“Since your grandfather was born of bothworlds, our mission was to follow him into this realm and turn him to our side! Or destroy him. But he wouldn't serve. And I fell in love with this world he created. My fellow Oni wanted to complete our mission, but I turned on them, and I have helped the First Spinjitzu Master ever since.”
Mystake was an Oni disguised as an elderly woman, who owned a tea shop within Ninjago City. Mystake once lived in the Realm of Oni and Dragons alongside her fellow Oni and was later dispatched to kill the First Spinjitzu Master, but after seeing the beauty in the realm he created, she changed her ways. Over the years, Mystake witnessed much of Ninjago's history, including the end of the Serpentine War. She was acquainted with Wu, a son of the First Spinitzu Master, and occasionally provided him and others with various types of tea with special powers.
When the Sons of Garmadon sought to resurrect Lord Garmadon, Mystake provided the Ninja with knowledge about the Oni and Dragons. She later helped save Lloyd after his nearly-fatal battle with his father and motivated him to lead the Resistance after his friends were seemingly killed. During an attempt to seize Garmadon's power, Mystake revealed her true Oni form and battled the dark lord. She was ultimately overpowered and killed, though her actions helped the Ninja claim victory.
or kill him. But Mystake had a change of heart upon discovering that Ninjago was beautiful, and refused to carry out her orders. She decided to stay in Ninjago as a result, staying undiscovered throughout the millennia by disguising herself with her shapeshifting powers. She has helped the First Spinjitzu Master and his descendants ever since.[1]
After the future Time Twins traveled to this time period and fought the Elemental Alliance, Wu, at the request of his future self, found Mystake to distribute Obscuritea to the Alliance to prevent further alteration to history.[3]
Master Wu visited her shop, requesting the Traveler's Tea. At first, she claimed not to have heard of it, but upon receiving payment, she brought the tea out from behind the counter, warning him of the consequences before Wu tells her he will not bother her again.
Lord Garmadon entered Mystake's shop, asking for Traveler's Tea. She told him that only a fool would request the tea, but after recognizing him and realizing that his request was serious, she changed her mind and went to retrieve some from the back of the shop.
When the Ninja were reduced to children and menaced by a resurrected Grundle, Wu and Nya went to Mystake's shop with a request for a special tea, which she replied that they are all special and calls Wu an old fool before Nya refers to what Mystake knows is Tomorrow's Tea. When she went to check her supply in the back, she was unable to pinpoint the tea's location. As a result, Nya and Master Wu were forced to rush to the Ninjas' aid upon finally retrieving Tomorrow's Tea.
At one point in time, before the events of Season 8, a young Harumi visited Mystake to learn more about the origins of the Oni planning to resurrected Lord Garmadon (unbeknown to Mystake). She then told the young Harumi the Tale of the Oni and Dragons.[4][5]
Lloyd, Jay, Zane, and Cole visited Mystake's Tea Shop for the Tea of Truth to loosen Luke Cunningham's tongue. At first, she tried to claim not knowing her own name, but upon seeing Lloyd, she apologized for her rudeness because she didn't recognize his voice. Knowing they were after the tea, she goes in the back, warning them that the truth can be dangerous beforehand. Upon seeing a painting, Mystake said it is the Oni and the Dragon. While Cole and Zane left with the tea, Lloyd and Jay stayed behind to listen to Mystake's story about the Oni and the Dragon after she gave them the Tea of Enlightenment to visualize it. She also warns Lloyd not to let the three Oni Masks unite as they will resurrect Lord Garmadon, not as the same man that was his father, but a soulless being.
