Kai Ninjago - Blog Posts

Do you think the sibling banter between the Smith siblings goes over the head of thecrest of the ninjas from time to time since esentially they are only children, and don't always get it?

certainly does my dearest anon

honestly I feel like half of the smith sibling banter is things the others have absolutely no context of and it’s funnier if the others deliberately don’t want to have any context because then you’d be a part of the battlefield and oh boy

when the smith siblings argue it turns into a banter field. get it bc it’s a battlefield now everyone laugh I’m so funny and btw of course the arguments have their limitations, and don’t last more than three minutes

but also I do personally feel like Lloyd doesn’t argue like he’s just not that kind of person, he’d talk things through and whatver

and it’s also funny to imagine the three at literally any store and there you see a short hedgehog aka kai + the 6 ft ocean gal aka nya both starting world war three and then ur average window cleaner aka lloyd dead on the ground waiting to be buried 6ft under (cause of death: secondhand embarrassment)

more ninja headcannons (cole-centered) <3

cole definitely paints on the gang when he’s stressed out or for fun

like one day kai and nya are wearing sleeveless and they want cole to paint matching animals across their arms

or jays sleeping and cole paints a mustache on him

or maybe zane wants to spice up his apron so now it’s covered in coles art

or lloyd wants to get better at painting so they both experiment on kai’s back bc kai loves being painted on

it’s like a stress reliever and a fun hobby at the same time that cole loves doing and he’s spectacular at it too

or maybe like one day cole is really upset and the ninja are like cmon guys let’s paint him instead and in less than an hour cole is covered in dragons and flowers and monkeys and chickens and all sorts of things that they all take pictures of and laugh about and coles forgotten why he was sad in the first place

Kai Version: Isn't it so incredibly interesting how both smith siblings handled their trauma in drastically different ways?

Kai  has low self esteem/self worth (depends on people, powers, and statements to determine his value), constantly needs to prove himself, and is immensely dependent on external validation (his obsession social media is a prime example of this). He invalidates himself, dismissing his emotions/feelings, and needs regular reassurance (tendency to blame out-of-control situations on himself, likely derived from the mindset that his parents purposely left him because he wasn't good enough, and i’ll bet my soul he stayed awake  nights wondering that if nya was firstborn, would his parents still leave?) .

His fear of being useless is also likely derived from that same mindset and as such he portrays himself through a cocky/prideful ‘persona’. This is false portrayal of himself, simply to appear stronger in the eyes of others, because if others think he’s of value they won’t leave him, because with or without this ‘mask’ not even he knows who is truly is.

He tends to dissociate during emotionally intense/overwhelming situations, or go into a state shock/confusion. He developed unhealthy coping mechanisms (violently self destructive) with situations regarding loss and grief. All of these things are results of and/or mechanisms he developed from his childhood trauma.

but. despite everything i’ve written above.  he loves nya. raised her. protects/supports her. took lloyd under his wing. he loves lloyd. throws heaps of physical affection towards cole. he loves cole. accepted jay as a brother in law, was so supportive of jaya and helped jay in proposing. he loves jay. makes things fun for zane, reassures him. he loves zane. showed master wu to believe in himself. he loves wu. he loves his entire team and expresses it in ways that value each of them individually. he makes friends with dragons. he loves dragons. he taught/worked with kids. he loves kids. despite what the disappearance of his parents did to him and nya, despite nya’s refusal to show her parents love (valid, btw) kai loved maya. he loved ray.  he loved his parents all over again, he loved his parents again so easily. he loved and loves and keeps loving.

trauma gave him self-destructive mechanisms. trauma instilled insecurity in him. trauma took away his sense of self worth. trauma emptied him of self-love. trauma stole his sense of identity. but kai held on to the ability to protect others, to care for others, to help others. he held them close to his chest. because like hell he’d let his trauma take that.

kai refused to let trauma strip his ability to love. his ability to love is unmatched.

Inspired by this post:

https://sugarglider-s.tumblr.com/post/692022087001473024/every-single-day-of-my-life-i-think-about-how-kai

Isn't it so incredibly interesting how both smith siblings handled their trauma in drastically different ways? But isn't it also beautiful that everything they went through together simply made them love & support each other in bajillion different ways!?!!

Nya’s mindset of, ‘’I don't need anybody, I can do everything myself. I can rely on only myself,” just means that “My parents betrayed me and let me down when I needed them the most, which has damaged my ability to trust.’’

