Maya

History[]

Early life[]

Maya was born from the former Elemental Master of Water from whom she inherited her Elemental Power.

At some point in ger youth, Maya met Ray the Elemental Master of Fire and started dating him.^{[note 1]}

At one point of her life, Maya and Ray were handcuffed to a pole, and were able to get loose by climbing over the top.^[2]

As the Elemental Master of Water, Maya was a member of the alliance of the Elemental Masters during the Serpentine War. She fought along several other powerful masters to fend off the Serpentine attacking Jamanakai Village though she was forced to retreat when the Anacondrai arrived.^[3]

Maya later marched into battle with the alliance against the Anacondrai in Birchwood Forest, but due to Chen's manipulation, the Masters turned against each other and the battle was lost. Eventually, she helped win the war by using a Sacred Flute to lock the Venomari into a tomb in the Toxic Bogs.^[3]

Not long after this, the Time Twins betrayed the Elemental Alliance, planning to take over Ninjago.^[4] Wu had an idea and commissioned Maya and Ray to build blades made of Chronosteel, which would absorb the twins' powers. The crafting exhausted Maya and Ray, but they completed the weapons and rested while the rest of the Elemental Masters defeated the twins.^[5] Shortly afterwards, Wu found the Reversal Time Blade and instructed Ray and Maya to hide it in the Boiling Sea so that it would be impossible to retrieve without the combined efforts of the Elemental Masters of Fire and Water.^[6]

Maya later married Ray and had two children, Kai and Nya. The latter gained Maya's power of Water and was named after Nyad, the first Elemental Master of Water, who Maya believed was just a myth. When Nya was small, Maya told her a story about Nyad.^[7] Maya and her family lived in Ignacia, where they made a living at the Four Weapons Blacksmith.

They befriended a bumbling museum curator, Dr. Saunders, who later revealed himself to be Krux, who had managed to escape the time vortex. Maya and her husband were forcefully ordered by Krux to make weapons, vehicles, and armor for his Vermillion army, lest he harm Kai and Nya.^[5]

Following an adventure on the Dark Island, Wu had a vision of Maya and her husband in the present, apparently being forced to forge something in a shadowy pit, which is later revealed to be working for Krux.^[8]

The Hands of Time[]

Pause and Effect[]

Maya was able to get Kai to stop fighting Ray. Ray explained that since they made the Time Blades, Krux kidnapped them and forced them to work for them or he'll hurt Kai and Nya.

When Nya realized the pause they felt earlier may be the third Time Blade, Ray told them he and Maya hid the fourth one in the Boiling Sea and that only Fire and Water combined could get it. They realized the twins could force them to obtain it for them, but they couldn't leave on time.

Out of the Fire and Into the Boiling Sea[]

Maya tells Kai and Nya that retrieving the Time Blade in the Boiling Sea would be difficult.

When they returned, the twins prevented them from saving Wu. They used the Pause Time Blade on them. They start to plummet into the Boiling Sea until Kai and Nya used the Fusion Dragon.

They arrive close to the Iron Doom, but since they need speed, she grabs Ray and they both jump off.

Lost in Time[]

After Kai, Nya, and Wu followed the twins, Maya introduced Ray and herself as Kai and Nya's parents. There is nothing they can do but wait for their return.

Eventually, they start to notice the city has no technology and that Zane has gone back to his original state.

When technology returned, Ray was getting older. Maya helped support him and told the team that not everything is fixed. She was relieved when Kai and Nya came back and heal him.

After Season 7[]

After catching up with Kai and Nya, Ray and Maya went on a tour of Ninjago.^[9]

At some point, Maya and Ray returned to the blacksmith shop and resumed work there.^[10]

Seabound[]

A Big Splash[]

Maya is called by Kai to come over to the Monastery of Spinjitzu, and she does along with her husband Ray. Intent on leaving, Nya is stopped by the others, who try to speak to her, only to be interrupted by someone knocking at the gates. Nya gets it, discovering it is her parents. Maya greets her while Ray is carrying all their luggage before they leave to unpack. She then asks Kai where Nya's room was.

