Serpentine

The Serpentine are a species in LEGO's Ninjago theme, including sets, the cartoon, and other spinoffs. They were the primary enemies during Ninjago’s 2012 run, replacing the Skulkin of 2011 and being replaced by the Stone Army in 2013. In the 2014 Rebooted run, the Serpentine became minor protagonists, trying to prevent the rise of the Golden Master. In 2015, the Serpentine helped the Ninja fight off the Anacondrai Cultists, who have transformed into Anacondrai Serpentine.

As the name suggests, the Serpentine are an ancient race of reptilian humanoids who were once the dominant species of Ninjago. They warred with each other for centuries until the people of Ninjago rose up (likely with the aid of the First Spinjitzu Master) and locked them away in five separate tombs, one for each tribe (Hypnobrai, Fangpyre, Venomari, Constrictai, and Anacondrai). Centuries later, they were released by Lloyd Garmadon and Pythor.

The Serpentine have an undefined connection to the Great Devourer, worshipping it as an all-powerful god and ruler. They believed that the Devourer could have been used as the ultimate weapon for ruling Ninjago and getting revenge on its current inhabitants.

As of the 2014 storyline, the Serpentine follow Skales and have reformed from their war-mongering ways. They made their new home in the former tomb of the Stone Army following the Overlord's first defeat.

In the 2015 storyline, they helped in the battle of the Corridor of Elders against Chen's army.

Beginnings
The Serpentine were created at an unknown point in time by the First Spinjitzu Master. The Serpentine were created knowing the threat of the Golden Master. It is likely the First Spinjitzu Master created them knowing this intentionally.

The Serpentine tried to warn the humans of the threat of the Golden Master, but they wouldn't listen, they thought they were the enemies. The Serpentine then tried to force them underground but they failed. They used the young Great Devourer, but this attempt failed too. The Serpentine saw their defeat as an attack by the humans, so the Serpentine War began. As the war progressed and as time went by, the war began to die down. Chen told each side that the other was going to attack, which restarted the war.

The Elemental Masters once again met the Serpentine in a battle. As the Elemental Masters began to win, the Anacondrai appeared and defeated them. In another battle, the Elemental Masters battled the Anacondrai once more. As they began to win, one of the Elemental Masters (Cole's Ancestor) sided with the Serpentine and the Elemental Masters lost once more. Later as the Elemental Masters began to walk home from battle, defeated and discouraged, Garmadon realized that they should use the Sacred Flutes in order to defeat them, seeing a man use one to in trance a small cobra. The Elemental Masters used the flutes and drove the five Serpentine tribes into five separate tombs.

The Anacondrai Generals (Including Arcturus), were banished to the Cursed Realm.

Release
The Serpentine were first released in Season 1, episode 1, "Rise of the Snakes." They appeared in many LEGO sets throughout the year, as well as in multiple Spinners.

Snake King
The supreme leader of the Serpentine, usually a General who manages to assert their authority over the others. It is a purely political title that has no physical changes to the Serpentine who achieves it, although Skales chose to wear a crown to confirm his position.

General
The leaders of each Serpentine tribe, identified by the long tail replacing their legs and their possession of their tribe's Snake Staff. Usually the highest rank of Serpentine, with the "Snake King" title coming into play if a General wishes to unite the tribes as one.

Warrior
Powerful fighters in the Serpentine ranks, generally less numerous than Soldiers or Scouts. Often appear similar to their corresponding General, but with legs instead of tails and slight color variations (e.g. Lizaru has green head spikes, while Acidicus has white head spikes).

In the Ninjago: Spinjitzu Spinners game, Warriors have 1100 SP, with 500 SP in their dominant element, 300 SP in a secondary element, 200 SP in a tertiary element and 100 SP in a final element. So far, they are the highest rank of Serpentine to appear in Spinner sets.

Soldier
The regular fighters of the Serpentine forces, identifiable by having less elaborate heads than Warriors or Generals. They usually have two large, stout fangs protruding from their mouths.

In the Spinjitzu Spinners game, Soldiers have 1000 SP, with 300 SP in three elements and 100 SP in the last element.

Scout
The lowest-ranking members of the Serpentine (not counting their Mini Snakes), Scouts presumably play a supporting role in combat, gathering information on targets and backing up their stronger allies in battle. They have "normal" LEGO minifigure heads, but with distinctly reptilian features such as scales, fangs, and slit-like pupils. Most have small hoods or armor plates on the backs of their heads.

