Master Kodokuna Yang[1] was a martial art teacher, the creator of Airjitzu and later, a spirit trapped in the Temple of Airjitzu. Yang taught Airjitzu to his students, but he secretly wanted to live forever so his work wouldn't be forgotten. Using the Yin Blade, he tried to become immortal, but its powers backfired and he became a ghost, along with his temple and students. Years later, the ninja later traveled to the Temple of Airjitzu to claim the Scroll of Airjitzu, but they were tormented by Yang. During their escape, Cole was turned into a ghost.
Sometime later, as Nadakhan rebuilt his home realm, the Temple of Airjitzu was lifted into the sky and cleansed with water, forcing him and his students to flee. After Jay made his final wish, recent events were undone, but due to an anomaly, the temple remained floating in the sky.
On the Day of the Departed, Yang deceived Cole into retrieving the Yin Blade and temporarily revived the ninja's old enemies, pitting them against the ninja as a distraction while resurrecting himself through the Rift of Return. As the ninja fought their adversaries, Yang opened the Rift while Cole fought his students. Cole would eventually confront Yang and destroy the Yin Blade, allowing Yang's students to cross through the Rift. Yang opened up about his arrogant desire to live forever, allowing him and Cole to make amends. However, Yang refused to cross through the Rift, as the temple's curse required that someone had to be the master of the house and ultimately pushed Cole into the Rift. After the Rift closed, Yang remained in his temple, which was now purified.
History[]
Early life[]
Yang in his youth.
At an unknown point in time, Yang went on a quest to master all martial arts, learning techniques such as Spinjitzu[2] and possibly Fang-Kwon-Do.[3] From his accumulated knowledge, Yang invented the art of Airjitzu. However, growing old at the time he created Airjitzu, he decided to preserve his work by passing it down to his students, which he had gathered shortly after he created the martial art. He was an excellent master who even had a statue of himself built before the Temple of Airjitzu in his honor. However, his pupils were afraid of him because of his strict teachings, causing him to become worried he would not be remembered as a good master, or remembered at all.
He later discovered the forbidden Yin Blade and planned to use its dark magic to attain immortality and live forever as the greatest master of all time. After testing the Blade's magic on several trees, Yang decides to perform the ritual atop his temple only to accidentally curse the entire Temple of Airjitzu, transforming himself and his students into ghosts to haunt the temple for the rest of time. As the master of the house, he eventually grew mad and enslaved his students with the power of the Yin Blade, binding their wills to his power. Yang's reputation would eventually go down in infamy as the notorious master without a pupil.
At some point, Yang would lose the Yin Blade, where it would be placed in a Clearstone case at the Ninjago Museum of History along with a description and portrait of him.[1]
At some point, one of Yang's Scroll of Airjitzu ended up in the Ancient Library of Domu.[4]
During the years following Yang’s cursed state as a ghost and being trapped as master of the house, he spent most of his imprisonment studying Dark Magic, curses and the afterlife, especially regarding the Departed Realm.[5]
Possession[]
The Temple on Haunted Hill[]
During the ninja's stay at the Temple of Airjitzu to locate the Scroll of Airjitzu, he threw many obstacles (the fears of the ninja) at them to get them stuck in the temple so they would turn into ghosts when the morning comes. Later, it's revealed that he merely tested the ninja to see if they were worthy of obtaining the Airjitzu scroll. However, as the morning came and the curse on the Temple of Airjitzu started to take effect on the ninja, the ghosts of Yang's students showed themselves, revealing that Yang had chained them up, as they were his prisoners. The ninja then quickly fled to the entrance, not wanting to suffer the same fate as Yang's students. They manage to reach the entrance, but Cole dropped the scroll mid-way and thus had to go back in to retrieve it, which caused him to turn into a ghost. Yang's laugh echoed from the inside the temple as the ninja stood outside, staring at Cole sadly after his transformation into a ghost.