This is hyper-independence, and that is a result of trauma.  It was likely one of her prime ways to protect herself from vulnerability, building walls to protect herself from feeling a pain similar to what she felt when her parents disappeared, making it hard for her to love. She shows signs of ‘self-sabotage’ because she refuses to ask for help, and does not show vulnerability. She declined any affection (except kai, bc he was the only person who had not betrayed her/only dependable & trustworthy person in her childhood) in the earlier seasons, and has trouble doing things if she cannot execute them perfectly. Kai undoubtably worked hard to support her, and so Nya pressured herself to meet certain objectives for Kai’s sake, to ensure Kai’s work didn't go to waste. This likely lead to her habit of perfectionism, which with time, became a bigger breeding ground for severe toxicity.

Despite Kai offering her unconditional support, Nya likely did not want to overburden him with her troubles so she kept a lot of things bottled up. Her independency also probably derives from her will to try and make things easier for Kai (and later the team) so she minimizes asking for help. Rarely asking for anything at all, insisting on dealing with issues herself. She dragged this habit with her throughout her life, likely in fear of rejection. When it comes to grief and loss, she has a very unhealthy habit of pushing it down, trying to not feel anything especially when others are around (ex. in Hunted when nya and lloyd thought the others were dead, she pushed the grief down/started hiding it and distracted herself by focusing on/helping lloyd). When it comes to grief and certain other things she puts herself below others, prioritizing their needs instead of hers. All of these things are results of and/or mechanisms she developed from her childhood trauma.

Nya requires a lot of verbal affirmation and physical touch to open up (kai is an exception). A lot. Remember, it took a long time until she actually told Jay she loved him. But what Nya  needed is was patience, and Jay was displaying that, and never criticized her for not saying ily back.

She could have chosen to leave all the burden on Kai, but when she couldn’t remove it, she did everything she could to lighten it. Trauma gave nya so many reasons to be an untrustworthy person. Trauma made loving people hard for her. Trauma made love a battlefield for her. Trauma made future relationships difficult for her to ease in. But despite this, Nya chose to be trustworthy. Trauma didn’t make her brave. She made herself brave so she could accept Jay’s (and the teams) love, and in time, selflessly tore down her walls so she could love him back. She chose to be there in the times of need for others, just as her brother was there for her. Her trauma gave her opportunities and opportunities to be scared, but she chose to stand her ground. She chose to be brave.

Kai’s <3

https://theatlasrealm.tumblr.com/post/692060841958408192/isnt-it-so-incredibly-interesting-how-both-smith

every ninja has their own unique telltale for lying that no person but the people within the ninja can pinpoint

when lloyd lies they can tell by his voice, it has the slightest unsure and unsteady tone

when jay lies he sometimes stutters and fidgets with his hands

zane doesn’t do lies [ except for white lies that are beneficial (thanks to kai) ]

cole cannot lie.

whenever kai or nya lie ( both siblings are the best liars on the team ) you can tell by studying their eyes; since they are the most expressive part on their body, and I don’t mean darting or dilating pupils. I mean if you have enough practice you can gaze into their (very beautiful) eyes and study their eyes to see if they are smiling or sad. like yk the “he’s smiling but his eyes aren’t” type of stuff. idk how to explain this ok. it works in my head (and sometimes only the other sibling can tell when one sibling is lying.)

Yes I am in love with this thought process guys

For the longest time I've been like "huh, it's kinda weird how Zane has these visions and it's never elaborated on, it's just a cute little quirk." I just feel like that's something that would've been explained by now??? But then I realized, maybe that's just part of him being the master of ice? Like, Cole has super strength, Jay had super speed in the pilots. Also there were the future reflections in the Ice Labyrinth? The place full of ice that's also connected to the FSM showed people their futures??? So maybe that's just what the element of ice does. (Now why ice and the future...idk? Like I see the connection that rocks are strong/you need strength to move rocks, and lightning is fast, but ice and the future??? Because ice can be reflective and it can save things for the future? Maybe???)

