NINJAGO Concept Artwork (2016-2021)
Posted by CapnRex101,
Following our earlier article which focused upon the first five years of NINJAGO, several more interesting artworks are presented here.
These encompass the popular Skybound season and beyond, including hitherto unseen character sketches and more...
Skybound (2016)
Another menacing villain, Djinn Nadakhan, emerged during 2016. This character sketch looks quite similar to the finalised design, even carrying an early version of the powerful Djinn Blade.
Nadakhan's blade can capture souls, although the depiction of this ability altered between this concept artwork and the television series. Here the victim's soul completely departs their body while the finalised process instead featured the entire minifigure being drawn into the blade.
Further to images which maintain the LEGO style, the creative team for NINJAGO has also developed imagery of the ninja with more human proportions. This image of Cole, riding his dragon, is one such example. The dragon was represented in physical form by 70599 Cole's Dragon.
The Hands of Time (2017)
70626 Dawn of Iron Doom included the menacing Iron Doom, an enormous mech that closely resembles a snake. While the final design was primarily mechanical and featured red accents, this artwork shows the mech inhabited and controlled by green snakes.
Sons of Garmadon (2018)
Lord Garmadon returned once again at the conclusion of Sons of Garmadon and this sketch captures the moment of his revival. The fifth and sixth arms shown here did not appear when the character was completed but his penchant for wielding four substantial weapons definitely remained intact!
Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu (2019)
Another snake-based faction was introduced with Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu. This concept artwork displays Fire Fang, a gigantic snake which is controlled by the Pyro Vipers and appeared in 70674 Fire Fang.
This sketch encapsulates the relationship between the flaming Pyro Vipers and their ancient Serpentine predecessors. The concept of Aspheera extracting Kai's Elemental Power is also presented here.
The ninja were also required to travel into the frozen Never-Realm and this collage features numerous scenes from the realm. Lloyd's Titan Mech is particularly prominent, together with appearances from the Blizzard Samurai and Akita.
Japanese folklore has offered the primary inspiration for NINJAGO and this season introduced Akita, a shape-shifting character based upon the legendary Kitsune. This image suggests that the transformation might originally have been more subtle than its eventual portrayal, in which Akita can switch between minifigure and wolf forms.
Wu also appeared prominently during this season, featuring a more rugged appearance than usual. These sketches closely resemble the eventual minifigure from 70677 Land Bounty.
The Island (2021)
The Island will be launched during the first half of 2021, introducing a new location and its malevolent inhabitants. The sets based upon this season were announced earlier today!
Which season of NINJAGO has been your favourite so far and do you have any ideas for the future? Let us know in the comments.
Even more unseen NINJAGO content is still to come!
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32 comments on this article
Personally, Skybound has been my favorite, and I would like to see Nahdakahn return.
These are amazing! Who supplies these images to brickset? Are they directly from Lego themselves?
Also, those Season of Forbidden Spinjitzu drawings are gorgeous!
A theme that defined the 2010's. Here's to ten more years.
The first couple of seasons will always hold a special place in my heart. The snake-headed vehicles always impressed me as a kid. I am excited for The Island wave, as I've always wanted Lego to return to a tribal setting!
Very fun articles, I've always loved concept art so I would probably look through this even if I didn't like Ninjago.
Not to nitpick but it would have been very cool to see some artwork for rebooted, as I definitely would consider that to be the much ambitious and abrupt change of art style that the franchise probably ever had, and I imagine the concept art must be freakin bizzare.
The ninjago movie marked the start of the downfall for this theme. Some cool parts have been introduced, but the sets themselves, the story, and the character's personality and appearance all changed for the worse. Nonetheless, I won't let few terrible waves ruin the theme. Happy Birthday Ninjago!
Thanks for these pictures, they are great to take our mind off daily life.
Season 5 is hands down my favorite.
that last poster
the people that wear there masks wrong and don't care
It would be fantastic if these concept art prints were made available as VIP rewards.
Possession (2015) was my favorite season. The storyline is amazing. Rebooted, Tournament of Elements, and Skybound were almost as incredible. The animation based on the movie really hit the quality of the show but still not enough to make me dislike it. Happy 10 years Ninjago!
I’d still consider seasons 2-5 as the show’s golden days, but I think that’s just because I grew out of the line from them. I still appreciate the lore and story however.
I don’t know if I have any future ideas, but one possible season could be set in a feudal Japan-style era all thanks to time travel.
@Binnekamp said:
"These are amazing! Who supplies these images to brickset? Are they directly from Lego themselves?
Also, those Season of Forbidden Spinjitzu drawings are gorgeous!"
Most of the hand drawn art is from Tommy Andreason. I've seen quite a lot of it on his twitter.
The Tournament of Elements is my favorite Ninjago storyline. Alas, Ninjago will soon be over. RIP Cole
@Brickking6077 said:
"The Tournament of Elements is my favorite Ninjago storyline. Alas, Ninjago will soon be over. RIP Cole"
According to Tommy Andreason, the show will continue on past 2022, presumably with Cole being written out
@lagopronouncedLego said:
" @Brickking6077 said:
"The Tournament of Elements is my favorite Ninjago storyline. Alas, Ninjago will soon be over. RIP Cole"
According to Tommy Andreason, the show will continue on past 2022, presumably with Cole being written out"
I think it's more likely that the show will recast Cole as set designers will presumably want to continue using him in sets
Hard to pick between TOE, Skybound, and Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu. Some really excellent television over the years.