Skybound[]
Wishmasters[]
After his temple was torn out of Ninjago by the Sky Pirates to help construct Djinjago in the sky, he came out to angrily confront Nadakhan, claiming it was his domain. However, the latter, unimpressed, promptly ordered Dogshank to shoot water at him and his students, forcing them to abandon the temple.
The Way Back[]
Due to an anomaly, the Temple of Airjitzu was left still floating in the sky despite Jay's final wish undoing Nadakhan's actions.
Before Day of the Departed[]
Having become aware of the Hall of Villainy exhibit by observing the Ninjago Museum of History through a painting of himself,[6], Yang revealed to Kruncha and Nuckal that he is going to resurrect Samukai if they will help him to steal the statues of the villians. A group of Skulkin attacked a truck which was transferring these statues, but they were defeated by the ninja.[7]
Day of the Departed[]
Yang confronted Cole through his painting on the Day of the Departed, telling him to "close the circle." This prompts Cole to steal the Yin Blade and fly up to the Temple of Airjitzu to settle the score, where he meets Yang. Yang begs Cole to not attack him but the latter ignores this and attacks only for this to backfire as Cole's attack broke a vessel containing the souls of the Ninja's former enemies. The light of the Yin-Yang Eclipse would shine upon the broken vessel and unleash the imprisoned souls upon Ninjago City, where they would possess their respective mannequins in the museum. Yang's students then proceed to take Cole by surprise and restrain him, giving Yang possession of the Yin Blade back to him.
He greets the newly resurrected group of villains through his painting explaining the circumstances of their temporary resurrections, which would become permanent using their Departed Blades upon their enemies. As the villains began disputing over who would take which soul's place, Yang immediately yells for silence and tells them to work it out before leaving.
At the temple, Yang reveals to Cole his backstory regarding the origin of his cursed state and that he tricked him into retrieving him the Yin Blade for the Yin-Yang lunar eclipse appearing this Day of the Departed, when the ghostly master could open the Rift of Return and become mortal again. Having distracted the remainder of the ninja to deal with their resurrected rogues gallery, Yang is unopposed as he relocates to the rooftop to perform the necessary ritual; causing the Rift to form partially in the sky.
Yang fights Cole at his temple
Cole escapes and fights Yang's students for a while, making his way to the rooftop to disrupt the ritual. Despite having thwarted his attempt to enter the portal, Yang proves to outmatch the ninja in combat; demoralizing him in his state as a lonely, departed ghost destined to be forgotten and to take his place as Master of the house. However, Yang hears the voices of the ninja who have defeated their villains and come to help Cole. This reenergizes Cole who rises to face off against Yang again.
This time in their fight, Cole unleashes his Earth Punch to shatter the Yin Blade, freeing Yang's students of his control. As the Rift begins to close, the formerly imprisoned pupils are prompted by Cole to go through the Rift, allowing them to become mortal while Yang admits defeat. Bitter, Yang reveals he wanted to be immortal so he would not be forgotten but Cole reminds him that as the creator of Airjitzu, he will not be forgotten by anyone. Cole then flies the two of them towards the Rift but Yang tells him one of them must remain behind as the temple's master because of the curse, and throws Cole into the disappearing Rift, claiming he wanted to settle his "debts."
Afterward, Cole becomes human again and he and the ninja move into the temple, while Yang wanders the halls, no longer a sadistic monster but a kind master who has accepted his fate, with only Cole being aware of his presence.
Before The Hands of Time[]
Yang and Cole agreed to keep his presence in his temple a secret, but Yang started to suspect that Wu might have been aware of his presence, as he stared once at one of his paintings intensely for several, shortly before chuckling and winking at it.
Way of the Departed[]
As the ninja frequently came back to the Temple of Airjitzu to rest and train, while searching for Wu, Cole and Yang would frequently talk to each other. Yang had been watching Cole for a while, with a very sad expression, when Cole asked him one day about why his scar was glowing, Yang told him that his scar was a rift, that would open soon.
