Vangelis

“Vania, my daughter, all I did, I did for the glory of--”
“Hailmar, get him out of my sight!”

— Vangelis' final conversation with Vania, "The Son of Lilly"

Vangelis
Information
Affiliation	Sky Folk (formerly) Awakened Warriors (formerly)
Weapon of choice	Skull of Hazza D'ur (formerly) Naginata (formerly)
Element/Essence	N/A
First appearance	Into the Dark 71721 Skull Sorcerer's Dragon (as the Skull Sorcerer)
Status	Alive
Family	Vania (daughter)
Voiced by	Deven Mack

Vangelis (formerly known as the Skull Sorcerer) is the former ruler of the Kingdom of Shintaro and the father of Queen Vania.

Years before the Ninjas' arrival at Shintaro Mountain, Vangelis sent the Lowly to find an ancient skull that used to belong to a sorcerer named Hazza D'ur, giving him the power to resurrect the Awakened Warriors while allowing him to take control of the Dungeons of Shintaro and force the Geckles and Munce to mine Vengestone for him.

Eventually, Cole learned the power of Spinjitzu Burst and destroyed the Skull of Hazza D'ur. Having been defeated, Vangelis tried to ask for forgiveness, but Cole refused, and Vania had Hailmar arrest him. He was ultimately succeeded by Vania.

History

Early life

The earliest we see of Vangelis is when he tasked the Lowly to retrieve the Skull of Hazza D'ur, seemingly for the purposes of destroying it. When the Lowly returned with the Skull, Vangelis is fascinated by it and decides to keep it intact. The Lowly refused and Vangelis sent them down a hole, into the depths of the Dungeons of Shintaro. He later used the Skull to resurrect the Awakened Warriors and take control of the Dungeons of Shintaro.

Sometime later, Vangelis took the Ivory and Shadow Blades of Deliverance from the Geckles and Munce, causing a rift between the two tribes. Their fragile relationship made it easier for him and his Awakened Warriors to capture them and he forced them to mine Vengestone for him.

Master of the Mountain

Into the Dark

Vangelis welcomes the Ninja and Wu to the Kingdom of Shintaro and introduces his daughter, Vania, to them.

When the Munce and Geckles stopped working after a Mino destroyed a wheelbarrow, Vangelis accused them of being lazy and used the Skull of Hazza D'ur to punish them. Although when Cole interrupted him, Vangelis commanded the Awakened Warriors to stop him, but only for Cole to destroy the skeletons until Vangelis used the Skull of Hazza D'ur to rebuild them and capture Cole.

The Worst Rescue Ever

After learning about what happened to Cole from Vania, Vangelis becomes disappointed with her for entering the mines with Cole and tells her that the Dungeons of Shintaro are forbidden for a reason. He tells the Ninja he will send guards to retrieve Cole from danger. When the Ninja attempt rescue Cole as well, Vangelis disagrees, as he says the Dungeons of Shintaro aren't a safe place.

After the Geckles and Munce got into a fight, Vangelis finds the Ninja attempting to escape after they freed Cole. However, Vangelis uses the Skull of Hazza D'ur to reconstruct the Awakened Warriors and ordered them to capture the Ninja.

The Two Blades

As Lloyd and Cole were looking for the Blades of Deliverance, Vangelis attacks them until they escaped while the other Ninja freed the Geckles and Munce. After the Ninja were split into groups, Vangelis chases Cole until he loses him, shouting in anger.

The Skull Sorcerer

After Cole, Wu, and Vania entered the throne room, they told Vangelis about the Skull Sorcerer. However, when they did, Vangelis revealed that is the Skull Sorcerer. When they attempt to grab the Skull of Hazza D'ur from him, Vangelis activated a trapdoor, causing Cole and Wu to fall into a hole to the Dungeons of Shintaro. As Vania went to go after them, Vangelis remarked that he'll never consider her as his daughter if she goes, but only for Vania to go and rescue them.

The Real Fall

When realizing that the Sky Folk would be questioning what happened to Vania, Vangelis came up with a plan to blame Chompy for what happened. After Hailmar and two of the Winged Guards of Shintaro entered the throne room, Vangelis told them to lock up Chompy.

Grief-Bringer

At the Kingdom of Shintaro, the Skull of Hazza D'ur tells Vangelis that the Ninja survived and are convincing the Munce and Geckles to have a truce. Having no other choice, Vangelis heads to the Dungeons of Shintaro to resurrect Grief-Bringer.

Later, he watches the Ninja, Munce, and Geckles escaping to the Geckle Strong-Cave.

The Darkest Hour

After Grief-Bringer made a way through the lava, Vangelis and the Awakened Warriors crossed through and fought off the Ninja until they retreated to the Geckle Strong-Cave. Vangelis offers the Geckles and Munce to live if they turn over the Ninja, but only for the two tribes to disagree, causing Vangelis to enter the cave by force.

When Grief-Bringer broke through the cave, Lloyd offers Vangelis to spare the Munce and Geckles if he and the other Ninja turn themselves in. Vangelis agrees with Lloyd's offer and the Awakened Warriors and Grief-Bringer takes the Ninja to the Skull Keep. However, Vangelis goes back on his promise and takes the Munce and Geckles back to the Skull Keep as well.

The Upply Strike Back!

