Things about my Ninjago Au I think are cool
-It's based off of the "Gold rush" short
-Kai and Nya are the first two ninja, just two reckless teenagers fighting thugs in makeshift suits and accidentally finding out about an ancient artifact that could bring about the end of the world. Releasing shadow creatures from the darkness upon the entirety of Ninjago bringing everlasting destruction and fear, and after the whole fiasco ending with Lloyd getting sucked into the dark realm(it's debatable wether that was actually his decision or not) and Ninjago being temporarily safe. They get picked up by none other than Cyrus Borg himself, willing to give them a full set of professional gadgets and training suits for the price of working under the government. Of course they agree
-Lloyd still first starts out as the main antagonist but he's aged up to 17 and is treated a lot more seriously to an extent. Taking a lot longer to be redeemed, like Redson from Monkie kid in a way where he's unnecessarily dramatic and flamboyant. Though he is able to be menacing,
-garmmadon/Wu do not exist, replaced by the Overlord and the like light version of them or something. Misako being raised from the ground up to be a god spouse and after realizing she was in a cult the whole time, running off with her child, and becoming a scholar she basically had to raise the antichrist. Which was not fun but she tried(too bad Lloyd turned on her and the Ninja to go be edgy)
-Jay does not start off as a ninja, sure he's part of the team but he first appears at the end of the "pilot episodes" as tech support and help for the Ninja fixing up weapons that can't be mass produced and stuff like that. He's actually just a voice sorta like Pixel until near the end of "season one" where we get a face reveal as well as him getting his own office to properly work in during the start of "season two", he's also just referred to as "Walker" for most of "season one"
-Zane also doesn't start off as a Ninja, being found and fixed up by Jay in the "second episode" there's no shocking reveal that he's a robot. There is however a mystery surrounding how something as advanced as him was just thrown away and why every data card that could've held a memory was corrupted beyond repair. Not to mention no one actually knows what he runs off of, and as easy as it would be to just take it out and study it from there the last time it was removed it honestly seemed like he was dead for a bit. He just helps around the ninjas base and Jay's office and Borg tower because he feels a sense of duty to do so
-Cole wouldn't you know it, also doesn't start off as a ninja! His identity isn't even shown at first as he's a vigilante called "Rouge" with mysterious earth powers and a no nonsense attitude. Comes off as rude and mysterious at first but slowly develops a sorta flirtatious rivalry with Kai(much to literally everyone around them's dismay). Doesn't want to be apart of the ninja purely due to what his father would think and shit like that. Besides, he's dead set on the idea that he works better alone anyway. And no amount of nights clumsily crawling through his bedroom window while bleeding out is gonna change that...unfortunately
-there's a running gag where either Kai or Nya will walk in Jay's office being all casual before bringing in the most mangled and unrecognizable piece of machinery and walking off with an excuse of something they need to do. Leaving him and sometimes Zane to just...stare at it, Zane with concern and confusion and Jay with complete and utter despair since he's the one who has to fix the damn thing
-there's the moment "at the end of the first half of season two" where the ninja are partying sorta like that one scene during season one. And Jay instead of being with them is just frustratedly filling taxes because of the damage they caused, it's framed like a joke but when it's looked back on as a flashback it's very much not and he is genuinely frustrated and stressed over the sheer amount of shit he has to do
-true potential is less based on a spiritual awakening than a realization whether it be true or not let alone a good one. It also has to be fueled by a certain emotion, Kai with determination and a bit of pride attached that no matter what he's gonna protect Ninjago with a determined "this is my home, and I will never let you destroy it!" , Nya with pure joy at the revelation that the whole idea is that they were supposed to do it together with a joyful "It was us the whole time!" , Cole with anger and spite at the realization that saying nothing means compliance and he shouldn't be running from this with a defiant "No!", Jay with complete despair and self loathing at the realization that there was nothing he could've done to stop it and that he has no more control over himself with a broken and guilty "I'm sorry", and lastly Zane with hope and believing at his seemingly final moments hoping for a better future with a quiet prayer "I believe that this isn't over, I hope for a better future, even without me in it."
-speaking of elemental powers the staff of forbidden Spinjitsu is now actually a stone, feeding off the elemental user's worst aspects along with the emotion triggering their "true potential" to tire them out enough and make them destroy themselves until they're a perfect host for destruction. as you could tell it physically hurts to use wether the user actually knows that or not, causing weird shifts in personality and uncontrollable outbursts of elemental energy although the power of them vary from how powerful the element actually is.