The Call of the Deep[]

Maya walks in to wake up Nya early in the morning, only to stop in surprise at the sight of her messy room. She then starts to clean it up and even forces Wu's chicken out while Nya protests in bed. Maya finishes the cleanup and soon pulls a sleepy Nya out to join her in some exercising. Continuing with her new routine for Nya, Maya makes some tofu pancakes and seaweed bacon, much to Nya's annoyance. Afterwards, Maya has Nya perform the water stance, which Nya does so. However, Maya continuously corrected her till the point where Nya openly states that there's nothing wrong with her and her powers. But Maya's point was proven right as Nya caused a wave of water to splash down on her.

Unsinkable[]

When Nya asks to stay at the Monastery instead of going out to sea, Wu mentions that she would have to stay with Maya, leading her to go. Later, Maya worries about Nya and Nya tells her that her life is full of missions and tells her that she fixes problems by getting involved.

Unbeknownst to the ninja, Maya sneaked onto the Hydro Bounty and did their chores. Nya believed that the culprit might be a ninja, and finds Maya hiding above them. Jay, still hanging on to his ghost theory thinks Maya is the ghost but Nya tells him it's her mom, who doesn't believe in her. Maya says that she just wanted to help Nya, but Nya refused, wanting Maya to go back. However, Zane said they are too far to turn back now. Maya tells Nya that she is going have to accept it and tells the others that she'll make muffins, with Jay and Lloyd relishing in joy. As they get to the Tartarus Trench, P.I.X.A.L greets Maya, and Maya tells Jay that she'll teach him how to bleach his underwear.

Five Thousand Fathoms Down[]

Maya tried to fix the engine for the Hydro Bounty with Nya, asking questions about the parts of the engine. This, however, annoyed. Maya remarked how Nya already knows how they were taken away from them. Nya understood, but tells Maya that she isn't a child anymore and that it's too late for her.

Believing that the energy source causing Nya's powers to go haywire could fix the Bounty, Maya convinced Nya to let her use an APS suit to go with her. While travelling, Nya was blown by one of the geysers, but Maya grabbed her. Maya wanted to talk Nya about the choices that were made when she and Ray had to abandoned their kids. Nya says that's okay, but Maya tells her that she doesn't understand because she never had to make a huge sacrifice, hoping that she doesn't have to the same. She then told Nya that sometimes bad choices are the only choices that can be made and "that's how the cookie crumbles". They continue swimming and find Wojira's Temple.

Maya and Nya jump out their suits and start walking in. There, they find Maaray Guards and hid to prevent being seen. After Zane realised about the Sleeper's true identity to be Wojira, he and P.I.X.A.L warned Nya and Maya to get out. Unfortunately, another fake amulet was tested on Wojira, only to fail. This, however, revealed Nya and Maya. The two start making their escape, as Kalmaar and the Maaray Guards chased after them. Maya and Nya jump in their suits and start running, but Kalmaar shoots Maya down.

The Wrath of Kalmaar[]

Maya woke up and realised that she's chained with Nya, who realized that they're in the Temple of Wojira. As Nya mentioned the serpent, Maya claimed that Wojira isn't real. Nya explained that Wojira is indeed real, as they discovered the Storm Amulet back at the Island of the Keepers. As Kalmaar overheared their converstation in introduced himself, Maya thought it was a pleasure to meet him, believing that he was only hostile to the two because they sneaked into his temple in the first place.

When Kalmaar left a little while later, Maya told Nya that she knows a way to escape the chains. Nya and Maya escape the pole by climbing over it, and are attacked by multiple Merlopians. The two discard their chains and escape into their APS suits.