Since Yang was still confused about his temple's floating conditions, he once asked Cole, but he was as clueless as him. So he eavesdropped Jay and Nya multiple times and picked up bit and pieces, he discovered that events featuring Nadakhan that happened and were reversed. One day, Cole told Yang about his recurring dreams and asked for advice, Yang then used his abilities to reach out to one of his previous possessions that wasn't in the temple anymore, but it used all of his concentration, causing him to sweat. After reaching out to a far away village, an exhausted Yang told Cole to go to the village of Nom, as he would find someone that could help him.
Abilities and weapons[]
Abilities[]
- Martial arts intuition/creation: Yang mastered all martial arts, learning techniques such as Spinjitzu[2] and possibly Fang-Kwon-Do.[3]
- Airjitzu: Sensei Yang is the creator of Airjitzu.
- Ghost Powers: Being a ghost, Yang has the standard powers of a regular ghost (flight, intangibility, telekinesis, invisibility, etc.). In addition he can also control his haunted house and everything in it.
- Reaching out: Although Yang is permanently trapped in the Temple of Airjitzu as the master of the house, he is able to reach out to his previous possessions that aren't in his temple, such as his painting in the Ninjago Museum of History.[5][8]
Weapons[]
- Scroll of Airjitzu: Created by Yang They contain the instructions to master Airjitzu. Yang gave one of the map to the Library of Domu, the ancient library, until it was stolen by Ronin. It may have been donated to the library by Yang himself before he died, while he kept one of his own at his temple, which he later gave to the Ninja after they passed his test.
- Yin Blade: While searching for the key to immortality, Master Yang's studies led him to discover the Yin Blade. Attempting to use it on himself caused his temple to be haunted forever. He would use the blade in an attempt to open the Rift of Return during a Yin-Yang Eclipse and return to life. The Yin Blade can also be used for combat, where its edge is sharper than a katana that it can cut through it. It can also be used to brainwash and control others including Yang's students. When Cole destroyed the blade, his students were released from his control.
Relationships[]
Cole[]
Cole, Kai, Jay and Zane first met Yang when they visited his temple to learn Airjitzu. But due to the temple's curse, Cole was turned into a ghost when he left the temple too late, causing him to become vengeful towards Yang. On the Day of the Departed, after tricking Cole and gaining possession of the Yin Blade, Yang almost crossed the Rift of Return before Cole stopped him. After being defeated by him and telling Cole that he didn't want to be forgotten, Cole quickly empathized with Yang and planned to cross the rift with him. After seeing Cole's generosity and kindness, Yang decided to allow Cole to return as a human and stayed as a ghost because of the temple's curse of requiring a master of the house.
With the Temple of Airjitzu returning to its original state, Yang allowed Cole and the other ninja to use it as their base, with Cole keeping Yang's presence a secret to not scare the others. After Wu was lost in time, Cole would frequently ask Yang advice and would even call him his master, something Yang rejected. Yang would frequently help Cole, telling him that his scar was actually a rift, and suggested that he talk with people who could help him. Yang would also ask Cole questions, such as why his temple was floating, something even Cole didn't know.[5]
Yang's students[]
Before Yang became a ghost along with his students, Yang was a master who trained them in the art of Airjitzu. He was a very strict teacher. After his attempts to pursue immortality backfired, Yang and his students became ghost for a long time. Yang's students didn't have any free will when they were ghost, and were brainwashed into being his slaves. After Cole destroyed the Yin Blade, Yang's students were freed from his control and crossed through the Rift of Return, becoming human again. After Yang accepted his fate and became a kind master, he felt ashamed of what he did and hoped to one day redeem himself to the students he wronged.[5]
Allies[]
- His students (formerly)
- Cole (former enemy)
Enemies[]
- Ninja (formerly)
- Sky Pirates (in an alternate timeline)
LEGO.com description[]
No one knows when Yang lost his mind. The creator of Airjitzu was strict and feared by his students from the start. He began to make them stay behind after school, then he locked them in the attic and finally he cursed them, trapping them in the Temple of Airjitzu forever. Now he prowls his dojo as a ghost for eternity (without so much as a TV to pass the time), ready to share his bad luck, as Cole discovered to his cost![9]
Appearances[]
Sets[]
- 70751 Temple of Airjitzu (statue)
- 70590 Airjitzu Battle Grounds
- 70595 Ultra Stealth Raider
- 71741 Ninjago City Gardens (pictured)
Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu[]
Season 5: Possession[]
- 46. "Ghost Story" (pictured)
- 48. "The Temple on Haunted Hill"
Season 6: Skybound[]
- 55. "Infamous" (mentioned)
- 61. "Wishmasters"
- 63. "Operation Land Ho!" (statue)
- 64. "The Way Back" (statue)
Day of the Departed[]
Season 7: The Hands of Time[]
- 65. "The Hands of Time" (painting)
- 66. "The Hatching" (painting)
- 67. "A Time of Traitors" (painting)
- 70. "The Attack" (painting)
Ninjago: Decoded[]
- 3. "Legendary Places" (video)
- 4. "Ninjago's Most Wanted" (video)
Season 10: March of the Oni[]
- 97. "The Fall" (painting)
Ninjago Magazine[]
Books[]
Video games[]
- The LEGO Ninjago Movie Videogame (non-canon)
Behind the scenes[]
- "Kodokuna" (孤独な) means "lonely" or "solitary," while "Yang" means "sun."
