“Zane, I was once just a Nindroid. A machine. And then, long ago, in a different battle, you gave up half your power source to save me. In that moment, you changed me. I felt things… I never felt before. I felt… love. For you.”
P.I.X.A.L. (Primary Interactive eX-ternal Assistant Life-form), known as Pix by her friends, is a female Nindroid created by Cyrus Borg to serve as his assistant. She is Zane's girlfriend. During the Nindroid crisis, she was briefly under the control of the Overlord and turned on her friends but soon became a vital ally to the ninja after being redeemed by Zane. She and Zane formed a close relationship until he sacrificed himself to defeat the Overlord. P.I.X.A.L. found out he survived and set off to save him from a mysterious island. While there, she was captured by Chen's cultists, and her body was scrapped, though her consciousness lived on in Zane's processor after Zane placed her hard drive inside his head.
For some time, P.I.X.A.L. guided Zane as an A.I. program in his head. When Nadakhan arrived in Ninjago and tormented the ninja, he deceived Zane into letting him erase P.I.X.A.L.'s consciousness—though due to Jay's final wish, this was undone. Later, P.I.X.A.L. left Zane’s head and gained a physical body, similar to how Zane had done. She took on the alias of Samurai X, a role once played by Nya, so she could adopt a more physical role in the ninja's missions. P.I.X.A.L. helped battle the Vermillion and later the Sons of Garmadon, and she helped Lloyd and Nya to resist Lord Garmadon's oppressive hold of Ninjago City.
Unfortunately, P.I.X.A.L. was captured along with the majority of the Resistance after an ambush by Garmadon's forces, but her actions allowed Lloyd and the others to continue in their endeavors. Eventually, she got word that the ninja returned and broke out while joining the others in toppling the Colossus with the heroes. Later on, the people of Ninjago threw a party to celebrate the end of Lord Garmadon's rule, as P.I.X.A.L. is honored for her role in saving the city as well.
When the Oniinvade Ninjago, P.I.X.A.L. alone, in her Samurai X Mech goes into the darkness to rescue Lloyd and Garmadon after they acquire the Golden Armor. She later defends the civilians at the Monastery when the Oni arrive. She rescued Lloyd and Garmadon before helping her comrades to defeat the Oni.
Months later, Zane ends up banished to the Never-Realm by Aspheera, leaving her heartbroken, believing he was dead until told otherwise before assisting the ninja in transporting them to the Never-Realm while she stayed behind with Master Wu. During the wait, she arrests the Mechanic, Ultra Violet, and Fugi-Dove, who attempted to escape Kryptarium Prison. She also defeats a revived Preeminent after inadvertently releasing it from the Departed Realm. Days later, the ninja returned with Zane, and she immediately embraces her love.
While the ninja (excluding Zane) are in Prime Empire, she and Zane embark on a search to find Milton Dyer. They succeed, leading to the eventual release and revival of the trapped Ninjago City gamers, the game's NPCs, and the ninja.
After Nya's powers started failing, P.I.X.A.L., Nya, Zane, Jay, Maya and Lloyd used the Hydro Bounty to travel into the ocean where Maya and Nya discovered that Kalmaar was trying to awaken Wojira. The team traveled to the Island of the Keepers, to get the Storm Amulet before Kalmaar, but Clutch Powers had stolen it. Kalmaar then destroyed the controls of the Hydro Bounty and they traveled back to Ninjago being pulled by whales. P.I.X.A.L. fought Wojira when she was awakened in the Destiny's Bounty and was at Nya's memorial after she became one with the sea.
A year after Nya's departure, Pixal helped the Ninja in their plan to bring back her to her human form. Later when the Council of the Crystal King attacked the Monastery, Pixal confronted them until they lost the fight and were saved by MiniPix Seven. Later during the invasion of Overlord she participated to The Resistance with the Ninja and all the allies after she saved Zane from his coma.
