Ninjago: Dragons Rising

Ninjago: Dragons Rising
Information
Production company	WildBrain
Number of episodes	30
Number of seasons	2
Run time	22 minutes per episode
Network(s)	Netflix (United States) ITVX (United Kingdom) Disney+ Hotstar (India)
Written by	Kevin Burke Chris "Doc" Wyatt Eugene Son Glen Lakin Hanah Lee Cook Liz Hara Tanya Yuson
Directed by	Rich Johnson Daniel Ife Shane Poettcker
Original run	June 1, 2023-present
Series guide
Previous	Ninjago

Ninjago: Dragons Rising is a CGI comedy-action family television show and the sequel of Ninjago. It began with its first season on June 1, 2023 on Netflix.

Official description

In the series, many legendary realms have suddenly combined into one, but their union is unstable. A Spinjitzu Ninja Master must train a new generation of heroes to help find Elemental Dragons who can save the planet before the forces of evil use the same dragon energy to destroy this new world.

Two teenagers from different worlds use their newly discovered Ninja powers to defend dragons from villains who want to use their life-force for evil.

Premise

The loosely East-Asian inspired, anachronistic, modern-esque setting of Ninjago was once the only populated continent on a mostly empty planet. After the event known as "The Merge" takes place, the fantastical and varied Sixteen Realms have been combined into one world, with new islands and continents surrounding and colliding with Ninjago and the Dark Island. In the Merged Realms, otherworldly beings and locations that were only seen sparingly are commonplace, and no longer separated by alternate dimensions.

In the previous series, the world of Ninjago was protected from the forces of evil by a team of six elemental ninja (Lloyd, Kai, Nya, Jay, Zane, Cole), who were trained in the art of Spinjitzu by the wise and ancient Master Wu, son of the First Spinjitzu Master. After a cataclysmic event combined the Sixteen Realms into a single planet, the world was forever changed and the ninja were among the many presumed lost, displaced across the land. Years later, Green Ninja Lloyd Garmadon, and his fellow classic ninja mentor the next generation of teen heroes - Arin, Sora, Wyldfyre, and a young dragon named Riyu - to master their powers and learn the way of the ninja. New friends, legendary ninja, and mystical dragons are united to protect the Merged Realms from villains who want to conquer the new world.

Main plot

Season 2 (2024)

One year after the Liberation of Imperium, Lloyd started experiencing visions of the Wolf Clan and the Blood Moon. Meanwhile, Ras and Jordana discovered the Shadow Dojo and Ras began recruiting members to rebuild the Wolf Clan. The Wolf Clan invaded the Cloud Kingdom in order to obtain information about the Ritual of the Blood Moon, a ritual that could free the Forbidden Five. Despite the efforts of the ninja, they were unable to prevent the Wolf Clan from carrying out their plans, especially when Cinder used Shatterspin to overpower them. Having another vision from the Source Dragons, the ninja decided to travel to Egalt and Rontu's domain to learn Rising Dragon, a technique that could potentially counter Shatterspin and help in their fight against the Wolf Clan. As the Wolf Clan attacked the Finders to capture Bonzle, who turned out to be a living spell capable of freeing the Forbidden Five, Cole, Zane, and Bonzle embarked on a mission to find Gandalaria for protection. After Kai mastered the Rising Dragon technique just before the Blood Moon appeared, the ninja made their way to the Wyldness to confront Ras, who intended to use the Writers of Destiny as sacrifices in Nether-Space to take the place of the Forbidden Five. Despite Ras managing to kidnap Bonzle and open the portal to Nether-Space, the ninja engaged in a fierce battle with the Wolf Clan at the Shadow Dojo to prevent the ritual from being completed. Meanwhile, Cole, Zane, and Gandalaria worked tirelessly to prevent the Cloud Kingdom from collapsing. The ninja successfully thwarted the ritual, but at the cost of Kai and Bonzle being trapped in Nether-Space, while Nokt was freed. Following the failure of their plan, the Wolf Clan and Nokt were sent to an unknown location.

