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| “ | Where there is light, there will always be shadow! | „ |
| ~ The Overlord battling Lloyd. |
The Overlord is a major antagonist in the LEGO Ninjago franchise, serving as the main antagonist of both the second half of the Ninjago: Legacy of the Green Ninja season and the Ninjago: Rebooted season. He is an immensely powerful evil being and the creator of the Stone Army.
He was voiced by Scott McNeil, who also played Tall Boy in Riverdale.
History
In the Beginning
The Overlord vs The First Spinjitzu Master
From the shadows of the new world, the Overlord emerged. Risen to counterbalance the light of the land, the Overlord challenged the First Spinjitzu Master to a battle for control of Ninjago.
The battle eventually ground into a stalemate, so the Overlord created the Stone Army to turn the tide in his favor. Realizing that he would be overcome, the First Spinjitzu Master used all of his strength to split Ninjago into two equal halves, which would later become two islands—one half remained as Ninjago, and the other became the Island of Darkness. This balanced the forces of light and darkness, preventing the Overlord from leaving the Island of Darkness as it slowly sank beneath the sea. For thousands of years, he plotted the events that would lead to his return.
Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja
After being betrayed by Skales and falling into the Endless Ocean, Lord Garmadon was carried to the shores of the Island of Darkness, now just a nondescript tropical island. Appearing before Garmadon as a pulsing sphere of energy, the Overlord guided the four-armed villain through the jungle, promising to fulfill his dream of remaking Ninjago in his own image. Although skeptical and suspicious of the mysterious voice, Lord Garmadon followed the Overlord's instructions and activated a mechanism in a rock at the center of the island, causing the rest of the Island of Darkness to rise from the sea.
With the Island of Darkness restored, the Overlord had Lord Garmadon climb a series of rugged cliffs, assuring him that a great power lay at the end of his trial. Eventually, Lord Garmadon arrived in front of the Celestial Clock, and the Overlord told him to remove the Helmet of Shadows from its pedestal. As Garmadon placed the Helmet on his head, the hands of the Celestial Clock began to move. The Overlord explained that the helmet gave Garmadon control of the Stone Army, while the Celestial Clock was counting down to the final battle between good and evil - a battle that the Overlord intended to win.
When Lord Garmadon went to oversee the Stone Army's mining operations, the Overlord told him that the soldiers were searching for Dark Matter, a powerful evil material that could be used to construct an ultimate weapon for the forces of darkness. After hearing this, Garmadon became much more excited about the mining.
As construction of the ultimate weapon continued, the Overlord warned Lord Garmadon that he sensed the presence of the Ninja on the Island of Darkness. Garmadon responded by sending Stone Warriors across the island to hunt the Ninja down, only to find them narrowly escaping capture in his own base camp. The Overlord realized that the Ninja were looking for the Temple of Light, and told Garmadon about the location's significance.
Unfortunately for the forces of evil, the Ninja succeeded in their quest, and the Stone Army was driven off by their renewed elemental powers and Lloyd's new "Golden Dragon" technique. Learning of this development atop the mountain where the Celestial Clock rested, the Overlord alleviated Garmadon's concerns by reminding him that their forces were also growing stronger, and the countdown to the final battle continued unabated.
As the ultimate weapon neared completion and the Celestial Clock neared the end of its countdown, the Overlord sensed a growing conflict within Garmadon. The latter insisted that he wanted nothing more than to consume Ninjago with darkness, but the Overlord questioned Garmadon's resolve, noting that the final battle would inevitably bring him into contact with Lloyd. His prodding caused Garmadon to explode with rage and redouble work on the ultimate weapon, pleasing the Overlord.
When the Ninja managed to steal the Helmet of Shadows, Garmadon sent the Stone Army in pursuit, only for the Overlord to remind him that the Ninja could control the army if one of them donned the Helmet. Acknowledging this possibility, Garmadon instead opted to pursue the Ninja's Power Drill with his own robot but failed to stop them from reaching the Celestial Clock. However, their unfamiliarity with the clock's design - coupled with the interference of General Kozu - prevented the Ninja from replacing the Helmet of Shadows before the countdown finally ended. As Lord Garmadon wondered what was going on, the Overlord explained that the final battle was about to begin, and led his servant back to his base camp, where the Garmatron was finally completed.
