Loyalists

History[]

Background[]

After the Liberation of Imperium, the transition from a kingdom to a democratic state led to a divide among Imperians.^[1] Though a majority of them argued that the transition from dictatorship to civilian leadership was naturally a difficult one, but felt it was worth it, many others were skeptical about the ninja's role in freeing the Kingdom of Imperium from Beatrix's reign, believing their actions ultimately contributed to the kingdom's decline and that the Empress’s reign had actually brought prosperity to the kingdom, unlike the struggles faced under Senator Percival Tartigrade.^[2][1] This sentiment gave rise to the Loyalists, founded and led beneath Dr. LaRow after the disgraced former head scientist of the Advanced Systems Lab fled the Kingdom, believing that the loss of Beatrix had deprived her of everything. Though LaRow had defied the wishes of the Good Empress in the final hours of her regime after she was instructed to drain the captured Source Dragon of Energy, despite the potential threat that such a process could pose to Imperium, which Beatrix had disregarded, after the kingdom began to reorganize itself beneath a new senate, LaRow became convinced that she would be able to shackle the worst impulses of her monarch if the latter was reinstated. To this end, she became the Chief Loyalist and tracked Beatrix down to a location at the outskirts of Umbrasilvis, where she was able to save the former empress from life-threatening injuries through experimental medical treatments.^[3]

Having found other Imperians who were recipient to a return to life beneath Beatrix through violent tactics, LaRow established the Loyalists in order to restore the overthrown monarch to power. Among the Loyalists were Sora's parents.^[4] Moreover, the Chief Loyalist travelled to an unknown realm she could never retrace her steps back to and discovered a tablet that detailed a primordial artifact called the Weapon of Desolation, which the First Spinjitzu Master had split apart centuries ago. At LaRow's orders, some of the Loyalists spread themselves out across the Merged Lands in order to infiltrate key organizations over several months, such as the Administration, Borg Industries, and the Explorer's Club, with one of them even taking charge of Umbrasilvis.^[5][2] Meanwhile, some Loyalists remained within Imperium, acting as moles to support their cause from the inside.^[6] To coordinate their efforts, the organization established a hideout inside Old Town of Ninjago City, where their leader utilized holographic technology to communicate with her underlings.^[7]

Dragons Rising, Season 4[]

After the Source Dragons of Focus, Life, and Strength withdrew themselves from the council as retaliation for the ninja awakening the Arc Dragon of Focus without their consent, the imbalance in Source Energy led the Weapon of Desolation to create Elemental Monsters. Seizing this opportunity, the Chief Loyalist directed her peers to seek out the weapon to take control of the Elemental Monsters.^[7]

The infiltrated Loyalists used their positions to find both halves of the Weapon of Desolation. The ones assigned at the Administration successfully discovered the yellow half hidden at the Tree of Madness.^[5] Meanwhile, Johnny Courageous, leveraging his cover within the Explorer's Club, joined Reginald Slitherbottom's expedition to Umbrasilvis to analyze a Mutation Monster, which would lead him to the second half in the Tree of Burdens. Unbeknownst to Johnny, he received covert help from Sora, who manipulated the situation to expose him as the undercover Loyalist. Fortunately, both he and the Grand Inquisitor managed to escape with the red fragment.^[2]

With the Weapon of Desolation completed, the Loyalists joined Beatrix as they advanced toward the City of Imperium, using the Elemental Monsters as the front guard for their assault. The ninja protected the citizens of Imperium from the impending threat. However, the covert Loyalists within the city sabotaged the energy barrier and created a breach that allowed Beatrix and her forces to invade.^[6] Dr. LaRow led the Loyalists in the ensuing battle against the ninja and Imperium citizens, but as the conflict escalated, she soon realized that the Weapon of Desolation was exerting control over Beatrix, revealing powers that the Loyalists had not anticipated. Lloyd managed to wrest the weapon from Beatrix's grasp, while Arin deactivated it with a reverse incantation of the spell used to recreate it, leading to the erasure of the Elemental Monsters. After Beatrix was incapacitated by two Earth Monsters, she was left in a coma and placed in Borg Tower's Medical Suite. The ninja apprehended Dr. LaRow and several other Loyalists, transporting them to Imperium Prison as Senator Tartigrade ordered the city scoured for the other revanchists, expressing the need to find all individuals who might still be loyal to the Empress. However, thanks to the concealment that their standard uniform afforded them, countless Loyalists were able to evade identified and capture, including Johnny Courageous and Wally.^[8][9] Meanwhile, Sora's parents moved to the Monastery of Spinjitzu with the ninja to avoid the authorities.^[10]