Wu told Misako to tell the Ninja to take Lloyd to Mystake's Tea Shop after he was injured in the fight against Garmadon. She makes a tea that comes with a consequence as the Ninja place their hands on Lloyd before having him drink it. It was revealed they didn't lose their powers, but Lloyd did. Before they left to fight the Colossus, Mystake gave them a packet "to go," which is later revealed to be a Traveler's Tea. Lloyd later woke up after seeing a vision that Garmadon would be after Wu and as he and Nya leave, Mystake gives Lloyd a parachute in a tiny bag, giving him advice that what to do and when to do it is what gives him power. She then explains that this battle wasn't the end, but rather a new beginning.
Soon after the ninja and the Elemental Masters arrive at the garbage depot, Mystake reveals herself. Over tea, she tells Lloyd where his friends are and reveals her name is not "Mystake" and that she only got it because she made many mistakes in the past.
Dareth bugs Mystake into giving him a tea which will give him power before she gives in. She makes the tea which the jug was about Dareth's height and he starts drinking it. The moment he finished, his hand started bursting brown but left a side effect of him needing to relieve himself.
When the Sons of Garmadon raid the base, Killow tells Luke to grab Mystake, but when he came into the room, she had disappeared, and a rat passed by. Later, the rat came up to Lloyd, Nya, Skylor, and Dareth, the latter scared by its presence before it reveals itself to be Mystake. She tells them she will explain after she has eaten.
After eating, Mystake finally explains her origins as an Oni to Lloyd, Nya, Dareth, and Skylor. She explains she has lived so long because of her Oni blood (and that Wu and Garmadon have also lived long due to this) and has the ability to transform. When Lloyd asked why he can't transform, she replied he already had, from the bratty boy he had once been to become the destined Green Ninja.
Harumi informed the Resistance that the Sons of Garmadon would find her. Mystake and Skylor come in carrying the Oni Mask of Hatred. Lloyd refused to use it. On the rooftop, the Resistance thought of a plan to use Skylor as a prisoner, and Mystake would transform into Harumi. They could get close enough to Garmadon so Skylor can copy his power of destruction to control the Colossus.
They set their plan into action, but Garmadon was suspicious when they noticed "Harumi" didn't add that Skylor can copy Elemental Powers. They are interrupted when the real Harumi approaches them.
After taking Skylor to Garmadon and being caught and captured, she is taunted by the Emperor, keeping her cool by discrediting his place as ruler of Ninjago. She turns into her true Oni form and battles Garmadon, which allows Skylor to touch Garmadon and gain his power. After battling Garmadon and letting Skylor escape, Garmadon demands that she surrender. She defiantly exclaims her catchphrase, claiming she never heard of the word and summons a staff to strike Garmadon. Garmadon catches the staff and stares at her menacingly, telling her she had made her last mistake. She is then killed by him, shown by Skylor shaking her head when asked if Mystake had escaped.
Personality[]
Mystake was somewhat impolite but kind to some people, like Lloyd. She pretended not to have or know things like Traveler's Tea, but after having been paid or having recognized people she knows, she either gave warnings about the teas she sold or gave advice. She was said to have made mistakes in the past, hence her chosen name. Because she had learned from her mistakes, she possessed wisdom that rivaled Master Wu's.
Mystake was also brave enough to participate in a mission to approach Garmadon, attack him, and stay behind in order to keep him busy, buying Skylor time enough to escape. Mystake, in the end, despite the infamous reputation of her Oni brethren, died as a hero since she helped Skylor copy Garmadon's power, which would later be useful to The Resistance taking control of the Colossus.
Appearance[]
In her true Oni form, Mystake had completely black skin, with two small horns on her head. She had, unlike the other Oni, small pink eyes similar to human ones. She had large white fangs in her mouth on the underside, while her teeth were smaller but equally sharp on the upperside. She had white spirals and ornaments all over her face, just like the other Oni. She had a collarbone and three pairs of visible ribs on her body, just as Garmadon has. Her legs were unusually shaped, resembling goat's feet, and she had hooves. The only piece of clothing she wore was a purple belt with two bags, possibly tea bags, hanging on it.