As Garmadon admired the Garmatron, the Stone Army returned with Nya as a prisoner. The Overlord watched as Garmadon immersed Nya in Dark Matter, infecting her with evil and transforming her into a loyal servant of darkness. With the test complete, the Overlord accompanied his forces as the Garmatron left the camp and headed for the coast.
Upon arrival, the Overlord encouraged Garmadon to fire the Garmatron's main cannon across the ocean - its Dark Matter warheads would infect Ninjago piece by piece, remaking it in Garmadon's image. Unfortunately, Lord Garmadon was distracted when Lloyd, Sensei Wu, and Misako arrived and begged him to stop - although they failed to reach the villain, their interference prevented the Overlord from warning Garmadon about the main cannon's twenty-second warmup period. Despite this, the Stone Army managed to delay the heroes until the Garmatron could fire, thereby corrupting a portion of Ninjago.
The Overlord takes over Garmadon's body.
As Lord Garmadon dropped Lloyd and General Kozu down a trapdoor and fired another shot of Dark Matter at Jamanakai Village, the balance between light and darkness shifted enough for the Overlord to begin manifesting in the world once more. At this point, the Overlord revealed that he had been using Lord Garmadon all along - the four-armed villain had only been a pawn in the Overlord's millennia-long plan to free himself and conquer Ninjago. Lord Garmadon angrily protested at this (both at being used and because the Overlord was "stealing" one of his previous plans), but the Overlord takes over his body, declaring that his "metamorphosis" had begun.
In an attempt to gain even more power, the Overlord set the Garmatron's sights on Ninjago City, only to realize that the Ninja were interfering with the Stone Army's attempts to reload the cannon. He sent General Kozu to secure the bullets but ended up accidentally firing him into Ninjago City when Sensei Wu kicked the general into the Garmatron's loading port. The Overlord was then confronted by Lloyd, who was determined to stop the villain before he could corrupt any more of Ninjago.
A fierce battle erupted, with the Overlord gaining the upper hand. However, Lloyd called out to his father, and Lord Garmadon's attempts to reach out to his son caused the Overlord to weaken momentarily. Taking his chance, Lloyd launched a furious assault, and Lord Garmadon angrily tells the Overlord that he will not hurt his own son. Unfortunately, the Overlord regained control over Garmadon's body and overcame the Green Ninja's energy beam, trapping Lloyd in a sphere of darkness and hurling him across the beach, breaking his leg. Weary of the Ninja's interference, the Overlord opened a portal to Ninjago City and led his army through it, leaving the Ninja stranded on the Island of Darkness.
The Overlord and his army appeared in the middle of Ninjago City, where the former immediately began bombarding everything in sight with Dark Matter fired from the Garmatron's turrets. The influx of darkness accelerated the Overlord's metamorphosis, allowing him to regain his true form. Leaving his helmet in the streets, the Overlord proceeded to transform the Garmatron into a tower-like fortress from which to oversee the newly-corrupted city, setting Nya and the Stone Army to defend it.
When the Ninja returned and attacked the tower, the Overlord let his minions do the work against his foes until Dareth gained control of the Stone Army by donning the Helmet of Shadows. He began spitting masses of darkness at the ascending Ninja, corrupting Cole, Jay, and Zane. With Kai occupying his corrupted sister and the Ultra Dragon shot down, the Overlord turned to the top of the stairs to find only an injured, unarmed Lloyd standing against him. The Overlord scoffed at the Green Ninja's defiance, but Lloyd was able to unlock his full potential, becoming the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master.
