Ninjago movie and i just absolutely love how he grows as character in season 8 -10. When i watched it first time, i just couldn´t believe what happend with his character. How he destroyed Mr.E, almost killed Lloyd and Harumi, killed Mystake and his quotes! Love it! One of the best written character in the whole show!
I love the fact that up to season 7, Lloyd and Garmadon always loved each other deeply
Also the fact Harumi only revived his evil part, making him different from the season 1-2 garmadon who still had his good persona inside him
I have to say either Garmadon or Wu’s return in season 8. Garmadon is awesome and Wu became such an amazing character.
Morro is my all time favorite, he’s just SARCASTIC with a COOL and REALISTIC voice and I like it
Zane was my favorite since the last season i watched was season 4 at that point i learned what empathy was pretty much and the season 3 finale legitimately put a tear in my eye
Zane is my favourite character and his sacrifice was very emotional to me, I really loved the scenes, focus, plotlines and quotes he had especially in the first 4 seasons, he had very good storylines but I still love him whatever the season.
So what I like to think is Pythor is base of the Snake who eat his own tail he was obsessed with bring out the great devour hell even eaten people to just to be eaten himself by the thing he worshiped which was pretty fitting since he really never thought about what reviving the devour would case on him or his fellow serpentine Tribes which is something that could of been a more interesting story like with Scales trying to be better than him and him and Lloyd could of have a heart to heart or something
For all of Crystalized's faults, they handled Garmadon well. That scene with the camera man actually meant something.
I completely agree with your choices that Garmadon coming back was the best one. Garmadon is the best character! He has a great voice actor, his character development is amazing, and he is a wonderful good guy and villain.
I am a 18 year old girl, and I still love ninjago. Mostly because of nostalgia because I grew up watching it. But also because it truly is still a great show! There are so many funny jokes, that I think would fly over a little kids head, but that I get and love! Me and brother are older, but we still watch it and love it. I will never grow out of it🤣
honestly, i like how crystalized handled garmadon. it continued to flesh out his redemption arc and in the end, he got his humanity back.
I left Ninjago after hands of time and partly because I couldn't get use to the Ninjago Movie style but also when I went to watch some of the newer things, the characters kept coming back (Overlord and Garamdon) and it honestly felt like some story plots got reused and fakes out deaths like when cole falls off the bounty and then some how survives even though it was a big deal when he fell and Nya and Kia even talked about it with a nice moment for it to get undone since he just lived some how.
Morro fans still winnin'
so true (apart from the cursed realm retcon)
Yeah o have no idea what happened there. The big retcon they did messed up a ton for the understanding we had of the Ninjago universe, and it also took away some of the fun whimsy characters had, like originally the First Spinjitzu master was the creator of EVERYTHING, but then “Oh, no he actually only created like, two realms, all the rest were there from the beginning and he just found them one day”.
I feel having almost everyone die and come back gets old after years of doing it
I wish the deaths in Ninjago were spaced out more honestly. Imagine if Seabound was S11 and Nya returned in S15, full Endless Sea form and fighting alongside the Ninja.
And yes I know TECHNICALLY Nya didn’t die in Seabound, but come on it was totally a death
Ninja just went wild with fake out deaths in recent years. March of the Oni (which I believe was written by different writers) had two obviously fake “deaths” ( Cole and Lloyd), and then they brought back Nya and Harumi in the worst way possible! Even the Zane fakeout death in Crystalized was very clearly a fake!
Zanr basically got the short end of the stick and got beaten woth it.
I’ll never forget
Wu: “Just like old times?”
…
Garmadon: “Just like old times…”
“Ninja GO!”
I kinda like how they revived the Overlord in crystallized because the overlord is supposed to be the very embodiment of darkness so he can never truly die like in a yin Yang one can’t exist without the other.
Mine was definitely Morro, even when given a 2nd chance at life he still accepted his fate
Now I know Morro is probably dead for good (which isn’t necessarily bad he had a good end) but I’d love to see him return be it for a season
I personally love how garmadon is brought back in the oni trilogy and I personally believe that it should have ended Ninjago as a series but whatever. The lore behind how garmadon was to be resurrected like not being the same man you recognize not having any light within him. All of it was really great even though I don't believe garmadon's character worsened at the end of the trilogy and crystallized I believe it ruined the pre-established to lure. I love garmadon crystallized but I would have preferred if he stayed true to that villainous character he displayed in hunted. Also it's a nitpick but it really does bother me I don't like how the characters in wildbrain Ninjago white irises move from the place Lego eyes normally stay at. I guess they try to mimic how our eyes work but it just looks off and weird they should change it. Anyway good video.