But then this raises the question: what's Kai's extra little power? If Cole has super strength, and Jay has (forgotten) super speed, and Zane has prophetic visions, what does Kai get?

you know those kid sections at Barnes and Nobles with the little stage and the kids books (or really any bookstore/library with a kid-centered area)

I like to think kai and kid!lloyd used to go there together and Kai would act out stories to Lloyd on the little stage and other kids would come to watch too and it’d be these little shows based on like those caterpillar kid books or something and kai’d be acting as multiple characters

but like if jay comes along with them then it’s like a broadway show bc jay and kai act super well together and tend to go overboard sometimes

yes the real life black panther released in the kids area was definitely not jay and kai’s too realistic jungle book play

…

We all know Kai’s coping mechanisms for grief are extremely destructive. He became an alcoholic to deal with Zane’s death, and openly said he wished he would be dead instead of him.

BUT During Nya’s death (at least nearly after the year, who knows what he was doing the months before he opened a dojo, probably definitely crying himself to sleep every night and other sad sad things. another quick reminder kai felt the same amount of pain jay did.) he surrounded himself with kids. On the outside, doesn’t seem so bad. He’s a teacher. At least he’s not an alcoholic! Yay?

No. Not yay.

He surrounded himself with Children. Little girls (and boys) who undoubtedly reminded him every single day of his baby sister. Kai was basically torturing himself, forcing himself to remember that he was unable to protect his nya. Seeing all these eager kids wanting to learn how to fight, seeing these parents send in their Tom’s and their Jennifer’s, through desperation he tried to help protect them so the guilt of failing to protect Nya was less suffocating. So that neither Tom or Jessica’s parents go through what he went, and so that when the guilt is just a little less suffocating , because it probably won’t ever not be suffocating, he can try and just maybe scrape the courage and try living and breathing in the honor of the life she, his baby sister, nya, lived, telling her story and fulfilling her dreams (likely what nya would have wanted) instead of drowning in the grief of the life she couldn’t live.

me when someone calls kai selfish

me when I see a kai analysis that is in depth and truly portrays Kai is a wonderful way

Pondering about how Kai has made his power a part of his identity so much that it’s become a point of complete toxicity to himself . Without his power, he spirals into an immense self destructive phase, undervaluing himself to a total zero.

We continuously see how highly he depends on his powers, titles (green ninja, fire maker, etc), people (wu, social followers) to determine his self worth. Not to mention his cocky and prideful persona in front of others is likely a ‘safety system’ he derived for himself so he is not taken advantage of, or left behind (credits to his childhood). After all, confidence and pride (to a certain extent, of course) are considered attractive qualities to look up to, admire, and not necessarily to mess with.

He’s constantly trying to do as much as he can in so many different things, trying to prove his worth. Because he does not know who he is without them. Without people. Without titles. Without powers. He believes that just truly being himself is not of any value to those around him, and that if he cannot be of service he is absolutely worthless.

ninja headcannons bc I am always in my head

Kai and Jay are the type of people to yell out ‘SURPRISE ATTACK’ during suprise attacks but despite that they somehow always manage to work better than when the others don’t yell anything out

um yes of course the entire gang has matching tattoos ( + Kai, Nya, and Lloyd have another additional set too. Kai has R tattooed, Nya has B tattooed, and Lloyd has G. RGB SIBLINGS <3 )

LONG HAIR COLE LONG HAIR COLE LONG HAIR COLE

cole gives the best hugs thank you and goodbye

jay used to have a furby (yes, used to. until kai burned it because it was freaky as FUDGE)

Zane likes to watch detective shows and owns fifty detective hats

If somebody says one more time that Kai deserved to not only get kicked but also beaten up by jay in that one fight scene in crystallized I will THROW HANDS. No, I DO NOT hate jay. But I DO HATE tommy anderson

we know why jay acts the way he does. we have information about his past. we have an entire season about him and how he perceives himself (sky bound). Nadakhan literally pointed out that jay uses jokes to cover up insecurity. His true potential showed that he was insecure about being himself (until nya talked to him etc). We got like three seasons of him being the hero and saving entirety of Ninjago.

We were given Information about Cole’s past. We saw his childhood with his gorgeous mom. We saw in his true potential how he desperately wanted to be accepted by his dad. We saw Zane’s past. We saw how he sacrificed himself for the Ninja, understanding and acting upon the same words Kai had told him, “it’s about family, not numbers”. The writers could dive into Zane more, but we got something. And we also got some Nya, why she’s a perfectionist, why she isn’t that verbal, why she’s Independent; Kai said so himself, after all. Even though I wish we saw her talk with Nyad more, we still got her. And the entire series is about our boy Lloyd. And even though every one of them could be explored so much more, we got something. And for a few ninja, we got a lot of something’s. But not Kai. Rarely Kai.