Vangelis taunts the now caged ninja and voices his intentions to have Grief-Bringer destroy them in front of the re-imprisoned Geckles and Munce. He also reveals his identity to them and confirms that he did in fact steal the Blades of Deliverance from the tribes.

Later, when Cole retrieves the Blades and the Upply free the imprisoned workers, Vangelis confronts Cole, mocking him for putting faith in the swords. The two engage in fierce combat as a battle to free the workers in the Keep begins.

The Son of Lilly

While fighting him, Vangelis tells Cole the Blades of Deliverance are just regular swords and that his mother gave them to give the Geckles and Munce hope. The Skull of Hazza D'ur soon destroys them, and he starts taunting Cole by insulting his mother. Cole soon realized the power his mother used to destroy Grief-Bringer was actually the Spinjitzu Burst and unlocks it, destroying the Skull in the process and turning Vangelis back to normal as well as destroying the Awakened Warriors and Grief-Bringer once more. He tries to beg for forgiveness, but Cole tells him to beg for it from the Geckles, Munce, and his own daughter. He tries to explain his actions to Vania but she simply had the Winged Guards arrest him, and he is dragged away, protesting that he is their king. He was eventually dethroned, and Vania becomes queen, succeeding her father.

Personality

He has shown himself to be a very benevolent individual as he welcomed the ninja into his palace.

He was a loving father as he lied to his daughter about the truth of her imaginary friend to protect her from the real horrors that were supposed to be kept secret from her and the other young people of the kingdom. He also forbade her from accompanying the ninja into the lower level to the pit.

This ultimately proved to be a façade, as he has proven to be a very deceptive individual as he lied to his followers and daughter about how he is the Skull Sorcerer. In contrast to his persona as a loving father, he showed no remorse as he condemned his daughter to fall into a pit along with his enemies after revealing his true purposes and he blamed it on her pet. However, he is shown to have mercy, when he gives Vania the choice of jumping into the pit or not.

He is a very greedy person, as he forced the Munce and Geckles tribes into slavery and profited from the selling of the Vengestone they mined to keep his kingdom.

After he was stripped of his power, Vangelis resorted to begging for mercy. He was also desperate to beg his daughter for help, to no avail.

Appearances

• 71721 Skull Sorcerer's Dragon (as the Skull Sorcerer)
• 71722 Skull Sorcerer's Dungeons (as the Skull Sorcerer)

LEGO Ninjago

Season 13: Master of the Mountain

• 146. "Into the Dark"
• 147. "The Worst Rescue Ever"
• 148. "The Two Blades" (as the Skull Sorcerer)
• 150. "Trial By Mino" (pictured; as the Skull Sorcerer)
• 151. "The Skull Sorcerer"
• 152. "The Real Fall"
• 153. "Dungeon Party!" (flashback)
• 155. "Grief-Bringer
• 157. "The Darkest Hour" (as the Skull Sorcerer)
• 159. "The Upply Strike Back!"
• 160. "The Son of Lilly"

Trivia

• He is the ninth king to appear in Ninjago. The first eight being Pythor, Skales, Khanjikhan's Father, Khanjikhan, Nadakhan (In an Alternate Timeline), Mambo the Fifth, Grimfax, and Atta the Ratta.
• He shares a name as that of a Greek musical composer.
• He is the fifth villain to have a hidden identity, the first was Pythor, who was the stranger that helped The Overlord, the second was Krux, who was Dr. Saunders, the third was Harumi, who was the Quiet One, and the fourth was Zane, who was the Ice Emperor.
• He is the fourth villain to have a dragon. The first three being the Overlord with the Nindroid MechDragon, Morro with the Morro Dragon, and the Ice Emperor with Boreal.
  • However, including Unagami in 71713 Empire Dragon, the Skull Sorcerer is the fifth villain to have a dragon and Unagami being the fourth villain to have a dragon instead.
• He is the first Ninjago minifigure to have wings.
  • He reuses the wing pieces of the Bats from Legends of Chima.
• He is the second main villain to have the 2018 slope piece, the first being Unagami. However, unlike Unagami, he has no back printing on the slope piece.
  • Coincidentally, both Vangelis and Unagami were the main villains of 2020.
• As the Skull Sorcerer, the symbol on his torso is called the triquetra, which is also known as the Triple Moon.
  • A triquetra is an ancient symbol used by pagans to represent the threefold nature of the goddess: maiden, mother, and crown.
  • It also symbolizes the goddess' three faces: mind, body, and spirit.
  • It is also commonly used to reference the Holy Trinity in Christianity, being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• As the Skull Sorcerer, the words "Dead Rise" in Ninjargon text are written on his torso and extending to the slope piece in the sets.
  • However, in the show, the words are "Dead Irse."
• As the Skull Sorcerer, he has only black eyes on his mask in the sets while he has a mouth, green eyes, and highlighted features on his mask in the show.
• According to one of the Ninjago Magazines, Vangelis took control of the Dungeons of Shintaro by using the Skull of Hazza D'ur and stealing the Blades of Deliverance from the Geckles and Munce.
• He is one of the three main antagonists that doesn't appear in the first episode of their season, the others being Pythor and the Preeminent.
• He is one of the ten main antagonists to still be alive. The others being Garmadon, Pythor, Nadakhan, the Time Twins, Iron Baron, Aspheera, Vex, and Unagami.

Gallery

Main article: Vangelis/Gallery