I don’t think I’ve watched Ninjago since I was 9 and there was only 2 seasons. I think I’ll have another crack at it. I bloody loved Zane as a kid.
you absolutely should. the vast majority of the show is seriously excellent
Mostly in the stories I have written, my characters come back to life with a comedic vibe so I don't really have to face this kind of situation where the characters death is impactful and how their resurrection ruins it.
But in my recent story, I was able to make a character's return impactful without ruining it by keeping them dead.
Basically my characters end up in the underworld where they encounter an old friend who sacrificed their lives for the team.
This allows for great reconciliation and also some final parting words that were said.
My favourite thing about Zane's revival was that is was done in a season focussing on being stronger than united, which made sense considering the ninja were the most divided they had ever been after Zane's death. Sure they didn't tie this theme into the ninja's grief after they found out Zane was alive (I can't fully remember but they might've during episode 1 idk), but it was still a cool theme to focus on giving the events of season 3 and it made sense
Am I the only one who thinks that Nya should've never been brought back? Her death was honorable and brought out the best in her character. As well as the incredible lead up to the moment when she sacrificed herself. The entirety of seabound is about Nya and the struggle she has gone through to keep her loved ones safe. The funeral that everyone had for her, even the civilians, showed that she wasn't just the "girl ninja". Her death obviously affected the entire team as well as everyone in Ninjago. The aftermath of her death should've been explored more, she deserved more than 20 minutes to account for the loss of her character. It's amazing that unlike Nyaad, Nya had such strong attachments to the people in her life before her sacrifice that she was able to escape what was supposedly inescapable, but Nya was one of the lead characters throughout the show, if she needed to be resurrected I feel that more care and time could've been put into it. On the other hand if Nya had never been revived in the first place, it would've given us a chance to see how much the characters really did and do care about her. Rant over.
....
Side rant... it sort of peeves me that Nya didn't spend more time with Kai before her self sacrifice. I understand that she loves Jay with all of her heart but Kai is her brother! When their parents left them Kai was the one who protected and took care of her, when she was revealed to be samurai-x Kai didn't out her, even though wanting to be the green ninja was a key part of his personality at the time. But don't worry, in no way am i overlooking the whole Nadikahn thing, I just think that Kai at least deserved a hug.
(Although this could totally just be my inner big sibling taking over... anyways.... fun lego people! Little claw hands very haha!)
I totally agree, return of nya was incredibly weak
I always thought Kai should have had a lil moment when she went into the water like chasing her before she literally goes in
Garmadon is like vegeta, they both focus on one thing, pride. They both then ended up caring for others
god i adore morro so much. his character is so fleshed out and real and there is so much you can build off of him.
also one of my favourite things is an animation error in the scene where he finds out he isn't the green ninja -- the sword of fire is a normal katana
(which is funny considering the sword of fire model was used in yang's temple)
i didnt even know they were still doing this show, the last one i watched was on the island with that girl kai liked who stole powers and they fought ghosts and I heard about a genie, this stuff sounds fire though. might take a look
sometimes id like to think that the garmadon that was brought back is the devourers venom, not the actual garmadon.
As someone who missed the Ninjago craze, learning that it had a 10+ season TV series with actually good character writing blows my mind. At some point I'll have to go through and watch it.
If a charachter dies in ninjago they usually come back so it kinda looses impact after few deaths and come backs
I wish Mr. E was brought back (excluding crystallized)
Him having a redemption arc potentially would have been interesting
Either that or being a constant and serious threat to the ninjas
A killing machine built to destroy the ninjas constantly attacking them would have been so cool
I'd say the first half of Crystalized and up until like episode 22 is the good parts about it, but after that a lot of it was Meh. The build up of the mysterious masked person going on recruiting old villians for the Crystal King to come back, leading into in my personal viewing as the most shocking reveal i've seen in Ninjago being that Harumi was all this time alive (I went into Crystalized promo/teaser free so i had no clue who the masked person was and it made the reveal even better). And seeing how in episode 13 and 14 how Harumi has in a way been pulling the strings in the background ever since she came back, how she was the vengestone buyer Vangelis mentioned durring season 13, and how throughout the timelaps of Seabound and Crystalized she's been watching the Ninja durring their time with Kalmaar's tyrany and the 1 year morn of Nya, she been planning so well that everything went according to it. And then came episode 15 which is single handedly the most beautifully coreographed episode in the entire franchise. which of course lead to the villians taking the W and destroying the monestary along with stealing the golden weapons for the overlord's ressurection, which i think was handled beautifully with the despair in Lloyd whene he sees Ninjago's greatest threat has returned.