Kai’s true potential was protecting someone. And I loved that, I did. But that’s it. If anything, it literally points out that no, he is not selfish. We never got a season truly revolving around Kai’s childhood struggles/trauma. Why is he reckless? Why is he protective? Why does he never cry? While the other ninja have their spotlights, Kai never had his. He is such a complex character (that ninjago refuses to dive into) and that’s why I love him so much.

I know. I know Kai can be rude to Jay sometimes, and bully him, but if it came down to it, Kai would die for him. Because this is the man that makes his sister happy, because jay does mean a lot to kai. Kai doesn’t show it - frankly, he doesn’t show a lot of things. And I know this doesn’t entirely excuse the way he acted toward jay before, but why. I want to know why he acts like that. But the writers never dwelled on it. Jay is allowed to confront and express his feelings about how Kai for ‘bullying’ him, but not like this ( by the way, idk if I guys noticed but lately Kai has been complimenting/hyping jay up a lot now.)

And when jay, who is grief stricken, leads him self to believe only he loved nya in the entire world, kai is allowed to get angry. Kai is allowed to feel anger towards someone acting like no one else loved nya when Kai raised her. Protected her. Did everything for her. Just because we did not see as much of Kai grieving as we did of Jay, does not mean Jay was more upset. For all we know, Kai was dying on the inside. She was his sister for gods sake.

Kai did not “deserve” that kick. And if you genuinely think that, i honestly do not know what to tell you.

I love to headcannon that butterflies remind Kai and Nya of each other bc of this memory

Like Kai or Nya would gaze at a butterfly and think about the other and that’s just so adorable

I know a lot of people are saying that Kai and Nya had a babysitter and whatever, but guess what.. who cares? Allow me to explain:

A Babysitter is someone who comes for a short amount of time to take care of kids. A babysitter needs money. This ‘babysitter’ definitely had her own family and I don’t think a random stranger or even if the babysitter was a good neighbor would raise someone else’s kids and provide for them and support them and love them for free. She most likely came in only to feed them, and left. Or left the minute Kai turned ten. Maybe she gave up when no more money was coming her way, and she only came to feed them for a year and that’s it. We don’t even have enough information to conclude any of this, especially not if she was a good, loving babysitter, which she was likely not. Because if she was, Kai and Nya would be mentally healthier.

When kids are growing, they look up to their parents, because they are emotionally connected with them. Kids mimic emotions from their parents, and look up at them for validation of their own. Nya was really young when Maya and Ray were captured. Kai was very young too, but old enough to know what love is because he most likely remembered his parents loving him. Now on the other hand Nya probably had little to no memory recall of her parents at all, much less the idea of what ‘love’ is.

When Maya and Ray were captured Kai was the only person left who Nya was emotionally connected with. Kai was the only person who could fill the role of being a loving person in her life, someone she could relay on and trust with vulnerability. I don’t think some children would just suddenly trust a random adult in their life, especially not Kai (remember how hesitant and suspicious he was when he first saw Wu). 

If this babysitter was that awesome, dependable, or trustworthy, Kai would not have trust issues, Nya would not need to feel independent, etc etc. Again, Both siblings would have a little more healthier mindsets.

Kai, as a child, loved Nya since the beginning. When Maya and Ray disappeared, he did raise her. You could interpret this sentence in many ways- raised her by love, raised her emotionally, raised her by providing for them both, raised her by protecting her. I strongly believe in every one of these and more, but this furthers on to my point: babysitter or no babysitter, at the end of the day, Kai did raise Nya. And I think for a small child who was just as lost and scared, he did his very best.

A child forms their idea of love normally by looking at their parents relationship, and by observing how parents treat them. Kai had a slight foundation in this already, since he loved Nya since the beginning. Nya however, as I mentioned before, likely had little to no memories of her parents. So, everything Nya learned about love, how to love, etc was from Kai. And with this, Nya had understood and developed her own love languages, and proceeded to use what she learned from Kai and reciprocate it. This was undoubtedly Kai’s biggest mental support during his childhood. And with what she learned from Kai, she started to also love Jay.

WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS 

“Kai singed his eyebrows off with the Sword of Fire once, but nobody noticed because he drew them back on with black marker.”

