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| “ | If you want the sword, that’s one thing, but I’ll never hand over my friends! | „ |
| ~ Ronin to Morro. |
| “ | Fine, run away. Prove you're the spineless, worthless, no-good criminals everyone thinks you are. Or stay and fight to get our city back! And maybe, just for once, make your mamas proud! | „ |
| ~ Ronin to the Kryptarium inmates, Return of the Ice Emperor |
Ronin Kognito is the main antagonist in LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin, as well as a recurring anti-hero and ally of the Ninja in the fifth season and beyond of LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. He is a selfish, yet skilled and intelligent mercenary, who was hired often by Master Chen for important tasks such as capturing Zane and releasing the banished master from the Cursed Realm.
Up until the destruction of the Obsidian Glaive, Ronin was a memory thief known to remove people's memories and replace them with lies about their past.
Appearance
Ronin is a middle-aged man with slightly longer brown hair, although it is later shown to be orange. he has small stubble and a brown scarf with a paranormal activity scanner over his right eye. He always wears a uniform made up of various protectors and technical parts. On his original suit, he wore a green chestplate that covered his sand green clothing. He had orange armor on his left arm that also covers his heart. He wore a dark red fabric belt with a shuriken symbol. He had extra pads on his green pants and wore brown gloves. He almost always wore a dark red conical hat and occasionally covered his mouth with a bandana.
Since Day of the Departed, Ronin has started wearing a slightly different suit, consisting of much more technical parts covering his body. He also stopped wearing his hat, although he later started wearing it again. Originally his gloves were black, but later he stopped wearing them and his hands were bare.
Later, Ronin changed his suit again to one that resembled the original, but was not identical. The scanner covering his eye is now orange and the scarf holding it is black. His eyebrows are also black and slightly thicker. However, the most noticeable change is the color of his hair, which is now completely orange. He also stopped wearing a hat altogether.
Personality
Ronin started out as a very selfish and self-centered person who will do anything if it helps him achieve his goal. His desire for money appeared after he was in debt to Soul Archer and had to get a lot of money for him or his soul would end up in the Cursed Realm. Because of this, Ronin became paranoid and started collecting money for Archer in any way he could, stealing various things and then selling them at high prices in his pawn shop.
When Ronin met the ninja for the second time, their first encounter remaining shrouded in mystery, he developed a relationship with them, and during his brief stint at Steep Wisdom, befriended Wu, Misako, and especially Nya, whom he even helped train to become a Master of Water. However, as Soul Archer demanded he repay the debt, he was forced to steal the Sword of Sanctuary and betray the ninja to save his soul, again showing his selfish and cowardly nature. However, Soul Archer betrayed him and continued to demand payment of the debt in money, which made Ronin realize that he shouldn't have betrayed the only friends he ever had. He then retreated to Ninjago City, where he visited Chen's Noodle House and befriended Skylor. He eventually managed to raise enough money to pay off his debt to Archer, joining the ninja's side for good and helping them defeat the ghosts.
Some time later, however, he separated from the ninja again, and when they were accused by the police of various crimes, he did not hesitate to capture them for the crime, as long as they gave him a financial reward for it. Even though he was aware that the ninja had done nothing and were framed, he didn't care as he just wanted to get the money. Finally, when called by Jay to join his team of Ninja Replacements, Ronin agreed and once again helped save Ninjago, although he has no memory of any of these events.
During the Day of the Departed, Ronin wanted to take advantage of the situation and steal some parts for his mech since almost everyone was in the city celebrating. However, he eventually helped Jay save his parents, who were attacked by Skulkin at their junkyard, where Ronin wanted to steal.
After these events, Ronin became a definite ally of the ninja and was often found in their temple until he broke his leg.
During Garmadon's rule in Ninjago City, Ronin was imprisoned in Kryptarium Prison, but after being freed, he helped the ninja defeat Colossus.
When Ronin was hired by the police to capture Kryptarium inmates who had escaped, Ronin initially did so, but eventually decided to take advantage of the situation, and when he learned about the Island of the Keepers, he went with some of the inmates there. Using lies and deception, he tricked the Keepers into making various sacrifices to his fake Wojira, earning himself a lot of money. He was only stopped by ninja, which was the reason why he became very angry with them and antagonized them, although he attended Nya's memorial under police supervision.
Over a year later, when the ninja were locked up in Kryptarium Prison, they met Ronin there and Lloyd had a small skirmish with him, asking Ronin if he ever thought about anyone other than himself.