Several weeks after the Overlord's defeat, Pixal helped Zane in his quest to bring back his powers. At some point, following a cataclysmic event known as the Merge, P.I.X.A.L disappeared and her current whereabouts, status, and fate are unknown.
P.I.X.A.L. is a playable character in LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin. She can be purchased for 250,000 studs after collecting her character token in the Ninjago Hub. She wields two spike blades and possesses no special abilities.
P.I.X.A.L. has a white face covered with purple conduction tracks (similar to those found on printed circuit boards), highlighting the fact that it is an android. She also has wide, white lips and glowing green eyes, which also underscore the fact that she is an android. Shortly after Garmadon took control of Ninjago City, she began wearing a black mask with a blue border bordering her face, but after the Oni's invasion she stopped. Some parts of her head didn't seem to be waterproof, as she needed to cover her entire head except for her face with this mask to dive.
Her original hair was silver, has a fringe to the left side, and behind a tall disheveled ponytail. When she rebuilt her body, she also recreated her hair. Now, the fringe is to the right side, the ponytail is less disheveled and is lower. It also seems that her hair is bigger and thicker. Originally, her hair was very shiny, but after the Oni's invasion they became more dull.
P.I.X.A.L.'s original body
As an assistant at Borg Industries, she wore a purple uniform with a gray and red trim and an equally colored belt. She has an opening in her left arm that showed a part of her breastplate, also with purple conduction tracks, and the rest of her body was white. When she was controlled by Overlord, her eyes turned red.
When Chen got her, he ordered her whole body to be disassembled, but when Zane got her hard drive and put it in his head, she kept the same design as before as the hologram in his mind.
P.I.X.A.L. as Samurai X
When she rebuilt her body, she put on Nya's Jungle Samurai X Suit. The suit consisted of black-red armor with a dark green chestplate depicting Nya's phoenix symbol. She also had dark green leg protectors, red arms, and black gloves. She wore a black Samurai helmet with a red mask over her mouth and golden horns. She also had silver shoulder pads. Her whole face was covered with a black mask with silver glasses and red eyes.
When she recolored the original Samurai X suit for her new color scheme, the suit consisted of silver armor and belly and leg protectors and consisted mostly of dark blue clothing, black shoes with gold details, black hands, and dark blue arms. She also had a gold belt and a gold Samurai X symbol in the middle of her chest in a gray circle. She wore the same helmet as before but with a mask on her mouth dyed gold. She also had black, slightly larger shoulder pads. She had a gold mask on her face, the torah obscuring her identity, and she had a radiant blue cover on her eyes that connected the two eyes.
P.I.X.A.L. with a black face border
Over the next year, she changed her suit again, adding white and red to the color scheme. Her suit is therefore now dark blue, with red and white details on the chest and skirt on the legs. Her shoes are now black with a white sole. In the middle of her chest, she has a golden Samurai X symbol in a red circle. She has the same shoulder pads as before, but golden. Her helmet remained unchanged, but shortly before the Oni's invasion changed the horns of the helmet so that they were now slightly larger and twisted. She kept the same mask on her face but began to wear another, slightly different mask under it. This mask is mostly white, with a black eye cover, red pupils, and red stripes pointing upwards from the eyes.
“You can be honest with me, because I want to be a useful member of the team, but I would prefer not to return to the computer. I like having a body, but if you require my assistance in your headset...”
P.I.X.A.L. was originally shown to be quite emotionless and impassive and had only her duties to Cyrus Borg as her primary concern. Things like duty, honor, and compassion at first meant nothing to her, but throughout her adventures with the ninja, and her interactions with Zane, she developed immensely as a person. P.I.X.A.L. originally had no interest in others besides a basic curiosity and desire to learn, but after meeting with Zane, her behavior changed. When she was pondering on helping the ninja to shut off power, she quickly ignored any doubts or reasons in it to save. When she was shut down and given part of Zane's power, she slowly became more human and her emotions soon surfaced, showing that she was capable of exemplary bravery, compassion, humor, and friendship.