IT EVEN SAYS ON THE LEGO WEBSITE SBGUORHRIHR

NINJAGO: VILLIAN EDITION

alternatively: modern ninja as villains w/modern weaponry (no powers)

Cole : 

weaponry: shoulder guns, shoulder cannons. physical strength king - kneel before him. i feel like the type of shoulder gun he would use is:

also im not sure if ‘gauntlets’ would be considered modern but idc and im gonna show you anyways <3 

not sure if you can tell but the pink-haired girl (vi) is using gauntlets. honestly any kind of gauntlet would look good on cole. pistols/bombs aren't really his thing, so if he doesn't have his trusty shoulder gun its punching time!! ouch!! 

pastime hobbies: collects rocks. has a pet rock. spends stolen money... on expensive rocks. big foodie btw. knows and has eaten at every 5 star restaurant in the country. artist.

role in evil villain plans: on field member, normally gives out orders/directs missions. takes care of opponents with ease (scary good puncher). occasionally the getaway driver, best music taste. also an incredibly skilled artist, always leaves graffiti behind a crime scene. would never hurt a kid. loves robbing art shows. somehow always gets blood all over his clothes so he just shows up wearing black. has enough patience for assassination, and is incredibly skilled at it too. also muscular tattooed cole supremacy

code name: skullcrusher

Nya:

Weaponry: normally sticks to a pistol in one hand, but rotates with shoulder guns. hasn't mastered either one, but decently skilled with both. queen of physical strength. shoulder gun (1st pic) + pistol type (2 pic):

(she doesn't wield double pistols though, just one)

pastime hobbies: hacking, creating bombs (she and jay are the ‘bomb’ team, creating and disabling bombs is one of their prime talents.)

role in evil villain plans: nya ( + lloyd/zane) come up with the plans. girlie  plays two roles: 1) stays in the evil lair and gives the on-field members information, monitors coms, and she is humanities cause of identity theft. 2) fighting on field , because hey; if you want something done right you do it yourself. similar to cole, also excels in physical fights. handles money/finances and reigns over the black market. people fear her online and in person. Also, she and jay make bombs together

codename: glitch

Kai:

weaponry: i have said it before and I will say it again: kai. mastery over double pistols. both hands. agility + double pistols = this is what i call supremacy. also, he uses bombs. terrifyingly. (who else did you think nya and jay made bombs for?)

yes. these are pistols. ik its hard to see but i promise they are pistols

pastime hobbies: training, pranks, retail therapy (he is the biggest money spender.)

role in evil villain plans: flirts with law enforcement, engages them in  a false sense of security. can also blink pretty and look harmless in order for the enemy to drop their guard. excellent liar/actor, does not have enough patience for assassination. he thinks that being the last thing his enemy sees is a blessing for said enemy. isn't afraid to wear white clothes when killing bc somehow he evades every blood drop (he is the most agile, after all). when things don't go according to plan, kai’s in charge. he works best in unpredictable situations.

codename: inferno

(For a fighting style analysis check out my post abt that!!)

if people like this I guess i’ll do the others too!!! also all weaponry pics are from Honkai Impact 3rd <3

I love people who genuinely observe and analyze kai’s character. people who truly believe and know that his“selfish and egotistical” personality is all just a facade. people who understand that kai isn’t stupid or dumb, but is actually very clever in his own special way. people who can portray him better than the writers of ninjago themselves. people who understand the reasons behind his actions. people who don’t have him as their favorite character but don’t stamp him as the egotistical member and recognize/ analyze all his good qualities. people who have him as their favorite character and continually post about him. people who take their time and understand. just I love you guys so much <3

Smith sibling headcannons ft jay and cole <3

nya uses Kai and Jay to workout like who needs weights when you have your surprisingly light brother and yang (cole fights over kai and jay with nya bc he needs some ninja weights too!!)

nya cannot touch her toes and kai does take advantage of this (nya doing touching toe exercises and kai touching his toes AND bending his body into a pretzel to show off)

kai is a feral cat and kid!lloyd was his feral accomplice in crime (present Lloyd has a part of him that still is..)

kai and nya as kids used to have a tradition of having a ‘sleepover’ and doing each other’s hair when either of them were upset. this passed down to Lloyd too

jay falls asleep during a movie? let’s hope Lloyd and Kai are far away from any nearby sharpies. just saying…

Out of the three smith siblings kai is the best cook but it’s not his fault the kitchen keeps lighting on fire he swears by this and yet we have no proof..

all three of these lads (kai, nya, Lloyd) suck at art (Lloyd is considerably decent since cole helped him with this since cole is the teams artist)

kai likes to read, preferably historical fiction (he became a history teacher guys+ I think it would be really cute that someone as energetic as Kai would like to read and I love that ) and Lloyd likes comics and so whenever nya goes out with jay or alone or something, she makes sure to bring back a book and comic for two certain people

Lloyd: I wrote down all the plans we shouldn’t try again

Wu: “Jay improvises breakdancing”

Wu: “Nya pretends to be a guidance counsellor”

Wu: “Zane jumps off a cliff, again” underlined

Wu: This one says “throw Kai at enemies like a cat”?