Ronin remembered these words, and when Ninjago City was attacked by the The Overlord and his army, he decided to help defend the city and convinced the other inmates to do the same. He subsequently joined the Resistance and once again learns to put the interests of others before his own, making him a better person than he was before.
History
Ronin is a morally ambiguous yet skilled thief and a bounty hunter. Formerly based in Stiix with his airship R.E.X., Ronin made many mistakes; he made deals with the Soul Archer, and even "sold" Zane to Master Chen. However, looking to change his ways, Ronin sided with the ninja and oversaw Nya as she tried to master her Element. Morro forced Ronin to steal the Sword of Sanctuary, and lead the ninja into a trap. They made amends, and Ronin helped them fight the Preeminent and the Ghost Warriors in Stiix.
After the ghost invasion, the Police Commissioner hired Ronin to capture the ninja due to crimes they allegedly committed, and he agreed (at least partly because of the money) though they were framed. When the conflict with the Sky Pirates escalated, Ronin joined Jay's rag-tag team and raided Djinjago. Due to Jay's final wish, recent events were undone and Ronin never captured the ninja or joined Jay's team.
On the Day of the Departed, Ronin built himself a new mech and used it to help Jay defeat a resurrected Samukai.
Sometime in-between the Day of the Departed and the return of Acronix, Ronin opened up another pawn shop in Ninjago City and broke his leg while aiding the ninja in the fight against the Time Twins and their Vermillion army.
During Lord Garmadon's reign, Ronin was arrested and imprisoned in Kryptarium Prison. After he and members of the Resistance broke free, they helped defeat the Colossus and the Sons of Garmadon.
After the prisoners escaped from Kryptarium Prison, he was hired by Ninjago Police to catch all the escaped prisoners. However, when he learned of the uncharted island, he employed all the remaining prisoners and, with the help of the fake Wojira, robbed the Keepers, who gave him their valuables believing that the fake Wojira was real and was going to punish them. When he was exposed and defeated by the ninja, he remained imprisoned on the island in the Keepers' prison, along with other prisoners that worked for Ronin.
After Nya's sacrifice to defeat Kalmaar and Wojira, he attended her memorial.
Over a year later, he confronted the ninja in Kryptarium Prison and prepared to challenge them before being interrupted by guards. Upon seeing the ninja fight against the crystal army however, Ronin recruited Ultra Violet, Killow and Fugi-Dove to help them, effectively redeeming himself and becoming an ally once more.
Weapons and abilities
Abilities
- Eye scanner: Ronin has a scanner strapped to his eye that has thermal vision that acts as a paranormal scanner.
- Bounty hunting: Ronin is an experienced bounty hunter able to capture targets rather easily by using a combination of devices and strategy.
- Expert strategist: Ronin is excellent at creating and putting strategies into place, as he was able to con the Keepers for a long amount of time. In "Public Enemy Number One," Ronin used a net, infared goggles and basic weaponary to subdue Jay and Cole, demonstrating his proficency in tactics.
- Hacking: Ronin was easily able to hack into Zane's systems.
Weapons
- Aeroblade: Ronin owns an Aeroblade that he keeps in his shop.
- Sword of Sanctuary: Ronin briefly owned the Sword of Sanctuary that he used against Nya.
Gallery
.jpg "Ronin (Ep. 68).jpg (136 KB)")
.jpg "Ronin (Ep. 64).jpg (152 KB)")
.png "Ronin is Here! (Day of the Departed).png (3.84 MB)")
.png "Ronin (Scavengers).png (675 KB)")
.png "Jay's Team (Ep. 63).png (3.95 MB)")
.png "Postman, Police Commissioner and Ronin (Ep. 94).png (610 KB)")
.png "Ronin and Commissioner (Ep. 63).png (475 KB)")
.png "No worries, Ronin is here (Crystalized Ep. 24).png (222 KB)")
.png "We won! (Crystalized Ep. 30 - Victory).png (1,006 KB)")
.jpg "Misako and Ronin in the Kryptarium Prison (Ep. 90).jpg (400 KB)")
.jpg "Ronin is in the cell (S09E10).jpg (60 KB)")
Trivia
- His name is likely from the Japanese word rōnin (浪人, ろうにん) meaning "wondering samurai or a samurai who serves no master".
- Ronin may be based on Han Solo from the Star Wars films. Both are middle-aged, scruffy bounty hunters who play a neutral role in the story but ultimately decide to ally with the heroes.
External Links
- Ronin in the Villains Wiki
- Ronin in the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
- Ronin on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