-Since we're still talking about Elemental powers Lightning is one of the most powerful/unstable elements to exist, physically hurting the user and those around them if used without focus or training and doing even worse when too much power is put into an attack. Leaving permanent scars on their hands and even up to their eyes depending on where they launch the attack from, hands and feet specifically. It also effects nearby electronics, making them short circuit or frizz up when the user is emotional or charging up an attack.
-Shadow creatures are majorly indestructible, almost untouchable except when hit with pure concentrated golden energy. Golden energy itself was actually pretty easy to find, it being scattered and left around after the fight between the creatures and the two ninja "at the end of the first season" Concentrating it and putting it into weaponry however was the hard part. Swords, although really cool and being used in the fight, were impractical for the average Police officer or civilian. Using up too much energy and basically having to fly in order to not get hurt while using it due to the Shadow creatures mass and speed. Thus they choose a gun as the main weapon, it was still hard to create though. And it took a while to create
-the prototype for these weapons were created near the end of the "season two", spawning from a manic "eureka" moment Jay had at three in the morning while lost in thought. Which he spent almost seven weeks straight working on it every chance he got, it was...worrying to say the least from literally anyone else's perspective. But it paid off, actually working for the most part until it jammed at the end of "season two", the fixing/tweaking and further production/improvement being taken care of by Borg industries while Jay healed up(much to his dismay and retaliation)
-The ninja sometimes have to go to fancy Gala's to get more funding for their gadgets and machinery as well as improvement for their image. First being mentioned and executed in the(maybe)two part "episode" called Fitting in with the fancies. And(if I stick with the whole two-part thing)A chase in the Gala.(I made up these names on the spot so they might change later).
-The crown that Lloyd uses to control the shadow creatures is called the "Crown of control"(Dreamzzz reference but I made this up before I knew it was a thing so don't hate me), the ancient artifact that's the catalyst for the "pilot episodes". The crown of control(T.C.O.C for short) is actually just a holder for a chunk of the overlords power kinda like the crystals from crystalized. Put into an orb which was put into a crown in order to properly channel the power. The crown disappearing and reappearing throughout history although it never directly makes itself known leaving only to theories
-the crown although very powerful is also very very...health risking, keeping it on and or using it for too long will cause your hands and feet and the ends of your hair to get a little black in hue and at worst you start coughing and throwing up darkness aka black goop. Lloyd seemingly doesn't care though, seeing that it's his "destiny" and "he's too far gone". Although it seems more like that's what the Overlord tells him...
-My version of Misako was...actually a pretty good mom, she tried to give Lloyd as normal of a life as she could and for the most part she succeeded. It's funny though, because In her original plan of leaving the cult(also go back up I changed Misako's story like a lot) she was supposed to kill Lloyd as he was technically the anti Christ..but she couldn't bring herself to do it, this was her baby. She couldn't just kill it, even if every other part of her screamed to kill it for the sake of humanity she only dropped the knife in return. Cradling the Crying Lloyd in her arms as she sighed
-and honestly she doesn't even regret it, even if her son eventually fulfilled her worst fears. She still raised him, she still loved him, she still loves him, and even if he ended up betraying her she knows even if it's buried deep inside him he still loves her too
-Lloyd sometimes at his lowest has genuinely considered going back to his Mama. Just staring at a picture of them solemnly after throwing up again due to the crown. His completely black thumb caressing the shattered screen on his broken phone...whatever, he's too far gone, she doesn't miss him anymore, she hates him now. She has to hate him...she'd be crazy if she didn't
-Lloyd actually started growing horns and claws and fangs at age 8-10, Misako having to(much to both of their dismay) having to file them down and hide them away as for no one to get suspicious. When Lloyd fully gave into the crown in the "pilot episodes" the horns and claws and fangs grew back almost immediately. Lloyd having obviously no clue how to take care of them and not wanting to cut them away again let them poke and nik and scratch him. He'd say those scars were from "Battles" or some other lie but they're from the times her scratched that itch a little too hard or when he was sticking his tongue out at someone(don't ask) and cut his tongue surprisingly deep or when he absentmindedly touched his horns and the sharp "branches" of horns cut his finger
-none of the ships in my au are directly "canon"(besides Jaya because that was the catalyst for three subplots and a whole season), but then again I don't care that much you ship what you want! There's a moment for pretty much any ship you want and I couldn't care less if you wanna ship Bruise or Bluetooth or Plasma I'm fine with all that
-Pt two https://www.tumblr.com/cittykat101/781565717876244480/things-about-my-ninjago-au-i-think-are-cool-pt-2?source=share




















