Vangelis is the former ruler of Shintaro and the father of Vania.
Years before the ninja arrived at Shintaro, 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 the 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
Years ago, Vangelis tasked the Lowly to retrieve the Skull of Hazza D'ur, seemingly to destroy 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 Rock-Bottom. 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, which was later sold to a customer who would pay Vangelis to keep the Kingdom of Shintaro.
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 reminds them of his his warning about stopping 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 then they 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 Rock-Bottom. 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 njnja, but only for the two tribes to disagree, causing Vangelis to enter the cave by force.
When Grief-Bringer broke through the cave, Lloyd accepts offers Vangelis' offer to spare the Munce and Geckles if he and the other ninja turn themselves in, but only if he lets the Geckles and Munce free instead of being put back into the mines. 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 the Battle for Shintaro 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 everyone he enslaved and abused. 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 had initially 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 of Shintaro. He also forbade her from accompanying the ninja into the Dungeons of Shintaro.
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. Not surprisingly for his two-faced actions, he is deceptive, as he had no qualms in taking back his part on the deal to the ninja about sparing the Munce and Geckles tribes by quickly putting them back to slavery.
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.
Relationships
- Main article: Vangelis' relationships
Official descriptions
Shintaro! Secrets Revealed!
Wearing the skull of the dark magician Hazza D’ur gave him incredible powers - he is now able to bring skeletons to life! He uses them to control the cave dwellers, forcing them to mine Vengestone. The Skull Sorcerer stole the Blades of Deliverance from the Geckles and Munces, using them divide the two tribes.
LEGO Life
King Vangelis is the ruler of the Kingdom of Shintaro, famous for being the most perfect kingdom on NINJAGO Island. He's very powerful and popular among his loyal subjects. Under his command is the royal guard known as the Winged Army of Shintaro. His daughter, however, is not always quite as easy to command. (Maybe that's not such a bad thing, actually.)
Appearances
Sets
- 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"
Ninjago Magazine
- 65. Shintaro! Secrets Revealed! (as the Skull Sorcerer)
- 66. Dungeon Monsters! (as the Skull Sorcerer)
- 67. Monstrous Mission! (as the Skull Sorcerer)
- 69. Yikes! (as the Skull Sorcerer)
- 71. Ship Wrecked! (as the Skull Sorcerer)
Trivia
- He is the eighth known king in Ninjago, the first eight being Pythor, Skales, Khanjikhan, Nadakhan (in an alternate timeline), Mambo V, Grimfax, and Atta the Ratta.
- He is the third main villain to have a child who is a protagonist. The first was Garmadon with Lloyd and the second was Chen with Skylor.
- He shares a name as that of a Greek musical composer.
- He is the sixth major villain to have an identity hidden from the ninja. The first was Pythor, who was the stranger who helped the Overlord; the second was Krux, who was Dr. Saunders; the third was Harumi, who was the Quiet One; the fourth was Zane, who was the Ice Emperor; and the fifth was Unagami, who was Prime Empire itself, rather than Milton Dyer as the ninja initially thought.
- 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, Vangelis is the fifth villain to have a dragon, with 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.
- 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.
- The symbol appears in popular culture frequently, such as the Marvel franchise and the Walking Dead.
- 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 incorrectly spelled "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 65th issue of the Ninjago Magazine, 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. This was confirmed to be true in "Trial By Mino" and "The Upply Strike Back!" respectively.
- 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.
- He is the fourth villain, after Yang, Iron Baron, and Vex, not to pose a direct threat to Ninjago City, as this he was the main antagonist of a season that didn't feature Ninjago City.
- The concept of the Skull Sorcerer is reminiscent of Skeletor from the show He-Man.
- Korgran also bears similarity to the title character from that show.
- He is similar to Hela from the Thor: Ragnarok, as both of them use green and black as their main colors, use the triquetra symbol, resurrected dead beings for their army, and are both royalty that were later imprisoned by their own family.
- He is one of the five known villains that had no intentions to take over Ninjago, as his main goal was to keep the Kingdom of Shintaro.
- The other four being Yang, Iron Baron, Vex, and Unagami.
- He uses the hairpiece of Doc Brown from LEGO Dimensions, also used on Bob the Intern and Engelbert.
- In Polish dub, Vangelis was voiced by Mikołaj Klimek, an actor who passed away in 12th July of 2020, but the dub for 13th season was published in 10th October of 2020.
Gallery
- Main article: Vangelis/Gallery