Balun

History[]

The Wyldness[]

Balun, along with Iriel, Warby and Zuri, looked at the bones of an animal and discussed their next meal. Iriel said that eventually, nothing would be able to live in the forest and Balun added that they would not be able to do so either. Asa found Balun, along with the other children, and they all watched him perform a series of actions that explained what happened to his hair.

Later, Balun and the other children stood outside the Shadow Dojo and questioned how its doors had opened. Then, they saw Garmadon fly through the walls of the dojo. Thinking he had rung the gong and knowing the Lycan King would have heard it, they tried to find Garmadon. They later found him lying on the ground, unconscious. Then, the Lycan King stared down at the children.

The Lycan King[]

Balun carried the unconscious Garmadon and told Asa to start running away. Balun, along with the other children, did so. Warby asked Balun why he was carrying Garmadon and the latter replied saying they needed to ask Mama Mawa how Garmadon opened the Shadow Dojo. The children and Garmadon later emerged from the rubble caused by the Lycan King's attack and realized they were trapped. Balun watched as Garmadon threw the mallet to no avail. When the Lycan King got ready to howl, Balun explained that the howl could turn them to stone if they got caught in it. He stood in confusion and awe when Garmadon managed to perform Shatterspin. The Lycan King howled and the children and Garmadon dodged the attack. Balun told them to get in the boat and they all sailed away.

On the boat, Garmadon asked the children what the Lycan King was and who they were. Balun, along with Iriel and Warby, introduced themselves. They arrived at Mama Mawa's house, and they all went inside it to discuss the Forbidden Five. Inside, the children drunk soup while Mama Mawa and Garmadon talked. Iriel explained how the Wyldness used to be beautiful and Balun added that the children were not born when it was. Balun listened as Mama Mawa explained how the Forbidden Five used to rule the Wyldness and lead the Wolf Clan. Afterward, Garmadon asked what would happen if someone without an Elemental Power rang the Gong of Shattering and Balun and Iriel explained that one would lose everything. Balun sat as Mama Mawa told Lord Argus's story.

After she told the story, Mama Mawa said that the five children, including Balun, were the last children of the wolf. She explained that only the children could defeat the Lycan King, but they needed to learn the ways of their ancestors. Mama Mawa told Garmadon he would be their teacher.

Masters and Students[]

After hearing Zuri and Garmadon engaging in a heated argument, Balun and the rest of the Children of the Wolf rushed over to their friend's aid. As they confronted Garmadon, Balun stood silently while the others joined in on the argument, resulting in their newly appointed master angrily storming off and declaring he would get around to teaching them when he had something to teach.

Later that night, Balun and the others sang and danced around a campfire, during which he paused to watch with a perplexed expression as Garmadon began to give Asa a haircut. Confused by Garmadon's actions, Balun turned and whispered to Iriel to ask her what she made of the situation. In response, Iriel shrugged and suggested that perhaps Garmadon was merely trying to be nice. The next morning, as the Children of the Wolf's first training session began, Iriel expressed her reluctance to train. doubting she would be any useful in a fight. Balun concurred with Iriel, doubting that he too would be useful in battle. Nevertheless, the children were then tasked with their first exercise: each of them were to carry a heavy bucket of water in each hand with outstretched arms. As each child began to tire and strain themselves in performance of the action, Balun asked their master as to how long they had to hold the buckets, to which Garmadon replied by stating "until Asa wakes up." This statement shocked and horrified Iriel, who immediately dropped her buckets as she bolted her head towards her master. With a smirk, Garmadon stated that Iriel's failure to complete the test reflected on all of the children, and all of them were to be punished and were ordered to perform one thousand push-ups.

For their second test, the Children of the Wolf were instructed by Garmadon that explosive speed was essential towards unlocking Shatterspin. To Garmadon's irritation, Iriel and the others were more interested in the bird that Asa was roasting than Garmadon's teachings. Nevertheless, Master Garmadon saw a potential teaching moment and informed the Children that whoever could race to the top of a nearby mountain and return first with the flag he had planted before Asa finished cooking would get to enjoy the bird. Before Garmadon could even finish his sentence however, Balun and the others were already dashing off towards the mountain. Warby would be the first one to reach the top, grabbing the flag and hastily beginning his descent. In his haste however, Warby tripped and collided into Balun and the rest of the children, sending all of them tumbling down the mountain until they finally came to a rest by Garmadon's feet. To add further insult to injury, Warby's haste and subsequent fall had greatly slowed their descent, and instead of being rewarded, Balun and the others were punished with another one thousand push-ups.