Despite his own considerable power, the Overlord was overwhelmed by Lloyd's new abilities. Even taking the fight to the sky failed to provide an advantage, as Lloyd summoned the Golden Dragon to pursue the ultimate evil. Enraged at the mortal's persistence, the Overlord surrounded Lloyd in a massive sphere of darkness and attempted to devour him. In turn, Lloyd used his powers within the Overlord's mouth - the dark dragon had only enough time to scream in fury and denial before his physical body was obliterated, removing the taint of darkness from Ninjago City, the corrupted heroes, and even Lord Garmadon. Despite this, it was stated he was still alive as the Ninja said they would beat him if he ever arose again.
Season 3: Rebooted
During Ninjago: Rebooted, The Overlord did indeed survive and became a digital virus while controlling the Borg Tower. He later saw Cyrus Borg giving the ninjas support so he controlled pixel and with her help turned himself into the Overborg, while his brain and spirit were inside a little screen that is placed on his stomach. Even though he lost the final battle that decided the fate of Ninjago, he remains determined to take control of Ninjago. After the ninja escaped the hacked city, The Overlord begins to plot a way to get Lloyd's power.
After the power shut down, the ninja was on there a way to Ninjago City, Cyrus Borg was free of the Overlord's possession and discovered that the Digital Overlord's virus was gone. The Digital Overlord woke up to see himself being in the Stranger's laboratory and is being powered by Electrocobrai. Both of them began plotting on how to capture Lloyd and become the Golden Master. Although the Overlord was ready to begin the capture mission, the stranger said he needed more Electrocobrai to power the Nindroid army.
The Overlord eventually captured Lloyd and attempted to steal his golden power in order to escape his digital prison and transform into the Golden Master as he planned but failed since the Ninja infiltrated the Digital Realm and erased the Overlord virus using the Techno-Blades, interrupting the transference and seemingly defeating the demonic entity and wiping him clean off Ninjago City's digital grid... The Ninja thought they stopped the Overlord for good...
But the Overlord manages to survive his digital eradication and ended up in the form of a shapeless oozing mass of pure dark matter as a result of the Golden transformation interrupted at the last minute, He was rescued when the Nindroids pinpointed the fallen Dragon Mech and taken to the base beneath the City of Ourobouros.
After Pythor had regurgitated the oozing Overlord only to give a status report that Lloyd given up his golden power at the Temple of Light, He had changed his plan (calling off the constant pursuit of used-to-be Golden Ninja) to building Project Arcturus to retrieve the Golden Weapons from the depths of space as the one and only alternative to allowing a weakened Overlord to transform into the almighty Golden Master.
After the Overlord had awaited the Nindroid Army's return with the Golden Weapons, He had emerged from his capsule in a new physical body; a black and purple humanoid figure with a face akin to the mid-metamorphosis form he had assumed in Garmadon's body. Furthermore, he was adorned with golden skeletal armor and a black helmet.
He was armored with the reforged Golden weapons as a larger version of himself supported by a hulking arachnid-like walker mechanism with solid gold blades made of the reforged Golden Weapons.
He rampaged Ninjago City alongside Pythor and his Nindroid army, only to realize the Ninja had returned shortly after. The Overlord easily guessed the Ninja gave the City townspeople hope and re-announced his goal to destroy the Ninja as he used his new Golden Powers to fortify the city walls and mold the entire city into an "Impenetrable" fortress as Jay shouted while the Ninja were acknowledging the Overlord's fortifications.
After fighting through his defenses, the Ninja were forced to retreat when the Overlord himself appeared before them, encasing himself in a golden tornado similar to the one Lloyd was able to summon while he still possessed the Golden Powers. The Ninja then took refuge in the same place that the Overlord had used to protect himself from the First Spinjitzu Master's Golden Powers. After fighting to get to the new Golden Master himself, the Ninja were subdued, and Zane confronted the villain himself, suffering severe damage in the process, using his ice powers to freeze the surrounding area and sacrificing his original body, shattering the Golden Master and his remaining Nindroids, leaving only his helmet behind, although Zane created a new body for himself out of titanium by uploading his consciousness into Borg Tower, which ended the Overlord's current threat to all of Ninjago for now.