When she shapeshifted so that no one would find her, she had the wrinkled face of an old woman with gray eyebrows and gray hair tied in a low bun. She was wearing a white T-shirt with a gray zippered sweater with white and red dots in line shapes. She wore gray pants on her legs.
Forty years later, her appearance hadn't hardly changed at all, except that she had a slightly different hairstyle, with her bun placed higher and a round straw hat on her head.
A few years later, she returned her hairstyle to what it had been forty years ago. She also started using a walking stick.
Additionally, the creators have used the two spellings interchangeably since then.[8]
The credits for seasons 8 and 9 also spell it as Mystake, and while the credits have had errors in the past, these credits spelled Dareth, Skylor, and Ronin's name correctly, which had been misspelled in previous seasons' credits.
Andreasen later stated that the show takes precedence over past creator statements,[9] which would presumably apply to canon books as well. He also stated that he does not want to contradict official publications with his own spellings and ways of referring to things.[10]
Up until Season 8, Mystake was voiced only by male voice actors. According to Tommy Andreasen, the reason for this is that "We [creators] were going for Terry Gilliam’s portrayal of elderly women in Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Sound like his ‘Henri Bergson’ response, was the brief. The Hagemans hated it. And I didn’t care. I loved how dumb it was."[11]
In Season 8, it was "softened to be bearable for longer lines."[12]
In "Winds of Change" Kai advertises Steep Wisdom to a woman who says "Never heard of it" and whose voice and appearance is similar to Mystake's. However, she is younger and is not listed in the credits, so it's unknown if she was meant to be a reference to the character or not, though it could be an error on both ends.
In the episode "Green Destiny," an old woman that looks like her was shown to be in a pick-up truck with a few other people. This was likely the animators simply using her model for a random bystander.
Only one Minifigure of her was made. This Minifigure came in The LEGO Ninjago Movie set, Ninjago City Docks. There are four noticeable differences between the two: the movie version has glasses, does not wear a conical hat and wear different torso and legs color.
Starting in Season 4, she uses a new hairpiece, which features her hair being tied to the back, instead of on top.
Before she was revealed to be an Oni, Tommy Andreasen confirmed that the reason she didn't age between the Serpentine War and the present was magic tea.[13]
Mystake's three-dimensional eyebrows
Her eyebrows are three-dimensional in seasons 1 and 2.
Trivia[]
According to Tommy Andreasen, it was heavily implied she was one of the three Oni warlords who created the Oni Masks and she "disposed of the other two."[14]
In 2022, this was mentioned in Tommy Andreasen's Q&A livestreams.[15]
In her first appearance in "Tick Tock," there was a child with her when Wu came to purchase some Traveler's Tea. It is unknown if the child is a neighbor she was babysitting or someone who just worked at her shop.
Despite his change in appearance, she most likely recognized Garmadon when he came into her tea shop in "Day of the Great Devourer."[16]
In "Return of the Overlord," despite her status as a member of the most powerful race to wield destruction, not even she, and by extension the Oni, was immune to the effects of Dark Matter.
As she was one of the Oni who followed the First Spinjitzu Master, she was one of the oldest characters in the series, being thousands of years old.
It is unknown why she had not used her powers prior to Season 9 to help the ninja since she was an Oni. It is possible that she would have been discriminated by others if she had revealed herself to the public.
She is the first major female character to die in the series. P.I.X.A.L. and Nya's deaths were reversed thanks to Jay's last wish.
Oddly, her tea shop was rebuilt after the events of Season 9 in Season 10, even though she is deceased.
Despite being allies with Wu in the Serpentine War and referring to him as a "dear friend" in "The Oni and the Dragon," Mystake treated Wu in a callous way, as if he were a stranger, in their interactions in Rise of the Snakes and Legacy of the Green Ninja.
In Hunted, she uses a walking stick, which she has never used before. It's probably because she left her shop and moved more than before when she was only inside her shop.
Mystake is the first hero in Ninjago to be killed by a villain.
