Overview
The Great Devourer was a snake corrupted by the Overlord into an evil, destructive serpent. It was worshipped by the Serpentine as a goddess and believed to consume all of creation if left unchecked. According to legend, it could only be unleashed if the five Serpentine tribes united and found the four silver Fangblades. It was responsible for Lord Garmadon's transformation to evil, as it had bitten him as a child and corrupted him with her venom under orders from the Overlord as part of his long-term plan to return to Ninjago. The Serpentine then tried using the Devourer to scare the people of Ninjago underground to protect them from the Golden Master. However, this only fueled the people's disgust for the Serpentine. At this point, the Devourer was sealed underground in an unnatural slumber.
When Lloyd freed Pythor, he schemed to awaken the Devourer by uniting the Serpentine and finding the Fangblades. Pythor successfully did so at the Lost City of Ouroboros, where the Devourer consumed him and Wu before heading to wreak havoc in Ninjago City. The ninja battled the Devourer until Garmadon seized the Golden Weapons and vaporized the beast.
Long after its demise, the Devourer would impact future conflicts, as the Overlord foresaw. Its venom revived the Stone Army, its eggs were used by Krux to breed an army of Vermillion, and the destruction it caused during its rampage led Harumi to become the Quiet One, after the beast unknowingly caused her parents' deaths. Its influence even carried onto the climactic final battle, as Harumi turned against the Overlord upon learning he corrupted the Devourer, which led to the loss of her parents.
History
History[]
The Devourer watching Wu's fight with the Time Twins
Background[]
The Devourer near Garmadon after biting him
In its early days thousands of years ago, the Devourer was just a small green viper. It was made a pawn by the Overlord as part of his plan to corrupt the eldest child of the First Spinjitzu Master,[1] mutating the young snake with Darkness to which it gained an ominous poison that could turn the purest of hearts evil. With the Overlord possessing it at the time, the Devourer was sent upon near the Monastery of Spinjitzu, where she saw Wu's fight with the Time Twins, who traveled in time.[2] When they disappeared and a young Garmadon came here to retrieve Wu's katana, it bit him, infecting him with darkness.[3]
Over the centuries, the ancient Serpentine worshipped the young Devourer as it grew into a titanic monstrosity. As tensions between the Serpentine and humans grew, they eventually went as far as unleashing the gigantic serpent on Ninjago in an attempt to scare their enemies.[4] The beast was instead defeated by the people of Ninjago[5] before being sealed under the Lost City of Ouroboros.[6] During her imprisonment, it laid eggs in dormancy until they hatched years later into the Vermillion.[7]
Rise of the Snakes[]
The Rise of the Great Devourer[]
The Great Devourer rising from Ouroboros
Despite the ninja's best efforts, Pythor managed to collect all of the Fangblades and retreat to Ouroboros, where the Devourer was thought to have been imprisoned. Placing the Fangblades in the teeth of the statue overlooking the Slither Pit arena, Pythor commanded the Devourer to awaken, expecting it to emerge from the statue. To his surprise, the beast was not within the statue, but beneath the arena itself, and it was far larger than Pythor had expected.
More frightening still for the Anacondrai General, Master Wu revealed that the Great Devourer was not bound to obey the one who awakened it and had no qualms about consuming the Serpentine along with the rest of Ninjago. As Master Wu prevented Pythor from fleeing, the Great Devourer burst free of its underground prison, immediately swallowing Pythor and Master Wu whole.
Day of the Great Devourer[]
The Devourer destroying the Destiny's Bounty
The ninja attempted to escape the Devourer in the Destiny's Bounty, but they only succeeded in making the beast even larger when it ate their jettisoned ballast and the ship itself. However, the escape gave them time to reach Ed & Edna's Scrap N Junk, where they used the Tornado of Creation to build the Ultra Sonic Raider. Equipping their new vehicle with Zane's recording of the Sacred Flute, they managed to deal some damage to the Devourer, also discovering a small weak spot on the top of its forehead. However, the Great Devourer destroyed the Ultra Sonic Raider's sonic cannons and withdrew to attack Ninjago City.