Post-Mortem
After the destruction of his physical form, his spirit remains dormant, as he can never be truly destroyed.
Legacy
The Corridor of Elders (Flashback)
Lloyd has a flashback about the Overlord possessing Garmadon.
Day of the Departed
While Dr. Saunders is giving the Ninja a tour of the Ninjago Museum of History's latest exhibit, the Hall of Villainy, Kai mentions that every villain they've ever fought has a statue in the museum. In response, Saunders says that there's still many more statues to be added, including ones of the Overlord and the Golden Master. Based on this statement, it is possible the Overlord will have more than one statue in the museum.
Ninjago: Decoded
A remnant of the Overlord Virus' code (trapped in a Memory Loop) was found in Zane, and slowly began corrupting him in order to take control of Zane's body and exact his revenge on the Ninja. But by using good memories, they managed to erase the rest of the Overlord Virus, for good.
Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu
After the reconstruction of the Monastery of Spinjitzu, a mural was created, depicting the major historical events the ninja had faced. Several parts of the mural depicted the Overlord (In Dragon form and in Golden Master form)
Episodes and Appearances
Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu
Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja
- 20. "The Stone Army"
- 21. "The Day Ninjago Stood Still"
- 22. "The Last Voyage"
- 23. "Island of Darkness"
- 24. "The Last Hope"
- 25. "Return of the Overlord"
- 26. "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master"
Season 3: Rebooted
- 27. "The Surge"
- 28. "The Art of the Silent Fist"
- 29. "Blackout"
- 30. "The Curse of the Golden Master"
- 31. "Enter the Digiverse"
- 32. "Codename: Arcturus"
- 33. "The Void"
- 34. "The Titanium Ninja"
Season 4: The Tournament of Elements
- 44. The Corridor of Elders (flashback)
Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu
- 1. "Master Class" (painting)
- 2. "Green and Gold" (painting)
- 3. "The Weekend Drill" (painting)
- 5. "Blue Lightning" (painting)
- 6. "Samurai X-Treme" (painting)
Season 10: March of the Oni
- 95. "The Darkness Comes" (painting)
- 98. "Endings" (painting)
Ninjago: Decoded
- 1. "Legacy"
- 4. "Ninjago's Most Wanted"
- 5. "The Digiverse and Beyond"
- 7. "Beasts and Dragons"
- 8. "Rise of Garmadon"
- 9. "Prophecy of the Green Ninja"
- 10. "Greatest Battles"
Appearance
During Misako's telling of Ninjago's origins (seen in "The Stone Army"), the Overlord was depicted as a towering mass of dark fire with a vaguely humanoid shape.
When Lord Garmadon arrived on the Island of Darkness, the Overlord appeared as an orb of purple energy with a pale yellow core. The orb contracts and expands as the Overlord spoke.
After possessing Lord Garmadon's body, the Overlord manifested as a larger, more demonic version of Garmadon himself. Notable differences included longer limbs ending in clawed hands and feet, short spikes erupting from his shoulders and back, glowing purple eyes, and elongated reptilian jaws filled with long fangs.
In "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master", the Overlord reverted to his true form, a monstrous black dragon with four long tentacles or feelers on its face, slightly tattered black wings, and a broad, toothy mouth.
During the First half of Ninjago: Rebooted, he took the form of a digital virus and covers the technology (such as Cyrus Borg's Mech Chair) with a purple background and two red eyes.
In his form as the Golden Master, the Overlord's torso has a detailed gold colored skeleton with dark matter inside it, a transparent purple cape, golden armor, a toothy mouth with a purple color inside, purple eyes, and a black helmet.
Personality
The Overlord is shown to be serious, cunning, sarcastic, manipulative and blasphemous, though he is often heavily reliant on metaphysical concepts and prophecized events.
As is to be expected from the embodiment of darkness, The Overlord is very cruel and devoid of empathy and seems to enjoy inflicting pain and despair upon his enemies. In fact, he has been known to go out of his way to do so, taunting them in hopeless situations.