In Spinjitzu Spinners, Scouts have 900 SP, with 300 SP in their dominant element and 200 SP in the other three elements.

Biology
The Serpentine generally appear as scaly humanoids with snake-like heads. Generals have snake-like tails replacing their legs, which appears to be symbolic of their position; as soon as a different snake takes dominance in a tribe, its legs will become a tail and the conquered Serpentine will have its tail replaced by legs, although every member in the Anacondrai Tribe has tails. It is possible that similar changes would occur if other Serpentine of different ranks fought to increase their standing in the tribe (e.g. a Scout attempting to become a Soldier-ranked Serpentine, or a Soldier attempting to become a Warrior-ranked Serpentine). It is unclear what would happen if a Serpentine General perished without being challenged by a fellow tribesmate - presumably, the next-strongest member of the tribe would become General by default.

In addition to proficiency in melee combat (both unarmed and with a variety of weapons), all of the Serpentine tribes have unique abilities: the Hypnobrai can hypnotize others into loyal servants or sleeper agents; the Fangpyre can turn anything they bite into a snake; the Venomari are resistant to acid and can spit hallucinatory venom; the Constrictai have powerful grips and superior burrowing abilities; and the Anacondrai are capable of turning invisible and swallowing people whole. However, all Serpentine are vulnerable to the music of the Sacred Flute, which causes them extreme discomfort and negates some of their abilities.

The Serpentine also have extremely long lifespans. According to Skales and Fangtom's dialogue in "Never Trust a Snake," some of them have known each other from before their imprisonment, making them several centuries old.

Culture
The Serpentine are vicious and warlike creatures, and their society appears to measure all things in terms of power. They solve disputes and seek entertainment in the Slither Pit, effectively a gladiatorial combat where they determine superiority by one participant being more powerful and cunning than the other. Many Serpentine look down on other species, out of arrogance or anger at being sealed away by the other inhabitants of Ninjago. They are predisposed to combat and violence to achieve their goals, and are not adverse to using dirty tricks or superior numbers to overwhelm their enemies.

This aggressive mindset often hinders the Serpentine more than it benefits them, as infighting is prevalent between Serpentine tribes, and even among different ranks within each tribe. On the other hand, Serpentine are unwaveringly loyal to those who can conclusively demonstrate their superiority, readily following the every command of such individuals - at least until their leaders show signs of weakness or incompetence.

However, some positive traits have been observed among the Serpentine. They are capable of camaderie and friendship, as seen when Skales and Fangtom greet each other as old friends despite their tribal alignments. Additionally, Pythor sought to awaken the Great Devourer specifically to avenge his race on the surface-dwellers who sealed them away, implying that he genuinely wants to see Serpentine dominance for their own sakes. Likewise, despite having been the one to devour his tribe, Pythor was ultimately against the idea of tarnishing their name in death, getting past his own grudges to avenge the mockery that had been done to his people.

The Serpentine also seemed to have a righteous sense of justice, being quick to act in preparation for the arrival of the Golden Master, though some of their methods were questionable. Ultimately, while meaning well, their paranoia and recklessness in trying to stop their war with the humans only helped start it, and feeling wronged and unknowing of the true situation, felt they deserved vengeance on the humans for what had happened.

Following their imprisonment in the Stone Army Tomb, the Serpentine sought more pacifistic reforms, seeking to atone for their ways. As a result, nearly all of them became much more peaceful, promoting politeness and courtesy. Despite this, as a result of the past, they nevertheless remained somewhat wary of humans, but ultimately came over this in order to help them upon the attack of the Golden Master, finally bridging the gap that had separated the two species for so long. As a result, the Serpentine began to venture out onto the surface, regularly interacting with the humans as generic citizens.

Despite these pacifistic reforms, however, some Serpentine, though no longer criminals, nevertheless preferred their old ways of combat and fighting, with multiple members, most notably Mezmo, continuing the tradition of the Slither Pit at Yang Tavern and even inviting non-serpentine, such as humans and Skulkin, to participate.

Trivia

 * The most common Serpentine to be owned to-date is Spitta.
 * "Serpentine" is a real word, meaning "snake-like" or "related to snakes." However, the Ninjago term is pronounced with an "e" sound in the final syllable (Ser-pen-TEEN), while the real word has an "i" sound (Ser-pen-TYNE).
 * Lloyd was betrayed by every single tribe of Serpentine he allied himself with.
 * The Serpentine changed their ways from bad to good after being locked in the tombs of the Stone Army.