Her most human traits were shown primarily around Zane, an android like her, who taught her to embrace her hidden humanity and subsequently know things like deep love, civic duty, friendship, but also loss and heartache. This was shown as she was deeply shocked after Zane's apparent death and sacrificing of his original body to defeat the Overlord; she had been affected more than anyone by his death to the point where she avoided his memorial in her inability to accept his passing but was overjoyed by discovering his resurrection. She also developed a deep faith in Zane and his strength of character, showing a profound level of emotional intimacy and devotion to her love. Although she is a good fighter, she prefers peaceful ways to end the fighting, as she asked the Preeminent and the octopus to stop their activities, rather than being forced to defeat them by force.
After adopting the Samurai X persona, P.I.X.A.L. hid the fact that she had a new body and was protecting people to have her own identity. As she told Zane, she would have preferred to have her own body and not be part of the computer, but she asked him if he agreed, as she really wanted to be a useful member of the team. Following her reunion with Zane, she was very happy and they embraced in their reunion.
Weapons and abilities[]
“Not bad. You've clearly mastered several different fighting styles.”
Skilled combatant - Although originally P.I.X.A.L. could not fight, when she gained Zane's power source, her fighting skills increased. When she built a new body for herself, she became a much better fighter as she mastered several different fighting styles and could even defeat all the ninja when she was hacked by the Quiet One.
Spinjitzu (formerly) - After Zane gave her half of his source, she was able to use Spinjitzu with Zane. However, she does not know how to use it after rebuilding her body, because no one has taught her that.[1]
Intelligence - As a nindroid, P.I.X.A.L. is very intelligent and has access to a wealth of information.
Voice replication - As a nindroid, P.I.X.A.L. can replicate anyone's voice whether they are alive or dead.
Mechanical skills - P.I.X.A.L. is a skilled mechanic and inventor. She built the majority of the vehicles of the ninja and of the team since the Oni's invasion.
Weapons[]
Grapple hook - Inside her original body's arm, she had a grapple hook.
Katana - P.I.X.A.L.'s primary weapon is a katana. Since she became Samurai X she use two of her personal golden katana.
Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu (briefly) - Because the scroll channel power in general as opposed to just elemental power,[2] P.I.X.A.L. was able to use one of the scrolls, allowing her to teleport the ninja to the Never-Realm.[3]
Harpoon gun - Another weapon P.I.X.A.L. uses regularly is a harpoon gun.
Trident (briefly) - When the ninja were fighting Wojira, P.I.X.A.L. used briefly a trident against the Merlopians.
P.I.X.A.L.(Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form) is Cyrus Borg’s android assistant.
When she first meets the ninja, she is under the influence of the Digital Overlord and uses her skills to copy the plans for Zane so the Nindroids can be built.
She is cold and mechanical and incapable of any feeling for anyone.
P.I.X.A.L. is actually the 16th model in her line, the first 15 having malfunctioned due to a faulty thermo-coil and a malfunctioning AIE-ES (artificial intelligence enhancer-emotion suppressor) chip.
Borg was able to fix the coil, but the chip problem has not been completely solved.[4]
P.I.X.A.L. (Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form) is Cyrus Borg’s android assistant. When she first meets the Ninja, she is under the influence of the Digital Overlord and uses her skills to copy the plans for Zane so the Nindroids can be built. She later discovers she is compatible with Zane. P.I.X.A.L. is actually the 16th model in her line, the first 15 having malfunctioned due to a faulty thermo-coil and a malfunctioning AIE-ES (artificial intelligence enhancer-emotion suppressor) chip. Borg was able to fix the coil, but the chip problem has not been completely solved.