Eventually, Garmadon deemed the Children of the Wolf to have made 'acceptable' progress with their training - enough for them to be taught the first basic attack of Shatterspin. After demonstrating it to them, Garmadon instructed each child, one after another, to repeat his actions, with Balun going first. As he stepped up towards the boulder, Balun mused that the series of actions should be simple enough. Although he repeated his master's actions to the letter, he only lightly tapped the boulder, believing that a light tap would have been sufficient to unleash his stored kinetic energy. This performance disappointed Garmadon who chided Balun for thinking too hard about the action and called on Iriel to be the next to demonstrate. Fortunately, Zuri was able to successfully perform a Shatterspin strike, impressing Garmadon. At nightfall, Balun and the others celebrated their progress with song and dance around the campfire.

Destinies[]

For their final test, the Children of the Wolf were tasked to stalk Garmadon through a swamp and to retrieve the cloth he had tied onto the Mallet of Shattering. After Garmadon evaded Iriel and Warby's attacks and complimented them for using the terrain to their advantage, Balun revealed himself from the water beneath Garmadon and declared that he agreed with his master's assessment. While he was able to catch his master off guard, Balun himself fared no better at snatching the scarf.

Once all four children revealed themselves, Zuri ordered them to pull off Plan B; the four then each shattered a nearby tree, snapping their trunks to fall inwards onto Garmadon! While he was distracted with knocking back the falling tree trunks, Balun and the others simultaneously lunged at their master, though he was able to knock them all back with the Mallet of Shattering. Fortunately, Iriel managed to take the scarf from the mallet's handle in the chaos, prompting Garmadon to concede their victory. Upon hearing this affirmation from their master, Balun and the others lifted Iriel into the air in victory.

As the sun disappeared across the horizon, Warby, Iriel, and Balun prepared the boat that they would be using to search for their enemy. As they worked, the children discussed the future that awaited them once the Lycan King was defeated. While his friends shared more optimistic views, Balun remained cautious. Rather than joining in their dreamy optimism, Balun warned that he felt almost as if a strange presence had been pulling everyone's strings from the shadows and possibly no one, not even Garmadon was aware of this. This cautious, but cynical, outlook was not responded to well by Warby or Iriel, both of whom suggested for Balun to lighten up. After the two began imitating Garmadon, Balun began to break out from his shell and joined his friends in their imitation. Unfortunately, Balun was caught in the action by an unimpressed Garmadon who immediately ordered him to perform one thousand push-ups as punishment. At that moment, an exhausted Buck Buck emerged from the forest and collapsed before the group. In panic, Balun and his friends rushed to tend to the bird.

Homecoming[]

Together alongside Garmadon, Mama Mawa, and his friends, Balun journeyed to the flooded and ruined city of Lupindor in search of Asa. After finally arriving outside of the Hall of Wolves, Garmadon ordered Balun and the others not to engage in battle with the Lycan King. As soon as he was out of earshot however, Zuri told Balun and the others to split up and take positions across various vantage points in the ruined hall just in case an opportunity to strike at the Lycan King's Runes of Binding presented itself. While Warby supported this course of action, Balun and Iriel seemed less enthusiastic but followed it nonetheless.

When Garmadon began fighting the Lycan King, Balun was ordered by Zuri to attack. Heeding Zuri's call, Balun leapt from his vantage point, attacking the runes on the Lycan King's left arm. Unfortunately, the children's timing was off and they had failed to destroy the runes. At that moment, the Lycan King unleashed a petrifying howl at Asa and Mama Mawa, alarming Balun and the others who immediately sprang into action, using their bodies as shields to prevent their youngest friend from being turned to stone while being transformed into stone statues themselves. Fortunately however, Balun and all the others who had been petrified were all restored to normal after Asa sacrificed himself to destroy the Spectral Crown.

Making their way to the Shadow Dojo, Balun, his friends, and the now restored Wolf Mask Warriors, gathered inside the chamber that held the Gong of Shattering where Garmadon stood alone, embracing his master in a tight hug. Unfortunately, Balun would learn seconds later about Asa's passing and comforted Iriel as she fell to her knees and wept.

Eventually, the day came to bid farewell to Garmadon. Gathering at the pool by the Stone Wolves, Garmadon expressed his pride in his students and how much he would miss the qualities that made them all unique, noting Balun for his thoughtfulness in particular. Balun and the others would then say their final goodbyes to Garmadon as he dove into the pool and returned back to Ninjago.

Appearances[]

Comics[]

Shatterspin[]

• 1. "The Wyldness"
• 2. "The Lycan King"
• 3. "Masters and Students"
• 4. "Destinies"
• 5. "Homecoming"

Gallery[]

Promotional media[]

Concept art[]

Design variants[]

In Shatterspin[]

References[]