Lloyd: Oh, that one works every time. Put it in the to-do pile

what do you think about kailor

it’s not a bad ship- it’s really not. I like skylor and kai’s dynamic, but honestly? they just don’t feel like a potential couple, yk? Kai and Skylor are seen ‘flirting’ with each other in seasons throughout ninjago, and it’s understandable why some people think they like each other. they probably did, but I think it was just the type of crush you kinda just get bored of. I believe that Kai and skylor would be better off as good friends. Friends can flirt. It doesn’t need to mean anything. I do it all the time- additionally, it would be nice to have a  friendship with a girl/boy and flirt  w/them, but just for fun. I think this would go very well with kai and skylor, since this kinda of duo fits them and it’s cute.

 I think If tommy wanted them to be canon, he would’ve done it a long time ago. also kai is impatient. if he wanted to be with skylor, he would’ve jumped on the chance long time ago. he probably did like her at some point, most likely during the tournament of element season, and gradually kinda just got bored/ fell out of interest. idk. maybe it’s just me but I definitely don’t see any ‘romantic’ chemistry.  def see the close friendship though.

IF I HAD ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR DOLLARS I WOULD BUY

give me one reason why I shouldn’t

Kai’s friendship with the other ninja mean so much to me

Like… the idea that Kai, someone who’s been forced to be an adult as a kid for as long as he can remember, isolated from other kids his age and never being able to from friendships, being able to find new friends in people who are willing to look past his flaws and appreciate him for who he is Makes me want to cry.

I don’t care how much the show wants to paint it as a flaw, Kai being encouraged by the others to let go of the responsibilities that prevented him from being a kid and enjoy life without the stress of work or taking care of Nya is so beautiful and sweet and it’s just UGH.

Kai deserves to be a kid! He deserves a childhood as much as Lloyd or Zane do! He sacrificed everything to make sure Nya got a somewhat normal one and I think it would be amazing if the others gave him that same opportunity even if he’s older now.

is anyone else like super scared and excited for part two of crystallized like I wanna watch it the moment it comes out but at the same time I never wanna watch it but I’m excited about Lloyd and garmadon and the oni but

I’m terrified that someone might die or that lloyd might get even more traumatized (the poor kid) or that we won’t get the kai and nya scenes we have been begging and pleading for or the development arcs

like tommy anderson has done so good and so horribly bad at the same time

man idk how to feel about this.

Respectfully, some of you in the ninjago fandom REALLY need to get this in your ears:

the amount of grief jay felt about nya’s death IS NOT LARGER THAN THE AMOUNT OF GRIEF KAI FELT.

familial love and romantic love are two different things. and yes, depending on circumstances and the people themselves, one can be stronger than the other.

BUT NOT IN NYA’S CASE. KAI AND JAY LOVE NYA EQUALLY. JAY DID NOT MISS NYA MORE THAN KAI. KAI JUST HID HIS GRIEF, AND MAYBE IS COPING IN A DIFFERENT WAY. KAI AND JAY ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE. BUT THEY LOVE NYA EQUALLY.

so stop saying jay was more upset over nya’s death when kai literally held her when she was a child and raised her and was there for nya her entire life. nya missed them both, and they both missed her. thats it.

Of COURSE you have fire powers, some kind of tear-jerking motivation, and a fan favorite

“In the series, Kai is the only ninja and protagonist who has never defeated a main antagonist alone.”

yeah because the writers are scared to give him that power

also because he always either sacrifices himself (ex. prime empire) or something else happens and he can’t be there

give him the power. don’t be scared. the only thing to be afraid of here is kai stans/kai development havers

Hey! What do you think are the ninja's love languages?