The Overlord is also shown to be respectful and authentic towards one person; that person being Pythor. That respect going as far as to include Pythor as an ally during the attempted Golden Master apocalypse.
Powers and Abilities
- Umbrakinesis - It grants the user to manipulate, control, and shape Darkness (also Shadow).
- Umbrakinetic Flight - It allows the user their elemental power to propel themselves up. As seen in "Return of the Overlord," the Overlord used this ability to combat against Lloyd Garmadon by using it as a advantage to quickly head back into the battle.
- Darkness Materialization: the Overlord was able to create his own Stone Army.
- Absolute Darkness - It allows the user to create a field of absolute impenetrable darkness. As seen in "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master," the Overlord (in Dragon form) trapped Lloyd inside the sphere of darkness.
- Darkness Breath - Only displayed by the Overlord, the user can breath darkness and shadow commonly to attack or corrupt people.
- Corruption Inducement - Gives the user the ability to corrupt people and their environment (as displayed by the Garmatron and the Overlord's dark breath attack). Symptoms of corruption include destruction of morality, glowing purple eyes, and sickly pale grey skin.
- Dark Beam Emission - Only displayed by the Overlord, the user can projects beams of darkness, usually to attack an adversary.
- Shadow Ball Projection - The user can generate balls of darkness, commonly to trap or attack an adversary.
- Darkness Tentacles - Allows the user to create tentacles of darkness. In the episode Rise of the Spinjitzu Master, the Overlord creates the tentacles to collect energy so he and the Stone Army invade Ninjago.
- Possession - he can possess a person, as he did with Garmadon.
Immortality - since it is an entity and a person, he can be alive, in addition to what is necessary so that the balance of Light / Darkness is wel.
Trivia
- He is the most powerful villain in his Golden Master form.
- His minifigure has sloped legs, instead of a cape as shown in the television series.
- According to Tommy Andreasen on Twitter, the Overlord is the most powerful antagonist in the series.
- Although he is extremely ancient, he is not the first evil to come into existence in the realms; the Oni are, though he is Ninjago's original evil and the First Spinjitzu Master's arch-enemy.
- The Overlord is the only character in Ninjago who is immortal.
- The Overlord views the environment with thermal vision in his "spirit" form.
- In the show, the Ninja mistook his titles twice for characters they were already familiar with: Dark Lord (they thought it referred to Garmadon) and Golden Master (the Ninja mistook Lloyd for being the Golden Master).
- The Overlord is the manifestation of darkness and evil, but he needs a body to use his powers. For instance, he was only able to use Darkness while he possessed Garmadon. When his transformation into his original form was complete he could use his full powers. In his Golden Master form, he had both Darkness and the Golden Power.
- The Overlord's spirit being indestructible may be due to him being part of the balance. Misako said that "in order for there to be light, there must be shadow," and since the Overlord is the main embodiment of shadow, he's part of the balance.
- Although his fight with Zane may have destroyed his Golden Master body, it didn't necessarily destroy his spirit (since the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master couldn't do this either).
- The Overlord and Garmadon are the only villains to be the main antagonist in more than one season.
- The Overlord and the First Spinjitzu Master were the first Elemental Masters in the realm of Ninjago.
- A statue of his dragon form was part of the Ninja exhibit at the Ninjago Museum of History.
- He appears in LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin only in his Garmadon possessed form as an unlockable character.
- The First Spinjitzu Master, Firstbourne, and the Overlord are the three most powerful characters in the series.
- According to Misako, the Overlord's original form is a Dragon.
- He is the first villain to use Spinjitzu against the Ninja.
- It was leaked from a picture that the Overlord will be getting his second figure in the 2019 sets. It appears to be a brand new design, with four arms and ghostly tail.
- He can regenerate the rest of himself in any form as a virus and even a person.
- He is the Elemental Master of Darkness.
| Ninjago Villains | ||
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Skulkin Serpentine Overlord's Forces Anacondrai Cultists Ghost Warriors Sky Pirates Sons of Garmadon Dragon Hunters Oni Other | ||
