“We lived and worked in the forest, together, happily. We were Formlings, and we lived in peace. And at the end of the day, we returned to our village. It was a beautiful place, built deep in the forest. It was my home.” |
— Akita, "The Last of the Formlings" |
Formlings are beings from the Never-Realm who can take the form of various animals. The Ice Emperor had his dragon Boreal to freeze all of the Formlings except for Akita and Kataru.
With the Ice Emperor gone and the realm freed from its eternal winter, the Formlings were unfrozen and rebuilt their civilization.
Contents
History
Background
Several decades before the ninja arrived in the Never-Realm, the Formlings lived in a village in the land, where they were living in peace. Each individual had their own animal form and everyone worked together to keep maintain the peace of the village.
On the day of the Choosing Ceremony of Akita and her brother Kataru, the self-exiled Vex who was unable to achieve a form had returned to the village and issued a threat of attacking should they not join him after he found a stronger power in Ice. The elder refused and Vex left but promised to return with a stronger force.

The village frozen by Boreal.
When Akita and her brother achieved their forms, they returned to the village but find it frozen with everyone trapped inside big blocks of ice. Vex and his new master the Ice Emperor had attacked the area and froze all the villagers for their defiance. An enraged Akita attempted to attack Vex and the Ice Emperor, but she is instead attacked by Boreal. However, Kataru appears in his bear form, defending Akita. He slashes at the beast, scraping its wings. It roars, and Akita tells for Kataru to run. But Kataru continues to fight Boreal, who covers him with snow.
When Akita saw that her brother was presumably gone, she broke down and cried at being the last Formling left. Vex, the Ice Emperor, and Boreal, satisfied with their deed, walks off.
Akita then heads out of the village, never looking back. She vows to return, once the Ice Emperor and Vex have justice.
The Last of the Formlings
Akita tells Lloyd the story of the Formlings and what became of them. She also reveals her goal of avenging them by taking down the Ice Emperor and Vex.
A Fragile Hope
It is revealed that Kataru survived the village's freezing and was taken as a prize by Boreal. Kataru learns of his sister's survival from the recently-captured Lloyd and joins the Resistance to defeat Vex.
Once and for All
The rebels broke out to destroy Vex's crystal so they could slip by undetected. Akita made her way to the Castle of Ice and slip in unnoticed by guards. However, Vex had anticipated this and had the soldiers attack Kataru and Grimfax while Lloyd ran off to confront Zane.
As this happened, Akita made it to the throne room and confronted her enemy who overwhelmed her in battle.
Awakenings
After Zane incapacitated Akita and Lloyd, Vex tries to tell him to kill the latter. But seeing him not moving, Vex chose to carry out the job instead. Grabbing a nearby soldier's spear, he mocked the Green Ninja for opposing them and failing to protect those close to him. Unfortunately, the moment he said “protect,” caused Zane to remember who he truly was. Before Vex could go for the kill, Zane uses his scepter to block the spear. Zane then strikes Vex away before slamming it on the ground, destroying it, and returning the Never-Realm back the way it was. This released the Formlings and their village from the ice.
Now free, the Formlings consulted with Grimfax on the decision of what to do about Vex. Both sides then mutually decided to banish Vex further into the outskirts of the Never-Realm for his crimes.
Known Formlings
Appearances
LEGO Ninjago
Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu
- 114. "The Never-Realm"
- 115. "Fire Maker"
- 116. "An Unlikely Ally"
- 118. "The Message"
- 121. "Secret of the Wolf"
- 122. "The Last of the Formlings"
- 123. "My Enemy, My Friend"
- 125. "Corruption" (flashback)
- 126. "A Fragile Hope"
- 127. "Once and for All"
- 128. "Awakenings"
Trivia
- Similar to the Oni, the Formlings have the ability to shapeshift despite not having the actual Elemental Power of Form.
- They differ from the Oni in that they can only transform into an individual animal depending on the person, while the Oni can transform into anything.
- They are also similar to Animagi from the Harry Potter series.
- They are also similar to Shape-Shifters from the Twillight series.
- Formlings age differently than humans.[1]
- This was seen when Akita and Kataru still had the same youthful appearance, despite many decades having passed.
- Vex also looked like he did prior to becoming a Blizzard Samurai when he became normal again, though Grimfax and the other corrupted warriors who were human also still looked the same, so in his case, it may have also been due to the nature of the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu's corruption.
- This was seen when Akita and Kataru still had the same youthful appearance, despite many decades having passed.
- The Formlings could be based on a 2003 Disney Animated movie, "Brother Bear."
- Kataru in "The Last of The Formlings" could shapeshift into a bear, whereas Kenai from Brother Bear was turned into a bear.
- The Formlings live at a village in the cold with snow and ice, and in Brother Bear, it takes place in Alaska where there is snow and ice as well.