I’d love to share my thoughts on this! For those of you that do not know the five love languages, they are five ways people might show how they love (obvi not limited to romantic) someone, and speak the way they would like to feel cared for. People tend to love all five, but certain types are special to them. The five are:  quality time, words of affirmation, gift giving, acts of service, and physical touch. I determined each character’s through how they interact with the others. So grab a snack, and get cozy because this is a lot.....

Cole

Cole's love language is definitely physical touch (both giving and receiving). Imagine being hugged by cole like it would be such a  nice hug guys.  Throughout the show, you can see him hugging, touching, or a simply arm on a shoulder as he smiles at them. For example, 

+ when cole hugged zane when he found him in s4, when cole grabbed kai and danced with him, and there are too many to all list here 

and, below are examples of how Cole not only gives affection like this, but also likes to be shown affection through physical touch

LOOK AT HOW HAPPY COLE LOOKS

anyways I also do believe Cole has a secondary  love language (again, both receiving and giving) , it being words of affirmation. We see Cole as a comforting character throughout Ninjago, like when he tried to uplift kai when kai was upset abt his powers, or when he reassures Zane when he told them he was a robot, by calling him special and saying “you're still the same zane” and remember how happy he gets when someone verbally comforts him as well. 

For example, when Kai and Nya comforted him when he was a ghost. When Cole lost the travelers tea in s11, he clearly needed someone to tell him it was alright and they would get it back. And when his father accepted him, he was so happy yk... like I always wanna see Cole happy pls

Kai

ok so Kai is.. complicated. I feel like we see him do all five of these but I'm pretty confident I've picked out the two most supported ones, in both giving and receiving ends Acts of Service, and Words of Affirmation (with a side of physical touch and quality time. ik. its basically all of them but bare with me).

First of all, let me explain Acts Of Service. This one is pretty self-explanatory ; when Nya was young, Kai undoubtably took care of her and supported them in ways Nya probably doesn’t even remember anymore since she was so young. This was surely his way of showing her he loved her, and showing that he wouldn’t leave her like their parents did. 

  Remember, Kai was attacked by skeletons, he attempted to fight them off for Nya’s sake, despite how scared he must’ve been. When he couldn’t , he become so desperate he joined a random stranger and followed him to an unknown place when this place, this house, was all he had ever known. Protection is definitely an act of service. 

This brings me to my next point: Words of Affirmation. Kai is very vocal about how he loves Nya and the others. Whether it him be saying I love you directly, or complimenting/reassuring others. For example, 

Over here, he reassures Lloyd by telling him how he himself felt, and then telling him he would look after him no matter what. 

An example of how Kai is verbal with Nya is when she gives Kai a bike bc they needed to run away from Ronin. With this, Kai says,” I love my little sister,’’

Another example is when Kai reassures Nya in s10 when nya makes a ‘fatal’ mistake and cole falls off the bounty. He tells her shes the brains, and that she’s always building all the plans. This moment also stood out to me a lot because Kai knows exactly what Nya needed to hear. ( also when he entirely supported her when she told him she was samurai x, and more) + Kai reassured cole that he was still a part of their team even after being a ghost (words of affirmation) and helped Jay propose to Nya and entirely supported/cheered him on through the process (acts of service)

I said quality time bc remember how when his parents came back he was playing video games with his dad, etc - he was clearly having sm fun. Also, Kai does tend to hug/ lean against others quite a lot , as shown in images below Cole’s analysis (physical touch)

Nya

Nya isn’t as verbal or touchy as her brother, and so she’s definitely Acts of Service and Gift Giving. We see this throughout the seasons as Nya constantly helps the Ninja in the beginning by monitoring missions and aiding them through technology, making their missions smoother and easier. And in the later seasons, she could finally help them in person, since she became the water ninja

Now Nya always gifted the Ninja mechs, bikes, gadgets, you name it. I think this habit of hers could be considered both gift giving and acts of service. She tends to do it throughout the entire show, from giving them mechs to climb that mountain to get to the blinds man eye, to all sorts of other stuff the team required.

I do strongly believe the reason why both the smith siblings have acts of service as a love language is because when growing up they didn’t really have anyone else to do it for them. Nya most likely as a child probably made small gadgets for kai as to show him that she loves him, and that gradually continued to the other ninja as well.

However, when nya is on the receiving end, I think she loves physical touch and words of affirmation. This is proven since whenever kai and jay are verbal with her, she always has a positive reaction. Same when Kai and jay respond to her with physical touch- she doesn’t mind it, and happily responds to it as well.