Cast

Main article: List of Ninjago: Dragons Rising cast and characters

Team

• Arin (Deven Mack)
• Cole (Andrew Francis)
• Kai (Vincent Tong)
• Lloyd (Sam Vincent)
• Nya (Kelly Metzger)
• Sora (Sabrina Pitre)
• Wyldfyre (Kazumi Evans)
• Zane (Brent Miller)

Allies

• Alfonzo Frohicky (Andrew McNee)
• Bonzle (Michelle Creber)
• Euphrasia (Bethany Brown)
• Fritz (Vincent Tong)
• Gandalaria (Tabitha St. Germain)
• Geo (Peter Kelamis)
• Riyu (Brian Drummond)
• Spitz (Sabrina Pitre)
• Sprite (Paul Dobson)
• Wu (Paul Dobson)

Villains

Greenbone Warriors

• Bone Guards (Kelly Metzger, Kelly Sheridan; Episode 13)
• Bone King (Richard Ian Cox)
• Bone Warriors (Unknown)

Imperians

• Beatrix (Nicole Oliver)
• Claw Hunters (Deven Mack; Episode 1) (Ian Hanlin; Episode 8)
• Dr. LaRow (Ashleigh Ball)
• Imperium Guards (Alessandro Juliani; Episode 6) (Ashleigh Ball; Episodes 7-19) (Ian Hanlin; Episodes 7-9) (Paul Dobson; Episode 18) (Andrew Francis; Episode 18)
  • Melvin (Vincent Tong)
• Jordana (Diana Kaarina)
• Rapton (Giles Panton)

Administration Agents

• Denholt (Kazumi Evans)
• Jay (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Karit (Mark Hildreth)
• Prentis (Ian Hanlin)
• Roderick Allen (Michael Adamthwaite)
• Underwood (Rhona Rees)

Wolf Clan

• Ras (Brian Drummond)
• Cinder (Ian Hanlin)

Other villains

• Dorama (Mackenzie Gray)
• Fedulian (Brian Drummond)
• Howlers (Richard Ian Cox) (Sabrina Pitre)
• Nokt (Deven Mack)
• The Mechanic (Michael Antonakos)

Other characters

• Arrakore (Mark Hildreth)
• Arin's mother (Kelly Sheridan)
• Caregiver bot (Joanne Wilson)
• Crag-Nor (Mark Hildreth)
• Dale (Jason Simpson)
• Dragon Matriarch (Brenda Crichlow)
• Egalt (Andrew Francis)
• Emcee (Sabrina Pitre)
• Grab-Barg (Deven Mack)
• Gulch (Andrew McNee)
• Kreel (Kelly Sheridan)
• Lava-Tides (Brent Miller) (Vincent Tong)
  • Lava-Tide Leader (Marÿke Hendrikse)
  • Lava-Tony (Unknown)
• Levo (Ron Halder)
• Lobbo (Brian Drummond)
• Marcus (Aidan Drummond)
• Koenig (Vincent Tong)
• NinjaFanInfinity (Diana Kaarina)
• Percival Tartigrade (Aidan Drummond)
• Rontu (Kazumi Evans)
• Scroll-Worms (Ian Hanlin)
• Security Bots (Sam Vincent)
• Sora's parents (Jason Simpson) (Kathleen Barr)
• Source Dragon of Energy (Paul Dobson)
• Source Dragon of Energy (Niah Davis)
• Source Dragon of Motion (Diana Kaarina)
• Source Dragon of Strength (Michael Adamthwaite)
• SpinjitzuForDays99 (Deven Mack)
• Spirit of the Temple (Richard Newman)
• Suetonius (Ian Hanlin)
• Tope-Epot (Brian Drummond)
• Zant-Tanz (Garry Chalk)
• Zeatrix (Unknown)