The Great Devourer in Ninjago City
The ninja followed the Great Devourer and managed to prevent her from consuming any innocent civilians, but the monstrous snake proved too powerful for them to defeat. Even the arrival of Nya's Samurai Mech and the Ultra Dragon did little against the Devourer. During the Great Devourer's rampage, Harumi's parents were killed after the massive serpent destroyed their apartment building in the city.[8] Eventually, Lord Garmadon arrived and revealed that the only way to slay the Devourer was to use the combined power of all four Golden Weapons, which only he could wield at once. Despite their misgivings, the ninja agreed, with Kai also telling Lord Garmadon about the Devourer's weak spot.
The Devourer trapped by the ninja
While Lord Garmadon left to prepare his attack, the ninja distracted the Great Devourer, leading it on a mad chase around the city. Eventually, they were able to immobilize the beast by tangling her body in buildings and tricking it into biting its own tail, leaving her weak spot wide open as Lord Garmadon combined the energies of the Golden Weapons with his dark powers. Declaring his actions as vengeance against the Great Devourer for dragging him down the path of evil, Garmadon leapt from a skyscraper and plunged through the serpent's weak spot with the Golden Weapons, causing the monster to explode spectacularly, releasing large amounts of venom onto the city.
Other appearances and mentions
Other appearances and mentions[]
Rise of the Snakes[]
Can of Worms[]
The Great Devourer's existence was revealed when Cole and Zane entered the Constrictai Tomb. While searching for the inhabitants, the two ninja discovered a crude mural on the wall depicting the Serpentine gathering before an especially massive snake. Zane translated the drawings as a prophecy: when the Serpentine united as one, they could find the Four Silver Fangblades and unleash the Great Devourer, who would consume all of Ninjago and turn day into night.
The Devourer's statue in the Lost City of Ouroboros
The Snake King[]
A statue of the Great Devourer was present at one end of the Slither Pit arena in the Lost City of Ouroboros.
Tick Tock[]
When Wu explained that the Devourer was a legendary beast that would consume all in her path, and her venom could turn even the noblest soul into a being of pure evil, he charged the ninja with finding the four Fangblades before the Serpentine could, as the Fangblades were the keys to the Devourer's revival.
Legacy of the Green Ninja[]
Darkness Shall Rise[]
Despite its death, the Great Devourer's evil influence continued to plague Ninjago—literally—as her defeat flooded the city with venom. The ninja spent a long amount of time helping the city's cleanup efforts. When Skales was attempting to assert his leadership over the Serpentine, Skalidor suggested unleashing the Great Devourer again, only for Skales to strike the Constrictai general for suggesting a bad idea.
Double Trouble[]
Lord Garmadon called his Serpentine forces together on the Black Bounty for a brainstorming session on how to defeat the ninja with his new Mega Weapon. Upon hearing that the weapon could only create, not destroy, Lasha suggested recreating the Great Devourer. Lord Garmadon was not amused by the idea and had the Venomari scout thrown overboard as a sign of his displeasure.
The Stone Army[]
The Great Devourer's venom dripped onto several pieces of Stone Army merchandise at the Ninjago Museum of History, bringing them to life, as explained by the Museum Curator. Later, some more venom dripped on the Giant Stone Warrior exhibit found by Misako, reanimating the ancient soldier.
The Day Ninjago Stood Still[]
More of the Devourer's venom seeped deep underground, as noted by Skales. The venom awakened the entirety of the Stone Army, who were sealed in a hidden tomb unearthed by the Serpentine, which ended with the Serpentine themselves being sealed away once again.
Rebooted[]
The Curse of the Golden Master[]
Acidicus explained an ancient Serpentine legend to the ninja, revealing that the Serpentine were, in the beginning, trying to save the people of Ninjago from the Golden Master, and they had tried to use the Great Devourer to scare the people of Ninjago underground. However, the people defeated the Devourer and believed that the Serpentine were the enemy, eventually driving them underground.
Later, Pythor revealed that he survived his time in the Great Devourer's stomach, although the experience bleached his scales white.
A Team Divided[]
During Cole's time apart from the team after Zane's apparent death, Cole imagined Kai would react to his cooking by saying, "Even the Great Devourer wouldn't eat this junk!"