Learning about the Summit of the Merged Lands, Dr. LaRow initiated Operation Mentax, intending to sabotage the event while kidnapping Zeatrix and switching her mind with Beatrix to revive the latter from her coma. Because she was imprisoned, she devised a plan to reconstruct Cryptor, intending for him to lead the Loyalists in the operation. Infiltrating the Imperium Guards at Imperium Prison, Johnny Courageous secretly passed on Dr. LaRow's orders to the remaining Loyalists while Wally stole the schematics for rebuilding Cryptor from Borg Industries and handed them over to the Loyalists, who then completed the reconstruction.^[11][8]

The Loyalists seized a section of the Cloud Kingdom, which had separated from Ras' earlier attack, and transformed it into a factory to repair the Nindroid MechDragon, which would be the end game for Operation Mentax. P.I.X.A.L. learned of this and attempted to confront Cryptor, but was severely damaged by the Nindroid MechDragon.^[8] In the following days, Cryptor stole a map of the underground passages from the Explorer's Club to locate the Mind Crystal. Armed with the map, Cryptor and the Loyalists began their search in the Ninjago Sewers, where they encountered and captured Frak and Reginald. Although the two managed to escape, Cryptor and the Loyalists successfully acquired the Mind Crystal.^[12]

Appearances[]

Sets[]

Boxed Sets[]

• 71855 Ninja Dragon Riyu's Battle
• 71856 Jay's Transforming Car
• 71857 Ninja Vehicle Tree House Battle
• 71859 The Dragon of Life
• 71861 The Old Town
• 71862 Lloyd's Dragon Mech Battle Pack
• 71867 X-1 Ninja Charger

Magazine Gifts[]

• L0002216 Zane vs. Loyalist Leader

Ninjago: Dragons Rising[]

Season 4[]

• 61. "The Whispering Wood"
• 62. "The Lean of a Tree"
• 63. "Tonight We Hunt Monsters"
• 64. "A Wonder of the Merged Lands"
• 65. "Seed and Soil"
• 66. "Just Under the Surface"
• 67. "The Grand Inquisition"
• 68. "Dying to Live"
• 69. "The Heartbeat of all the Realms"
• 70. "Birthright"
• 71. "Monster in the Monastery"
• 72. "The Mech-Master 10,000"
• 74. "Ancient History"
• 76. "100 Eyes to See Your Soul"
• 77. "All Wizards Are Liars"
• 78. "The Summit"
• 79. "Desperately Seeking Sora"
• 80. "Dangerous Connections"

Video games[]

• Ninjago: The Quest (non-canon)

Trivia[]

• In "Can You Dig It?," there was another group of Imperians led by Dr. LaRow that have allegiance to Imperium when it was a kingdom, even though their goal was to establish Dr. LaRow as the ruler instead of Beatrix.
• It is unknown if the different types of Loyalist masks denote anything.
• In the Latin American dub, some Loyalists have a different voice actor while their identities remain secret. This is the case with Dr. LaRow and Johnny Courageous, unlike in the original version, where they retain the same voice even before their identities are revealed. A similar approach was taken in the original version when Harumi was using the Kabuki Mask persona.
• It is unclear what the Loyalists would have holistically gained from attacking the summit, as the operation exposed several undercover operatives and most of the realms lack governing powers to pay a ransom.
• The Loyalists have a different hood in the sets compared to the show.

Gallery[]

Members[]

Dr. LaRow (leader)

General Cryptor (general; formerly)

Lead Loyalist

Johnny Courageous

Bonnie

Grand Inquisitor

Sora's parents (formerly)

Wally

Regular Loyalist

Regular Loyalist

Loyalist Agent

Minifigures[]

Chief Loyalist

Loyalist

Cryptor

Face prints[]

Chief Loyalist / Dr. LaRow

All Loyalists

Promotional media[]

In Ninjago: Dragons Rising[]

Two Loyalist spies

Cards[]

Translations[]

References[]