P.I.X.A.L. is an acronym for Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form. When the Ninja visit Borg Tower, they meet P.I.X.A.L., who is Borg’s android assistant (it took 16 versions for Borg to create the P.I.X.A.L. we know today). She was briefly taken over by the Digital Overlord, during which time she helped to manufacture an army of Nindroids based on Zane’s design. From the beginning, there was mutual fascination between her and Zane, as they shared similarities as well as differences. Badly damaged after a battle at the Storm Farm, P.I.X.A.L. was saved when Zane shared half his power core with her – his heart, you might say. From then on, she became an ally of the Ninja and very close to Zane. Later, Zane and P.I.X.A.L. were captured and held hostage on Chen's Island. When Zane found her cell, P.I.X.A.L. had been reduced to only spare parts and a face on a monitor. Zane put her neural drive into his processor, making P.I.X.A.L. a part of his artificial intelligence.[5]
The Hands of Time (Museum)[]
During the attack on the Temple of Airjitzu, a new hero rises! At first, the new Samurai X’s arrival makes the ninja fear there’s yet another enemy to fight, but this blue Samurai X quickly convinces them they have another ally in their battle against the Hands of Time. But who is this new Samurai X?[6]
P.I.X.A.L. IS SHORT FOR Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form. She is a human-shaped robot, or android. While under the control of the Digital Overlord, she copies Zane's own android design to make the Nindroid Army. She is later freed from her programming and changes her ways.
P.I.X.A.L SAMURAI X: NO LONGER NYA[]
WHEN NYA STOPS using her Samurai X identity, P.I.X.A.L. uploads her artificial intelligence to the Samurai X suit. At first, the ninja are suspicious of the new hero on the scene, but when they learn that it is their android friend they pleased to have her on the team.
P.I.X.A.L.'s name is written differently depending on the source. In the set descriptions mentioning her name[10][11] and various episode descriptions, she is referred to as "Pixal," while in other sources such as Garmadon Rulez!, she is referred to as "P.I.X.A.L.".
Unlike in the show, P.I.X.A.L.'s hair piece had a clip on it on her minifigure from 2014.
According to Michael Knap, P.I.X.A.L. having a revealed breastplate does not mean she is nude because "She is a nindroid minifigure, I'm not sure if they have human features."[12]
P.I.X.A.L. is the character with the most voice actors, as the uses the voices of several different characters in "Secrets Discovered."
Like the original Samurai X, her identity had already been revealed through her minifigure released in the set wave for Season 8.
From Season 8 onward, she has the same eyebrows used on Season 7 Nya and flashback Maya.
Her hair piece was changed to the same as Nya's current in Season 8, albeit silver.
Nya's and therefore also P.I.X.A.L.'s post-movie hair piece was modeled after P.I.X.A.L.'s original hair piece,[13] which itself originates from the Cave Woman from Minifigures Series 5.
Her hair piece was not physically released in silver until Ninjago: Core in 2022, four years after Season 8 aired in 2018.
The design of her second darkblue Samurai X suit seems to be based on the Iron Patriot armor suit from Iron Man 3, as they have a very similar color scheme and design.
After becoming Samurai X, P.I.X.A.L. has been shown to have what seems to be a black helmet printed on her head in seasons 9 and 10. This has been reflected in LEGO sets.
Since Season 11, she no longer has this helmet. The reason for this change is unknown, though it may be connected to the animation studio change.
However, she had this helmet in "Long Live the King," when she was underwater, indicating it is waterproof.
Comparison between P.I.X.A.L.'s Rebooted and Core's face
There are a few differences between her previous faces in the sets and the show and her faces in Ninjago: Core.
The most striking difference is the subtle change of purple symbols, which are a little more detailed and elaborate.
Another change is slightly larger eyes and instead of a few lashes, only one large eyelash is above each eye.
The last changes are notches on both eyebrows and full silver lips, as in previous performances only the contours of the lips were silver and the inside was white.
Tommy Andreasen provided two reasons why P.I.X.A.L. doesn't know how to use Spinjitzu. The in-universe reason is that "no one taught her" and the out-of-universe reason is that "you don't give all characters the same abilities. If everyone is special, no one is special. PIXAL is amazing as she is."[1]
Trivia[]
P.I.X.A.L. has had a number of color scheme changes, these being purple and white in seasons 3-6, gold and blue in Season 7, and blue, red, and white in Season 8 onward.