Long Live the King[]

Nya and Maya swam to escape from the Ripper Sharks as fast as they could. Maya encouraged Nya to use her powers through her APS suit. Although it worked at first, the sharks surround the two. Luckily, Lloyd and Jay soon show up with their harpoon, shooting away the shark to save Nya and Maya. After she and Nya escaped, Maya expressed gratitude that Jay and Lloyd came, since she believed that she and Nya were going to be goners. This made Nya learn that Maya didn't actually have faith in her when she was fighting the Ripper Sharks. Because they were near Merlopia, Maya and the ninja had no choice but to go with the Merlopians. In the Merlopian Palace, the ninja and Maya meet King Trimaar, who was angry at them for almost disrupting the peace between the surface world and the Endless Sea. However, Maya and Nya told King Trimaar about Kalmaar's plan to free Wojira.

When Kalmaar shot his own father, he blamed the ninja and Maya for his actions. While the ninja were running, Maya remarked that Kalmaar should be taught a lesson, to which Nya responded that he needed more than that. As the ninja and Maya were still attempting to escape the palace, water floods the place and the ninja put on their masks to avoid drowning.

Escape from Merlopia[]

After managing to escape from the Ripper Sharks, Maya went to the hangar bay with the ninja and Benthomaar to retrieve the Hydro Bounty. However, this led to a battle between the ninja and the Maaray Guards. Three far from Maya start shooting her from the top, but Benthomaar comes to defend her when Kalmaar bursts into the room and orders his guards to attack. Maya and her allies then escaped into the Hydro Bounty and successfully escaped from the city of Merlopia.

The Tale of Benthomaar[]

Maya listened carefully as Benthomaar told the ninja of his history with Kalmaar. After the young prince finished his story, Maya watched on and smiled as the ninja comforted Bethomaar and offered to be his friend.

The Storm Amulet[]

Maya, Nya, Jay, Lloyd, Zane, and Benthomaar talk about Kalmaar's plan and how they must get to the Island of the Keepers before Kalmaar. They eventually make it to the storm belt and speak with Mammatus about the impending threat.

After Kalmaar attacked and damaged the Hydro Bounty, Maya offered her daughter some words of encouragement and support, noting that the latter was a better Master of Water than she ever could have been.

Riddle of the Sphinx[]

Maya encourages Nya to summon whales in order to pull the Hydro Bounty, to which the latter succeeds in doing so.

Master of the Sea[]

After returning to Ninjago City, Maya and her allies fought against Kalmaar and his forces in an effort to prevent him from escaping with the Storm Amulet. After Nya seemingly recovered the amulet, Maya packed her bags and exchanged goodbyes with her daughter.

The Turn of the Tide[]

At the Monastery, Ray and Maya were deeply saddened by Nya's departure, and attended her memorial.

Crystalized[]

Dragon Form[]

Alongside her husband, Maya arrived in Ninjago City to fight back against the Crystal army.

Roots[]

After the defeat of the Crystal King, Maya celebrated alongside the townsfolk in the streets of the city.

Other appearances and mentions[]

Tournament of Elements[]

The Forgotten Element[]

Chen taunted Kai by implying there were dark secrets about his parents that his senseis never told him.

Possession[]

Ghost Story[]

Wu revealed to Nya that her mother was the Master of Water.

Curseworld, Part I[]

Kai recalled Nya that was there for him when their parents passed.

Dark Island Trilogy, Part 3[]

Following the defeat of Clouse, Wu would suffer a horrible nightmare in which he saw Ray and Maya forging something terrible in a pit of flame and smoke for the Time Twins.

Day of the Departed[]

When Kai and Nya went back to the blacksmith shop to celebrate Day of the Departed, they had pictures of Ray and Maya and lit a lantern for them.

Personality[]

Maya is a very caring and friendly person. During the Serpentine War, she willingly helped to defeat the Serpentine and later the Time Twins, although it exhausted her and her husband. She seems a little confident and naive, as she believed Dr. Saunders, though he planned to betray her and Ray. She treated her children like a normal mother and tried to raise them properly, while she told Nya the story of Nyad and how she rode on the backs of whales. When she and Ray were abducted and imprisoned by Krux, she was unable to come to terms with it and called this supreme sacrifice as "that's how the cookie crumbles".

When she was rescued a few years later by her children, she tried to help them, but eventually gave up and returned to the blacksmith workshop with Ray, realizing that the children no longer needed them.