Tournament of Elements[]
Only One Can Remain[]
Kai said that Clouse's pet was the second largest snake he had ever seen, alluding to the colossal Great Devourer as the largest.
The Forgotten Element[]
Master Chen kept a scale of the Great Devourer in his Hall of Fame. Garmadon also brought up the Devourer when he and Nya were about to be fed to Clouse's pet, he stated that he destroyed the largest snake so karma has ensured that the second largest snake would come after him.
Skybound[]
The Last Resort[]
While hiding from Nadakhan and the Sky Pirates, Nya suggested that Jay could wish for the Great Devourer to be brought back while thinking of what Jay can use his last wish on.
Wu-Cru (non-canon)[]
At one point, Lloyd discovered that Fangtom intended to use concentrated Dark Matter to transform himself into a new Great Devourer.
The Hands of Time[]
Secrets Discovered[]
Skales revealed to the ninja that the Vermillion warriors were in fact the first-generation progeny of the Great Devourer.
Pause and Effect[]
Ray mentioned Krux's use of the Great Devourer's eggs as part of his decades-long plan of revenge.
Lost in Time[]
Krux told the Elemental Alliance that he and Acronix commanded "a legion spawned from the Great Devourer."
Sons of Garmadon[]
The Quiet One[]
Lloyd mentioned the Devourer and others while guessing who Harumi grew up thinking was the greatest villain in Ninjago.
Game of Masks[]
After hearing Lord Garmadon was the one that defeated the Devourer, Harumi set out to resurrect Garmadon to exact vengeance on the ninja for their poor efforts to stop the Devourer.
Big Trouble, Little Ninjago[]
Ultimately, Harumi's actions allowed Lord Garmadon to create the Colossus, which wreaked havoc on Ninjago City in a similar fashion to what the Devourer did - even down to both of them destroying half of the Destiny's Bounty.
Crystalized[]
Darkness Within[]
When Lloyd learns his friends are seemingly dead, Harumi tells him that she knows how it feels to have no one left, having experienced it after the Great Devourer killed her parents. Lloyd starts yelling at her that she's the reason he has no one left, making her no better than the Devourer.
Dragon Form[]
While brutally electrocuting Lloyd and Garmadon, the Overlord heartlessly reveals that he corrupted the Great Devourer ages ago, in order for it to corrupt Garmadon into a vessel for the entity's eventual return. A horrified Harumi hears this, and attacks the Overlord in a bid to avenge her parents.
Abilities
Abilities[]
- Insatiable appetite/extreme consumption: The Great Devourer had an insatiable appetite and the ability to consume anything that it came across.
- Consumptive Growth: Whenever the Devourer consumed something, it grew larger and more powerful. The ninja noticed that it would have been truly unstoppable if allowed to consume the bustling metropolis of Ninjago City.
- Venom Secretion: The Great Devourer could secrete venom.
- Corruption Inducement: Said venom could corrupt the purest individuals into wrathful megalomaniacs against their will, such as the case of Garmadon.
- Reanimation/Animation: The venom was able to reanimate and animate the Stone Army (even miniature bobbleheads of them).
- Massive size: In combat, the Great Devourer normally used its tremendous size to her advantage.
- Strong tail: The Great Devourer has a very strong tail that it was able to use to break the Ultra Sonic Raider.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: The Great Devourer possessed nigh-invulnerability that allowed it to continuously devour the buildings of Ninjago City without being stopped by the Elemental Powers.
- Superhuman Endurance and Stamina: The monstrous snake proved as vulnerable to the music as the Serpentine had, but it managed to disable the Raider's sonic cannons with her tail before the ninja could completely pacify her.
- Intelligence: The Devourer seemed to display a sense of tactical thought, tricking both the ninja and the Ultra Dragon into thinking they had either defeated or escaped it and suddenly ambush them when their guard was lowered.
- Superhuman speed: Despite its massive size, the Devourer was also incredibly fast.
- Burrowing: The Devourer had the ability to burrow through the ground with ease.
- Longevity: The Devourer had been alive for millennia at the time of its death.
- Avgógenesis: The Devourer was able to create the Vermillion eggs.
- Oviparity: Said eggs can hatch for reproduction.
