Green Ninja


 * This article is about the legendary ninja and its associated lore. For the person who became the Green Ninja, see here. For the episode, see here.

The Green Ninja (also known as The Chosen One or the Master of Energy) is a legendary Ninja spoken said to be the strongest of all Ninja, destined to defeat evil in a final climactic battle for the fate of the world.

The legend of the Green Ninja plays a major role in the first season of the cartoon, as the heroes search for his identity and eventually begin training him to fulfill his role as the Chosen One.

Rise of the Snakes
The Green Ninja was first mentioned in the aftermath of the Ninja's first meeting with Lloyd Garmadon in Jamanakai Village. On their way back to the Monastery of Spinjitzu, the Ninja realized that they had accidentally brought Master Wu's satchel with them in their haste to stop "Lord Garmadon." Within the satchel was a scroll detailing the prophecy of the Green Ninja, said to be a ninja who would rise above all others and become the savior of Ninjago. Upon reading the scroll, the Ninja believed that the Green Ninja was meant to be one of them, with each Ninja believing that he was the destined one.

When they returned home, the Ninja immediately set up a fighting tournament to see which of them was the strongest—and thus, which of them was the most likely to be the Green Ninja. It eventually boiled down to a battle between Kai and Cole, but the fight went out of control when the former lost control of the Sword of Fire. Master Wu managed to extinguish the resulting blaze, admonishing his students for thinking that any of them had what it took to be the Green Ninja; however, the Ninja interpreted this as a suggestion to train harder, in order to reach their full potential and become the prophesied hero of legend.

Never Trust a Snake
One night, Zane had a strange dream that culminated in Lord Garmadon attacking him aboard the Destiny's Bounty. He was saved from the villain by the Green Ninja, who demonstrated several incredible abilities while defeating Lord Garmadon. The dream caused Zane to oversleep, and he told his friends about the dream when they questioned his uncharacteristic tardiness. Unfortunately, their excitement over the dream caused them to neglect their daily training, forcing Master Wu to punish them with endless training until they could answer a riddle: "What is the best way to defeat an enemy?"

Unable to answer the riddle, the Ninja reluctantly accepted their training—however, they began discussing the Green Ninja in Zane's dream the moment their master was out of earshot. Each believed that an aspect of the Green Ninja pointed to them being the Chosen One; Kai noted his use of Fire, Cole pointed to the Green Ninja's incredible strength, Jay noted the use of the Nunchucks of Lightning, and Zane reminded them of the Green Ninja's apparent connection to the Falcon.

The Snake King
After Samurai X beat them to a Serpentine attack at Mega Monster Amusement Park, the Ninja were feeling upstaged and angry at the mysterious warrior. Master Wu suggested that they take it as motivation to become stronger, but the Ninja interpreted it as a hint that whoever defeated the Samurai would be the one destined to become the Green Ninja. As such, they began competing with each other to find and capture the Samurai, only to be outmaneuvered at every turn by their rival.

The Green Ninja
As the hunt for the Fangblades took priority, the Ninja largely put the matter of the Green Ninja aside—all except Kai, who grew increasingly convinced that he was the legendary hero. He took to wearing the Green Ninja's gi and training alone at night, only to be highly embarrassed when the others caught him in the act. Kai's obsession with becoming the Green Ninja made him more high-strung than normal, which proved problematic when Lord Garmadon took up residence on the Destiny's Bounty (in order to help the Ninja save his son, Lloyd).

When the Ninja battled the Serpentine in the volcano behind the Fire Temple, Kai brazenly attacked Pythor in order to "prove" he was the Green Ninja. He successfully knocked the Fangpyre Fangblade from the Anacondrai's hand, only for a dilemma to present itself when Lloyd became trapped on a rock in a sea of lava. With the volcano growing increasingly unstable, Kai was forced to choose between retrieving the Fangblade or saving Lloyd, and eventually chose the latter, leaping across the sea of fire to pull Lloyd to slightly safer ground.

As he shielded Lloyd from the building eruption, Kai had an epiphany: his destiny was not to become the Green Ninja, but to protect the Green Ninja. The realization caused him to unlock his True Potential, allowing him and Lloyd to escape the volcano as it erupted. When Kai returned to the Destiny's Bounty and reunited Lloyd with Lord Garmadon, he explained how he had unlocked his True Potential, only for everyone to realize the implications for Lloyd. Quickly, the Golden Weapons were held in front of the boy, where they began floating and emitting green electricity between them—to everyone's amazement, Lloyd himself was none other than the Green Ninja.

Ghost Story
Master Wu later revealed to the Ninja that he had at one time believed that Morro, the Elemental Master of Wind and his original pupil, might become the Green Ninja. Unfortunately, when Wu shared this hope with Morro, it led Morro to develop an arrogant streak. When the Golden Weapons failed to react to him as had been foretold, Morro became furious and set out to prove himself worthy.

Curseworld, Part II
As a result of banishing Lloyd to the Cursed Realm, Morro was able to take Lloyd's position as the Green Ninja due to being in Ninjago. However, upon Lloyd's return, the status was contested and eventually returned to Lloyd with Morro's demise.

Trivia

 * At various points before the revelation, Master Wu thought that either Morro or Nya might be the Green Ninja.
 * The Green Ninja was the first character seen wearing a ZX suit, during his appearance in "Never Trust a Snake."
 * In the iOS app, Rise of the Snakes, the Green Ninja is the rarest character. He appears in Daily Battles only once and the only other way to get his character is battling him in Rivals and dropping his character or by Fortune Favors You at the end of a battle.
 * In "The Green Ninja," the Green Ninja suit lacks the armor and headpiece of the ZX version.
 * The Green Ninja's description is similar to the Avatar from the cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender; both are the destined saviors of their worlds and can use all four respective elements of their world.
 * The Green Ninja made a few minor appearances as a character in "The LEGO Movie," a movie that is based on LEGO that was released in cinemas on February 2014.