A few years later, when Kai called Maya to come and help her daughter, Maya was very happy and immediately came to the Monastery of Spinjitzu to help her daughter. Here she fully manifested her motherly nature and tried to make up for all the lost moments with Nya. Maya has also shown that she promotes a healthy lifestyle consisting of order in the room, exercise and a healthy breakfast, considering them the most important meal of the day. She treated her son a little differently, calmly giving him sandwiches, showing her love.

Maya is also very talkative and sometimes cares about things she doesn't understand. She also gives everyone a second chance and is unaware of the dangers she faces, for example after being captured by Kalmaar. She also expresses her emotions and thoughts quite clearly, although it can offend someone. She also doesn't give up when she doesn't reach her goal, and she often uses the wrong ways to break into the Hydro Bounty to help her daughter.

After adventuring with Nya, Maya finally realized that her daughter no longer needed her, and she told her that she was the better Elemental Master than she had ever been. After Nya merged with the Endless Sea, she was very sad and cried after her, realizing that "that's how the cookie crumbles". Unbeknownst to her and Ray, Nya later came back to life after Aspheera stole her elemental power to save her.

Relationships[]

Family[]

• Ray (husband)
• Kai (son)
• Nya (daughter)

Allies[]

• Sons of the First Spinjitzu Master
• Elemental Alliance
• Misako
• Ninja
• Cyrus Borg
• P.I.X.A.L.
• Benthomaar
• The Resistance

Enemies[]

• Serpentine (formerly)
• Mogra (former ally)
• Time Twins (former allies)
• Vermillion
• Merlopians (formerly)
• Crystal army

LEGO.com description[]

Kai and Nya’s mother Maya was once the Elemental Master of Water and like her husband, she chose to raise their family full-time at the Blacksmith Shop, passing her elemental power down to her daughter. A blacksmith in her own right, Maya was instrumental in forging the Time Blades, as well as working with Ray to bury the Reversal Blade in the Boiling Sea. Maya is the calm that balances Ray’s impulsive feistiness.^[11]

Appearances[]

Sets 70627 Dragon's Forge 71741 Ninjago City Gardens (pictured) 71858 Four Weapons Blacksmith 15th Anniversary Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu Season 4: Tournament of Elements 40. "Spellbound" (flashback; no lines) 41. "The Forgotten Element" (mentioned) Season 5: Possession 46. "Ghost Story" (mentioned) 47. "Stiix and Stones" (mentioned) 53. "Curseworld, Part I" (mentioned) Day of the Departed "Day of the Departed" (pictured) Season 7: The Hands of Time 65. "The Hands of Time" (painting) 66. "The Hatching" (flashback; no lines) 67. "A Time of Traitors" (flashback) 71. "Secrets Discovered" (mentioned) 72. "Pause and Effect" 73. "Out of the Fire and Into the Boiling Sea" 74. "Lost in Time" Decoded 6. "The Elemental Masters" (video) Season 8: Sons of Garmadon 76. "The Jade Princess" (painting) 77. "The Oni and the Dragon" (painting) 79. "Dead Man's Squall" (painting) 80. "The Quiet One" (painting) 81. "Game of Masks" (painting) 83. "True Potential" (painting) 84. "Big Trouble, Little Ninjago" (painting) Season 10: March of the Oni 95. "The Darkness Comes" (painting) 96. "Into the Breach" (painting) 97. "The Fall" (painting) 98. "Endings" (painting) Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu 99. "Wasted True Potential" (painting) 100. "Questing for Quests" (painting) 101. "A Rocky Start" (painting) 110. "Under Siege" (painting) 113. "A Cold Goodbye" (painting) 124. "The Kaiju Protocol" (painting) Season 14: Seabound 165. "A Big Splash" 166. "The Call of the Deep" 167. "Unsinkable" 168. "Five Thousand Fathoms Down" 169. "The Wrath of Kalmaar" 170. "Long Live the King" 171. "Escape from Merlopia" 172. "The Tale of Benthomaar" (no lines) 173. "The Storm Amulet" 174. "Riddle of the Sphinx" 176. "Master of the Sea" 180. "The Turn of the Tide" Season 15: Crystalized 181. "Farewell the Sea" (pictured) 182. "The Call of Home" (flashback) 202. "Brave But Foolish" (mentioned) 209. "Dragon Form" (no lines) 210. "Roots" (no lines) Ninjago: Dragons Rising Season 1 11. "The Temple of the Dragon Cores" (painting) 14. "The Last Djinn" (painting) The Elemental Mechs 1. "What the Mech?" (mentioned) Season 2 21. "The Blood Moon" (painting) Season 3 41. "The Missing" (painting) 51. "The Hollow Ones" (painting) Books Kai: Ninja of Fire (mentioned) Way of the Departed (mentioned) Mystery of the Lost Power Graphic novels Strike of the Serpentine (flashback) Comics "Into the Storm!" Garmadon "The Snake in the Garden" (flashback) Ninjago Magazine 31. "Battle against Snakes" (non-canon) 32. "Underwater Rock 'N' Roll" 79. "Shore Chaos" 80. "Like Son, Like Father" (mentioned) 82. "In the Belly of the Whale" Ninjago: Legacy Magazine 17. "Snakes in the Sand" (flashback) Video games LEGO Brawls (non-canon)