- Ophidiogenesis: When hatched, the eggs release masses of snakes which can merge into reptilian humanoid forms known as Vermillion.
- Telumgenesis - The Devourer's eggs can likely create a variety of weapons.
- Lepídesgenesis: It's also possible for the eggs to generate bladed Vermillion weapons.
- Tsekoúrigenesis: Vermillion axes are among such weapons.
- Spathígenesis: Vermillion swords are among such weapons.
- Lepídesgenesis: It's also possible for the eggs to generate bladed Vermillion weapons.
- Panoplíagenesis - The eggs can also generate Vermillion armor.
- Oviparity: Said eggs can hatch for reproduction.
Relationships
Relationships[]
Family[]
Allies[]
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Enemies[]
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Official description
Official description[]
This is the snake that bit Garmadon as a child and infected him with evil from its venom. After many years the snake grew up to become a huge monster that almost destroyed Ninjago City.[9]
Appearances
Appearances[]
Behind the scenes
Behind the scenes[]
- According to Tommy Andreasen, the Great Devourer was supposed to be present during the Serpentine War shown in "Spellbound," presumably in place of the Anacondrai serpent.[10]
- Tommy Andreasen confirmed the Great Devourer is female, as she laid the Vermillion eggs.[11]
- The Character Encyclopedia,[12] a story from the LEGO site,[13] and the Overlord's monologue in "Dragon Form" have used masculine pronouns for the Devourer. However, seeing as Season 7 and Andreasen confirmed the Devourer to be female after this, this was either a mistake caused by miscommunication or the Devourer was intended to be male at first but was retconned in Season 7.
- Tommy Andreasen confirmed that the Great Devourer had a mother.[14]
- According to Tommy Andreasen, the Great Devourer was a snake with a mutation, later revealed to have been caused by the Overlord, and it's possible some of the Vermillion could carry the Overlord's mutation as well.[15]
Trivia
Trivia[]
The Trivia on Great Devourer needs to be organized.
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- The Great Devourer has only appeared in one LEGO set, 9450 Epic Dragon Battle. Physically, the brick-built Devourer bears more resemblance to the Devourer's statue in Ouroboros in both appearance and size.
- Its set appearance is recolored and used for the Ice Serpent in Shadow of Ronin.
- In a non-canon[16] 2012 graphic novel, Tomb of the Fangpyre, it was implied that the Great Devourer was an ordinary snake corrupted by Darkness,[17] This theory was confirmed to be true in "Dragon Form," in which the Overlord revealed that he corrupted the Great Devourer to cause a chain of events that would eventually see him free from the Dark Island with a physical vessel.
- The ninja immobilize the Great Devourer by tricking her into biting her own tail. This is another reference to an ouroboros, the concept of cyclical events and entities, often depicted as a snake eating its own tail.
- The Devourer is one of the largest animals seen in the series, the others being the Tiger Widow, Crabby, Beohernie, and the Ice Bird.
- The Great Devourer's true relationship to the Serpentine is unknown. It was considered a deity and goddess of the Serpentine, but they immediately hid in fear of it when it was released, as they were avoiding the considerable threat of being eaten.
- According to Kai in "The Rise of the Great Devourer," the Four Silver Fangblades were made from the original teeth of the Great Devourer.
- The Great Devourer's abilities and traits appear to be larger-scale versions of the Serpentine's tribal abilities. It has the Constrictai's rapid burrowing abilities, the Anacondrai's impenetrable hide and tenacity to swallow things whole, and the effects of its venom could be interpreted as an amalgamation of Hypnobrai hypnosis, Venomari venom, and the Fangpyre bite.
- Physically, the Devourer's green skin and tendency to secrete mass amounts of fluorescent green venom hearken back to the Venomari, but its long fangs resemble the Fangpyre and her pink eyes are similar to the Anacondrai, mainly Pythor.
- Also, according to Tomb of the Fangpyre, before the Overlord corrupted it, it was red with black and white markings, which bears similarities to the Fangpyre, particularly Fangdam and Fangtom because of the stripes.
- The Great Devourer's ability to grow larger the more it consumes is similar to the video game concept of Snake, in which consuming a "dot" or "square" grows in length as the player controls the "growing snake" forward.
