Hey, Now That Chamille's Back, Wouldn't It Be Fun If Lloyd Tapped Into His Oni Heritage Shape Shifting

Since asexual is trending again can we please drop the whole "We're jUst fRieNds" nonsense and start saying: "We're actually friends".

You know, same thing except it doesn't imply friendship is less, just a different kind of relationship/love. I mean if someone confused your sibling for your lover you probably wouldn't say: "We're just siblings", you'd say: "We're actually siblings."

Like, come on, guys, it's really not that hard!

So, last night I re-watched Finding Omi and you know there's so much talk in the Fandom about Chase Young and Omi's mentor-protege relationship, and I get it, it's unique and interesting, even charming in a way.

But I find it interesting that Chase was willing to lose everything, including Omi's loyalty for the chance of adding Kimiko, Raimundo and Clay to his jungle cats army. I mean, Omi is obviously his favorite but he also sees potential in the other monks.

During his first episode, Chase wanted to see them all in action before ultimately choosing Omi for his fighting skills.

And in "The Evil Within" he knew Clay by name even if they never really interacted before. It seemed to me that he respected him in a way he clearly didn't respect Jack.

Then I started to wonder what if the monks lost the showdown and joined cat Omi.

Chase could put Raimundo in charge of those weird pterodactyl things, like some sort of airforce. You know, since Raimundo can fly using his wind powers.

He would force Kimiko to burn entire villages and cities to the ground. Or take advantage of her quick temper until she does it on her own.

Have Wuya teach Clay how to create his own army of rock monsters.

It's like a weird Heylin found family AU, featuring the monks, Chase, Wuya and probably Jack since no one can get rid of him.

And the winner of the Biggest Daddy Issues contest by a long shot is Lloyd Garmadon!

I can’t say I’m surprised. From being destined to fight him at such a young age to being forced to banish him to a cursed realm, only to have him resurrected in his worst, evilest form, most of Lloyd’s traumas are related to his father. He even almost beat Lloyd to death, declaring he has no son, attempted to kill his friends in a very gruesome way, and finally, replaced him with a potted plant. That’s messed up on so many levels.

But to tell you the truth, Mao Mao is the one who inspired me to make this poll. Shin Mao favored his older daughters and neglected his son all his life to the point he never even got his name or age right, but Mao Mao still looked up to him, giving him unconditional love and unquestioned respect. I think the last part is what truly makes it tragic. Shin Mao doesn’t treat Mao Mao half as badly as Garmadon treated Lloyd and is described as passive-aggressive, rather than downright abusive. Yet it amazes me how many episodes focus on the long-lasting psychological effects that Shin’s treatment had on Mao. Mao Mao’s self-esteem is extremely fragile and inconsistent to the point where he’s either egotistical or self-depreciative with almost nothing in between, and there are a lot of suppressed fears, insecurities, emotions, and desires that constantly bubble up and affect Mao and everyone else around him.

Despite all this, he still tries to be the best father figure for his little apprentice, encouraging her dream and reassuring her of her own fears and insecurities.

While Lloyd’s past with his dad is the most scarring, he rarely shows those scars, unlike Mao whose entire personality and day-to-day struggles are based on it. Lloyd and his friends are often shown processing their traumas in their different ways (usually in the first episode of the season), but after a while, we return to the status quo and there are very few notable changes in the ninja’s personalities. Like, let’s wrap this up quickly, guys, there’s a new villain in town! This, to be fair, makes sense given the overarching story of Ninjago whereas Mao Mao’s more slice-of-life, over-the-top cartoon hijinks style allows for more moments in which the characters can breathe, get a good look at themselves, and address their personal issues. Mao Mao even goes to a therapist every Thursday, which is something we’ve all agreed for years that Lloyd desperately needs.

Monkie Kid is somewhere in between, having both a lot of lore, but also some more laid-back episodes, especially in the first seasons. Since unlike Lloyd and Mao, Red Son isn’t the main character, his relationship with the Demon Bull King doesn’t get as much spotlight, but it’s still pretty tragic when you think about it. Red Son waited for centuries after his father was imprisoned under a mountain, and the first thing the Bull King does after he returns is treat him like a henchman rather than a son. They do get noticeably better after a while though.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who voted!

I didn't expect so many people to be interested so I decided to turn this into a full Daddy Issues tournament. Feel free to check it out if you'd like.

"save Cole from the goblin"

Screw that. Let my boy Cole date whoever he wants

No no no. Quickly, Perry or Candace, one of you do the Ryan pose! He was my favorite. Don't leave my boy out 😭

So excited tho. The nostalgia is real strong with this one