And he really shows that he means buisness this time with the episodes leading up until he splits the ninja up and destroys The Bounty, and Wu vs The Overlord was another beautifully coreographed fight (even if it was just 1 minute 20 seconds). But that's where the goods ended with the later episodes being mostly setup for episodes 29 and 30 which got pretty boring eventually
1:38 really loved this little ship of Theseus-esc schpeel about Zane lol
The thing about ninjago is that it’s fun to watch recaps even after watching the whole series since i was 5. Also my favorite rebirth was the overlord in season 2 it was very well told
You know, this reminds me of Brandon Mcnulty's video talking about character deaths, and that revivals should always come with a cost. And early Ninjago understood that pretty well. Unfortunately things like Nya in Crystalized is really bad because she only loses her powers for a season. I think we should have not made Pixal Samurai-X and have Nya reclaim that identity now that she lost her powers, but perhaps she works in the ability to utilize elements into her gear.
Wow, they have made way more seasons than I thought. I have only seen up to season 6 with the jinn and wishes.
Very true. There are so many things that I've never thought about while was watching Ninjago from this video. I wish new writers will watch this video if they'd like to bring Nadakhan, Clause, Hands of Time or anybody else back to story.
Do you all remember the live-action trailer for this season with morrow on cartoon network? I tried finding it a few months back and found no results, I'm not sure if it was even a trailer I just remember there being real people dressed up as the ninjas doing parkour and promoting the upcoming season and theorising that the ninjas somehow went to the real world 😭
That is real! I remember seeing it on TV as a kid. Here's a link: ruclips.net/video/QOkhGtHgA1Q/видео.html&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE
@Crusty783 OH my god, that's actually amazing because I couldn't tell if I was just crazy or if it was lost media, watching that was so nostalgic because me and my older brother bonded a lot watching Ninjago with each other over the years, thank you for linking that ~ I'll subscribe ❤
i think the best handled revival was pythor. the man is so intent on getting revenge on everyone that wronged him and his people, that he won't stop even when his plans literally swallow him whole. the fact that he doesn't even care if he can control the evil he unleashes to get his revenge (great devourer, golden master and the cursed) makes him a particularly troublesome villain for the ninja.
If i wrote crystalized and HAD TO REWIVE Harumi, i would, make it, so Overlord's plan to defeat lloyd is by resorecting Harumi (like she revived Garmadon) with his crystal powers, to make her torture Lloyd emotiolly. In the season, Harumi is starting to get free will, and start to resist Overlord and slowly becoming good, (Like Garmadon) and becoming an ally, and backstabing Overlord, not just for Revenge, and being useless by attacking, but telling the weakness of him, becase Harumis power comes from her words.
Morro arc was so good bruh😭
I honestly kind of like that the overlord came back for season 3
In season 3 it felt like he had greater spotlight and was a bigger threat
Also he honestly looked way more awesome
Totally has to be Morro, as that was pretty surprising for me and solidified him as my favorite Ninjago character outside Wu and the main ninjas.
Garmadon's resurrection was for sure the best in the series, but I actually really liked the Overlord's return in Rebooted. I think Rebooted provided a more satisfying end to his character than either of his other two defeats did, though it still could've been done better.
I've never been a fan of the resurrections, personally. It never feels like they did a good job at them.
With that being said, you made a fantastic argument for Zane and Garmadon's resurrections. I never thought to look at them thematically. Maybe I spend too much time thinking about them logically (It's hard to get MatPat Syndrome out of your head sometimes).
Good video.
Lol he's desperately trying to ignore nya's so called death and revival. Can't blame him for that . That season (that shall not be named ) has so many unfixable flaws , it's pathetic . Rip
I woulda talked about Harumi and Nya but I just dont have it in me to acknowledge that dumpster fire lmao. Made a crystalized review the other month that discusses that though if that interests u
@@Crusty783 This might be a hot take, but s14/15 was more of a dumpster fire.
@@Crusty783 I've already watched that video and it's valid . I just hope ninjago 2023 or United series are able to fix nya character arc cause they really did her dirty this season , she's basically a human taxi driver bringing the ninja's to their next destination. Too disappointing tbh .
@@BvelociraptorProductions I..... Well it's a hot take so I can't argue about it
I've only watched seasons 1-10 had no idea there were more.
I really felt like season C spat in the face of Garmadon’s arc. They just forgot everything and made him better for the sake of him being better, when truly that’s not how they left off. They fixed a cruel overlord… with very little compassion and humanity… by giving him a plant and teaching him to care in some camera man’s apartment? I call utter bull.
While I understand wheee you’re coming from it kind of lines up with the belief that stopping big evil comes from small acts of kindness for those who are easily swayed, taking away places evil can take root. In other words because that was confusing, you cannot truly stop evil, but by helping others you can keep it from taking root.
Tbf, you can see in MotO hes starting to understand human concepts a lot more and grow to care for them (as reaffirmed by the Omega)
@@skylandersfan6954 True, but I think no amount of plant exposure can fix a murderer and a conquerer. The part that really upset me was just how simple they made Garmadon’s redemption seem. Like “well if you do these simple things he’s fixed”. But that doesn’t make sense when his issues were already so complex.