- The Great Devourer's young appearance resembles a Toxic Viper.
- Interestingly, as a hatchling it had red eyes, while as an adult they are pink.
- However, it still has red eyes in a 2012 LEGO commercial and on a variant cover for Garmadon Issue 2.
- The Great Devourer had a tremendous influence throughout the series even after its demise in Season 1 due to the Overlord's machinations of the serpent.
- In Season 2, its venom was responsible for reawakening the Stone Army after her death.
- In Season 4, it subtly acts as a source of internal conflict for Garmadon, as it was the Devourer's venom that corrupted Garmadon and caused him to make mistakes in his past, which connect to the present-day conflicts with Chen.
- In Season 7, it is the progenitor of the Vermillion, the villainous faction of the season.
- In Seasons 8 and 9, the death of Harumi's parents caused by the Devourer is the driving motivation of Harumi resurrecting and aiding Garmadon.
- In Season 15, Harumi continues to be driven by the loss of her parents due to the Devourer and ultimately, the reveal that the Overlord was responsible for the Devourer's evil was her reason for betraying him.
- The Devourer is based on the Jörmungandr, a giant sea serpent or snake famous for being impossibly gigantic and being able to bite its own tail after encircling the entire planet in an ouroboros shape. This is referenced by the Devourer being sealed in the Lost City of Ouroboros, and tricked into wrapping itself around Ninjago City by the Ninja to defeat it.
- There is scrapped concept of a season titled "Dawn of the Devourers", where there would be a Devourer representing each of the Serpentine tribes, with the Great Devourer representing the Venomari.
- In The LEGO Ninjago Movie Videogame, The Great Devourer was featured as twin statues in "The Uncrossable Jungle."
- The Great Devourer shares some similarities with Meowthra from The LEGO Ninjago Movie: both are colossal-sized female animals and both ate one of the Spinjitzu Brothers who ultimately survived being consumed.
Gallery
Gallery[]
LEGO models[]
Promotional media[]
In Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu[]
Season 1: Rise of the Snakes[]
.png "The Great Devourer (3).png (101 KB)")
Season 3: Rebooted[]
Season 8: Sons of Garmadon[]
Season 10: March of the Oni[]
Ninjago: Reimagined[]
In Tomb of the Fangpyre (non-canon)[]
Concept art[]
.jpg "The LEGO NINJAGO Movie - The Great Devourer Battle (Concept Art).jpg (69 KB)")
Translations
Translations[]
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Bulgarian | Великия Унищожител |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 大吞噬者 (fullname) 吞噬魔 (short name) |
| Czech | Bájný Požírač (S1-S3) Velký Hltač (S4 onward) |
| Finnish | Grand Devourer (Left untranslated) |
| French | Grand Dévoreur |
| German | Großer Schlangenmeister Großer Verschlinger Großer Vielfraß |
| Hungarian | Nagy Zabáló |
| Italian | Gran divoratore |
| Japanese | グレート・ヘビヘビ |
| Polish | Pożeracz Światów |
| Portuguese | Grande Devorador |
| Russian | Великий поглотитель |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Gran Devorador |
| Swedish | The Great Devourer (Left untranslated) |
| Ukrainian | Великий Пожирач |
| Turkish | Büyük Yok Edici |
References
References[]
- ↑ "Dragon Form"
- ↑ "Golden Hour"
- ↑ "Tick Tock"
- ↑ "The Curse of the Golden Master"
- ↑ https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1532127488389914626
- ↑ "The Rise of the Great Devourer"
- ↑ "Secrets Discovered"
- ↑ "Game of Masks"
- ↑ The Maze of the Sphinx
- ↑ https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/823277938950991872
- ↑ https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/850980546276622336
- ↑ "[Pythor's] moment of triumph is short-lived—the first thing the Great Devourer does after his release is devour Pythor!" Page 159, Character Encyclopedia
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20151208074614/http://www.lego.com/en-us/ninjago/explore/story-4/chapter1
- ↑ https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/857749688749043712
- ↑ https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/923894183768809475
- ↑ https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/857911613587959808
- ↑ "The darkness touched the common snake with its power..." Page 31, Tomb of the Fangpyre