@MudkipDoom said:
" @lagopronouncedLego said:
" @Brickking6077 said:
"The Tournament of Elements is my favorite Ninjago storyline. Alas, Ninjago will soon be over. RIP Cole"
According to Tommy Andreason, the show will continue on past 2022, presumably with Cole being written out"
I think it's more likely that the show will recast Cole as set designers will presumably want to continue using him in sets"
I was inclined to believe that at first, but Tommy Andreason said nobody could replace Kirby Morrow as Cole , and he is the creative development/producer of the show. More likely than not, Cole will be written out after season 15, (which Kirby Morrow recorded his lines for)
@lagopronouncedLego said:
" @MudkipDoom said:
" @lagopronouncedLego said:
" @Brickking6077 said:
"The Tournament of Elements is my favorite Ninjago storyline. Alas, Ninjago will soon be over. RIP Cole"
According to Tommy Andreason, the show will continue on past 2022, presumably with Cole being written out"
I think it's more likely that the show will recast Cole as set designers will presumably want to continue using him in sets"
I was inclined to believe that at first, but Tommy Andreason said nobody could replace Kirby Morrow as Cole , and he is the creative development/producer of the show. More likely than not, Cole will be written out after season 15, (which Kirby Morrow recorded his lines for)"
It’ll be interesting to see how they handle that. All deaths so far have been impermanent, except for Garmadon, but even he was resurrected twice before he finally died.
My favorite season is The Tournament Of Elements.
But I’ve only watched ninjago up to season 9
I hope we get to see more concept art from other themes someday! Or even future waves!
Kitsune is a Japanese Fox, not a wolf
With all the popular franchises having their own art books (or "The Art Of..." books if you want), I can't believe that LEGO haven't jump on that bandwagon yet. They must have an unspeakable amount of concept art archived by this point!
Question from me, as I haven't seen the relevant series but above mentions kitsune having a wolf form. Is this accurate? Kitsune means Fox...
@Mr__Thrawn said:
" @lagopronouncedLego said:
" @MudkipDoom said:
" @lagopronouncedLego said:
" @Brickking6077 said:
"The Tournament of Elements is my favorite Ninjago storyline. Alas, Ninjago will soon be over. RIP Cole"
According to Tommy Andreason, the show will continue on past 2022, presumably with Cole being written out"
I think it's more likely that the show will recast Cole as set designers will presumably want to continue using him in sets"
I was inclined to believe that at first, but Tommy Andreason said nobody could replace Kirby Morrow as Cole , and he is the creative development/producer of the show. More likely than not, Cole will be written out after season 15, (which Kirby Morrow recorded his lines for)"
It’ll be interesting to see how they handle that. All deaths so far have been impermanent, except for Garmadon, but even he was resurrected twice before he finally died."
actually, I think hes still alive lol.
@Mr__Thrawn said:
" @lagopronouncedLego said:
" @MudkipDoom said:
" @lagopronouncedLego said:
" @Brickking6077 said:
"The Tournament of Elements is my favorite Ninjago storyline. Alas, Ninjago will soon be over. RIP Cole"
According to Tommy Andreason, the show will continue on past 2022, presumably with Cole being written out"
I think it's more likely that the show will recast Cole as set designers will presumably want to continue using him in sets"
I was inclined to believe that at first, but Tommy Andreason said nobody could replace Kirby Morrow as Cole , and he is the creative development/producer of the show. More likely than not, Cole will be written out after season 15, (which Kirby Morrow recorded his lines for)"
It’ll be interesting to see how they handle that. All deaths so far have been impermanent, except for Garmadon, but even he was resurrected twice before he finally died."
Even Garmadon is still alive. The only permanent deaths in the series so far are the Great Devourer, the Nindroids, the Anacondrai Cultists, the Ghost warriors, and Mystake
Harumi isn't alive.
I thought season 8: Sons of Garmadon was amazing. One of the best for sure. Depends on if you like motorbikes or not, lol. But the opening scene in first episode was so well done, one of the best 10 minutes in Ninjago history.
70678
I really love the shape and costume of AKITA !! She wears a Japanese traditional kimono and put a KITSUNE mask on the top of her head... As one of Japanese guy , it feels so much of Japan itself !!
Especially KITSUNE is so nice. As you may know, he protects people from Oni's dark power or direct attack at emergence time but on the other hand he deceives people by disguising himself into sexy beauty in order to steel money at peaceful time. I think KITSUNE may be a ninja of animal world.
NINJAGO often took up a Japanese old folklore to make Ninja world more colorful and attractive. Although sometimes I feel some items are not of Japanese culture but almost Chinese one, anyway I am very glad, honorable and grateful to see LEGO's unchangeable and challengeable way of production. Thank you. (^o^)/
That giant Blizzard Samurai wolf would've been an awesome set and great counter to Akita. Wonder if they'll ever reuse the concept. Perhaps a Viking based Ninjago wave!
I loved Prime Empire, and wish that we'd gotten Avatar Arcade Pods for all the ninja.
@legoninjago69:
Well, Zane's a robot, so I think he gets a pass on that one. The rest, however...
@VBaskin2010:
A Nindroid is a "ninja android". An android is a robot that's designed to look human (or, more specifically, a male human). He's a robot.