Etymology[]

• The name Maya (ماي) means "water" in Arabic in some dialects, which makes sense considering that Water is the Elemental Power she formerly controlled.

Behind the scenes[]

• Maya's name is similar to "Aya", Nya's original name in the early stages of the series.^[12]
• Maya, in the present, actually looks younger than she did during the Serpentine Wars, lacking the visible cheekbones.
  • There is no in-universe reason for this change, simply being a poor design choice.^[13] It can be assumed that she was redesigned to match her Minifigure, as creating a new face print would have been more expensive.^[14]
    • Tommy Andreasen later explained that "the truth is we had to match the head in the show with the one the toy designers had available to the because Maya would be a figure. She is not younger in the show, just may look younger to some."^[15]
  • She still had her original appearance when Krux betrayed her and Ray as seen in "Pause and Effect," which took place around a decade and a half prior to Season 7.^{[note 2]} This means Maya had her original appearance for the majority of the time between the Serpentine War and the present, for around two and a half decades.
• One of the citizens of Stiix looks very similar to past Maya, only having a different hair and eyebrow color and different lips.^[18] Another background character seen in a few episodes of Skybound also has the same face minus the cheekbones.^[19]
• In the present day, she has the same face design as Libber.
• Her original/Season 7 design uses Nya's original Samurai X suit torso design and the legs of Nya's original design. This also means she has the same collar as Delara.
• She is voiced by Jillian Michaels, who voiced two other mothers in the series: Edna, the mother of Jay, and Selma, the mother of Skales Jr.
  • Furthermore, Jillian Michaels voices two Elemental Masters, these being Maya and Lloyd.
  • Maya is one of the rare characters for whom Michaels got to use her natural voice.^[20]
• On January 24, 2020, Maya's role in Season 14: Seabound was confirmed when Jillian Michaels announced on Instagram that she would be returning to voice Maya.^[21]

Trivia[]

• Maya is an unlockable character in The LEGO Ninjago Movie Videogame. Her blind bag can be found in the level "The Lost City of Generals".
• After Season 7, Ray and Maya likely went on "a good long romantic vacation"^[22] or returned to Four Weapons Blacksmith.^[23]
  • By the end of her appearance in Seabound, the latter is the case, though both could still have happened.
• In Seabound, it is shown that Maya is great at cleaning.
• She knows what Minos are, as she mentioned one in "The Call of the Deep."
• In The Book of Elemental Powers, it is stated Nyad was Nya's ancestor which would make Nyad Maya's ancestor as well. However, Tommy Andreasen later confirmed that they are not related.^[24]
• She may possibly be a vegan.^[25]
• She is a terrible gardener.^[26]

Notes[]

References[]