@@gabrxael Which is what the comics were for
Morro was the goat in day of the departed no questions asked I really miss him. Maybe with dragons rising we could see that while it’s still hard it is easier for one to travel between the merged realms and the departed realm and morro could go out trying to find Lloyd to give him some vital information I don know I just wish we got more of him as a good guy.
A star walks into a black hole but doesn't seen phased. The black hole then turns to the star and says, "I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation."
I didn't mind the Overlord's random return in Rebooted. We spent the entirety of Season 2 being shown just how spiteful the overlord is, and how he's something fundamental to the world. Not dying properly the first time seemed pretty in character for him, to me at least.
Save for the ghost Cole story and the first season after, I've missed everything post-movie
I am completely lost here T^T
"Ninjago loves killing off its characters"
I'll never forgive them for making Ultra catch a stray for no damn reason 😭
Pythor, I don’t even like him as a character but I thought it was so cool when he came back
8:16 He also came back in Decoded because yes
Thank you for clarifying I thought when the cursed realm was destroyed all the people in it ceased to exist
Banger video as always
"Looks edible enough"-the great devourer
It’s done well for Harumi aswell in my opinion
My thoughts when Pythor helps against Chen: "Spite is such a good motivator"
For real tho, from everything I remember about Pythor(been a while since I watched Ninjago), the only motivator he could have is spite, because Chen basically made his species go extinct, so Pythor would want to prove to Chen that he can't be killed off that easely.
Garmadon may be a bit overused, but I really like how they did his character.
I'm gonna be real, I've lived my whole life thinking there were only two seasons
💀
In my opinion Moro is my favorite villain and here are three reasons why
First he has a good motivation which is that he wanted to prove he could be the green ninja
Second he had a great character arc
Third he is just a cool villain
And to think the realm of the departed is now part of the larger world...
Meanwhile Echo still stuck in the lighthouse
One of my favorite revivals was cole after he died in that haunted house
Okaay but, "Repressing my ability to care" is now my new favorite way to tell someone i Do Not Care
What I don't like with the revival of Garmadon is that it doesn't feel like Garmadon at all. Like, in previous seasons Garmadon had always had his jokey personality while evil and while I get why that was scrapped for him to be totally evil, all throughout he had evil plans, whether use the Great Devourer to get the weapons of Spinjitsu, create bizzaro ninja, bring back pirates, go back in time to his first attack to get ninja off the menu. You know the stuff. When revived, he only followed Harumi's plan and his plan to take over looked like the following:
Step 1: Take over Ninjago
It didn't really feel like this presence capable of complex plans to advance his goals but rather just a force of evil. Even the Overlord - the Ninjago's evil incarnate, had a plan he'd follow to achieve his goals by building the ultimate weapon and wouldn't invade until all preperations were done, while Evil! Garmadon just brute-forced himself into winning with Harumi's help. For one, it didn't feel very earned and for the other thing, it didn't feel like Garmadon in the slightest and even though that was supposed to be the point, the execution of the concept wasn't as good. In truth during the Sons of Garmadon, he could be an ancient evil chicken of incredible power and the season could run with barely any narrative changes. Of all the things March of the Oni did wrong, Garmadon is not one of them and gave us exactly what he used to be all about, but until that point Lego Ninjago Movie's Garmadon is a more faithful adaptation of the character in my opinion.
1:17 I cry every time I watch it
Amazing video
ty! :)
@@Crusty783 no problem
I still don't really like the resurrection of Garmadon because it feels like Garmadon's sacrifice was for nothing and plus I still don't understand how he came back evil even though all the evil he had was gone due to the Overlord. Plus, I don't really like the design choice of the new one, almost looking like a zombified corpse with his ribs sticking.
Garmadon was evil because of the oni magic and indoctrination from harumi
His sacrifice wasnt for nothing because the real Garmadon is gone and forever will be
Great video!
ty :)
31k views in two days, impressive
Describing season 11 as "incredible" was genuinely a jumpscare for me
My favorite is probably either garmadon or Morro.
This is how you reserect a character it just shows me a how to on making a demonic portal
This aged well...
DOTD somehow did this right even tho all other villans were trash
dont think they were trash moreso than just being inoffensive and kinda nothing. minus cryptor who just sucked ass
Crusty783 Why Does Cryptor Suck in Day of the Departed Special?
@@acronixwoodentrains3058 Just look at his death
ZeroJump Oh The Part of Zane VS Cryptor Fight where Cryptor Killed Himself with his Departed Techno Blade yeah that was a Really Hilarious Villain Dead in my opinion I Thought Cryptor was really Good/Fine in Ninjago Day of the Departed tho wish His Fight with Zane was a little bit longer
Personally, I honestly really liked the fact that they briefly brought Morro back along with his they resurrected Garmadon. It was done really well ^^