- Also, as stated by himself in "Day of the Departed," "Yang" also means "good," as a reference to the concept of the "Yin-Yang."
- Strangely, the more common phrase used both by Master Wu and the ninja is "As iron sharpens iron, (sibling, brother, etc.) sharpens (sibling, brother, etc.)," while Master Yang's saying makes the subjects different (sensei and student).
- On a similar note, he seems to be the ghost equivalent of Master Wu, as they're both teachers and masters of their respective, similar martial arts, use similar phrases, and have similar appearances as well.
- Unlike his main appearance, which uses the style of beard first seen on Gandalf from LEGO The Lord of the Rings, Yang's statue is depicted with the same style of beard as Wu. However, the statue has the Gandalf beard in set form, likely because the Wu beard did not physically exist in gray, while the Gandalf beard did.
- Yang's minifigure depicts him with a ghostly tail instead of legs, although he never has a ghostly tail at all during the show.
- Yang is an unlockable character in The LEGO Ninjago Movie Videogame. His blind bag can be found in the level "The Dark Ravine."
- Yang is one of the five main antagonists to have appeared before the installment where they are the main antagonist, the others being Morro, Krux, Ronin, and Ras.
- He is one of the five known villains that had no intentions to take over Ninjago. The other four being Iron Baron, Vex, Unagami, and Vangelis.
- As a human, he wore the same black kimono suit design as young Wu and Garmadon.
Trivia[]
- It's implied he became a ghost a few years before Possession, as Misako said he "passed years ago". One of the monks in the Library of Domu also said "Oh, yes. Sensei Yang will be sorely missed."[4]
- As it's revealed at the end of his debut episode, Yang's spirit imprisons those who enter his temple by turning them into a ghost, forcing them to be his students forever.
- Yang seems to be an extremely powerful ghost, seeing as how not only can he curse others who enters his temple, but also transport it into another dimension as seen when the ninja tried to escape his temple. It's unclear if all ghosts possess such powers, or if its just Master Yang. It's possible, however, that these powers might be explained by the fact that he was changed into a ghost thanks to the Yin Blade, instead of being sent to the Cursed Realm.
- The info given of Yang portrays him as a far more malevolent master, in comparison to Wu. Even as a spirit, he is shown to be a malevolent spirit, imprisoning his victims and forcing them to be his students forever.
- Like Morro, Yang has also redeemed himself by settling his debt by staying behind as "Master of the House."
Gallery[]
Minifigures[]
Promotional media[]
Concept art[]
In Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu[]
The images on Yang need to be organized.
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In Way of the Departed[]
In other media[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Day of the Departed"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Book of Spinjitzu
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/805061224266350593
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Ghost Story"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Way of the Departed
- ↑ https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/850979984349036545
- ↑ Special Delivery From Stiix!
- ↑ Day of the Departed
- ↑ Virtual Tour