The Balance

History[]

In the Realm of Oni and Dragons, there were two powerful kinds of beings, the Oni and the dragons. The Oni had the power of Destruction, while the dragons had the power of Creation, and, because of their differences, they constantly waged war on each other.

One day, a child was born from both sides, and thus had the powers of both (the child was known as the First Spinjitzu Master). Seeing a chance to turn the tables in their war, the dragons and Oni fought as to which side the child should choose. Seeking to avoid this war, the First Spinjitzu Master left the First Realm, and traveled to a different realm, where he later created the island of Ninjago. In Ninjago, the First Spinjitzu Master created a balance of both Creation and Destruction. Out of the malevolent side of the balance, the Overlord emerged into Ninjago. The Overlord challenged the First Spinjitzu Master to battle over Ninjago, and they waged war on each other for a time. As the battle grew to a stalemate, the Overlord created the Stone Army in an attempt to turn the battle in his favor. Seeing his defeat was imminent, the First Spinjitzu Master split Ninjago into two halves, one remaining balanced, while the other was turned to darkness, and promptly sunk below the ocean.

At an unknown point of time, the Overlord corrupted a serpent that would become the Great Devourer and sent her after Garmadon to bite and corrupt him in order to put his plan into motion to restart the Final Battle.

During Legacy of the Green Ninja, Garmadon finally succumbed to the Great Devourer's venom finally makes it the the Dark Island in order to seek help from the Overlord to rule Ninjago. However, the Overlord manipulated Garmadon in order to offset the Balance by using the Garmatron and used him as a vessel to cross over to Ninjago. Lloyd after unlocking his true potential during the Final Battle managed to defeat the Overlord to restore the Balance and purify his father.

Over time the balance fluctuated many more times, sometimes turning towards shadow, and sometimes toward light. As a consequence, the constant fluctuations sped up The Overlord's rebirth by several centuries.

During Hunted, Lord Garmadon takes over Ninjago City, and ruins the balance. After his defeat, Jay remarks that "the balance has been restored."

During March of the Oni, the Oni invade Ninjago bringing destruction and causing the balance to be disrupted again, but thanks to the Ninja using the Tornado of Creation, the balance returned not only in Ninjago, but also in all realms.

During Crystalized, the Overlord appeals to Harumi by claiming that his quest to destroy the Balance was to put an end to the destruction and pain caused from the battles between good and evil, stating that Ninjago will find peace in the Darkness. Ultimately, it is revealed to be a lie as The Overlord admits how he is the cause of all of Ninjago's conflicts so he can reduce not only Ninjago, but all of the realms of creation to lifeless oblivions which he can rule supreme for all eternity. He is eventually defeated by Lloyd again using the Golden Ultra Dragon, formed from the Golden Weapons put together by the Ninja. Thus, the balance is truly restored.

Notable Influences[]

• Golden Power (Source Dragons, First Spinjitzu Master, Lloyd as the Golden Ninja, and the Overlord as the Golden Master)
• Creation (Dragons, First Spinjitzu Master, and Wu)
• Darkness (The Overlord)
• Destruction (Oni, First Spinjitzu Master, Garmadon, and Lloyd)

Trivia[]

• When the balance is off, as it has been in most of the series, there is more conflict and suffering,^[1] explaining why there is always some enemy for the ninja to fight.^[2]
  • The more the balance is unstable, the stronger the Overlord becomes until he ultimately takes form once more.
• Ninjago being imbalanced toward Creation is just as bad as being imbalanced toward Destruction.^[3]
  • This is because if everything is good, people won't appreciate how good things are, leading to discontent and unhappiness.^[4]
• Like "full potential," "the balance" is a common term not always used to refer to the same concept.
  • At Zane's funeral in "The Titanium Ninja," Cyrus Borg speaks of the balance on a societal level of relying too much on technology.
  • Following the end of the Second Serpentine War in "The Corridor of Elders," Arcturus tells Lloyd that "the balance has been restored."
  • In "Enkrypted," Nadakhan's father, Khanjikhan, mentioned a balance related to the realms, in which the destruction of one realm results in the destruction of another.
  • In "The Oni and the Dragon," Mystake refers to the Sons of Garmadon's growing prominence, saying, "Lord Garmadon was destroyed by the most powerful force of all, the love of his own son. But in his absence, a void was created. A new darkness has arisen."
• The First Spinjitzu Master is a being of peace and balance between Light and Dark, while the Overlord is a being of conflict and unbalance; while the First Spinjitzu Master struggles to keep the two great forces of Ninjago balanced, the Overlord struggles to overturn their natural order, and shift the world into darkness and evil.
• The First Spinjitzu Master also gave Garmadon the power of Destruction and Wu the power of Creation so that his sons would represent the balance.^[5]
• The First Spinjitzu Master likely created Ninjago as a balanced Realm so its inhabitants could live various different ways of life rather than only the life of monks as seen in the light-shifted realm of Cloud Kingdom.
• The power of Darkness used by the Overlord, whilst similar to Destruction, isn't an essence from the First Realm, rather, it is a twisted and warped incarnation of the First Spinjitzu Master's powers, manifested to maintain Ninjago's Balance.
  • In 2022, Tommy Andreasen theorized that the Overlord is the living embodiment of the First Spinjitzu Master's Oni heritage that he, literally, cast aside.^[6] If this is true, this may implied that Darkness is indeed an essence from the First Realm and is closely tied to Destruction, as implied when the Overlord stated that Garmadon's power were a gift from him.^[7]
• The Temple of Light and the Crystal Island seem to represent the balance since the Temple of Light is associated with the dragons and was used by the First Spinjitzu Master while the Crystal Island was associated with the Oni back when it was an Oni Temple before it began to be used by the Overlord, and they’re placed on opposite halves of Ninjago.
  • In the Dark Island Trilogy, Clouse used Dark Matter to destroy the Temple of Light's defenses which would plunge both islands of Ninjago into darkness.
  • When asked about the destruction of the Oni Temple in the episode "Roots" and how it would affect the Balance, Tommy Andreasen stated that he doesn't know what would happen, or whether there will be consequences or not.^[8]
• The Source Dragon of Balance, despite their name, does not have full control over the Balance.^[9]

Gallery[]

In Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu[]

Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja[]

Season 8: Sons of Garmadon[]

Season 14: Seabound[]

In the Dark Island Trilogy[]

References[]