According to Tommy Andreasen, Zane "is very fond of Pixal's green eyes."[14]
She is very similar to Nya, because they are both female protagonists living in the monastery who were at some point in their life inventors and Samurai X, have a color scheme consisting of blue and red, use the same piece of hair, love one of the ninja and build a secret base, which the ninja use as a garage for vehicles.
P.I.X.A.L. is the only main character who has not appeared in any shorts.
P.I.X.A.L. and Zane are the second ninja-romance to become a couple, the first being Jay and Nya.
According to Tommy Andreasen, the models for P.I.X.A.L.'s fifteen predecessors were repurposed after their original uses, and her program may have been transferred each time.[15]
She was the second female character to be released physically as a minifigure, the first being Nya.
Even though she is a robot, P.I.X.A.L. demonstrates to have feelings due to the power source that she has received from Zane as of "Blackout," though she did begin showing a "human" side at the end of the prior episode, "The Art of the Silent Fist," with her line "Who cares about the probability?"
She was seemingly deleted by Nadakhan in "On a Wish and a Prayer," but after Jay made his final wish in "The Way Back," she came back due to the wish erasing the events of Season 6.
P.I.X.A.L. was possibly around 3 or 4 years old as of Season 6 and "Day of the Departed,"[17] meaning she is 4 or 5 years old as of Season 8, as it was stated in "The Mask of Deception" that a year had passed since the events of Seasons 7.
The reason for her to hide her true identity was her desire to protect the people she loves,[18] though she later reveals this was to protect Zane's feelings, as she was unsure how he would take her not wanting to be in his head anymore.[19][20]
Tommy Andreasen stated before Season 8's release that she was happy being in Zane's head at all times.[21] This was either disproved in Season 8 or P.I.X.A.L. grew tired of it over time.
Her identity as a Nindroid was hinted at in Season 7 when she remembered the code for programming a Nindroid and when she said "You can say I'm hard-wired that way, Nindroid," in "Out of the Fire and Into the Boiling Sea." It was also hinted when she disappeared in "Lost in Time."
P.I.X.A.L. appears in two variants as an unlockable character in The LEGO Ninjago Movie Videogame. She can be unlocked by achieving bronze medal status or higher in "The Secret Factory" training dojo, which requires the player to accumulate at least 50,000 studs. P.I.X.A.L. in her 2017 Samurai X suit can be unlocked by achieving bronze medal status in "The Dark Swamp" training dojo, which requires the player to accumulate at least 20,000 studs.
In "Dead Man's Squall," she officially joined the team as Samurai X.
As of "The News Never Sleeps!," citizens of Ninjago City believe that Samurai X is a male. This means that P.I.X.A.L. has not yet revealed her true identity as Samurai X to them, and is still believed to be a vigilante.
In "A Cold Goodbye," P.I.X.A.L. is shown sleeping and dreaming, despite being previously unable to dream, as stated in "Versus."
The reason why P.I.X.A.L. cannot use Spinjitzu without Zane may be related to Wu's line from "Stiix and Stones," where he said that "Samurai X cannot do Spinjitzu."
P.I.X.A.L. is the only main character in the original series who does not know how to use Spinjitzu, although she briefly used it with Zane in "Blackout."
According to Tommy Andreasen, P.I.X.A.L.'s hair is metal and can be removed.[22]
So far, P.I.X.A.L. has not appeared in Ninjago: Dragons Rising. It is currently unknown what happened to her after the Merge and the ninja consider her missing like the other members of the team. She was driving the Bounty by remote control during the Merge.[7]
Videos[]
Meet Killow, Samurai X and Jay - LEGO NINJAGO - Character Video
P.I.X.A.L.'s Sons of Garmadon Character Spot with Jay and Killow