Episodes

Main article: List of Ninjago: Dragons Rising episodes

Trivia

• This series was originally a Netflix original series in the United States, unlike the previous series. However, at some point in January of 2024, Netflix removed the "Original Series" branding.
• This series also is available in Disney+ Hotstar in India.
• LEGO Ambassador Network member, DuckBricks, relayed information he received during a LAN meeting with Asa Tait and Niek van Slagmaat:
  • Overview of premise: "A cataclysmic event combines the sixteen mystic realms of Ninjago, both familiar and new, into one world. Two teenagers from different worlds (literally) set out to become heroic ninja and use their newly discovered powers to defend the secret dragons, who will unite their world forever or destroy it completely."
  • Overview of dragons in the series: "The bond between dragons and ninjas runs deep. Dragons hold the keys to Elemental Powers, and the secret of mysterious new dragons which have the power to save the newly united world or destroy it forever."
  • Overview of the ninjas' role in the series: "We have new main characters, but the original heroes of Ninjago are still here fighting the good fight. Lloyd, Arin, and Sora will remain the heart of this team, but the makeup of the team can and will change from year to year. Other slots will be filled with a mix of new and returning ninja each year."
    • In response to follow-up questions he asked:
      • "None of the original six ninja are really going anywhere, but there will be some years where they just simply will not feature that much in the story itself, however that doesn't mean that they will be completely absent from the main story. While they may not feature in the main TV show, we could see some shorts, comics books, all sorts of smaller episodes where you could see each of the ninja on their own adventures, showing that basically since the world has expanded, the different team members are kind of going to be off doing their own thing."
  • From a slide titled The Future of Ninjago: "This is now a show that is serialized from season to season. It's not going to be like something we're used to with Prime Empire and Master of the Mountain, for example, being completely unrelated. You could pick up one season and just pick up another one and they would not really tie into each other. No, this is a serialized show now, which means they are building to a massive conclusion, even more so than Crystalized, and this has been planned out for years to come".
    • "Ninjago is pivoting to 'huge stories' that run across years".
    • There will be new characters to "join competing Spinjitzu dojos".
    • "New lands filled with new dragons".
    • "Builds on the characters and lore that we love".
  • The reason for the focus on dragons is that in 2021, a survey was ran and research was done with kids that showed that they wanted dragons to be front and center of the new story, according to Nigel Kong, the LEGO Group's Head of Product.
  • According to Asa Tait, they wanted the bond between the heroes and their dragons to replicate the feel of the earlier seasons, instead of them only being energy beasts the Ninja can summon at will.
  • There is a 3-4, and possibly up to 6-year planned story.
    • Kevin Burke states they'll make more seasons if the public keeps watching.
• Chris "Doc" Wyatt confirmed all seasons will involve dragons.
• Unreal Engine is utilized in the development of the show.
• Like with the original series, the installments have special weapons or artifacts that are part of the main plot of the season or special.
  • The Dragon Cores in Season 1.
  • The Mallet and Gong of Shattering in Season 2.
• The series' working title was Ninjago: United, referencing to the realms merging.
• According to Netflix, only 60 percent of the people who had watched Ninjago: Dragons Rising had watched Ninjago on Netflix.

Translations

Language	Name
Chinese (Simplified)	幻影忍者: 神龙崛起
Chinese (Traditional)	旋風忍者: 猛龍崛起
Czech	Ninjago: Dračí povstání
Danish	Ninjago: Dragerne vågner
Dutch	Ninjago: De Drakenstrijd
Finnish	Ninjago: Lohikäärmeiden nousu
French (FRA)	Ninjago: Le soulèvement des dragons
German	Ninjago: Aufstieg der Drachen
Greek	Ninjago: Η Άνοδος των Δράκων
Hebrew	נינג'גו :עליית הדרקונים
Hungarian	Ninjago: Sárkányok birodalma
Italian	Ninjago: La rivolta dei draghi
Japanese	レゴ ニンジャゴー: ドラゴンライジング
Korean	닌자고: 드래곤 라이징
Norwegian	Ninjago: Dragene våkner
Polish	Ninjago: Powstanie Smoków
Portuguese (BRA)	Ninjago: Ascensão dos Dragões
Portuguese (POR)	Ninjago: A Ascensão dos Dragões
Romanian	Ninjago: Ascensiunea dragonilor
Russian	Ниндзяго: восстание драконов
Spanish (LA)	Ninjago: El Ascenso de los Dragones
Spanish (ESP)	Ninjago: El renacer de los dragones
Swedish	Ninjago: Drakarna vaknar
Thai	นินจาโก: มังกรผงาด
Ukrainian	Ніндзяґо: Зліт драконів
Vietnamese	Ninjago: Rồng thần trỗi dậy
Turkish	Ninjago: Ejderhaların Yükselişi