Jay

Jay definitely has three love languages: words of affirmation, quality time, and physical touch (mostly revolving around nya)

Jay is extremely verbal when it comes to Nya, saying he loves her multiple times throughout Ninjago, similar to Kai. However, unlike Kai, who tends to do this to all the ninja, Jay usually focuses on Nya when it comes to verbal expression and words of affirmation. Telling her how they were meant for each other, regularly complimenting her, etc. 

As shown above and below, Jay is also very physical with mainly Nya, kissing her on the cheek quite frequently and dancing with her on various occasions. He loves spending time with her, preferring to go on missions with her than anyone else (as shown in the show, and that's why his analysis is mainly jaya lol)

Jay, when on the receiving end, also loves the same things. He gets extremally happy when Nya responds back to with the same actions. The biggest proof of this is how jay unlocked his true potential: Nya states that she doesn’t need Jay to wear any clothes or pretend to be anything he’s not, because she liked him for being him then proceeded to kiss him on the cheek, which led to Jay turning back human. Afterwards, Nya tells him, “You are the best You,” and with this, Jay unlocks his true potential. 

This tells us a lot about how heavily Jay takes Nya’s words, and how much words of affirmation can inspire/motivate him, so much to the point where he unlocked his true potential!

Zane

Zane’s love languages are probably: quality time and acts of service, with a side of words of affirmation. This applies to both when he shows affection, and how he likes when he receives affection.

Zane has shown multiple times to enjoy spending time with the team. Three examples of this are when he was escaping Chen with Cole (that was fun), when Zane had fun throwing rocks at Kai when Kai become chancellor (guys that was hilarious.) , and WHEN HE AND PIXAL BECAME ‘DETECTIVES’ GUYS THAT SCENE WAS THE BEST

(Also, Zane is sometimes shown to be physical too, as shown here. However the other love languages I stated seem to be more primary outlets of how he expresses affection, this scene still was too cute not to share)

Zane also cooks for the team on multiple occasions, and its stated/implied that everyone loves his cooking. He also bravely sacrificed himself for the Ninja , and as I stated before, protection is an act of service. He also is willing to do any favors the ninja ask him too, and never really turns them down, and that's very sweet. Zane has literally never been ‘rude’ to anyone.

Zane also tends to reassure others, however unlike Cole/Kai he does so in a more logical way. He states facts  about his reassuring statements, and I think that’s an important part of who he is. His interactions with Pixal are also very cute, and I love their dynamic sm. 

Lloyd

Lloyd montgomery garmadon. I strongly believe that our boy loves all sorts of affection, since he was deprived of any as a child ): However, throughout the show I believe his ‘giving’ love language is: words of affirmation, and acts of service. 

We see Lloyd frequently uplifting the Ninja (he is the leader after all),  when they ‘lost’ zane, he reunited the ninja that left, he tried to reassure kai that even without his powers he was important, and he warned cole abt vania (this is an act of service I think? Lloyd wanted to protect cole from being betrayed from a princess like he was and he had good intentions. I think what he did was sweet)+ and various more examples that im sure you are all aware of.

His words of affirmation is not limited to the ninja, for example: when they ‘lost’ zane, he reunited the ninja that left, he led  the Elemental Masters + Serpentine against Chen in the Second Serpentine War and encouraged them all, led the resistance, etc etc. These actions  can also be counted as acts of service too. After all, he leads them and creates plans for them too.

When receiving, I think Lloyd reacts positively to physical affection (like above) and also words of affirmation. He is definitely touch-starved and doesn't mind hugs at all (he loves them in fact). And, words of affirmation are great to Lloyd too, a prime example of this is Kai comforting Lloyd on multiple occasions and Nya doing the same. Kai and Nya both promised to protect Lloyd, and always be there for him, and said so verbally. You could see how it impacted Lloyd, reassuring him and helped him regain confidence. 

I also think he loves quality time as well, since he loved spending time with his dad, talking with him, and training with him. I love their interactions and it really shows how much Lloyd values his dad, despite everything.

phew that was long.. thanks for sticking with me

impossibly stubborn, jumps straight to the most extreme course of action imaginable, presumes his sheer will can see him through, despite near-impossible goals that require nothing but the very peak of his abilities, yet is extraordinarily determined and ultimately refuses to give up, and is someone that would be voluntarily be your loving older brother

yes that sounds like kai